Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to our May memorial service. Currently, we have listed the names of 193 departed family members on our temple website for this month. However, we know there are many others who have passed away whose names have not yet been registered with us. Indeed, outside of our temple, countless individuals around the globe leave this world every single day. Yet, we must remember that for every departure, there is a birth. For a single life to begin, there must be the meeting of two parents, who in turn had parents of their own. Our lives are woven from an infinite web of connections. In this way, human existence is comprised of countless encounters, and an equal number of farewells.

Today’s service at our Hongwanji temple celebrates the birth of Shinran Shonin, the founder of Jodo Shinshu. Along with honoring the birth of our revered teacher, let us reflect together on the nature of our lives. If someone were to ask you, “Are you happy?”, how would you respond? While it may be difficult to say you are outright unhappy, it can be equally challenging to declare with absolute certainty that you are happy. I would like to share a perspective on how we measure human happiness:

• If you live in a house with a roof, windows, and light, you are among the wealthiest 25% of the world’s population.- If you have the time and financial means to enjoy personal hobbies, you are among the wealthiest 13% of the world’s population.- Being alive today means we are living in the “future” that tens of thousands of those who passed before us could only dream of.- If you can read or listen to these words today, you are more fortunate than three billion people who cannot see, read, write, or access information and education.

Our lives are not meant to be spent merely lamenting pain and sorrow. They are meant to be an opportunity to open our eyes to the countless blessings and reasons for gratitude that surround us. What are your thoughts on this? In Buddhism, we view worldly happiness as a temporary state that will eventually change. Rather than happiness itself, it is our deep attachment to a happy status quo and our constant fear of losing it that constitutes a fundamental source of suffering. However, the reverse is also true: it reminds us that whatever hardships or misfortunes we face today, they too will not last forever. For this reason, our founder, Shinran Shonin, strictly cautioned against seeking material wealth and social success as the ultimate source of truth.

Thanks to the immense hardships faced by our ancestors, modern society has made it incredibly easy to acquire various material comforts. For those of us living in such an age of abundance, what is truly essential is cultivating a spacious mind—one that can genuinely rejoice in the happiness of others, free from self-centered anxiety over our own fortunes. Shinran Shonin found the ultimate salvation of our lives in the infinite compassion of Amida Buddha. True compassion means experiencing the sorrow of others as our own. He taught the vital importance of sharing joy and cherishing harmony with the entire world. The temple stands here today because this noble spirit has been preserved and passed down through generations of Japanese immigrants. It is with this same aspiration that I have come to this land with my family, seeking to transmit these values to the next generation. I thank you deeply for your continued support.