Taitetsu Unno Memorial Lecture: All Power to the Sangha

With generous support from the Unno family and in honor of Rev. Dr. Taitetsu Unno, the Institute of Buddhist Studies is pleased to announce the 2026 Taitetsu Unno Memorial lecture, by Dr. Jeff Wilson, on Friday, April 24th at 4pm.

All Power to the Sangha: Stories of Engaged Jodo Shinshu Buddhists in North America and Hawai’i

Lecture summary: From the founding of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship to the legalization of same-sex marriage, Jodo Shinshu Buddhists have a long and active history of social engagement in the United States and Canada. Much of that history, however, has gone undocumented, and the individual stories of Buddhists who struggled with forces inside and outside of their sanghas have much to teach us in this moment . Drawing on extensive oral history, archival examination, and participant-observation fieldwork, this talk recovers compelling moments from the history of engaged Jodo Shinshu Buddhism in North America and Hawaii.

The annual Unno Memorial Lecture honors the life and contributions of the late Rev. Dr. Taitetsu Unno (1929-2014), a prolific teacher, scholar, and author of numerous books including River of Fire, River of Water: An Introduction to the Pure Land Tradition of Shin Buddhism and Shin Buddhism: Bits of Rubble Turned into Gold, as well as his translation of the Tannisho: A Shin Buddhist Classic.

Speaker information: Jeff Wilson is a professor of Religious Studies and East Asian Studies at Renison University College (University of Waterloo). His books include “Mindful American: The Mutual Transformation of Buddhist Meditation and American Culture” and “Living Nembutsu: Applying Shinran’s Radically Engaged Buddhism in Life and Society.” Ordained in the Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha tradition, he serves as a minister’s assistant for the Toronto Buddhist Church and Hamilton Buddhist Temple.

This event will take place in person at the Jodo Shinshu Center in Berkeley.