Hanging out
Shohaku Okumura Dōgen’s Chinese Poems (38) Given to Examination Graduate Ru Natural wondrous wisdom itself is true suchness. Why should we employ Confucian discourse or Buddhist texts? Rely on sitting at ease at your place, and hang your mouth on the wall. Friends arrive here and are released from emptiness. In 1226, when he wrote this verse, Dōgen was a twenty-six-year-old training monk in Rujing’s assembly. The intellectual lay practitioners for whom he wrote these poems were high class government officials who were Rujing’s students and also patrons of the monastery. I assume those lay practitioners liked Dōgen, who was a young foreign monk from Japan and yet a brilliant person who could write Chinese poems freely using the correct technique of rhyming corresponding to their poems offered to him. READ MORE |
IN THIS ISSUE:
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PRACTICE RECAP
February at-home retreat
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Hoko was in the zendo for the three days of the retreat, carrying out the usual sesshin activities while all other participants joined from home. While she was occupied Sunday with another group, Hosshin took over for the usual zazen and dharma talk, this month given by Okumura Roshi for the first time in more than a year. That talk is available here.
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OTHER NEWS
Zendo construction work continues
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Hosshin Shoaf is taking the opportunity of a closed zendo to continue work on the alcove altar he's been building. The altar swings open in case of emergency to reveal an escape window leading to the moss garden. While the escape route is fully functional, there are some final touches remaining to be added to the altar itself as well as some wall paint to be patched. The work zone is screened off from the main part of the zendo with plastic sheeting so that at-home retreats can still be led from there.
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Library receives donated publications
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Sangha member Neil Chase has donated eight vintage issues of The Eastern Buddhist to Sanshin's library, for which we send grateful thanks. If you have publications you're willing to donate to Sanshin's library, please send us an email.
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SANSHIN NETWORK
Practice partnership developing with Atlanta center
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Sanshin and Atlanta Soto Zen Center have had several opportunities to cultivate practice partnerships during the pandemic shutdown. The founder of that center, Taiun Ellison, has dharma transmission from Okumura Roshi and a number of sangha members there have begun to attend Sanshin's virtual weekday evening zazen period as well as other virtual practice activities. In turn, Hoko was a virtual guest speaker for ASZC on a recent Sunday, talking with that sangha about the meaning and teachings of Nirvana Day.
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Practice in Hannover continues outdoors
The sangha of Frühlingsmond Zendo in Germany, headed by Kyoku Lutz, holds much of its practice outside during these days of pandemic shutdown. Practitioners sit zazen in the snow in a nearby urban forest and offer outdoor cleanup as a practice of samu.
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Zendo reopens in Colombia
The Soto Zen Community of Colombia in Bogota, headed by Densho Quintero, has returned to its zendo with social distancing and masks in place. Practitioners are once again sitting zazen together and participating in liturgy.
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coming up
March 4 - 7, 2021
Join us virtually for three days of practice in the style of our sesshin, a retreat devoted simply to sitting zazen. Sanshin leaders will be in the zendo maintaining the schedule and carrying out the activities of a standard sesshin day at Sanshin. You are welcome to connect via Zoom and follow along at home for as much of the day as you like. The sangha will arrive for the final zazen period and the retreat will officially end just prior to the regular Sunday dharma talk; you are welcome to attend that talk if you choose. More information is here.
Join us virtually for three days of practice in the style of our sesshin, a retreat devoted simply to sitting zazen. Sanshin leaders will be in the zendo maintaining the schedule and carrying out the activities of a standard sesshin day at Sanshin. You are welcome to connect via Zoom and follow along at home for as much of the day as you like. The sangha will arrive for the final zazen period and the retreat will officially end just prior to the regular Sunday dharma talk; you are welcome to attend that talk if you choose. More information is here.
Resources from Sanshin
Virtual morning and evening practice: Sanshin offers weekday morning zazen and liturgy via Zoom. The zazen period begins at 6:10 EST and lasts 50 minutes; liturgy follows directly afterward. In the evenings, zazen begins at 6:30 and lasts 30 minutes. The complete schedule is here; please email our office if you're interested in participating.
Sanshin Solo: Recognizing that more folks than ever are now practicing in Sanshin's style by themselves, we've added a Sanshin Solo page to our website offering tips and information about practicing on your own.
Dharma study: Study materials remain available from our Dogen Institute and video recordings of dharma talks on our YouTube channel.
