12/26/10: Annual mochi pounding today! I stopped by with my parents and they loved the overall…read morescene. Within minutes, i found my mom welcomed in the main kitchen helping out others making mochi's. Mochi's are pre-sold, orders taken before today. Well organized and lots of volunteers around to pitch in!

Honpa Hongwanji Hilo Betsuin is located on Kilauea Avenue in Hilo. It's an older Japanese temple…read morebut at a very beautiful and convenient location. Their sangha hall is a multipurpose facility. There's many events and gathering at the sangha hall.

Who doesn't like a bazaar? Especially one with lots of grandma made quilts and craft work, home…read morebaked goodies, piles and piles of second hand clothes, sushi rice, preserves, local veggies, books from the 70's, bags of cinder and all kine of miscellaneous knick knacks. I walked away with a 1968 French provincial and northern italy cookbooks, got my recipe to make cassoulet! Just watch out for the grandmas as they fight their way towards the bargains!

This is a temple and activity center for the village of Papaikou. We just attended the Hawaii…read moreBamboo Society annual Bamboo festival there. Amazing view, tons of useful info and many nice folks.

Thanks to Damon Tucker's blog (www.damontucker.com) I read about a lecture at this temple, by a…read morevisiting Buddhist scholar from Oregon, Dr Mark Unno. I am so glad I went! The building is a very cool old structure which they are working at fixing up and restoring. There's some unique trees on the grounds... that weird giant pine tree is actually a species of very primitive "living fossil" from the Mesozoic (as in dinosaurs!) period. Also known as a Monkey-puzzle tree, because it looks like even a monkey would have a hard time climbing it. Another tree is a cutting of a cutting of a cutting of the tree that the Buddha was sitting under when he found enlightenment. I need to find that tree and sit under it! Inside the building... wow... I did not expect the whole over-the-top temple display in the front with multiple elaborate colorful bright altars. (The pews are sized for an old Japanese lady so that part was not so comfortable for me) The Resident Minister is a young "local boy" named David Fujimoto. He gave me a warm welcome, as did several members of the congregation. There was a heavy incense smell, and we did some prayer chanting in Japanese before the lecture... i did my best to follow along... it was printed phonetically in a little red book. The minister and the lecturer were both down-to-earth, casual, funny men. I did not expect to laugh as much as I did. The lecturer started by taking several minutes to stare thoroughly at each person in the audience. This was a strange quiet moment, but I liked it. He saw me. We communicated in silence. He didn't get into anything too technical. He talked about his cats, his aging parents, and somehow moved from those topics to the upcoming collision between the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies. He basically spoke about our search for meaning in life and finding our place in the universe. It was very similar to what I hear in Christian churches if you substitute the words "nature" "the universe" and "life" for the Christian word "God." He made a lot of sense, and I did feel that I walked away a little more enlightened and at peace. They have Sunday services at 9 am. Plus I read in their newsletter that they volunteered at this years first Big Island Aids Walk. Very cool. I'll be back! I definitely got a five star feeling from this place.

A gorgeous and peaceful spot. Try to visit when you can benefit from local tranquility.read more

I'm told that the temple was visited by the Dalai Lama before he was the Dalai Lama…read more Up the road from the Ka'u Coffee Mill, a $5 donation will gain you entry into the temple. Let me qualify this review by saying that I didn't have $5 cash on me so I didn't go into the temple. Note to self - Next time, bring cash. I took a few shots of the exterior and hung around for a few minutes trying to absorb the serenity and perhaps take some of the good vibes with me.

Friendly local Pure Land Buddhist temple with a historic connection to a historic place. About a…read moremile from their historic cemetery. A different part of local Hawai'i that too many visitors don't try to find out about. If you can come for the Obon Festival time, that would be perfect. If you're just dropping by on the way to other nearby sites, read about the history here: https://www.hakalauhome.com/honohina-hongwanji.html