This week-long ceremony takes place on the spring and fall equinoxes, the middle of an important week when the weather is usually very good.

Higan is the teaching that leads people from the world of delusion to the world of awakening. There are six components of this teaching: giving, precepts, perseverance, diligence, zazen, and wisdom. It is taught that if we carry out these practices we will be blessed with happiness and good fortune.

On the day before Higan, it is the custom in a Japanese home to clean the Buddha altar, to straighten up the various Buddha implements, and to change the flowers on the altar. It is also customary to make offerings of rice dumplings on the first day of the week. On the equinox (the middle day of this week) rice cakes covered with bean jam called ohagi or botamochi are offered. And once again on the final day of the week, dumplings made from rice flour are offered. During this time, offerings of food, special sweets, and fruit are also made.

Visiting the temple

It is customary at this time to visit the temple to present offerings of pounded-rice cakes (mochi), sweets, fruit, and so on to the principal image of Buddha as well as the family ancestors.

It is also the custom at Higan to visit the family grave to express our gratitude to the family ancestors. For those people living far away from the family grave, it is especially good to visit the temple and family grave during Higan. This is a good way to learn the warm-heartedness customarily expressed during Higan of giving rice cakes covered with bean jam to the neighbors and one’s relatives.

Visiting the family grave

A visit to the family grave first begins with cleaning the grave stone and grave site. It is particularly important to scour places that easily become dirty such as water basins and flower vases. Older wooden stupas are mindfully removed and disposed of according to temple instructions. Once the grave has been cleaned, fresh offerings of water, incense, and favorite delicacies of the deceased ancestors’ are made. The temple priest is then asked to chant a sutra at the grave, at this time, we join our hands in wholehearted prayer.

Following the visit to the gravesite, it is proper to remove the food offerings. No one likes to see spoiled offerings and they are also unsanitary. It is also good to clean up the special gravesite for graves that are no longer tended by family members and offer incense and flowers. In Japan, this is thought to express the beauty of one’s heart and mind.

He was born 2500 years ago to King Suddhodana and Queen Maya in the garden of Lumbini which was located in Kapilavastu, a small kingdom in the Himalayan foothills. He was called Siddhartha and later, Shakyamuni Buddha.

It has long been said that at the time of his birth Shakyamuni Buddha said, “Heaven, earth and I are all one person.” At each temple throughout Japan, a small pavilion, covering a statue of the baby Buddha pointing one index finger toward heaven and the other toward earth, is set up and decorated with flowers. This stature is bathed with sweet tea and this is the way Flower Festival is observed.

Flower Festival is not held only at temples, however. It is observed as a general, public event especially at kindergartens, where it is often held on a big scale. Let us believe in the true happiness brought about by Shakyamuni Buddha’s teaching and celebrate the unsurpassable joy it gives.

Sweet tea is an essential element of the Flower Festival. According to the legend, two Dragon Kings rained warm and cool sweet water from heaven to bathe the baby Buddha. Not only is sweet tea drunk at the Flower Festival, but there is also the custom of grinding sumi ink with it and writing “April 8th is a day of good fortune and insects are driven away.” The piece of paper this is written on is hung upside down and thought to keep away disagreeable insects.

One is to honor the Buddha and show reverence for one’s ancestors and others who have died. The other is to express gratitude to all people to whom we are indebted, including people who are alive such as our parents, relatives, and friends.

The full expression for Obon is Urabon-e which is derived from "Ullabana," an old Indian word. According to the Bussetsu Urabon Sutra, the origin of this tradition goes back to a ceremony performed by Shakyamuni Buddha for the deceased mother of Maudgalyayana, one of the Buddha’s immediate disciples. Ullabana means "hanging upside down" and it was by means of this ceremony that the suffering of that world in which she lived (the suffering was so intense it was like hanging upside down) was removed.

These days, people think that this ceremony will prolong the life of parents and remove all suffering and anguish. This is also one of the traditional holiday periods in Japan when people exchange gifts. The other traditional time is over New Years. Obon is a ceremony to respectfully honor the spirits of the ancestors; it is also to ask for the long life or our parents. In preparation for meeting the spirits, it is customary to thoroughly clean our house and put ourselves in order as if meeting guests.

Greeting Fires (Kadobi)

On the evening of the 13th, fires are lit with hemp stalks or pine torches. These lights serve as a guide for the returning ancestors –They are like a voice crying out, "Come this way, Grandpa and Grandma." If these lights are not clearly visible, the spirits will be unsure which way to go.

