Submission is closed, thank you.  

To submit names to be included in the ceremony, use the form below.  While there is no cost for this service, donations to the temple are encouraged and appreciated.

Sejiki is a traditional Japanese Zen Buddhist ceremony honoring our ancestors, and is one of the most important Buddhist observances of the year.  It is a time to remember and call forth the spirit realm by making offerings of food and wishes of peace for our departed loved ones and ‘hungry ghosts’ (including our own neglected or unsatisfied body-mind states).  This powerful ceremony summons forth these restless spirits and pacifies agitation and violence within and without. 

It involves setting up an elaborate altar, instruments played to invoke the departed spirits, and the chanting of the “Gate of Sweet Dew,” a series of mantras and wishes for well-being.  The names of the departed are collected beforehand to be strung around the zendo and invoked aloud during the ceremony.  

Participants are encouraged to wear halloween costumes and to participate in the brief instrumental portion of the ceremony.  Please feel free to bring a small percussion instrument of your choice. 

All are invited to participate in this magical ceremony of transformation.