Shohaku Okumura

More than an individual Zen center, the Sanshin Zen Community includes people from many different sanghas, all joined to a common purpose:  the realization of Buddha's Way in their everyday lives. Sanshin Zen Community is an American Buddhist sangha founded in 1996 by Shohaku Okumura, a Soto Zen priest and renowned translator of Buddhist texts. From the beginning, Sanshinji was designed to be a different kind of practice place - a “community without boundaries,” doing work that would help connect and educate practitioners and teachers all over America.     News & Upcoming Events: Sesshin at Sanshinji - June 4 - 9 Practice Period - April 2 - July 7. During the practice period the Shuso, Shoju Mahler, will be giving Sunday lectures. The Wednesday night study group will be on The Diamond Sutra For anyone new to Sanshin, welcome! - you are invited to zazen instruction on Sunday at 9:00 a.m.; please contact us beforehand.

Sanshinji, in Bloomington, Indiana, is the fulcrum for Sanshin practitioners spread around the country. It serves as a place for visiting practitioners to practice and study Dogen Zen intensively. The land was purchased in early 2001, and a home has been built for the Okumura family. At this time, the zendo is a part of this structure, but two more buildings are planned: a residential space for practitioners and a central temple. For information about visiting Sanshinji, click here.

Uchiyama Roshi emphasized the importance of nourishing and maintaining an atmosphere that supports people in practicing the Buddhadharma together. Living and working together every day, we come to see that we are not really autonomous individuals at all.