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LIVING IN GRATITUDE
100 years of Buddha Dharma in Canada
In 2015, the Living Dharma Centre presented essays in honour of our 110th anniversary of Buddhism in Canada. These selected essays from our ministers, minister’s assistants and lay members as well as reflections from previous Canadian ministers will show you our various reflections of thoughts based upon our Shin Pure Land Buddhist tradition. We hope that this compilation will help lead you towards your journey of life following the Middle Path and of Gratitude.
In Deepest Gratitude,
Amy Wakisaka
Former Program Director, Living Dharma Centre & JSBTC Director
by Larry Wakisaka
One beautiful fall day the bazaar arrived. I watched as people allowed in surged towards the right to the Hondo to discover the bazaar delights which awaited them. I noticed one exception.
by Rev. Masumi Kikuchi-Taniji
I shed a tear over the sight of the “Mother Octopus”. She was born into this world, matured, became a mother and protected her babies with her life “as a matter-of-course”.
by Rev. Robert Gubenco
We live in a life of duality; therefore, if “Misery Loves Company” then “Gratitude Loves Company”.
by Teruko Ikuta
I found that compassion wherever I went, kind, experienced and wise people were always there to help me. Thus I deeply feel that every day of the sixty years I spent with my late husband in the temple world was a precious learning experience.
by Rev. Fredrich Ulrich
I lay in the grass, feeling the earth breathe. The waving prairie grass bore a lesson. I would later call this Dharma. This was a place of no place, the addressless.
by Tanis L. Moore
I am grateful to have found a place where I feel welcome and at home, and accepted for who I am. The temple has allowed me to explore the Dharma and become more “myself”.
by Anthony Chor
Being in my mid-twenties, life can get pretty busy and a little bit scary sometimes, but I plan to continue to remain mindful of the remarkable events that have brought me to the teachings and continue to be there for the Jodo Shinshu community.
by Rev. Yasuo Izumi
The popularity of Buddhism is growing. The Buddhist group in Canada, however, is rapidly declining in the number of members across Canada. Some leaders worry about the finances of the kyodan. Some people, on the other hand, quote the following words of Master Rennyo.
by John Skelton
In the course of life, each of us will lose someone or something that we love deeply. It is when we lose that person or thing that the strength of our attachments is revealed most profoundly.