Sunday, April 10, at 10 a.m. Live Stream Hanamatsuri
JOIN US Live on YouTube -
Celebrating Buddha’s Birthday
We call it Hanamatsuri (in English, the Flower Festival) for Buddha’s Birthday party. Why? The sutras tell us that when the infant Siddhartha Gautama of the Shakya clan was born, trees and bushies burst into flower.
Please join our party online at 10 a.m. on Sunday, April 10, by going to our YouTube channel. The livestream event will be the first item listed.
The Temple welcomes Rev. Blayne Higa as part of our observance of Hanamatsuri, and we hope to have a yellow hibiscus, the Hawaii state flower, among the other blossoms present in our flower festival.
Rev. Higa will address us remotely from Hawaii, during our transition from online services only to live and hybrid services. We are grateful that we will be able to hear his Dharma in this fashion, and hope he visits us in person some day. Welcome Sensei!
ABOUT THE SERVICE
Reservations Closed. Our service for Hanamatsuri will be held onsite with attendance by reservation only. However we encourage you to otherwise join us by way of the livestream (see link above).
Hanamatsuri, Japanese for flower festival, celebrates the birth of the historical Buddha. The name relates to how when the infant Buddha was born in the dry season in Lumbini, the plants spontaneously burst into flower.
Our own Rev. Maribeth Smith has organized the service and will officiate. Joyce Teague will serve as chairperson, Rev. Higa will address us remotely from Hawaii, during our transition from online services only to live and hybrid services. We are grateful that we will be able to hear his Dharma in this fashion, and hope he visits us in person some day. Welcome Sensei!
WELCOME REV. HIGA: DHARMA TALK LIVE FROM HAWAII
Rev. Blayne Higa will address us remotely from Hawaii. His talks will be broadcasst We are grateful that we will be able to hear his Dharma in this fashion, and hope he visits us in person some day. Welcome Sensei!
ABOUT REV. HIGA
Rev. Blayne Higa is the Resident Minister of the Kona Hongwanji Buddhist Temple on the Big Island of Hawaii, the island where he was born and raised.
He holds a Master of Divinity degree from the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, California with a focus on Shin Buddhist ministry and chaplaincy. He previously served as Assisting Minister of the Moiliili Hongwanji Buddhist Temple and as Assistant Chaplain for the Pacific Buddhist Academy in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Before entering the ministry, he spent over 17 years in state government and non-profit fundraising. He holds a Master of Public Administration degree and a Certificate in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.
Rev. Blayne is the Chair of the Committee on Social Concerns for the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii. He also serves on the Board of the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii and Vibrant Hawaii. He is a past President of the Moiliili Hongwanji Board of Directors and former First Vice President of the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii.
Rev. Blayne received Tokudo ordination in 2012 and Kyoshi certification in 2018 from the Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha in Kyoto, Japan.
Some Temple members know Blayne Sensei for his messages and posts, available in several iterations online, especially “It’s OK Not to Be OK: An Affirming Shin Buddhist Spirituality,” well worth your attention.
