Receiving the Precepts: Jukai Ceremony (2025)

The jukai ceremony marks a significant moment in a Zen practitioner’s training: in the presence and with the support of their teacher and sangha, the student commits to a life grounded in and guided by the ethical precepts of Buddhism. More than just a list of dos and don’ts, the precepts are an expression of the reality of no separation between self and other, and receiving them is likewise both a public rite of passage and an acknowledgment of an inner calling to a life of compassion that has already begun to be answered.

In this jukai ceremony, which took place at the Ocean Mind Sangha’s most recent in-person sesshin, Zuisei gives the precepts to Marguerite Kisei (“Delighting in Life”) Battaglia and Casey Kanshin (“Perfect Mind”) Benjamin.

This jukai ceremony was led by Zuisei Goddard.