Kajikitou:

At Seizanji Temple, Kajikitou is offered as a quiet ritual of prayer, reflection, and intention, grounded in Shingon Buddhist tradition and adapted with care for a contemporary temple setting.

Kajikitou (加持祈祷) may be translated as empowerment through prayer. In Shingon Buddhism, it is not performed to control outcomes or guarantee results. Rather, it is a ritual container: a moment to gather one’s life circumstances, difficulties, and aspirations, and to place them into practice with sincerity and humility.

The Nature of the Practice

In traditional Shingon contexts, Kajikitou is often associated with fire ritual (goma): a demanding ceremonial discipline symbolising purification, offering, and unwavering presence. At Seizanji, the essence of this practice is retained while the external form is simplified.

Our Kajikitou involves:

the offering of incense
chanting, including the Heart Sutra
silent intention and dedication

This form is designed to be accessible, respectful, and grounded, without reproducing practices that require formal monastic settings or extended ritual infrastructure.

What matters in Kajikitou is not quantity or intensity, but presence and sincerity.

(Photo: Rev. Saito's master, Rev. Keisho performing traditional Kaji Kitou)

The heart sutra in Kajikitou

As part of the Kajikitou offering at Seizanji, the Heart Sutra is chanted. The Heart Sutra is not a prayer asking for protection or relief. It is a direct expression of wisdom, pointing to a central Shingon understanding: that nothing in life exists in separation.

The Heart Sutra doesn't soften the heart by sentiment. It softens the heart by removing the false structures that kept it defended.

Its teaching, often summarised as “form is emptiness, emptiness is form” is not philosophical abstraction. It reminds us that fear, grief, hope, and responsibility are not separate from the greater whole of life.

When chanted within Kajikitou, the Heart Sutra serves to:

soften rigid self-protection
remind us that suffering is not “outside” us
allow compassion to arise naturally, without force

In this sense, the Heart Sutra prepares the ground for Kannon, the spirit of compassion, to be expressed not as sentiment, but as action.

What Kajikitou is and isn't

Kajikitou is:

a moment of pause and alignment
a ritual of offering and reflection
a way to mark transition, difficulty, or intention

Kajikitou is not:

a guarantee of specific outcomes
a replacement for medical, legal, or psychological care
a performance or spectacle

It is most meaningful when approached without expectation, and with respect for what is beyond personal control.

Donation based offering

Kajikitou at Seizanji is offered in the spirit of dana: the traditional Buddhist practice of generosity.

There is no fixed fee.

Participants are invited to offer a donation, in an amount of their choosing, to the temple of their choice in recognition of the time, prayer, and space held during the ritual.

Donations support:

the continuity of practice
the upkeep of temple spaces
the preservation of living tradition

If you are unsure what amount is appropriate, you are welcome to ask.

A quiet invitation

Kajikitou is open to those who feel drawn... whether in times of clarity, uncertainty, grief, or transition.

You do not need to believe anything.

You are not required to explain yourself.

You are simply invited to attend, offer, and return, if only briefly, to what is already present.

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