Ango | Spring 2026

Intensive Practice Period

March 1 through May 31

A Letter from Our Shuso

Dear Sangha,

When Sensei asked me to be Shuso for the coming 2026 Spring Ango period, I was both honored and overwhelmed. I now bow before you and step forward. May we all grow together.

The theme chosen for this Ango period is “Suchness—No Separation.” To help guide us in our practice, the text used will be Taigen Dan Leighton’s book, Just This Is It: Dongshan and the Practice of Suchness, with a focus on Part Two – “Teachings of Suchness.” Copies of the text, both new and used, or as an e-book are readily available. In one chapter of the text, Dongshan, at the end of an Ango period, tells the monks to go where there is no grass for ten thousand miles. He is also speaking directly to us about our practice, our life. Can we find and stay in such a place where there is no grass for ten thousand miles? Shitou’s poem, The Identity of Relative and Absolute, points us to this place where there is no separation between the Absolute and Relative. This coalescence of the Absolute and the Relative is “Suchness.” How could you cut vegetables with a knife if the two sides didn’t come together as one sharp, finely honed edge? Dongshan further explores this place of no separation in the teachings of the Five Ranks.

I invite you all to participate and take advantage of this wonderful opportunity for us to grow together. Our Ango period will begin on Sunday March 1st and conclude on Sunday May 31st, 2026. The Ango period literally means a time of peaceful dwelling, a 90-day period of intensified practice during which we each make a commitment to deepen our attention and our practice. This is done together with the strength and the support of the whole Sangha. There will be a scroll where participants will sign their names to be part of this 2026 Ango period and an online roll call form. Each participant will receive a commitment form that should be completed by the start of the Ango period, and a copy given to Sensei to be reviewed together.

This is a period of peaceful dwelling, a fullness that comes with surrendering and letting go, not from limits imposed by grasping or tightening effort. This surrendering is the opening of being fully engaged in present doing.

“Inside the gate,
outside the gate,
you see by yourself.”

Hongzhi

Gassho,
Robbie KoKai Berge