My Heartfelt Thanks to Everyone Listed in Donor Appreciation Issue

This edition of the Wheel of Dharma acknowledges the many individuals who have contributed to the financial strength of the BCA. 

I wish to convey my heartfelt thanks to everyone listed in this Donor Appreciation issue. Your support and commitment to the BCA and to the Nembutsu teachings means that our future is secured.

I am reminded of why we started the Dharma Forward campaign. The campaign came together around the story of the monarch butterfly. It takes the monarch butterfly several generations to complete its full cycle migration back to its original home. Each generation builds on the efforts of the preceding generation to finally reach its most northerly destination; and then reverses its migration to head south to its ancestral origins.

Much like the monarch butterfly, each generation of Shin Buddhist followers has taken the mantle to lead BCA into the future. 

It began with the initial requests made by the Issei to the Hongwanji to send missionaries to the United States to meet the spiritual needs of a growing Japanese immigrant community, to the American-born Nisei leaders who stepped forward during World War II in the incarceration camps to plan for the future of the BCA, and who reopened and reestablished the churches and temples after the war and grew the network of churches and temples to meet the increasing demand of an English-speaking Japanese American community. Since 1899, we have been on that journey building on the successes of previous generations.

It is now the Sansei and Yonsei generations along with non-Japanese Shin Buddhist followers who now carry the mantle of leadership — it is now our time and responsibility to ensure that the Dharma is heard by future generations, so that they can receive the Nembutsu teachings and live a life of gratitude and appreciation. It is with deep reverence for all those who came before us that the Dharma Forward campaign was created.

Dharma Forward is our major campaign, so that the BCA, Institute for Buddhist Studies (IBS) and Shin Buddhism will continue to thrive in the United States and in the entire English-speaking world. 

Your Dharma Forward donations are currently being allocated in programs and initiatives that ensure that: 

• Shin Buddhism is a flourishing Buddhist tradition where the Nembutsu teachings are shared in perpetuity.

• Programs are in place to support and develop an engaging ministry to service the needs of a growing Sangha.

• BCA can support Buddhist Education, Technology and Outreach, and Facilities Upkeep and Maintenance so that our inclusive communities at each of our temples and churches can cultivate peace, understanding and compassion for everyone.

Donors who are acknowledged in this issue have also supported many other areas of need for the BCA. Most of these areas of need fall under the umbrella of Dharma Forward, but also include other specific programs including:

Social Welfare: providing grants to nonprofits that address human suffering and assisting those deprived of basic needs, along with efforts for disaster relief to victims of natural and human-caused disasters.

Dana Program: providing monies for the annual operations of the BCA that support educational and youth programs; Center for Buddhist Education (CBE) and IBS; publishing and distributing the Wheel of Dharma; administrative, legal and insurance costs of the BCA; and salaries and benefits of BCA staff.

Donors who have generously targeted specific BCA needs under the umbrella of Dharma Forward have supported:

• Center for Buddhist Education

• BCA Music Committee

• Student Financial Assistance Program for prospective candidates pursuing a career as a BCA Kaikyoshi minister.

• Ministerial Support for the legacy pension plan for retired ministers and wives.

• Debt Relief (formerly 4x4x1000) for the principal payoff of the BCA loan for the Jodo Shinshu Center (JSC).

• JSC/JSC Rooms for expenses related to the JSC.

• FBA Legacy for the publishing of the Wheel of Dharma.

• Koromo Fund for robes for new Kaikyoshi ministers.

• Bishop’s Expansion Fund for the Bishop’s discretionary support of new programs and initiatives.

• Zaidan collected at BCA events and meetings in support of the future of the Shin Buddhism.

We thank each donor for recognizing and generously supporting those needs that resonate most with them.

The generosity and dedication of our Sangha members and others outside of our BCA community to financially support the BCA, IBS and the Endowment Foundation reaffirms that I am not alone in my commitment that it is our time and our responsibility to ensure the future of Shin Buddhism in the United States.

Realizing the generational life cycle of the monarch butterfly, we too are continuing the legacy of the original pioneers who set up the Zaidan Fund in 1929 to build the financial resources for BCA, IBS and Shin Buddhism to thrive today and well into the future.

Thank you again for your support.

Kansha no kotoba mo orimasen.

Namo Amida Butsu