Story of Tendai Buddhist Institute: Part VI
It’s June. Green is everywhere you look. Hummingbirds seem ravenous as they repeatedly sip the sugar water nectar from the feeder outside the kitchen window. The temperature fluctuates between very cool and warm. Last year this time Shumon, Koshin, Kaishin, me and sangha members were working at a feverish pace to prepare for the Betsuin Gyo (training for Tendai priests) and the visit by the Jigyodan (Tendai Buddhist Sect Overseas Charitable Foundation) joined by Tendai-shu dignitaries from Japan. I was remiss for not following up and filling in the blanks on their visit that took place around June 14th, the day of the ceremonies.
First a little background. Last year was the 20th anniversary of the consecration of our beloved hondo (worship hall) and the 30th anniversary of the founding of Karuna Tendai Dharma Center. Shumon and I left Japan after living there for almost six years in 1994, bought a former dairy farm and set about establishing a Tendai temple on the site using the house and former horse barn. On April 4th, 2001, members of the Jigyodan visited our humble temple. Without going into detail, what resulted from that visit is that that temple in a horse barn became Tendai-shu New York Betsuin, a branch temple of Enryaku-ji, the head temple of the Tendai school in Japan. We adopted a new name, Tendai Buddhist Institute. For a fuller account of that visit and the subsequent events see the June 2025 Shingi.
Tendai Buddhist Institute hosted the Tendai-shu New York Betsuin Gyo for soryo (monk/priests) in training from June 3rd – 13th. In itself the gyo is a concentrated period of demanding physical training. We chose to start the 20/30th commemoration as the gyo ended so the gyoja (gyo participants) could attend the events. The Jigyodan, gagaku (formal court music) musicians and VIPs, about 35 people altogether, arrived by bus from JFK airport on the afternoon of the 13th following a 13-hour flight from Tokyo, Japan. After a short visit to say hello and reacquaint themselves with the temple, the visitors continued to their hotel in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
That evening there was a welcome dinner for Japanese contingent at their hotel. Some of the people visiting us Shumon and I have known for over 35 or more years, some we have known since we became a Betsuin, and other we met for the first time, and it was their first visit to upstate New York. As an aside, when people in Japan hear about the Tendai-shu New York Betsuin they imagine we are in Manhattan, so it is a surprise – or a shock – to see we are so rural located in the foothills of the Berkshires, though they have been told this initially.
The following day, the 14th, we started early for the day’s events. There were quick walk throughs on the two ceremonies in the hondo. In addition to the people leading the ceremonies and the ‘chorus’ the ceremonies were accompanied by Gagaku (Japanese Imperial court music) and Shomyo (classical Buddhist chanting). The people officiating the services were; Ven. Kojitsu Kobori, Envoy for Tendai Zasu, the spiritual head of Tendai Buddhism of Japan and Abbot of Sanzen-in Imperial Temple in Kyoto, Ven. Hosono, Chancellor of the Tendai Administration, read by Ven. Ryoshin Shikama, Special Envoy from Head Temple of Tendai Buddhism and Cabinet Minister of Legal Division of Tendai Administration, and the Ven. Enmyo Shishio, Executive Director of Enryaku-ji Temple, the Head Tendai Temple in Japan. There were two congratulatory speakers at the end of the anniversary ceremony, Prof. Job Jindo, PhD., Professor at the Academy for Jewish Religion (see a copy of his address in last month’s Shingi) and Ms. Brenda Adams, Town of Canaan, NY, Supervisor.
The ceremonies began at 8:15 AM with the Tokudo (formal ordination) of Jiko Sophie MacArthur-Clark and Kairen Eric Russell commenced. With this change in ordination status Jiko became Jimon and Kairen became Kaishin. Once a person is publicly ordained and registered in Japan, they take a root name from their Master, in this case either Mon or Shin. Following the tokudo ceremony there was a short break, maybe 30 minutes.
Commencing at 11:00 AM the 20th Anniversary of the Consecration of the Hondo was conducted in both Japanese and English, the ritual acknowledged the role of the physical sacred space in the lives of the sangha. There were congratulatory remarks from Turkish community, the Catholic community, the Canaan Congregational Church and the Chatham Synagogue. From a personal perspective the ceremony included handwritten scrolls of recognition presented to Shumon and I from the Zasu (spiritual head of Tendai-shu) for our hard work in propagating the dharma outside Japan for so many years.
This was followed at 12:30 PM by an interfaith blessing of the ground for the Jizo garden which is in the process of being installed behind the hondo. Jizo is Japanese for Kṣitigarbha, a bodhisattva, whose name in English is ‘Earth Treasury’. He is normally represented as a monk and is the guardian deity for women, children and travelers. The service included blessings from leaders of the interfaith community in northern Columbia County.
A Japanese style Bento (boxed) lunch from a pan-Asian restaurant started around 1:00, this was accompanied by salads and desserts made by sangha members. The meal went on until late afternoon. It was a great way for the sangha, community members, interfaith leaders and the guests from Japan, to interact in companionship and shared communities. The Japanese contingent truly appreciated our modest attempt at Japanese foods. One of their responses was that the servings were so large. They especially commented on the rich American style deserts, which were so-o-o sweet. North American excess was on full display.
That evening there was a dinner for the people who had taken refuge that morning at a restaurant in Pittsfield that included the Tendai Buddhist Institute leadership, their families and the people taking tokudo and their families and friends.
Early the next morning the visitors were back on a bus to New York City for a two-night stay with group dinners, sightseeing and some private time to wander the Big Apple. Shumon and I accompanied them to the City for social events and some serious discussion time with Tendai-shu leadership. We saw the Japanese contingent off to JFK Airport on the morning of June 16th for their flight back to Japan. It seems they spent almost as much time traveling as on the ground in the States. Why was it important for the Jigyodan, dignitaries and musicians to travel so far for such a short visit?
Last year’s visit, every visit, is important for both Tendai-shu in Japan and for Tendai Buddhist Institute. The visits are important because they demonstrate Tendai-shu’s support of the Betsuin. They also acquaint temple priests and Tendai-shu in Japan with their overseas representative in upstate New York. There is certainly a language barrier during these visits, neither most sangha members nor most of the Japanese priests speaks the others language. None the less there seems to be a non-verbal communication that speaks volumes regarding the common understanding of faith and devotion in the Buddhadharma by both groups. A very special form of friendships develops.
During the conversations Shumon and I had with our Japanese brothers and sisters during dinners and time spent together in NYC there were several interesting comments.
One of the musicians of the gagaku ensemble expressed his admiration for the sangha. In Japan the members of traditional temples are danka. A centuries-old practice in which people belonged to temples because their families cremated remains are in the temple’s cemetery and they are members in order to maintain that tradition. A sense of obligation. There are shinja, members who are devoted, active, practitioners of the temple, but these people are in the minority. Whereas at the Betsuin everyone is a member because they have made an active choice to be so.
Several of the participants were very impressed that the sangha members recited the English version of the gongyo (the daily liturgy) so well, many from memory. This demonstrated to the Japanese participants devotion and sincerity by the sangha that is outstanding.
The Japanese could feel the harmony and joy between the 100 plus non-Japanese. This validated their long trip to participate in the Tokudo, Anniversary observance and Jizo Garden Blessing.
We thank the Jigyodan, dignitaries from Enryakuji, the Shumochu (Tendai administration), the gagaku performers and all the Tendai danka and sangha, inside and outside Japan from the bottom of our hearts for all they do for our temple, the sangha, and the dharma outside Japan.
Svaha.
Gassho with love . . . Monshin