The Great River Tendai Sangha thanks Jikan for his service and leadership

A few days ago, Jikan Daniel Anderson publicly communicated, through a number of channels, his resignation as the Sangha Leader of the Great River Tendai Sangha. You can read his public letter on our blog,

In his letter to us, the Great River Tendai Sangha Board of Directors, Jikan indicated that the challenges around managing the ordinary commitments of life, work, and family, are difficult to balance with his sangha leadership role. Furthermore, he indicated his intention to leave the Tendai clergy and continue his Buddhist practice in the role of a layperson.

It is with a mixture of emotions that the Great River Tendai Sangha Board of Directors accepts Jikan's resignation. We are very sad to lose our Sangha Leader of the past 5+ years; yet, we celebrate the transitions that Jikan and his family are making.

We wish to express our deepest gratitude for the many years of service and leadership that Jikan has provided to our little community. Furthermore, we rejoice in the new roles Jikan will be assuming in his life.

We have made a formal request to the Tendai Buddhist Institute in New York for the appointment of a new Sangha Leader. When that process is complete, we will make an announcement to our membership.

For now, the programming of the Great River Tendai Sangha is not changing. We will continue our evening meditation meeting each Tuesday evening at 7:30, in the downstairs chapel at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington. We also will continue to meet for Sunday morning services, starting at 9:30am each Sunday, at Yoga in Daily Life (upstairs) in Alexandria.

Together in the Dharma,

The Great River Tendai Sangha Board of Directors:

Hoshu Anne Christoffel                                                
Jishin Michael Buck
Junsen Chris Nettles
Kosen Bill Pugh
Monshin Paul Naamon
Yusei Lan Van