Jizo is an important bodhisattva or "saint" of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. Most prominent today in Japanese Zen, Jizo is understood to be the protector of those journeying through the physical and spiritual realms. This bodhisattva is closely associated with children, to believed to be their guardian before birth, throughout childhood, and after death.
Here, an American Zen master offers an engaging and informative overview of the history of this important figure and conveys the practices and rituals connected with him, including a simple ceremony for remembering children who have died. Inspired by her own personal experience with Jizo practice, Bays explains how the Buddhist teachings on Jizo can bring peace to those confronted with suffering and loss.

Jizo Bodhisattva, Jan Chozen Bays, Shambhala Publications, Paperback, 284 pp, $16.95

Jan Chozen Bays is a Zen master in the White Plum lineage of the late master Taizan Maezumi Roshi. She serves as a priest and teacher at the Jizo Mountain - Great Vow Zen Monastery in Clatskanie, Oregon, and is also a pediatrician who specializes in the evaluation of children for abuse and neglect.

	Foreword by the Reverend Heng Sure Preface Introduction	xi xvii xxv
One:	Jizo in America	1
Two:	Jizo in Japan	15
Three:	The Water-Baby Jizo	37
Four:	Jizo Bodhisattva, Protector of Children	59
Five:	The Stone Woman Dances	81
Six:	The Pilgrimage of Jizo Bodhisattva	95
Seven:	Jizo Bodhisattva and the Path of Pilgrimage	115
Eight:	The Ring Staff	145
Nine:	The Cintamani Jewel	157
Ten:	The Six Rings and the Six Realms	165
Eleven:	Earth Store Bodhisattva	191
Twelve:	Practicing with Jizo Bodhisattva	207
Thirteen:	A Simple Ceremaony of Remembrance for Children Who Have Died	233
	Appendix	239
	References by Chapter	255
	Glossary	263
	Acknowledgments	269
	Index	271
	Permissions	279
	About the Author	281