Calgary Buddhist Temple Dharma Time

Discussions, crafts, and activities for children and teens. Classes are conducted in English. (Previously known as Dharma School)

Dear Dharma Time Parents,

Hope you are enjoying the warm holiday season (literally!).

We would like to remind you of the get-together to welcome the New Year on Dec. 31st at the Temple at 5:00. Mrs. Saruwatari is generously making dough for udon noodles for the children, and Mrs. Ikuta is kindly instructing us how to cut it up. So, please bring a cutting board, knife (not too sharp for the little ones) and rolling pin.

In January we'll see you on Jan 8 for mochi making, and Jan 15 (Hoonko service & treat).

Future Dharma Time dates to mark on your calendars are Feb. 26, March 18, April 22 (Hanamatsuri), May 27 (Gotan-E & Keirokai), & June 17 (Father's Day Picnic).

We'd like to thank you for all your support this year, and wish you all the best for a happy and healthy 2012!

In Gassho,

Dharma Time Team

We did not do the bottle drive this year, but would appreciate any toy donation that you could bring this Sunday. Sorry for the short notice, but we would like to give new, unwrapped toys to the Women's Center that is next door to the temple.

Hello Dharma Time Parents,

Looks like it's time to get the sleds out! Hope we see you this Sunday for Bodhi Day service, Dharma Time, and luncheon.

Also, as you may know it's the tradition in Japan to eat long noodles for long life and ring the temple gong on New Year's eve. This year on Dec. 31st, festivities begin at 5 pm with noodles, a short service (about 7:00), and temple bell ringing at the Temple.

To celebrate the New Year, there will be mochi making on January 8th. The following Sunday on Jan. 15 there will be Hoonko service, Dharma Time, and luncheon.

Take care and keep warm!
Dharma Time Team

Dear Parents, Hope you are enjoying the warm fall colors and temperatures! The upcoming Dharma Time dates are as follows:

Hello Dharma Time Parents, We hope you are enjoying the beautiful last days of summer! This month, we'd like to meet for Dharma Time on Sept 18 and invite parents to join us to help plan for this year's Dharma Time.

Also, we'd like to give a big thanks to Sara Clark for her help and contribution to Dharma Time for the past 3 years. ARIGATO!! We really appreciate all she's done for us despite her incredibly busy schedule! But we'll still see her around at the Temple when she can make it!

Hello Dharma Time Parents, Here are the details for the Father's Day picnic. See you there!

FAMILY PICNIC on June 19! Edworthy Park is once again our site for the Family Day picnic. Bring your picnic lunch and, if agreeable, create a smorgasbord by sharing with others or simply be greedy and keep it all to yourself. Either way come out and share some good times and good friends! Access by car is from the South side off 17th Avenue. Walkers can reach us from the north side by crossing the bridge and locating Site #1. We usually start to gather around 11:00 am and after lunch, bingo and races for the young and young at heart.

If the weather is dicey, check with James @ 403-988-6857. We have yet to let the weather win and if it does happen to snow at least we won't have mosquitoes and ants to contend with!

Dear Dharma Time Parents, Thank you for coming and making Hanamatsuri a true "Flower Festival!"

Next month in May, Dharma Time will be scheduled on the 1st and the 15th. We'll make Mother's Day cards on the 1st. On the 15th, Keirokai (honoring senior members of the Temple) will be held with a luncheon. See you then!

Next Dharma Time is on May 1 - As Sensei James is am away, Sara is going to tell a story up stairs and then they will make Mother's Day cards.

Hello Dharma Time Parents. Sorry this is a late reminder, but we have Dharma Time tomorrow on Mar 20. We will make birthday cards for the Buddha. The Hanamatsuri Festival will be held on April 10. See you then!

Dear Dharma Time Parents:Ken and Mary are kindly arranging Dharma Time on Ice at Lake Bonavista on Feb. 13 for us. We will meet directly at the Lake at 11:00 am. If you are interested, please let us know by Jan 31 how many are attending and also your names to submit to the Lake office. Please bring your skates, helmet, snacks and drinks for a fun outing!

We'd like to thank you for all your support for Dharma Time in 2010 and look forward to another fun year in 2011!

