As part of its Big Island Nembutsu Seminar, Honpa Hongwanji Hilo Betsuin invites the public to attend its Spring O-Higan celebration and Spring Seminar from March 17-18.
The featured speaker will be Mark Unno, associate professor of Japanese Buddhism at the University of Oregon.
O-Higan is celebrated in the spring and autumn when the day and night are the same length, called equinoxes. Therefore, O-Higan is a time when people are reminded to find balance in their lives and pursue harmonious relations with everyone through interconnectedness.
The celebration begins with a free public lecture from 7-9 p.m. March 17 in the main temple hall, during which Unno will touch on his seminar theme, “Rhythms of Great Compassion: Seasons of Life and Death.”
The March 18 lecture and lunch session from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. requires a fee of $10 to cover lunch and materials.
Unno will share a Dharma message during the 9 a.m. Sunday family service March 19.
Unno has served as leader of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Oregon. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University. His research is in classical Japanese Buddhism, in particular Shin Buddhism and Zen. He also works in the areas of comparative religion, Buddhism and psychotherapy, and inter-religious dialogue.
He is the author of “Shingon Refractions: Myoe and the Mantra of Light” (2004), editor of “Buddhism and Psychotherapy Across Cultures” (2006) as well as articles in Buddhist journals. He also is an ordained Shin Buddhist priest.
Unno lives in Eugene, Ore., with his wife, Megumi, who teaches the Japanese tea ceremony.
Registration for the seminar must be made at the temple office, 398 Kilauea Ave., by March 15. For more information, contact the temple office 961-6677 or visit www.hilobetsuin.org.
