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WHAT'S NEW AT PBA?

Thursday, October 21, 2021

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Dear Readers of the What's New,

 

Last Friday, PBA hosted guest speaker Chenxing Han, author of Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists. PBA was fortunate to welcome Ms. Han for our Friday temple service; PBA trustee and President of the Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin reached out to me asking if we might be interested in having her address our students.

In her message, Ms. Han described her motivations in writing the book, in which she interviews 89 young Asian American Buddhists from a wide variety of Buddhist traditions in order to work against a variety of stereotypes that obscure the great diversity of experiences young Asian American Buddhists encompass. 

Ms. Han enjoys a tour of the PBA facility led by Head of School Josh Hernandez Morse

Even better, she met with the senior class for an hour after temple service to answer questions they had prepared following their reading of an article she wrote for Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly, in which she argues against the stereotyping of “two Buddhisms,” one for Asian-descended immigrant populations based in cultural practices and the other for white converts focused on meditative practice. 

“We were fortunate enough to have Ms. Chenxing speak with our senior class about her journey in Buddhism, her ‘coming out’ as a Buddhist convert, and how it has ultimately benefitted her life,” said PeaceBridge educator and PBA alumna Paris Hitchcock. “She shed light on not having to be a certain race to embrace Buddhism and the differing perceptions of Buddhists based on race. She shared her personal insights on the future of youth in Buddhism and how Buddhist youth groups are gaining popularity through social media.” 

While only about 20% of PBA’s student body identifies as Buddhist, we work to make certain that students at the school can hear from Buddhist and other faith practitioners about their experiences. Ms. Han reminded us of the divergent set of narratives around race, ethnicity, migration, culture and language that affect how people live and think on the U.S. mainland in contrast to our lived experience here.  

Learning that, as Ms. Han argues, Buddhism in America is experienced in such different ways by Asian-descended practitioners and white practitioners reckons strangely in Hawaii and at PBA. But we live in a time of increased danger for the Asian American community, as diverse as it is, and it is important for our students to understand and think about this problematic, not only because we live in the United States, but because many of our graduates will relocate to the mainland for college and university training.

Just as importantly, it was important for the PBA students to hear from a young scholar who is working to challenge the marginalization of young Buddhist Asian Americans by discussing her rich compendium of interviews and the huge variety of experiences that it represents. 

We express our gratitude to Ms. Han for her important work and to Dexter Mar for helping to bring her to our campus. 

Warmly,  

Josh Hernandez Morse

 

PBA Alumna Celebrates Career Successes and Patsy T. Mink Cohort Acceptance

PBA alumna Jadyne Yomono joins the 6th cohort of the Patsy T. Mink Leadership Alliance this year. Launched in 2016, the program aims to increase the representation of women executives in Hawaii. Over the course of 10 months, emerging female leaders who are passionate about their community gain the opportunity to engage with established business professionals and develop both management and leadership skills. 

Following graduation from PBA in 2012, Jadyne obtained a bachelor’s degree in communicology from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and master’s degree in human resource management at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Shidler College of Business. 

She now works as an HR program manager at American Savings Bank. “The aspects that I enjoy most about my career include learning about what makes organizations and employees tick, what their goals and aspirations are, and how work evolves as people’s needs enter uncharted territory. The fun yet challenging part is understanding that what works now may not work in the next three to five years. Ideally you want to prepare organizations to be agile enough to pivot sustainably,” said Jadyne. 

Jadyne is also the co-founder of Lotus Wrapping Co, an e-commerce business offering furoshiki (reusable fabric gift wrap) kits. Lotus Wrapping Co. was founded in 2020 with the mission of revitalizing the gift-wrapping experience by offering an elegant gift wrap solution that is easy to use and ultimately better for the environment. “Americans alone throw away 25% more trash than usual during the holiday season alone. If every family wrapped just three presents in re-used materials, it would eliminate enough waste to cover 45,000 football fields,” explained Jadyne. “At Lotus Wrapping Co., we host educational workshops, prepare packaging for corporate and personal events, and also offer a gift concierge service.” Visit https://www.lotuswrapping.com/ for more information. 

Through the Patsy T. Mink Leadership Alliance, Jadyne hopes to continue to improve her leadership skills. “As the first woman of color elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and the first Asian-American woman to serve in Congress, Patsy T. Mink was a distinguished leader and a true advocate for women. Despite experiencing discrimination and adversity, she gracefully overcame obstacles all while making a positive impact paving the way for future leaders. Patsy T. Mink is a true example of a brave, resilient, futuristic, and graceful leader who persevered with true grit,” said Jadyne. 

Jadyne attributes her journey of pursuing human resources and entrepreneurship to the values developed at Hongwanji Mission School and Pacific Buddhist Academy. “Ranging from the meaning of impermanence to understanding that we are all interconnected and interdependent, there are many values I’ve learned that I keep with me this until this day,” said Jadyne. “I understood early on that math and science were not my strengths. PBA never made me feel ‘less than’ for this. Instead, they valued honing in on your strengths to truly maximize your potential. I have incorporated all of these values into my own leadership style today. I often reminisce about the great teachers I had at PBA including Mr. Toyama, Mr. Josh, Mr. Corson, Otake Sensei, Mr. Heffernan, Mr. Velasco, and Ms. Carol. There are so many more. What they all had in common was that they were always authentic and genuine,” said Jadyne. 

Jadyne’s hopes for the future include opening a restaurant, building a consulting agency, and writing a book. Above all, her priority is maximizing time spent with family. “After losing my father very suddenly in late 2019, I was filled with regret of not having spent enough time, not having documented enough memories, just not having done enough,” said Jadyne. “As a result, I have a renewed focus on family, creating memories, and ensuring that they know how grateful and appreciative I am for them every day.” 

Jadyne’s former Japanese teacher Otake Sensei said, “I am so proud of Jadyne for the journey she has been on since graduating from PBA. Her success in higher education, the professional realm, and as a community leader is not surprising and is a true reflection of Jadyne's character. We were grateful to have her as part of our community as she made countless meaningful contributions to PBA's Sangha.”  

PBA congratulates Jadyne on all of her successes and wishes her an enlightening experience through the Patsy T. Mink Leadership Alliance.  

SCHOOL ACTIVITY HIGHLIGHTS

Seniors in the Environmental Science class got to experience sailing with voyager/navigator, Austin Kino, of the Hokule'a

calendar icon  IMPORTANT DATES

October 22 - Teacher-In-Service 

October 29 - Goulish Game Night 

1754 Lusitana Street, Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 532-2649

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