In the training temple, a short reading from the Shobogenzo Zuimonki is included in the formal daily morning meeting known as chosan.  Zuimonki is a collection of fairly practical instructions rather than a cryptic text that requires line-by-line exegesis.  There's no lecture or discussion during chosan; it's not a dharma study group.  The reading is simply a bit of advice from Dogen Zenji related to attitude and action that we can take in and take with us into the day.

Our weekday morning meeting that follows the liturgy is a quicker and less formal version of chosan.  In the beforetimes it happened up in the common room but with the addition of virtual morning practitioners it's been happening in the zendo.  We've been considering the best way to arrange ourselves there so we can all be seen and heard, and starting next week we're going to try adding a reading from the Zuimonki.  Paper copies will be available for those practicing in the zendo, and that text has also now been posted at left for virtual practitioner who'd like to follow along.  This book is Hojo-san's translation and is available free from Sotoshu; we're not pirating anyone's intellectual property.   (For more on piracy, see our Study page.)

Chant book:  The book posted at right has been updated for slight formatting changes.  The content is the same but you're welcome to download and use the updated version if you like.

Reopening info for locals:  If you live in the Bloomington area and have not received our e-promo about local reopening, please find it here and RSVP if you're planning to join us for lunch on August 8.  We probably don't have a street address for you, in which case we could not tag you as a local practitioner.  In any case, it's a good idea to go to our contact page and find the box that says CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER, which will take you to a form you can use to make sure your contact information is complete and up to date.  We'll likely be continuing to target some information specifically to local practitioners for awhile, so if you live here you'll want to be sure we can include you.

Wednesday book group -- Hoko says:  I'm sharing with you here the materials we were unable to look at our last meeting.  As at least one element is copyrighted, it's unlisted, so use this link directly.  Make notes to yourself about questions and reflections and we'll discuss at our next meeting.

Folks have been asking whether Ryumonji would be livestreaming Doju's hossenshiki on Sunday.  The answer is yes; go here to Ryumonji's virtual practice page and click on the Sunday link.  It doesn't list the hossenshiki specifically, but zazen starts at 9 am Central time and the ceremony begins at 10 am.

Since most of the usual Sunday leadership will be in Iowa in support of Doju Layton's hossenshiki, we're going to declare a holiday on the 18th and take the day off from practice at Sanshin.  Enjoy a rest and we'll see you on the 25th as usual   

Sanshin will reopen for local practice concurrent with the annual meeting that will be held the weekend of August 8.  Watch for further information about the activities of that weekend as it becomes available, but we do know now that regular Sunday practice will happen that day and that Okumura Roshi will be giving the dharma talk.

Some important things to know about this reopening:
- Sanshin will be holding local regular practice only for now.  Folks who live in town and have been fully vaccinated will be welcome to attend morning zazen and service, evening zazen and Sunday zazen and dharma talk.  The Wednesday evening book group will remain virtual for the moment, until we can determine the best way to make that a hybrid activity.

- We will not be offering guest practice for some time yet.  That includes sesshin, retreats, weekend workshops, etc.  There are logistics unrelated to COVID that need to be worked out, and as of now we can't house you, feed you or provide you guidance and direction.  If you're outside of the Bloomington area, please continue to join us virtually.

Practice leaders are working to prepare Sanshin for this local reopening, and we look forward to being together again in person

Just a reminder here that evening zazen will go on as usual at the end of this week but Friday morning's schedule will change to match that of the at-home retreat.  We'll be closing registration for the retreat at the end of the day tomorrow, so if you're planning to sign up please do that soon.

While some practitioners will gather at Sanshin itself on Sunday for the work day, there will also be a virtual option.  Virtual workers will join the 9 am zazen period using the usual Sunday morning link, then work on their own at home until lunch, when they'll be bringing their food to their computers and chatting together here.  Following lunch they'll work again on their own.  The in-person work day has no organized ending or checkout, but virtual participants can decide at lunchtime whether they'd like to come together one more time to end the day.

Tonight Hoko (and possibly Hosshin) will be in the zendo to conduct our monthly ceremony of renewing our aspiration to follow the precepts.  We'll start at 7:30 pm; the link is at right.

Hojo-san will be giving a virtual talk at Sonoma Mountain Zen Center on Saturday; it's free but registration is required.  More information is here.