Dear Sangha, Here at the Village Zendo, in Accord with an Ancient

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Dear Sangha, Here at the Village Zendo, in accord with an ancient Zen tradition, we mark out two times a year to intensify our practice – our meditation, our relationship with sangha, our study, and our practice in our day-to-day life. We call this ‘ango’ - ango means ‘peaceful dwelling’ and it is my hope that wherever you are, you will take this three-month intensive practice period to create a peaceful dwelling. Our winter ango begins on December 26th. Our shuso for this period is Lisa Zuisho Soshin DuFour. Soshin has provided us with a practice template, a commitment form that can help us to orient our practice. Please fill it out for your records and e bring a copy in and place it in the ango box so that your name will be added to the ‘ango board’ and you can review your commitments with a teacher. The 2012 Ango Study Text is the Lotus Sutra. It is one of the most influential texts of Mahayana Buddhism. The parables and dramatic scenes have become a part of much East Asian spirituality, poetry and visual arts. It is considered a classic religious scripture. During ango, various Dharma talks will focus on this sutra, and I hope you enjoy reading it. There are three translations that I can recommend: The scholarly version by Leon Hurvitz (Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma) translates from the Chinese of Kumarajiva, but includes also key passages from the Sanskrit. Columbia University Press. A delightfully readable version by Burton Watson, (The Lotus Sutra), also from Kumarajiva, with less scholarly notes, but definitely the work of a stylist and poetic translator. Columbia University Press. An accessible, fresh, conversational translation from 2008, by Gene Reeves, (The Lotus Sutra, A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic) Wisdom Publications. There are also quite a few on-line sources for download. I have not checked them, but you may wish to take a look. There is a pdf that can be downloaded by a pair of Japanese Translators at http://www.bdkamerica.org/digital/dBET_T0262_LotusSutra_2007.pdf There is also a very old translation (1884) by H. Kern that can be downloaded at http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/lotus/index.htm And so forth. Please do enjoy this time in winter to revive your practice through zazen, retreat, and study! Bows, Roshi .

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