BCA Celebrates 125th Anniversary Globally

Service Pays Tribute to Past — and Voices Optimism About the Future

FYI: To view the BCA’s 125th anniversary service, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALUQ5xxspsg

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The BCA celebrated its 125th anniversary Sept. 1, with speaker after speaker paying homage to the past — and to the countless individuals who have spread the Dharma — while voicing optimism for a bright future.

The entire day was a joyous occasion, starting with the elaborate Sunday morning service. It was held at the first BCA temple — the Buddhist Church of San Francisco — which is celebrating its 125th anniversary in December. Several temples and churches hosted watch parties, and the service was livestreamed and viewed around the world.

The special service was held in conjunction with the 850th anniversary of Jodo Shinshu founder Shinran Shonin’s birth and the 800th anniversary of the establishment of the Jodo Shinshu tradition. 

The entire BCA was on full display during the service, including: the flower offerings of BCA District representatives; the Northern California Gagaku Group’s performance of traditional Japanese court music during the ministers’ processional; the video presentation of BCA temples and churches; and the many contributions of the BCA Music Committee. The committee provided music videos “Storms and Peace” by Skylar Lam and Francis Wong and “Chizu Iwanaga’s Nembutsu” by Otonowa. 

The significance of the special service was underscored by the ritual performed by Bishop Rev. Marvin Harada known as Toraiban, or the accession on the dais. The actions in the bowing, or high ceremony, is considered to be the highest form of respect in the Jodo Shinshu Buddhist ritual tradition.

Following the reading of the congratulatory message by Gomonshu Kojun Ohtani, Rev. Harada delivered a message honoring the past — and looking forward to the future.

“Today, we stand on the shoulders of our predecessors,” he said. “For the past 125 years, countless ministers, lay leaders and members who founded our Buddhist Churches of America, who built and grew our local churches, temples and Sanghas, have carried us to this point in time. 

“Today, we stand on the shoulders of Shinran Shonin, whose life and teachings of encountering Immeasurable Light and Immeasurable Life through the Nembutsu make the Dharma accessible for anyone of any background, of any ethnicity, of any gender or sexual orientation,” he said, noting the contributions of “great Buddhist masters, teachers and lay followers who transmitted the Dharma” from ancient India to China to Korea to Japan and to the United States.

“May we challenge ourselves as we look to the future of our BCA, as we look to the future of our churches, temples and Sanghas, as we look to the future of Shin Buddhism to the West. Now it is our turn to be the shoulders for the future,” he continued. 

“We must do our part to listen to the Dharma with our whole being, to receive the Dharma in our hearts and minds and to transmit the Dharma,” Rev. Harada concluded. “We cannot shy away from our task or shirk our sense of responsibility. We cannot expect others to bear their weight on their shoulders. It must be our task, our challenge, to do our part in this generation to be the shoulders for the future.”

BCA President Steven Terusaki spoke about the great potential for Jodo Shinshu Buddhism in the United States.

“As I stand here today on September 1, 2024, I look around the BCA and see the many great opportunities that Jodo Shinshu can make in America, this America that’s currently divided, mistrusting and in despair,” he said. “Buddha’s great Wisdom and Compassion is here for everyone. We just need to make sure we are doing our part to share this hidden jewel.” — BCA President Steven Terusaki

Terusaki quoted from the September 2024 Wheel of Dharma article by Rev. Dr. Jean-Paul Contreras deGuzman, a Minister’s Assistant at the San Fernando Valley Hongwanji Buddhist Temple and a lecturer at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Rev. Dr. deGuzman taught a class at UCLA on Jodo Shinshu Buddhism in the United States. 

“Rev. Dr. deGuzman cares about carrying the torch of spreading the Dharma to those who haven’t heard the power of the Nembutsu teachings,” Terusaki said. “I love the statement that he writes: ‘Buddhism in America is not simply an ancient set of religious practices or an intellectual mind game or exotic superstitions or a passing trend, but rather a living, breathing system of awakening to one’s true self and true reality itself.’

“As I look to our future and to our next 25 years and our next milestone celebration of 150 years, I’m hopeful and optimistic of a BCA that continues to evolve and respond to challenges and create value and meaning for each and every one who encounters the Dharma,” he said. “As our 2024 BCA theme and our 125th anniversary theme states, ‘The Right Time Is Now,” so let us do our part in making it happen.”

Among the special guests at the commemorative service was Rev. Yoshiki Sonoda, a great-grandson of Rev. Shuye Sonoda, who, along with Rev. Kakuryo Nishijima, arrived in San Francisco on Sept. 1, 1899, at the request of the Hongwanji in Kyoto, Japan. The two missionaries came to the United States to establish the Hokubei Bukkyodan (North American Buddhist Mission or NABM), which evolved into the BCA.

