RESOURCE  PAGE
Shobogenzo Bukkyo ​(Buddha Sutras) 
with Abbot Shohaku Okumura
Virtual genzo-e participant survey is available here.
Links to recorded lectures

Video files will be available for one week only and are provided solely for the use of the attendees of the lectures.  Files may not be downloaded to your local machines, nor shared.  Please respect Okumura Roshi's and Sanshin Zen Community's copyright and your fellow practitioners by adhering to this request.

Thursday AM Lecture
Thursday PM Lecture 
Friday AM Lecture
Friday PM Lecture
Saturday AM Lecture
Saturday PM Lecture
Sunday AM Lecture
Sunday PM Lecture
Monday AM Lecture

==ANNOUNCEMENTS==

  • In a change to previously announced procedure, videorecordings will be available to participants for one week following the close of the genzo-e.  Links will be posted on this page once they're determined.  Please help protect Okumura Roshi's copyright by not sharing these links with others or downloading the files.  
  • Information about providing gifts of financial support to Okumura Roshi, Sanshin Zen Community or the Dogen Institute is available at the bottom of this page.
  • Okumura Roshi has prepared a supplemental handout for the genzo-e, which is available for download below right.
  • For the most part, zazen will be led by Sanshin's third generation: students of Okumura Roshi's direct dharma heirs.  Their names, home countries and teachers will be listed each day, and we're happy for their participation.
  • The text for study has now been posted as both a Word doc and a .pdf.  See ITEMS TO DOWNLOAD below right.
YOUR HOST ​FOR
MONDAY ZAZEN:
​
Mark Hotoku Howell from the US
(Teacher: Hoko Karnegis)

IMPORTANT LINKS

  • To join Zoom session, click here.
    Meeting ID: 859 7714 0071
    Passcode: genzo-e

    One tap mobile
    +16465588656,,85977140071#,,,,,,0#,,0007221# US (New York)
    +13017158592,,85977140071#,,,,,,0#,,0007221# US (Washington D.C)

    Dial by your location
        +1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
        +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington D.C)
        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
        +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)
        +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
        +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
Meeting ID: 859 7714 0071
Passcode: 0007221
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdzO2EpulE​
​
Preparing for ​virtual genzo-e

You will need to be your own ino, tenzo and work leader during the virtual genzo-e.  In Sanshin's zendo, all of these functions are taken care of for you so that you can practice with the least amount of distraction.  Now you'll need to take care of these things yourself.  
  • Set up or review your sitting space.  Clean and prepare your altar, if you have one.  Familiarize yourself with the information for home practice on our Sanshin Solo page.
  • Make sure you can see and hear over Zoom.  Think about where your computer is, nearby sources of distracting noise or light, and where your headset is if you need it.  Have the genzo-e link and password ready, as well as the chant sheet, lecture text and handout.
  • Consider how you will participate in online zazen.  Many practitioners prefer not to be sitting zazen directly in front of a screen.  You can join the session without video, or you might position your webcam to take in a wideshot of the entire room and sit with your back to it.  You might also choose to sit off-camera but close enough to hear the starting and ending bells.  Be sure the sound is turned up enough for this.
  • Consider where and how you will do kinhin between zazen periods.  
  • Plan your meals ahead of time so you can prepare, eat and clean up after them within the allotted time.
  • Plan for the work or study you'll be doing during the early afternoons so that you have the materials, tools and supplies you'll need and can go right to work.  .
  • Tell your family, friends and coworkers that you will be on retreat for the duration of the genzo-e and will not be available to take phone calls, return emails or participate in meetings.  If you live with other people, talk with them about how they can support your practice during the genzo-e..
November 18: before the retreat begins
​
  • Wrap up any final tasks as though you were leaving town for the next few days.  Turn on the vacation response on your email, record a new outgoing voicemail message, and pay any bills that may come due during the retreat.  
  • Gather any last supplies, food, equipment, materials and information.  Make sure you're ready for meals, work/study period, zazen and lectures.
  • Review the schedule you'll be following.  Set your alarm clock so that you can wake up and eat breakfast and still get to your cushion on time for the first zazen period of the day.
  • Begin to settle your body and mind in preparation for the genzo-e.  Have some quiet time, eat dinner, and turn off and put away as many of your devices as possible.  Sit zazen just as you would usually sit with the sangha on the first evening of genzo-e at Sanshin.  Maintain silence until the morning lecture.

