Ango Practice

On Sunday, Roshi asked me to share my experience of Ango in my own practice.

When we speak about intensifying our practice for Ango, it is in fairly predictable and important ways: sit more regularly, practice the home liturgy, attend sesshin and maybe a workshop or two. But what is really arising for me this Ango is how my Ango practice looks when I am away from the temple and not on the cushion.

It is amazing how natural it is to meet even the hardest or most mundane parts of my life when I am at the temple, surrounded by the physical signs and reminders of practice. In that way, I find that during sesshin, meeting life as practice is a bit easier. It wasn't at first, but in time, the form and flow of sesshin became familiar and I knew how to navigate it.

Some of the roles I have chosen in my life are that of a householder, a husband and a father. However my practice looks, however my own awakening manifests, it will fit with, be in sync with, and include these shapes. If my practice is only clear on the cushion, in the zendo or at the temple, it feels like it would be shallow, or more accurately, a façade.

My living question for this Ango, as Shuso, is "What does it mean to be a model of practice?" I will try to make it evident in the traditional forms, but more so, I want my wife, children, students and coworkers to be able to tell.

What do I hope they see? I hope they see that I am fully there for them.

No. That's not quite right.

They don't need to see it. I hope they benefit from it, because it will be there, whether they see it or not.