On Sunday, August 6, at 11 a.m., Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede will conduct the Ceremony of Becoming a Zen Priest for Sensei Donna Kowal. You are invited to attend in-person in the Buddha Hall at Arnold Park or on Zoom.

Speaking on the significance of ordination in his article entitled “What Does It Mean To Be Ordained?” Zen Bow, Autumn 1978, Albert Low writes:

…where authentic spiritual practice is carried on, with enlightenment as its heart, dedicated people ordained in Buddha’s Way have a vital and essential role of example and inspiration. They are members of a tradition as old as Buddhism itself, but grounded in practice and purified by authentic training. They ensure not so much that the tradition is perpetuated, but that it is a living expression of the awakening of Buddha and of the awakening of the countless numbers who have followed the Buddha’s Way.