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Annual week-long seminar with a Buddhist scholar. More »
Upcoming Events
Guest Lecturer: Paula Arai, PhD
26th Annual Bloom-Futaba Memorial Lecture
A Gift from Rev. Dr. Alfred Bloom
“Stories of Women Liberating Dharma”
Saturday, November 8, 2025 | 6–9 PM
Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin, Annex Temple & on Zoom
Guest Lecturer: Paula Arai, PhD
(Dr. Arai will be in person at Hawaii Betsuin)
Respondent: Dr. George Tanabe
A brochure is available.
Free Registration Advised – visit this Google form or the associated QR code to register.
Lectures will be held in-person at Hongwanji Betsuin and livestreamed on Zoom.
With the intention to see the Buddhist tradition from a woman’s perspective and illuminate how women, or anyone, can wield liberating power, I explore the creative expedient of storytelling, a favored method in sutras.
To do so, I followed principles I developed to help me navigate this rich terrain. I began with breathing space for not knowing. That involved assuming what evidence I did have was incomplete.
It also involved doing as much rigorous research into socio-historical materials and Buddhist teachings as I could muster and turning to experts to assess the plausibility of my findings.
Approaching my findings from an embodied perspective opened up insights into what women might have seen, tasted, smelled, heard, touched, and thought. It helped me humanize them.
As Buddhist women, they likely lived with a sense of our interdependence and sought ways to respond to suffering with compassion.
I deliberately sought out Buddhist sutras, teachings, and practices that are not heralded for the way they might support women or are known to have generated suffering for women. I wanted to probe possibilities for engaging in a liberating interpretation of such material.
The first part will focus on Eshinni and the “Blood Pond Sutra.” In the second part, I will focus on domestic Dharma in World War II, Japan and a Japanese American woman. They are part of my larger book project, tentatively titled “Of Lotuses and Mud: Women Liberating Dharma.”
Professor Paula Arai (Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies, Harvard University) holds the Eshinni & Kakushinni Professor of Women and Buddhist Studies chair at the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, California.
She is author of:
Under the tutelage of Aoyama Shundō Rōshi, Professor Arai did Zen training at the Aichi Senmon Nisōdō nunnery in Nagoya, Japan. Steeped in ethnographic research, she takes an embodied approach to her work and finds poetic immersive storytelling a potent medium for conveying the experiences of transformative healing she researches. An active public speaker, Arai also leads workshops on healing rituals. Website: Zenhealing.org
Professor Arai was a 2009 10th Anniversary Futaba-Bloom speaker, on the topic of “Grateful Heart: A Buddhist Way of Healing.”
The Futaba Lecture Series is endowed by Dr. Alfred & Ms. Dorothy N. Bloom to honor the memory of friend and mentor, Professor Kenko Futaba. Dr. Futaba, a noted Shin Buddhist scholar, served as President of Kyoto’s Ryukoku University from 1983 to 1995 and then became Chancellor of Kyoto Women’s University.
Al fervently hoped that this lecture series would be a continuing inspiration for the nurturing of American Buddhism and for the social participation of Buddhists in the quest of social justice and peace. His website continues to serve as a resource for students today: https://bschawaii.org/shindharmanet/
BDK Hawaii presents
A Journey Through Diverse Buddhist Traditions
with Dr. George Tanabe
Four Wednesday Sessions:
10/22, 10/29, 11/5, 11/12 (all 2025)
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Offered at Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin and via Zoom
(enter parking at 1742 Lusitana St.)
Discover the richness and variety of Buddhist teachings and practices as they developed in India, China, and Japan.
Professor Emeritus Dr. George Tanabe, a Waialua native, taught Japanese religions at UH from 1977 to 2006. President of BDK Hawaii and Chairman of BDK America, he has authored numerous works on Buddhism. Dr. Tanabe was honored with Japan’s Foreign Minister’s Award and the Order of the Rising Sun. He and his wife Dr. Willa Tanabe (Professor Emerita of Japanese Art History) researched and wrote Japanese Buddhist Temples in Hawaiʻi: An Illustrated Guide.
