KAPAIA — The gentle rain that fell Sunday at the Kauai Buddhist Council Buddha Day, or Hanamatsuri, was similar to the rain that fell about 2,600 years ago when Siddhartha Gautama was born in Lumbini, Nepal.
Siddhartha was a prince in the kingdom of Kapilavastu in Northern India, and had all the wealth anyone could wish for. But at 29 years old, he was shocked to know that people in the world were suffering from illness, poverty and various problems.
He renounced his wealth and went out to seek a way of salvation for all people, and following six years of hard trainings and deep meditation, became enlightened under the Bohdi tree when he was 35 years old.
His enlightenment gave him the name “Buddha,” which translates to mean “Awakened One,” and for the sake of sharing the way to happiness, Buddha traveled to preach his teachings for nearly 45 years. These teachings have formed what is called Buddhism today.
More than a hundred members and representatives of the nine churches making up the Kauai Buddhist Council took time to celebrate Buddha’s birth at the service officiated by ministers from the KBC member churches at the Lihue Hongwanji Mission.
The offering of flowers, stemming from the abundance of flowers, including the sakura, or cherry blossoms, in Japan is integral to the ceremony where each member church offered its floral gift accompanied by the pouring of sweet tea over the image of Buddha encased in a hanamido, or floral-coated shrine, and incense.
“The tradition to celebrate Buddha’s birthday on April 8 has been brought to Hawaii with Japanese immigrants, and April 8 was officially recognized as Buddha Day by the Hawaii State Legislature in 1963,” said Rev. Kosen Ishikawa, chair of the 2018 festivities. “Since Buddha’s birthplace was a flower garden in Lumbini, and also, in Japan, April is a beautiful season of sakura flowers, Buddha’s birthday is also called Hanamatsuri, meaning Flower (Hana) Festival (Matsuri).”
Ishikawa said this year, the Kauai Buddhist Council expanded the Hanamatsuri celebrations to include a book fair where ministers brought books that are significant to them and Buddhism. These were made available to be shared among those attending the festivities. Some titles were also available for purchase.
Leading up the the Sunday service, Kauai Buddhist Council offered a full week of celebrations, including Candle Night open house where the public was welcome to a place for prayer and meditation with candle light.
Saturday evening, the ministers from the Westside temples — the Rev. Noriaki Fujimori of the Waimea Higashi Hongwanji, the Rev. Tomo Hojo of the West Kauai Hongwanji Mission, and the Rev. Kohtoku Hiraon — presided over a memorial service for “road kill” animals as well as family pets who passed as a demonstration that all life is important in Buddhism.
