Obon or Bon is a Japanese Buddhist festival held twice a year once in the fall and again in the spring. It is a three-day remembrance of one's ancestors as a way to bring people together in family reunions.

In our Zen Order, "Mokurai" or Silent Thunder, our Sangha celebrates in Founders' Month recognitions focusing on our Founder Matsuoka-Roshi. This Tuesday, December 3, 2019, we will celebrate Obon. In our Order, we chant a list of our Soto Zen ancestors starting with the ancestral Buddhas and ending with our Founder.

The Dharma talk will focus on Obon as a central practice of the role remembrance plays in Zen. As we consider simultaneous events we are not always forthcoming with cause and effect as well as interconnectivity as a tenant of Buddhism.

From 6:30 PM Friday to 6:30 AM Saturday, FSZS will celebrate Rohatsu or Siddhārtha Gautama enlightenment (Buddha means one who is awake). So in effect, we are celebrating both the past and a new beginning at the same time. It is this sequence that conjures 'Right Vision' of the historical, personal, and social wonderment of our way of living.

Please join us for both celebrations if you can. For more information drop me an email: sensei@falmouthsotozensangha.net.

108bows, Sangaku