In 2008, I was certified as a Minster’s Assistant—a first step in a long and often surprising journey to ordination and my current position as an Assistant Minister here at IOBT.  At the time of my certification,  I received my Homyo or Dharma name.  The name I received was Ren Sho 蓮生 “to live as a lotus.” The first character “ren” means “lotus” and the second character “sho” means “to live.”  The lotus is known for its beautiful flower, but what is especially impressive about the lotus is that the vibrant beautiful flower grows out...

The Package is The Message: A Guest Message by Keith B. Hopper NOTE from Rev. Anne Spencer: We always enjoy sharing insights and experiences from our diverse IOBT community. This month we are happy to share a reflection from Keith Hopper. Although Keith now lives in Florida, his early years were spent in Vale, Ontario, and parts of western Idaho. He graduated from Ontario High School. In 2022 he received a tip from a friend about our twice-monthly Tuesday evening online discussion groups and he decided to join us.  He has been a regular at our meeting ever since. Let us...

“I will gather the true words so they may help others to practice the way for Birth. My wish is that those who have attained Birth may lead those who come after them and those who aspire Birth may follow their predecessors, thus following one after another, endlessly and uninterruptedly, until this boundless sea of Birth-and-Death is exhausted.”  From Doshaku’s Anraku Shu quoted by Shinran Shonin toward the end of his Kyogyoshinsho) I think of this quote from Shinran Shonin’s Kyogyoshinsho when I think about our Issei (1st generation Japanese immigrants) and our...

On January 7, 2024 Idaho-Oregon Buddhist Temple held our Reopening/Dedication Service, celebrating our recovery after the fire in July of 2022. Rev. Jerry Hirano officiated the service and invited our two Assistant Ministers, Rev. Kathy Chatterton and Rev. Anne Spencer to share their thoughts as the temple reopened.   Photo (left to right): Mike Iseri (Temple President) Rev. Anne Spencer, Rev. Jerry Hirano, Rev. Anne Spencer at the Hoonko & Grand Reopening Service on Jan 7 2024.  In this blog, we are sharing summaries of Rev. Kathy's and Rev. Anne's reflections on the reopening...