Dia de los Muertos
It's late fall and our Zen home lights up in anything but subtle colors. Deep hues and dancing images appear. A streamer floats overhead: brilliant skulls, smiling and inviting. Something powerful and playful is near unfolding. We experience, yet again, one of Sensei Shinzan’s unique gifts: a blend of Zen practice and Mexican ancestry, a blend of Día de Los Muertos and Buddhism! We dub it Ancestors’ Day - El Día de Los Ancestros. Maybe, it’s just Día de Los Muertos and we’re simply Zen practitioners practicing an old Mesoamerican tradition. Call it what you want, but there is no denying it. The fusion is unique. Thank you, Shinzan.
Our sisters and brothers across the border have been ahead of many of us in the US in recognizing death, not shipping it off, tucking it away, or hiding it in clinical institutions.Death is more accepted among Mexicans: it is acknowledged and it is felt. Death may still threaten, be feared. But, it’s present, looked in the eye; perhaps, while respected, it’s even taunted a bit? We were not always different. Deep in our collective past, ancestors from many points would, for example, carve a pair of skulls into the frames of mirrors. A reminder that death is always close at hand. Tonight, our zendo fills with skulls adorned in color, spreading across an altar overflowing with candles, photos, and offerings.
Tonight, in our zendo, we have a plethora of skulls in makeup, spotted and splashed in a cornucopia of colors! Now, they proliferate over an altar bulging, festooned in vibrant color, flames of candles, pictures, and artifact offerings. The evening opens with much joyous welcoming, and voices of relatives, friends, and familiar sangha members welcoming, meeting, exchanging. The volume, the energy, it rises. Some serious, some fun. We ignite …and bang! An explosion of love!
Soon the ceremony is called to order. We quiet, and find places all around, standing with respect. Bowing in, Shinzan carefully explains and briefly instructs us in what we all will do. The solemnity wells up. Anzan reads the names of the dead and of those living in suffering, each name intoned like a bell calling us to presence. Each one resonates personally.
I listen closely. My dear late mother in my hands, now holding a sense memory. The amethyst crystal, her birthstone, fills my palm again. Its hard edges, the depth of the resonant purple color as I remember her soft and wide heart: it was always more than enough for just me, but for all my friends, all the world, her purview. She appears in my dreams still as I stumble, sometimes stride through my own 75th year. In her 75th, she left us. That was 35 years ago. I touch this crystal and just like that, upon the echo of her name, she returns …She touched so many, and hopefully by proxy, a bit of her reaches some today. Looking back, I wonder what others experiences are of it all.
So, I asked a sangha member. Jen shares a bit of her own experience:
"This was the first opportunity I have ever had to reflect upon lost loved ones with a sense of joy. It was a beautiful moment in which to experience our profound ability to hold both light and darkness within our hearts. The ceremony, altar, sharing memories in a safe and uplifting space, and connecting with members of the sangha touched my heart deeply. Thank you”
We all combine our voices in a Buddhist chant of Avalokiteshvara. In Chan or Zen, she is the bodhisattva who looks upon and hears the suffering of the world. One by one, still chanting, we advance to the altar, make a humble offering, then a bow to the Buddha, our loved one(s), and rejoin the others. And then…just like that, we transition; we move into celebration! The sweet remembrance is complete!
We disperse through the kitchen to the back, where tables and a bonfire await, and we feast and mingle into the night. Old friends, fellow practitioners, and new acquaintances gather together.
Sitting with both new and longtime friends—some first-time acquaintances—I am swept into lively conversation in Español, where understanding words is unnecessary. I am carried along by their vivacious energy, real connection, and the love they share with one another and with me. It truly warms me well beyond the heat of the bonfire, and in this ever present moment, right there and then, I am grateful. I look around and I am grateful. Thank you.
- Mushin
*Ancestors' Day is a once a year event. Please join us next November!