The first Dharma Time in the New Year will be on Jan. 9 to celebrate with mochi making. We will also meet on Jan. 16 (rather than the 23) to join in the Hoonko celebration. We hope you enjoy the rest of your holiday and we wish you all the best for a wonderful 2011!

Hello all! I would like to take this opportunity to invite all the Dharma time parents and kids to our first ever New Years Eve party. We will hold a short service starting at 8:00 pm. Then we will ring the Kansho (large bell) 108 times. (everyone who wants to can help in the ringing)

Then we can play some games, socialize until we get tired, sing Auld Lang Syne and go home!

Please bring some snacks that you would be willing to share and a beverage of your choice! Cheers! James Martin Sensei

Hello Dharma Time Parents: This Sunday will be the last Dharma Time of this year as we celebrate Bodhi Day. There will be a luncheon following.

If you are thinking of celebrating New Year's with mochi on the table, you may want to purchase some mochi this Sunday from Dharma Time parents, Mickey and Lester. Under Mrs. Teru Ikuta's expert instruction, we did the best we could to make the roundest, smoothest, and yummiest mochi (and had lots of fun making it)!

The first Dharma Time in the New Year will be on the 9th and we will make mochi to celebrate.

If we don't see you this Sunday, we wish you a happy and healthy holiday season!

Mickey and Lester have kindly invited us to their home this Saturday on Nov. 27 at 3:00 pm for mochi making to sell at the Temple next month. For fear of kids gobbling up the mochi, we ask this to be a get-together just for parents. We will order Chinese take-out after the hard work.

Thanks to you all, we had another successful bottle drive for Dharma Time and were able to raise over $300! Special thanks to Jeff, Ken, Lester, Clayton, Dhasan, and Kevin for helping us take the bottles to the depot today. The money will be used to purchase warm socks and personal care items and we will be stuffing the socks next Dharma Time on Nov. 21. Thank you, Dr. Lester, for donating dental hygiene items!

We are having a bottle drive this Sunday on Nov. 7, so please bring your bottles to Temple. With the money raised, the Dharma Time group will stuff warm socks and purchase care kits for charity. Thank you for your support!

Nov. 7 Bottle Drive (Older kids to the bottle depot and younger ones in the Temple for activities)

Dharma School bottle drive! Please bring your empties to the temple up until Nov 7. On that day, the Dharma Time class will be taking the bottles to the depot to raise money for activities such as sock packages for the Mustard Seed. Thank you in advance!

If you are planning to go for a drive to enjoy the autumn colors this Sunday on Oct. 3rd, you might consider stopping by at James sensei's home. He has invited everyone for a barbeque at 2:00 at 430-5 St. SW, Black Diamond. There will be soft drinks, hot dogs, and potato salad, so if you'd like to add something to the menu that would be great! Please let us know ASAP. Thanks!

In October, we will have Dharma Time on October 17th and 31st. There will be a luncheon on October 31st for the ABC Conference, so we will have a short Halloween Dharma Time for the younger group. Scare us in your costumes !

The Dharma school has a field trip planned to the Cochrane Ecological Institute (CEI) for April 25 and as Sensei James will be in Vancouver that weekend, the temple will not have a service so the whole sangha is invited to go. There will be a signup sheet at the temple and we can try to arrange carpooling, if possible. Plan would be to leave the temple at 10:30am so that everyone gets out there by noon-ish and all should take a bag lunch with them.

Donation of minimum $5/person are appreciated. Tour and talk included. Visit http://www.ceinst.org/

Dear Dharma School Parents, We will have Dharma School on Feb 7th and 21st this month, so hope to see you this Sunday.

We'd like to thank the fund-raising efforts of Mickey, Mary, and Rika for making mochi balls for sale at New Year's. About $180 was raised for Dharma School.

Also, thank you also to those who bought the Dharma School 2010 calendars that Sara and Sensei James put together using Dharma School students' photos. Around $500 was raised!

Dear Dharma School Parents, We are going to have one more Dharma School class on Dec. 20 before the end of the year. Sara has organized a "Magic of Christmas Tour" for this day so that we can learn what one charity group does for the less fortunate at Christmas. We will leave the Temple parking lot at 11:45, after Sensei James' Dharma Talk. Donations are welcome, so please bring an item as suggested below. We decided not to spend the rest of the bottle drive money (about $150) for this occasion but for another, perhaps in spring. One Dharma Class student made a comment that we should think about giving at other times in the year and not just Christmas. How perceptive!

