Jizo Bodhisattva

by Jan Chozen Bays

  Making an offering is an active practice that helps us open that me-first center. The Zen cook makes an offering of food to the Buddha on the altar before each meal. After a meal is prepared, small amounts of each dish are placed in three miniature eating bowls on a ceremonial tray. The cook makes three full prostrations to the offering, then takes it to the zendo where the meditators are seated with their own eating bowls opened. The cook thus offers the first portion of all food to be eaten to the Buddha on the altar.

  This practice of offering signifies our willingness to share what we have, both material goods and spiritual benefit, with all who are in need. It is a three-times-a-day reminder of generosity. The offering transforms us into a host, one who welcomes the Buddhas and bodhisattvas into our home each day with an altar table set with fresh food, clear water, flowers, and candlelight. It reminds us to be generous, to be willing to share what we have with the teeming hungry ghosts who populate even—maybe even more so—this richest of countries. The food is offered to the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, hungry ghosts first, before we have taken even one bite. This indicates what our priorities are: first, our spiritual practice and helping others; second, our own basic needs.

  The traditional offerings described in the sutra are offerings to the five senses. Flowers and incense are lovely to smell. Candlelight and jewels delight the eye. Music or chanting is a practice of the ears. Food and drink appeal to the tongue. Bowing is a practice of the whole body touching the earth. The mind is open and quiet. When we open our senses in this way we are offering up our whole selves. Everything we call “dead” is given back life.

  The pause created by the food offering and the meal chants before we “dig in” helps us remember where things come from. Where do the food, drink, and eating bowls come from? What about the clothes, the metal, the glass, and the jewels we wear, even the money we donate? They all come from and ultimately return to the earth—as do we. We are reminded that everything we have including the body and mind we call “mine” is actually borrowed. Borrowed from the domain—the treasury house—of Earth Store Bodhisattva. This is the practice of being a guest.

  The traditional offerings are offerings of each of the five elements. They are pure water, jewels from the earth, music from the movement of air, flowers representing wood, and candlelight or oil lamps as fire. These offerings, given one at a time, remind us that we are a very temporary assemblage of the same elements. They continuously offer themselves to form our life. We offer a small part back to indicate that we recognize this and are grateful.

  If you have a Jizo image in your home, you can do the practice of making offerings. This is the practice of being a host, of seeing every being as a guest. You offer your guest fresh flowers, a candle, a cup of clean water, and fruit. You can make an offering of a small portion of the food from the evening meal, bowing before your honored guest on the altar, before you begin eating yourself.

  Making Images of Jizo Bodhisattva

  In the Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva, an earth spirit named Firm and Solid speaks to the Buddha. He says that he has worshiped all the innumerable bodhisattvas but regards Earth Store Bodhisattva as having the weightiest vow because the vow has no end. The earth spirit says,

  A tiny Jizo made spontaneously from a silkworm cocoon by a seven-year-old Japanese boy when his father died suddenly if a heart attack. The blotch over the heart is red.

  World Honored One, looking at beings living in the present and future I see people making shrines of earth, stone, bamboo, or wood. They place within the shrines an image of Earth Store Bodhisattva, either carved, painted, or made of gold, silver, copper or iron. Then they bum incense and make offerings, worship and praise him. By doing these things they will receive ten kinds of advantages and benefits.

  The earth spirit vows to use all his spiritual powers to protect these people day and night from floods, fire, theft, calamity, and accidents.

  The stories in the Earth Store Bodhisattva Sutra of those who became Earth Store Bodhisattva are stories of everyday men and women who were moved by human suffering and vowed to do what they could to help. That Jizo Bodhisattva and the Buddha himself were human is wonderfully inspiring. It inspires us not to become overwhelmed or defeated by difficulties that arise, but to use whatever transformation body we have been endowed with and the tools in our very hands to help chip away whatever prevents us from manifesting the qualities of Jizo.

  To make an image of Jizo Bodhisattva is to affirm that such a being could exist, a being composed of generosity, benevolence, optimism, determination, and fearlessness. In the work of portraying this image in paint, clay, stone, or metal, we call out and magnify those qualities nascent in ourselves.

  Once I read a true story of a young man named David who was cast as Jesus in a movie. He was not a Christian, but he felt the weight of the responsibility of portraying a man whose simple short life had changed the world. He decided to become Jesus as completely as possible, not taking off the costume or the way of being for the several months the movie was in production. He did not mingle with other cast members during breaks but remained alone and quiet. After he had immersed himself in the role of Jesus for a few weeks, strange things began to happen. Others in the cast began to come to him with their problems. He found, with the qualities he had assumed to portray Jesus, he was able to see these people with a new and genuine love. His compassion and wisdom caused more people to come to him for guidance even after the filming of the movie ended. For weeks afterward he found himself living as Jesus, helping people as Jesus did. He said, “I forgot that I was David and thought that I was Jesus. Afterward I had to forget that I was Jesus and remember that I was David.”

  We all have this problem. We are immersed in the movie called “my life,” written, produced, narrated by, and starring—me. We have forgotten that we are the Buddha and live instead as unhappy men and women. If we can step out of the movie even once, even briefly, the spell will be broken and we will begin to remember who we really are. Then all those around us will also become free.

