A Message from Jan Chozen Bays

August, 2006

As the one-year anniversary of the Jizos for Peace Pilgrimage arrives, many of us are remembering the events of last summer, our participation in this extraordinary world-wide effort for peace.

As you know, we gave away most of the hundreds of thousands of beautiful Jizos into the hands of people in  Hiroshima and Nagasaki last August. Because people asked to sponsor exhibits of Jizos for Peace we brought back some panels, quilts and statues from Japan. I wanted to let you know that there have been several Jizos for Peace exhibits during this last year. People around the world are still being inspired by the amazing Jizo art that was created by so many loving hands.

EXHIBITS in JAPAN

In November, 2005, there was an exhibit of Jizos for Peace and a peace concert in Fukushima, Japan. It was sponsored by Joen-ji Temple in Fukushima, north of Tokyo. The abbot of Joen-ji, Reverend Abe, had inspired his congregation to make many hundreds of clay and hand carved Jizos for the pilgrimage. Joen-ji Temple has a very old Jizo whose particular province is harmony within families. The statue was commissioned by a woman who became angry with her daughter-in-law and struck and killed her. She was stunned to see the peaceful expression on her daughter-in-law’s face as she died. In her remorse she had the Jizo statue carved and then lived for the rest of her life in a small hut, tending the grounds of the shrine. The face of the Jizo is said to be the serene face of her daughter-in-law.

Also in the spring of 2006, a small exhibit of exquisite Jizo for Peace cloth dolls was held near Tokyo. They were made by a traditional doll-making club and had been shown at the Nagasaki Peace Museum last August.

EXHIBITS IN GERMANY and HOLLAND

This month there is an exhibit of Jizos for Peace in Cologne, Germany,  a sister city of Hiroshima. The exhibit was arranged by two pilgrims, Eishin Boissevain and Yugen Schoecklmann, in conjunction with Zen Teacher Heinz-Jurgen Metzger. Please read the newspaper story in German and photos: 

http://www.solinger-tageblatt.de/sro.php?redid=122636

The collection of Jizos were sent on to ZenRiver in Uithuizen,  Holland, where Tenkei Coppens Roshi and peace activist Kaz Tanahashi opened an exhibit on August 18th.

EXHIBITS in the USA

In April, 2006 art teacher Yvette O’Neill arranged a Peace Pilgrimage exhibit containing many Jizos for Peace items at Lower Columbia Community College (LCC) in Vancouver, Washington.

In November, 2006 in Portland, Oregon there will be an exhibit of photographs and artifacts from the Atomic Bomb Museums of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We are planning to hold a show of art from the Jizos for Peace Project at the Japanese Garden hogen-in Portland to coincide with this most informative and sobering exhibition.

Once again, I send my many thanks to the thousands of people who participated in the Jizos for Peace Project. It is still alive, bringing our prayers for peace to many people around the world.

Jan Chozen Bays

Jizos for Peace

A project to promote peace in the world through art, Jizos for Peace invited people from all walks of life to make a contribution to peace. The mission of Jizos for Peace was to support people in cultivating and expressing peace in their lives. Our hope was that by participating in the project, people would uncover the qualities of Jizo within themselves, and then manifest those qualities in the world around them.

Project

August 6 and 9, 2005 was the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombings in Japan. In memory of the nearly 270,000 people who died during and soon after the bombing, members of Great Vow Zen Monastery took over 400,000 images of Jizo to Hiroshima and Nagasaki – more than one Jizo for every man, woman, and child who died as a result of the atomic bombs. Art panels, banners, origami, ceramic statues, and quilts with Jizo images, each fashioned from the heart of one person, touched the heart of another.

Jizo

Usually depicted or shown in the form of a wise and kindly spiritual protector, Jizo is considered the guardian of those who have died. He watches over travelers and is the protector of women and children. Jizo also aids those who are ill. The qualities of Jizo are compassion, optimism, and courage. As each Jizo is drawn or created, the artist sends a thought of peace into the world. Our hope is that the lingering effects of compassion and peace will uplift not only the artist, but each person he or she meets.

How Jizos for Peace Began

Jan Chozen Bays, co-Abbot of Great Vow Zen Monastery:
"I was born on August 9, 1945, the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. I believe that I was led to become a Buddhist in a Japanese tradition partly because of the many people who died in Japan just as I was born. Our monastery is dedicated to Jizo Bodhisattva and as part of our practice we make images of Jizo."

“In September, 2002, I visited the Peace Park in Hiroshima, and left a Jizo statue there. I felt I should return in 2005 on the 60th anniversary of the bombings, with a Jizo for each of the hundreds of thousands of people who have died.

“It wouldn't be possible for me to do this alone--how could it be accomplished? Artist Kaz Tanahashi had an inspiration. In Japan, people often copy sutras on paper. What if people copied or drew or stamped Jizos on cloth panels the size of a sheet of paper?

The small panels could be sewn into strings of prayer flags and
large banners.

“We tried out the project by making panels of 108 Jizos at a retreat and people really enjoyed it. They worked in silent concentration, whispering the Jizo mantra, and created a most wonderful and creative array of Jizo images. Several people asked to take this project back to meditation groups at home. This seemed to be the signal to take the project forward."