New Hartford Buddhist Temple Celebrates 30 Years

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NEW HARTFORD, CT (USA) -- More than 100 people were on hand on Sunday afternoon to celebrate 30 years for the Dae Yen Sa International Buddhist Temple and Meditation Center and the ordination of two new monks.

<< Master Dae San Dasa leads a monastic ordination to welcome two new monks. This ordination took place at the Dae Yen Sa International Buddhist Temple in New Hartford as the temple celebrated its 30th anniversary. John Berry - Register Citizen

The temple, which was founded in Torrington in 1983, moved to its current location 20 years ago.

A Korean Buddhist temple, Dae Yen Sa welcomed Eduardo Barrios and Aaron Doyle as monks during an ordination ceremony that included prayer, food offerings, acceptance of the five Buddhist precepts and singing with the more than 100 guests inside the building located on Kinsey Road. A food reception followed the ceremony, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the temple.

Doyle, who’s Buddhist name is Bo Kyung Sunim, said being ordained as a monk is a new beginning. Doyle is from New Hartford.

“I’m excited to be beginning again,” Doyle said. The ordination was the culmination of eight years of service to his temple, and he said he’s still realizing the reasons why he decide to become a monk. He called it a process.

He said his goals were, “to deepen my practice and increase my motivation,” and that he looks forward to practicing his religion with the community.

“The support is a wonderful feeling,” Doyle said, speaking about the many people who saw and enjoyed his ordination at the temple. “There’s a certain amount of nervousness in the air, but having that support really kind of made it even out.”

Simply translated, “Sunim” is Korean for “teacher” and title is bestowed upon monks once they are ordained.

“It was just 10 years ago today or so that I was here and ordained. It was a wonderful day,” said Ban Ya Sunim, a monk. “I look forward to seeing the new monks create more monks and spread Buddhism throughout Connecticut and the world. If there’s ever been a need for it, there’s a need now.

Ban Ya Sunim was one of several other monks who oversaw the ceremony, which lasted about three hours. The ordination ceremony was led by Master Dae San Dae Sa from South Korea.

“Don’t be like Buddha, but be Buddha,” Ban Ya Sunim said before receiving an applause from the audience.

Lorein Cipriano is a member of the temple and a volunteer, one of about 30 present during the celebration.

“Some of the (volunteers) are connected to a temple in upstate New York, so a lot of those members came,” Cipriano said.

Her Buddhist name is Kong Duk Hang, which she said means “one who takes care of everyone.” She helped sell t-shirts and welcome guests inside the temple. She is also a teacher at the temple. She teaches Qigong, a 13-part exercise that helps strengthen the body and mind, Cipriano said.

“A lot of these people, some of them are from Korea, came here for this anniversary and for the ordination,” Cipriano said.

A monastic ordination welcomed new members of the temple to complete the day’s celebrations inside the temple. A majority of the guests and members then walked outside to enjoy a vegetarian meal.

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Watsonville Buddhist Temple celebrates Hanamatsuri

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Watsonville, California (USA) -- Watsonville Buddhist Temple celebrated the flower festival, Hanamatsuri, on Sunday in an annual tradition marking the birth of Buddha.

<< Rosellen Mastoris of Watsonville stops to smell the flowers as she browses through the Flower Festival displays at the Watsonville Buddhist Temple on Sunday morning. (Kevin Johnson/Sentinel)

Siddhartha Gautama was born in what is now Nepal on April 8, 566 B.C., festival organizer Perry Yoshida told the crowd at the start of the festival, which ran from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The local celebration brought springtime joy to the temple near Riverside Drive and Bridge Street near the ball fields behind Watsonville High School.

Yoshida said they were expecting between 300 and 400 visitors for an event that is part outreach, involving temple members making and selling food and other items, including fresh produce.

Food and flowers brightened up the temple's gathering hall and festival attendees lined up to scoop up bundles of both. They also milled about displays of floral arrangements, handmade dolls, and scrap books showing local Japanese and temple history. Others watched demonstrations on stage, including a demonstration by Salinas Kendo Dojo.

