Namo Amida Butsu

I went to service this morning at my temple, the Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple and I feel great! I showed up at 9:30, the usual time, and to my dismay, I saw all these cars in the parking lot. The reason why I like to go on Saturday is precisely because hardly anyone goes so I figured that there must be some event going on. I called my friend Brad because I saw his car and he told me that there was a dharma teacher workshop and that there would be no morning service. I went home kind of bummed and got settled into an episode of Mad Men and some strawberry yogurt for breakfast. Ten minutes later, Brad calls me back to tell me that there is in fact service and it's at ten. I was kind of over it but because I live so close to the temple, there was really no excuse for me to not go back. So I did. And I'm so glad because I had a great time this morning!

One thing that Rev John said today that stuck with me is that every experience has meaning. This made me reflect on the experiences that I have had recently. It's easy to feel that good experiences have meaning such as having a fun time with a friend brings you closer or getting that promotion at work brings you a sense of accomplishment. It's harder to feel that way about bad experiences.

But Rev John is right. The betrayal that I experienced last year, though utterly horrible, has a wealth of meaning. I learned a lot about what it means to be family and to be a friend. I learned a lot about myself and the things that I want to change in order to be the person that I want to be. And after the initial hopelessness passed, I finally took my first step on MY path, the healthy one that I have been searching for for a long time.

I hope my path includes a family and children. Rev John spoke about the moment you meet your child for the first time and how there are many causes and conditions that lead up to that miraculous moment. I believe that this is true and what happened last year is just one of the many causes and conditions that will hopefully lead me to my future family.