Sanshin Zen Community
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our spring fund Appeal is underway. Thank you for your participation, generosity, and practice.

​Our Goal: $10,000    ------    Received so far: $5148
Your practice and contributions have made it possible to create and maintain a nurturing environment together, where the dharma continues to flourish.

Today, we humbly ask for your financial support in maintaining our facilities and upholding the dharma work and practice of Okumura Roshi, Hoko, and our broad sangha of sincere practitioners -- including you.
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A gift of any size is welcome and appreciated -- as is your moment-by-moment practice. Thank you!
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Join us for Soto Zen Buddhist practice in Bloomington, Indiana.

We practice Buddhism within the Soto Zen tradition that comes to us from Japan, following the particular style of our immediate three ancestors: Kodo Sawaki, Kosho Uchiyama and Shohaku Okumura.  

Some of us are lay practitioners and some are ordained clergy, but we all engage in the same practices and walk the Buddha Way together.  Everyone, whether beginner or experienced practitioner, is welcome.
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New to Sanshin?
Schedules & Calendars

Several of the links throughout this website will connect you to our continually evolving companion-site, Sanshin Source: an online multimedia library of resources, context, and in-depth information organized around our practice vision.
Explore
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​Sanshin source
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This week ​at Sanshin (June 16 - 22)

Click on the boxes below for information and timing related to a given practice activity. All times listed are Eastern Time.
Weekday morning practice (Monday - Friday)
Please be in your seat ready to go before 6:05 am, in time for the doshi's bows and incense offerings.

6:00 am  Participants in seats
6:05        Doshi enters
6:10        Zazen
7:00        Kinhin
7:10        Zazen
8:00        Robe chant
8:05        Chanting service (Heart Sutra & Dai Hi Shin Dharani​)

​~8:20      Shobogenzo Zuimonki reading & announcements
~8:25      Soji (temple cleanup)
~8:40      Bow out
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You can review our practice forms for weekday mornings HERE, noting that we're following a simplified schedule in February.
​​Practitioners are welcome to participate in all or part(s) of morning practice activities as schedules allow, virtually or in-person.
​monday evening (June 16): ryaku fusatsu ceremony
7 - 8 pm     Ryaku fusatsu ceremony

Our monthly ceremony of renewing our aspiration to follow the sixteen bodhisattva precepts. Virtual or in-person participation is welcome, whether or not you've formally taken precepts.

If participating in-person, please arrive by 6:50 pm, to allow enough time for offering incense and purifying your rakusu or okesa if you have one.
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Tuesday evening (June 17): Nyoho-e sewing
6:30 - 8:30 pm        Nyoho-e sewing

Practitioners gather to quietly sew nyoho-e (Buddha's robe) as a practice of zazen mind, working on their own rakusu or okesa, assisting others, or participating in the long-term project of sewing a temple okesa for Sanshin. 

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No prior experience is necessary, but before showing up for the first time, please contact Esho Morimoto, who leads these sessions.
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​Wednesday evening (June 18): zazen & dharma book discussion
6:30 pm      Zazen
7 - 8 pm      Dharma book discussion:
 The Structure of the Self in Mahayana Buddhism by Shohaku Okumura


We take turns reading the text aloud, using it as a spring board to discuss and explore our practice together. You do not need to be familiar with the text to participate, though engagement outside of the discussions is of course helpful.
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thursday evening (June 19): open reality - Virtual talk & discussion with shodo spring
Open Reality: Book preview & dharma discussion ​with Shodo Spring (online only)
6:30 - 8 pm ET -- Participate via Zoom through our virtual practice page.

Shodo's forthcoming book, Open Reality: Meeting the Polycrisis Together With All Beings, is available now for pre-order. Check out excerpts recently published at resilience.org.​

Shodo writes: When Dharma eye looks at modern existence, things open up. This book is a deep dive into that opening, including questions of human nature, relationship with all sentient beings, and ways to open up our lives to allow the whole world to flourish. This talk and discussion offers an overview and an invitation. 

​No registration is required, but you can 
sign up at right for a reminder the day before this public virtual event.

​Participation is via Zoom through our virtual practice page.
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Shodo is a dharma heir of Okumura Roshi, and practiced at Sanshinji from 2004 - 2009. She now leads practice at Mountains and Waters Alliance in Faribault, MN.