Virtual morning and evening practice: Sanshin offers weekday morning zazen and liturgy via Zoom. The zazen period begins at 6:10 EST and lasts 50 minutes; liturgy follows directly afterward. In the evenings, zazen begins at 6:30 and lasts 30 minutes. The complete schedule is here; please email our office if you're interested in participating.
Sanshin Solo: Recognizing that more folks than ever are now practicing in Sanshin's style by themselves, we've added a Sanshin Solo page to our website offering tips and information about practicing on your own.
Dharma study: Study materials remain available from our Dogen Institute and video recordings of dharma talks on our YouTube channel.
Resources from around the Sanshin Network
Centers and groups from around our global network are offering virtual practice in multiple languages and are willing to include practitioners from outside their immediate sanghas. Please see this page of our website for a complete listing.
Centers and groups from around our global network are offering virtual practice in multiple languages and are willing to include practitioners from outside their immediate sanghas. Please see this page of our website for a complete listing.
Are we reaching you?
Do we have the best and most current contact information for you? If you've changed your e-mail address or moved to a new place of residence, or if we've never had complete information about how to reach you, it's time to update your record. Please take a moment to go here to send us the contact information you'd like us to use. We'll check it against your current record and update as needed. Don't miss any of the upcoming communications from Sanshin -- update your info today!
Do we have the best and most current contact information for you? If you've changed your e-mail address or moved to a new place of residence, or if we've never had complete information about how to reach you, it's time to update your record. Please take a moment to go here to send us the contact information you'd like us to use. We'll check it against your current record and update as needed. Don't miss any of the upcoming communications from Sanshin -- update your info today!
Gifts of financial support
Whether as a practitioner, a financial supporter, a listener/reader or simply as an interested friend, Sanshin welcomes you to our international sangha. Like all nonprofit organizations, Sanshin depends on the generous offerings of those whose lives are helped by the work it does. Visit this page to set up a monthly donation or make a one-time gift online, or download a form to use when giving by check.
Community give-back programs
Designating Sanshin Zen Community as the recipient of give-back programs is a painless way to provide funding support simply by making your usual purchases!
Amazon Smile: Instead of going to Amazon's regular homepage, go to Amazon Smile and sign into your Amazon account. Choose Sanshin Zen Community as your charity, and .05% of what you spend will come to us. Remember, only purchases at smile.amazon.com (not www.amazon.com or the mobile app) support Sanshin.
CharityCharge: If you're in the market for a new Mastercard, consider getting it here and joining the friends of Sanshin who have designated us as their nonprofit beneficiary. One percent of what you spend will come to us.
Kroger: If you shop at Kroger with a Plus card, your regular purchases of groceries and household goods can provide financial support for Sanshin. Create or sign in to your Kroger account, enroll in Kroger Community Rewards® with your card, and choose Sanshin as your organization. Every time you shop and swipe your card, a percentage of what you spend will come to us. Fifteen households are already participating on Sanshin's behalf.
Employer giving programs
Friends of Sanshin who work at companies like Google and Adobe are providing regular financial support through payroll deduction and employer gift-matching programs. Check with your employer's human resources or community relations department to see whether giving opportunities like these are available at your workplace.
Whether as a practitioner, a financial supporter, a listener/reader or simply as an interested friend, Sanshin welcomes you to our international sangha. Like all nonprofit organizations, Sanshin depends on the generous offerings of those whose lives are helped by the work it does. Visit this page to set up a monthly donation or make a one-time gift online, or download a form to use when giving by check.
Community give-back programs
Designating Sanshin Zen Community as the recipient of give-back programs is a painless way to provide funding support simply by making your usual purchases!
Amazon Smile: Instead of going to Amazon's regular homepage, go to Amazon Smile and sign into your Amazon account. Choose Sanshin Zen Community as your charity, and .05% of what you spend will come to us. Remember, only purchases at smile.amazon.com (not www.amazon.com or the mobile app) support Sanshin.
CharityCharge: If you're in the market for a new Mastercard, consider getting it here and joining the friends of Sanshin who have designated us as their nonprofit beneficiary. One percent of what you spend will come to us.
Kroger: If you shop at Kroger with a Plus card, your regular purchases of groceries and household goods can provide financial support for Sanshin. Create or sign in to your Kroger account, enroll in Kroger Community Rewards® with your card, and choose Sanshin as your organization. Every time you shop and swipe your card, a percentage of what you spend will come to us. Fifteen households are already participating on Sanshin's behalf.
Employer giving programs
Friends of Sanshin who work at companies like Google and Adobe are providing regular financial support through payroll deduction and employer gift-matching programs. Check with your employer's human resources or community relations department to see whether giving opportunities like these are available at your workplace.