Rutgers: New York Buddhist Church
Forty-nine years ago, in 1977, Reverend Hozen Seki, founder of the New York Buddhist Church (1938) in New York City, was invited to Rutgers University to perform a service and speak about the first Japanese students who attended the university. Rev. Seki learned about these Japanese students from a Japanese Ambassador many years earlier, and where they were buried: Willow Grove Cemetery in New Brunswick, NJ.
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In the mid-fifties, once a year in July, Rev. Seki and his wife, Satomi, would drive to Willow Grove Cemetery to hold a Buddhist memorial service for these students. Some years later, when Rev. Seki retired, Reverend Kenryu Tsuji from the Ekoji Buddhist Temple in Fairfax, VA, continued the annual memorial service at Willow Grove. He further organized the other Jodo Shinshu temples to take part. In addition to the New York Buddhist Church, the Seabrook Buddhist Temple in Bridgeton, NJ, was invited to attend.​​
Now, for over 73 years, once a year, temple members, together with the city of New Brunswick and the Japanese communities of Rutgers and Princeton, join to wash and clean the gravestones of these Japanese students who were buried there, and take part in the memorial service.
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Today, Reverend Kurt Rye, head minister of the New York Buddhist Church and head minister for the Ekoji Buddhist Temple, Seabrook Buddhist Temple, Midwest Buddhist Temple, and the Albany Buddhist Sangha, continues the annual memorial service in July at the Willow Grove Cemetery. Here are a few pictures of Rev. Kurt Rye, members from the New York Buddhist Church, Seabrook Buddhist Temple, Ekoji Buddhist Temple, Japanese Rutgers Association, and Japanese Princeton Association at the gravestone cleaning last year.
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This year marks the 75th anniversary of the American Buddhist Study Center, founded in 1951 by the late Reverend Hozen Seki. At that time, the Center’s name was The American Buddhist Academy. Reverend Seki wanted to enlighten Americans' hearts and minds about the great compassion, wisdom, and teachings of Buddhism—as well as the culture and fine arts of Japan.
Today, the ABSC’s vision and mission continue in the founder’s footsteps, providing greater knowledge and understanding of Buddhist teachings and Japanese culture through its twenty-book publications, which include Rev. Dr. Toshikazu Arai’s “The Path to the Pure Land” and Lady Takeko Kujo’s “Leaves of My Heart.”
The ABSC’s library shelves are a treasure trove of Buddhist books and sutras. and Japanese poetry and philosophy. Here, we host lectures, Japanese brush painting and calligraphy workshops, and exhibitions featuring fine art, Japanese pottery, and sculpture. We organized events, including off-site field trips. Last year, with the Princeton Japanese Association, we visited Rutgers University to learn about the first Japanese students to attend the university. This year, we will march in the Japan Day Parade in New York City in May. Then, in association with the University of Oxford, the London Buddhist Vihara, and the Yin-Chang Buddhist Studies Network, we are collaborating on a two-day Buddhist seminar at Oxford in June.
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 ABSCAmerican Buddhist Study Center in Upper West Side, Manhattan, New York - est. 1951 |  ABSC LibraryThe library at ABSC with over 20,000 books |  ABSC bookOne of the many treasures in the ABSC library |
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