On Sunday, December 15 at 10 a.m., the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii, Hawaii Betsuin, and Maha Bodhi Hawaii will hold a special service at the Betsuin temple to remember and appreciate the many contributions of Mary Elizabeth Mikahala Robinson Foster to Buddhism and especially Hongwanji in Hawaii.

Venerable (Rev.) Ayya Vimala of Maha Bodhi Hawaii and Bishop Eric Matsumoto will speak on the legacy of Mary Foster to Buddhism in Sri Lanka and in Hawaii. A special Bodhi tree will be dedicated to Mary Mikahala Foster to perpetuate our gratitude for her generosity of spirit and support.

The Maha Bodhi Society was founded by Sri Lankan Anagarika Dharmapala and English journalist/poet Sir Edwin Arnold in 1891 to restore the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya, the site of the famed bodhi tree under which Siddhartha Gautama meditated to become the enlightened Buddha, and the Buddhist teachings in India.