Roland sensei was born in Richmond B.C. He attended the Steveston Buddhist temple and the Calgary Buddhist temple when his family moved there in the 1970’s. He is a retired physician who worked in senior’s care (Geriatric Medicine). While an active temple member all his life he started studying Buddhism more seriously in 2016. He received his first level ordination (Tokudo) in Japan in 2019 and his second level ordination (Kyoshi) in 2022. Besides his temple life he enjoys golf in the summer and is trying to learn the Taiko. He is married to Brenda and has two adult children.

For more information about the Buddhist Temple of Southern Alberta (BTSA), please check out the following link: https://www.thebtsa.com/

We discussed internment and the Japanese Canadian diaspora, the development of the BTSA as an amalgamation of other temples in the region, growing up in a temple family and asking for ministerial advice from his younger brother, geriatric medicine and transitioning from a career as a physician to becoming a minister, temple outreach and the impact that an enthusiastic young adult temple group has had on community building, and the importance of taking that step of trying out something new that interests you.