The 2015 Winter Pacific Seminar will be held this year at the Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple on Saturday 7 March. Organized by the Institute for Buddhist Studies and the Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) Center for Buddhist Education (CBE), the seminar is titled “Life of Awakening: True Teaching,” and will run from 9 a.m.–4 p.m. The keynote speaker is Professor Tomoyasu Naito, who holds the highest academic rank within the Pure Land school of Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha (Kangaku).
Professor Tomoyasu Naito. From buddhistchurchesofamerica.org
As well as the keynote speech, the event will include talks by Professor Naito and Rev. Kiyonobu Kuwahara, co-director of CBE and coordinator of the Hongwanji Jodo Shinshu Correspondence Course. Professor Naito’s talk will be in Japanese, with an English translation by Rev. Mutsumi Wondra of Orange County Buddhist Church. Rev. Kiyonobu Kuwahara will speak in English.
Born in 1945 in Osaka Prefecture, Japan, Professor Naito is known for his orthodox interpretation of the Jodo Shinshu doctrine. He graduated from Ryukoko University and the Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha Shugakuin, and is a member of the Hongwanji Kangaku Committee of Special Advisors to the head abbot (Gomonshu), as well as professor emeritus of Shinshu Studies at Ryukoku University and a resident minister of the temple Kakujo-ji in Fukui, Japan. Besides attending the Winter Pacific Seminar, Professor Naito will be giving lectures at educational conferences and seminars at eight temples in California (buddhistchannel.tv).
On Naito’s participation, CBE co-director Rev. Marvin Harada commented: “We really appreciate Prof. Naito’s great enthusiasm for sharing the Dharma with our BCA sangha. Considering last year’s visit by Prof. Nobuhiro Fukagawa, also a Hongwanji Kangaku, and CBE’s many Skype lectures with Rev. Tokunaga, Kangaku, we are very lucky to listen to and interact with the top Jodo Shinshu scholars of our day, right here in our own temples. I encourage all to participate in these special learning sessions” (Buddhist Churches of America).
The Pacific seminars started in the 1950s, when the Berkeley Buddhist Studies Center began to offer “seminars for diverse seekers of all generations and backgrounds, dedicated to the lifelong pursuit of the Dharma” (buddhistchannel.tv). Following the completion of the BCA Jodo Shinshu Center in Berkeley five years ago, two-day summer sessions have been held there annually. In an attempt to expand beyond the Jodo Shinshu Center, winter/spring sessions were introduced in 2011. In 2011 and 2012, these seminars took place at Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles, and in 2013 at Gardena Buddhist Church, California, with a spring session at the same location on 22 March 2014. This year’s Winter Pacific Seminar will be held in the northwest of the United States for the first time.
The registration fee is US$30, and will include lunch. Those interested in attending should send their name, postal and email address, phone number, and a check payable to “Seattle Betsuin” (check memo: “Winter Pacific Seminar”) to: Seattle Betsuin, 1427 S. Main Street, Seattle, WA 98144, USA; attn: Winter Pacific Seminar. Email: office@seattlebetsuin.com or phone: (206) 329-0800. Application deadline: 23 February 2015.