Plenary Wrap-up Discussion: Is there a need for a sense of community among EBL temples?

After a full day of discussions, seminar participants came together for one more conversation, this time discussing whether there is a continuing need for a sense of community among the temples of the Eastern Buddhist League. Participants recognized that past EBL conventions provided a forum in which EBL members, primarily made up of Japanese Americans, could catch up with old friends, but that EBL temples today have changing, aging sanghas.

Addressing the question of the necessity of building a larger sangha, participants pointed out that temples can be stagnant, and that having a larger sangha allows for the introduction of new people and new ideas. Participants noted that newer temple members may gain greater value from the larger sense of community than the older temple members, since newer members can approach the larger community as a learning and training opportunity.

Some participants thought targeted seminars, such as this June seminar, might provide more value than the conventions, since the conventions are much larger and traditionally are targeted at families rather than individual Dharma seekers. Although seminars might be more limiting in terms of time and money, the resulting smaller participant pool also allows for more discussion. One participant noted that targeted seminars could be just as enriching and as community-building as the conventions, in that seminar attendees could take the ideas and connections back to their home temples.

Some participants also pointed out that while hosting the larger conventions have come to be seen as a huge burden due to the time, finances, and human resources required, host temples usually come away with some benefits in that a larger part of their sanghas, including members who do not usually attend the EBL conventions, usually can take part and be exposed to a large new group of people. There was also the suggestion that host temples could use the convention as a local publicity and outreach mechanism by inviting the outside community in to see and experience Jodo Shinshu.

The discussion also focused on possible reasons for declining interest in the EBL conventions, and on possible ways to reverse that trend. Several participants noted the lack of sufficient marketing for EBL conventions, and pointed out that merely sending out the schedule and syllabus often is not enough to convince people that the conventions are valuable and worth their time and money. One participant noted that we have traditionally failed to effectively market the value of having access to all of the EBL ministers at the conventions. Some participants thought more visual reminders of the larger EBL and BCA organizations would be worthwhile as marketing tools, although one participant noted that sometimes it is the personal invitation that makes a temple member finally agree to attend a convention.

Overall, participants seemed to agree that the EBL conventions and seminars continue to provide value to those who attend, and that greater efforts can and should be made to make this value more widely known.