Ango

Zen Christian prays for peace

I first learned the word “ango” during the pandemic (which is not over but you know what I mean) when my first Zen teacher, Roshi Robert Kennedy, one of only two Jesuits in the world to reach the rank of Roshi (think Yoda) in the White Plum school of Zen, held an ango for Lent. We sat zazen on zoom every day of Lent from 5 - 5:30 pm. I had to get there about five minutes late every day because I was working as a COVID Case Investigator for Pennsylvania, and my work ended at 5 on the dot, no sooner, no earlier. It was a short trip from my desk in the living room to my Zen altar in my bedroom, so I made it as fast as I can and sat with a group of largely Catholic Zen practitioners from all over the world while we observed the 40 days and 40 nights when Jesus fasted and prayed.

I learned from those teachers that the ango originated when Buddhist monasteries were under attack and cut off from supplies and food. The monks would enter into deep meditation and stop speaking or moving. It was a way to burn fewer calories, and last longer when food was short.

My Zen teachers have often said that not a moment of zazen is ever wasted. Roshi Kennedy once said something like, “Perhaps we think our zazen is too small.” He challenged the idea that zazen is just for the practitioner, or even for the sangha (Zen for congregation, kind of). If we take Zen seriously, then we believe that the energy of our zazen goes out into the world. We direct it toward peace and the realization that we are all one. It is said that if you truly realize that, violence becomes impossible.

I have been in deep prayer and meditation since the horrific attacks on Israel. I have been shocked though not surprised at the response of some in this country who are actually celebrating the attacks. There is no justification for ripping children away from their parents, whether it is at the Mexican border, at the hands of the American criminal injustice system, or in Israel. I doubt that one American who is now justifying or even glorifying the attacks could look a parent of a child who was murdered or taken hostage in the eye and say they deserved it. Yet they do so from thousands of miles away on social media and in the streets.

I wrote to the Democratic Socialists of America, whose events I have attended from time to time. It was a very polite letter saying that while I support almost all of their initiatives, especially those for workers’ rights, I can not support an organization that celebrates mass murder of Jews. They did, in the streets of New York.

It seems like everyone I talk to about this who isn’t Jewish, and some who are, says, “Well, Israel does a lot of bad things.” Yes, it does. Yet where in the world is this kind of argument used to justify the kind of brutality that occurred on Saturday? If people in this country were subjected to the same kinds of attacks on the grounds that the US has oppressed many, many people, I doubt that most of my friends would be sighing and saying “There’s a lot of bad on both sides.” You do not have to be unquestioningly pro-Israel to be horrified and terrified by the well-planned, live-streamed massacre that occurred on Saturday. You just have to be paying attention.

I am praying for the Palestinian people too, and any innocent people who just want to take care of their families and live in peace. Now the death toll in Gaza is rising and even more innocent people are dying. No civilian non-combatant deserves to lose their home and family.

It is rare that I find myself on the same side as a Yale President - I think the last time I encountered one was when President Levin had a look of terror in his eyes as he shook my hand and my mother’s in one of those receiving lines at graduation. I think he recognized me as the chief spokesperson in the pro-union sit-in at his office - the one he escaped by running out the back door! But in recent days Yale president Peter Salovey released a very good statement. Here is an excerpt:

As a member of the Yale community, I am compelled by our shared sense of humanity to condemn the attacks on civilians by Hamas in the strongest possible terms. The death toll in Israel continues to climb. Non-militant Palestinians have been killed or displaced. According to reports, we can expect the crisis to escalate.

I am sitting more zazen. It is one of the only things I know to do. I will continue to do what I can do to improve what I can in my sphere of influence: taking care of shelter cats, writing for harm reduction organizations, and expressing solidarity with all those who are experiencing humanity’s violence in thoughts, words or actions.

White lilies to mourn the dead and pray for peace.