Beomeosa Temple Busan South Korea

Moon Festival 2024

The Mid-Autumn Festival is an incredibly important family gathering – it’s when “people and the moon reunite to form a full circle,” as an old saying goes.

photo: Bruce Behnke

September 17, 2024

komorebi 木漏れ日

Definition of the Japanese word komorebi: There are three important parts to this word: 木 (ko) meaning tree, 漏れ (more) meaning to escape from, and 日 (bi) meaning sun. Together, the characters mean something like “sunlight filtering through trees.

My father served in the army during World War II, stationed in New Guinea, the Philippines, and finally in the occupation forces in Japan.  In Japan, his assignment was to work with the leadership of a local company, helping them to rebuild and reconstruct their capacity.  When my father's military term of duty ended, the president of the company gave my father this wonderful wood carving.  It stayed in a place of honor in my parent's living room and later, in their apartment until my mother passed away in 2023.

I now have this statue in my home.  In the very late afternoon, when the sun filters through the trees and the plants of the small pond in my yard, different parts of the statue are highlighted. The waning light is projected through the ever-moving leaves of bamboo, pine and water lilies.  The last light of this day has come 90 million miles to create a shimmering show of silhouetted patterns on and around the statue.

  To me, the komorebi illuminates the story of a war and the diverse people who were brought together and ultimately found peace, beauty and joy on this earth.

Every day, komorebi helps remind me of an important legacy.

 

Summer days

You are so much sunshine in every square inch.

~Walt Whitman

Oahu, Hawaii

photo: 

Bruce Behnke

V.P. of Continuity:

Martha Borgerding

why we are happy

A recent article on CNBC's website listed Honolulu and Pearl City in the top ten happiest cities in the United States.  The reasons cited included factors such as health status, employment, etc.  But, reflecting on my own community, Pearl City, I believe a community's happiness is more related to the values of its people.

In 1986, the State of Hawaii formalized its values in state statutes:

"Aloha Spirit" is the coordination of mind and heart within each person.  It brings each person to the self.  Each person must think and emote good feelings to others.  In the contemplation and presence of the life force, "Aloha", the following unuhi laula loa may be used:

     "Akahai", meaning kindness to be expressed with tenderness;

     "Lokahi", meaning unity, to be expressed with harmony;

     "Oluolu", meaning agreeable, to be expressed with pleasantness;

     "Haahaa", meaning humility, to be expressed with modesty;

     "Ahonui", meaning patience, to be expressed with perseverance.

     "These are traits of character that express the charm, warmth and sincerity of Hawaii's people.  It was the working philosophy of native Hawaiians and was presented as a gift to the people of Hawaii.  "Aloha" is more than a word of greeting or farewell or a salutation.  "Aloha" means mutual regard and affection and extends warmth in caring with no obligation in return.  "Aloha" is the essence of relationships in which each person is important to every other person for collective existence.  "Aloha" means to hear what is not said, to see what cannot be seen and to know the unknowable."

I believe these values are well embraced in our community and bear a stronger relationship with our happiness than most other variables.

photo: Pearl Harbor from Pearl City bicycle trail.

(c) bruce behnke

Spring is for everyone

 

in my province

grass blooms too...

cherry blossoms

我国は草さへさきぬさくら花

~Kobayashi Issa

1820

Kobayashi Issa was a poet and a Buddhist Jodoshinshu priest living and writing in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.  This is one of Issa’s cherry blossom haiku with a hint of satire and social commentary. In it, the sakura stands for rich nobles, while the grass represents ordinary people.

photo: bruce behnke

my teacher

Study water flows in a valley stream,

 smoothly and freely between the rocks. 

Everything - 

even mountains, rivers, plants and trees - 

should be your teacher.

~Morihei Ueshiba  植芝 盛平

(founder of Aikido)

photo: bruce behnke