Good morning everyone.

Thank you for coming to the end of the year Dharma school service. Michiko and I have now enjoyed our married life for over 4 months… without any troubles. In 2 weeks we will welcome the New Year of 2006. And also next year I’ll become 30 years old. I was only 26 years old when I came to the United States. Time passes so quickly. Are you looking forward to Christmas and New Year’s? I think we all are eagaly waiting for those fun events.

 Last week, I said that I am lucky to receive everyone’s help and support. So, I also hope to help and support all of you. This is the Buddhist way… Do you remember me saying that?

Yesterday, I had a good time helping with the Mochitsuki in the Kaikan. Friday night, Mrs. Reiko Kurahara told me “This year, we have 1400 pounds of Mochi rice”. “1400 pounds? I was very surprised and asked her “how many Mochi do we have to make?” She said “It is a lot! Rev. Kaz, tomorrow morning will you come 5:30 AM?” I replied “maybe I will”…1400 pounds is a lot of Mochi.

 Yesterday morning, I got up at 4:50 AM. And I came to the Betsuin by 5:50. When I arrived, Sports committee members, many parents and also Fujinkai members had already started molding the Mochi. Mrs. Reiko Kurahara came over to me and said “Rev. Kaz, this is a sample. Please make sure to make this size Mochi” I replied “Ok, no problem.”

I don’t know if I am good at making Mochi or not. But I can say that my Mochi making is fast. I can fill up one big tray of Mochi …in less than 10 minutes. There were 40 Mochi on one tray… so I was pretty fast.

In our Betsuin, we use Mochi makers, but when I was in Japan, my family used a wooden hammer and big stone bowl to pound Mochi. I heard that the Lodi Buddhist church has a Mochitsuki and they use the traditional wooden hammer and big stone bowl. It must take a long time for them to pound their Mochi.

Michi and I enjoyed helping at the Mochitsuki until around 9AM. I just made regular size Mochi, but she made the special Altar Mochi with Fujinkai members…. I think she was very good.

Mochitsuki is a part of Japanese culture. But in Japan today most Japanese people do not make mochi. They just buy mochi at the grocery store. And I think most Japanese people do not even know how to make mochi… So, when I came to the United States, I was surprised that many Japanese American people still continue to enjoy the Mochitsuki tradition.

If people are not interested in their culture, it is easy to lose their culture and their tradition. It is the same with the Buddha- Dharma. If people are not interested in Buddhism, it is easy for them to lose the meaningful Buddhist teachings. It may be difficult to keep something going. But it is very easy to lose something…or just let it go. Let us try hard to keep our meaningful traditions alive.

Gassho