Sisters group sends healing messages

A group of Sisters residents used their creativity to send a peaceful message to Japan by painting cloth banners to honor the 60th anniversaries of the atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Madeleine Landis learned of the banner project when she took a class at Great Vow Zen Monastery in Clatskanie, Oregon. She told her Buddhist meditation group in Sisters and they wanted to participate.

“We’re trying to foster peace,” said Landis.

The idea to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the bombings began in the monastery and has spread around the world. The co-Abbot of the monastery, Jan Chozen Bays, was born the day the bomb dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Bays feels a connection to the event and believes that’s why she was led to become a Buddhist in the Japanese tradition.

The original goal was to make 270,000 banners to honor each person killed. However, word spread through the monastery’s Web site and they have collected more than 305,000 so far. The banners are being sewn into strings of prayer flags and large banners to hang in Japan. The additional banners will be used at peace vigils this summer in Nevada and New Mexico at the sites of development and testing of the atomic bombs used in Japan.

The project is called Jizos for Peace after a wise and kindly spiritual protector. Jizo is considered the guardian of those who have died. The qualities of Jizo are compassion, optimism, and courage. As each Jizo is drawn or created, the monastery said thoughts of peace and compassion are sent into the world.

Dee Caldwell painted a banner with a birch forest. “I think a walk through the forest is very peaceful,” said Caldwell.

John Simpkins thought about the healing aspects of his creation and included 53 Jizos, one for each year of his life.

“It’s always been something that I felt so bad about,” said Simpkins.

Barb Secrest used colors that represent various aspects of human life, from passion to anger. Secrest painted a Metta figure, which represents loving kindness in Buddhist teachings.

Landis painted Jizos on a lotus flower.

“The roots are in the muck — then something beautiful can grow out of it,” she said.

The banners included hopeful words including, “Peace Always, Peace All Ways” and “Give Peace a Chance.”

The other members of the meditation group, Ben Beckley, Glen Corbett and Toni Landis, also created banners. Together, the group painted 172 Jizos on their banners.

This summer, the priests at Great Vow Zen Monastery are traveling to Japan to hand-deliver the Jizos for Peace images to the Japanese people.

To follow the project, visit http://www.jizosforpeace.org.