Dharma Talks

Good morning, everybody.

How are you? You are looking good today.

Do you remember what I talked about? I said I was not thinking of doing something special or big. What I want to do in Hawaii is what I must do. We have to evaluate what the ministers and members created in the past, analyze the present situation and step forward with a vision of our future together. For example, I am thinking of moving the photos of our former Bishops from the wall.

Looking at our history, we must understand what the past ministers and members did and how they contributed to this temple. We must examine how we have succeeded their efforts since then. Only then can we start discussing our future. However, this process is just a step within our preparation. After this preparation, we can discuss where to move the photos. When we find a nice place to move the photos, we must prepare for the new site such as by cleaning, nailing, or some other necessary thing. I was told that we had to think about the altar wall after moving them. Yes, it is important since there will be many pukas on the wall after moving them. Do you think that it would be good enough to fill them up? This main hall was built 10 years ago and this wall was painted at that time. This original white color must have changed. We can buy paint of the same color as the original. However, I do not think that they would match. I cannot imagine how different they are. If there is little difference between them, then we need not worry about it. If there is a big difference, it would become a big problem. We may have to think about painting both side walls. Or, we may have to think about painting the entire wall white. Thus, we have to consider and discuss many things and it would cost some amount of money to move the photos.

There are many other things that we need to address. For example, we have a small pond next to the mansion. It was once filled with water, but now it is empty. We tried to fill it with water, but found that the pond was broken. That's why it cannot hold water. It is dangerous as people could fall into the empty pond and hurt themselves. We are fortunate that it can be fixed. If not, we have to discuss the filling it up with sand or some other thing. We have other issues. Please look at the outside wall and roof of this main hall when you leave here. You can see the dirty spots and lines there. Also, please look below the roof of the mansion. Most of the paint is falling off. Rain gutters of the roof are broken also. What we must do is not just to fix them, but study why it happened and discuss how we can maintain them. Otherwise, we would be wasting time and money. There are many things that we need to discuss in order to maintain this temple.

This temple is yours. It used to be your parents' and grand parents' in the past. It will be you children's and grand children's in the future. We need to prepare the temple for them now. We have to make every effort not only for your faith but also for someone who left this temple to us and who will use this someday.

Please look around this main hall again. This is a bright and wonderful temple, isn't it? I love this temple. We need your help in order to maintain it and make use of it. Any help will be appreciated. Please tell us if you can do something. Please also tell us if you know of someone who can help us such as a friend or someone in your family. As long as he/she can help us, it does not matter who they are. Especially, we need people who are trained in carpentry and electrical wiring.

I know that many people think of chanting the sutra and meditating when we talk about Buddhist practice, but there are other things. The truth is that every moment of our daily lives is Buddhist practice. One important practice is helping with temple activities. These activities help us to realize the teaching of the Buddha and to maintain the temple where our practice takes place. Maintaining the temple is to offer a place where we can spread and practice the teaching. That's why the temple is important.

I hope many people will help and join in the temple's activities. We have many activities. For example, the Fujinkai offers craft class every other Wednesday from 9:30 am. My wife joined the class last Wednesday. To be honest, my wife is not good at crafts at all, but she learned many things and had a nice time. Please join the class. We have a special Bon Dance committee which is scheduled to meet again on Aug. 24th. We need more hands. If you have spare time, please help us.

Today, I have not spoken about dharma much. I want you to know about your temple. This is a very special and important temple for you. Let us work together.