Also on display was a floral altar, or hanamido, that represents Buddha's birthplace, Yoshida said.

He said the special altar holds a festival allure and "allows us to express our respect and reverence toward the Buddha and his teachings."

In the temple, the Rev. Shousei Hanayama discussed the meaning of the festival after giving a tour. The temple was lushly adorned with bright flowers and gilded fixtures, as well as

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candles, scroll-like artwork on the walls and more.
At one point, Hanayama told those gathered that life is fragile -- "one crazy person and we might die" -- and he said to enjoy the festival offerings and life in general.

Watsonville Buddhist Temple is 170 years old and was moved to its current location after World War II, he said.

During a question-and-answer period, Fran Marshall of Santa Cruz said her mother told her that the Japanese-American internment was in part due to jealousy in those who had seen Japanese immigrants making "fruitful, lovely land" in the area.

"They had three days to move out; it was a land grab," she said.

Hanayama acknowledged the envy and greed and discrimination in the world.

"We have discrimination; everyone has it," he said. "If you don't accept that in your mind, you can't solve that problem."

Later, he said the temple is open to all and that "everyone has damage to overcome."

After his short talk, a warm and smiling Hanayama said it was all going pretty well. He said that they had prepared for days.

Two younger temple members, Alex Tao, 13, and Jordan Chin, 10, were sitting outside the hall, eating and talking.

Tao said he enjoyed the food the most, especially the sushi, sesame salad and chicken.

Nearby, Dennis and Lola Hamada were walking his 91-year-old mother, Michiko, to the car.

"The festival is coming along just fine, with all the displays and the food," said Dennis Hamada, who grew up in Watsonville and now lives in Belmont. "Part of it is social, too. I wish we could stay longer. But my mom is tired, and her baseball game is on.

"But every week there is something going on; it's part of the fun."

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Delhi celebrates great Buddhist monk Atisa

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NEW DELHI, India -- A three-day international conference and exhibition on Buddhism, with special focus on the great monk Atisa Dipamkara Jnana, is being held at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) from Jan 16-18.

The conference is an attempt at building a cultural bridge between India and China as it brings together a bunch of brilliant minds from several countries researching the life, works, path and legacy of Atisa (as he was popularly called).

"The effort is a celebration of peace, compassion, love and sacrifice, symbolized by Atisa," says Dipali Khanna, member secretary, IGNCA.

"It's also an attempt towards rewriting a forgotten page in the history of India which highlights values and social conventions that are a need of the day," says Prof Shashibala, International Academy of Indian Culture.

Eighteen eminent scholars, monks, archaeologists, art historians, explorers and experts from museums abroad and India, will participate in the conference. These include Atmadi Brahmantyo (Indonesia), Christel Pilz (German), Dan Martin (Israel), Gabrielle Yablonsky (USA) and Liu Yongzeng (China).

The exhibition will also showcase photographs of temples, monasteries and relics of Atisa documented from remote areas of western and central Tibet and China. Documentaries on the life and legacy of Atisa will be an added attraction.

The highlight of the event will be a colourful dance performance in Odissi on 21 Taras and special interactive workshops showcasing butter sculptures of Buddhas and sand mandalas.

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U.N. Celebrates Buddhist International Day of Vesak

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New York, USA -- Vesak - signifying “Buddha's Birth, Enlightenment and His Parinirvãna (passing away) - is the most sacred day in the Buddhist calendar. In an era where the world is darkened by multiple conflicts and natural and man-made calamities, the Buddha’s message of non-violence, understanding, compassion and peace, is powerfully relevant. 

<< Ban Ki Moon with the Sri Lankan Ambassador Dr. Palitha Kohona in the General Assembly.
Photo: Sri Lankan Mission to the U.N.

The United Nations celebrated the International Day of Vesak on May 7, 2012 at the U.N. General Assembly Hall. 

Visakha in Pali means the sixth month and is known as Vaisakha in Sanskrit. People in Thailand call it Visakha.  Visakha Puja means the chantings and offerings initiated in the sixth lunar month.  However, as people in Sri Lanka have called this event Vesak,  the United Nations too have adopted Vesak as the official term and have officially recognised it as one of its International Day, as stated in the U.N.’s GA Resolution 54/115 of 2000.

