Walking with Jizo

Jizo may be the bodhisattva of our times. In addition to being the protector of children, Jizo is also the protector of travelers, which feels particularly imperative in our current day and age as the numbers of migrants and climate refugees increase year by year. And while the sea and sky grow ever hotter, and destruction and conflict intensify, as though our greedy karma has brought hell to earth, Jizo vows to enter the hell realms to reach those within. 

Jizo has been called upon in previous times of crisis and calamity, and they are often seen as a comforting presence for the poor, oppressed, and displaced, as well as those swept up in the brutalities of war. In fact, as Zen teacher Jan Chozen Bays explains in her book Jizo Bodhisattva, Jizo first became widely popular in Japan during a time of rising war and social chaos between the 12th and 17th century. Shinran Shonin, the great teacher of Pure Land Buddhism, said that although Amida Buddha would save anyone who recited their name, Jizo’s compassion was universal and didn’t depend upon any spiritual practice or even faith in Jizo.  

Jizo probably arrived in North America in the late 19th century, when there was a large influx of Chinese and Japanese immigrants. The first documented ritual to Jizo was led almost a century later by Soto Zen monk and teacher Shunryu Suzuki at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. He offered it to an American student as a way to deal with her grief over a friend who had died, and indeed, in North America, Jizo is now particularly associated with grief. Drawing on Jizo’s role in Japan as a guide and protector for children who died before birth, Jizo is invoked regularly at Western Zen centers to deal with grief over children.

The earliest vision of the idea of the bodhisattva is that of a heroic practitioner of the Buddhist way to freedom who boldly sets their sights on the vastest awakening and, simultaneously, the vastest service to beings possible. Choosing to stay in samsara—or the endless cycle of death and rebirth—rather than take the exit of nirvana—or the transcendent peace marked by the extinguishing of passions—bodhisattvas cultivate compassion, wisdom, and skillful means. This allows them to incarnate on earth or in other planes while continuing to help beings lost in suffering and confusion. Bodhisattvas like Avalokiteshvara (Ch. Kuan Yin, J. Kanzeon), Kshitigarbha (J. Jizo, Ch. Dizang), and Manjushri (J. Monju, Ch. Wenshu) are very advanced practitioners of the Buddha way operating on a cosmic scale. For many Buddhists, they are otherworldly beings active in this realm who can be called on for help. They are also inspiring role models—as Jan Chozen Bays says, “We seek to learn about Jizo Bodhisattva in order to become Jizo Bodhisattva.” 

Many contemporary Buddhists view bodhisattvas as archetypes, objects of meditation, or vessels for invoking the energies of mind or cosmos, as opposed to objectively real otherworldly beings of independent power. This has likely been facilitated by the Tibetan Buddhist view of bodhisattvas and buddhas as yidams, or meditation deities that are representations of the qualities of awakened awareness but aren’t necessarily externally existing personal beings. Working with bodhisattvas can be a way of invoking enlightened qualities in the world, as well as within oneself. 

Working with bodhisattvas can be a way of invoking enlightened qualities in the world, as well as within oneself. 

If we invoke Kuan Yin, are we invoking a celestial being, a quality of our own mind, or the impersonal qualities of compassion and grace in the all-pervasive cosmic mind? Perhaps we can hold all three of these possibilities simultaneously yet loosely, or choose the one that makes the most sense to us. At the end of the day, those who invoke Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, both a thousand years ago and yesterday, see in her visions, experience her miraculous help, and are inspired, strengthened, and calmed by her image, whether they are modern practitioners seeking meaning in the madness or 12th-century pilgrims traveling across a seemingly endless expanse of snow-covered terrain. 

I recently found myself asking if I could invoke bodhisattvas not as a means to interact with the internal world but as a way to face the external one. The suffering underneath this question was that of witnessing the incredible violence being inflicted on both Palestinian and Israeli youth. How does one respond to this suffering? Of course there is activism and political activity: Protests, petitions, boycotts, humanitarian donations, and speaking with one’s vote all have their place. Yet beyond these actions, and faced with their limitations, what else can we do as dharma practitioners to alleviate both our own suffering and that of others, perhaps through mysterious means and ways uniquely available to us who walk the Buddha’s way? Faced with this question, I decided to take up the practice of Jizo Bodhisattva. 

