Peace Walk remembers pilgrimage

An event that became a spiritual and symbolic statement against nuclear warfare and the World War II destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will be commemorated with a July 16 Peace Walk.

The 6 p.m. walk sponsored by Honpa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple will proceed from the temple at 1727 Pali Highway to King Street, ending at the Nagasaki Peace Bell Memorial on the City Hall grounds.

It will be preceded by a 4 p.m. showing of the documentary movie "Gate, the Atomic Flame." The show at the temple will be free and open to the public.

The movie and the Peace Walk commemorate a pilgrimage by three Buddhist monks who carried an ember of the atomic flame from Nagasaki to its point of origin at the White Sands Missile Range in Trinity, N.M. The last leg of their journey was a 1,600-mile walk from San Francisco to the former atomic testing grounds, chronicled in the movie.

Lecture examines Jodo Buddhism

Shin Buddhist scholar Toshikazu Arai will speak on "Rethinking Jodo Buddhism" in a five-day seminar at the Buddhist Study Center, 1436 University Ave.

The lectures will be at 6:30 p.m. July 26 to Aug. 6. The cost is $45 or $20 for students. For information, call 973-6555 or write bscassist@gmail.com.

Arai, who received a doctoral degree in history at the University of Hawaii, is professor emeritus in Buddhism at Soai University in Osaka, Japan. He is the author of "Grasped by the Buddha’s Vow."