I’m honored to be the invited speaker for this year’s Summer Session at the Buddhist Study Center in Honolulu. The Center was founded in 1972 when Rev. Kanmo Imamura was bishop of the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawai’i. This is the 48th year in a row they’ve hosted a Summer Session, and the first one back “in person” since covid. It’ll be live-streamed, too, so whether your in Hawai’i or not, please join us.
After my five-night lecture series, I’ll be giving talks on Kawai (virtually), Maui, and the Big Island. I’m sorry to say that I don’t have all of the details or web links to all those other talks, just a schedule in my inbox! But if you’re interested, let me know and I’ll send you more details.
The connection to the Imamuras is relevant for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that they were instrumental in the establishment of the Institute of Buddhist Studies nearly seventy-five years ago. They are also a focus of my upcoming book, Mid-Century Modern Buddhism, of which I’ll say more in future posts. And this book is more or less the subject of my talks in Hawai’i. Given the amount of time people are giving me to ramble on and on about American Buddhist history, I figured this is a good opportunity to give something of an extended “sneak peak” of the book as I finish it off and send it to the published.
After Hawai’i, we’re visiting family and friends for a couple of weeks and I’m very much looking forward to being off the grid, so to speak. But I’ll do my best to keep my promise of updating this website, even if it’s just random photos from my travels.
And, finally, on a not entirely unrelated note, I got my second booster the other day. And so should you. I was having a conversation just yesterday with a young woman who was confused about the requirements and recommendations. As they say, I’m not that kind of doctor, but if it’s been more than six months since a shot, go get one. It’s worth it to stay safe and healthy.
Take care out there.