  When I began to make images of Jizo Bodhisattva I discovered that the face was most important. I saw that people chose the statues they wanted by picking them up and scrutinizing the faces, so I finished each one carefully with attention to their expressions. As orders began coming in, I couldn’t keep up. I asked students for help working on the Jizos during a sesshin. Afterward I looked at the little clay Jizos and was astounded. Their faces had all been changed! Some now had long pointed noses, some had fatter cheeks, some had thin wide lips. When I saw one Jizo with its mouth screwed up to the side exactly like one woman’s characteristic expression, I realized what had happened. As each person worked on the Jizo’s face, he or she had unconsciously adjusted it to look like him- or herself. My husband was skeptical about this discovery until the next interesting event occurred.

  I had made a few small Jizo statues and sent them to Japan for Harada Roshi to give as gifts. Months thereafter we went to Japan for several weeks of Zen training. Harada Roshi had asked the lay-woman who did the temple sewing to come measure my husband and me for new kimonos since the indigo on our new robes had rubbed off, dyeing our old kimonos—and our hands—blue. As we sat waiting in a small tearoom there was a tap on the shoji screen next to me. I slid the screen open and found myself face-to-face with a middle-aged Japanese woman. She froze, then exclaimed in Japanese, “I know you! Haven’t I met you before?” I demurred, saying I had never met her. She looked flustered at her rude and very un-Japanese outburst, then came in and sat down. She studied my face surreptitiously. In a few minutes she burst out once more, “Surely I have seen you somewhere!” then colored again with embarrassment. As Roshi whisked tea the conversation went on. Suddenly she smiled and exclaimed, “I know where I’ve seen you before! Your face is on my little Jizo!”

  In doing this practice of making an image of Jizo you can use any medium—paint, clay, wood, photo, papier-mache. It can be as transi
ent as a hundred images of Jizo outlined in the sand at the beach with a stick and wiped away by the incoming tide. It can be as solid as a statue carved of stone. Some people make a vow to undertake the making of a hundred or ten thousand Jizo images. The images can be given away to those in need, placed on a Jizo altar, or left to stand guard in the forest.

  This is the practice of making images of Jizo Bodhisattva. As we make Jizo ourselves, we make ourselves into Jizo.

  Traditional Times and Situations for

  Practice with Jizo Bodhisattva

  The traditional time for veneration of Ti-tsang in China and Jizo Bodhisattva in Japan is the twenty-fourth day of the seventh lunar month. In modern times this is celebrated in either July or August in different areas of Japan. This often coincides with the early autumn festival of the dead called Ullambana (Obon in Japan). On the birthday of Jizo, the thirtieth day of the seventh month, the festival of the dead comes to an end and hell is closed. Jizo then asks the Ten Kings of Hell for forgiveness of those who repent of their misdeeds. This is a particular time to remember those who have died and to confess and make amends for past misdeeds.

  Sickness and Death

  The Earth Store Bodhisattva Sutra tells of specific situations when practice with Earth Store Bodhisattva is helpful.

  Since all beings have such [bad] habits their parents or relatives should create merit for them when they are on the verge of dying in order to assist them on the road ahead. This may be done by hanging banners and canopies, lighting lamps, reciting the holy sutras or making offerings before images of Bodhisattvas or sages. It includes recitation of the names of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas . . .in such a way that the recitation of each name passes by the ear of the dying one and is heard in his fundamental consciousness.

  The sutra recommends that something of value belonging to the one who is ill, such as clothing, jewels, gardens, or houses, should be offered at the temple. The sick person should be told that this is being done on their behalf.

  Men or women may be bedridden with a long illness and in spite of their wishes be unable either to get well or to die. In this instance this sutra should be recited once in a loud voice before the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and possessions which the sick one loves, such as clothing, jewels, gardens or houses should be offered, saying before the sick person, “Before this sutra and image I give all these items on behalf of this sick person.”

  In addition to reciting the names of the Buddhas the sutra recommends chanting the name of Kshitigarbha one thousand times a day for as many as one hundred days or chanting the entire sutra itself once a day for three, seven, or forty-nine days. The sutra proscribes blood sacrifices, recommending that vegetarian food be prepared and offered to the Buddha and to the monks. The practices of chanting and making offerings are continued during the dying process and in the forty-nine days after death. This is a time when consciousness is in transition and there may be benefit from spiritual effort directed toward the person who has died.

  Japanese Buddhists observe forty-nine days of mourning after a person’s death. This practice seems to have evolved out of the cosmology of the Chinese Ten Kings’ Sutra. The forty-nine days are divided into seven separate seven-day periods of transition. At the end of each seven-day interval the person is said to come before the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. With their help the person will be able to make progress toward becoming a Buddha and entering the realm of enlightened beings. Relatives and friends who wish to help the deceased along this path are encouraged to use the entire forty-nine days as a time for daily meditation and religious services. In Shingon practice a different deity is petitioned at the end of each seven-day interval. Jizo Bodhisattva (Kshitigarbha) is the deity for the fifth seventh day, that is, the thirty-fifth day after death. On the night preceding the thirty-fifth day, offerings should be made to Jizo with recitation of the Jizo dharani.

