Halfway through an eight-day trip to Rochester, New York, I finally have an opportunity to put some stuff here.
The purpose of the trip is to finish clearing out my wife’s childhood home in Churchville, NY, and load up a small container — 6x7x8 feet — that will be shipped home to Sacramento.
Being in western New York has provided an opportunity to attend services at Ro-O Zan Enkyoji Nichiren Buddhist Temple in Lewiston, New York. My wife and I attended the Sunday, Nov. 3, service with Shami Kanjo Grohman and his wife, Kristin. The dozen practitioners who attended filled the small sanctuary situated inside the Crazy Train Apothecary to overflowing. Each person received a paper omamori amulet from Kanjo. Afterward, a wonderful vegan potluck was served.
The next day, my wife and I traveled east to Syracuse for lunch with Ryusho Jeffus. Ryusho has been an inspiration for my practice since I moved from Soka Gakkai to Nichiren Shu in 2015. See this blog post marking my first 500 days of practice.
Each time I stay in a motel I create my traveling altar. In addition to my Gohonzon mandala pendant and Kishimojin amulet that I received from Ryusho Jeffus in 2016, I’ve added Kanjo’s omamori. I created my traveling altar in January of last year. See this post. And documented the motel iterations here here and here as I drove cross country bringing my wife’s father’s car to California in October 2018. My traveling altars are a stark contrast to my ornate — dare I say suggest cluttered? — home altar. See this altar description.
