The Rev. Koshi Yagi will be the keynote speaker during the annual Bodhi Day Service at 9 a.m., Sunday at the Kapa‘a Hongwanji Mission. The public is invited to this auspicious service, one of the landmarks of the Buddhist religious
The Rev. Koshi Yagi will be the keynote speaker during the annual Bodhi Day Service at 9 a.m., Sunday at the Kapa‘a Hongwanji Mission.
The public is invited to this auspicious service, one of the landmarks of the Buddhist religious calendar.
Bodhi Day is the day that Prince Siddhartha became the Buddha at age 35 following a lengthy meditation period under a Bodhi tree, according to a release from Yagi.
Siddharta left his home in search of truth despite having every material item he could desire in life. He was unsatisfied with his life and left the palace of his parents.
After diligently practicing all manner of ascetic disciplines, including starving himself to the point of death to gain control over his body, he rejected the reclusive path and started eating.
Siddharta realized that a person could not think clearly and have a healthy mind without a healthy body. Instead, he turned to a middle ground of meditation.
Mahayana tradition states that in the early hours of Dec. 8, Siddhartha became the Buddha, the Awakened One, the Perfectly Enlightened One, Yagi explained in his release.
By his example, he showed people that it is possible for a man to become a Buddha.
“We are in possession of this potentiality, this Buddha-nature, which when awakened and cultivated, will enable us to achieve the same Enlightenment,” Yagi said.
Following the commemorative service hosted by the Kaua‘i Buddhist Council at the Kapa‘a Hongwanji, located across the street from the Kapa‘a Shopping Center, light refreshments will be served.
For more information, call 822-4667.
