Description Sacred Spaces: Inside a Buddhist fire rite ceremony Editor's Note: In this occasional series, the Belief Blog looks inside worship spaces from faiths around the world. CNN's Jim Castel brings us this report from Redwood City, California with a look at a Buddhist fire rite ceremony. For the last several years Shinnyo-en Buddhists have conducted the Saisho Homa fire rite ceremony in Taiwan, Paris and Berlin. This year, for the first time, the rite was brought to Shinnyo-en's head temple in Redwood City, California. A homa ceremony is Buddhist prayer ceremony. Saisho is a reference to the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha. "The Saisho Homa ceremony is really a prayer for world peace," said Nichelle Blanco, an ordained Shinnyo-en priest. "It is a rite that includes various elements such as fire and water." Shinso Ito, who leads Shinnyo-en, traveled from Japan to perform the rite. "The water is the symbol of being able to use what we have for other people and to remind people that everyone is so valuable," she said. Shinso is only one of a handful of women who are Buddhist priests. Shinnyo-en Buddhism was founded by Shinjo Ito in Japan in 1936. Shinjo was an aircraft engineer but developed a desire to study Buddhism. He then started a fellowship of Buddhist practitioners that eventually became Shinnyo-en. His daughter, Shinso Ito, completed her Buddhist training in 1982. Seven years later upon Shinjo's death, Shinso became the head of Shinnyo-en. It is practiced by more than <b>...</b>
