STAR-BULLETIN / 2002 Andrew Akio Otani pours water over the small golden Buddha during last year's Buddha Day Celebration at Blaisdell Center. The fete was sponsored by the Hawaii Buddhist Council and the Hawaii Association of International Buddhists.

Buddha Day
celebration tomorrow

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Star-Bulletin staff

"If Buddhism is to be a living positive spiritual force in the community of diverse culture and ethnicity, the challenge is to adopt and adapt the essence of Buddhism into the American way of life," said the Rev. Shugen Komagata, one of the planners of the annual Buddha Day celebration tomorrow.

Seven major Buddhist denominations will join together to celebrate the birth of Buddha at a 9 a.m. service at McKinley High School auditorium. The event sponsored by the Hawaii Buddhist Council is free and open to the public.

The celebration will include a talk on "Cherishing our Buddhist Heritage" by Walter Ozawa, deputy administrative director of the state Judiciary, ritual chanting and offerings by ministers of several temples and musical entertainment by the Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin choir and the Hawaii Matsuri Taiko drummers and dancers.

It is a day for individual Buddhists to recommit themselves to the Buddha's way of life, said Komagata, a minister of Soto Mission of Hawaii. He said each person will symbolize that spiritual commitment by pouring sweet tea over an image of the infant Buddha in honor of his teachings.

"Buddhism in Hawaii has been in the process of transition for the past 20 years," Komagata said. The beliefs and practices brought by Japanese immigrants to Hawaii are changing as modern Buddhism embraces people of multicultural backgrounds.

Buddhists celebrate April 8 as the birth date of Prince Siddhartha Gotama in Lumbini, India, more than 2,500 years ago. He developed and taught the philosophy that led him to attain enlightenment and become Buddha, "the fully awakened one."

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