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Zoom, Zoom and Away!

When I got up at 7 am and discovered my Internet had been out for more than four hours, I didn’t have high expectations for my day. Still I soldiered on. I got dressed and did my morning service, reciting the second day’s portion of the Lotus Sutra in shindoku and chanting Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō for 20 minutes.

Checked the Internet. Nothing. You never know what chanting might bring. (Winking smiley face goes here.)

I called my Internet service provider and waited on hold. And waited on hold. And waited on hold. Finally got to talk with a tech support guy only to be disconnected before he could complete troubleshooting my problem.

I called my Internet service provider and waited on hold. And waited on hold. And waited on hold. And waited on hold. And waited on hold. OK. It is Sunday. Can’t expect a full staff.

Finally reached a woman who quickly diagnosed my problem: the backup battery for my fiber-optic connection to my service provider appears to be dead. No battery; no connection. And, again, it is Sunday and the tech support woman said I’d receive a call to schedule a service call to replace the battery. Just not today.

I ended the call and shrugged my shoulders. (Really working hard on the paramita of patience.) And then I looked at the phone and thought: Can I get my weak local cellphone connection to replace my fiber-optic connection?

To be frank, I was surprised at how well it worked.

At 10:30 am I joined Rev. Shoda Douglas Kanai at the Nichiren Buddhist Kannon Temple of Nevada for his monthly kaji kito service.
Rev. Kanai explained some of the unique character of the Gohonzon he received after completing his second 100-day aragyo ascetic practice. In addition to the kaji kito ceremony, Rev. Kanai also eye-opened a pair of gohonzons for his church members.
At 12:30pm I joined the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of the San Francisco Bay Area and Rev. Ryuei McCormick for their Sunday service and dharma talk
Shami Mark Ryugan Herrick led the Dharma talk, which today focused on the first chapter of the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings.
Here’s an example PowerPoint slide from Ryugan’s talk. As I’ve said before, attending these talks at the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of the San Francisco Bay Area  is a lot like drinking from a firehose.

Dharma talk video

Having completed my Zoom day I was able to share my phone’s cellular WiFi connection and complete this blog post. All together, not a bad day.