Panel on Enlightenment presented by HAIB

Event details

  • July 19, 2018
  • 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
  • Honolulu Myohoji Mission 2003 Nuuanu Avenue Honolulu, HI 96817

Hawaii Association of International Buddhists (HAIB) presents

“ENLIGHTENMENT”

A panel discussion on its meaning and
how to cultivate toward this state

Moderated by Thanh Huynh, President of HAIB

Doors open at 6:00 p.m.

Panelists in order of presentation

Grahame White (Vipassana Hawaii) has been involved in Buddhist meditation practice for over 40 years. He began his study in England in 1969 before being ordained as a Buddhist monk for one year in BodhGaya, India in 1971. He took a primary role in the establishment of Vipassana meditation in the tradition of Mahasi Sayadaw in Australia and co-founded the Blue Mountains Insight Mediation Center outside Sydney. He has also been a guiding teacher at Vipassana Hawaii.

Lama Karma Rinchen (Kagyu Thegchen Ling) was born in 1931, in Eastern Tibet. At eleven, he made a twomonth journey on foot to Palpung Monastery, completing the traditional three-year retreat at 16, and taking full ordination at age 20. The 1959 Tibetan rebellion against Chinese occupation ended his studies in Lhasa, forcing an escape to India. In 1976, he was among the first group of 12 lamas sent by the 16th Karmapa and Kalu Rinpoche to centers in the West. For 42 years, he has been principle resident lama at Kagyu Thegchen Ling in Honolulu.

Kathy Southard, LCSW (Kailua Shambhala Meditation Center) began practicing in the Shambhala tradition, established by Choygam Trungpa Rinpoche, in 2001. She is the former personnel manager for Dechen Choling, the Shambhala residential retreat center in France, former Head of Programs, overseeing all meditation programming for the London Shambhala Meditation Center and is an authorized meditation instructor since 2010. Her teachers are Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and Pema Chodron.

Michael Kieran (Honolulu Diamond Sangha) began Zen practice with Robert Aitken Roshi in 1974 and was appointed apprentice teacher in 1981. Withdrawing from teaching in 1984 to focus on his family and business, he returned to formal practice in 1996 with Nelson Foster, a dharma heir of Aitken Roshi. In 2004, he received Dharma transmission from Nelson and has been the full-time teacher at the Palolo Zen Center and Maui Zendo since 2006.

Rev. Shugen Komagata (Soto Mission of Hawaii) is the third generation of his family of Zen Buddhist ministers to serve Hawaii. He is the Chief Minister of the Soto Mission of Hawaii Shoboji on Nuuanu Ave. and Bishop of Hawaii Soto Mission. Arriving in Hawaii, at age 12, he graduated from McKinley High School in 1963 and earned an MA in Comparative Religion from the University of New Mexico. He completed formal Soto Zen training at Sojiji Temple in Yokohama, Japan.

Rev. Tatsuo Muneto (Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin) was a minister for the Honpa Hongwanji, Pure Land Shin sect of Buddhism, for 52 years. He was born in 1941 in Hiroshima, Japan. After overseas ministry training in Kyoto, he was assigned to Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii in 1965. Rev. Muneto was assigned to many temples throughout the State including Hilo Betsuin, Kona Hongwanji, Moiliili Hongwanji and the Hawaii Betsuin. He is currently involved in inter-faith activities and hospice volunteer work.

Free admission, open to the public
For more information, contact Thanh Huynh at thanhhawaii@gmail.com