2026 PBA Baccalaureate

To the graduating class of 2026, Congratulations!

On behalf of the Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha organization, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you all, graduates of Pacific Buddhist Academy.

I also express my deepest respect and gratitude to your families, teachers, and all those who have warmly supported you until today.

The founding spirit of the Ryukoku Sogo Gakuen School Association to which PBA belongs to is Mahayana Buddhism, in particular, the Jodo Shinshu teaching established by the founder, Shinran Shonin. Shinran clarified that no one can live alone and that we are all enabled to live thanks to countless causes and conditions in the warm embrace of Amida Tathagata’s great compassion.

Here at PBA, in addition to classroom learning, through your encounters with friends and teachers, you have learned to look within yourself and the importance of living together with others. Not only have your high school days been filled with joy and fun, but also with worries and struggles, all through which have been important steps in your human growth.

In modern society, convenience and efficiency are extremely valued, and consideration for others is easily overlooked. However, it is precisely for this reason that the spirit of “living together” which you have nurtured here at PBA will provide you with the ability to live in the society to come.

Although your high school days end today, your path of learning continues. Even when things do not go as planned or you run into difficulties and uncertainty, cherishing what you have learned from your friends, teachers, and the founding spirit of PBA, I hope will support you as you each walk your own paths.

Finally, I would like to conclude my message wishing each of you a bright future filled with precious encounters and sincerely hope that you will continue to live cherishing all life, as you continue to appreciate the guidance you will receive from people around you. Congratulations!

May 15, 2026

Governor General SONOKI Giko
Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha

Commencement Exercise

May 17. 2026

First of all, on behalf of the ministers and members of the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the Pacific Buddhist Academy Class of 2026.

Today, we gather together as one community, one sangha, to celebrate an important milestone in the lives of our graduates. Commencement is both an ending and a beginning—a moment of reflection and realization upon the journey that has brought you here, while also looking ahead to the new paths and possibilities that await you.

During your years at PBA, you have grown not only academically, but also personally and spiritually. You have been nurtured in an environment rooted in the Buddhist values of Wisdom and Compassion. Through your studies, friendships, challenges, and experiences, you have learned not only how to move forward, but also how to care for others, how to listen deeply, and how to live with empathy and respect.

Today is a celebration of your hard work and achievements. But it is also a reminder that none of us reaches this moment alone. Behind every graduate stands the loving support of parents and family members, the guidance of teachers and mentors, the encouragement of friends, and the countless causes and conditions that have supported your journey in ways both visible and invisible.

The Buddha’s teachings remind us that our lives are deeply interconnected. Wisdom allows us to recognize that we are not separate and independent beings, but part of a much larger web of relationships. Compassion encourages us to respond to this realization with gratitude, humility, and care for others.

We live in a world filled with both great opportunities and great uncertainties. There are divisions, conflicts, and many challenges facing society today. Yet it is precisely in such times that the qualities you have cultivated here at PBA become even more important. The world needs people who can think critically yet act compassionately; people who can embrace diversity with openness and respect; people who seek not only personal success, but also the well-being of others.

As you move forward into the next chapter of your lives, may you continue to carry the founding spirit of PBA wherever you go and whatever you do.

As this commencement ceremony comes to a close, let us place our hands together in Gassho and express our deepest gratitude for the immeasurable Wisdom and Compassion that embraces and sustains us all. Let us recite the Nembutsu, Namo Amida Butsu, together.

Namo Amida Butsu.

Bishop Toshiyuki Umitani