A Buddhist Ceremony for Angel Babies & Parents
Updated: Sep 25
If you are carrying a loss no one talks about
Venue: Rissho Kosei-kai Buddhist Center of Los Angeles & Zoom
Date: Sunday, October 4, 10:00-11:30AM PT
Optional: Would you like to share for a quiet recognition? (Due: October 1, Thu)
Early pregnancy loss happens in about one in ten known pregnancies in the United States. Roughly one in four women who are trying have difficulty getting pregnant or staying pregnant. And almost none of them have ever been to a space to process and heal their emotional heaviness. It is so common and yet completely silent. That's what we are responding to this October, which is a Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month.
What You Will Experience
10:00 — Welcome
10:05 — Children's Offering. Children from our community carry small blessed gift bags to the altar. (Please read the note below about children — we want you to know what to expect before you arrive.)
10:15 — Letters Read Aloud. A few letters written by people who have carried this loss are read aloud while soft music plays. No one stands at the front of the room. You can close your eyes and simply listen. For many people, this is the first time they hear their own experience spoken out loud by someone else.
10:25 — Buddhist Chanting. We recite together from the Lotus Sutra, offering a space for sound healing and the prayer for the babies you are remembering. You are welcome to recite or simply listen. Many people find it healing and unexpectedly grounding.
11:00 — Hoza: Small-Group Sharing. Hoza is a Buddhist circle practice of listening without fixing or advising. You are invited to speak about your own experience, or to sit quietly among people who understand without saying a word. Nothing is required of you. Many people tell us this is the part that stays with them.
11:30 — Ceremony Ends
This Gathering Is For You If
• You lost a pregnancy at any stage and never had a place to grieve it
• Your loss was years or decades ago and you have still never spoken about it
• You went through fertility treatment that did not work
• You lost a baby who lived only hours or days
• You are a grandparent grieving a grandchild while holding it together for your own child
• You are coming to support someone else and do not know how to help
• You are spiritually searching but not religious, and want something real rather than an app
A Note About Children
Children from our community take part in the opening offering. We tell you this in advance because we know that for some people being near children right now is comforting, and for others it is painful. You are welcome to arrive at 10:15, after the children's offering, and nobody will ask you why.
And Afterward
This ceremony happens once a year, but grief does not keep a calendar. We gather every Sunday morning, and our sound bath meditation is every Thursday evening. Whatever October 4 stirs up in you, there is somewhere to bring it the following week, and the week after that.
Can't Be in the Room?
This ceremony is also offered online, and you are just as welcome there. If you would like your thoughts and emotions to be held during the ceremony but cannot attend in-person, you may send an email to us for our zoom link: info@rklabuddhistcenter.com
Zoom Info
Meeting ID: 546 094 5127
Passcode: RKLA
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