Practice Period Talks
An ango (安居), or kessei (結制), is a Japanese term for a three-month period of intense training for students of Zen Buddhism, lasting anywhere from 90 to 100 days. The practice during ango consists of meditation (zazen), study, and work (samu (作務)).
Ango is typically held twice a year, the first period from spring to summer and the second period from fall to winter. The word ango literally translates as "dwelling in peace"; the summer ango is referred to as ge-ango and the winter period is u-ango. Additionally, some monasteries and Zen centers hold just one ango per year.
Concerning Zen practice in the United States, author Ellen Birx writes,
Many centers now allow members to attend retreats on a part-time basis. Many have ango, a three-month-long period of intensified practice, that members can participate in while continuing to go off to work during the day." Taigen Dan Leighton writes a more traditional definition, "These are ninety-day training periods of concentrated practice without leaving the monastic enclosure (except for monks going out for necessary temple business). They date back to the summer rainy season retreats of Shakyamuni's time. In Japan, they have been held twice a year, summer and winter."
Title | Speaker | |
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February 16th, 1987, Serial No. 03987Serial: SF-03987 Monday Precepts, Sixth Patriarch, Anger, Observe, Conversation, Instruction, Cultivation,... |
Feb 16 1987 SFZC |
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March 1987 talk, Serial No. 03977Serial: SF-03977 May be part of sesshin series Freedom, Dragons, Teacher-and-Student, Intimacy, Heart Sutra, Practice Period,... |
1987 SFZC |
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1975.12.10-serial.00130Serial: SF-00130 Changes that occur during practice period; sutra story of monk retrieving his mother from hell; composing concrete music; Practice Period, Ceremony, Mahayana, Nirvana, Karma, Manjushri, Addiction, Samsara,... |
Dec 10 1975 |
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Attachment to Form: Positive and Negative Precepts, Attachment, Tassajara, Daily Life, Monastic Practice, Practice Period,... |
Oct 25 1974 SFZC |
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KPFA Radio Interview with Elsa Knight ThompsonSerial: SF-05115 Monday, November 6, 1967 KPFA RADIO INTERVIEW WITH ELSA KNIGHT THOMPSON Interview, Don't Know Mind, Nirvana, Monastic Practice, Evil, Samsara, Practice... |
Nov 06 1967 KPFA Berkeley |
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Way-Seeking Mind TalksSerial: SF-03089B Student talks, should not be published Religion, Practice Period, Priest, Gratitude, Lineage, Zendo, training |
[field_wisdom_date]
Tassajara |
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Way-Seeking Mind TalksSerial: SF-03089C Student talks, should not be published Practice Period, Priest, Monastic Practice, Bodhisattva Vow, Conversation, Vows,... |
[field_wisdom_date]
Tassajara |
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Way-Seeking Mind TalksSerial: SF-03089D Student talks, should not be published Practice Period, Tassajara, Religion, Interview, Separation, Emotions, Freedom... |
[field_wisdom_date]
Tassajara |
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Unknown year,September talk, Serial 01771 Practice Period, Peace, Tassajara, Instruction, Suzuki Roshi, Zazen, Politics,... |
Sep 11 Unknown |