JIZO CEREMONY for loved ones who have died and other losses

3111 Wissemann Drive,Sacramento CA 95826

22 April, 2023

Description

Jizo is the Great Bodhisattva found within many Buddhist traditions who carries us across the threshold of death and loss, and safely accompanies us through the "hell zones" of deep suffering. Jizo brings us courage, fearlessness and tenderness to turn toward our grief and opens us to the mystery of life and death. This ceremony will be a sacred time for us to come together to acknowledge and remember the death of someone dear to us, or another kind of significant loss, whether recent or from long ago. In silence we will create hand-made offerings, and in a ceremony we will honor our losses, our loved ones and our relationships with them. Then we will process into the garden to offer prayer flag messages for those who have died and for ourselves as we continue to live our lives. Together we will embrace the complexity of grief and discover the strength arising from our interconnectedness with all beings. Everyone is welcome. There is no fee. Donations offered will be given to the Susan Orr Memorial Garden. For more information contact Doralee Grindler Katonah at [email protected] The ceremony is led by Rev. Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah. Rev. Grindler Katonah serves as Ino, or head of the meditation hall for Valley Streams Zen Sangha. She studied in the Soto Zen lineage with Sojun Diane Martin, founder and guiding teacher of Udumbara Zen Center in Illinois and Rev. Val Szymanski, Head Priest of Bamboo in the Wind Zen Center in Sunnyvale, California. She was lay ordained in 2008 and priest ordained in 2019. She served as head student for the Spring practice period at Bamboo in the Wind Zen Sangha in May 2022.