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Sangha news for April 2024

4/17/2024

A hairy turtle on Zhaozhou's single staff

by Shohaku Okumura

Dogen's Chinese Poems (76)
A Hairy Turtle on Zhaozhou's Single Staff
429. Dharma Hall Discourse

A turtle with hair and a rabbit with a horn are not of the same kind.
On a spring day a flower’s brightness is like the moon opening.
The nature of karmic consciousness together with all Buddha natures,
Zhaozhou’s single staff arrives.

This is a short Dharma hall discourse given during the three-month summer practice period in 1251. Dōgen simply introduces the kōan of Zhaozhou’s dog and presents this poem. To understand this poem, we need to understand Dōgen’s unique interpretation of this famous kōan story. To do so, it is helpful to investigate how this kōan had been understood before Dōgen. In the Recorded Sayings of Zen Master Zhaozhou (趙州禅師語録, Jōshū Zenji Goroku), there are two dialogues regarding a dog’s buddha nature.
READ MORE

From our directors

First quarter financial update shows lower expenses, but also lower income
Gene Elias, Treasurer

Our community did really well on limiting expenses. We were either at or below our spending targets in every category. That's great! On the other hand, our income was slightly below what we had hoped for. Programs (such as sesshin, workshops, and the upcoming virtual dharma study intensive) and Products (such as Dogen Institute books and downloads) did well, and even our tiny interest income did better than what we had expected. Our donations, though, fell short of expectations based on prior years -- but we have great hopes as we move through the coming quarters. Below is a graph indicating where we wanted to be and how we ended up for the quarter:

All in all, we are healthy and well and are looking forward to a prosperous Second Quarter! Thank you for your support, and may your life be filled with kindness, joy and magnanimity.

A reminder from the development team:
Support Sanshin when you shop for groceries

Did you know that you can support Sanshin while shopping for groceries at Kroger?
Designating Sanshin as the recipient of give-back programs like the one at Kroger is a painless way to provide funding support simply by making your usual purchases. 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. Learn more and connect your Kroger account here.

In this issue:

Okumura Roshi: A hairy turtle on Zhaozhou's single staff
From our directors: First quarter update from the treasurer; Kroger give-back program
New on the web: 108 Gates with Hoko; Sunday dharma talks
Other news: Zuiko's passing and support for Cedar Rapids sangha; New at the Sawaki Nyoho-e Treasury; Message for 2024 from the Head Priest of Sotoshu
Practice recap: 'Six Points' discussion evening; Sangha garden plot; Ango underway; Sangha Stewardship workshop; Buddha's birthday; April workday
Coming up: Discussion with Daitsu Tom Wright, Arthur Braverman, and Michael Hofmann; May dharma study intensive; Ryaku fusatsu; June sesshin
American religious landscape: Many say their beliefs are at odds with mainstream culture
Sanshin Network: Practice reflections from Kotaiji; Two transmissions

New on the web this month

108 Gates: Hoko's written commentaries on gate statements 12 - 16 of the 108 Gates of Dharma Illumination (Ippyakuhachi Homyomon) are now available, together with study/discussion questions for groups or individuals. New commentaries are posted to our 108 Gates page each Monday.

This month's Sunday dharma talks on Youtube: New talks are posted on most Tuesdays.

Other news

Zuiko's passing and support for Cedar Rapids sangha:

Former Sanshin board member Zuiko Redding passed away peacefully after a long-term progression of cancer on Friday, April 5th. She was the founder and resident teacher at Cedar Rapids (IA) Zen Center (Jikyoji) since 1999. Her hōji (49th day memorial service) will be held May 25 in Cedar Rapids and officiated by Gengo Akiba, Sokan of Soto Zen in North America. Details are forthcoming and will be posted on Jikyoji's website.

Jikyoji's board of directors has appointed Hoko as interim coordinator while a strategic plan is being developed and the teacher search restarted. She's put together a support team that includes members of Sanshin's own board and staff as well as teachers from around the region.

Hoko and Zuiko at Zenshuji in Los Angeles in 2023

New translation: Chapter Five of Great Robe of Liberation: A Study of the Kesa (Kesa no Kenkyu) by Echu Kyuma has now been translated and is available online. This chapter covers various methods for calculating the finished dimensions of the okesa. The book has served as an indispensable resource for anyone wanting to study, sew, or wear robes in the Soto Zen Buddhist tradition. Kyuma Roshi, a longtime student of both Kodo Sawaki and Kosho Uchiyama, generously shares his research and personal experience, presenting a kind of technical manual with in-depth explanations of everything from the proper color, size, and materials of a robe, to the actual sewing, to how to wear it and care for it.

