Association Kan Jizai

"To Study the Way is to study ourselves
To study ourselves is to forget ourselves
To forget ourselves is to be at one with all existences"
Master Dôgen


Ordination
At some stage or other along their journey on the Way of the Buddha, the aspiration to be ordained a bodhisattva, then a monk or a nun, becomes self-evident to followers.

Receiving the precepts and acknowledging them as a light which will guide our steps for the rest of our lives is at the heart of the bodhisattva’s ordination.

«Do no Evil, do good, purify your mind.» These are the teachings of the Buddhas. Monks and nuns, when ordained, take refuge in the three treasures: the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha. The Buddha means all the beings awakened to their true nature but also oneself, possessing the original awakening; the Dharma means the teachings of the Buddha and of the masters of transmission, and the Sangha is the community of followers. Taking refuge means putting these three treasures at the heart of our existence. To quote Master Deshimaru: «Then it is no longer our life which is pulling the Way but the Way which is pulling our life ».