OPTIONAL WEEKDAY MORNING PRACTICE

Sanshin's weekday morning zazen and liturgy has moved online since the pandemic closure.  Monday through Friday we sit from 6:10 to 7 am EST and do our usual chanting service until about 7:20..  You are welcome to add this to your own genzo-e schedule as an additional online segment.  Then, instead of the 7:10 to 8 am zazen period on the suggested schedule, you could sit a shortened period from 7:30 to 8 or take that time to eat a quick breakfast before resuming your daily schedule.  Click here to join this extra morning practice via Zoom.  The password is sanshin.
sanshin_chant_book.pdf
File Size: 204 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Items to download

TEXT FOR STUDY:
bukkyo__buddha_sutras__j-e_text.docx
File Size: 72 kb
File Type: docx
Download File
bukkyo__buddha_sutras__j-e_text.pdf
File Size: 639 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
HANDOUT:
2020_november_sanshinji_online_genzo.docx
File Size: 29 kb
File Type: docx
Download File
CHANT SHEET:
genzo-e_chants.pdf
File Size: 99 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

DAILY SCHEDULE
TIMES ARE EASTERN STANDARD TIME ( US)

Note that genzo-e retreats begin in the evening of the first day and continue through noon on the last day.  Segments in black are carried out on your own; segments in red are held online.  
​
Nov 18:

​Preparation and setup on your own time,
​
07:10p Zazen
08:00p Kinhin
08:10p Zazen
09:00p End of Day  

Nov 19 - 22:

Wake-up and breakfast
07:10a Zazen
08:00a Kinhin
08:10a Zazen
09:00a Break

= Online segment =
9:10a Zazen
10:00a Lecture

12:00 Lunch 
1:00p Work or study time
​3:00p Zazen

= Online segment =
04:00p Lecture
05:30p Break
05:40p Zazen

06:25p Dinner
07:10p Zazen
08:00p Kinhin
08:10p Zazen
09:00p End of Day

Nov 23:

Wake-up and breakfast
07:10a Zazen
08:00a Kinhin
08:10a Zazen
09:00a Break

= Online segment =
9:10a Zazen
10:00a Lecture
End of retreat 

WANT TO CONTINUE WORKING
​WITH TEXTS LIKE  BUKKYO?

Our Dogen Institute is always interested in talking with those who'd like to volunteer as listeners, transcribers, editors, traffic managers, designers or other roles involved in turning Okumura Roshi's teachings into publications in a variety of forms.

Volunteers report finding their work extremely rewarding, providing an opportunity for give-back, and for study.  There are many exciting and varied projects underway in which you can participate from anywhere in the world. 