Sending Off the Spirits (Shoryo Okuri)

The spirits are usually sent back on the 15th or 16th. Once again, hemp stalks are lit and in some places are set out on small boats with offerings to float down rivers or out to sea. Lately, because of the problem of pollution, the boats are collected at temples and other places. People chant "Obon spirits, go away on this boat," and send them off carefully.

Obon Shelf (Bondana)

Where will the ancestors who have come for the offerings be greeted? A special shelf called an Obon-dana or Tama-dana is made where the family memorial tablet is place along with various offerings. At those houses where this kind of shelf is not set up, the ancestral spirits are greeted at the Buddha-altar. This is where the temple priest chants the tana-gyo, a sutra read for the ancestors. This Obon-shelf is usually erected on the morning of the 13th. In a home where a family member has died within the past year, this shelf is set up between the 1st and the 7th and should be done in an especially mindful way. On these shelves, dumplings are often offered. They are placed on the altar shelf immediately after the family has greeted the spirits at the grave.

On the 14th, it is the custom to make an offering of noodles and on the 15th, rice dumplings covered with bean jam are offered. Also, uncooked rice, mixed with finely chopped raw eggplants and other vegetables, is placed in small piles on lotus or paulownia leaves and used as an offering.

On the 16th, it is said that the ancestral spirits return home riding on cows and carrying luggage on horses. Eggplants and cucumbers, in the shapes of cows and horses, are offered. These are similar to the straw horses which are used as decorations during the Tanabata Festival. In some areas, there is the custom of fixing green cedar or green bamboo to the four corners of the shelf in the same way that pine decorations are used to honor the gods at New Year’s.

At any rate, let’s make respectful offerings of those things that the ancestral spirits like, offerings that have been traditionally cultivated, or items that are familiar to the ancestors, in order to have them come back.

At every The Soto Zen School temple, this ceremony is performed as a way of making offerings to the family ancestors, to one’s parents, relatives, and spirits of other people we are connected with, as well as for spirits that are no longer connected to any living person.

This week-long ceremony takes place on the spring and fall equinoxes, the middle of an important week when the weather is usually very good.

Higan is the teaching that leads people from the world of delusion to the world of awakening. There are six components of this teaching: giving, precepts, perseverance, diligence, zazen, and wisdom. It is taught that if we carry out these practices we will be blessed with happiness and good fortune.

On the day before Higan, it is the custom in a Japanese home to clean the Buddha altar, to straighten up the various Buddha implements, and to change the flowers on the altar. It is also customary to make offerings of rice dumplings on the first day of the week. On the equinox (the middle day of this week) rice cakes covered with bean jam called ohagi or botamochi are offered. And once again on the final day of the week, dumplings made from rice flour are offered. During this time, offerings of food, special sweets, and fruit are also made.

Visiting the temple

It is customary at this time to visit the temple to present offerings of pounded-rice cakes (mochi), sweets, fruit, and so on to the principal image of Buddha as well as the family ancestors.

It is also the custom at Higan to visit the family grave to express our gratitude to the family ancestors. For those people living far away from the family grave, it is especially good to visit the temple and family grave during Higan. This is a good way to learn the warm-heartedness customarily expressed during Higan of giving rice cakes covered with bean jam to the neighbors and one’s relatives.

Visiting the family grave

A visit to the family grave first begins with cleaning the grave stone and grave site. It is particularly important to scour places that easily become dirty such as water basins and flower vases. Older wooden stupas are mindfully removed and disposed of according to temple instructions. Once the grave has been cleaned, fresh offerings of water, incense, and favorite delicacies of the deceased ancestors’ are made. The temple priest is then asked to chant a sutra at the grave, at this time, we join our hands in wholehearted prayer.

Following the visit to the gravesite, it is proper to remove the food offerings. No one likes to see spoiled offerings and they are also unsanitary. It is also good to clean up the special gravesite for graves that are no longer tended by family members and offer incense and flowers. In Japan, this is thought to express the beauty of one’s heart and mind.

Dogen Zenji died on August 28, 1254 at the age of 53 and Keizan Zenji died on August 15, 1325 at the age of 58. According to the Western calendar, both of these dates fall on September 29th. On this day, a ceremony called Ryosoki is respectfully held at Sotoshu temples to honor these two important ancestors.

Two other important celebrations are held on the date of Dogen Zenji’s birth on January 26th and the date of Keizan Zenji’s birth on November 23rd.

