Martha Ton had gone to do her regular grocery shopping at the local Food 4 Less on the corner of Mott and First Street when she noticed a white building decorated with blue letters that read, “Rissho Kosei-kai Buddhist Church of Los Angeles.” Curious, she went inside.
“I entered, and they were very friendly. I was never introduced to Buddhism by a family member or friend, and I just walked in,” said Ton, 40, who learned a bit about Buddhism while in college.
Rissho Kosei-kai, located at 2707 1st Street, has been a Buddhist church in Boyle Heights since 1977. Most members, however, are not residents of Boyle Heights. The church has sought to connect with local residents, but language barriers have made it difficult.
That’s where Ton has stepped in.
Ton, who became a member of Rissho Kosei-kai, has sought to help the church provide Spanish language services. She wants to create a stronger connection between Rissho Kosei-kai and the predominantly Latino community of Boyle Heights.
Ton remembers James Hodgkin greeting her at the church and inspiring her to become a Spanish leader at Rissho-Kosei-kai. Hodgkin, the English director at the church, believed that the church “would not survive without the participation and membership of the Boyle Heights community,” according to Ton. Hodgkin passed away in 2018.
The number of Latino Buddhists in the U.S. is not completely clear, but the Pew Research Center in 2014 estimated that 12% of Buddhists in the U.S. were Latino.
Ton was born in Mexico and grew up in Texas. She was raised Christian. Ton graduated from USC with a history degree in 2009 and moved to Boyle Heights soon after. She earned her Master’s in Counseling Psychology from Mount Saint Mary’s University and now lives in Riverside.
While in Boyle Heights, Ton, who still embraces Christianity, yearned for a spiritual connection she found in Rissho Kosei-kai.
Rissho Kosei-kai was founded in 1938 in Japan. Its Los Angeles presence began when Mrs. Kazuko Nakamura and her husband migrated from Japan to Los Angeles.
Nakamura was a devoted member of the church’s location in Japan, and before moving to L.A., the headquarters gave her a Buddha scroll and told her to set it up at home.
That’s how Nakamura started offering Buddhist services from the comfort of her living room at her home in L.A.’s Koreatown neighborhood. By 1960, there were about 35 to 50 members, said Ken Nagata, manager of Rissho Kosei-kai. Many were Japanese war brides, women who immigrated to America as wives of U.S. military service members after World War II.
“Their names were American because a lot of them had American husbands, but we only had a Japanese book. So the husbands were like, ‘Oh, you don’t have anything in English?’” said Nagata.
Nagata, 73, has been a church member since he graduated from a technical engineering college in the early 1970s in the L.A. area. His mother and grandmother were involved with Rissho Kosei-kai in Japan. He helped secure the location in Boyle Heights and has witnessed the growth and changes the church has gone through in L.A.
Over the years, Rissho Kosei-kai has evolved by offering its services in Japanese, English, and, most recently, Spanish. Daily recitation material derived from the Lotus Sutra, an ancient Buddhist scripture, is available in the three languages.
On top of translating religious texts, Ton has also helped guide discussions in Spanish about Buddhism and how to implement it in the daily lives of members. Their former minister, Rev. Hiroyasu Hosoyama, did services in all three languages, Ton said.
Ton said she saw the need for Spanish services when local residents would come in to inquire about the church. Some would ask more about Rissho Kosei-kai while attending the church’s annual yard sale, she said.
Ton has helped the church host Dia de Los Muertos celebrations and Mexican Independence Day. She plans to continue helping organize these kinds of events this year.
To Ton, the teachings of Buddhism inspired her to be a bridge between Rissho Kosei-kai and the Spanish-speaking community of Boyle Heights. The church, she said, advocates to help others.
“What inspired me is that we are focused on helping people end their suffering. In our Latino communities, I see so much suffering,” she said.
Buddhism aligns with Latino culture, Ton said, because it values family, elders, and helping those in need.
Over time, Ton started bringing family and friends to Sunday services. Both her sister and mother also became Buddhists.
In 2019, Ton and her wife got married at Rissho Kosei-kai, making them the first-ever gay couple to get married at the church.
“One of the things that attracted me about Buddhism is that they are not judgmental,” Ton said. “They really practice that. I am a career woman. I am Latina. I’m married to a woman, and we have a son. They have been so incredibly supportive.”
In December, the church celebrated Buddha’s Enlightenment Day and planted seeds given to the church more than 10 years ago, back when the president of Rissho Kosei-kai visited the Boyle Heights location, Nagata said.
Since it was Rev. Hosoyama’s last month of ministry, the seeds were planted as part of the Enlightenment service, Nagata said.
As someone who studied psychology, Ton understands that in order to have happiness, “you need a community of people.”
“It’s important to really try to form those third spaces of non-judgmental atmosphere and environment,” she said.
Sunday services are at 10 a.m. and are open to the public.
