Dear Friends of the Dharma,

In my neighborhood there is a beautiful tree called the Golden Shower Tree. It literally shower down golden petals in the breeze, as well as having a very lovely, spicy aroma. The picture on our Homepage shows this tree, and it made me recall words from Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra, “showering madarava flowers on the Buddha and the great assembly.” It seems wherever I go these days I am thinking of the Lotus Sutra.
I hope all of you are still doing well and staying safe from the virus. I say the words for the Pandemic everyday as I do my sutra recitation, hoping that you and all living beings will be safe. It’s been quite a while since we have seen one another face-to-face, but our weekly Zoom meetings help a lot. Like many of you, I have learned so much from our Sunday study sessions with Rev. Sugino of NY Church. If you haven’t tried these, please consider doing it. We are very grateful for this opportunity to share with NY members, as well as members from Chicago and Canada among others. Don’t forget you can send them a donation.
Not only are we pretty much staying in our homes, but the extreme heat of late makes us stay inside even more. The early mornings and evenings are lovely, but either the heat or the darkness quickly comes. I hope you find time every day to see the beauty around you and to feel gratitude for your precious life.