Reedley Buddhist Church










ONLINE SERVICES:
There are services online each Sunday at 10:00 AM. Please follow the link: https://mobile.twitter.com/fresno_nishi You can also watch the service afterwards since they are recorded.

WELCOME!
The Reedley Buddhist Church was established in 1936 with the Rev. Rijun Katsueda becoming the first resident minister. After World War II and the relocation of the Japanese residents, the church was rebuilt in 1952-53 and the Rev. Gibun Kimura became the third minister. In 1961, the Sunday School classrooms, conference room, office, and restrooms were started and completed in 1962. A boyhood statue of Shinran Shonin was donated by Mr. Seichi Hirose of Japan and placed in the U-shaped garden. The entire project was completed and dedicated on April 15, 1967.
Rev. George Shibata, our retired resident minister, began his association with the Reedley Buddhist Church in 1975 and completed 37 years in December, 2011. Rev. Hidehito Sakamoto was appointed as resident minister in March, 2012, until December, 2013. From January, 2014 through July 2015, the church was under the supervision of the Fresno Betsuin. In August, 2015, Reedley had three ministers under a shared system of the seven temples of the Central California District Council of the Buddhist Churches of America: Rev. Kakei Nakagawa, Rev. Alan Sakamoto, and Rev. Matthew Hamasaki. The shared system is coordinated by the Central California Ministers' Association, the CCDC Ministerial Advisory Committee, and the staff of the Fresno Betsuin. In December, 2016, Rev. Alan Sakamoto retired from the BCA. Rev. Matthew Hamasaki left in January, 2018, to become the minister in Sacramento, and Rev. Kaz Nakata was assigned to the Central California in August, 2019. At the present time, Rev. Nakata is the supervising minister of the Reedley Buddhist Church.
The church renovated the conference room and added a new kitchen facility in 2004. They added a new wrought iron fence surrounding the property in 2006, updated the hondo in 2007, and completed a storage building next to the small kitchen in 2008. The social hall bathrooms received an update in 2010 and in 2011 the grounds between the hall and the Japanese School building were graded and decomposed granite was added. In October, 2017 the church grounds between the hall the Japanese School building were cemented, and in January, 2018, a solar panel system went into service to minimize the utility costs. During the Covid pandemic, safety measures were taken and an AED was installed in the conference room, touchless features were added to the restrooms, and PPE were added so the members could safely return to church.
The membership is approximately 100 members. The Buddhist Women's Association, the Reedley Dharma School, and the Jr. Young Buddhist Association remain active and support all activities sponsored by the church.
The Reedley Buddhist Church welcomes you to join us at any service and encourages new members to join our organization.
Happy Hanamatsuri

Camp Dharma at Keola
The Reedley Buddhist Church will be sponsoring Camp Dharma at Keola once again! All church members, former church members, Dharma School students, church friends are invited to attend! It will be held on July 7 - 9, 2023 at Camp Keola at Huntington Lake. Click here to view and/or download the information and registration pages.
May Calendar
6 Reedley Dharma School Beach
Outing to Avila Beach 10:30 am
7 CCBWL Meeting on Zoom 7:00 pm
8 Mother’s Day
16 Reedley BC Board Meeting 7:00 pm
21 Gotan-E, May Shotsuki, &
Dharma Service 10:00 am
21 BWA assemble flowers for
cemetery following lunch
28 Social Hall Reserved - Hashimoto
Family
28 Reedley BC Memorial Day Service
at Church 7:00 pm
THANK YOU!
Thank you for your support of the Taste of Bazaar take-out dinner which was held on April 23rd! We received numerous compliments and happy that we were able to provide such a delicious meal! The hardworking members and friends were a well-oiled machine. It was nice to see so many of you! Thank you to Vickie Nishida for her leadership and organization of this fundraiser.
The Dharma School would also like to thank everyone for their support with their Country Store sales. They are using all their profits to send their Dharma School students to Camp Dharma at Keola Family Camp this summer!
Rev. Nakagawa's Message
May, 2023 Newsletter Article

