Downloads: Registration and Agenda/Schedule

Below are links to download Registration Forms and Schedules.  Forms available in both Microsoft Word (*.doc) format as well as Adobe Acrobat (*.pdf) formats.  To download, simply click on the links below and choose "Save as".

Registration Forms

MS Word Format: RegistrationForm.doc

PDF Format: RegistrationForm.pdf

Agenda/Schedule

MS Word Format: Agenda.doc

PDF Format: Agenda.pdf

Break-out session topic descriptions

Please choose one of the following:

Rituals: Out with the old? In with the new? Buddhist temples on the East Coast used to be filled with Japanese Americans dressed in their “Sunday best”, the sounds of hymn-like gathas, and the smells of cooking rice. When attending temple services today, diversity can be seen not only in the Sangha, but in the way we do oshoko, the way we treat the naijin, and in the temple services themselves. • What temple rituals have gradually disappeared from temple etiquette and services? Are they missed? Are they necessary? Are there other ways of looking at these rituals?

Education and Outreach: Within and Beyond the Existing Sangha Designing class-appropriate syllabi and lesson ideas for Dharma School are as important as ever. But with many adult Sangha members new to Buddhism, Dharma School is no longer only for the children. Adult members bring with them a variety of experiences with religion and in learning the Buddhist teachings. And some adults may be interested in Buddhism without being aware of Jodo Shinshu and/or the local temple.
• How are temples instituting Buddhist education – both for children and adults?
• How are, and how should, temples perform outreach efforts?
• How can temples reach out to and accommodate multi-faith families?

Please choose one of the following:

Contemporary Practices: Woulda? Shoulda? What is the “right” way to practice? Many sanghas are consciously and inadvertently introducing or updating activities and practices at their temples. At varying times in the temples’ history, these activities and practices may have been considered critical, useless, non-Jodo Shinshu, or a practice borne of necessity rather than devotion. What role do they play today?
• Is the traditional Jodo Shinshu practice of deep listening enough in contemporary America?
• Is there a role for meditation in Jodo Shinshu, and if so, what is that role?
• What role can lay leaders play in services – indeed, what role are they already playing?
• In the traditional Japanese American Buddhist temples, there were fujinkais (women’s organizations), Young Buddhist Associations, keirokai (senior citizens’ groups), etc – are there new sub-groups today? What role can and do sub-groups play?

Questions of Culture and Heritage: “You can take the temple out of Japan, but…” Potlucks with big plates of chirashizushi and 5-layer jello. Annual Obon celebrations with Japanese folk dances and Japanese taiko drumming. Temple naijins glittering with gold and embellished with Japanese calligraphy. Many temples are struggling to find a balance between preserving the heritage of the Japanese American temple founders and increasing the temple’s mainstream American appeal.
• Is there such a balance? Does there need to be a balance? Or are some temples seeking more of a transition than a balance?
• Should the temple be responsible for preserving cultural heritage, or should the temple be strictly Dharma-based?

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