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The Buddha gave his first sermon near Varanasi, a holy city for Hindus. Today a constant stream of Hindu pilgrims comes to the city to worship, bathe in the Ganges River, and for some, to die.

On our India tour last month, a small group of temple members and I went to Varanasi after visiting Sarnath, where the Buddha first preached. The city is everything you’d imagine India to be: crowded with people, cows walking the streets, pigs loitering, bicycles, “tuk-tuk” auto rickshaws, cars honking, beggars, and even monkeys scampering along rooftops.

Along the city’s edge runs the Ganges, a holy river for Hindus, where on large stone steps people bathe, wash clothes, pray, make offering, burn fires and perform rituals. Alongside them, men tend to piles of

wood, burning corpses of family members.

The morning we visited, several such fires were burning. As we approached, I could clearly see the head, face and hair of an old man extending from a pile of burning wood.

In Hinduism, many rituals are associated with death, including cleaning and dressing the body, offering food and incense, and singing hymns, all of which traditionally are performed by family members. The body is wrapped in a cloth and taken to a cremation site.

During our journey through

various villages, our guide frequently pointed out families taking bodies to cremation. “There’s a dead body,” he’d say, pointing out the window of our tour bus. Atop a small car was tied what could have been a sack of rice, had we not been informed. Inside the car were crammed several members of a family.

The vast majority of people in India are cremated and there are few cemeteries. To see so many bodies headed for cremation during our short visit is testament to its commonness in everyday life.

Burning bodies holds great significance spiritually. It is believed cremation helps release a person’s “atman” or soul, freeing it from the body. In fact, a ritual of cracking open the skull during cremation, symbolizes this release. Afterwards, ashes ideally are disposed in the Ganges or some other river or ocean.

In the modern world, we mostly leave this entire process

UP IN SMOKEVolume 12, Issue 2 www.bombu.org February 2017

Bombu (böm’bü) means “foolish being,” filled with passions, emotions and shortcomings. To be bombu is to be human. According to priest Shinran, we are all bombu.

Monthly Bulletin of Berkeley Higashi Honganji Buddhist TempleBOMBU BOMBU

(Continued on page 5)

By Rev. Ken Yamada

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Date Day Time Event1 Wednesday 12:30 p.m. Mah jong club

5 Sunday 9:45 a.m. WBA meeting

10:00 a.m. Nirvana Day/Dharma School

2:00 p.m. All Together Now music (social hall)

2:00 p.m. Shigin group (mochi house)

11 Saturday 7:00 p.m. Concord Howakai

12 Sunday 10:00 a.m. Shotsuki service/Dharma School (India presentation)

4:00 p.m. Private party (social hall)

17 Friday Dharma Seeds retreat (Jodo Shinshu Center)

18 Saturday Dharma Seeds retreat (Jodo Shinshu Center)

19 Sunday 10:00 a.m. Family service/Dharma school/Dharma Seeds visit

2:00 p.m. All Together Now music

21 Tuesday 7:30 p.m. Temple Board meeting/ABA meeting

25 Saturday 9:00 a.m. Kurimanju making

4:00 p.m. Private memorial service

26 Sunday 10:00 a.m. Eitaikyo Perpetual Memorial Service

8 a.m.-6 p.m. Ohtani Basketball Jamboree (Berkeley High School)

March5 Sunday 10:00 a.m. Family service

12:00-5:00 p.m. Spring Food Bazaar

CALENDAR OF EVENTSFebruary 2017

BIG THANK YOU’S TO THE FOLLOWINGNew Year’s Day service Irving Yamashita (chairperson)

The Adult Buddhist Association (ABA) for sponsoring their annual appreciation dinner at Sichuan Style restaurant in Berkeley last month, attended by 37 people.

Bombu Bombu Email List thank you to Michael McCarthy for managing our BombuBombu subscriber email list for the past year.

Thank you everyone for your donations, time, energy and support. Because of you, our temple exists for us and for future generations. Help us by calling or emailing the temple if names are inadvertently omitted from acknowledgements or donations. Domo arigato gozaimashita!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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FEBRUARY TOBAN (Toban #2) Eiko Iwata, Connie

Morita, Toyoko Araki, Nina Costales, Jane Fujii, Anna Hightower, Alice Horio, Shirley Imai, Tazuko Jitosho, Chidori Kubota, Yukari McCarthy, Karen Morioka, Nina Rizzo, Christine Sullivan, Tomiko Tanigawa, Lorraine Yoshikawa

SHOTSUKI MEMORIAL SERVICE

We will hold our Shotsuki monthly memorial service on Feb. 12, at 10 a.m, which is also Nirvana Day, the day the Buddha passed into parinirvana at the age of 80. The following families will observe memorials for loved ones this month: Asazawa, Fujikawa, Garvey, Higuchi, Hirano, Honda, Ichioka, Ito, Jitosho, Kondo, Makishima, Mori, Nakano, Otani, Shinoda, Takahashi, Tanji, Uyeno, Yamada, Yatabe.