Rev. Nakata's Message
May, 2023 Newsletter Article
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Gassho and Namo Amida Butsu, in
everyday life
“Gassho! Namo Amida Butsu, Itadaki masu! (Trans. Palms together! Saying of Namo Amida Butsu, I gratefully receive the meal in front of us which is prepared with the help and support of others, to nurture our body and mind.)”
Before every meal, our family members together say the words above with Gassho. My three girls leave for school at different times in the mornings, so they eat breakfast separately. (You know it is hard to wake them up early, because they like to sleep until the last minute.) We are able to have most dinners together, and I try to teach saying “Namo Amida Butsu” to make them aware of their custom as Jodo Shinshu Buddhists. When we eat out, we say “Gassho! Namo Amida Butsu, Itadaki masu!” Sometime other customers look us and wonder what we are saying.
Generally, the U.S. is known as a Christian country, but I rarely see people praying before their meal at restaurants (“Itadaki masu” is not a prayer). I often attend interfaith gatherings and eat together with Abrahamic religious pastors. I have not seen them pray before meals. Perhaps they are only required to pray before meal amongst their members.
I sometimes receive questions like “Do you say Namo Amida Butsu outside of the temples? You don’t do it, do you?”
My response is “I say Namo Amida Butsu with Gassho in everyday life, which is more than I say it at temples. But we do not compare or compete on how many times we say it with others. It is a reminder and awareness of appreciation to all sentient beings.
I moved to Central California in 2019, so this is my 4th year here. Whenever I have a chance, I try to attend meals, after funerals and memorial services, with members to deepen our friendship and get to know each other, especially Otoki (meal after funerals and memorial services).
I’ve heard that “when Rev. Kaz attends Otoki, he always shouts aloud “Gassho, Namo Amida Butsu, Itadakimasu!” Those who knows me will wait to eat until after my custom of expressing appreciation with a shout of “Namo Amidabutsu! Itadakimasu!”. Then I say “Let’s eat!” and people laugh.
Kudensho records our founder Shinran Shonin’s words and deeds. One Kudensho story tells that when Shinran Shonin attended Otoki after a funeral, he served Japanese Sake to mourners and made them laugh with funny stories of the deceased. He must have been a unique man…
I am not a big-name minister, so I have no skill to make people laugh at funeral luncheons with Sake, however I always hope that expressing my appreciation before meals with fun & personality, will ease some of the sadness felt by the mourning family members.
Whether I eat alone or with others, I always say “Namo Amida Butsu”, which gives me an opportunity to appreciate my presence as my life is maintained by all others.
After I moved to Central Cal, I added a new reading to Sunday Services. It is “Our Understanding of Jodo Shinshu.” I hope this helps you understand why we say “Namo Amida Butsu”.
I am one with everyone, I am a part of the world. I always receive help and support from others, which is called “other power”, to make my life enjoyable.
Although I cannot always be kind and gentle to others, others
always help me to make my life enjoyable.
How grateful I am that other people’s help and support appear
here and there, to make my life enjoyable.
When I feel the kindness of others, saying Namo Amida Butsu becomes my expression of deep gratitude....
Reverence for Shinran Shonin
I hope many of you will deepen your appreciation for you life by saying “Namo Amida Butsu”.
Gassho
Rinban’s Memo: Questions I
Received Recently
Question #1
Some people say that when science is developed there will be no need for religion, but what do you think?
Answer: The idea that the development of science will make religion unnecessary is usually based on the following view of religion.
It is the view that religion is the result of man's attempt to compensate for his own lack of knowledge and power by relying on some power greater than man.
It is the view that religion is an attempt to deal with or understand irrationally things that can be dealt with rationally or facts that can be judged rationally.
Looking at religion in this way, it is natural to think that as human knowledge advances and science develops, religion will gradually become less and less necessary.
Among the various religions, there are certainly some that should be dismissed as superstitions.
There is no doubt that the use of advanced medicine is more rational and effective than trying to cure illness with prayers and spells.
