• At Jikoji Zen Center & Online (Zoom) •

Join us for the momentous occasion as Jesse steps into his deepening commitment to a life of service in dedication to the three treasures: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

The ceremony will be followed by a light reception..

Koshu Jesse Dow (He/they) is a Buddhist Eco-Chaplain, a father, a restorative circle keeper, a local farmer, and the Co-Executive Director of Campesino Commons. They worked for 3 years as the Executive Director of Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center, where they supported about 30 retreats for about 700 people per year. They also worked In the Boulder Valley School District for 12 years as a Family Literacy Site Manager and another 3 years as a preschool community liaison. They have been practicing meditation for 34 years in the Soto Zen tradition, first as a student of Kobun Chino Roshi, and then as a student of Shoho Michael Newhall Roshi, with whom they were ordained as a lay practitioner. Over the last six years, Jesse has also practiced with Kittisoro and Thanissara in the Chan and Theravada traditions.

At the ages of 12 and 13, Jesse lived and attended school in San Cristobal De Las Casas, in South Mexico. At the age of 25, Jesse lived for a short while in Managua, Nicaragua, doing political reconciliation work between liberal and conservative parties that had fought against each other in the Nicaraguan Revolution and in the Contra War. Jesse is a fluent Spanish speaker, and much of his heart resides with hispanic culture.

Jesse's current work with Campesino Commons is with local Dharma Communities, with a village in Nicaragua, and with a circle of immigrant women in Colorado. All of these stakeholders work together toward decolonization, rematriation, land back projects, meeting basic needs for many, and movement toward regenerative agriculture.