Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi

Please come to a discussion that the International Center of Soto Zen North America is co-hosting on December 11, 2-4 pm Pacific Time, 4-6 Central Time, on Global Hunger.

Bhikkhu Bodhi, the main speaker, will present a paper on Tackling Global Hunger at its Roots.Panelists Rev. Noriaki Ito, Rev. Eric Matsumoto, and Rev. Konjin Gaelyn Godwin will discuss and present further reflections. Rev. Godwin will present information on Hidden Hunger.

As Bhikkhu Bodhi writes, Tackling global hunger requires that we identify its fundamental causes and remove these at the roots. This requires not only the adoption of transformative policies, but a fundamental change in our own values and attitudes.

Ending hunger is Goal 2 of the Sustainable Development Goals that Soto Zen International Center is aligned with. I hope to see you and your members at the gathering on December 11.

Rev. Noriaki Ito

Please register here. A link to the event will be sent to you.

SDGs & Buddhism
What can we do now for our future?
From Buddhist Perspectives

SDGs (sustainable development goals) aim both in the present day as well as in the future at “a society in which no one is left behind.” This is a comprehensive and inclusive way that looks to resolving the seventeen related topics that 193 countries of the United Nations have identified including “poverty and hunger,” “correcting inequality,” “environmental conservation,” and “the realization of a peaceful society.”

We, the Soto Zen, Shinshu Otani-ha, Nichiren Shu and Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha International Centers in the Bay Area have created a group called the Bay Area Buddhist Association (BBA). We are planning to hold a Buddhist interdenominational event to learn about how Buddhism relates to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Rev. Eric Matsumoto

We hope that through this project ministers and members will learn about Buddhism and the SDGs from each other.

Now, let call for conscious action in accordance with the basic philosophy of SDGs most important goal of ”Leaving no one behind,” and the Buddha’s teaching of the Four Major Principles found in The Meaning of Practice and Verification giving: kind speech, beneficial deeds, and cooperation, which are based on the practice of the Bodhisattva’s Four Embracing Actions, the everyday way of life based on belief in Buddhism which is to carefully use the limited natural resources and food we receive without wasting anything

Rev. Konjin Godwin

Keynote Speaker:

Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi is an American Buddhist monk originally from New York City. He holds a PhD in philosophy from Claremont Graduate University (1972). After completing his university studies he traveled to Sri Lanka, where he received novice ordination in 1972 and full ordination in 1973. From 1984 until 2002 he was the editor for the Buddhist Publication Society in Kandy, and its president from 1988 until 2010. Ven. Bodhi has many important publications to his credit, either as author, translator, or editor. His most recent publication is Reading the Buddha’s Discourses in Pali: A Practical Guide to the Language of the Ancient Buddhist Canon (2020). Ven. Bodhi lives and teaches at Chuang Yen Monastery in upstate New York. In 2008, together with several of his students, he founded Buddhist Global Relief, a nonprofit supporting hunger and poverty relief for poor communities around the world.

Panelists:
Rev. Noriaki Ito, Bishop of Higashi Honganji North America District. (Shinshu Otani-ha)

Rev. Konjin Godwin, Director of Soto Zen Buddhism International Center and the abbot of Houston Zen Center. (Soto Zen)

Rev. Eric Matsumoto, Bishop of Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii (Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha)