By Amy Meuers, NYLC CEO
Last week, I had the profound honor of attending the 2025 Shinnyo-en Lantern Floating Ceremony at Ala Moana Beach in Honolulu. As the sun set began to set, thousands of hand-decorated lanterns were gently released onto the ocean, each bearing messages of remembrance, love, hope, and peace. It was a moment that took my breath away not only in its visual beauty, but in the deep spiritual and emotional resonance it carried.
This year marked twenty years of relationship between NYLC and the Shinnyo-en Foundation, a partnership grounded in a shared belief in the transformative power of service and the collective work of peacebuilding. For two decades, we have walked alongside each other, driven by the conviction that individual acts of compassion, when joined together, create powerful waves of change. The Lantern Floating Ceremony is a perfect expression of that philosophy.
As I stood on the beach, lanterns drifting across the water, I felt something greater than myself. Each lantern represented a deeply personal story, grief for a loved one, prayers for healing, hopes for a better world but together, they became a beautiful sea of light. It reminded me that while we are individuals, we are never truly alone. We are bound together by our shared humanity, by the stories we carry, and by the dreams we share.
This convergence of lights symbolized the truth that peace is not a solitary endeavor, it is a collective journey. In the same way, our grief, our joy, our fears, and our love are not just personal, they become part of a communal offering when shared in spaces like this. Watching the lanterns float out into the ocean, I felt the weight of my own prayers lifted and carried alongside those of strangers, unified in a sea of hope.
Her Holiness Shinso Ito beautifully captured this spirit during her opening remarks:
“We each carry within us something unique and beautiful, just like that light. We must not lose sight of our light in the face of hardship or despair. With all the pain and confusion in the world, we must be unfailing in our determination to reveal our hope-filled light.”
In a world so often fractured by conflict, division, and suffering, the Lantern Floating Ceremony is a luminous reminder of what is possible when we come together with open hearts. It is a call to service, a call to compassion, and most importantly, a call to never let our light dim even in the darkest of times.
I am grateful to the Shinnyo-en Foundation for their enduring commitment to peace and to nurturing the light within every person. Here’s to the next twenty years of partnership, purpose, and peace.
