guest speaker

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Dana Day & Pet Memorial Service

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Cindy Alm

Dana Day and Pet Memorial Dharma Service for Sunday, February 9, 2025 with a Dharma Talk by Cindy Alm from Hawaii Betsuin. This Jodo Shinshu Buddhism service was officiated by Rev. Sol Kalu, resident minister of Windward Buddhist Temple.

Dana, or selfless giving, is one of the six paramitas. Cindy shares a history of Dana Day and the Buddhist Women's Association (BWA), and a story of dana, as told by the late Pono Shim about a cup and a half of flour. As Cindy mentions, the podcast where he told the story can be found on the Greater Good Radio website.

Today was also our annual Pet Memorial Remembrance Service. Pets provide us with selfless giving with their unconditional love and companionship. A loss of a family pet is often our first encounter with mortality as children.

  • 00:00 - Opening Remarks & Program

    00:14 - Ringing of the kansho (temple bell)

    02:50 - Meditation

    03:38 - Vandana & Ti-Sarana (page 7 in the red service book)

    05:39 - Pet Memorial Aspiration

    06:29 - Pet Memorial

    12:47 - Sutra: Sanbutsuge (page 46 in the red service book)

    20:38 - Recitation: Shinshu Pledge II (page 6 in the red service book)

    21:31 - Gatha: Golden Chain

    23:38 - Dharma Talk: Cindy Alm

    43:10 - Gatha: Gentle Hands (page 62 in Praises of the Buddha)

    44:49 - The Nembutsu (page 145 in Praises of the Buddha)

    46:22 - Announcements

    50:48 - Giseikai

    53:06 - Words of Thanksgiving (page 126 in the red service book)

    53:55 - February Dharma Service Schedule

    54:11- How to Donate to WBT

  • We are now able to accept secure online donations using PayPal or a credit card. Please visit our Donation page for instructions or scan the QR code in the video.Item description

  • Download the Jodo Shinshu Service Book (the "red service book"): https://tinyurl.com/GetServiceBook

Bingo

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Fall Ohigan Service with Guest Speaker Rev. Yuika Hasebe

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Our guest speaker for our Fall Ohigan service was Rev. Yuika Hasebe. Rev. Hasebe is currently an Associate Minister at Hawaii Betsuin, but was once a liaison minister at Kailua Hongwanji. Rev. Hasebe shared the importance of reciting the Nembutsu, namo amida butsu.

Watch Rev. Hasebe’s Fall Ohigan Dharma Talk below or view it on our YouTube channel.

Cynthia showed us a preview of our First Sunday activity for October.

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Gotan-E Service with Guest Speaker Rev. Arthur Kaufmann

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Our guest speaker for our Gotan-E Service was Rev. Arthur Kaufmann. Rev. Kaufmann shared a message about caring. You can watch Rev. Kaufmann's Dharma Talk on our YouTube channel or by clicking on the play button below.

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Sunday Family Service with Guest Speaker Sheera Tamura

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We had a special guest speaker for today's Dharma Talk. Sheera Tamura is a senior at Pacific Buddhist Academy and, since 2017, president of the Jr. Young Buddhist Association (Jr. YBA) Hawaii Federation.

Sheera shared "It's a Small World After All," a photo album of her experiences through programs such as the Young Buddhist International Cultural Study Exchange (YBICSE), as a student at Pacific Buddhist Academy, and with the Jr. YBA. 

After the service, we had an encore of the bleeding tissue craft activity for those who weren't able to attend the First Sunday service earlier this month (and those who wanted to do it again).

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Sunday Family Service with Guest Speaker Jay Sakashita

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KHM President Prudence Kusano, Guest Speaker Jay Sakashita, & Rev. Kevin Kuniyuki

Guest speaker Jay Sakashita gave today's Dharma Talk about love from the Buddhist perspective. Dr. Sakashita is a Professor of Religion at Leeward Community College and a lecturer at UH Manoa. He also writes a popular column on religion in MidWeek called "Misfit Spirit."

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First Sunday Family Service with Guest Speaker Dexter Mar

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Dexter Mar was our guest speaker at today's First Sunday Family Service at Kailua Hongwanji. Dr. Mar is a Hawaii Betsuin Certified Ministers’ Lay Assistant who serves the Betsuin temple and Honpa Hongwanji of Hawaii buddhist temples with buddhist education programs through the Buddhist Study Center. Mahalo Dr. Mar for your informational and inspirational talk! Dr. Mar's Dharma Talk, "Experiences Along the White Path," can be replayed below.

Families participated in several First Sunday activities. Upon entering the temple, everyone wrote down something that they were thankful for on an assortment of leaves. The leaves were hung from our Thankful Tree and is currently on display in the temple. The second activity was making paper-bag turkeys, which were stuffed with popcorn.

Finally, the children and several of the most senior attendees planted amaryllis bulbs. The bulbs will be kept at the church and will hopefully bloom over the next several weeks, just in time to be taken home for the holiday season.

Sunday Family Service with Guest Speaker Pieper Toyama

Our Guest Speaker, Pieper Toyama, President of Honpa Hongwanji of Hawaii, gave us a special Father's Day Dharma Talk. He shared seven Shin Buddhist principles through the letters written by his father while he was attending the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Pieper Toyama

Pieper Toyama was born and raised on a sugar plantation on the Big Island. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst with a BA in English and Northeastern University with a Masters of Education Degree. His teaching experiences include teaching in high schools and at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

Pieper is the founding head of the Pacific Buddhist Academy. It is the first Shin Buddhist high school in the Western Hemisphere. One of the primary missions of the school is to develop students with the courage and skills to nurture peace within themselves, in their communities and in the world. Every facet of the school’s curriculum and operations is driven by the values of gratitude, compassion, mindfulness, and unconditional acceptance of others. Along with values, its peace education program is firmly based on the importance of critical and independent thinking among its students and faculty.

He is retired and currently serves as president of the Honpa Hongwanji Missions of Hawaii (state organization of Hongwanji’s 34 Buddhist temples).

He is married to Lois and has two daughters, Malia and Eily, and three grandchildren. 

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Spring Ohigan Service

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Rev. Bert Sumikawa, resident minister of Moiliili Hongwanji, was the guest speaker for our Spring Ohigan service. We observe Ohigan twice a year - the Spring and Autumn equinox - when the hours of the day and night are equal. 

Rev. Bert Sumikawa

Our guest speaker on March 19, 2017 for Ohigan Service is Rev. Bert Sumikawa. Rev. Bert is a “Kailua boy”. He is the son of a grocer and attended Kailua Elementary & Intermediate School before attending Roosevelt High School and graduating from Iolani School. Rev. Bert received his B.S. degree from Marquette University, majoring in Zoology and minoring in Theology and Philosophy. He then graduated from Marquette with a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree. After a 2 yearresidency at the Wisconsin Children’s Hospital, he returned home to practice pediatric dentistry.

A former Christian, Rev. Bert returned to his Buddhist roots and pursued and received Tokudo (minor ordination) in 2007 whereupon he was assigned briefly to Kailua Hongwanji followed by a stint at the Kapolei Buddhist Sangha. After receiving Kyoshi and Kaikyoshi (full ministerial ordination) in 2010, Rev. Bert served as Interim Minister at Moiliili Hongwanji, followed by assignment as an Associate Minister at the Betsuin. He is currently back at Moiliili Hongwanji as their Resident Minister and has been for the last 3+ years.

Some of you may know that Rev. Bert is the brother of longtime Kailua Hongwanji member Wallace Sumikawa who passed away last year.