AN INSIGHT TO YBA

from editor: People often misunderstand our group as an all religious youth group - which is not quite true. Yes we do belong to BCSF but I just want to make it clear that it's NOT a religious study group. It's closer to a youth Christian fellowship but I bet the jr. yba has less emphasis on the religion part. We do fun stuff that relates to buddhism like celebrate holidays (which is fun), do peer resource type of discussions, do social activities and such. so don't think it's a total bore 'cuz it's not! I just wanted to make that clear clear clear because I know some people are reluctant to join since they don't really get what jr. yba is. So do you know now?

Q.WHAT KIND OF ACTIVITIES DO YOU GUYS DO?

A.Okay, lemme give you a quick list:

Things we do in our chapter

• counselor/group discussions (our former discussion topics include:equality,diff religions, focus, etc)
• volunteer (serve tea, chair services, help sunday school, summmer school)
• learn about Japanese American culture and history
• learn meaningful buddhist teachings that apply to everyone
• taking leadership
• host an annaul dance
• social activities

• exchange programs (with mostly Japan)
• ski trip
• summer reatreat (we did one last year in San Luis Obispo)
• dance/parties
• conferences (place where we get to meet other people, hint hint)
• international conferences
• workshops
• meetings (monthly with other Bay Area chapters0

I hope this gave you some information. =)

Q. DO YOU EVER GET RELIGIOUS?

A.As I said above, we don't study buddhism. First of all it's too complicated and second of all we don't want to bore you out. The major one is I guess to attend service at BCSF when we have meetings (which is around 30-45min). But other times we do buddhist things that apply to everyone, even if you're not too familiar with the religion, like meditating, discussions, celebrating holidays, etc. At conferences, we touch on some subjects. At retreat, we do some meditation and buddhist talks. I find that the "religios" activities we do are much like everyday stuff that we can apply to in life. Like see what the buddhist talk was about at the Fresno conference that we went to in November last year. It really made a lot of sense!

Q. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF DOING ALL THIS?

A.here's another list:

• volunteer credit
• don't have to come to every meeting and it's usually once or twice a month, not once a week!
• get leadership skills (we go to leadership workshops)
• get college transcript credits
• any high school student can join which mean you don't have to be church member and we also encourage people who are just interested in buddhism or Japanese culture (but you don't have to be or become one)
• scholarship oppurtunities
• no fees or anything expect for material fees or trip fees (we're a non-profit org)
• *an extra credit for Japanese Americans because you get to learn about your heritage

Q.IS IT OKAY TO JOIN EVEN IF I'M NOT A BUDDHIST?

A. SURE, why not? I'm not a church member myself (I am buddhist but I belong to a diff. sect) but I'm in it anyway because I like the people there and it's fun. Non-church members are required to pay a $10 annual nominal fee which isn't that much considering it includes transportation, usage of BCSF, certain foods, etc. Buddhist is a teaching of life- or so I've heard so people that are interested in learning about the philosophy or a way of life, you are welcome to step in.

Q.WHAT IF I'M IN A DIFFERENT RELIGION? CAN I STILL JOIN? WOULDN'T IT BE BAD TO MY RELIGION IF WE TOUCH ON SOME BUDDHIST TOPICS AT SOME YBA EVENTS?

A.This is a highly arguable subject to some people. It just depends on how you take it but in my understanding, you can believe in God and accept Buddhism at the same time. For example, the majority of people in Japan have two religions,Buddhist and Shintoist and it's been like that for around a thousand years but no one had trouble with it. I have few friends who are Christian Buddhists(they're Christians but the value Buddhist teaching as well) ... ....why is this possible? Maybe this might help

" Even if you are not a Buddhist, and have no intention of becoming a Buddhist, you are still capable of being a living Buddha. For Buddhism is less a theology or a religion than a promise that certain meditative practices and mind trainings can effectively show us how to awaken our Buddha-nature and liberate us from suffering and confusion." Lama Surya Das copyright 1997 Lama Surya Das

Yet, the issue is still debated and some people even deny it so it's all up to you. If you think buddhism might be an intersting thing(well our group is not all buddhism so you won't be left out even though you're not too fond with it, trust me)for you, then it might be worth while to check it out.

Q.HOW DID THE JR.YBA START?

A. I got an e-mail response back from the YBA headquarters in Japan.This is a translation of it: "First of all the Buddhist Church of San Francisco started from two monks;Etaka Honda and Ejyun Miyamoto from Honganji temple in Japan, who came to San Francisco in the beginning of July, 1898 to research on the Japanese Immigrants in the area.

Thanks to the visit of these two monks, the San Francisco Buddhist Youth Group was organized and they centered in establishing the Buddhst Churches of America.

After that, the San Francisco Buddhist Youth Association (current YBA) changed their name to Buddhist Church of San Francisco in June, 1905 and became the North American headquarters of all Jodo Shinshu temples in the US and Canada.

Buddhist Youth Groups established throughout Japan in the early 1900s and by 1951, an official Association was established. In North America and Japan,this Association is targeted for Buddhist Youths.

Gassho Jyodo Shinshu Honganjiha,YBA headquarter office"