Presidents MessageApril 2007 In Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is one who has attained enlightenment, but postpones Nirvana to help others to attain enlightenment. I believe that I have recently met some Boddhisattvas. No, I didn't have an out-of-body experience- I attended the Buddhist Churches of America National Council Meeting. The meeting was held on March 9-11 in Oakland and was hosted by the BCA Bay District temples. As the governing body of the BCA, the National Council is headed by President Gordon Bermant, who led the group of over 160 delegates from every temple in our national organization. The council received reports from the many committees and acted on motions made before the group. Our temple is well represented on the National Council. Our two ministers attend the preceding BCA Ministers Association Meeting and are also members of various committees. Joyce Iwasaki is Co-chair of the BCA Campaign, Chair of the Student Financial Assistance Program Committee, a member of the Ministerial Development and Advocacy Committee and also got elected this year as a delegate-at-Iarge. Michael Jones is one of our voting temple representatives and a director on the BCA Endowment Foundation board. Gail Sueki is Chair of the Wheel of Dharma Advisory Committee. Tom Nishikawa is the Parliamentarian, the Assistant Treasurer of the BCA Endowment Foundation and President of the Western Adult Buddhist Legue. Sumi Tanabe is a director on the BCA Endowment Foundation and Chair of the Governing Board of the BCA Center for Buddhist Education, but was unable to attend due to a family emergency. Greer Nishikawa attended as a boster and successfully sold over $1 00 of our San Jose Obon rafle tickets to attendees from other temples. Thank you Greer! There were many reports presented, but the most pressing business topic was how to retire the debt that BCA has encumbered for the new Jodo Shinshu Center (JSC)(AKA Center for Buddhist Education). For various reasons, the building turned out to cost more than originally estimated, and the BCA Campaign, which was partially intended to fund the center construction, has been slow in its progress toward the goal of $30Miilion. The campaign has collected over $llM to date, but that is not sufficient to cover the cost of the building and approximately$11.9M in loans remains. Many different options were proposed and studied, but the council was divided on which course to pursue. Options included selling the BCA building, selling the Socho' s house, selling and leasing back the JSC building, and assessing $60 per member. Our Coast District ministers' proposal to retire the debt by assessing temples at a rate of $700 per member did not receive unanimous support and was therefore retracted. A loan from the BCA Endowment Foundation will allow payment on loans due and buy some time to restructure the remaining debt, but the only way that we are going to get out from this predicament is to either gi ve up our dream of expanding the Jodo Shinshu teachings here in the United States or to support the BCA campaign and raise the funds necessary to retire the debt. I do not want to give up our dreams -I want Jodo Shinshu to prosper and grow and be around for all future generations. Many people (including the Bodhisattvas that I met) have worked hard to get to where we are today, and it is our responsibility to make sure that their efforts have not been in vain. Please join me in a renewed effort to support the BCA Campaign by sending in your contributions. Let's make San Jose a leader by example. In Gassho, AI Hironaga |