Rev. Kiyo Retreat Reflection
By: Audrey Goins
On Saturday, April 17th, Delta Beta Tau got the wonderful opportunity to meet and chat with Rev. Kiyo of the Berkeley Buddhist Temple. He zoomed into our space from his temple up in Berkeley, and gave us some insight into his life, his career, and his family Origins. I wanted to share what I got out of this retreat, and why I enjoyed listening in to Rev. Kiyo so much!
First off, I really enjoyed learning about Kiyo’s family. He informed us that he has two sons, one who is nine, and the other who is maybe 11(I'm blanking now). Right as he began introducing us to his boys, I could already sense the amount of love and gratitude that he held for his boys. His face beamed when he discussed their personalities and accomplishments. He described to us the challenges that they have faced this year, navigating online school, and a hybrid version of learning. His reason for doing this was to explain why he wasn’t directly in the Berkeley Buddhist Temple, but instead in a separate room, because his family was using most of the wifi in the temple to take their Japanese language classes. While on the topic of his boys, he displayed some pictures of them holding a sunflower. He showed the entire process of the growing of the sunflower, and emphasized the importance of the process. He explained to his sons that the final product, a healthy and thriving sunflower, was not the reason for growing it, nor the main lesson to be learned. He emphasized the importance of patience, as both his boys needed to wait many days for the plant to grow to the point that it was at now. He pointed out that it was important for them to nurture the plant as it was growing. So now, not only did they have to be patient with the amount of time it took for the plant to grow, they also needed to care for the plant by watering it the proper amount, and exposing it to the correct amount of sunlight. He used the example of his boys and their sunflower growing process as a way to remind us to have patience and nurture in our lives. He wanted to remind us that work needs to be put into something, in order for it to have a beneficial outcome.
The second reason why I enjoyed this retreat so much was because it made me connect his story back to my own family. He discussed that he grew up in Kobe, Japan, a town near Hiroshima. I haven’t interacted with many people who have actually been to Japan, let alone spent their childhood there. This is except my grandad. My grandad was sent overseas in the Vietnam war to serve in the Navy. He was stationed in Japan. I started to wonder if my grandad was anywhere near Kobe at the time that he served. Turns out he wasn’t and was stationed more near Tokyo, but it took me back and allowed me to connect with my grandparents over a time in their past. It also really excites my grandad when I ask him questions about the war, so it started another wonderful conversation with him.
Overall, I gained a lot from this last retreat of the Spring semester, and I look forward to a time where we might get to speak with Rev. Kiyo again.
