Autmun Higan memorial service

The autumnal equinox is a period of three days (seven days in total) before and after the autumnal equinox. The reason why the Autumnal Equinox Day is designated as a national holiday is to “honor our ancestors and remember those who have passed away. On the autumnal equinoxes, offerings are made in the form of o-hagi (bush clovers).

It also has the meaning of “Tohigan,” which means “reaching the other shore. It refers to the practice of attaining enlightenment from the world of worldly desires and wanderings, and to the practice one must undertake in order to attain this enlightenment.

Of the seven days of the far shore, the middle day, the autumnal equinox, is dedicated to remembering ancestors, and the other six days are dedicated to practicing the Roku-Haramitsu, one day at a time.

Roku-Haramitsu” refers to the six practices that one must perform in order to reach the other shore while still in this world.
Fuse-paramita: to do good deeds generously for others without asking for anything in return.
Jikai (precepts): to observe the precepts, to be modest, and not to cause trouble to others.
Ninjoku (Ninjitsu): to accept and endure misfortune that befalls you.
Shoshin (diligence): to continue to make a sincere effort.
Zensho (Zen meditation): to always have a quiet mind and not to be agitated.
Wisdom (chie): to correctly discern the truth of things without being caught up in anger, complaining, or greed.
The autumnal equinox, when the sun rises in the true east and sets in the true west, is considered the day when this world (this shore) and the next world (the other shore) are most easily communicated.