Shiho

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Michel Genko Dubois (left) and Dennis Genpo Merzel performing "mind to mind" in Dubois's shiho ceremony.

Shihō (嗣法, Shihō^?) refers to a series of ceremonies in Soto Zen Buddhism wherein which a priest receives full ordination—inheriting the dharma from their master and empowered to transmit the precepts and lineage to others. A shiho ceremony can last anywhere from one to two weeks, with the final ceremony consisting of two specific ceremonies. The first is transmission of the precepts from master to student, known as denkai, where the master confirms that the student has actualized the precepts in their day to day life.^[1] In this ceremony the student becomes, "the blood of the Buddha."^[2] The second, denpo, is the Dharma transmission ceremony where the student inherits the Dharma and is empowered to transmit the lineage.^[3] In the denpo ceremony, the student becomes an ancestor of the tradition and receives a robe and bowl, among other objects.^[2] Also during the denpo ceremony the student receives a Shoshike certificate (which grants them the power to perform Jukai) and also the three documents known as the "three regalia of transmission": shisho (inheritance certificate), odaiji (a diagram symbolizing the Great Matter) and shoden kechimyaku (bloodline of Dharma transmission). Following completion of these ceremonies the teacher becomes independent.^[4]^[5]