Have you tuned into Oregon Buddhist Temple's YouTube channel at 8am (Pacific Standard Time) ? Every morning, including Sundays, Rev.Sugahara gives a short morning service via our YouTube channel and his Facebook page (please look up Yuki Sugahara on Facebook and "like" the page if you haven't done it yet!). Since June 6th, for these short morning services, he has been sharing a verse from Wasan. (If you go to the playlist page of our YouTube channel, you can find the Wasan series!) A cup of tea or coffee and ten minutes of Wasan will start your day beautifully!
Wasan is a Japanese word literally meaning “Praising in Japanese,” and it is taking the form of poetry. Our founder Shinran Shonin (1173-1263) left over 500 wasan poems and it is compiled as Wasan of the Pure Land, Wasan of the Pure Land Masters, and Wasan of the Dharma-Ages.
One wonderful and thorough resource for Wasan poems in English, is The Collected Works of Shinran, a website by Rev.Diane Jishin of Myoko-in Temple. If you are interested in learning more about Shinran Shonin's writings after listening to our morning services, do check out the above website!
Please stay safe, and connected.
Namo Amidabutsu.
