Tsubaki priests conducted a ceremony enshrining Amaterasu Ohmikami at the Rocky Mountain Dharma Center in Red Feather Lakes, Colorado. At the least, 550 attended the ritual, conducted July 18 by three priests of Tsubaki Grand Shrine of Japan -- Yukiyasu Jun Yamamoto, who will be the 97th chief priest of the shrine, Hitoshi Iwasaki, iormer head of Tsubaki U.S. shrine, and Tetsuji Ochiai, currently the priest of the U.S. shrine in Stockton, California.

In the actual enshrinement, Rev. Yukiyasu Jun Yamamoto carried into the shrine four white-wrapped boxes symbolizing the spirit of four Kami -- Amaterasu Omikami, the sun goddess, Toyoukeno Ohkami, the god of food, Sarutahiko Ohkami, the god of guidance, Amenouzume no Mikoto, the god of harmony. After the ceremony guests saw the traditional Japanese arts of tea ceremony, Ikebana (flower arrangement), calligraphy, and bugaku (traditional Japanese court dance.)

The ceremony was requested by Rocky Mountain Dharma Center. This center, founded in 1971 by the late Chogyam Trangpa Rinpoche, is a contemplative center located in the Northern Colorado Rockies. Situated on 450 secluded acres of highland meadows and pine and aspen forest, it provides an ideal setting for yearround programs devoted to the study and practice of meditation.

Chogyam Trangpa is best known to Western readers as the author of several popular books on Buddhism teachings, including Cutting through Spiritual Materialism, The Myth of Freedom of Meditation in Action. His volume, Shambhala, is a major departure from these earlier works. Shambhala is the path of warriorship, or the path of bravery, that is open to any human being who seeks a genuine and

fearless existence. Chogyam Trangpa visited Ise Grand Shrine in Japan, and told his followers about Shinto, the indigenous religion of Japan. He said Shinto thought is similar to Shambhala and he decided to incorporate a Shinto shrine in the center.

The shrine stands on a gentle pine-forested slope. A path of light-colored crushed limestone winds up the hillside from the meadow under two Torii gates before dividing into a loop that circles in front of the shrine compound. The shrine itself is inside a fenced area terraced with coarse white crushed rock.

The Tsubaki priests trained some center staff members -four men and one women, to make the daily offerings. Each of them makes the offerings a week at a time. They offer the water and the salt in the morning, after the sun has risen and they remove the water and salt before the sun goes down. Once a month, they add two bowls of sake and a bowl of rice to the daily offerings.


Tsubaki appreciates their dedication to proper observance.