9/11 Kido
by Steve Cohen, JDPS
On September 11, 2003 a commemorative chanting kido was held at the Zen Center. For three hours, members of our Sangha and guests came together, invoking the name of the “great vow” bodhisattva, Ji Jang Bosal (Sanskrit: Ksitigarbha; Chinese: Di Zang; Japanese: Jizo Bosatsu). The vow of Ji Jang Bosal is to reenter hellish realms over and over to assist the suffering. Since kido means “energy way;” by chanting Ji Jang Bosal, we cut off all thinking, and let our energy become one with those who died and those who live.
Someone once said chanting Ji Jang Bosal opens our heart and the line of demarcation between life and death fades. All that remains is intuition and intimacy. Then we can see our original face. Our original face has no life and no death. Our body appears and disappears, but the Dharma body never appears or disappears. So, in this kido chanting, Ji Jang Bosal becomes our original face and our Dharma body, which is none other than the faces and bodies of the 9/11 victims and their families, and their friends, who are our families and our friends. We mourn their passing; we celebrate their courage.
Ji Jang Bosal! Ji Jang Bosal! Ji Jang Bosal! Ji Jang Bosal! Ji Jang Bosal! Ji Jang Bosal!