A National Buddhist Memorial Ceremony for Asian American Ancestors

May We Gather.

When someone is hurting, we come together as community. We gather because our lives are inexorably interlinked. We do not suffer alone, nor do we heal alone. Only when we gather as a sangha (community), can we truly support each other’s freedom.

May we gather to repair.

On May 4th, 2021, exactly seven weeks, or forty-nine days, will have passed since the Atlanta shootings. In many Buddhist traditions, forty-nine days after death marks an important transition for the bereaved. As we pray for the liberation of those who have come before us, these ancestors will likewise alleviate our community’s pain, for we are interlinked with each other, across generations, in our collective liberation.

The hourlong memorial will take place on Tuesday, May 4th, 2021 at 4pm PDT (7pm EDT). In keeping with COVID-19 regulations, the in-person component of the ceremony will not be open to the public. Instead, we invite you to watch the livestream by clicking the yellow “Watch Livestream” button at the top right of the page. Our host for the livestreamed ceremony is the Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles. The temple, restored after a groundswell of community support, will serve as the sacred space from which we can enact collective transformation. We will chant sutras, recite the names of our ancestors, heal in ceremony, and share Dharma perspectives from leading American Buddhists to repair an important aspect of our nation’s racial karma.

Please CLICK HERE for more information.