INDIA TRIP PRESENTATION After the shotsuki service on Feb.

12, Rev. Ken will show slides of his trip to India, featuring Buddhist historical sites, including the place where the Buddha attained enlightenment. Service will end early and the presentation will be in the social hall using the new wide-screen TV.

EITAIKYO PERPETUAL MEMORIAL SERVICE

February 26 at 10 a.m. will be our annual “Eitaikyo” service in which all families, past and present, who have shared a connection with our temple, are invited to attend. Traditionally we observe, not only the passing of our loved ones, but also gratitude to our ancestors, who are essential links in our existence. This tradition, which started in Japan’s Edo Period, hundreds of years ago, also is a way for people who live far away to observe a service for their families, listen to the Dharma, and make offerings to help keep the temple and Buddha’s teachings alive “perpetually.”

ABA MEETING The Adult Buddhist

Association (ABA) will meet after the temple board meeting Tuesday, February 21 (7:30 p.m.) in the social hall for Spring food bazaar planning. Anyone interested is invited to attend.

CONCORD HOWAKAI Monthly gatherings at the

Japanese American Religious and Cultural Center in Concord resume this year with a short service and social gathering on February 11 at 7 p.m. For more information, contact Rev. Ken. Everyone is invited.

OHTANI BASKETBALL JAMBOREE

Our temple’s Ohtani basketball organization will host its annual basketball jamboree on Sunday, February 26 all day at Berkeley High School. The one-day tournament has become a popular event for elementary school-age players from around Northern California and is Ohtani basketball’s biggest fundraiser. Come out, support your team, and check out what’s for sale at our famous snack bar!

WBA FOOD BAZAAR Our Spring food

bazaar will be held on Sunday, March 5 from noon to 5 p.m., sponsored by the Women’s Buddhist Association and the Adult Buddhist Association. Enjoy delicious Japanese food for lunch, early dinner or takeout at this annual fundraiser and community event. Please also come help on Saturday from 9 a.m., Sunday from 7 a.m. and throughout the day.

*Members and Supporters -- please don’t forget your baked goods and check the calendar for preparation times. Remember to invite your friends! Thank you.

UPCOMING EVENTS

General Membership Meeting

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BERKELEY HIGASHI HONGANJI1524 OREGON STREET, BERKELEY

SUSHI – TERIYAKI CHICKEN – UDONCURRY RICE – PASTRIES – CRAFTS

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to professionals at funeral homes and mortuaries. We don’t know the process, let alone see what happens. We’re only told afterwards that it is done. After witnessing the ancient way in India, I can’t help feel we’ve lost an important practice.

Grieving family members in India witness the disintegration of a loved one’s physical body, believing something eternal remains. Their ritual tells them to walk away “without looking back,” knowing the atman has been freed. I think they probably

feel more a sense of a whole connected universe than Western people and that it’s easier to “let go.” To think about these things is one thing; to see it is another. As a young person on our tour said afterwards, “I realize now my body is impermanent.”

A key difference with Hinduism is that the Buddha taught “an-atman,” with “an” meaning negation. In other words “no soul.” Everything is part of everything else, so there can be no separate “self” or “soul.” All is One.

People typically perceive death rituals and funerals as a way to express loss and to say goodbye. Stopping there means feeling empty and incomplete. In witnessing the Hindu practices, I feel we can learn from their ancient ways and how our own Buddhist death rituals can serve similarly to make us feel whole. It’s a way for us to connect the dots, to make sense of the universe, to understand life and death, and to see this world as One.

(Continued from page 1)

Bodi Day & General Membership Meeting

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バークレー東本願寺会報２０１7年 2 月号

2月お寺の行事予定

5日（日） 午前9時４５分 婦人会会議

午前１０時 家族礼拝・ダルマスクール

11日（土） 午後７時３０分 コンコード法話会

12日（日 午前１０時 祥月法要・家族礼拝

19日(日)　 午前１０時 家族礼拝・ダルマスクール

21日（火） 午後７時３０分 仏教会定例理事会

25日（土） 午前 ９時 くりまんじゅう作り

26日（日） 午前１０時 永代経法要大谷バスケットボール・ジャンボリー（バークレー高校にて）

3月５日　１２pm̶５pm 春日本食バザール

２月婦人会当番 岩田栄子、 森田カーニー、 荒木とよ子、 Nina Costales, 藤井 Jane, Hightower アンナ, 堀尾アリス、 今井シャーリ、 地頭所多鶴子, くぼた ちどり、 McCarthyゆかり, 森岡カーレン、 Nina Rizzo, Christine Sullivan、 谷川富子よしかわLorraineの諸夫人。（敬称略）

祥月法要今祥月法要は、12日（日）午前１０時より、今月の施主は浅沢,樋口、肥和、市岡、伊藤、地頭所、 毛利、中野、登、佐野、篠田、高橋、山田、横田、の諸家です。

永代経法要２月26日（日）午前１０時より、本年の永代経法要が勤められます。有縁の方々に法要後案内が発送されます。御家族おそろいでお参りください。尚、皆様からのこの法要への御寄付は永代経基金として積み立て、寺の有事の時に使わせて頂いています。

