The seminar includes: Lecture 1: A review of the Life of Sakyamuni Buddha and his Dharma and their implications for the 21st century; Lecture 2: Parameters and limitations of Buddhist thinking, and how are they different from other ways of thinking; Lecture 3: Imagining in Buddhist Experience … who or what becomes enlightenment?; Lecture 4: Memories of the future … what does it mean to grow old in Buddhist cultures.
“Memory and imagination allow us to interweave past, present and future. … We can thus anticipate feelings of loneliness when we recall the loss of a parent or feelings of joy when we remember the birth of a child. Anticipating the past also raises fears that historical events will repeat themselves. We look back in time to understand the present; the present builds on the past and invites the future. We look into the future and imagine where we want to be and what we can achieve. We cherish the future. We can imagine, like John Lennon, a world without war …” says the Rev. Ronald Nakasone.
The public is invited to participate in Honpa Hongwanji Hilo Betsuin’s 2012 Spring Seminar at Sangha Hall. Featured presenter will be the Rev. Nakasone, currently a member of the Core Doctoral faculty at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif., and at the Stanford University Geriatric Education Center.
On Saturday, March 16, at 7 p.m. at Hilo Betsuin’s main hall, he will present a free public lecture, “Remembering the Buddhist Experience.” Registration is not required.
On Sunday, March 17, his seminar will be on the theme, “Memory and Imagination.” He will discuss aging, rituals, associated with aging, and the culture of aging, with a focus on Buddhist, Confucian, and Shinto notions of aging and growing old and in what ways they appear in the Okinawan and Japanese culture. Registration for the seminar begins at 8:30 a.m.; seminar will be 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Interested parties please sign up at the temple office; the seminar fee is $8.00. Deadline to sign up is Monday, March 12.
The seminar includes: Lecture 1: A review of the Life of Sakyamuni Buddha and his Dharma and their implications for the 21st century; Lecture 2: Parameters and limitations of Buddhist thinking, and how are they different from other ways of thinking; Lecture 3: Imagining in Buddhist Experience … who or what becomes enlightenment?; Lecture 4: Memories of the future … what does it mean to grow old in Buddhist cultures.