However, is true religion really such a thing?
True religion is not preached as a means to satisfy human desires.
Religion exists at the very edge of a human being's attempt to become a real human being.
In order for a person to become a real person, he must find his true self.
Science, by the way, is still trying to find out what man really is, and it has actually brought about a lot of understanding and knowledge about man, and there is still a doubt that if psychology and other sciences about man eventually develop, science will be able to help man find out what he really is. However, scientific knowledge about human beings has not been developed yet.
However, scientific knowledge about human beings is not based on what we think we should be, but on what we objectively observe.
Therefore, becoming a real person, as in religion, and finding one's true self, are beyond the reach of science. For this reason, it would be a mistake to think that the development of science makes religion unnecessary.
Question #2
There are many religions, but in the end, aren't they all the same?
Answer:
There is an opinion that all religions have different teachings and objects of faith, but they all end up in the same place, just on different paths. This may sound plausible, but it is a way of thinking that comes from a lack of true understanding of religion.
First of all, I think there is a problem with thinking of teachings as a path to something. All religions have their own teachings, but the teachings themselves are where we end up, there is no other place to end up.
A religion is a destination, or goal, for us believers, not a path or a means to an end.
All religions have different teachings, and directly related to those teachings are specific beliefs about how we should be, live, and act. And when we live out our lives in accordance with those teachings, then we can say that we are living in a religion.
In this sense, a certain religion relates to the entire existence of a person, and it is not a matter of using religion as a means to solve some problem at a certain time, choosing this religion for such and such a time and that religion for such and such a time.
Nevertheless, the reason why the idea that all religions end up in one place sounds meaningful is because the ultimate goal of all religions is the true happiness of human beings and true human beings.
That makes no sense at all. Because the question is, "What is true happiness, what kind of human being is a true human being?" You must know clearly that the abstract term "true happiness" itself is meaningless and empty for your real life.
If you define all religions with such meaningless words and say that they are all the same, it will be completely meaningless.
Websites for Dharma Talks
Just click a church/temple below for the link.
Fresno Buddhist Temple (Twitter)
Monterey Peninsula Buddhist Temple
New York Buddhist Church (YouTube Channel)
Oakland Buddhist Temple (YouTube Channel)
Orange County Buddhist Church (Online School: Everyday Buddhist)
Orange County Buddhist Church (Homepage)
Orange County Buddhist Church (YouTube Channel)
Orange County Buddhist Church (Podcast)
Oregon Buddhist Temple (YouTube Channel)
Buddhist Church of Sacramento (YouTube Channel)
Salt Lake Buddhist Temple (Facebook page)
Buddhist Temple of San Diego (YouTube Channel)
Buddhist Church of San Francisco (YouTube Channel)
San Jose Betsuin Buddhist Church (YouTube Channel)
Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple (YouTube Channel)
Tri-State/Denver Buddhist Temple
Watsonville Buddhist Temple

Reedley Board Meetings
The Reedley Buddhist Church Board started the year having their meetings online using Zoom, but moved to in-person when everyone was fully vaccinated. They have met each month and discussed ways to improve procedures when we return to on site church services and activities.
The restrooms have been updated with touchless faucets, soap dispensers, and paper towel dispensers. Doors to the restroom do not have any handles as they are being changed to push only. An AED defibrillator was purchased for any emergencies as well.
Church services resumed, but depending on the local health directives, this will change from month to month. We may be sitting further apart, but at least we'll be together to listen to the Dharma.

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2035 15th Street - P.O. Box 24
Reedley, CA 93654 Phone: (559) 638-2146
Email Church President,
Kliff Justesen
justkliff03@gmail.com
Supervising Ministers:
Rev. Kaz Nakata
rev.kaznakata@gmail.com
Rev. Kakei Nakagawa, Rinban
Fresno Betsuin Buddhist
Temple
Email Webmaster: reedleybc@gmail.com