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Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple

  • Shinnen En Kai


    On Sunday, January 29, 2012, the Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple hosted its annual Shinnen-enkai at the Venice Japanese Community Center.


    Food & beverage was catered by Cherrystones, and special entertainment was provided by Grateful Crane Ensemble.


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  • Southern District Jr YBL Seminar 1


    Five members of VHBT Jr. YBA attended the Southern District Jr YBL Seminar 1 at the Arizona Buddhist Church in Phoenix, Arizona, on the weekend of Jan. 14-15, 2012.


    Photo Gallery >>

  • Boy Scout
    Sangha Award

    Intro to Buddhism


    An Introduction to Buddhism class is currently being held on the 2nd and 4th Friday of each month from 7:30PM - 8:30PM. Classes are free, and will fulfill the requirements for the Sangha Award (Boy Scouts), Padma Award (Girl Scout Cadettes), and Dharma Award (available to all).


    Note: please feel free to attend even if you are not going for a particular award.


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  • 7th Annual Film Festival


    Around the beginning of the common era, Indian Buddhists began collecting fables which used animals to illustrate various human virtues and foibles. The Buddhist Education Committee will be presenting a series of movies centered around animals: modern animal fables. Screenings will be held at the VHBT from March - April starting at 7:00PM, with a discussion of possible Buddhist themes following each movie.


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  • 2012 Temple Board Members Temple Board 2012
    Click picture to enlarge
    Photo courtesy Ken Chen

    Happy New Year 2012


    From Temple President Tom Yamaguchi:


    Greetings, VHBT Members and Friends. As we usher in the New Year, I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve you and the temple. I will work hard and tirelessly to meet the needs of the membership. I am honored and humbled for this ...


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  • Boiler Fabrication


    We had a lot of compliments on the consistency of our mochi this year. One of the reasons, we believe, was our use of rice boilers/steamers that were newly constructed this year by Eric Schmid, Joe Belli, and Dale Noriyuki. Fortunately, Eric took a number of pictures, as well as some video, to show us the process.


    Photo Gallery >>

  • Mochitsuki


    Read outgoing Temple President Dale Noriyuki's words of appreciation for everyone's participation in this year's mochitsuki.


    Dale's photographs can be viewed in the photo gallery.

Sensei's Monthly Message

  • Sometimes, The Easiest Things To Say Are Also The Most Difficult

    I would like to begin by first saying “Thank You” to everyone who has taken the time to comment on our temple's bulletin board. It is nice to know that people do take the time to read what has been written. Putting out a bulletin board message is not necessarily an easy thing to do. First, there is the limitation of length and then there is the time consuming task of actually pushing all the letter pins onto the letter board to form the messages. I am very lucky that we have someone at the temple who is always so very eager to volunteer to do this very tedious task.

    Recently, we have been writing very short messages. They are only one or two words long. Hopefully, people aren't disappointed in how simple these “messages” have been recently. On our message board we have written (will write) “Welcome,” “Thank You,” “I'm Sorry,” and “Please.” The reason for this is because these are some of the easiest words to utter, but sometimes are also the most difficult words to say. Being able to utter these four different expressions are typically not that hard to do. They are such simple expressions that for the most part we take for granted our ability to utter them. We can say them anytime. It may be partially for this reason that we often neglect to say these words: we can say them anytime.

    On the other hand, however, despite knowing how easy it is to speak these words we also understand the tremendous meaning they have. Sometimes the responsibility associated with these words may make it difficult for us to say, and because of this we find ourselves sometimes hesitating to say them. Unfortunately when we do, we sometimes find ourselves concluding, “It is now too late to say” and we lose our chance to speak them.

    Like these expressions, the Nembutsu or Namo Amida Butsu is also very easy to utter. Like these expressions, the Nembutsu also has tremendous meaning. It has behind it the Vow of a Buddha to save all sentient beings. Hopefully, we do not find ourselves ignoring or hesitating to say expressions like “Welcome,” “Thank You,” “I'm Sorry,” and “Please.” Hopefully, too, we do not find ourselves ignoring or hesitating to say Namo Amida Butsu. This is because although sometimes the easiest things to say are the most difficult, they often are also the most meaningful as well.

    Rev. John Iwohara