BEGIN:VCALENDAR METHOD:PUBLISH VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN PRODID:-//NONSGML WPForms//NONSGML Sugar Calendar Feeds v3.12.1//EN X-WR-CALNAME:"Re-Thinking the Western View of Buddhism" (27th Annual Blo om-Futaba Memorial Lectures) X-WR-CALDESC:Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin X-WR-TIMEZONE:Pacific/Honolulu BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Pacific/Honolulu BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-1000 TZOFFSETTO:-1000 DTSTART:20260510T030000 TZNAME:HST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Pacific/Honolulu BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-1000 TZOFFSETTO:-1000 DTSTART:20260510T030000 TZNAME:HST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:"Re-Thinking the Western View of Buddhism" (27th Annual Bloom-Fu taba Memorial Lectures) DESCRIPTION:[caption id="attachment_18055" align="alignright" width="300 "] Guest Lecturer: Professor Aaron Proffitt[/caption]\n27th Annual Bloom -Futaba Memorial Lectures\nSponsored by Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin\n "Re-Thinking the Western View of Buddhism"\nSunday\, November 8\, 2026 | 3-6 PM\nHonpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin &\; on Zoom\n\nGuest Lecturer :\nRev. Dr. Aaron Shōken Proffitt\n(Rev. Proffitt will be in person at Hawaii Betsuin)\n[su_button url="https://forms.gle/LuPtPNi3wxArfE6W9" ta rget="blank" background="#4a177f" size="8" icon="icon: wpforms"]Registra tion[/su_button]\n\n \;\n[caption id="attachment_9868" align="alignr ight" width="120"] Respondent: Dr. George Tanabe[/caption]\nSchedule\n\n 3:00 pm Welcome and Introduction\n 3:10 pm “How did Buddhist Paths Diverge?”\n 4:00 pm Discussion &\; Questions\n 4:15 pm Break\n 4 :30 pm “Dohan’s Unifying Contribution”\n 5:30 pm Discussion &\ ; Questions\n 6:00 pm Closing\n\nA brochure is available.\nRegistration \nFree Registration Advised - visit this Google form or the associated Q R code to register.[su_qrcode data="https://forms.gle/LuPtPNi3wxArfE6W9" title="2026 Bloom-Futaba Memorial Lectures" size="200" margin="10" alig n="right" link="https://forms.gle/LuPtPNi3wxArfE6W9"]\n\nLectures will b e held in-person at Hongwanji Betsuin and livestreamed on Zoom.\n\n\nLec turer's Statement\nContemporary scholars and Buddhists often treat Esote ric Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism as separate schools\, diametrically opposed approaches to awakening.\n\nIn this presentation I will first re consider how the modern field of Buddhist studies came to construct thes e as two distinct objects of inquiry\, and present the thought of Dōhan 道範 (1179–1252)\, an early medieval scholar-monk and ritual theori st from Mt. Koya who forces us to rethink what we think we know about Ja panese and Mahayana Buddhism. In 1224\, Dōhan wrote the Compendium on E soteric Mindfulness of Buddha (Himitsu nenbutsu shō) to answer a decept ively simple question: “Why do practitioners of so many different trad itions rely on the practice of chanting the name of Amitābha?”\n\nTo answer this question\, Dōhan draws upon virtually the whole of the East Asian Mahayana scholastic tradition. When we take Dōhan seriously\, si tuate him in his historical and institutional context\, and read across supposed divisions between schools and sects like he did\, the results a re unsettling for the categories many of us inherit when we first start learning about Buddhism.”\n\nIn Part I of this talk\, I will trace how the confluence of modern Buddhist studies and early-modern Japanese sec tarianism conspired to develop a design for describing the diversity of the Buddhist tradition. I will then examine some of the evidence for the popularity of Pure Land rebirth within and beyond the Esoteric collecti on.\nAbout the Speakers\nRev. Dr. Aaron Shōken Proffitt is an associate professor of Japanese Studies at SUNY-Albany\, and an ordained Buddhist priest in the Jōdo Shinshū Hongwanji-ha lineage. Originally from Lync hburg\, TN\, Proffitt is a scholar of East Asian Buddhism\, publishing p opular and academic articles in English and Japanese on Esoteric Buddhis m\, Pure Land Buddhism\, and the Lotus Sutra. He is the author of Esoter ic Pure Land Buddhism (University of Hawaii\, 2023). Proffitt serves the New York Buddhist Church as a minister’s assistant\, and cofounded Al bany Buddhist Sangha. He is currently working on a translation of Saicho ’s Kenkairon\, an edited volume on the Mantra of Light\, and a childre n’s book on the life and teachings of Buddha.\n\nDoctor George Tanabe (respondent) Professor emeritus in the Department of Religion at the Uni versity of Hawai‘i\, Dr. Tanabe is also President of BDK America. Bukk yō Dendō Kyōkai (BDK)\, the Society for the Promotion of Buddhism\, w hich promotes an understanding of Buddhist wisdom through sponsoring act ivities and programs around the world.\nAbout the Lecture Series\nThe Fu taba 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.\n\nAl fervently hoped that this lecture series woul d be a continuing inspiration for the nurturing of American Buddhism and for the social participation of Buddhists in the quest of social justic e and peace. His website continues to serve as a resource for students t oday: https://bschawaii.org/shindharmanet/ URL;VALUE=URI:https://hawaiibetsuin.org/events/bloom-futaba-2026/ UID:urn:uuid:2530c417-8b19-43dc-9d4d-aa579ff0ed09 STATUS:CONFIRMED ORGANIZER: DTSTAMP:20261023T072721Z DTSTART;TZID=Pacific/Honolulu:20261108T150000 DTEND;TZID=Pacific/Honolulu:20261108T180000 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR