Japanese abbot hosts Jodo Grand Memorial

Jodo Shu Archbishop Shogen Miyabayashi, abbot of the Grand Temple Komyoji in Kamakura, Japan, officiated last Sunday over the 800th Grand Memorial service for St. Honen, founder of the Buddhist denomination at the Jodo Mission of Hawaii.

The observance is sponsored by the Hawaii Council of Jodo Missions, which consists of 14 temples in Hawaii.

St. Honen is recognized as a leader of the so-called Kamakura Buddhism during which there was a revolutionary spread of Buddhism among the general public throughout Japan, according to a release.

Archbishop Miyabayashi also officiated over the Jukai rite, the transmission of Buddhist precepts last weekend at the Jodo Mission, at 1429 Makiki St.

He also visited temples on the Big Island, Maui, and Kauai.