Since then, the International Day of Vesak has been commemorated annually at the United Nations Headquarters as well as its offices worldwide. The unique feature of the celebrations is that each year a different Permanent Mission to the United Nations hosts the event. The Vesak event this year included cultural activities, supported by a number of Buddhist and non-Buddhist countries.
This year's Vesak Day was also commemorated with a series of events organized by the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in New York with the generous assistance of other missions.  The heads of the United Nations bodies along with other senior officials of the UN system attended the occasion. 

Permanent Representatives of Member States also attended the event and a number of them addressed the gathering.  A large number of Buddhist monks from around the world also participated, along with religious dignitaries from other major religions.

The holy day of Vesak is observed traditionally by Buddhists in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the South East Asian countries of Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, and Indonesia.  Interestingly, the decision to agree to celebrate the Vesakha as the Buddha’s birthday was formalized at the first Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists held in Sri Lanka in 1950, although festivals at this time in the Buddhist world are a centuries-old tradition.

Following the special commemorative event in the General Assembly Hall, cultural performances was held at the Visitor’s Lobby of the UN, depicting the rich Buddhist heritage of the organizing Member States. The day concluded with a food festival hosted by the organizing Member States, representing delicacies from over 19 nations.

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Buddhist Temple of Salinas' Obon Festival celebrates ancestors, religion

Unique scents, sights and sounds filled the grounds of the Buddhist Temple of Salinas on Sunday as about 1,000 people ate Asian cuisine, played games and watched a variety of traditional Japanese cultural performances.

As part of the congregation's annual Obon Festival ? the temple's largest fundraiser ? families gathered to celebrate a 500-year-old Japanese tradition of honoring the departed spirits of their ancestors. The Buddhist custom has turned into a family reunion during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves.

Kathy Dairokuno-Smith drove with her husband and two children from San Jose to visit the temple and Salinas ? her hometown.

"We come [to the festival] every year to see family and people we haven't seen in a while," said Dairokuno-Smith. The Obon Festival this year is the Temple's 85th celebration in Salinas.

On one side of the Temple, near an outdoor stage decorated with pink, green and blue hanging lanterns, people lined up at the game booths to toss a ball into a bowl, a bean bag into a hole or a ring onto a one-liter soda bottle to win tickets for prizes.

People who were hungry followed the aroma of beef shish kabobs, lumpia, sushi, teriyaki chicken and noodles outside and inside of the Temple's gymnasium. The smell of fresh flower arrangements filled the outdoors.

Meanwhile some paid for raffle tickets to win a variety of home electronics. Festival organizers said the money generated from the raffle and other sales will be used to pay for temple and gymnasium repairs.

"This event demonstrates the vibrant Asian community that lived on the other side of the tracks," said Larry Hirahara, a member of the congregation. Hirahara said a significant Asian community lived in the neighborhood in the 1920s where the temple was established in 1924.

One of the Japanese dances demonstrated Sunday included the Bon-Odori dance ? long a part of the Obon tradition.

"The dance shows our happiness to our ancestors, especially those who passed away in the last year," said Reverend Shousei Hanayama, of Watsonville. Hanayama has been the temple's reverend for two years.

"The dance is also a symbol of recovery from sadness and grief of losing a loved one," said Hanayama.

Back by the game booths hundreds of people gathered around the outdoor stage to watch the San Jose Taiko performance, a group of professional drummers and dancers who wore traditional Japanese outfits.

Brandi Irwin of Salinas held her 14-month-old baby, Jack, as she danced to the festive beats of drums, the sounds of a flute, cymbals and shakers.

"I've came to the festival every year since I was a little girl," Irwin said. "When I was little my favorite part of the festival was the flower arrangements."

Irwin said she has a kimono ready for Jack to wear once he starts walking. Irwin's husband, Darin Irwin, and her mother, Marilyn Morris, stood by her side.

"Earlier my son and other grandchildren, who wore kimonos, were at the festival," said Morris. "They had a great time too."

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