The good fortune associated with Bodhidharma (Daruma) comes from the legend that no matter how many times Bodhidharma fell down he would always get up.

In the areas where silk worms are cultivated, there is a custom of painting in one of the eyes on the Daruma doll if the worms produce much silk thread in spring and painting in the other one of Daruma’s eyes if the worms produced much silk thread in autumn.

Bodhidharma, the inspiration for the Daruma doll, was originally one of the ancestral teachers of The Soto Zen School. He was the first Ancestors of Zen in China and also known as Bodai Daruma Daishi.

The red Daruma doll seen throughout Japan was originally modeled on this great teacher who sat facing a wall unflinchingly for nine years and lived to the old age of 150.

Bodhidharma died on October 5th and this is the date on which his death is commemorated. Early autumn is the harvest time in Japan and also the time when the autumn silkworm is cultivated. For this reason, this ceremony includes our feeling of gratitude to Bodhidharma as well as a prayer for a good harvest in the next year. There is also the wish expressed that those who participate in the ceremony will enjoy a long life.

The custom has its roots in the Buddha’s own attainment of enlightenment after a week of meditation. Following the example of the Buddha, the Zen monks meditate for a whole week , regardless of the cold weather. Many lay practitioners also participate in this week of intensive zazen since it is the one week when they can devote themselves fully to zazen in a monastery without any outside interference. During zazen, practitioners often experience leg pain from the constant kneeling. However, by focusing one’s mind, an indescribable inner composure and sense of expansiveness can be attained. Trying to attain this state in an impatient frame of mind will only lead to a sense of narrowness and closure. But immersing both mind and body in zazen will lead to the attainment of Buddhahood, radiating naturally from the inner depths of mind. The whole week can be called a week of completely handing oneself over to the Buddha.

Following many years of difficult ascetic practice, Shakyamuni sat in zazen beneath the Bodhi tree. At dawn on December 8th, Shakyamuni saw the morning star and realizing awakening, he then became Shakyamuni Buddha. He was no longer an ordinary, common person and instead had achieved the brilliance by which to free all of humankind.

In Soto Zen School, we call this day Jodo-e and perform a ceremony as a gesture of our gratitude to Shakyamuni Buddha. It is also customary to practice zazen on this day.

Danpi means to cut off one’s hand, an episode illustrating the devotion of the Second Patriarch Eka. On the night of December 9th in 520 CE, the Second Patriarch Eka visited the First Patriarch Bodhidharma and stood outside in a snowstorm without sleeping. Noticing him, Bodhidharma asked, “Why are you standing outside in the snow? What do you seek?” Eka implored him in tears, “Please teach me the truth of the Buddha’s Dharma and save me.” Bodhidharma turned him down with the words “The true teaching cannot be gained half-heartedly, but only with suffering.” Hearing these words, Eka secretly took out a sword and cut off his left forearm to show his determination. Because of this, he was admitted and spent six years in hard training. He went on to propagate the Buddha Dharma and became the Second Patriarch. The Danpi Ho-on Sesshin is the time to commemorate his dedication. On the day of commemoration the monks meditate without sleep for one full day and night.

Three types of rice-cakes are prepared on the day. One is rice-cakes in the shape of a traditional mirror, to be offered to the Buddhist statues enshrined in the temple. The second type of rice-cakes is called jubyo (lit. the rice-cake for longevity). These are presented to Zen masters in the monastery with the wish for their good health. The third type of rice-cakes is for the monks to eat during the first three days of the New Year. At six o’clock on the evening on that day, the monks gather at the temple kitchen in the building called Kichijo-kaku. They start pounding the rice-cakes after praying for the good health of their masters as well as for the rest of the temple. They use four large mortars to make more than 500 pieces ranging from very large to small. It is a boisterous event where the normally quiet monks come to life, smiling and shouting, while pounding away in a kitchen covered in white flour.

The end of December sees a series of year-end events. Events such as the rice-cake pounding, cleaning, alms begging for the needy and the striking of the New Year’s Eve bell. The founder, Dogen, once preached at his New Year’s Eve sermon that one should attain mastery of his/her discipline by year end, otherwise the daily practice of the last 360 days would be in vain: a reminder of the importance of each day.

the New Year (Gantan) January 1st

The morning of the New Year’s at Eiheiji starts at 3 a.m. Monks meditate soon after they get up, starting their new year with a lungful of the fresh, cold, almost spring-tinged, air.

