"... In all major Buddhist traditions there is a certain amount of ceremonial. In some it is the main focus of daily practice, in others it is minimal, but it is always there in one form or another ..."
Reverend Master Meian Elbert
Liturgy and Ceremonial For us at Shasta Abbey, Buddhist teaching, and our gratitude for it, are given verbal, visual and physical expression in our religious ceremonial, a form of mindfulness training developed in the 13th century in Japan by Great Master Keizan Jokin. We celebrate most Sundays with a Festival of a Bodhisattva or aspect of the Teaching. Festival ceremonies include sung scriptures and invocations, incense offerings and procession. Please see our Upcoming Events Calendar for information about each Sunday's Festival, including the music we will be singing.
"... Buddhist ceremonial helps us to open up to this Something that is bigger than we are. We bow to it, we open our hearts to it, we turn towards it, we entrust ourselves to it. All the different aspects of ceremonial help with this: bowing, offering incense, processing, chanting or singing the scriptures, the music itself if we have music. Each of these aspects is an offering that we are making, something we are giving. Intuitively we know that this helps both ourselves and other beings. Ceremonial transcends the intellect, just as bowing does, and it works on a deeper level than our brain. Like meditation, it is a way of opening up to the unknown, of letting go of our little self that thinks it knows and that wants to be in charge. It helps us to deepen our faith and reverence for That which is greater than we are ..." Reverend Master Meian Elbert
Following morning meditation, we start each day with traditional Soto Zen morning services that also include chanting, singing and incense offerings. Please see our schedule of events for Meditation and Morning Service times. We also follow the traditional monthly calendar of monastic ceremonies and events, including the twice monthly Renewal of Vows Ceremony.
The Abbey also offers a full range of Buddhist ceremonial for the laity. These include funerals and memorials; weddings; naming ceremonies for children; house blessings; special ceremonies for aborted or stillborn children and miscarriages;
the Feeding the Hungry Ghosts ceremony for beings who may have died under traumatic conditions such as by violence or suicide; animal ordinations, funerals, and memorials; and the offering of Transfer of Merit, in which we offer the merit of our meditation practice to those in need - the ill, the dying or newly dead, or those in difficult situations. Anyone may request a transfer of merit. Food offerings (or a monetary donation for such) may also be given with a request that the merit of the meal be given to a particular person or persons.
Shasta Abbey also has facilities for the care of both human and animal cremated remains.
Please contact the Guestmaster regarding requests and arrangements for any of these ceremonial offerings.
"... Ceremonial is meditation in action ..." Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett