The Gate Of Sweet Nectar

“The point is to establish the connection to that which I am afraid of, or which I see as something not quite me, not quite of my world, or which I’m not quite willing to let into my world. But just to establish that connection and to say, “Yes, our life is together. It’s one life. Together. We go through the gate together.”  —Roshi Egyoku

Each Sunday, the Zen Center holds a special ceremony called The Gate of Sweet Nectar. Beginning at 8:30am, the Buddha Hall—our principal ceremonial space—plays host to a pageant of luminous beings, variously embodied within all those who have gathered to take part. At 9am, or whenever the service concludes, we process to the Zendo and continue the morning program with two periods of zazen, followed by a talk.

The Gate of Sweet Nectar is based on the Kanromon, a popular service within Japanese Soto Zen, aimed at satisfying the unfulfilled needs of the deceased. It is an ancient ceremony that also incorporates elements of Shingon Buddhism. However, with the approval of our founder, Taizan Maezumi Roshi, the service was adapted and expanded in this country by his successor, Bernie Glassman Roshi, co-founder of the Zen Peacemakers Order. As Roshi Bernie explained in a 2004 documentary about The Gate of Sweet Nectar,  it is intended to be “a liturgy for people that are suffering, for people who have been forgotten. For many reasons, there are people for whom liturgical services should be done but aren’t being done. Because I was very interested in social action, I was looking at the aspects of society that have been forgotten or purposefully neglected, and then looking at individuals and the aspects of individuals that have been forgotten or purposefully neglected.  So, I thought this could be a service for them.” 

This is a very potent experience in a city where homelessness, income inequality, and various addictions are so prominently on display. It also recognizes that while we might struggle with our own judgements of those we deem less fortunate, there are also parts of ourselves that we hold in judgement. Roshi Egyoku Nakao—now Abbot Emeritus of the Zen Center—speaks to this when she says,  “The Gate of Sweet Nectar addresses the hunger and thirst that we all feel, in whatever dimension we feel it. We have all kinds of thirsts and hungers.” 

Each week, the Buddha Hall’s main altar is transformed for The Gate of Sweet Nectar by festooning it with banners and imaginative renderings of what the “hungry ghosts” of the spirit might look like. Roshi Egyoku goes on to say, “For me, personally, the Gate is really about learning how to invite in all these hungry parts of my being and the beings of others. And then, how to feed? How to respond?” One very literal response, also displayed on the altar, are various cans of soup and other packaged foods that participants bring with them on Sunday mornings. Although it is a common Buddhist practice to offer fresh fruit and even snacks to Buddhas and ancestors on temple and home altars, the food that gets sanctified as part of the Gate of Sweet Nectar is later donated to a local food pantry.*

We encourage all hungry hearts and bodhisattvas (this means you!) to join us for The Gate of Sweet Nectar service on any Sunday when you’re able. Although all of the Zen liturgy services are deeply meaningful and integral to the practice, the Gate is particularly rich, dynamic, and colorful. As Egyoku Roshi says, “The Gate has an energy of celebration, and also of proclamation because we are declaring that we have raised the Bodhi Mind and that “I Am the Buddhas and They Are Me.” Those are very powerful statements to make. They’re never made casually. And these proclamations really change your being and it changes the way you are in the world.” 

Click here to watch the 2004 documentary.

* Bringing a food item is encouraged but not required for participation in the ceremony. If you have questions about what kind of food is acceptable, feel free to email info@zcla.org