On Saturday, January 9th, we will have our annual Hoonko Seminar -- this year's title is "Compassionate Listening: Therapeutically Engaging with Others and the Buddha-Dharma." The seminar will be led by Rev. Candice Shibata from Buddhist Church of Stockton in California. Rev. Shibata has a BA in Psychology from California State University, Sacramento. After graduation, she was a case manager for children with special needs. In 2009, she obtained her first Master of Arts degree in counseling psychology from the University of San Francisco. Following graduate school, she interned as a therapist at two elementary schools from 2009-2010.
In September 2012, she received Tokudo ordination in Kyoto and served as the minister’s assistant at the Buddhist Church of Stockton. She graduated with her second master’s degree in Buddhist studies from the Institute of Buddhist Studies and Graduate Theological Union in May 2015. One month later, she returned to Japan to complete her Kyoshi certification. Rev. Shibata became the resident minister of the Berkeley Buddhist Temple on January 1, 2016 and worked there for two years until her relocation to the Buddhist Church of Florin on January 1st of 2018. She began her new assignment at the Buddhist Church of Stockton on July 1, 2020. Rev. Shibata is the 4th generation Shibata to serve in the Buddhist Churches of America!
Rev.Shibata will draw on her experience as a psychologist and Buddhist minister in her presentation "Compassionate Listening: Therapeutically Engaging with Others and the Buddha-Dharma."
During this seminar, she will lead us in:
1) Looking at the differences of sympathy and empathy and how it can lead to compassionate action
2) Defining "attending skills," which are important to active listening and how it facilitates compassionate support to others
3) Exploring the therapeutic benefits of receiving and listening to the Buddha-Dharma
For more information, please visit our Hoonko Page : https://www.oregonbuddhisttemple.com/hoonko-seminar
