“JUST ENOUGH”
Friends,
Today, we begin our annual Fall Ango (安居, “peaceful dwelling”). This 90-day practice period offers us the chance to engage deeply with zazen and our four great vows, moving through the world with compassion and beginner’s mind. Our theme for this year’s Fall Ango will be “Just Enough.” I think this is an apt expression of the Buddha’s teaching of the Middle Way–not getting swept away by greed, not giving in to aversion. Not too much, not too little. Just enough. It’s also a good way to think of the attitude we bring to our practice and to everyday life. When we sit, just to sit is enough. When we work, just to work is enough. While we live, just to live is enough.
I look forward to exploring this theme with you all, especially in these difficult times. One important way we can practice “just enough” is through our relationship to food–especially these days, when many of us are spending most of our time and preparing and eating most of our meals at home. So this year, we will be scheduling Zoom cooking classes to learn how to make some traditional zendo dishes, oryoki demonstrations, and talks on sustainability and limiting food waste. We will also be reading and hosting dharma study on Shohaku Okumura’s Living By Vow, an excellent book about the meaning of our most common chants–including the meal chant! We hope these events focused around the kitchen and hearth will help you feel connected to the sangha while we wait for the right time to return to the zendo.
And as we do every year, we will be scheduling Way Seeking Mind talks for sangha members to tell their stories and discuss their practice. Our Shuso, the head student for the practice period, will be Shōryū Chris Leader. The Shuso and his Benji (Shuso’s assistant) will be arranging the Way Seeking Mind talks as well as scheduling for Sangha members to enjoy tea with the Shuso. Please contact the Benji, Alex Langlinais, at alexlanglinais@gmail.com to schedule your WSM talk or for sharing tea with the Shuso.
Our Practice Period Leader, Inryū Sensei will be available for Dokusan (one to one discussions) with individuals throughout the Ango. Please contact Inryū directly at inryu@allbeingszen.org to make an appointment.
You are welcomed and encouraged to join us for any and all of the events listed below! Please stay tuned for email updates to the 2020 Fall Ango schedule, as well as updates to the All Beings Zen Sangha website (www.allbeingszen.org).
FALL ANGO 2020 SCHEDULE
Weekly Schedule
Monday Wednesday, Friday: Morning Zazen at 6:30 AM EST (+ Way-Seeking Mind Talks)
Thursday: Evening Service at 7:00 PM EST
- Tea with the Shuso by appointment on dates TBA
Fall Ango Events
Thursday, September 24: Thursday Evening Service — Fall Ango Begins!
Saturday, September 26: Outdoor Jukai at Woodburn Hill Farm
Thursday, October 1: Shuso Entering Ceremony via Zoom
Saturday, October 10: Half-Day Zazenkai
Sunday, October 18: Full-Day Event at Woodburn Hill Farm
Saturday, November 7: Full-Day Zazenkai
Monday, November 30 – Sunday, December 6: Rohatsu Sesshin
Tuesday, December 8: Rohatsu*
Thursday, December 19: Shuso Hossen
Dates TBD:
- Cooking Classes
- Dharma Study, Living By Vow by Shohaku Okumura
- Movie Night
- Oryoki Presentation(s)
- Talk(s) on No Waste/Conservation by Susan Cho
- Talk(s) on Sitting with Pain, Hospice, Death and Dying
- Talk(s) on Home Altars and Home Liturgy
– By the ABZS Benji Alex Langlinais
Photo by Vero Balderas-Iglesias