For the first three days of the New Year, there is a series of New Year ceremonies known as shusho-e (lit. New Year ceremonies). On January 1st, sutras of six hundred Buddhist scrolls are chanted and the monks offer prayers for the flourishing of the Dharma, the peace of the world, the prosperity of the people and the peace of the nation. On January 2nd is a ceremony in which the great prajna-paramita sutra ( Hannya Kyo) is chanted, and on January 3rd, a ceremony praising the Buddha (Tanbutsu-e). Every day, more than ten thousand worshippers come to receive the Buddha’s blessing.

Until the middle of January, such ceremonies as the Jinjitsu-en are held (entertainment by and for the monks who are divided into groups according to dormitory), and the first calligraphy ceremony of the year. The entertainment event in particular sums up the festive New Year atmosphere and is where the personalities of the monks and the mood of each dormitory are displayed.

Sojiji:

After the Rohatsu Sesshin (December sesshin) is over, New Year preparations such as year-end cleaning, rice-cake pounding and preparations for the New Year’s ceremony take place. At the end of the year, the monks beg for alms for the needy. The monks make their own footwear, symbolizing a firm foundation for both mind and body, and walk around Tsurumi Town.

On December 31st, the monks must be in bed by 6 p.m. and be up again at 11 p.m. on the same evening to the ringing of a bell ready for the New Year. The Mukai-karamon Chinese style-gate, normally closed, opens at a quarter to midnight and the bell starts to toll. The bell tolls 108 times to symbolize the eradication of worldly desires. On top of that, Sojiji allows each and every visitor a single strike on the bell. Being a time of year when unexpected incidents and disasters are likely to occur, it is a great opportunity for the visitors to strike the bell with the hope that their worldly desires will vanish and that their new year be a good one.

the New Year (Gantan) January 1st

At a quarter past midnight on New Year’s Day, the first ceremony of the year known as the New Year’s Grand Service (Hatsumode-daikitoukai) takes place. At the Founder’s Hall, all of the monks who serve the temple gather, and the ceremony is led by the leading Zen Master with prayers for the safety of the temple, the happiness of the people and the peace of the nation. Following this ceremony, other ceremonies are held in the temple precincts, such places as Koshakudai, where Daikoku, the god of prosperity, is enshrined and Sanpo-den where Sanpo Daikojin, the local god of the temple yard, is enshrined. January 1st is filled with the chanting voices of the monks offering up Buddhist sutras in the temple.

After New Year, comes the coldest season. According to the lunar calendar, Shokan (lit. small coldness) sets in the middle of January. The monks gather winter alms in the coldest season of the year until February 2nd. During this period, after the afternoon service, more than 100 monks set out in straw sandals and traditional gloves for the neighboring town, Tsurumi where they beg for between an hour and a half and two hours.

Dogen was born in Kyoto on January 2nd (January 26th in the solar calendar). On January 26th, two ceremonies are held in celebration of his birth, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. In the morning ceremony, a scroll with a painting of Dogen is hung in the Lecture Hall (Hatto). A pail is placed in front of the painting containing holy hot water in which such incense as aloes, sandal wood have been boiled. In the afternoon is the ceremony of appreciation (Ho-on Koshiki). Special shomyo Buddhist music is chanted as an expression of gratitude.

A big scroll depicting the Buddha entering Nirvana is hung in the temple and a ceremony expressing our gratitude to the Buddha is performed.

It is said that at the time of his death the Buddha was sleeping on a bed that had been prepared between two sala trees; his head to the north, his face to the west, and his right hand for a pillow. At that time, white flowers bloomed on the sala trees and fell continuously.

Many of his disciples, the king and his family, men and women of all ages, and even birds and animals gathered, sighing with sadness. The Buddha gave his last discourse, expounding the fundamental truth – even though the physical body dies, the Dharma is eternal; in order to see the Buddha, it is necessary to see the Dharma. In this way, he taught his disciples the precepts and the way they should maintain the practice of Buddha’s Way. This sermon is called the Yuikyogyo, the Last Teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha.

Nehan Dumplings

In connection with the Nirvana Ceremony, there are some districts in Japan where, from long ago, dumplings have been made either at the temple or in individual homes. These dumplings, also known as “flower dumplings,” are first offered to Shakyamuni Buddha and then distributed to people who attend the ceremony.

It is generally said that people who eat these dumplings will not suffer from sickness or disaster and for this reason many people come to the temple on the day of this ceremony.