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On our way to visit Buddhist sites in India in January, my wife and I checked into a clean but very plain hotel. Upon entering our room, we heard a slow plodding sound of “plop, plop, plop…” It was unmistakably a dripping toilet.

My wife ordered me: “Fix it!” I jiggled the handle but the sound continued. I called an attendant into the room, who also jiggled the handle. He emerged with a big smile and said, “Fixed!” We heard “plop, plop, plop…”

“We can’t sleep in this room!” my wife declared. I asked the attendant, “Can we change rooms?” He looked confused. I asked again. He went down to the front desk and returned with a big smile. “Okay!”

We moved across the hall. Immediately we heard the roar of traffic from the road outside the window. Cars honking, motors roaring, cows mooing. I told my wife, “The other room was much quieter!” I asked the attendant, “Can we go back?” He looked confused. I asked again. He said, “Okay!”

My story may seem reasonable in America, but this was India and we later realized how bizarre we must have seemed to hotel staff.

And we learned something about selfishness, the nature of happiness, and the Buddha’s search for enlightenment.

In the area surrounding Bodh Gaya, where the Buddha attained enlightenment, people still live today like they did in ancient times—selling fruits and vegetables from carts pulled by water buffaloes, tending to goats, burning cow patties for fuel, cooking over open fires, and living in homes built with local clay.

Their lives are simple by Western standards. Women carry baskets on their heads, men without animals pull their own carts, windows are mere holes in buildings without glass,

merchants squat next to goods spread out on blankets. The main road is paved, otherwise the ground is dirt and the air is dusty. This is village life in Bihar, India’s poorest state.

The average American lives at a level of comfort and convenience that most Bihar residents will never in their lifetime achieve or experience. Yet, Bihar villages are bustling and full of life, with people working, going to school, making crafts, farming, selling, shopping, socializing or just hanging out. By contrast, Americans, despite having so much more, never seem content. We tend to base our happiness on getting what we want, which always is more than we have. It’s never-ending.

More than 2,500 years ago, the Buddha pondered this same conundrum, remarkably in Bihar, which once was called Magadha. Before enlightenment, he was called Siddhartha, born the son of King Suddhodana. The king provided his son with a life of luxury in his palace.

Our tour group stayed mostly at luxury hotels, welcomed every morning by a huge buffet offering a wide array of Western breakfast

MIDDLE PATHVolume 12, Issue 4 www.bombu.org April 2017

Bombu (böm’bü) means “foolish being,” filled with passions, emotions and shortcomings. To be bombu is to be human. According to priest Shinran, we are all bombu.

Monthly Bulletin of Berkeley Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple

Rev. Ken Yamada

BOMBU BOMBU

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APRIL TOBAN (Toban #2) Eiko Iwata,

Connie Morita, Toyoko Araki, Nina Costales, Jane Fujii, Anna Hightower, Alice Horio, Shirley Imai, Tazuko Jitosho, Chidori Kubota, Yukari McCarthy, Karen Morioka, Nina Rizzo, Christine Sullivan, Tomiko Tanigawa, Lorraine Yoshikawa

SHOTSUKI MEMORIAL SERVICE

Please note, our Shotsuki service will be held on April 2. The following families will observe memorials for family members who passed away this month: Fujikawa, Yokota, Nakai, Araki, Nakamura, Nagatoshi, Ouye, Otani, H. Fujii, H. Ouye. We hope you’ll attend this month’s Shotsuki service.

Celebrate Hanamatsuri! “Birth of the Buddha”

Our annual service commemorating the birth of Shakyamuni Buddha, which occurred 2, 600 years ago, will be held on Sunday April 9. This is a special service in which we pour sweet tea over a baby Buddha statue, symbolizing the sweet rain that fell the day he was born. We will decorate the altar with

UPCOMING EVENTS

Date Day Time Event2 Sunday 10:00 a.m. Shotsuki/Dharma school service

2:00 p.m. All Together Now music

5 Wednesday 12:30 p.m. Mah Jong club

6 Thursday 1:00 p.m. Omigaki altar polishing

8 Saturday 12:00pm Hanamido altar decorating

9 Sunday 10:00 a.m. HANAMATSURI Buddha’s birthday service

14 Friday District ministers meeting (Los Angeles)

15 Saturday Southern Cal Dobo retreat (Los Angeles)

16 Sunday 10:00 a.m. Family service/Dharma school

18 Tuesday 7:30 pm Board meeting

19 Wednesday 12:30 p.m. Mah Jong Club

22 Saturday 10:00 a.m. Berkeley Dobo retreat

7:30 p.m. Concord Howakai

23 Sunday 10:00 a.m. Family Service/Dharma School (speaker: Rev. Nobuko Miyoshi)

30 Sunday 10:00 a.m. Family service/Dharma school

May 7 Sunday 10:00 a.m. Family service/Dharma school (speaker: Mr. Rami Elkinaway)

CALENDAR OF EVENTSApril 2017

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lots of flowers the night before. Lunch will be served. Schedule: Everyone is invited to the following activities: Omigaki: Thursday, April 6, 1:00 p.m. Hanamido altar flower decorating: Saturday, April 8, 12:00 p.m. Hanamatsuri service: Sunday, April 9, 10:00 a.m. Please join us for this special service, which includes a skit by our Dharma school. All Dharma school students are encouraged to attend. Lunch follows the service!