  Birth

  If there are [those] who have newborn sons or daughters they should recite this inconceivable sutra and recite the Bodhisattva’s name a full ten thousand times within seven days before the child’s birth. If that newly born child was to have had a disastrous life he will be liberated from it and will be peaceful, happy, easily raised and long lived.

  Expectant parents can set up a Jizo altar and recite the Jizo dharani for the benefit of the unborn child. We know that after birth infants are able to recognize voices they have heard in utero. How beneficial for them to hear, very early in embodied life, the sounds of good music or of spiritual practice.

  Travel

  Good men and women of the future who must enter mountain forests, cross over rivers, seas and great waters, or pass through dangerous roads for the sake of earning their own livelihood, for pub-lie affairs, matters of life and death, or other urgent business, should first recite the name of Earth Store Bodhisattva a full ten thousand times. The ghosts and spirits of the ground they pass over will always surround and protect them in their walking, standing, sitting and lying down. The peace and happiness of those persons will constantly be guarded, so that even if they encounter tigers, wolves, lions or other harmful evil creatures, the beasts will be unable to hurt them.

  We may not be afraid of encountering lions, but we are not free of fear as we travel. The mind conjures up freeway snipers, people who drop rocks from overpasses, muggers at stoplights, black ice, drunk drivers, hijackers, and airline crashes. Anxiety makes us suffer. It does not make us safe. Reciting the Jizo dharani when we are afraid can help keep us safe by making the mind relaxed and alert and the heart open and at ease. Many people take a small statue of Jizo with them when they travel. They can be carried in a small traveling altar that can be tucked in a suitcase and set up in a hotel or guest room.

  Difficulty Remembering the Sutra

  The Earth Store Bodhisattva Sutra recommends that those with memory problems place a bowl of clear water in front of an image of Jizo for one night and day, then face south and drink the water. As the water is about to enter their mouth they should be particularly sincere and earnest. Then they must keep the precepts for seven to twenty-one days afterward, abstaining from lying, killing, sexual activity, eating meat or rich foods, and from alcohol. This will endow them with the ability to understand and remember the sutra.

  How might this work? Certainly alcohol befuddles the mind. Eating too much or indulging in too much sex makes us dull, sleepy. When we tell one lie, it somehow gives birth to another and soon our mind is tense, occupied with trying to remember to whom we told what and with anxiety over the lie being found out. Leading a disciplined life and keeping the precepts supports a mind that is wise and able to remember. One student decided to undertake the discipline of not watching videos or television. At the end of a week he was overjoyed. He said, “I got my life back!” He had gained an extra two to four hours of time each day, some of which he devoted to meditation. In just a few days his mind became more lucid and stable.

  Practicing with the Qualities of

  Earth Store Bodhisattva

  Earth Store Bodhisattva is described as having a number of wonderful qualities. These include compassion and benevolence, supreme optimism, lack of fear, an irreversible vow, unflagging determination, taking full responsibility, equanimity, and active engagement in everyday life. These are aspects of the earth, and as Earth Store Bodhisattva is rooted deeply and continuously in the earth, these qualities are naturally present. If we are, even unknowingly, division bodies of Earth Store Bodhisattva, these are our own innate qualities. There are specific Buddhist practices that help us develop these nascent qualities and to let go of whatever impedes their emergence and free functioning.

  Equanimity

  A Shingon text says, “Kshitagarbha Bodhisattva does not get angry or give up even though he may be trampled upon and stepped on as if he were the earth.” This image comes from the instructions of the Buddha to his eighteen-year-old son, Rahula.

  Rahula, develop meditation that is like the earth; for when you develop m
editation that is like the earth, arisen agreeable and disagreeable contacts will not invade your mind and remain. Just as people throw clean things and dirty things, excrement, urine, spittle, pus, and blood on the earth, and the earth is not horrified, humiliated and disgusted because of that, so too, Rahula, develop meditation that is like the earth; for when you develop meditation that is like the earth, arisen agreeable and disagreeable contacts will not invade your mind and remain.

  The word equanimity comes from the Latin aequo animo, meaning an “even mind.” This even, balanced mind is one of the effects we hope for in practice. The earth bears all kinds of action with equanimity. Earth has such a huge awareness-body that all the open mining pits and nuclear explosions are less than a mosquito landing on its skin and drilling in.

  The practice associated with this quality is the meditation on the earth taught to Rahula. If we could develop a continuous awareness of the earth beneath us, we would need no other practice. We already have great faith in the Earth Store body. Every time we take a step, we trust that the earth will be under our feet. Expanding that faith into consciousness of the perpetual presence and support of the earth, we develop equanimity.

  The Earth Store Bodhisattva Sutra says, “All the grasses, woods, sands, stones, paddy fields, hemp, bamboo, reeds, grains, rice and gems come forth from the ground.” Meditate upon the parts of your body from the hairs on the head to the toenails. Include everything, teeth, saliva, bones, urine, feces, muscles, blood-can you find anything that does not come from the earth? Truly we are born from and nourished by the earth womb.