Online Nirvana Day Dharma Service for Sunday, February 21, 2021 with a Dharma message by special guest speaker Dr. George Tanabe and officiated by Rev. Dr. Bert Sumikawa at Windward Buddhist Temple. Nirvana Day is an annual Buddhist festival that remembers the death of the Buddha when he reached Nirvana at the age of 80. Full program below.
00:00 - Ringing of the kansho (temple bell)
01:59 - Opening Remarks
02:14 - Vandana & Ti-Sarana (page 7 in the red service book)
04:10 - Sutra: Praises of the Buddha (page 112 in the red service book)
13:04 - Recitation: Dhammapada
14:00 - Dharma Talk: Dr. George Tanabe
36:01 - Gatha: Amida's Land (from "Gift of Peace")
38:51 - Nembutsu (page 107 in Praises of the Buddha)
39:47 - Closing Remarks
40:22 - February Schedule
40:50 - How to Donate to WBT Online
Dr. George Tanabe
Dr. George Tanabe is our guest speaker for our Nirvana Day service. Dr. Tanabe was born and raised in Waialua. He graduated from University High School, Willamette University (B.A.), Union Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and Columbia University (M.A. and Ph.D.). From 1977 to 2006 he taught in the UH Department of Religion and is currently Professor Emeritus.
He is President of BDK Hawaii and Chairman of BDK America. He is a specialist on the religions of Japan, especially Buddhism, his books have been published by university presses of Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, and UH.
In 2007 he received the Foreign Minister’s Award from the Japanese government, and in 2012 he was honored with the Imperial Order of the Rising Sun. George and his wife Willa (Professor Emerita of Japanese Art History) published Japanese Buddhist Temples of Hawai`i: An Illustrated Guide (UH Press). He still lives in Waialua.
