San Benito County has many long-standing cultural traditions:
the rodeo, Independence Day biker rally and Haybaler football
games, to name a few.
San Benito County has many long-standing cultural traditions: the rodeo, Independence Day biker rally and Haybaler football games, to name a few.
Local resident and retired doctor Don Belt wants to add another fiber to the county’s cultural tapestry with the creation of a Buddhist temple garden, a unique spiritual and cultural institution that Belt hopes will promote international understanding and an appreciation of Buddhism’s teachings.
“I’m not a Buddhist myself; I was raised in the Christian tradition,” he said, conducting a tour of the future temple grounds. “But I have a lot of respect for Buddhism, I like the philosophy and I would like this to be a place for everybody to enjoy, regardless of their religion.”
Belt, who once lived in Japan, founded Hollister Japanese Temple Garden as a nonprofit corporation in 2005 and has been working tirelessly to convert five acres of property next to his home on Riverside Road into a traditional haven ever since. According to plans designed by specialized planners and architects in Japan, the site will feature a traditional Japanese tea house, bamboo forest, and a Shinto shrine as well as the temple proper.
Three Shingon Buddhist priests, who have offered Belt their support, visited the site of the future temple garden this month and discussed the site’s future plans. The group consisted of Bishop Taisen Miyata of the Koyasan Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles, who oversees the Shingon sect on the American West Coast; the Rev. Hosho Nishibu of the Hofukuji Temple in Gifu, Japan, and Jingoji Temple in Seattle, who is the sponsoring priest for this project; and the Rev. Imanaka Taijo, a candidate to become the resident priest of the local temple garden once it is finished.
“We believe that local people will benefit from this in a spiritual, religious way,” said Miyata. “And a Japanese garden project side by side will also create an atmosphere that will benefit people with no connection to Buddhism, yet.”
Buddhism traces its roots back to India in the late sixth or early fifth century B.C., and today boasts more than 708 million followers and is the world’s fourth largest religion – after the three Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The Buddha taught that by leading a noble and virtuous life, people can end suffering in their own lives and achieve “nirvana” or a state of enlightenment.
Shingon Buddhism is an esoteric sect that was once unique to Japan. Some of its more unique teachings include the belief that one can become a Buddha or enlightened being “in this very life,” as opposed to other schools of thought that teach one becomes a Buddha in the afterlife. Shingon teachings also place a special emphasis on the natural world, believing that phenomena such as mountains, oceans and even human life express the truth described in the sutras, or Buddhist scriptures, according to www.koyasan.org, the online headquarters for the Koyasan Shingon Temples.
“In Japanese tradition, there is a respect for nature and an appreciation that I really admire,” Belt said. “Every rock and tree has a significance or a symbolic meaning.”
Already Belt has planted hundreds of trees and shrubs, prepared ground cover, laid rocks and installed a koi pond representing the kanji symbol for “heart,” which is now home to 40 koi imported from Hiroshima. He is also finalizing plans for the purchase and shipment of traditional structures from Japan, such as the tea house and 500-year old entrance gate.
“There’s a lot of things you have to consider,” Belt said. “The bell tower has to be in a certain part of the garden, certain structures have to face east, everything means something.”
Upon its completion, the Hollister Japanese Temple Garden will be the only institution of its kind in the continental United States, Belt said.
“Today all of the temple gardens are in Japan, there’s one in Hawaii,” he said. “There are many Buddhist temples, but most of the time they don’t have the space or the funding for a traditional garden.”
Not only would the temple garden serve as a refuge for the faithful, said Belt, but also as a place of beauty for those curious about Buddhism or Eastern culture in general. The garden will hopefully be a place for wedding and memorial services, and the nonprofit will offer classes or demonstrations in traditional Japanese music, art and ikebana, a specialized Japanese discipline of floral arrangement.
“I want people from around the community to come here and appreciate beauty in this place after I’m long gone,” Belt said.
Belt believes the temple will attract Buddhists from around the South Valley with nowhere else to practice their religion, and points out that Hollister was home to a sizable Japanese population prior to World War II.
“At one point 30 percent of (San Benito) high school was Japanese,” he said. “But they were all from farming families, and after they graduated they decided they didn’t want to lead that sort of life any more.”
Ideally, said Belt, admission to the gardens will be on a donation basis, and people can volunteer to keep up the grounds. At this point, however, he is unable to commit to a completion date until the county permit process can be sorted through.
For their part, however, Miyata, Nishibu and Taijo said they believed the project was coming along well and were looking forward to seeing the temple gardens develop.
“I think the direction he (Belt) is going in is very good,” Taijo said. “Because lessons are not only taught in languages, but also atmospheres, and the garden will help people with their prayers and meditation.”
Miyata added that he was confident the project will see fruition, even if it takes many years to complete.
“These things are gradually, carefully expanded. They usually do not happen all at once,” he said. “But as long as people carry on the work, they survive.”
Hollister Japanese Temple Gardens will be offering programs at the site even before construction is completed. For more information on the temple’s offerings, or to donate your time or funding call 637-6361 or e-mail do*****@ga****.com.
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or ds****@fr***********.com.
