The 6th Annual "Ring Your Bell for Peace Day" was held on Monday, September 22, 2025. Windward Buddhist Temple was one of the hundreds of individuals and organizations internationally who participated in this annual event over Zoom to celebrate Peace Day. At 9:01 am HST everyone rang their bells continuously for five minutes.
Mahalo to Rene Mansho and the Ring Your Bell for Peace Day committee and Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii for another inspiring event!
Rev. Alan Urasaki
Autumn Ohigan & Peace Day Dharma Service for Sunday, September 14, 2025 with a Dharma Talk by guest minister Rev. Alan Urasaki of Shinshu Kyokai Mission of Hawaii. This Jodo Shinshu Buddhist service was officiated by Rev. Urasaki.
Rev. Urasaki emphasizes the importance of peace, kindness, and interconnectedness, drawing on the teachings of Amida Buddha and the spirit of aloha. He encourages the audience to observe their own hearts with gentleness, let go of attachments, and cultivate inner peace.
Following the service, members went on a walk around Kailua to distribute Peace Day cranes.
00:00 - Opening Remarks & Program
00:26 - Ringing of the Kansho (temple bell)
02:55 - Offering of Flowers & Light
03:53 - Meditation
04:39 - Vandana & Ti-Sarana (page 7 in the red service book)
06:47 - San Bu Jo (page 9 in the red service book)
10:27 - Ohigan Aspiration
11:17 - Sutra: Sanbutsuge (page 46 in the red service book)
17:10 - Recitation: Homages (page 2 in the red service book)
13:36 - Gatha: Shinshu Anthem (page 178 in Praises of the Buddha)
21:36 - Dharma Talk: Rev. Alan Urasaki
01:00:09 - Gatha: Arigatai (page 14 in Praises of the Buddha)
01:02:47 - The Nembutsu (page 145 in Praises of the Buddha)
01:04:08 - Announcements
01:13:50 - Words of Thanksgiving (page 126 in the red service book)
01:14:41 - September Dharma Service Schedule
01:14:56:28 - How to Donate to WBT
We are now able to accept secure online donations using PayPal or a credit card. Please visit our Donation page for instructions or scan the QR code in the video.Item description
Download the Jodo Shinshu Service Book (the "red service book"): https://tinyurl.com/GetServiceBook
On September 20, we participated in the 5th Annual "Ring Your Bell for Peace Day" online event. Together with hundreds of participants across the state, country, and world, we rang our bell at 9 am HST to celebrate International Peace Day.
On September 21, we participated in the 4th Annual "Ring Your Bell for Peace Day" online event. Together with hundreds of participants across the state, country, and world, we rang our bell at 9 am HST to celebrate International Peace Day.
In celebration of Peace Day, which will be observed this year on Saturday, September 21, members of Windward Buddhist Temple held a Peace Day walk around Kailua. Peace Day cranes, which were folded by members during this month’s First Sunday activity, were shared with businesses and individuals around Kailua to inform them about Peace Day and share a message of peace.
Today was our first Sunday service after our summer break in August. Our Dharma Talk was given by our resident minister, Rev. Bert Sumikawa. Rev. Sumikawa spoke about importance of perseverance as well as dukkah, commonly translated as suffering.
As announced in the September newsletter, our monthly First Sunday family activity is back by popular demand. Following this morning’s service, we folded large origami cranes for International Peace Day, which we will observe on September 22, 2019. The cranes will be distributed by our Dharma school students to neighborhood businesses in hopes they will display them as part of International Peace Day.
Today’s Dharma Message was given by Prudence, who shared a story about a gumyocho, a two-headed bird.
One head was named Karuda and the other Upakaruda. The heads had differing desires, which often caused conflicts between Karuda and Upakaruda.
One day, Karuda feasted until he could eat no more, while Upakaruda slept. When Upakaruda woke, he found he couldn’t enjoy the food since their stomach was stuffed from Karuda’s feasting.
Feeling resentful, Upakaruda ate poisonous fruits, hoping to punish Karuda. As expected, when Karuda woke, the poison kicked in and he died. Of course, because they shared the same body, the poison that killed Karuda soon after killed Upakaruda.
Before dying, Upakaruda realized the interconnectedness of his life and Karuda’s. By harming one, they both suffered.
After the service, we celebrated August and September birthdays. After refreshments, we had our First Sunday activity (postponed from earlier in the month due to our 50th Anniversary celebration), assembling paper plate doves to hang on our Peace Day tree.
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