By Kaila Matsumoto
Good Morning, Everybody!
Wow, for the last decade of my life, I’ve been on the responding side of the “Good Morning,” so it’s a little bit strange to be the person initiating it…anyway. In all honesty, I put off writing this speech for way too long… senioritis was really hitting me, y’know? We chose our dates for giving our speeches literally months ago, and I’ve procrastinated making it for a really, really long time – which is funny, because I swear I’m generally not a procrastinator when it comes to work. When I was younger, I actually really looked forward to giving this speech, but when Senior year finally came around, this speech was mostly just intimidating and daunting. It’s like when I went to start writing, I was suddenly void of creativity. In fact, Ella – who will be giving her speech later – and I actually started writing our speeches in a panic during our AP Environmental Science class, stressing about how we have no ideas and have absolutely no clue what to say at the podium. And being up at the podium right now is just a little nerve wracking.
I know a lot of seniors write their speeches about how their relationship with Buddhism has grown since they were kids, and it might be a little overdone by now so…I’m going to talk about that too! As a kid, I don’t think I really paid much attention during Dharma talks – sorry, Sensei – because I was probably too busy goofing off with my friends or making funny faces at the older students, as I’m sure many of you younger Dharma School kids are doing right now. Don’t worry, I’m not offended. Honestly, Dharma School as a kid was more about the friends I got to see who didn’t go to the same school as me than the lessons that were being taught. As I got older, however, I found myself identifying with Buddhism more and more. I’d get excited when it was mentioned in school, because even though I hadn’t been paying much attention during classes, I did know the Golden Chain by heart. Couldn’t have told you one of the Six Paramitas, even though it’s from the same page of the service book, though.
This year, I took Philosophy as my English course in school, and we read a book called Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. It’s a fictionalized version of Siddhartha’s life, told by a German-Swiss Nobel Prize winner to be more digestible for Western minds. Although not all of the ideas overlapped with what I’ve learned through the years here at church, I still had a better grasp on them to begin with than my non-Buddhist classmates. It has made me realize that, even if I feel like I haven’t learned as much as one should have during 12 years of attending Buddhist church, I’ve actually passively soaked in a lot more of the teachings than I thought. Whether this came in the form of realizing I did, in fact, know the Eightfold Path when it was mentioned in the book – big shoutout to the acronym VTSCLEMM for helping me memorize them (Views, Thought, Speech, Conduct, Livelihood, Effort, Mindfulness, Meditation) – or randomly singing Ondokusan II as a warmup to the countless karaoke sessions I’ve had in my house, Buddhism has, and likely always will be, present in my life. Even if I still can’t recite the Six Paramitas from memory.
Now, as my senior year comes to an end and I realize that I, along with all the other seniors, will be going off to college within the next few months, the idea of impermanence becomes more and more relevant. I’ll try not to talk too long about this, because it’ll make my mom cry, and if she cries, I’ll cry, but it really does feel surreal being a senior that’s graduating this Friday. To be honest, I still feel like a little kid who’s laughing too hard into the microphone with her cousin while calling oshoko, but I know I have to accept the fact that I am perpetually changing and growing. I’ve come to understand that, maybe, the Buddhist teachings weren’t as lost on younger me as I thought. One of the central ideas I’ve gathered from my time coming to MVBT is the importance of community, of interconnectedness… it’s encouraged me to take refuge in the Sangha, and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing since I was a first grader talking with my friends during Sensei’s Dharma talks.
Finally, I have a lot of Thank Yous I’d like to dish out, so I’ll try to rapid fire them. I want to thank Sensei, and Putra, for all their talks over the years. My dad, for forcing me to come to church and listen to their Dharma talks all these years. My mom, for being my closest confidant that always helped me get through the week, and my brother, for being my right-hand man, even if he’s at the age where he pretends none of my jokes are funny. Thank you to my grandparents for letting me commandeer the living room TV for karaoke nights, to my big cuzzo Jill, for being my partner in crime for our infamous Oshoko reading as kids, and to the rest of my family for being one big support net for me. Thanks to everybody in my classes, for being my friends that keep me coming back to church after all these years, and to all my teachers, who have taught me despite having to deal with me whining about not wanting to be here because it’s too early. Finally, I’d like to thank the Sangha, for creating a community that’s welcoming, accepting, and unconditionally positive – even when I tell really bad spaghetti jokes at spaghetti dinner. Whew, okay that was a lot.
I’d like to close with a Buddhist reading I used when I was a kid that I feel is especially applicable for all of us graduating seniors as we head into college. Please join me In Gassho.
“When life gets you down, do you know what you’ve gotta do? Just keep swimming.”
Namo Amida Butsu
Namo Amida Butsu
Namo Amida Butsu
Thank you!