The Dogen Institute provides educational opportunities for all who are interested in the study of Dōgen Zenji and his teachings.  Its primary mission is to make available  Okumura Roshi’s life work on Dōgen.  His translations, commentaries, and lectures are offered through books, audio, video, and web based materials. 
During the virtual genzo-e itself
  • To the extent possible, dress as you would in Sanshin's zendo during a retreat.  If you would normally wear a rakusu or okesa, put it on before beginning your first zazen period of the day.  
  • In carrying out your daily schedule, maintain silence as usual except for group chanting and during the work/study period if necessary.  
  • The only chanting at Sanshin during retreats happens before and after lectures.  It's not necessary to chant aloud before putting on a robe or eating a meal.
  • Do your best to follow your schedule wholeheartedly.  If something comes up and you need to skip some or all of a zazen period, get back to sitting as soon as you can.  No one else will be monitoring your activities; you will be serving as your own ino and keeping yourself on track.  Provide yourself with the kind of structure and stability you would offer if you were leading and supporting zazen for others in your own sangha.
  • The Zoom zendo will open 10 to 15 minutes before virtual zazen or the lecture.  
  • If you need help getting into the online segments or have other technical questions related to the genzo-e, please email genzo-e tech.  Please do not bypass this process by sending your questions directly to individuals at Sanshin or to our office; they will probably not get a response.  If something happens in the middle of an online segment and the connection is lost on our side, wait five minutes or so and then try to sign back into the meeting.  If necessary, updates will be posted to this page, so you will wish to check here as well.
  • Be sure your microphone is muted when you join the online segments.  Group chanting by Zoom doesn't work well, and the extraneous background noise of dozens of separate venues would be distracting.  When it's time to chant, put your hands in gassho and chant as you would in the zendo.  Watch others if you're unsure what to do.
  • Okumura Roshi will not be taking live questions during his lectures.  If you have a question about the text or about something he's said, you can email it to genzo-e questions.  It may be possible for him to answer questions later in the retreat.  Please do not bypass this process by sending your questions directly to individuals at Sanshin or to our office; they will probably not get to Okumura Roshi.  He does not read email during retreats.
  • See update in announcements above.  All of Okumura Roshi's lectures are recorded as a matter of course and archived by our Dogen Institute for eventual later release or for transcription into books and other publications.  However, recordings of the lectures will not be available during the genzo-e, even in the event that someone must miss a lecture.  This is primarily a matter of limited human resources; the crew that operates the genzo-e is very small and largely volunteer.  We don't have the personnel to process recordings during the retreat and make them immediately available.

Questions about your registration or about genzo-e in general?  Email our office.
Your virtual genzo-e team:  Shohaku Okumura, David Thompson, Jeff Mallory, Yuko Okumura, Misaki Kido, Hoko Karnegis, Dairén Jácome, Onryu Kennedy, Jakushō Pignatiello, Shinko Hagn, Mark Hotoku Howell. 

AND NOW, A WORD ABOUT FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Picture
In response to the exceptional experience they enjoy while studying and practicing with Okumura Roshi, genzo-e participants frequently feel moved to offer gifts of financial support to him, to Sanshin and to the Dogen Institute.  All such donations are greatly appreciated, especially in this time of closure when so much of our programming has been cancelled.  Without the usual physical dana jars in which funds can be placed, we'll need to enable giving in different ways.
Gifts to Okumura Roshi: There are two options for giving:
  • Go here to contribute to the Abbot Retirement Plan Fund or to make a direct donation online to Okumura Roshi. 
  • You may also send a check to Shohaku Okumura at 1726 S. Olive St., Bloomington, IN  47401.
Please do not make contributions to Sanshin and ask that they be redirected or passed through to Okumura Roshi.  Under the board's financial policies, it can't be done and your gift will remain with Sanshin.  You must give to Okumura Roshi directly, and these gifts are not tax deductible. 

Gifts to the Dogen Institute:  Please go here to make your contribution.

Gifts to Sanshin:  Please visit our giving page and choose the amount and method that works best for you.

Thank you for your generous support, and for your practice!

FROM THE VIRTUAL GENZO-E PAGE OF OUR WEBSITE

Genzo-e at Sanshin

Deep study of Dogen Zenji’s teachings as a means of truly understanding the practice of regular intensive shikantaza is one of the three elements of Sanshin's mission.  It's an antidote to the "Zen sickness" described in the "Zazenshin" fascicle of his Shobogenzo.  That danger can come with doing a lot of sitting with gaining mind—searching for a peak experience or some personal benefit.  Thus dharma study is not an end in itself but assists our sitting practice.  As our ancestor Kodo Sawaki Roshi often said, "All Buddhist scriptures are only footnotes to zazen."
When I began genzo-e, I thought it is dangerous to sit so much as we do at Sanshinji without understanding the deep meaning of zazen practice taught by Dogen Zenji.  For me, zazen is the main thing;  studying Dogen Zenji's teachings is a support for intensive zazen practice.  Only intellectual understanding without sitting is not so meaningful.
-- Okumura Roshi
How the virtual genzo-e works

Sanshin's campus is closed to everyone but the Okumuras, so there will be no practitioners in the zendo; participants will be practicing from their homes.  In order to get the most out of the retreat, one needs to establish a home practice container to support shikantaza and minimize distraction.  Zendo practice is designed for this, but it's more difficult to achieve at home.  Tips and guidance for home practice are available on our Sanshin Solo page.

