WATSONVILLE — On Sunday at 10 a.m. the Watsonville Buddhist Temple will hold a special service to honor Shinran Shonin, the founder of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism.
Hoonko is one of the temple’s three major services throughout the year and holds a great deal of importance, said Watsonville Buddhist Temple’s minister, Rev. Jay Shinseki.
“It is an opportunity for a congregation to get together and repay their sense of gratitude to our founder,” Shinseki said.
Salinas and Monterey Buddhist temples will join the Watsonville community for the service. The three temples have been regularly holding joint services for the past couple of years.
“It’s been a wonderful way for us to get to know each other better,” Shinseki said. “We’ve developed a larger sense of fellowship.”
Retired Rev. Yoshihide Matsubayashi will be a guest speaker at Sunday’s service. Matsubayashi has been a minister at temples across the U.S. for 45 years, and was also Shinseki’s advisor in graduate school.
Following the service a luncheon will be held. Shinseki emphasized that both are open to the public.
“We want to invite everyone to come experience this very important tradition,” he said.
Watsonville Buddhist Temple will be holding more events in the upcoming months, including the annual Udon Feed on Feb. 2, and a levee clean-up in mid-March with the City of Watsonville, local school groups and the Boy Scouts.
For information, call 724-7860 or visit wbtemple.org.
