THE EKOJI SANGHA OF RICHMOND
Lineage
As Japan prepared for World War II, a young man named Kennryu Tsuji received ordination from the Nishi Hongwanji sect of Shin Buddhism. Tsuji’s strong education from the University of British Columbia and his extensive knowledge of Buddhist teachings had prepared him to be a great patron for compassion and peace in the English-speaking world, but the war had else in mind for the young, Buddhist monk. Reverend Tsuji’s friends and counselors advised him to leave Japan for Canada as the looming threat of war became a horrible inevitability. Rev. Tsuji took their advice and boarded a ship bound for Canada – the last ship to leave Japan before the war (ekojirichmond.org).
Upon arriving in Canada, Rev. Tsuji was appointed the minister of the Hompa Buddhist Temple in Vancouver. He did not hold the position for long. Japan entered the war in support of the Axis powers and Rev. Tsuji was forced into a concentration camp along with every other Japanese citizen of Canada and the U.S. His education afforded him an opportunity during this difficult time to take appointment as the principal of a Japanese Canadian school – a position that lasted him through the end of the war (ekojirichmond.org).
Free from the concentration camp, Rev. Tsuji moved to Toronto where he worked a series of odd jobs to get back on his feet while searching for a way to express his potential. His hard work paid off and he was appointed a National Director of Buddhist education for the Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) in San Francisco. BCA afforded him the opportunity to spread Buddhism through conferences and seminars as well as through the organization of the BCA Buddhist Bookstore. Because of his contributions, Rev. Tsuji became the first second-generation Japanese American Bishop of the BCA (ekojirichmond.org).
Enter Rev. Dr. Yehan Numata.
Yehan Numata was born in Hiroshima in 1897 into a temple family. Unlike his father, Numata did not pursue a life within the monastic order. His dream was to promote the spread of Buddhism across the world through the power of a successful, business enterprise (bdkamerica.org).
Numata seized the opportunity to study abroad in America at the University of California, Berkeley where he graduated with a master’s degree. He returned to Japan to become the first manufacturer of small precision instruments and became wildly successful. Numata’s business spread to include branches in 25 countries besides Japan. Armed with a powerful business empire with influence on a national scale, Numata fulfilled his dream by founding The Society for the Promotion of Buddhism (Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai or BDK) which published “The Teachings of the Buddha,” a landmark book in the promotion of Buddhist teachings, and started many Buddhist-based philanthropies across the world (bdkamerica.org) while staying true to his mission statement: “to transmit the Buddhist religion to as many people in the world as possible, without expounding the doctrines of any particular sect or denomination” (amazon.com).
In 1981, Rev. Tsuji and Rev. Dr. Yehan Numata pooled their passion and their resources to tackle an exciting challenge: to organize the first Shin Buddhist Temple near Washington D.C. They constructed their first temple in Springfield, VA where it remains a successful temple to this day. They named their temple, Ekoji (ekojirichmond.org; wrs.vcu.edu).
In 1986, Rev. Tsuji was approached by a small group of Buddhist practitioners who asked him to help establish a temple in Richmond, Virginia. Rev. Tsuji requested funds from Numata’s organization to purchase a house at 3411 Grove Avenue and to convert it into a place of worship. The temple was named the Ekoji Sangha of Richmond (ekojirichmond.org).
The Ekoji Sangha of Richmond
Ekoji: “Gift of Light.”
The Ekoji Sangha of Richmond is open to a diverse array of Buddhist lineages in honor of the beliefs of its prestigious founders. It self describes as “a multi-denominational community of Buddhist and Buddhist-inspired groups.” The Sangha weekly offers a place of worship to practitioners of five lineages: Pure Land, Soto Zen, Theravada (Vipassana), Tibetan, and Meditative Inquiry. At least one service is performed every day of the week, seven days a week. Every service is open to the public, but most groups prefer participants to contact them in advance so they may provide participants with prior information and context. The Ekoji website provides easy access to the individual websites of each group which provide detailed mission statements and lineages (ekojirichmond.org; wrs.vcu.edu).
Though demographics have been difficult to discern through the website, certain lineages of Buddhism seem to take up more space on Ekoji’s website than others. The most notable lineages are the Pure Land lineage and the Zen lineage. After a little digging, I found out why. When the Ekoji Sangha of Richmond was first established, it only served a single group of Shin worshippers – a Pure Land sect. The Pure Land Sect has evolved to reflect the Chinese tradition, but in all of its evolutions has remained a firm cornerstone in Ekoji’s worship services. Half a decade passed from the time of the Sangha’s establishment to the time Ekoji received its second and third groups who were both practitioners in the Zen tradition, yet were unaffiliated with any Zen center. The two groups merged in the 1990s and drew the attention of a priest and abbess at the Chapel Hill Zen Center who began to regularly attend their services. The Zen group established an official affiliation with the Chapel Hill Zen Center and took on the name, The Richmond Zen Group. They are supported in the Zen tradition by the Meditative Inquiry Group inspired by Tony Packer (the founder of the Center of Meditative Inquiry and Retreats in New York) which draws much of its teachings from Zen practice. Thus Zen and the Pure Land lineages, because of their long association with the Ekoji Sangha of Richmond, tend to be more strongly supported (wrs.vcu.edu).
