Joyae Service and New Year Eve Bell Ringing
MC Mr. Kunio Suyama began the Joyae Service with a joyous and hearty “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls….welcome to Ontario Place!” A great start to the service except this wasn’t Ontario Place but rather the Hondo at the Toronto Buddhist Church! It wasn’t windy and freezing cold as it was last year but rather warm and comfortable. The last minute change in venue was brought about because wild coyotes were sighted recently near the area of the bell ringing and Ontario Place staff were not able to catch and relocate the animals in time for the annual ceremony to take place safely.
Rev. Makino, Rev. Fujii and Naoko Fujii (dressed in a beautiful kimono), TBC President Tom and Hisaye Allen were all on hand to greet the service attendees and bell ringing participants to the TBC. There was a magical aura about the evening as many people shared in this annual new year’s eve event. It was especially heartening to see so many people of different generations attending. There were many cases of three generations within the same family spending time together at this service.
Rev. Makino talked about the tradition of ringing the bell 108 times. He explained that it was to rid and cleanse ourselves of the three blind passion/evils of anger, greed and foolishness. He also entertained everyone by recounting his memories of Hawaii where it is also tradition to light firecrackers all night long.
After the service, all the people present were invited to strike the temple bell. It was wonderful to hear the resounding and resonating “gongs” one after another. Kunio Suyama was sighted and heard striking the bell three times….a sure sign that he was trying very hard to cleanse himself of his blind passions! The evening was brought to a close with the gracious distribution of mochi to all participants compliments of the Toronto Buddhist Church.
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