DOBO RETREAT On Saturday April 22, we will

have a one-day retreat/seminar at our temple sponsored by our Higashi Honganji North America District (NAD) with Rev. Nobuko Miyoshi of West Covina Higashi Honganji, speaking in English, and Rev. Ryoko Osa, of the North America Higashi Honganji Bishop’s office, speaking in Japanese. Please see the attached flyer for more information. In addition, Rev. Miyoshi also will speak at the Concord Howakai on Saturday night at 7 p.m. and the

next day (April 23) at our 10 a.m. Sunday service. Please join us!

TEMPLE LIBRARY We have several new

additions to our Buddhist library near the temple’s front door, including more books by Thich Nhat Hanh, whose books are easy to understand, as well as DVDs on World Religions, including Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism. Other books on Jodo Shinshu, Zen, general Buddhism and the Buddha’s life are available. Check it out!

ISLAM TALK Next month at our May 7

Sunday service at 10 a.m., our guest speaker will be Mr. Rami

Elkinaway from the Council on Islamic American Relations, who will talk about Islam and Muslims in the U.S.. He also teaches Islam and coaches a youth basketball team at a local Islamic Center. Muslims today face many of the same challenges Japanese Americans faced 60 years ago. Please come hear this special guest speaker.

PLEDGE DONATION Many of you received a

request for our annual pledge donation. The upkeep, repair and maintenance of our temple, as well as various programs and activities depend on the support and generosity of our members. Unlike other organizations, we don’t require a membership fee, however we do rely on voluntary pledge donations from our members. If you’d like to make a pledge, simply send a check for any amount, marked “2017 pledge” to the temple, payable to Berkeley Higashi Honganji. To everyone who has pledged already for this year, we thank you very much.

(Continued from page 2)

Spring Bazaar

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Credits:This is a publication of the Berkeley Higashi Honganji. Please contact Rev. Ken Yamada at 1524 Oregon Street, Berkeley, CA 94703. 510-843-6933. www.bombu.org. ken_yamada@rocketmail.com. Newsletter design by Kevin Sullivan

items, Indian food and even some Asian dishes. I thought how Siddhartha in the palace must have awoken to what seemed a similarly huge buffet, especially compared to what villagers outside the palace gates were eating.

Despite living in such luxury, Siddhartha ultimately was dissatisfied, prompting him to leave home and seek spirituality in the forest. There he met five ascetics with whom he followed severe practices such as living in poverty, wearing rags for clothes and constant meditation. He fasted so much, he began to resemble a skeleton, mere skin and

bones. This phase of Siddhartha’s

life is symbolized in a statue of him in meditation. My tour group presented me with a replica on our trip, a picture of which accompanies this article (Thanks everyone!)

Siddhartha became so weak, he collapsed. He was nursed back to health, first with a bowl of porridge given by Sujata, a young village girl. Siddhartha came to understand the folly of living to the extremes of self-denial and luxury. Instead he began to follow the “Middle Path,” accepting his basic needs, but taking only what is necessary to live.

I know now why the attendant looked confused by my request. He and other villagers will never in their lifetime stay in a room as luxurious ours. How could we possibly be unhappy with it? He must have thought we were crazy.

After returning home, I really feel how as Americans, we have way too much stuff. I don’t need more, in fact, I’m trying to clean out and give away things I don’t use. I really question the role materialism plays in achieving happiness. According to the Buddha, not much. It’s been easier to let go.

(Continued from page 1)

BIG THANK YOU’S TO THE FOLLOWINGSPRING FOOD BAZAAR Thank you to all the WBA and ABA members, various helpers and friends with their time, efforts, crafts and baked goods to help make The WBA Spring Bazaar another success. Our apologies if any names were inadvertently left off the lists.

