感恩节快乐！ － Happy Thanksgiving！

感恩施加摩尼佛从兜率天曾降世为我们说正法。 感恩药师玻璃光如来的十二大愿。感恩我住在夏威夷，美国最有佛教的州。感恩我住在瓦胡岛，夏威夷群岛之最有佛教宗派的岛。感恩我住瓦胡岛北海岸，该岛之最美丽的地区。感恩我所有参加的佛教宗派，尤其是佛光山中心、唐人街的观音庙、还有（日本）哈雷一瓦净土宗传道部。

可是，在今天特别的感恩节，我最感恩的发展真真正正的是本宗派的佛光山取得了一位很理解正传佛法、还是代表现代中国大陆所引发的新佛教大乘革命的方丈, 就是说新担任休斯敦中美寺者，隆相法师。

南无药师琉璃光如来
性平

I’m thankful that Shakyamuni Buddha descended from Tushita Heaven to speak correct Dharma to us. I’m thankful for Medicine Master Crystal Radiance Tathagata’s twelve vows. I’m thankful that I live in Hawii, America’s most Buddhist state. I’m thankful that I live on Oahu, the island in the Hawaiian archipelago that has the most Buddhist sects. I’m thankful that I live on the North Shore, Oahu’s most beautiful area. I’m thankful for all the Buddhist lineages that I’ve participated in, but must especially Fo Guang Shan Center, Guan Yin Temple in Chinatown, and the (Japanese) Haleiwa Jodo Mission.

But on this particular Thanksgiving Day, the development I’m really, really most thankful for is that my root lineage, Fo Guang Shan, has acquired an Abbot who understands the orthodox transmission of the Buddhadharma, and who represents the new Mahayana Revolution that has been fomented in our times on the Chinese mainland, namely, the new Abbot in charge at Zhongmei Temple in Houston, Longxiang Fashi.

NAMO BHAGAVATE BHAISAJAYA-GURU-VAIDURYA-PRABHA-RAJAYA
TATHAGATAYA
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The Royal Hawaiian Band

This is a plug for the Royal Hawaiian Band. I regularly go to their concerts at the bandstand at Kapiolani Park on Sunday at 2:00, which have not been well attended. I go because this is really civilized music, and I also have a thing about bands in bandstands. I think it’s a great American tradition that we should carry on, and my earliest memories as a child were of my father taking me to a bandstand in Baltimore county.

This band was established during the Hawaiian Monarchy under a royal charter, and it has that royal spirit, which is great. I like royalty without formality like this in a park, particularly after dealing with a lot of incredibly formal Chinese ritual.

It seems to me that in the present the Royal Hawaiian band is not being supported by the Hawaiian people, who have lost touch with the spirit of their Ali’i by becoming rancorous. In particular, I think that they think that the band’s repertiore is not sufficiently “Hawaiian.” What they want is local Hawaiian stuff. But guess what the Hawaiian Ali’i liked? Would you believe the European classics, and Christian hymns? Today, the band’s repertoire is certainly far more diverse than that, and they even become somewhat local at times. But what they tend towards is John Philip Sousa, and that whole traditional American bandstand feeling. So I think it’s up to us American patriots, of whatever ethnicity, to support this noble institution, which performs for free, because it has a royal charter.

Namu Amida Butsu
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Would You Like to View my Gothic Collection (hehehe)?

Just a few samples to get you started:

For more similar shots, see my Gothic collection.

For other light effects over the water such as can only be seen in Hawaii, please view my sunset, sunrise, seascape, cloudscape, and God rays collections. (These groups are not mutually exclusive). Enjoy. Oh, and hey, bloodsucking is not allowed. We’re being Buddhist around here, OK?

Namu Amida Butsu
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The 2009 Honolulu Okinawan Festival

Herein lies a tale. This lady was a hula dancer from Okinawa, and she had an extraordinary amount of aloha, enough to be a Kumu, in fact. Technically, she wasn’t the best, and that was hardly to be expected, but in any case she really had the spirit. Later that week, one of the Kumu Hula asked her to dance with her group on the hula pa’a with his Halau at Kuhio Beach, and she danced much better in the midst of a bona fide Halau, and she probably was picking a lot of it up by induction on the spot. She also had an extraordinary amount of aloha for everyone in the area. I got some really good shots of that which I will publish down the line.

