Cherie feels that Jizo has been calling her for a long time. About a year ago, she finally listened in the night, which served as the catalyst to launch the Jizo Peace Project, inspiring the practice of creating clay Jizo forms as a presence and force of good, to bear witness to the tragedy of genocide, and as a way to cultivate something healing.

Vast and Wide

Susan Spencer was the first person in Sonoma County to begin creating Jizos out of clay. She has been a long-time part of the Dharma Heart sangha and a close friend of Cherie’s. Susan was introduced to Jizo by Darlene Cohen at the Russian River Zendo. This was through a project brought forward by Jan Chozen Bays to create Jizos for the victims of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

For Susan, making Jizos blossomed into a natural, lifelong expression of her practice. She went on to host numerous workshops, creating hundreds of clay Jizos for the San Francisco Zen Center. Susan possesses a deep, playful, and childlike faith in the benevolent power of Jizo, moving out into what Susan calls "the vast and wide."

Chris Fortin and Susan Spencer
at a Jizo workshop