In Soto Zen, aspirants will wait outside the gates of a monastery in a tradition known as “Tangaryo” (旦過寮).
Prospective monks sit in meditation outside the gates for an undefined period of time that can last up to a week or more. This demonstrates commitment and sincerity before entering into training. Perhaps this seems like hazing or worse in our current world, but it isn’t too different from the traditions we have.
In junior sports, we make young athletes attend practices for many years and sit and wait before they have their chance to play.
In academics, we make young scholars send out rejected manuscript after rejected manuscript and application after application just to be ignored.
What is your Tangaryo? Are you sitting resolutely waiting for something, or do you just give in and move to the next thing when things get tough? Does the waiting add to the experience? Is it cruel?
Gassho
Kensho
顕 照
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