Saturday, January 7, 2012

Osho-san (Ryugen Watanabe Roshi of Kanzeonji, my home temple) came to my zendo (meditation hall) today. The zendo we have is just 3 tatami in size (but we can fit 7 people in there if we need to). I originally set it up just as a place for me to do my daily zazen (seated meditation) so 3 tatami was the perfect size. I called it sanjo zendo (sanjo means 3 tatami).

Osho-san came today to bless the zendo, and named us Jizo-an. In Buddhism we often are chosen by a patron saint; in my case this patron saint is Jizo Bosatsu. The 'an' after designates the zendo as a sub or small temple. In my case a sub-temple of Kanzeonji under Osho-san's tutelage.

Osho-san & I chanted, with a dozen or so of my students there, to bless the zendo. He gave me permission to take on my own students to teach Zen, answer questions on Buddhism, and lead the practice at Jizo-an.



After the ceremony we shared some snack's and tea. We are now known as Jizo-an Sanjo Zendo.