Good morning everyone!

Maybe Rev. Bob already told everyone why I was not at Ohigan service last week. I had a request from Rev. Ron Kobata, executive assistant to Bishop to be the guest speaker for the Las Vegas Buddhist Sangha. I call them Buddhist Sangha. Because they do not have their own temple yet. One of the Sangha members, Mrs. Caryl Suzuki told me that their Sangha is growing now. They are collecting money and saving donations to build their own temple.

When I received the request from Rev. Kobata to be the guest speaker in Las Vegas, I did not expect that it would also be my honeymoon, because I had no wedding plans back then. I realize again that we can never know what our future may be.

So, I asked Mrs. Suzuki to help me arrange to stay a couple of days more in Las Vegas. She gave her consent and kindly helped me. When I told her that our trip to Las Vegas for Sunday service, it would also be our honeymoon. She arranged for us to have a 2 room suite with a Jacuzzi tub. It was wonderful…and only $40 a night! Woo! Anyway we very much appreciated Mrs. Suzuki’s help and kindness.

Last Saturday, we arrived in Las Vegas at 11:30 A.M. And I had to officiate a memorial service at the Las Vegas cemetery at 12:30. It was a close schedule.

Then, on Sunday, we had a Sunday service at a community center. There were about 50 Sangha members. When I received the request to be the guest speaker for the Las Vegas Sangha, Mrs. Suzuki said “please talk for 30 to 40 minutes”. I replied “what? Over 30 minutes? I usually talk for 5-10 minutes for our Sunday services”.

So, I thought it would be difficult for me to make a 30 minutes Sunday talk. But, fortunately, I was able to do it. I talked about how to help a Sangha grow. I hope they enjoyed my talk.

From Monday to Thursday we had our honeymoon. On Monday, we went to the Grand Canyon North rim. We left Las Vegas about 7 A.M and reached the North rim before noon. This was my first visit to the Grand Canyon. Michiko visited the South rim last January. So, it was her second time to visit there.

I could not walk straight on one of the sightseeing paths… because the road was narrow and windy. Michiko walked fast. I held the handrail and walked very slowly. The walking path was on top of a huge rock. Both sides of the path dropped down into the canyons. The depth was over 1000 feet. I was so scared to look down at the bottom of the canyons.

That night we discussed where we go on Tuesday. She read a tour book and said “I want to go to the Death Valley.” Do you know where that is? It is located 150 miles east from Bakersfield in California.

On Tuesday morning about 6:30, we left Las Vegas. It took 1 and a half hour to drive to the Death Valley. The Death Valley is a land of extremes. It is one of the hottest places on the surface of the Earth with summer temperatures averaging well over 100 degrees. On June 19, 2005 it was 129 degree. And at 282 feet below the level of the sea, it is the driest place in North America with an average rainfall of only 1.96 inches a year. 1.96 inches a year… can you believe that? When we went to Death Valley, it was a day of heavy rain and only 80 degrees. I know we were very lucky to go to the Valley on that rainy day. Maybe that was the only day of rain they have all year… It is very difficult to describe the Death Valley, so I took many pictures. I will upload my pictures on my web site. So, you can all see them.

On Wednesday, we tried slot machines. I was ok. I won a little bit. But Michiko… she lost… please do not ask her about gambling in Las Vegas.

On Wednesday night we had dinner with some of the Las Vegas Sangha members at a Japanese Buffet. One of the members, Mr. Wayne Tanaka asked me “Rev. Kaz, do you know where we got our O-Butsudan altar”. I replied “I have no idea.” Then he said “our O-Butsudan altar came from Sacramento. Over 20 years ago, I drove a pickup truck to Sacramento. One of your Betsuin members donated their O-Butsudan altar to the Betsuin. It is about 5 feet 4 inch tall. Anyway, I picked it up and left Sacramento at 2 A.M. I arrived in Las Vegas at midnight. Almost 24 hours. And still now, we use it for our services. We really appreciate having the O-Butsudan altar from your Sacramento Betsuin member.”

Las Vegas city has their centennial anniversary this year 2005. I think we feel that Las Vegas is always creating new things… like new hotels, new casinos and new attractions. But the local people in Las Vegas love to keep their tradition going.

I think if people have their traditions, they feel comfortable and calm.

Fortunately, we have many opportunities to hear the Dharma and continue our Buddhist traditions. I think if we understand our traditions, they can help us to live more meaningful lives.

Michiko and I enjoyed the Las Vegas Sunday service and we enjoyed our honeymoon. Thank you very much everyone for giving us a chance to take our honeymoon vacation.

Gassho

Life is good…