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.
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.
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).
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."
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
Rev. Kerry Kiyohara and Rev. David Nakamoto
Rev. Kerry Kiyohara from Mo'ili'ili Hongwanji was the guest speaker at our Sunday Family Service on February 12, 2017.
Guest Speaker Rev. David Fujimoto of Mililani Hongwanji
Our guest speaker for today's Dharma Talk was Rev. David Fujimoto, resident minister of Mililani Hongwanji. Thank you Rev. Fujimoto!
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