In January, we will have Dharma School on the 10th for New Year's mochi making and the 17th for Ho'onko. If we don't see you on the 20th, we hope you enjoy a wonderful holiday season! The Dharma School thanks you for all your wonderful support in 2009 and looks forward to another fun year in 2010!

We will be taking a group photo of the Dharma School group with Rev. and Mrs. Ikuta and Rev. Martin on Sunday, Dec 6. Also, we were able to stuff 24 pairs of socks with personal hygiene items and Sara delivered them to the Mustard Seed. Thank you for your support!

Thank you for all your support for the bottle drive on Oct. 18! Thank you, Lester, for bringing your trailer. Thanks to Josh for telling a nice story for the Dharma Talk and getting the kids participating last Dharma class. We apologize for the short notice but there WILL be a Dharma class this Sunday on Nov. 8. Since it is during the Buddhist Film Festival, we will be showing "Lion King" at the temple.

Hope you enjoyed a warm Thanksgiving dinner before you had to go out and shovel snow! Luckily the weather will warm up for this Sunday's Dharma School Bottle Drive. The older students will go to the bottle depot while the younger ones will stay at the temple to make Halloween masks. In the last e-mail we wrote that Josh would be making masks with us this Sunday, but he will be joining us for the Halloween party on the 25th. (Please scare us with your Halloween costumes that day.)

Dharma School will be on the last 2 Sundays, the 18th and 25th. The Dharma School bottle drive is also on the 18th. The older kids will be involved with the bottle drive that day while the younger ones will make Halloween masks with Josh. On the 25th, we will have a Halloween party with the masks and/or costumes. Thank you, Josh, for your help!

If you are interested in bringing snacks for Dharma School, please e-mail Lillian at yu.yukoono@gmail.com. As far as we know, no one is allergic to nuts or anything.

Happy Canada Day! Hope you are enjoying Canada's 142nd birthday. Sensei James has kindly invited all Dharma School families to his home in Black Diamond for a hike and BBQ on July 26th, Sunday, from 1:30. After a short hike in the area, we will have an early potluck dinner at around 4:00. Please let Lillian know if you will be participating and what you'd like to bring (i.e main dish, salad, fruit, sweets, etc.) Sensei James has a BBQ if you'd like to bring something for the grill. Please bring your own drinks. Your pooches are invited as well!

Mother's Day Brunch
May 10/09 - Mother's Day is coming up and James sensei is coordinating a Mother's Day Brunch on May 10th. Dads who are interested in working in the kitchen downstairs (while moms relax upstairs), please contact James Sensei. The Dharma School kids will also help with the prep.

In Gassho,
Sara, Rika, and Lillian

Cochrane Ecological Institute or Alberta Wildlife Rehabilitation Center

April 19/09: We were fortunate to have good weather last Sunday and enjoyed the country outing to Cochrane Ecological Institute. We learned a lot about our Dharma School theme, "Harm and Harmony," particularly when we saw three young bear cubs that were orphaned after someone shot the mother bear. We also saw deer and a falcon that were getting ready for release back into the wild - a happier scene.

Dharma School shopping for Toy Mountain

Sunday, Nov 23/08: With proceeds from the bottle drive, the Dharma School children were able to purchase gifts for Toy Mountain. Teaching "Dana" or giving, without thought of something in return, is a lesson shared with those less fortunate. Update: With proceeds from the bottle drive, the Dharma School children were able to purchase gifts for Toy Mountain. Teaching "Dana" or giving, without thought of something in return, benefited many children who are less fortunate.

Dharma School Bottle Drive - Raising money to purchase gifts for Toy Mountain

Sunday, Oct 26/08: Please bring all your empties to the Temple

Wine, beer, liquor, glass/plastic bottles and juice packs are all welcome! The children will load up the donations and take them to a local bottle depot.

Serving at the Calgary Drop In Centre

The Dharma School students and their families did a great job on Sunday, Oct 14/07, when they volunteered at the Calgary Drop In Centre to serve lunch. The hundreds of patrons that were served greatly appreciated our kind act of Dana/giving within the community. Kids: You did an awesome job!

For information about the Dharma School activities, please email DharmaSchool@calgary-buddhist.ab.ca

28/12/11