This genzo-e was not created as a virtual event in itself but as a means of continuing the longtime retreat practice established at Sanshin while the facilities are closed.  Genzo-e are designed to be intensive, and participants will be expected to do their best to maintain a daily schedule based on the one to the right, a slightly modified version of the usual genzo-e schedule we follow at Sanshin.  We recognize that people in various timezones around the world will need to make adjustments; you may need to move some of your zazen periods from the end of the day to the beginning, or vice versa.  We're also aware that a virtual genzo-e being carried out at home is in some ways more accessible to people who would not otherwise be able to participate in an intensive retreat at Sanshin.  In any case, it will be important to fully engage in a daily schedule that includes a significant amount of zazen..

Participants will be carrying out their daily schedules on their own, joining the online sessions coming from the zendo when they occur.  ​The morning and late afternoon online segments each day will include zazen and Okumura Roshi's lecture.  As usual, participants will chant the Opening the Sutra verse together before the lecture and the Four Bodhisattva Vows afterward.  Chant sheets will be available for download before the genzo-e.

Okumura Roshi will not be taking live questions after his lectures, but there may be some opportunity to send in questions by email to be answered at some later point in the genzo-e. 

There will be basic help available by email if you have issues related to joining the online sessions.  You may wish to  download Zoom ahead of time and test it to make sure you know how to use it.  It's free and easy to use; most people have no trouble.  You'll need to know how to see and hear what's happening and how to mute your mic..

In general, please approach this virtual genzo-e the way you would approach any retreat or sesshin, although being at home will make this more of a challenge.  Sit shikantaza with the usual intensity and wholeheartedness, do your best to minimize distraction, maintain silence, and devote yourself to practice for the duration of the event.
​
Genzo-e  FAQ

​What if I can't manage to follow the suggested schedule?

No one is watching you, so your choices are your own.  If you need extra time for dinner or you have physical limitations that don't allow you to sit for 50 minutes, no one need know that but you.  However, maintaining the spirit of the genzo-e is important in order for you to get the most out of it.
​
Why aren't there breakout sessions or discussion groups? 

These things have never been part of Okumura Roshi's style of genzo-e.  In order to help maintain focus, the days consist simply of seven periods of zazen, meals, lectures and sleep, with a bit of open time in the afternoons for individual pursuits.  Genzo-e is not a seminar but an intensive zazen retreat that includes some Dogen study.  It's a modification of our style of sesshin practice, which consists only of 14 zazen periods, meals and sleep.

Why is there so much structure and so many expectations?  Since this is just a virtual event, why can't you make it looser so anyone can participate on his or her own terms?

Striking a balance between maintaining the style and spirit of Okumura Roshi's genzo-e and making it possible for people to participate during the pandemic is difficult.  While we could just livestream two lectures a day with no other expectations about the practice container, we wouldn't be offering the practice that Okumura Roshi wants to offer.  The fact is that genzo-e are not easy; they are intensive and they are about much more than the lectures.  We provide guidance and structures for the virtual version similar to that which we provide for the in-person version in order to lend support to the intensive practice of the participants.  It would be easy for the lectures to become simply TV-style entertainment programs without the surrounding zazen schedule and a comprehensive, focused approach to practice.  In the end, we have no control over what participants choose to do at home, but we do feel responsible for trying to preserve Okumura Roshi's original intention as well as the attitude we maintain in the zendo during a retreat.