While I was writing this piece, I came across the work of Uta Tamate, an artist and healer living in San Francisco. Uta is of Japanese descent and also, like me, of Eastern European Jewish descent. Uta is currently working as a birthkeeper, with a special focus on abortions and miscarriages. Her interest in her ancestral rituals and Shintoism brought her into contact with Jizo and mizuko kuyo, or the “water baby” ritual that originated as a ritual done after an abortion or miscarriage but is now often done to help the spirits of any children who have died, as well as their parents. The massive death toll of children in Gaza inspired Uta to collaborate with other artists and activists on a mizuko kuyo ceremony for those killed in the war. In collaboration with Artillery Gallery, Champoy, and Nikkei Resisters, among others, Uta led a ritual shaping and creating clay water babies as a way to care for the spirits of the dead children of Gaza. As I have also found in my Jizo practice, this practice provided a way both to pray for Jizo’s intercession in Gaza and to care for the state of their own hearts. 

“We found that the mizuko kuyo ceremony is a way to avoid becoming numb,” Uta tells Tricycle, “and to resist the overculture which wants us to go to sleep to the violence.”

After the ceremony, Champoy and the Nikkei Resisters found ways to include Jizos they had made in other art installations against the war, where Uta says they served as protectors.

When we fear for our children, when we grieve for them, or perhaps when we grieve for how we have failed and abandoned them, this is a space we can invite Jizo into, both to soothe our hearts and to invoke the energy of compassion and being-alongside-with.

Will invoking Jizo to watch over the murdered, orphaned, starving, and terrorized children of the world make a difference? Does prayer work? Who knows what secret pathways Jizo walks? At the very least, walking with Jizo is a way to keep our own hearts open and to become just a little bit more like them.

The following practice is one I developed as a way of invoking Jizo in our current crises. It can be undertaken daily or for a particular period of time—for example, for a ten-day vow of Jizo practice. I recently did this practice every night for ten days, and I was surprised by how much it calmed my heart and allowed me to stay awake in the midst of the incredible suffering and turmoil in the world without being overwhelmed by it. Every night, as I chanted Jizo’s mantra and imagined them walking through the world’s hell realms and helping children, it cleared a path through the horror for me to remain connected to the human beings caught up in the middle of it and for my heart to stay open. I also hoped that, through the power of Jizo or the mind itself, some mysterious aid would in fact now be more likely to arrive to ease that suffering.

At the very least, walking with Jizo is a way to keep our own hearts open and to become just a little bit more like them.

Jizo can be venerated, like other bodhisattvas, with chanting, mantra, and traditional offerings like incense, water, and flowers. In Japan, Jizo is often venerated by pouring water over a Jizo statue or tying a red cloth to the statue, as red is believed to ward off evil in Japan and China. Devotion to Jizo can be simple or elaborate and does not require any props unless you find these helpful. “Bare hands devotion” is always an option for those who choose it or who don’t have access to more resources. The most important thing is mindfulness and heart-connection.

Invoking the compassionate spirit of Jizo, there are many organizations aiding the people of Gaza as they face starvation, displacement, impoverishment, and violence. Médecins Sans Frontières and Save the Children are active in many conflict zones. Aid for Gaza can be channeled through the Gaza Mutual Aid Society. Standing Together is an organization fostering peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians, and you can also donate to the ongoing efforts to foster peacemaking in the regions by the Plum Village Sangha.

Namo Dizang Wang Pu Sa
Namu Jizo Bosatsu
Homage to Earth Womb Awakening Being
Jizo Bosatsu, there are so many children suffering all around the world
Because we have failed them as their elders.
Please walk with them. Be a light in the dark, a hand beneath the rubble, a whisper of comfort, guidance toward safety amidst fear and chaos.
Jizo, may the waters poured over your head cool the fires of human-made hell.
Shogun Jizo, travel with fighters and awaken their compassion and keep the flame of humanity alive within them.
Heal their hearts when they can put their guns down, and lead them to become nonviolent warriors for peace and healing.
Hoyake Jizo, the one “whose cheeks are burnt by hellfire,” please walk where bombs are falling to lead rescuers to the injured and get love and medicine to the suffering.
Yume Jizo, bodhisattva of dream and sleep, please soothe those tossing and turning with trauma and lead them to rest. 
Jizo of travelers, ease the way of refugees and migrants, protect them from the many dangers they face, and lead them to safe harbor.
Jizo, give us a heart that can sit in the fire of life and liberate ourselves and all beings, a heart like yours. 
Recite Jizo mantra a minimum of one hundred times while visualizing Jizo engaged in these activities, and/or resting in Jizo’s presence while he/she emits lights that soothe the sufferings of the world. At the end, visualize Jizo dissolving into your heart. 

Mantra in Sanskrit, Japanese, and Chinese:

ॐ ह ह ह विस्मये स्वाहा Oṃ ha ha ha vismaye svāhā ཨོཾ་ཧ་ཧ་ཧ་བིསྨ་ཡེ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ།

On ka ka ka bi san ma ei so wa ka オン カカカ ビサンマエイ ソワカ

南無地藏王菩薩; Ná mó Dìzàng wáng pú sa