JUST SAY MAHALO®

Category: my stories

  • “A Mother’s Tears” Memorial Day Dharma Talk 2021

    Rev. Kerry reflects upon the Dharma reality-as-it-is that Memorial Day begins and ends with “A Mother’s Tears”. Full text of the Dharma Talk is below the video. This Dharma Talk was recorded LIVE FROM MAKAWAO! at Makawao Hongwanji Buddhist Temple on Maui on May 30, 2021. Let us live happily then, hating none while in…

  • Nembutsu Smiles

    Let us begin by reflecting upon the wisdom, the Dharma, of Shinran Shōnin, founder of Jodo Shin Buddhism and the Hongwanji tradition. Persons who truly realize shinjinas they say Amida’s NameBeing mindful of Buddha always,Wish to respond in gratitude to the great benevolence. Shinran ShōninHymns of the Dharma Ages, verse 30The Collected Works of Shinran,…

  • Baby Buddha’s Birthday Party: The Story of Hanamatsuri

    Dharma Talk for Children at Makawao Hongwanji Buddhist Temple in Historic Makawao Town on the beautiful island of Maui in the great State of Hawaiʻi. Ever wonder why we pour “sweet tea” over a statue of the Baby Buddha in a “flower palace” for “Hanamatsuri” every year? Rev. Kerry explains the meaning and significance of…

  • The Pain is ME: You’re Only Human

    Aloha kakou! Aloha everyone! Ohayo gozaimasu! Good morning! Let’s begin with wisdom of Shinran Shōnin, the founder of Jodo Shinshu. My fervent wish is this: Whether monk or layperson, when on board the ship of the great compassionate Vow, let pure shinjin be the favorable wind, and in the dark night of ignorance, let the…

  • The Only Thing to Hate is Hate Itself

    Dharma Talk at Makawao Hongwanji on the beautiful island of Maui in the great state of Hawaiʻi on March 21, 2021.

  • The Other Shore? You’re Standing on It.

    Dharma Talk for Spring Equinox Service (Shunki Higan Hoyo) at Makawao Hongwanji Buddhist Temple in Historic Makawao Town on the beautiful island of Maui in the great state of Hawaiʻi. The Equinox, when day and night, light and dark, are exactly equal is the perfect time to pause and reflect on the balance between our…

  • “LOCK HIM UP!”

    A reflection on my personal reactions to the horrific insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and how as Shin Buddhists, we can try to respond to the relentless images of violence and destruction. From a Buddhist perspective, there are no “winners” or “losers”, no “good” or “evil”, no “right” and “wrong”, just us, ordinary human beings…

  • To Vaccine or Not to Vaccine, that is the Question

    “To vaccine or not to vaccine, that is the question.” From a Buddhist perspective, there is no question: get the vaccine!  Based on the Buddhist principle of ahimsa “non-harm,” protecting oneself and others from infection by receiving a COVID-19 vaccination is intuitively obvious. The Dharma of the Buddha’s Teachings consistently emphasizes causality, empiricism, and logical…

  • Amida’s Absolute Aloha: “…bits of rubble turned into gold.”

    Let’s begin with the wisdom of Shinran Shōnin.  Please join me in putting our palms together in gasshō. “(Amida) Buddha, in the causal stage, made the universal Vow: When beings hear my Name and think on me,  I will come to welcome each of them, Not discriminating between the poor and the rich and wellborn,…

  • “A Great Torch in the Dark Night of Ignorance”

    Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii Online Dharma Message on November 1, 2020: “A Great Torch in the Dark Night of Ignorance”. Grateful for the opportunity to give an Online Dharma Message today—because it means I woke up not dead! In reflection, everything in my life has led me to this moment, every person I encountered…