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Apr 1 - July 7, 2024: Ango with EshoAngo, or practice period, is an opportunity to focus a bit more intensively on our practice and perhaps to make a commitment to ourselves to stretch a little -- to sit a little more, attend a little more frequently, learn something new or take on a particular activity. We invite you to consider how you might deepen your practice during this time.
Ango at Sanshin is designed to include the three activities of our practice: zazen, work and study. This three-month period includes a workshop, a sesshin, a dharma study intensive, and the precepts retreat in addition to our regular weekly practice. 
During ango we have the additional leadership of a shuso, or head novice, who takes on various responsibilities in the sangha as an opportunity to develop clergy skills. Our shuso for this ango is Esho Morimoto. Her theme for the ango is "Studying the self/Self." She will be supporting our practice, and we will be supporting her growth as a leader. Esho will be giving a series of eight Sunday talks, serving as doshi for monthly World Peace ceremonies, serving as ino for monthly ryaku fusatsu ceremonies, assisting with sesshin and retreats, and serving the sangha in myriad other ways while in the role of shuso here. In June, we will recognize the coming completion of her term as shuso with two ceremonies in which she will demonstrate her dharma mastery to the sangha and her readiness to teach and serve independently.
The case: Baizhang's fox
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2024 ango scheduleApril 1: Ango begins April 5 - 6: Sangha Stewardship workshop with Hoko: Intro to the roles of tenzo & ino May 2 - 11: Virtual dharma study intensive with Okumura Roshi: Jijuyu Zanmai June 4 - 9: Sesshin June 29: Honsoku gyocha (formal tea and explanation of the case) June 30: Shuso hossen (shuso answers questions on the case) July 2 - 7: Precepts retreat, ending with jukai-e (lay precepts ceremony) July 7: Ango ends Esho's Sunday talksEsho will be offering dharma talks on the following Sunday mornings at 10 am during the ango: April 21st & 28th; May 12th, 19th, & 26th; June 2nd, 16th, & 23rd.
Esho says: For this three month ango, I would like to invite you into investigation and exploration of self/Self. My dharma talks will pose some questions and practices that you can try with yourself. (You can write me back your experiences with them if you wish -- you can email me here). My dharma talks will explore topics such as:
Looking forward to studying together. Talk recordings, resources, & practices (posted as available)
Recordings of Esho's talks, and any practice resources she may provide along with them, will be posted below on Tuesdays following each Sunday talk. April 21, 2024: On Way-seeking mind and the 1st Noble Truth
April 28, 2024: Why we suffer (the 2nd Noble Truth)
May 12, 2024: The end of suffering (the 3rd Noble Truth) May 19, 2024: Awakened living (the 4th Noble Truth - The Noble Eightfold Path) May 26, 2024: How do we create 'self' (and can we stop)? June 2, 2024: Why can't we agree? Don't we live in the same world? June 16, 2024: Practice suchness and know you are in nirvana already June 23, 2024: Don't be afraid of karma, enjoy yourself - intro to Baizhang's fox koan About Esho
Eshō Kikuko Morimoto was born in Kobe, Japan. She is an artist and a Japanese language teacher who has been practicing meditation since taking a 10-day silent Vipassana meditation course in 1995. Esho began practicing with the Brooklyn Zen Center sangha in 2011, where she eventually served as co-tenzo (head of kitchen) and as fukuten (assistant to the tenzo), and was lay-ordained by Soshin Teah Strozer in 2017. She also taught meditation classes at Brooklyn Zen Center and was a co-facilitator of the Brooklyn Zen Center BIPOC sangha. From 2019 until the spring of 2022, she lived and practiced at Ancestral Heart Zen Monastery in Millerton, NY, where she served as shika (guest manager) and tenzo (head of kitchen). She moved to Bloomington in the spring of 2022 to carry out an okesa sewing apprenticeship with Yuko Okumura and to practice in residence with the Sanshin Zen Community. Eshō was ordained as a novice by Okumura Roshi in December 2022. For six months during the fall of 2023 and the spring of 2024, she practiced in residence for two angos at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center in Carmel Valley, CA, as part of her priest training.
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