This festival celebrates the life and teaching of Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett, the founder of our order, who died in November 1996.

Rev. Master Jiyu was born in East Sussex in 1924. In the 1960s she was invited to train at Sōji-ji Temple in Japan by the Chief Abbot, Keido Chisan Koho Zenji. Sōji-ji is one of the two main training monasteries of Soto Zen, and Rev. Master Jiyu became Koho Zenji's personal disciple. She trained at Sōji-ji for seven years, and after Koho Zenji's death came back to the West, founding Shasta Abbey in the US, Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey in the UK, and many other temples.

Today we offer our gratitude for her life of practice, and for the opportunity that we all have to hear the teaching.