Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday.
I wrote a few days ago a post encouraging you to think about making a donation to a temple on this day. It came to my mind that perhaps you may not know which are NONA temples and sanghas and how you can donate to them. Here is a listing and links I have received so far. Missing links will be updated as I receive them.
Here is a list:
Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of Greater New England – www.newenglandbuddhist.org
Houston – Myoken-ji – no link provided yet
Seattle – Enkyo-ji – www.seattlebuddhist.org
Rochester – Shoezan Enkyo-ji – www.rochesterbuddhist.org
Buffalo Sangha – Enkyo-ji – no link provided yet
Spokane – Enkyoji Buddhist Sangha of Spokane – www.enkyojibuddhistnetwork.org
In Southeast Asian countries people view the possibility of making a donation to the Buddha to be a great benefit. When I was in Charlotte many Vietnamese families would stop by and drop of fruits and vegetables even though they were not participating in the temple activities. To them just being able to make a donation was a great joy and opportunity to receive merit.
I’ve never really experienced people in the West as having that same kind of spirit. The fact that there are places to make an offering to the Buddha doesn’t seem to generate the same level of motivation to donate. I’ve been more frequently confronted with notions of when it’s convenient, or when I get around to it, or when I think about it; not exactly the same mind set as cultures steeped in Buddhism.
When you read the Lotus Sutra, in every instance when the Buddha is greeted there is excitement and offering made. The priests and shami in all of the listed temples do the work they do to provide training and facilitate services not from a desire to make money but out of their love for the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Yet, in each case these same people struggle to make ends meet and it weighs heavily on them the desire to offer more. How do they manage to offer more when everyone holds jobs outside to support themselves. Even myself, while I am retired, my pension check hardly meets my living expenses and I scrounge around looking for ways to supplement that check. I would like to do more and I know each priest and shami would like to do more, yet there is a limit.
If Buddhism is to grow and survive it will not be possible without donations from those who practice Buddhism.
Recently the few temples who were receiving some financial support from Japan had that support withdrawn as part of the realignment of Shumuin, the overseas bureau of Nichiren Shu. That means now all the NONA sanghas is the US must be self sufficient. There are some Nichiren Shu temples which are now not part of NONA in the US who receive support from other sources.
Further if NONA is to survive it too needs financial support. Here is something each and every person who reads this can do and it won’t cost anyone a penny. Amazon offers to make a contribution to any persons non-profit of their choice. It is called the Smile Program. By simply installing the button on your browser and then going through the Smile link most of the purchase you make through Amazon will result in a small contribution to your organization.
So far Smile and Amazon have donated $87.60 to Nichiren Order of North America. I alone have generated $41.20. I’m not posting my amount to brag, merely to point out that it seems obvious that there are many people who are not participating in this. Perhaps you have your Smile button linked to another cause, that’s fine. If you don’t have it linked please consider doing so. It doesn’t cost you anything and not doing it is like throwing money away.
Making donations to support Nichiren Shu and Nichiren Order of North America is critical. I am urging you to support Nichiren Buddhism in the US. For those who currently do make donations I thank and greatly appreciate your support. On this Tuesday perhaps you might consider adding a little extra.
I welcome any questions this blog may have generated in you.
With Gassho,
Ryusho Jeffus, Shonin, MDiv, BCC
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