Dance with joy

Lanterns will glow outside Hawaii's many Japanese temples during the summer Obon season as Buddhists observe the tradition of honoring the dead through ritual, music and dance.

Obon literally means "lantern festival." The mellow, old-fashioned lights are intended to illuminate the path of the spirits of ancestors who return in this season. The spirits are honored with offerings of flowers, food, prayers and incense in temple rituals and on family altars.

The popular public expression of remembering the dead is the bon dance. The concept of dancing for the dead is based on a story about Mokuren, a disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha, who founded the religion 2,500 years ago. The monk had a vision of his dead mother in the realm of hungry ghosts, starving there because of her greed while alive. Mokuren asked how he could relieve her suffering. The Buddha told him to offer food to monks returning from a retreat.

His mother's spirit was freed by his good deed, which led Mokuren to dance with joy.

In Japan the Obon season is a week or two long, but bon dances have become so popular in Hawaii that the season is stretched to last all summer long. Temples take turns on successive weekends, erecting fundraising food booths along with the "yaguro" tower, the stage for taiko drummers, singers and deejays spinning Japanese folk songs.

The experience has been embraced by island residents regardless of religion or ethnicity.

Toro Nagashi, a lantern-floating ceremony, is the traditional finale of the Obon observance, said retired Honpa Hongwanji minister Alfred Bloom. In Japan the Toro Nagashi is often on a river, with lanterns set adrift to guide the ancestors back to the spirit world. "There is the concept of carrying away impurities, so sending these ancestors back also has the aspect of a fresh start for the living," Bloom said.

The Haleiwa Jodo Mission has sponsored a Toro Nagashi for nearly 40 years, setting lanterns adrift from its shore on Haleiwa Road beyond Alii Beach Park. The rural temple will hold its bon dance at 8 p.m. July 25 and 26. About 1,000 lanterns will be launched at 9 p.m. with names of the dead inscribed on them.

"The spirits come back and dance together with us," said the Rev. Koji Ezaki, of Haleiwa Jodo Mission. "In the Toro Nagashi, the spirits of the deceased are going back to the land of Buddha, and we light their way."