December 26, 2020 – March 14, 2021
Dear Village Zendo Sangha and Friends,
Now is the time for us to renew our practice during our Winter Ango! Each year we set aside time in our lives to renew our intention to live a meaningful life—by increasing our zazen, our study, and our interaction with sangha. This year we will do this on Zoom and create new ways to work for the Dharma!
I am pleased to announce that our Shuso, the ‘practice leader’ for this Ango is Kojin, Benjamine Heath. Kojin will offer his leadership and model practice for us during this time.
As you may recall, Ango means ‘peaceful dwelling’, and it is my hope that all of us who participate will encounter our own peaceful dwellings in our hearts and minds. And this year, we need to do this more than ever. To that end, I encourage you to attend the retreats, study sessions, and zazenkais that we have scheduled for Ango, to work with the commitment form that Kojin has devised, to study the text by Dogen, Uji, the Time Being, and to enter wholeheartedly into this time of invigorated practice.
The Ango officially begins on December 26th and flows on into March 14, ending with our Shuso Hossen on that day. This is the traditional length of an Ango, and gives us all time to settle into a deep winter practice.
Literally ango means “peaceful dwelling”, is a period of intensified Zen practice. People can intensify their practice in a number of ways: they can devote more time to meditation; increase their donations to the zendo or to their favorite charity; give more time to social action or volunteer efforts; pursue an art or body practice; or set aside more time for studying the Buddhist teachings. Each person designs an ango program that makes sense for them, and their individual program can include one or all of these activities. The Village Zendo conducts two ango training periods each year, one in summer and the other in winter.
Kojin’s letter and his commitment form, as well as our study text, and a video that I made in 1990, are available below. Please make your practice a reality, come back to your self, join the Ango!
Gassho,
Enkyo Roshi
The following people have registered and entered
the 2020-2021 Winter Ango of Village Zendo, Dotokuji
View Ango Roll
Resources:
2020/21 Winter Ango Commitment Form
Letter from Shuso, Benjamine Kojin Heath
Study Text: Uji, “The Time-Being” by Eihei Dogen Zenji
“Being Time” – A Film by Enkyo Roshi in 1990