Koshukwai

Three pinches of holy incense, dropped into a smoking bowl in San Francisco's Hwongjo Temple, opened last week the first convention of Buddhists ever held in the U. S. In number 400, they represented the Shinshu sect, one of Buddhism's twelve major branches. They were preluding a Pan-Pacific Buddhists' Conference to be held in Tokyo in 1934. Mostly Orientals, they came from homes in Canada, Hawaii, various parts of the U. S. Frequent in their devotions was the repeated "Namu Ami Dabutsu," a Buddhist hymn which means "Let us follow the Buddha."

Alien to most busy folk in the U. S. is the Buddhist hope to reach Nirvana by self-sacrifice, contemplation, suppression of passion. Nevertheless, now & then some inquisitive or discontented Westerner adopts Buddhism. Last year a Mrs. Margaret E. Ledson, 33, California divorcee, became the first U. S. Buddhist nun. F. M. Ormsby and L. A. Coburn of Boise, Idaho, became Buddhist monks, begged in the streets of Kyoto for seven months. Many a German and British Buddhist has gone to Ceylon to practice the faith, apparently more as a system of ethics than anything else. These scattered converts are not inveighed at from Christian pulpits. Last week there was scant cause for Christian alarm in San Francisco's convention. Few Occidental Buddhists went to it. Not present were converts Dwight Goddard of Union Village, Gesford, Va., or Philosophy Professor James Bissett Pratt of Williams College. Nor was Vincent Bendix, famed aviation and automotive man, more than casually interested, despite the fact that in 1929 he gave Swedish Explorer Sven Hedin $135,000 to purchase two Buddhist temples, one to be rebuilt in Stockholm, the other in Chicago for next year's World's Fair.

At the San Francisco convention were many women, many young people who represented the Young Hawaiian-American Buddhist Association, the Young Men's and Young Women's Buddhist Associations (similar to Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A. but more active in missionizing). One of the announced purposes of the convention was to promote Buddhist unity. Present also were Rev. Tansai Terakawa, Stanford graduate, of Stockton, Calif.; Francis Geske of Oakland; and Bishop Kenju Masayuma, honorary chairman of the convention, No. 1 Buddhist of the group by virtue of being chairman of the Japanese-North American Buddhist Federation. Wearing the "kesa" (embroidered collar) of his rank, he presided at "Koshukwai" (lectures on Buddhism's history and meaning) which took upmost of the convention's time. Lesser priests put on the "Juzu" (sacred beads representing the followers of Buddha), rang gongs, burned incense, read from the scriptures on each side of the gilt altar, decorated with pink, white and green cakes and many flowers. When religious matters were disposed of, the 400 convened Buddhists ate of Japanese victuals and, like their Christian brothers in convention, romped politely.

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