Carmela Javellana, who was recently ordained in Kyoto, has become Salt Lake Buddhist Temple’s (SLBT) latest minister. SLBT, which is located in Salt Lake City, Utah, is one of 63 temples within the Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) organization, and is affiliated with Jodo Shinshu Honganji Ha (or Nishi Honganji), the largest school of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism.
Carmela Javellana. From kuer.org
Javellana, who grew up in the Philippines, turned from Catholicism to Zen Buddhism after her mother passed away in 1999. She was introduced to Jodo Shinshu by SLBT’s current reverend (1993–present) Jerry Hirano, who is now also her husband. “[Jodo Shinshu Buddhism] is a very different practice from Zen,” says Javellana. “It’s not about meditating; it’s about being conscious and being aware of how I’m going to live my life from moment to moment” (KSL). Jodo Shinshu is a school of Pure Land Buddhism, and was founded by the Japanese monk Shinran (1173–1263) in the early 13th century.
Salt Lake Buddhist Temple, Utah. From SLBT Facebook page
When Javellana adopted Jodo Shinshu, Hirano gave her the position of minister’s assistant at SLBT, and quickly prompted her to study to become a minister herself. According to her LinkedIn profile, she served as minister’s assistant for over seven years, and is expected to graduate from the Institute of Buddhist Studies, Berkeley, California, next year. Javellana already has a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from West Visayas State University (1978–82) and a General, Child, and Adolescent psychiatry residency from Ohio State University Hospitals (1984–90). She is also the founder and director of Sanctuary for Healing and Integration (SHIN) in Salt Lake City, which focuses on integrative psychiatry and mental health care services.
Javellana traveled to Japan for her ministry ordination (tokudo) at the mother temple in Kyoto last November, which fully qualified her as a Jodo Shinshu priest. In an interview with Dan Bammes (KUER public radio), she calls the rigorous ordination a “Buddhist boot camp!” She adds, “We had to go through a routine every day and study to be tested. We had to learn how to put on our robes and fold our robes and move in unison.”
Commenting on being a female minister, Javellana says, “I don’t know that there’s some kind of a gender inequality as far as ministry goes, because women pretty much do the same thing as men when it comes to ministerial duties. Jodo Shinshu originated from peasants and the whole idea is equality. Everybody is embraced in this wisdom and compassion and has every opportunity to become enlightened” (KSL).
The formation of Salt Lake Buddhist Temple began in 1912, led by Reverend Koyu Uchida in Ogden, Utah. The century-old temple holds various events, such as meditation, a Dharma school, and family and summer services, which include Dharma study. Buddhist weddings, Japanese Buddhist sutra chanting (eitaikyo), and funerals are also held at the temple.