Hello, at the May meeting, the board has decided that all the activities at Oregon Buddhist Temple will be cancelled through the end of June -- things will be assessed again at the June meeting. We will miss seeing each other physically for a bit longer, but this is definitely helping with the condition of pandemic in Oregon. Let us be patient to keep ourselves and your loved ones safe!
Another difficult decision the board had to make, is that our Obon 2020, is cancelled. Again, this is our wish to keep everyone safe. Obon is one of our biggest events and fundraiser at OBT. Obon commemorates one's ancestors. We, at OBT, celebrate Obonfest annually on the first Saturday of August with hundreds of participants enjoying the festivities (the dance! the food! the entertainments! ) The joyful Obon dances invite the community to celebrate and pay tribute to ancestors and those family members who have more recently passed. OBT is thinking of a creative way to celebrate Obon this year. And next summer, we will dance, dance, dance at the actual physical Obonfest 2021 !!!!
So, how do we, as a Sangha, keep connected with each other and the Dharma during this time of social distancing? We do have various social network means at OBT.
Please add to the above list, and consider subscribing to them :
Yuki Sensei has been very active through YouTube ever since the physical Services were cancelled. He gives short daily morning services at 8am (PST), and then the regular Sunday Services on Sundays at 10am. During the month of May, he is reading Gobunsho/ Letters of Rennyo in the morning services in both Japanese and English.
Northwest District Ministers Association consists of all ministers of the BCA temples in the Northwest district. Tune in to their Youtube Channel for the shared messages! Right now, you can watch the joint Hanamatsuri service with all the ministers Dharma messages!! More contents are upcoming to this channel, so please subscribe!
You can, ofcourse, keep in touch via phones and emails with Yuki Sensei and Board members. The surest way would be emails.
Yuki Sensei : ysobtportland06012017@oregonbuddhisttemple.com
OBT Board : board@oregonbuddhisttemple.com
And here is the phone number to listen to the Dharma message by BCA Bishop, Rev.Harada. Rev.Harada has been sharing many messages via social networks and BCA newsletters. He has also been meeting BCA youths via Zoom meetings!
If you can think of other creative ways to keep connected, let us know!
So please stay in touch, please stay safe. See you at virtual services!!
