I am from Santiago, Chile and I have been meditating for some years. I do not have a Sangha there, so I usually practice alone. For me, it’s really important to know that I have my teacher and my Sangha here in Hazy Moon…
Ango and Shuso Hossen
The tradition of Ango (which means “peaceful dwelling” in Japanese) began with the original Buddhist sangha that formed around Shakyamuni in the early years of his teaching in northern India.
Pet Blessing
Hazy Moon Priest Laurie Kyoji Anderson’s love of animals and deep respect for ceremony gave birth to our annual Pet Blessing a decade ago. Some Sangha members bring their pets to the outdoor event while others bring photos to place on the altar. By offering chants, incense and flowers, and by reciting the names of our pets, we are acting on their behalf to liberate them from suffering and bring them to great joy.
The Bodhisattva Precepts
When we receive the precepts we are not given something that exists outside ourselves. To truly receive the precepts is to realize your true nature, revealing your life as the very body, form, and functioning of the enlightened state. — Maezumi Roshi
Hanamatsuri
Hanamatsuri is our annual commemoration of Shakyamuni Buddha’s birth. The name literally means festival of the flowers. We mark the occasion by creating an altar of fresh flowers and holding a special service…
Chanting Services
If you’d like to include chants in your home practice, scroll down to find links to our complete chant book and Zendo recordings of several of the seminal chants in Zen.
Services introduce the aspect of ritual into our practice. Specifically, a “service” consists of a chant, performed in front of the altar, to transmit the energy, intention and benefit of our practice into the world we inhabit…
Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyo
The Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyo is a dharani, an exhortation designed to produce specific energy though the articulation of sound. The Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyo, or the Ten-Phrase Life Prolonging Kannon, evokes the compassionate and eternal nature of our life. For the words to this chant, see the Hazy Moon Chant Book.
Identity of Relative and Absolute
The Identity of Relative and Absolute is a poem about the enlightened mind written by our Dharma ancestor Shitou (Jap: Sekito Kisen) in the 8th century and chanted in our services. For the words to this chant, see the Hazy Moon Chant Book.
Maha Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra
The most commonly chanted sutra in Mahayana Buddhism, the Heart Sutra expounds the core, or heart, of the Buddha’s teaching. For the words to this chant, see the Hazy Moon Chant Book.
The Light of a New Year
Under the bright shine of a supermoon, the Hazy Moon Sangha marked its 20th consecutive New Year’s Eve ceremony. Concluding the annual Year-End Sesshin, participants dedicated the merit of their practice through all space and time by chanting a full service; performing the atonement ritual of Fusatsu; and generating auspicious blessings of peace, wisdom, and […]
Vickie Reiju Cumberland’s Jukai
When Vickie Cumberland attended her first formal Zen retreat five years ago, she drove eight hours from Kansas City to Cincinnati to sit with a fledging group that would later become the Dewdrop Sangha, an affiliate of the Hazy Moon. Since then, she has practiced at the Hazy Moon and at retreats in Ohio, Wisconsin, […]
Parinirvana Day
Parinirvana Day commemorates the death of Shakyamuni Buddha and his entry into Nirvana.