    Open Reality with Shodo: Sign-up for event reminder

Submit
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​Sunday morning (June 22): Zazen & dharma talk
9:05 am        Zazen (50 minutes)
10:10            Dharma talk by Sawyer: The Ingredients of Sesshin, and Your Life
​~11:10          Informal social tea & snacks

You can review our practice forms for Sunday mornings here, and the chanting service for the World Peace Ceremony here. No need to memorize -- all are welcome to simply show up and follow along with others.
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Throughout 2025, we're undertaking an exploration we've named Tangible Thusness​, a deep investigation of the teachings of nyoho: things done or made according to the dharma.

From May through August, we're focusing primarily on nyoho teachings related to food, from formal oryoki meals in a temple to what and how we eat at home, work, or school. What can we learn about attachment and interconnectedness through offering our attention to sourcing, cooking, eating, and cleaning up our everyday meals? LEARN MORE
Sanshin skywatch
Monday 16: Partly cloudy and very humid during morning practice; thunderstorms begin in the afternoon and continue through ryaku fusatsu in the evening.  Some risk of excessive rain.

Tuesday 17: Rain likely all day, covering morning practice and evening sewing.

Wednesday 18:  Thunderstorms likely all day, beginning with the end of morning practice and continuing during evening book discussion.

Looking ahead:

July 1 - 6: precepts retreat (register by Tuesday, June 24th)
Our annual precepts retreat focuses on the study of the sixteen bodhisattva precepts that Buddhists receive as guidelines for living a life of practice.  The daily schedule includes zazen, presentations from the preceptor and ensuing group discussions, work periods, and silent communal meals.

Studying and practicing the precepts alongside this year's precepts recipients, additional practitioners are welcome and encouraged to register for all or a selection of retreat days, whether or not you've formally received the precepts previously. LEARN MORE & REGISTER

​For a complete listing of our regular practice schedule and upcoming extended practice opportunities, see our Schedules and Calendars page. 
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Our practice

Our main activities are zazen, sitting quietly and letting go of thinking; working together on food, clothing and shelter according to Buddha's teachings, and on developing wise and compassionate leadership; studying the teachings of the Buddha and the ancestors of our lineage; and engaging in ritual that brings our community together across space and time. We do all this in the context of our six practice guidelines (see "Our Mission" below) and support each other in carrying forward this concentrated experience of interconnectedness throughout our everyday activities and communities.
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​our mission
Sanshin Zen Community enables the investigation of interconnectedness as it manifests in community, by engaging in six guidelines for practice within the Soto Zen tradition:
• Zazen in a Buddhist context
• Keeping forms simple
• Balancing peace and progress
• Dharma study as a support for zazen
• Work practice as an investigation of community
• Deeply inquiring into the teaching of ehou ichinyo
: kesa and dharma are one
LEARN MORE about our six practice guidelines as direct legacies of our twentieth century dharma ancestors, alongside Uchiyama Roshi's seven points of practice.
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We're grateful for the financial support of our many friends and community members worldwide.  Coming together as a sangha to take care of our temple and practice in this way is simply an instance of the universe carrying out its functioning. Thank you!
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Got a question?

Start with our FAQ, and if you still need help, contact us.

Sanshin's foreign language sanghas

Hispanohablante     *     Francophone     *     ​Deutschprachige

Can't find it? 
​Check the site map.

site map
Virtual practice
New to Sanshin?
  • Especially for students
Schedules and calendars
  • Sesshin
  • Precepts​
​About Sanshin Zen Community
  • Lineage and legacy
  • Ethics policy
  • Zendo guidelines
  • Sesshin guidelines
  • Registration and cancellation policies
  • Zendo stay and camping guidelines
  • Public health protocols
FAQ
​Resources for practice
  • Sanshin solo
  • Resources for small groups
  • Hand positions and bowing
  • Practice forms for Sundays
  • Practice forms for weekday mornings
  • Practice forms for sesshin
Sangha News
Giving to Sanshin
Sanshin Network
Hispanohablante
Francophone
Deutschsprachige
Contact
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  • Home
  • Giving to Sanshin
  • New to Sanshin?
  • Schedules and calendars
  • About Sanshin Zen Community
  • FAQ
  • Resources for practice
  • Resources for small groups
  • Sangha News
  • Sanshin network
  • Contact