August 10, 2024
1:30 PM - 8:15 PM
Join BZC for our first all-day Obon Festival at Boundless Mind Temple! Obon honors our ancestors and is one of the major celebrations in Buddhist tradition and Japanese culture.
The festival is open to all: sangha, families, and friends. There will be periods of sitting meditation, a space to write your ancestors’ names and offer them merit, a ceremony of welcoming and nourishing ancestors and hungry ghosts, and vegetarian food from Ancestral Heart Temple’s kitchens to complement a potluck.
Obon is one of the most important Buddhist observances in Japan and is a traditional time to remember and honor one’s departed family ancestors and friends, making offerings of food and well-being for them, as well as to all hungry spirits in the world. The Japanese word “Obon” comes from the Sanskrit word “Ullambana” meaning those “hung upside-down,” beings in other realms who may be suffering in various ways and who are in need of relief and nourishment.
Participants are welcome to join for all or part of the day. There’s no fee to participate but please register by August 8 below. A potluck sign-up sheet will be circulated.
1:30 PM Doors open and set-up
2:10–2:40 Zazen
2:40–2:50 Kinhin
2:50–3:20 Zazen
3:20–3:30 Kinhin
3:30–4:00 Zazen
4:00–4:10 Kinhin
4:10–4:40 Zazen
4:40–5:10 Set up for ceremony and potluck
5:10–7:00 Potluck, crafting, eating, and ceremonial preparation
7:00–7:30 Brief teaching about Obon
7:30 Set-up for ceremony
7:45–8:15 Obon ceremony
8:15p PM Work circle and breakdown
For weekly updates and upcoming events, request to join the BZC Community List here.
COVID Protocol: We ask that all participants be fully vaccinated and boosted. Masks are optional. Please see the BZC Covid Protocol for more information.
Our Location: Boundless Mind Temple is located in the Parish House of Christ Church Cobble Hill, next to 326 Clinton Street. Enter the driveway on Clinton, go past the scaffolding, and through the double doors. There are two flights of stairs leading to the center, located on the second floor. The closest subway stop is the F/G at Bergen Street.