Lay ordination followed by party, October 5th 2013
On the evning of the last day of sesshin, Jinen, Yoshin und Hakue received lay ordination in the main hall of Antaiji. We started with reciting the Heart Sutra:
Senior monk Gusho leads the three through their movements.
As a sign of their connection to the buddha way, the three put on a rakusu (a small version of the Buddhist robe that resembles a bib).
Photographs taken before, during and after the ceremony by Shoko: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/116218708782376154359/albums/5931525019102112113.
After the ceremony, we celebrate the “birth” of the three new bodhisattvas with a party where some of the precepts are already broken. The planned camp fire had to be rescheduled because of rain.
Almost unrelated, but here is an article by Arthur Braverman about The community at Antaiji 40 years ago at Buddhism Now.