Jizo Sesshin
Just because there are crafts doesn’t mean it’s not a sesshin. Not expecting it to be “deep” reveals some fixed ideas about sesshin, and about practice. What if our practice on the cushion supports our practice in activity? What if our practice in activity supports our practice on the cushion?
People with varied retreat experience attended the Jizo Sesshin with Chozen Roshi and Zen Teacher Jomon this September. The schedule was, in fact, just like that of most other retreats, although instead of a Teisho (Dharma Talk), we went to the outdoor tables by the cafeteria to glaze Chozen’s ceramic Jizos and decorate a simple tin box traveling to craft an altar for them
We often began by reading a section from Chozen’s book on Jizo Bodhisattva. In this way, we experienced a connection with Buddhists from India, China, and Japan, who have felt supported by practicing with Jizo (or Kishitigarbha or Dizang) for many hundreds of years.
Invoking the qualities of Jizo Bodhisattva–optimism, determination, fearlessness, benevolence, and vow–we see how these qualities enable Jizo to enter into all the realms of existence. Jizo fearlessly enters the deepest, hottest (or coldest) hells to intercede for the suffering beings there, Jizo attends to beings in the hungry ghost realms, and to our tender human realm. Even in the heavenly realms, where such comfort and ease can only be temporary, Jizo can be a reminder to take up one of the qualities.
We may find ourselves traversing all of these realms in a single day. We may be stuck in one of them for a while. Jizo reminds us to ask for help. Who knows? Maybe someone will respond as a Jizo in disguise. Or maybe you will be that Jizo-person for someone else. 
In some cases, a traveling altar was constructed to be a specific reminder for the person who made it. In others, it was a gift for someone.
Each person brought forward their own unique expression to the practice. And was it “deep”? What does that even mean? The people in attendance shared about bringing awareness to the impermanence of mind states, and seeing constructed habits and reactivity more clearly. Each person courageously and meticulously attended to experience, and awakened a boundless, generous heart, this is sesshin. 