Newsletter April 2015
Vol 15 Issue 4
Nembutsu Wave
Monterey Peninsula Buddhist Temple • 1155 Noche Buena, Seaside, CA 93955
www.montereybuddhist.org
(831) 394-0119
HANAMATSURI
For anyone who has been around our temple for a while knows April is the month of Hanamatsuri
花祭り the flower festival when the Buddha's birthday is celebrated. This year will be a special
celebration for us at the temple for several reasons. Our special guest speaker will be the Shocho
or Bishop of the Buddhist Churches of America, Kodo Umezu. As part of our service Bishop Umezu
will be performing the kieshiki or affirmation ceremony for several of our members. Members will
receive their dharma name or homyo signifying that the participant endeavors to hear the
teachings of Amida's Primal Vow.
This is a very proud and auspicious time for our members who will be taking part in the ceremony.
I hope as members and friends you will all come out and show your support and congratulate all of
them in this wonderful moment.
Along with the kieshiki our good friend and member Nick San Juan will receive his dharma name
and be officially assigned as the minister's assistant of the Monterey Peninsula Buddhist Temple.
We are so very proud of Nick as he takes this important step in his life as a Buddhist.
In the Shin Buddhist ceremony, performed before the altar of Amida Buddha and Shinran Shonin by
the Bishop of the BCA (Buddhist Churches of America) one takes the important step of affirming
one's reverence for the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and one's determination to tread the path to
Buddhahood. During the Buddhas time one was permitted to join the Buddhist community (sangha)
upon receiving the precept of the three refuges under the guidance of a monk and shaving one's
head. To receive the precept of the three refuges means to declare before one's teacher that one
takes wholehearted refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, and to vow that one will not
deviate from them.
"Buddha" here refers to Shakyamuni, "Dharma" to Shakyamuni's Teaching "Sangha" to the
community of followers who have entrusted themselves to Shakyamuni Buddha's teaching. Because
these form the basis of what one values most in one's life they are called the "three treasures."
The teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha are so extensive that they are said to number 84,000. It is no
surprise, then, that after the Buddha’s death, various schools developed based on the different
aspects of his teachings. Shin Buddhism (Jodo Shinshu) is the Buddhist path of great compassion
clarified by Shinran Shonin. Shinran teaches that Shakyamuni appeared in this world in order to
reveal the Vow of Amida Buddha to save all beings; it is the salvation of all people by Amida
Buddha that is Shakyamuni’s fundamental teaching.
Nembutsu Wave
April 2015
(continued)
The Affirmation Ceremony in Shin Buddhism, therefore, shares a common meaning with the
precept of the three refuges administered in the time of Shakyamuni Buddha, but it also has a
special meaning. In the Affirmation Ceremony, the Buddha of the three refuges is not simply
Shakyamuni, but refers especially to Amida Buddha, who is the heart of Shakyamuni’s teachings.
Shakyamuni came into the world to teach the Vow of Amida Buddha, and our salvation is brought
about by Amida. Thus, “Dharma” is the teaching of Amida’s compassion working to save all beings,
and “Sangha” refers to people who have entrusted themselves to Amida.
Please join me in congratulating all the individuals who are taking part in the ceremony. I am very
happy to welcome them into the family of Shakyamuni Buddha.
Gassho,
Rev. Shinseki
April 2015
Nembutsu Wave
APRIL 2015
Shotsuki Hoyo Sunday, April 5, 2015 - 10 A.M.
Deceased
Family
Kiyono Hamamura
Hamamura Family
Haruno Enokida
Ms. Miyoko Enokida
Shigeo Yamashita
Yamashita Family
Sakae Kitahara
Mr. Junkie Kitahara
Hatsu Miyamoto &
Mr. Mark Miyamoto
Gordon Noboru Miyamoto
Isamu Sakai
Mrs. Alice Sakai
Yoshito Yamahara
Yamahara Family
Kanji Watanabe
Mrs. June Green

Masaru Yamashita
Mrs. Meiko Yoshida
Masayo Fujishige
Mr. Gerry Tsukimura
April Toban
Thomas Saiki
Mrs. Miyo Saiki
Takahisa Miyamoto &
Mr. Bob Miyamoto
Akemi Ito
Reiko Miyamoto
Yoshiko Ono
Mrs. Yasuko Nishimura
Shigeo Honda
Ms. Lisa Honda
Tokusei Ben Umezu
Mrs. Asako Umezu
Taro Inokuchi
Inokuchi Family
Thank you for
Toki Takamoto
Mr Jeff Sumida
Matsuyo Urano &
Kazuo Urano
Ayako Matsubayashi
Eiichi Nishi
Fujitaro Yokogawa
Zentaro Nakamura
Hideo Ito & Aiko Ito &
Seiko Ito
William Mitsuo Sumida
Donald Kosei Satow
Hiroshi George Nishi
Han Sugimoto
Yasu Shingu
Sueko Sui Jarata
Eiji Hashimoto
Yoshio Tabata
Margaret Ayako Sakino
Rev. Russell Joye Hamada
John Masashi Shinseki
Tsutomu Matsushita
June Watanabe Green
Ishida Family
bringing rice
Osonaye obupan
Rev. H. Matsubayashi
Shirakawa Family
Mrs. Sayoko Yokogawa
Mrs. Margaret Omoto
Ms. Akemi Ito
Ms. Sumie Maruyama
Mrs. Margaret Satow
Mrs. Hideko Nishi
Mr. Aki Sugimoto
Mr. & Mrs. Gary Shingu
Mrs. Linda Rosten
Eigoro Hashimoto &
Mrs. Fumi Kawasaki
Mrs. Ruby Tabata
Mr. & Mrs. Ron Sakino
Mrs. Jane Hamada Shinseki
Rev. Jay Shinseki
Mrs. Wako Matsushita
Caroline Davis/Deborah Janssens
Naijin Flowers
Mrs. Rimiko Ogura
Thank You

April 2015
Nembutsu Wave
STUDY CLASS
Subject
Sights and Sounds of the Dharma
(Registration form included in this
Newsletter)
Began Tuesday: March 24, 2015
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
This session will be for 8 weeks,
meeting every Tuesday night at the
Temple.
You still have time to come and join
us for this class.
HANAMATSURI SERVICE and
DHARMA SCHOOL
(Buddha’s Birthday)
Sunday, April 12, 2015 – 10:00 am
Guest Speaker: Bishop Kodo Umezu
Special Kieshiki Ceremony
Dharma School Presentation
Potluck Lunch following our service.
BWA to bring Vegetables, Dharma
School to bring Salads, Temple to
provide Baked Ham, Rice & Dessert.
Please plan on joining the Sangha
and celebrate Shakyamuni Buddha’s
Birthday.
IMPORTANT FORMS INCUDED
IN THIS NEWSLETTER
Scholarship Application
Submit by April 30, 2015
Kieshiki Application
Submit by March 31, 2015
Study Class Registration Form
Monterey Buddhist Temple Presents
An Evening with the Band
(see poster included in newsletter)
Date: Friday, May 1, 2015 / Time: 8 P.M.
General Admission: $50.00 Children 12
& under, $25.00
(on line at www.eventbrite.com)
For additional ticket information, call:
650-868-9883
For$100.00 – you are invited to a Meet &
Greet Reception before the concert which
includes reserved seating.
DECORATE OUR HANAMIDO for HANAMATSURI
Saturday: April 11, 2015
9:00 A.M. – 12 NOON
A light lunch will be served.
Please come and join us to decorate our Hanamido.
It is a lot of fun and each year our Hanamido is
beautiful. See you there!!!