Center marks somber, celebratory milestones

The 30th-anniversary celebration of the Honolulu Myohoji cultural center at the Myohoji Nichiren Buddhist temple in Nuuanu, held Sunday, also marked the annual commemoration of Nichiren’s death.

Nichiren (1222-1282), a Buddhist reformer, initiated the Nichiren sect, founded on the teaching of the Lotus Sutra, which was the supreme teaching of Buddhism at the time, according to professor emeritus Alfred Bloom, an international authority on Buddhism. Oeshiki is the ceremonial commemoration in praise of Nichiren’s life and teaching, held on a grand scale in Japan at the Ikegami Hommonji in Tokyo. Nichiren is distinctive for his concern for society, resulting in frequent persecution during his lifetime, Bloom said in a news release. The Lotus Sutra expresses great compassion for all beings, embodied in the Eternal Sakyamuni.

The presiding Bishop Chishin Hirai of Nichiren Mission of Hawaii officiated the ceremonies. The keynote speaker was the Rev. Myokei Cain-Barrett, resident priest and at Myoken-ji Temple/Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of Texas, and the first Western woman to be ordained in the Nichiren-shu tradition.

The service acknowledged temple members who have contributed to the cultural center and its activities, which include Japanese dance, kendo, aikido, tea ceremony, calligraphy, flower arranging and other offerings.