The hula dancers make it look easy, but when you dance hula, you have to crouch down on your knees a lot. That’s an essential part of how it flows, and it’s just very unnatural body language for both Westerners and East Asians, because it feels like you’re crawling around. It’s also exhausting if you’re not used to it. It’s the kind of basic that’s really better to pick up at a young age. Then it’s natural and automatic. Some people can learn it later, and I think that this wonderful lady is probably one of them, but she’ll never get it in the midst of guys looking at her like these are in this photo, and they did it to her the whole time she performed at the Okinawan Festival.

I didn’t spend a lot of time at this event, but there are a few more photos in my Okinawan Festival – 5 Sep 09 Album

Namu Amida Butsu
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Malaekana Moonscapes

Welcome to my Neo-Gotho-Impressionist School of photography. We assert the fundamental value of BOTH the Dark Side, AND tons of tiny little edges in the image, as per our unutterable predecessors in the noble Impressionist and Gothic traditions.

This above started out as a grainy image (very high ISO) similar to the one shown below, taken in minimal light conditions. Almost all of the detail you see was invisible to the naked eye. Since this particular one was just over the top in terms of graininess, I tweaked it with the Gimp until it looks like something that could only have been fomented within the fertile brain of Vincent Van Gogh. I could go on and on about why the result is so compelling, and why people will in fact buy this kind of image, but it would be too much for here. Maybe I’ll write a page about it.

For a few more similar images, see my Malekahana Moonscapes album.

Namu Amida Butsu
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Halau Hula O Ke Kia’i

One of my favorite dancers of all time. She’s improved tremendously since last year. I have to find out her name so that I can attribute all the great images that I have of her. There are other dancers in this halau, but somehow when I try to photograph them, the images are junk. This individual is usually doing something beautiful when I click the shutter.

Kumu Hula Kapiolani Ka’u is using Meher Baba’s sign for God. This is a very difficult individual to photograph. She often creates light effects that destroy the image. This is the first time that I succeeded in getting a number of decent images of her. In general, this Halau has more mana (spiritual power) than the others I’ve seen.

For more images from the last month or so, see my Halau O Ke Kia’i , Aug-Sep 09 Album.

For some other great images of this group, see my general Halau O Ke Kia’i Album, and it’s other 20 Apr 08 Sub-album

Remember this? It was another world completely only 16 months ago. If I tried to write all that kind of stuff about my images anymore, I’d be dead. And this lady got SO crazy at the end of her reign as Numbah One Gurl in this Halau.

Namu Amida Butsu
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Halau Hula Kalipo

Halau Hula Kalipo dances at Kuhio Beach on Tuesdays. There are now 35 highly selected and edited images in my Halau Hula Kalipo Album, 18 from last night, and 17 more from Tues. 8 Sep. This Halau is a lot of fun, and there are many talented entertainers in it.

Um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um! Aloha nui loa mega bong-bong poina’ole! Cellophane skirts are FUN! Inside academia, this is what we call da kine “Polynesian Radiation,” ’cause dis is how da Polynesians wen take ovah da biggest ocean on earth. Forget that Hollywood invented cellophane skirts in the process of trying to ape some kine “grass skirt” from Tahiti. It took Hawaiians to figure out how to use them.

Oh, and hey, I almost forgot to mention. There was no wind at Kuhio Beach that night. That’s HER ENERGY. She didn’t need any help from the wind.

Namu Amida Butsu
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Waikiki Scenery

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I cannot tell a lie. I did it with my spiffy little Olympus Stylus 1010.

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Prince Kuhio personally created the world-wide surfing craze.

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The above are some examples of 35 shots in my new Waikiki Scenery Album.

Namu Amida Butsu
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Alohilani who dances with Pua Melia

I originally misidentified the image on the left as Melia. It turned out to be Alohilani, who dances with the Pua Melia group. For a few more images of this fine dancer, see my Pua Melia Album

Sorry about that, ladies.

Namu Amida Butsu
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He Honu — ke Aumakua ‘ia

The Hawaiian Honu, aka see turkul, is a world-class Aumakua or guardian spirit. Honu are the crash masters of the galaxy. If you want to be a crash artist, you need this Aumakua. Absolutely. No way out. They are also the best meditation teachers in the galaxy, better than Yoda. Honu can easily hold a single thought for CENTURIES, no problem whatsoever.

I have long since been adopted by the honu. Without them, I’d be dead. These are the only people that can save me from both hula girls on the make and Taiwan nuns on a mission. Whenever I’ve run out my own ideas, the honu is always there to show me how to keep on keeping on. Always.

For some other older shots of this great meditation master, see my See Turkuls Album

Namu Amida Butsu
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