On April 18, I attended the Federation of Dharma School Teachers League (FDSTL) annual conference, which was hosted by the Central California Dharma School teachers and held at the Fresno Betsuin Buddhist Temple. The theme for the conference was, “Making the Dharma Come Alive,” with a focus on storytelling. I suggested to the planning committee that we have a Japanese storyteller that I met a year ago in Cleveland, Ohio. His name is Yasu Ishida and he is a master storyteller. He does this...

In April, my wife and I traveled to Las Vegas for both work and play. I conducted a funeral service for a Las Vegas Sangha member and also conducted the Las Vegas Buddhist Sangha’s Hanamatsuri service. When we go to Las Vegas, we often try to see a show or concert. There are so many wonderful shows to see in Las Vegas. This time, we went to see comedian Nate Bargatze, whom my wife often watches on his YouTube channel and on his new game show, “The Greatest Average American.” The show was...

I recently had the opportunity to see and experience the Techno Hoyo service that was created by Rev. Gyosen Asakura from Japan. Two years ago, the BCA brought Rev. Asakura from Japan to have the first U.S. tour of “Techno Hoyo.” Maybe some of you saw it at that time or on this most recent tour in February that included the BCA National Council Meeting and Northwest District Convention in Renton, Washington; the Mountain View Buddhist Temple; the Buddhist Church of Sacramento; the Fresno...