Color Daily Faith

.
San Francisco has long been home to many generations of Asians who immigrated to the United States. In a lot of cases, they are Buddhists, but since they are from a variety of cultures and countries, the way they practice Buddhism also varies.

At an intersection in San Francisco, not far from the city's Japantown, two buildings provide an interesting contrast. One is a Catholic church designed in a Japanese style to attract Japanese-American worshippers. Across the road sits a Western-style building that appears inside and out much like a church but is actually a Buddhist temple. Ron Kobata, the Japanese-American resident minister, wears a robe much like a Christian minister would, but he does not pray to God. He prays to Buddha.
"The acculturation took place to adopt some of the customs of, perhaps you can say, the Judeo-Christian tradition," said Kobata. "For example, the regular church services on Sundays, and introducing pews into the temple."

Kobata is a monk from the school of Shin Buddhism, which originated in Japan some 800 years ago. It arrived in San Francisco a little more than 100 years ago, in 1898, under the title Buddhist Churches of America, a name chosen so the monks could blend in more easily in a predominantly Christian country.
"The leadership at that time decided to adopt that term so as to become less alien," he added. "So there was an effort to become more cultivated to this country."
During World War II many Japanese-Americans were rounded up into detention camps and nearly all San Francisco's Shin Buddhist temples were abandoned. Today, however, this school of Buddhism is rapidly expanding and has a presence in many parts of the United States.
From Japantown to Chinatown and the Tien Hau Temple, Chinese immigrants in San Francisco first established this Temple in 1852. It was moved to its present location, also in Chinatown, in 1910. It is dedicated to the Goddess of Heaven and Sea, Tien Hau, also referred to as Mazu.
"Mazu is the goddess of the sea. Since the Chinese came here on boats, they wanted to be blessed and protected by her. So they invited her to San Francisco," said temple volunteer Susan Lau.
This is the oldest Buddhist temple in all of San Francisco. It has no monks or nuns: it only has Susan, who keeps up its day-to-day operations.
"We all love this very old, traditional temple," she added. "I always feel comfortable here because I love the temple so much."
The temple has become one of San Francisco's tourist attractions.
One French Catholic family came with a purpose.
"We want to [have] good fortune," said the father. "That's why we came here."
They have come to visit the God of Fortune, whose statue sits in one corner of the temple. He seems to have a lot more incense sticks offered in front of him than the other gods. In Buddhism, incense sticks are burned as offerings to gods.
More recent Asian immigrants, such as those from Thailand, have brought their own versions of Buddhism. A building near San Francisco's Golden Gate Park has been converted into a temple named Wat San Fran Dhammaram. The temple was established in 2002, and today has more than 600 worshippers, most of whom are ethnic Thai. Seven monks and five nuns live here.
"I enjoy it a lot. If I had known that the life of a monk is like this, I would want to be ordained a long time ago," said Phra Anandapanyo who has been a monk at the temple for less than a year.
For many Thai immigrants in San Francisco, their form of Buddhism, called Dhamma Buddhism, gives them a sense of home. Everyone shares a common bond. Other schools of Buddhism also give their followers a feeling of family. Matthew has been a Buddhist for 30 years.
"We have our problems in our board meetings," he said. "And our financial concerns, but through that we find deeply spiritual unity here. We enjoy each other's company pretty much. It's like a family."
Tibetan Buddhism is another school of Buddhism increasingly popular in the United States. Ron Kobata says one of the reasons for this is that the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, is such a revered figure in the United States, as well as around the world.
"In terms of interest in Buddhism in America, that's definitely growing," he said. "But I attributed that to the attraction the Dalai Lama has brought to Buddhism internationally."
"I think he has been like the superstar of all those schools of Buddhism in the United States," said Matthew. "He really helped to define the concepts that were hard to describe like Nirvana and Karma. These words are becoming part of the American lexicon."
Tibetan Buddhism has enriched an already very vibrant Buddhist community San Francisco. Matthew happily accepts such diversity. He can pray using Japanese, Mandarin and Vietnamese.
"And so to define yourself as a Buddhist is one thing but to refine yourself as a human being is something else," he added. "Any religion can help you do that. I think all different schools of Buddhism have slightly different techniques to accomplish that worldview."
Buddhists in San Francisco consider themselves very fortunate. They live in one of the most beautiful cities in America and have an abundance of choices to satisfy their spiritual needs.

