We are honored to have Chigan Rōshi return to lead the Hō on memorial Sesshin honoring the Founder of Rinzai-ji, Denkyō-shitsū Kyozan Jōshū Roshi on Friday, July 21st to Sunday, July 23rd. This event will be Rinzai-ji’s primary celebration of our beloved teacher and we hope all of the Sangha who are able will participate. It will be a hybrid online and in-person retreat. Chigan Rōshi will be joining remotely and will be offering virtual dokusan/practice interviews and dharma talks. Off-line time will be built into the schedule to allow for meals, work practice at your home, and kinhin.

The Memorial Ceremony will take place at Rinzai-ji on Sunday July 23rd at 11:00 am PDT.

$100 (in person attendence) $30 (online participation). We know that some people are struggling financially, and we want to make these offerings available to everyone, regardless of ability to pay. If you can afford more, please consider giving at a higher level to help others.

If you need financial support or have any questions, please contact office@rinzaiji.org

Everyone who registers will receive a schedule with Zoom links. While we encourage full-time participation, you may join us for as much as you can.

Chigan-kutsu Kyo-On Dokuro Jaeckel Roshi

A native of Austria, Chigan Rōshi began his formal Zen training in 1982 under Genro Seiun Oshō, a student of Jōshū Rōshi’s and founding abbot of the Bodhidharma Zendo in Vienna. Entrusted with creating a sitting group in 1984, Chigan Rōshi continued his studies with Jōshū Rōshi and was ordained a monk at Mt. Baldy Zen Center in 1989. In 2004, he received Temple Dharma Transmission from Jōshū Rōshi in the Rinzai-ji temple lineage. After the retirement of Jōshū Rōshi from teaching, Chigan Rōshi continued his training under the abbot of the Zen Studies Society, Shinge-shitsu Roko Sherry Chayat Rōshi. They met at the Cambridge Buddhist Association in 2010, where Chigan Rōshi served as the abbot (2004 until 2011) and where Myō-On Chikō Maurine Stuart, with whom Shinge Rōshi had studied, was a preceding abbot.

After receiving Dharma Transmission (inka shōmei) on Nov. 25, 2017, at Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji, three years later, on Nov. 29, 2020, Shinge Rōshi bestowed the chamber name Chigan-kutsu (Wisdom Mirror-Cave) and the title Rōshi in an Entrustment Ceremony. Chigan Rōshi is in the 84th generation of the Zen ancestral lineage, transmitted through Hakuin Ekaku Zenji, Takuju Kosen Zenji, and Nakagawa Soen Roshi. He serves at the Zen Studies Society and also as a Buddhist Chaplain at Harvard University. Chigan Rōshi is abbot of Charles River Zen (Hō-Un An) in Boston, and remains a strong supporter of Rinzai-ji and the teaching legacy of his ordination master and Rinzai-ji’s founding abbot, Denkyō-shitsu Kyōzan Jōshū Rōdaishi.