09/13/2026
Aloha kakou.
Thank you to everyone for reaching out to us, who has cared about how we are in this precarious time through and since hurricane Lowell.
Our temple buildings survived the worst of the hurricane but we do have serious leaks in our social hall that must be addressed in these coming years. There were no other major losses to buildings, just windows broken and other tree debris. We are grateful our Kannon statue has been miraculously safe, through Hurricane Lala (where a 30 foot bodhi branch missed her by inches), and now also through Lowell, where as many of you know, our bodhi tree sadly fell in the storm (at least thankfully not on our Kannon). We have been grappling with this since Monday. Thank you to all of you that responded to Uncle Gerald's SOS call: sharing contacts, ideas, prayers, and coming to visit the tree. Mahalo especially to Kauai Coffee Company who gave us many burlap sacks to wrap roots while we tried to keep it alive, and to Rhian and Jeremy Campbell for generously giving their time and expertise to support us exploring our next steps. Thank you also Richard Teter, Laurel Goldsmith, and Hiroko Letman for some helpful conversations and contact points as we deliberated and decided what to do. I believe our tree has felt that love and aloha throughout this time.
This bodhi tree was planted in the time of Reverend Miyoshi, in the 70s, and has a beautiful rare story of how it came to us: carried over from India to the islands by a Sri Lankan monk, offered to Mary Foster as a Dharma gift, kept as a bonsai for a while and then finally it was gifted to us, and so we planted it and let it take root in Hanapepe.
Dr Dee Denver (Oregon State University, author of The Dharma In DNA) visited us in 2023 with his team of researchers and shared some of his extensive research into the Bodhi trees of Hawai'i. He was able to confirm to us that the genetics of our tree are exactly shared with the tree at Bodhgaya in India: Our tree is a true descendant of the the Bodhi tree that the Buddha sat under to attain full enlightenment (a sacred fig, or Ficus religiosa).(See slides in photo gallery). This was incredible to learn and have confirmed. We also learnt more about this tree's invasive potential, like so many other introduced species to our islands. We therefore must be responsible stewards of this tree.
We have had to make a difficult call on whether to try and replant our great ancestor tree, or choose to let go, breathe and begin again. Finally it was decided today that we will accept nature's actions and begin again. We bow to our Bodhi tree for blessing us through these many decades, and are thankful that it was here at all. We will miss its spirit and shade offered so graciously to everyone who passed it.
One blessing is that we already have well established cuttings that I started 3 years ago, and we will try and create even larger ones so that we can one day replant.
Mahalo again for your care and for reading this.
Please connect with us if you're willing to be part of the effort to remove the tree, especially if you have tools/machines or means to support - call or text Jerry 808 346 4650 or Ed 808 346 5068. There is a group meeting MONDAY SEPT 14 at 9am to begin this work. Please come if you can help.
In gassho,
Kim