.
Churches in the United States are collecting relief aid for Haiti. Many of them waited until the aid could be brought into the country.
For parishioners at the Catholic Church of the Nativity in Burke, Virginia, there's a special place in their hearts for the Haitian people.
Parishioner Gisela Harkin is donating food. She says it's hard for her to watch the devastation in Haiti on television. "I can't even watch it because I start crying. Even when I talk about it I get tears in my eyes, and so I just have to do something," she expressed.
For the past 12 years, parishioners have donated money to a church program called Operation Starfish. The church works with a charitable organization called Food for the Poor to build water wells, schools and homes in Haiti. Food for the Poor is the largest charitable organization in the United States that is active in Haiti.
The projects include 27 homes in Port-au-Prince. Jim McDaniel, coordinator for Operation Starfish, says the homes collapsed during the earthquake, killing everyone. "And so we are actually going through a mourning process, a grief process here at Nativity and there's an overwhelming sadness," he said.
More than 100 church parishioners, including Mary Donahue, have gone to Haiti on mission trips. "And having been there and worked with the people, it's especially heart wrenching," she said.
McDaniel says many devastated areas of Haiti haven't received any aid because roads are blocked by rubble. He says the church is collecting aid for distribution by Food for the Poor which can get into remote areas. "Toothpaste and toothbrushes and toiletries," he said. "We have medicine, we have antibiotics, which are very important right now."
Janice Booker is donating a variety of goods. She says her heart goes out to the children of Haiti. "I think of the children who are lost who don't have parents," Booker said. "It's very sad."
Some parishioners say they hope to go to Haiti soon to help people rebuild their lives. Meanwhile, they say, they hope their donations will help make some people's lives a little easier.

.
The Pentagon is moving to address concerns raised about hundreds of thousands of gunsights it has purchased, which officials found out this week have biblical references engraved on them.

A Pentagon spokesman says the department is working with the manufacturer of the gunsights, Trijicon Incorporated, to figure out how to remove the bible verse references. The company offered Thursday to stop putting the citations on its products for the U.S. military and to provide the Pentagon with kits that troops can use to remove the references from gunsights already fielded, some to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The spokesman would not say whether that is an acceptable solution, but called the unauthorized insertion of the biblical references disturbing and inappropriate.
American Muslim groups have called for the gunsights to immediately be removed from the force, but that may not be practical. The Pentagon says most of the 300,000 gunsights it ordered from Trijicon have already been delivered, and tens of thousands are in use in the war zones. Some of the gunsights have been issued to Afghan and Iraqi forces.
Trijicon says it has been putting biblical citations on its products for 20 years reflecting its founder's beliefs in Christianity and service to country. The company's current contract with the Pentagon is valued at $660 million, and also involves other items.
A photograph of one gunsight engraving published by London's Guardian newspaper is, JN8:12, which stands for the Book of John, chapter eight, verse 12. The verse quotes Jesus as saying he provides the light of life to his followers. Britain has also purchased several hundred of the gunsights.
U.S. officials say no one in the military leadership noticed the references, which are on plates that also contain serial numbers and other information.
Among the senior officers expressing anger at the insertion of the biblical references is General David Petraeus, who commands all U.S. troops in the Middle East and Central Asia.
"This is a big concern to the Army and the Marine Corps, who have contracted for these particular sights," said General Petraeus. "That was obviously not part of the specification in the contract. And they are in some pretty considerable discussions right now about how to deal with that. This is of serious concern to me and to the other commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan because indeed it conveys a perception that is absolutely contrary to what it is that we have sought to do."
General Petraeus says U.S. troops who go to Iraq and Afghanistan receive cultural training designed to make them sensitive to Islamic religion and culture, and he says the troops seem to know more about that than the manufacturers of these gunsights.
Religious engravings would not be allowed on any U.S. government equipment, and putting them on weapons used in Islamic countries is of particular concern. U.S. officials have long tried to allay fears among some Muslims that its military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan are religion-based. The United States says its fight is with violent extremists, not ordinary Muslims, and indeed it has sought to build cooperation with moderate Islamic countries against the militants.

Pope Benedict has urged Roman Catholic priests to use the Internet to spread the word of God.


In his message Saturday, the pope encouraged priests to embrace the new digital media to create deeper forms of relationship with the faithful across greater distances.
But the pontiff also warned that Catholic clergy should be less notable for their media skills than for their vocation.
The pope's message comes as the church prepares for its annual World Communication Day, May 16.
The Vatican has long had a Web site in several languages. It has recently created a news channel on the Youtube video sharing site and a Facebook networking site Pope2You.