Saturday Preparations: Janice Adachi, Wendy Adachi, Toyoko Araki, Nina Costales, Chris Fujii, Jane Fujii, Anna Hightower, Hiroko Higuchi, Akiko Imai, Shirley Imai, Eiko Iwata, Itsuko Jitosho, Tazuko Jitosho, Iris Morioka, Karen Morioka, Connie Morita, Dorise Ouye, Kellie Ouye, Judi Tanaka, Debbie Yatabe, Lorraine Yoshikawa

Baked Goods: Clayton Au, Shirley Imai, Chris Fujii, Karen Morioka, Satoko Davidson, Jane Fujii, Dick Horio, Eiko Iwata, Wendy Adachi, Tazuko Jitosho, Mayumi Beppu, Lynne Ogawa, Julie Kihara, Lorraine Yoshikawa, Lisa Toyama, Dorise Ouye, Darlene Wong, Grace Goto, Sachi Yamada, Laura Imai, Yukari McCarthy, Anna Hightower

Crafts: Naomi Yamada, Karen Morioka, Janice Adachi, Wendy Adachi, Anna Hightower, Akiko Imai, Jane Fujii, Shirley Imai, Nam Fujii, Nina Costales

Volunteers: Jack Toyama, Owen Morioka, Taro Raskin-Yokoyama, Peter Sullivan, Taro McCarthy, Joey Ouye, Kenny Ouye, Mayumi Beppu, Leslie Shintani, Judi Tanaka, Darlene Wong, Patti Yamashita, Lynne Ogawa, Laura Imai, Kayoko Raskin-Yokoyama, Lowell Toyofuku, David Asazawa, Paul Asazawa, Steve Yatabe

Teriyaki chicken: Irv Yamashita, Jimmy Kihara, Mike Yatabe, Dave Yatabe, Steve Morioka, Adult Buddhist Association, and others

Udon: Lowell Toyofuku, Paul Asazawa, David Asazawa, Steve Yatabe

Higan service: Mr. dii Lewis (guest speaker)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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HIGASHI HONGANJI NORTH AMERICA DISTRICT

2017Northern California Local Dobo Retreat

If you have any questions, please contact your local temple or the district office at:Higashi Honganji North America District Office505 E. 3rd St., Los Angeles, California 90013

Phone: (213) 621-4064 / Email: northamerica@higashihonganji.org

Detach Here

I would like to participate in the Northern California Dobo Local Retreat (English Group).

Name Phone # or email

__________________________________________________ ________________________________

We wish to invite you to attend the 2017 Northern California Local Dobo Retreat of

the Higashi Honganji North America District. The lecture and discussion sessions

will be given separately in English and Japanese. To register, please send the

application form below to your local temple.

DateSaturday, April 22, 2017

Time10:00 am — 4:00 pm

Speaker—English GroupRev. Nobuko Miyoshi (West Covina Higashi Honganji)

Speaker—Japanese GroupRev. Ryoko Osa (North America District)

LocationBerkeley Higashi Honganji

1524 Oregon Street, Berkeley, California 94703Phone: (515) 843-6933

Fee$12.00 (Lunch included)

Please make your check payable to

Berkeley Higashi Honganji.

Fill out the form below and send it to your temple by April 15 (Sat).

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東本願寺北米開教区

2017年北加地区同朋研修会

ご質問等ございましたら、北米開教監督部までお気軽にお問い合わせ下さい。東本願寺北米開教監督部505 E. 3rd St., Los Angeles, California 90013

Phone: (213) 621-4064 / Email: northamerica@higashihonganji.org

北加地区同朋研修会（日本語グループ）に参加致します。お名前 お電話または email

__________________________________________________ ________________________________

東本願寺北米開教区主宰による2017年北加地区同朋研修会を下記の通り開催いたしますので、ご案内申し上げます。講義及び話し合いは英語と日本語のグループに分かれて行われます。参加をご希望の方は、下記の申込用紙にご記入の上、お手次の東本願寺までご送付いただきますようお願い申し上げます。

開催日2017年4月22日 （土）

時間10:00 am ̶ 4:00 pm講師‒英語グループ

見義信香師 （ウェストコビナ東本願寺）講師‒日本語グループ長良子師 （北米開教区）

会場バークレー東本願寺

1524 Oregon Street, Berkeley, California 94703電話: (515) 843-6933

参加費$12.00 （昼食代を含む）

チェックの宛名は Berkeley Higashi Honganjiにてお願い申し上げます。

ご記入の上、4月15日（土）までお手次の東本願寺宛にご送付いただきますようお願い致します。

キリトリ線

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バークレー東本願寺会報２０１7年 4 月号

4月お寺の行事予定2日（日） 午前１０時 祥月法要、家族礼拝、ダルマスクール

８日（土） 正午　　 花御堂おかざり、内陣お荘厳

9日（日） 午前１０時　　 花祭り法要

16日（日） 午前１０時 家族礼拝、ダルマスクール

18日（火） 午後７時半　　 仏教会定例理事会

22日（土） 午前１０時 同朋セミナー

　　 午後７時　 　 コンコード法話会

23日（日） 午前１０時　　 家族礼拝、ダルマスクール

30日（日） 午前１０時　　 家族礼拝、ダルマスクール

4 月当番: 岩田栄子、 森田カーニー、 荒木とよ子、 Nina Costales, 藤井 Jane, Hightower アンナ, 堀尾アリス、 今井シャーリ、 地頭所多鶴子, くぼた ちどり、 McCarthyゆかり, 森岡カーレン、 Nina Rizzo, Christine Sullivan、 谷川富子よしかわLorraineの諸夫人。（敬称略）

