On April 26, 2009, a Dedication Service was held to open the new Buddhist Temple of Southern Alberta. The celebration included a Chigo parade, a Japanese tradition when a temple or shrine is constructed. Children who participate are said to be "happy for life." The dedication of the new temple in Lethbridge, Alberta also marked the 80th anniversary of Buddhism in southern Alberta, drawing visitors from across Canada and Japan, including Sensei Ulrich of Manitoba Buddhist Temple. Ministers and delegates attending the annual general meeting of the Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Temples of Canada were also in attendance.

READ AN ARTICLE FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD...

The Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, "Departures" opens in North American this May. The film is a delightful journey into the heartland of Japan as well an astonishingly beautiful look at a sacred part of Japan’s cultural heritage.

The movie is based on the book, "Coffinman-The Journal of a Buddhist Mortician" by Shinmon Aoki. In the Foreword, Shin Buddhist scholar, Rev. Dr. Taitetsu Unno writes,

This little book, a diary of a mortician, invites the reader into the fascinating world of Buddhist spirituality which sees the extraordinary in things ordinary, mundane, and even repugnant. Written with deep affection for life and poetic sensibility, the author Shinmon Aoki evokes theworld of boundless compassion found in Shin Buddhism which evolved from the Pure Land tradition of Mahayana Buddhism.

SYNOPSIS
“Departures” follows Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and who is suddenly left without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled “Departures” thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a “Nokanshi” or “encoffineer,” a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of “Nokanshi,” acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living. A story of love, of discovery, of revelation and of the transcending human spirit, “Departures” will linger in your heart and mind long after viewing.

Expect to see "Departures" in Winnipeg by the end of 2009.

GO TO THE OFFICIAL "DEPARTURES" WEB SITE...

Daily Buddhism has been asking for practitioners of Buddhism to explain their denomination. It is inviting essays explaining "your " version of Buddhism.

Up for the challenge, we get this great explanation of Shin Buddhism from Jeff Wilson. He begins with a description of Shinran's interpretation of Buddhism.

Shinran taught that Amida is actually reality in its true, liberated nature, and the Pure Land is a poetic description for nirvana. Putting the insights of Mahayana Buddhism into narrative format, he talked about how Amida embraces all beings no matter how bad or good, and liberates them from their greed and delusion. In fact, this liberation is something that has been accomplished in the primal past (i.e. it is always naturally present), and so we should stop endlessly chasing after attainment. Instead, when we give up attachment to our ego-laden efforts to become enlightened, and relax back into the embrace of inconceivable wisdom and never-abandoning compassion, we are freed from our anxieties and pettiness. Our practice, then, stops being about getting Buddhahood for ourselves, and instead is refocused to be about expressing gratitude for all that we have received, spiritually and materially.

Wilson points out that the main focus of Shin is the practise of "gratitude." And that, everyone can become a Buddha by reciting the Nembutsu.

None of us are deluded about our level of attainment-we are ordinary people, prone to foolishness. But everyone, Shin Buddhist or otherwise, exists within an inconceivable network of support from all things, an ever-changing matrix that provides us with nourishment, shelter, love, and, if we don’t let our egos get in the way, pushes us on toward final liberation. Awakening to this inner togetherness which we all share helps us to get a perspective on our karmic limitations, and this engenders humility, patience, and a sense of humor about our shortcomings and those of others. When we wake up to how power-beyond-self is always nurturing and supporting us, we often say the nembutsu in gratitude. Nembutsu is a phrase, Namu Amida Butsu, that expresses our happiness and thankfulness. It isn’t a mantra or a prayer-it doesn’t accomplish anything other than letting out that bottled-up gratitude in a joyful utterance.

Jeff Wilson is currently an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Renison College on the campus of the University of Waterloo in Canada. He recently wrote the book, "Mourning the Unborn Dead A Buddhist Ritual Comes to America" from Oxford Press.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT DAILY BUDDHISM...

Our Mother Temple in Japan has started a new web site and it's a great way to keep up-to-date on the upcoming celebrations for Shinran Shonin's 750th Memorial.

The Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha Hongwanji International Centre in Kyoyo is where many aspiring and active ministers go for their training. Located only a few streets away from the grounds of the Hongwanji, the International Centre is the also where scholars research, translate, and publish Buddhist texts and articles.

Part of the outreach of the International Centre is to provide the latest information about current events originating from our head temple in Japan including updates on preperations for Shinran's 750th Memorial celebrations.

VISIT THE HONGWANJI-HA INTERNATIONAL CENTRE WEBSITE...