婦人会総会婦人会総会が２月5日（日）午前10時から開かれますが、会議まえの９時４５分より本堂で お焼香をし、会議に臨んで下さい。

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「脱真実」 （藤井 祐介　教学研究所嘱託研究員）

毎年、オックスフォード英語辞典が「今年のことば（流行語）」を発表している。昨年（二〇一六年）の「ことば」は「脱真実（post-truth）」であった。英国のＥＵ離脱問題や米国大統領選挙に関する記事・ 論文のなかで「脱真実の時代」「脱真実の政治」といった表現が頻繁に用いられたという。辞典は 「脱真実」を次のように定義している。「世論形成において、客観的事実が、感情や個人的信念に訴えるものより影響力を持たない状況」（『朝日新聞』朝刊二〇一六年十一月十七日付）。

　 つまりは、虚報や誤報が世論を動かす状況を意味する。「脱真実」はインターネットが普及した 二十一世紀に特徴的な現象のように思える。しかし、似たような現象は他の時代にも見られる。

　 例えば、米国のジャーナリスト、ウォルター・リップマンは一九二二年に刊行された著書『世論』のなかで「ニュースと真実とは同一物ではなく、はっきりと区別されなければならない」と主張している （掛川トミ子訳『世論』下巻、岩波文庫、二一四頁）。今から百年近く前、虚報であれ誤報であれ、 ニュースを「真実」として受け取る現象が見られたのである。リップマンによれば、「その真実がいかに 新聞のもうけにならないものであろうと、われわれは新聞が真実を提供すると期待している」 （前掲書一七〇頁）。これは二十一世紀の現在にも通じる問題である。「新聞」をテレビや インターネットに置き換えれば、これが昔の話でないことは明らかである。

　 では、虚報や誤報が「真実」として受け取られる状況に対して、何もせず、放置しても良いの だろうか。リップマンは次のように提言する。「生まれつき素人のわれわれが真理を探究する道は、 専門家たちを励まして、確信ありげな語調で語るいかなる異説に対しても応酬させることにある」 （前掲書五一頁）。

　 専門家同士が議論することによって、虚報や誤報が事実に基づかないもの、根拠のないものであることが自ずから明らかになるだろう。……しかし、専門家による議論の結果を、「素人のわれわれ」がそのまま受け容れるとは限らない。「脱真実」の時代にあっては専門家の議論を聞き流したり、 専門家の主張を「虚偽」と見て反発したりすることもある。「素人のわれわれ」にとって「真実」の 判断基準は、「事実を尊重するかどうか」「根拠があるかどうか」「論理的であるかどうか」ではなく、 「好きか嫌いか」である。好きな意見には耳を傾けるが、嫌いな意見は聞かない。

　 問題は「素人のわれわれ」に限ったことではない。なぜ、専門家の多くは、英国のＥＵ離脱を めぐる国民投票や米国大統領選挙の結果を予測できなかったのか。昨年を顧みて、「素人のわれわれ」だけでなく、専門家もまた「好きか嫌いか」を判断基準にしていたように思われる。専門家も個人的な 好き・嫌いの感情を予測に反映させたのではないか。好きな結果しか予測しない。嫌いな結果は 想定外にする。好きなものだけが「真実」となり、嫌いなものは「虚偽」となる。聞きたいものだけを聞き、見たいものだけを見る。専門家もまた「素人のわれわれ」と同じように「脱真実」の大海を漂っている。 これが「脱真実の時代」の特徴ではないだろうか。

Berkeley Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple1524 Oregon Street Berkeley, CA 94703U.S.A.

Address Correction Requested

WHITE ASHES(This letter written more than 500 years ago by Rennyo Shonin is often read at memorial service)

When we deeply meditate on the transient nature of this world, we realize with sorrow that life is fleeting. It is like an illusion from beginning to end.

Thus we do not hear of anyone living ten thousand years. Life passes quickly. Who among us can live a hundred years? Will I die first, or will my neighbor? Will it be today, or will it be

tomorrow? We do not know.

The people we leave behind and the people who go before us, are more numerous than dewdrops that rest briefly on leaves and branches. Hence, I may have a radiant face in the

morning, but in the evening, become no more than white ashes.

With the coming wind of impermanence, these eyes will eventually close, and this breath will be forever still. This radiant face will drain of life, its vibrant glow will disappear.

Family and friends may gather and grieve broken-heartedly, but to no avail. Nothing can be done, except to take this once familiar form to an outlying field. There, in the midnight smoke,

it vanishes, and nothing is left but white ashes. How pitifully sad.

Impermanence in this world creates a condition of uncertainty for young and old alike. Therefore, let us immediately take to heart the true nature of this world, and from here after,

live a life of deep reflection guided by the words Namu Amida Butsu.