In a videotaped message, Rev. Sonoda spoke about the many contributions that his great-grandfather made in little more than a year in the United States. On Sept. 24, 1899, he established a Hongwanji field office and began his propagation efforts, and established branches in Sacramento in December 1899 and in Fresno in January 1900. He was asked to go to Berlin, Germany, by the Honzan or mother temple in Japan, and left San Francisco on Dec. 17, 1900. He later became the dean of Ryukoku University in Japan.

“He not only taught to Japanese Americans, but also gave lessons on Jodo Shinshu Buddhism to the broader American audience in English,” Rev. Sonoda said. “Shuye’s propagational efforts lasted just over a year. But as we can see, he made the most of his time in America.

“The development of the BCA is undoubtedly due to the many Nembutsu followers who live in America and their many efforts and struggles,” Rev. Sonoda said. “But as one of his many great-grandchildren, I am extremely overjoyed to know that his modest efforts helped pave the way for the foundational beginning of the BCA.” — Rev. Yoshiki Sonoda, a great-grandson of Rev. Shuye Sonoda

The Dharma message was delivered by Rev. Dr. David Matsumoto, who recently retired as President of the Institute of Buddhist Studies (IBS). At the start of his message, Rev. Dr. Matsumoto quoted from one of Shinran Shonin’s passages:

“How joyous I am, my heart and mind being rooted in the Buddha-ground of the universal Vow, and my thoughts and feelings flowing within the dharma-ocean, which is beyond comprehension!”

— “Postscript, True Teaching, Practice and Realization” (“Collective Works of Shinran,” Page 291)

“Today, we reflect upon the significance of the 125-year history of BCA,” Rev. Dr. Matsumoto said. “And as we do, we come to understand that the working of the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha manifests in this life. It is active and working. It functions and operates within history here and now, manifests in the teachings of Shinran Shonin and the Pure Land masters, the religious lives, hearts and minds of Nembutsu followers everywhere, the spiritual awakening that is seen in the reality of the working Vow, and in the temples, the Sanghas and the institutions that have carried on the true essence of the Pure Land way.”

Rev. Dr. Matsumoto went on to describe the beginnings of the BCA, from the Japanese laborers who arrived in the mainland United States during the late 1800s and who urged the Hongwanji to establish temples and churches of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism. He also noted Shinran Shonin’s exile in 1207, when he was 35, as a result of religious persecution in Japan. 

“I have an image of Shinran Shonin in my mind,” Rev. Dr. Matsumoto said. “I imagine Shinran standing before the crashing waves and howling winds down the shores of the Sea of Japan. His entire life, his entire being was threatened with utter destruction. I can only imagine what was in his heart and mind, perhaps despair, perhaps resolve, perhaps thoughts and feelings not unlike those of the young Issei strangers in a strange land and giving voice to their deepest spiritual needs and concerns.

“In the midst of the most dire of circumstances, Shinran Shonin was able to hear a call, the calling voice of Buddha of Immeasurable Light and Life, the Primal Vow of Amida voicing itself to him as ‘Namo Amida Butsu,’” he said. “And his response was, ‘How joyous I am, my heart and mind being rooted in the Buddha-ground of the universal Vow, my thoughts and feelings flowing within the ocean, which is beyond comprehension.’ Shinran Shonin was able to awaken to and stand by the unshakable Buddha, ground of the universal Vow, and experience his thoughts and feelings soaring and flowing within the inconceivable Dharma ocean.”

Rev. Dr. Matsumoto said this was the working of the universal Vow of the Buddha of Immeasurable Light and Life manifesting history. 

“It was alive in Shinran Shonin and remains alive within his writings,” he said. “It is alive within the Hongwanji and the BCA and its many temples, alive within Rev. Sonoda and Rev. Nishijima and all the Kaikyoshi ministers that have followed, alive within the lives, hearts and minds of Nembutsu followers in the realms throughout time, across cultures. Beyond words, it is a living heart beating with significance, truth and reality.”

In closing, Rev. Dr. Matsumoto referred to the present.

“The conditions of our lives bring us face to face with challenges and then enable us to respond to them in our own way as we hear the Nembutsu and receive the Buddha’s basic wish of life,” he said. 

“We realize that we have choices in life and the choices we make will define who we are,” he continued. “We can run away from hardships or responsibility. We can live in denial or be paralyzed by fear or we can face the challenges of life as we awaken to the working of the Primal Vow in our lives and in this world. We will be able to face all the many frightening things of life. The Buddha-Dharma gives us the encouragement to live with courage and joy and provides us with guidance in making these choices.”

After the service, the day’s festivities continued for five hours with the BCA’s telethon. It featured videos about the history of the BCA and its affiliated organizations like the Federation of Dharma School Teachers’ League (FDSTL), the Social Welfare Committee (SWC) and the Federation of Buddhist Women’s Association (FBWA); the Institute of Buddhist Studies (IBS); profiles of temples and churches; in-depth interviews with ministers; an appearance by Bishop Rev. Harada and his friend, Freddie the Frog; the Dharma Forward campaign; as well as musical performances. 

The telethon raised over $50,000 toward the Dharma Forward campaign.