O-Bon, The Spirit Festival

O-Bon, the Spirit Festival, is an important Buddhist festival to honor ancestors and pray for the souls of the departed. The souls of the ancestors are believed to return to the world from beyond. The Garden’s O-Bon event features sutra chanting of the Lotus Sutra by Reverend Zuigaku Kodachi, reading names of the recently departed, and the quiet reverence of toro nagashi (lantern floating).