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Dharma GlimpsesSome Jodo Shinshu followers break out with “NamuAmida Butsu” throughout their day. When I first no-ticed this, it made me feel uncomfortable. It seemedphony. Like a way to draw attention to how pious theperson was.ter if these people are sincere or phony. What mat-ters is: What about ME?I realized daily spiritual practice is a way to culti-vate awareness. I realized doing gassho can have agreat impact on my daily life. It would give me per-spective. I would do gassho:When something good happens;When I see something beautiful;When I get home;Before I eat;When I get into my car;Before I go to work.But I would especially do gassho:When I have a disappointment;When someone speaks ill of me;If I lose my job;When someone cuts me off while driving;When I’m frustrated;When I’m sick or injured.Adrienne Kimura Kubose, ttending two funerals gave profound insight into hu-man nature and families. Having few relatives here andbeing relatively young, funerals are few and far between.The first funeral was of a new relative, one through mar-riage only, quite elderly, and of new acquaintance. Shewas a very vibrant woman and well loved. Attending herfuneral, viewing others from an objective, outsider’s view,sometimes the strangest thoughts and memories passthrough one’s mind. As her grandchildren recalled won-derful times spent with their beloved nana, a memorysprang to mind of how irritated one of her granddaugh-ters was when her nana worried incessantly about aminor fender-bender involving her son. It’s so simple toobserve other people’s behaviors, but not see the samedynamics happening in one’s own family. The play, “OurTown,” touched on this very theme… Not appreciatingour loved ones and the beauty in life until it’s too late. The second funeral struck much closer to home.Mom’s best friend and a woman who was like family tous suddenly died, leaving an enormous hole in her fam-ily and friends’ lives. As her eulogy succinctly describedher, she was a true lady, humble and giving. Being thesame age as her son, growing up in the same town, ourmothers raised their families together. Seeing my friendAn open invitation is extended to Oneness Newslet-ter readers to join in our annual New Year’s Eve gath-ering on December 31. One highlight is a hot saketoast at midnight led by the Venerable GyomayKubose. Another highlight is everyone takes turnsstriking a bell for a total of 108 times. This year’s bellringing will have a special Y2K surprise.New Year’s Eve bell ringing is a traditional Japa-nese Buddhist ritual that focuses awareness on the108 “bonno” or human “limitations” such as anger,greed, ignorance, envy, hatred, arrogance, etc.Everyone should write down a bonno to work onfor the Y2K. This could be a bad habit, attitude,grudge, etc. We will have a “Bonno Burning” whereyou throw your bonno paper into the fireplace as astatement of your wish to get rid of that bonno.Festivities begin from 8:30 p.m. at Reverend Koyoand Adrienne Kubose’s home: 8334 Harding Avenue,and the house is 1/2 block south of Main Street. Inaddition to street parking, there is a parking lot on thenorthwest corner of Harding and Main.Please RSVP by December 28, 1999. Call (847)677 - 8211 and let us know what kind of pot-luck dishyou will be bringing.lose her mother, and thinking about aging and death,makes life seem clearer and simpler. There is a book called “The Japanese Cult of Tran-quility.” The description of the book talks about the deepacceptance of life and death that is part of Japaneseculture. Of course, Buddhism teaches exactly the samething. Families and friends express their love, apprecia-tion, and gratitude in different ways… words, gestures,gifts, or actions. The lesson I learned from these funer-als? Making sure this important message gets heard.Wanda Arakaki LeopoldASeasoningssayings to add a little flavor to lifeThe greatest abilityis dependability.If you have a good excuse,don’t use it.

Universal Teachings For Everyday Living Page 3

Universal Teachings For Everyday Living Page 3

Recently, I started thinking differently. It doesn’t mat-

Skokie, Illinois. Harding is one block east of Crawford,

New Year’s Eve Party