Our Dharma School students were treated to a Dharma talk by Dr Mark Unno Sensei, our guest minister for our Hanamatsuri Service. Unno Sensei talked to the students about Amida Buddha in pizza. Everyone has their favourite pizza and Amida Buddha is in all pizzas because of all the myriad causes and conditions that contribute to the pizza: the farmer who grows the wheat that becomes the flour for the pizza dough, the cows that provide the milk which becomes the cheese; the tomatoes that grow from the soil, water and sunshine. All the pizza ingredients come together into a pizza because all the causes and conditions were just right for these individual ingredients to be produced and when combined together, become your favourite pizza. Amida Buddha's teachings are about the interdependence and interconnectedness of all life; the oneness of life which we can witness daily, if we're aware and we pay attention to all the details of life unfolding around us. Sensei Unno shook each student's hand after his Dharma talk. It was truly a privilege and an honor for our Dharma School students to have a customized Dharma talk from Sensei Unno.
In June, our Dharma School students will be participating in the annual Children's Hospital Run/Walk, followed by an outdoor Dharma School Service.
In gassho,
Karen Mizushima