We are profoundly excited and honored to invite you to a very special one-time event!

A Hawaiian Language Karaniya Metta Sutta

Come Hear the Story

Come Learn the Chant

An Online Zoom Session

Monday, December 14th

2pm Hawaiʻi

Earlier this summer, Vipassana Hawaiʻi and the Buddhist Study Center of the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaiʻi gathered together a wonderful group of people to develop a Hawaiian language translation and chant of the Karaniya Metta Sutta- the Buddha's words on loving-kindness. Esteemed translator Puakea Nogelmeier teamed up with our dear colleague Jake Davis to build a nuanced and sensitive translation directly from the Pali language source material. Kekuhi Kealiikanakaole, an eminent cultural practitioner from Hawaiʻi Island, added voicing to the words to create a living, breathing oli - a chant that embodies the practice of loving-kindness itself.

The result of their efforts has culminated in a wonderful document that describes the process of the translation as well as a voiced oli that people can learn, practice and share - and which we hope will become a living part of Hawaiian Buddhism for a long time to come.

You can learn more about the project, read the translation, and hear the oli HERE.

We hope you can join us for an online gathering to help us celebrate the fruition of this wonderful effort. 

During our time together online, Jake will share a bit about the place of the Karaniya Metta Sutta in the world of Theravada Buddhism, Puakea will share some insights from the process of translation, and Kekuhi will instruct and guide us in learning the chant for ourselves.

This event is offered free of charge but we ask that you consider making a donation to the ongoing and vital work of Puakea's and Kekuhi's organizations during your registration.

If you cannot make it to the event directly, please register anyhow and you will have access to a recording of the event and be able to make a contribution to our colleagues' work.

Please pass this email along to anyone who you think may be interested in joining us!

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Kekuhi Kealiikanakaole has trained in the tradition of Hula ʻAihaʻa* & Hula Pele*, chant & ritual for 39 years under Hālau O Kekuhi*, named for her grandmother, Edith Kekuhi Kanakaʻole. She has co-produced some of the Hālau O Kekuhi’s most significant contributions to oral and ritual arts stage performances.

In an effort to service people beyond the walls of the Hālau, Kekuhi has developed Ulu Ka ʻŌhiʻa-Hula Consciousness Seminar & Hālau ʻŌhiʻa-Hawaiʻi Stewardship Training to teach basic Hawaiʻi practices that can connect anyone, anywhere, to their inner and outer landscapes.

Puakea Nogelmeier is Professor Emeritus of the Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. A prolific composer, a kumu hula, and a dedicated educator, researcher and writer, Puakea directs Awaiaulu, a training project for Hawaiian translationand resource development.

Jake Davis began practicing vipassana meditation at age 14, with Steven and Michele, and went on to spend nearly a decade practicing, studying, working as an interpreter, and training as a monk under the eminent meditation masters Sayadaw U Pandita and Sayadaw U Lakkhana of Burma. He brings together intellectual training including study of the Pāli texts, and a PhD in Philosophy and Cognitive Science, with ongoing training in retreat practice and teaching.