[ RELIGION ]
Buddhist, Shinto
services offered
The pounding of taiko drums in Nuuanu and the measured vibration of gongs from dozens of other temples will be the focus of people who start the new year on a spiritual note.
A New Year visit to a Buddhist temple or a Shinto shrine is a religious and cultural tradition for thousands of island residents.
Temple visitors seek "omamori" inscribed with prayers for good fortune and well-being. The palm-sized, brocade-wrapped amulets will be seen all year on home altars, office walls and dangling from rearview windows.
Temples hold open-house hours and offer rituals that use ringing gongs or smoke to send prayers heavenward.
"The main purposes of the visit are to first express gratitude for the past," said the Rev. Daiya Amano, of Izumo Taishakyo Mission of Hawaii in Chinatown. "Then we pray that life hereafter may be blessed with renewed promise and hope for health and well-being of the family. For a business person, it is a hope for a prosperous year with greater customer satisfaction. Also, we pray for homeland security and world peace."
Amano said people seek amulets for a variety of specific needs.
"They are not treated by believers as mere good-luck charms," he said, but are "religious artifacts treated with respect just as a crucifix or St. Christopher medal are respected by Catholic believers."
He said the shrine has added an amulet for pets among the omamori offered for sale.
This year, two Honolulu temples offer special programs open to the interfaith community.
Next Friday and Saturday, Tendai Mission of Hawaii will sponsor a symposium about "the prayer of emptiness" found in several religions. The sessions, 6:30 p.m. at 23 Jack Lane, are free and open to the public. They will begin with a demonstration by Shifu Zhang Xiu, who teaches wushu meditative movement as a way of health, healing and inner peace. The 7:30 p.m. discussions will explore meditative prayer in the Buddhist, Taoist, Sufi, Kabala, Hindu and Christian traditions, with the Rev. Ara Ryokan as host.
Kagyu Thegchen Ling, the Tibetan Buddhist Dharma Center, will sponsor talks by well-known Tibetan author and poet Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtsu Rinpoche. He will teach from his recent book, "The Sun of Wisdom," at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 26 Gartley Place. The fee is $20 per person. He will lead all-day seminars next Saturday and Jan. 4. For reservation information, call 595-8989.
All events are open to the public. The New Year schedules include:
Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin, 1727 Pali Highway. At the 11:30 p.m. Wednesday service, every member of the congregation will have the opportunity to sound the gong.Bishop Chikai Yosemori will lead the 10 a.m. Thursday service. The temple will remain open until Thursday evening.
Shingon Mission, 915 Sheridan St. The shrine will be open from 11 p.m. Wednesday to 5 p.m. Thursday with the 11:30 p.m. year-ending service followed by the 12:01 a.m. New Year service. Visitors write their prayers and wishes on "goma" sticks to be burned in a purifying fire at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 4. Member Reyn Tsuru said the Shingon ritual observes "that prayers are literally transformed into smoke rising to the heavens or, if there has been a bad 2003, it will be burned away."
Jodo Mission, 1429 Makiki St. New Year services will be held at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m. Thursday. The mission will be open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday.
Soto Mission, 1708 Nuuanu Ave. The New Year service will begin at midnight Wednesday, and the temple will be open from 8 a.m. to noon Thursday.
Daijingu Temple of Hawaii, 61 Puiwa Road. A 10 p.m. Wednesday purification ceremony will begin the Shinto New Year observance. The rituals will continue with an 11 p.m. blessing service and taiko drumming at midnight. Individual prayers and blessings will be offered between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday, and at the same times through the weekend.
Ten musicians will perform Japanese court music in a free concert at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the shrine near Nuuanu Valley Park.
Izumo Taishakyo Mission of Hawaii, 215 N. Kukui St. The Shinto shrine will be open from midnight Wednesday until Thursday evening.
Private blessing services for individuals, families and businesses will continue for several days.
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