Every month I write an article for the Buddhist Church of Oakland's newsletter, the Busshin. But writing doesn't come easily to me - in fact, it's one of the things I procrastinate the most. So for December, I had help from my cat Sapphire:

Today, September 1, 2011, marks some very significant anniversaries in my life. For one thing, it marks five years as a BCA minister! Although I performed a "makuragyo" (the service performed immediately after someone dies) a few days before, I officially became the resident minister of the Buddhist Church of Lodi on September 1, 2006. Another anniversary is September 1, 1996 - that was the day I flew out to Berkeley, California from Bedford, Massachusetts, to begin my study of Buddhism at the Institute of Buddhist Studies.

I was looking back at an article I wrote for the Buddhist Church of Oakland's newsletter last year, and found that it dealt with another set of anniversaries - 1990 was also a very significant year in my life. So even though those anniversaries have passed, I actually like what I wrote and thought I would include it here. So as you read, keep in mind that I am talking from the perspective of October 2010!

( Anniversaries )

We have a new YouTube channel set up with videos of my Dharma Talks at the Buddhist Church of Oakland. It's still in the early stages, but we should have a pretty good library pretty soon. So far, it's just short messages that I give during the Dharma School Family Service on Sunday mornings.

I will be speaking again at the San Francisco Zen Center (City Center) on Wednesday, September 15 at 7:30 PM. Not sure yet exactly what I will be talking about, but it should be fun! All are welcome!

( click here for more information )

Very last minute, but wanted to let everyone know that I will be speaking at the Jodo Shinshu Center on Thursday, August 5, at 6:30 a.m.! This week the Center for Buddhist Education has been holding traditional early morning gatherings, with a service, Dharma Message, and breakfast. I will be speaking about "Buddhist Etiquette."

( Click here for the poster with more information )

Just a quick update that the Buddhist Church of Oakland will be having its Obon Bazaar this Saturday, July 31, from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

You can use the following pages for more detailed information or to help spread the word!

Facebook: obon bazaar on facebook

Yelp: obon bazaar on yelp

Craigslist: obon bazaar on craigslist

Hope to see you there!

The Buddhist Church of Oakland's Nikkoland Bazaar is coming up this weekend! For the first time we have an ad up on Craigslist and of course the obligatory facebook event page. And now we're on Yelp! Feel free to use any of them to share the info around!

But just in case you don't want to click on the links, here's the info:

Saturday June 19 from 3:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Sunday June 20 from 12:00 noon - 7:00 pm.

There will be a wide variety of food including chicken teriyaki, steak, sushi, udon, imagawayaki, hamburgers, and pastries!

Also bingo, children's games, silent auction, raffle, and lots more!

825 Jackson Street, Oakland, CA - conveniently located one block west of the Lake Merritt BART station.
For more information, call 510-832-5988 or visit the website at www.buddhistchurchofoakland.org or post a comment here!

Good news - my recent talk at the Gay Buddhist Sangha is available here! Just scroll down a little bit, I gave my talk on April 4, 2010. I basically gave an introduction to Jodo Shinshu, since many (if not most) of the attendees were from other traditions.

Also, the first installment from our recent live DharmaRealm podcast is available. We talk about cosmology and the "happiness industry" that Buddhism seems to be represented as. I apologize for the sound quality of the podcast - I forgot to hit record at the beginning! But fortunately we were able to use the video camera recording for the first ten minutes or so.

Lots to report - the big news is that this Saturday is our live DharmaRealm podcast! Here's the poster:



I'll also be performing with/as hieronymous - our performance will begin around noon up until the podcast starts at 1.

In other news, part 2 of our "Buddhism & Science Fiction" podcast is up.

My April 4 visit to the Gay Buddhist Sangha was great, despite the weather. When the recording gets posted I will report back here!

Sorry for the brief wrap-up - I'll try and come back in the next week or so, probably with more announcements!

I have a speaking engagement on Sunday, April 4 at the Gay Buddhist Sangha in San Francisco at 3 P.M. My DharmaRealm co-conspirator, Dr. Scott Mitchell, of the buddha is my dj blog-fame, spoke there, and suggested me as another speaker. The theme for April is "A Rite of Spring: Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Liberation" - a perfect theme for Jodo Shinshu!

I was recently speaking to another kaikyoshi minister at the Jodo Shinshu Center. We were looking at the new Jodo Shinshu no kyosho - the "official" essentials of Jodo Shinshu put out by Nishi Hongwanji (unfortunately, there isn't yet an official English translation). It is a very concise statement of the teachings of Jodo Shinshu. I think that there are many people who feel that Shinshu doesn't really match our (post-)modern times, but I disagree. I find that it is actually very powerful and positive. I think I used to be cynical about the kyosho - in its brevity it leaves a lot to be explained - but reading it yesterday I got excited. There are a lot of technical terms, but I see part of my job as a minister to explain these to people through my own lived experience, in contemporary terms. We will always be able to find contradiction and confusion, but I believe that we can navigate between them and find the compassion and healing of Amida Buddha in our lives.

Make sure to check out the GBS calendar page - scroll down for my new bio! And if you happen to be in the area, stop by the Buddhist Church of Oakland for Hanamatsuri! (4/4/10 @ 10 AM)