祥月法要: 今月の施主は、藤川、横田、中井、荒木、藤井、杉原、中村、高田、永利、大上、大谷の 諸家です。お誘い合わせお参り下さい。

花祭り法要: お釈迦さまの誕生を祝う「花まつり」法要は、４月9日（日）午前１０時より 勤められます。「花祭り」法要は、当寺の三大法要（他の二つは、７月のお盆法要、１１月の 報恩講）の一つです. 招待演説者は羽田信雄先生です（米田仏教センター）。お誘い合わせ お参り下さい。

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「阿難」とは誰のことか（竹橋　太　教学研究所所員）

お釈迦さまがなくなってから、教団は長老の大迦葉と阿難などによって受け継がれたようです。

お釈迦さまの言葉を記憶して、それを「如是我聞」と語りはじめたのが、その阿難です。

阿難は釈尊のいとこで提婆達多の兄弟です。記録によって兄とも弟とも言われています。伝説では

釈尊三十五歳の成道（おさとりをひらかれたこと）のときに生まれたので、それを喜びとしてアーナンダ

＝歓喜という名前がつけられたとも言われています。

お釈迦さまが成道後、生まれ故郷のカピラヴァストゥにはじめて説法に行かれたときに、一族の者が

たくさん弟子になったようです。阿難もそのひとりのようです。その時に弟子になったとすれば、阿難はもう

少し早くに生まれていたと思います。しかしその時から阿難は常随昵近（じょうずいじっきん＝常に

おそばにつかえること）の弟子としてお釈迦さまと離れることはありませんでした。お釈迦さまが

なくなったのは八十歳のことですから、阿難は四十数年の間おつかえしたことになります。また経典を

暗誦したのが阿難であるならば、たくさんの説法を聞いて、よく仏法を理解していたと考えられます。

ところが、今残されている経典を見る限り、阿難はそのように描かれてはいないのです。

釈尊が最後の旅でペールヴァ村で病に倒れますが、いったんは回復します。それに安心した阿難に

向かって、こう言われました。

阿難よ、比丘たちはわたしに何を期待するのだ。私は内外の隔てなしに法を説いた。阿難よ、如来

（わたし）の法には、師拳（しけん―師だけが特別に持っている秘密の真理）はない。――中略――それ

故に、アーナンダよ、この世で自らを燈とし、自らを依り所として、他人を依り所とせず、法を燈とし、法を

依り所として、他のものを依り所とせずにあれ。（パーリ『大般涅槃経』）。

何ももう教えることはないのだ、ひとりで歩め、こうお釈迦さまは阿難に言われるのです。

そばにいるから聞こえないことや、見えないことがあるのかもしれません。阿難は、どうしてもお釈迦さまに

頼ってしまって、自ら考えることを止めてしまっています。しかし「頼る」ということは、「あの人は素晴らしい」

という自分の評価によっておこるものです。それは実は自分の思いです。お釈迦さまを特別なものとして

いる自分自身を信じている、そういう問題が阿難にはあるのです。

阿難とはいったい誰のことなのでしょうか。私たちも親鸞聖人を宗祖と言っていますが、そこに同じ問題は

ないでしょうか。そのことが見えてきたとき、はじめて師が言葉として、「如是我聞」の内容として私の中に

生まれるのではないでしょうか。

Berkeley Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple1524 Oregon Street Berkeley, CA 94703U.S.A.

Address Correction Requested

NO EXTREMES“The following thought occurred to me: ‘How if I take food little by little, a small quantity of the

juice of green gram, or vetch, or lentils, or peas!

“As I took such a small quantity of solid and liquid food, my body became extremely emaciated… Just as a string of beads, even so did my backbone stand out and bend in for lack of food. Just as the rafters of a dilapidated hall fall this way and that, even so appeared my ribs through lack of sustenance. Just as in a deep well may be seen stars sunk deep in the water, even so did my eye-balls appear deep-sunk in their sockets, being devoid of food…”

“The ascetic Siddhartha was now fully convinced from personal experience of the utter futility of self-mortification which, though considered indispensable for deliverance by the ascetic philosophers of the day, actually weakened one’s intellect, and resulted in lassitude of spirit… He conceived the idea of adopting the golden mean, which later became one of the salient features of his teaching.”

(from “The Buddha and His Teachings” by Narada Maha Thera, Singapore Buddhist Meditation Center, 1973, available in our temple library. Check it out!)