The Sangha is a fellowship of the Buddhist Churches of America, an organization founded over 100 years ago by Japanese ministers during a movement to spread Buddhism to the west (ekojirichmond.org; buddhistchurchesofamerica.org). Because BCA was started to spread Buddhism in the context of a predominantly Christian, western religious culture, monastic support and other fellowships are defined in terms of ministerial support and support from the bishop of BCA. Ministers are assigned to particular churches based on the church’s needs. Since Ekoji is a home for various groups and does not profess a particular brand of Buddhism, its lack of centralized identity around a core doctrine does not necessitate a resident minister. Individual groups hosted by Ekoji are supported by monastics of their particular tradition. There are no resident monastics in the Ekoji Sangha of Richmond (ekojirichmond.org; wrs.vcu.edu).
Since there are no resident monastics/ministers, Ekoji relies entirely on donations in order to maintain its operation. Members make a sizeable contribution and may be categorized into two camps: associate members and participatory members. Associate members usually only contribute to Ekoji monetarily but do not often assist in events or regularly attend services. Participatory members contribute both monetarily and regularly volunteer for events/attend services (wrs.vcu.edu).
Greed and selfishness are strongly discouraged by Ekoji’s teachings. Meditation programs are structured around families and teens. Sessions focus on the cultivation of mindfulness and the communication of feelings in order to bring families closer together. Community is a crucial linchpin in Ekoji’s values (ekojirichmond.org).
The Ekoji Sangha of Richmond believes community outreach facilitates compassion and loving-kindness, values which they describe as “heavenly abodes” which combat stress and suffering (ekojirichmond.org). They support foodbanks, hospice care, and prison outreach. In addition, they provide structured meditation programs with the aim of building individual, familial, and communal compassion. A large container full of non-perishable food items is set aside every month for the Central Virginia Foodbank – an organization founded in 1980 by the combined efforts of 60 churches and charities trying to combat hunger and poverty in the Central Virginia region (feedmore.org).
Hospice care is provided in the form of conversation, reading, gentle touch, and music. Ekoji volunteers work with terminally ill patients and their families to help them cope with their pain and stress. Caregivers are given as much emphasis as patients. Volunteers dedicate a lot of time to ensure caregivers are given respite from their exhausting duties (ekojirichmond.org; wrs.vcu.edu).
Prison outreach is accomplished by an agreement with the Life Connections Program in Petersburg which allows an Ejoki volunteer to lead a Zen meditation group once a month for inmates interested Buddhist practices or religion (ekojirichmond.org; wrs.vcu.edu).
Aside from its courses on meditation, regular worship services, and community outreach, the Sangha uses Dharma Movie Nights as a modern forum to discuss Buddhist values and to examine the portrayal of Buddhism in popular culture. Movies may be suggested by members and are chosen by core members based on their quality and their potential for fostering pertinent discussion. A brief synopsis/description of the upcoming film is available on the official website along with the date of the viewing. Dharma Movie Nights are quarterly events; they occur every Saturday at 7:00pm (ekojirichmond.org; wrs.vcu.edu).
Meditation is encouraged at the Sangha to increase mindfulness and to reduce stress. Beginner’s guides to sitting in zazen and a Zen chant book are available as free downloads on the official website.
Ekoji is attractive for its support of many Buddhist lineages and teachings. For the interested observer, or for the individual committed to the serious practice of Buddhism, Ekoji offers a safe, comfortable environment in which to pursue personal fulfillment and enlightenment. Its focus on community and family values makes it especially attractive for individuals interested in giving back to the community and its westernized approach to institutional religion has more potential appeal to people interested in Buddhism who have been raised within a Christian context.
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Works Cited:
Johnson, Erica. “Ekoji Buddhist Sangha.” Wrs.vcu.edu. Virginia Commonwealth University. 2008. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
“About us.” Ekojirichmond.org. Ekoji Buddhist Sangha. 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
“BCA History.” Buddhistchurchesofamerica.org. Buddhist Churches of America. 2015. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
“Dharma Movie Nights.” Ekojirichmond.org. Ekoji Buddhist Sangha. 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
“Downloads.” Ekojirichmond.org. Ekoji Buddhist Sangha. 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
“Lineage.” Ekojirichmond.org. Ekoji Buddhist Sangha. 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
“Outreach.” Ekojirichmond.org. Ekoji Buddhist Sangha. 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
“Remembering the Late Reverend Dr. Yehan Numata.” Bdkamerica.org. BDK America. 2015. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
“Reverend Kennryu Tsuji.” Ekojirichmond.org. Ekoji Buddhist Sangha. 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
“The Teaching of Buddha (English and Japanese Edition) Hardcover – 1982.” Amazon.com/Teaching-Buddha-English-Japanese-Edition/dp/489237251X. Amazon. 2015. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
“Who We Are – History.” Feedmore.org. Feed More. 2011. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
Website: http://www.ekojirichmond.org