A message from Sotoshu's head priest: Each year, the Head Priest of Sotoshu gives an official message. See below for a link to the full text of Rev. Minamizawa Donin's message translate into English:

The various issues facing the world today are complex and layered. It is not an exaggeration to say that there is a crisis where the basic human rights of a peaceful and dignified life and the sanctity of life are threatened and the threat is expanding. As followers of One Shakyamuni Buddha and Two Ancestors, we must be aware of the true Way. READ MORE

Practice recap

First "Six Points" discussion evening: A group of practitioners gathered at Sanshin and virtually from home on March 28th to sit zazen and then discuss the first of Sanshin's six points of practice: "Zazen in a Buddhist context." After some opening words from Hoko, practitioners discussed everything from the role of ritual forms as a meaningful and functional framework for zazen, to settling into Soto Zen as a formal religious practice and tradition, to the question of dharma teachings before the first Buddha was born. See a recording of Hoko's introductory remarks at left or on Youtube. We undertook this evening of study and practice as part of our yearlong exploration of lineage & legacy, and we'll take up each of the remaining five points on selected evenings this year (see our lineage & legacy page for the schedule and more).

Sangha garden plot: This year, Bloomington practitioner and Sanshin operations manager Sawyer Jisho Hitchcock is leading and coordinating an effort to grow food for sesshin and retreats at Sanshin. In late March, Sawyer and local sangha practitioners Jeff, Owen, and Doju worked together to transport a pickup truckload of Doju's abundant homemade compost to our 200 square foot garden plot rented through the city of Bloomington's community gardening program.

Since then, we've seeded our ground with several early season leafy greens and root vegetables, aiming for June sesshin and the July precepts retreat -- and the first radish, pea, carrot, and potato sprouts have appeared! For a practice perspective on sourcing food from the local community and environment, see the "Practicing with local sesshin food" dropdown link on our sesshin web page.

As it happens, our gardening space is a ten-minute walk up the road from Sanshin itself (which, for all of the lovely trees, is a bit too shady for most healthy vegetable production). If you are in the area and wish to get involved in this dharma plot, email Sawyer here or talk with him at Sanshin.

Ango 2024 underway: Our annual ango, or practice period, began April 1st and runs through July 7th. This 3-month period each year offers an opportunity for the sangha to focus a bit more intensively on our practice. We invite you to consider how you might deepen your practice during this time. During ango we have the additional leadership of a shuso, or head novice, who takes on various responsibilities in the sangha as an opportunity to develop clergy skills. Our shuso for this ango is Esho Morimoto. Her theme for the ango is "Studying the self/Self." She will be supporting our practice, and we will be supporting her growth as a leader. For a full schedule of ango activities and to learn more, see our ango webpage.

If you are participating in the first period of a given weekday morning's zazen during the ango, please be seated five minutes earlier than usual (before 6:00 am EDT), in time for the shuso's bows.

First Sangha Stewardship workshop: On April 5th & 6th, six practitioners joined Hoko in the zendo (and a few more online from home) to explore the traditional roles of the tenzo (head cook) and ino (zendo manager and service leader) and how the functions and teachings around these roles can be incorporated skillfully according to the circumstances and available resources of contemporary sanghas. Activity included lecture and discussion about bodhisattva leadership in and out of the zendo alongside traditional doctrines and teachings surrounding these roles and their practice functions, as well as participatory demonstrations, including a run-through of liturgy with several folks trying out service positions for the first time. Resources and recordings from the event will likely be made available in the coming weeks.

Later this year, on October 4th & 5th, we'll explore the role of director, specifically in a sangha board of directors context. See our Sangha Stewardship page for more information.

Buddha's birthday 2024: On Sunday, April 7th, the sangha celebrated the occasion of Buddha's birthday. After Okumura Roshi's talk tracing the story of Buddha's birth from early Buddhist and Mahayana tradition, through Dogen Zenji and to us today, we held a ceremony that included chanting the Heart Sutra as a sangha and offering incense and bathing a baby Buddha statue with tea one by one, amidst an offering of flowers. The day concluded with a potluck lunch. We carry this out each year on the Sunday nearest to April 8th.

April workday: On Sunday, April 14th, practitioners gathered at Sanshin for our monthly work day in a warm and sunny early spring Bloomington to undertake various sangha projects together.

Inside the temple, Hosshin and Clark focused their work around our kitchen space, in which a new overhead light was installed (majorly improving the space's lighting situation) as well as a sliding barn door to more fully separate the kitchen (and its sounds and smells) from the zendo.

Out in the yard, practitioners continued to construct a "dead hedge" fence barrier on the temple's north boundary using materials from our 20-year-old brush pile, gave the lawn its first mow of the year with our newly reconstituted electric mower, weeded the moss garden, and mulched the entry walkway flower garden. At the end of the day, Sawyer and Esho walked up the road to our sangha vegetable garden to sow seeds of golden beets, Swiss chard, lettuce, and kale -- all of which (fingers crossed!) could be ready for harvest by June sesshin.

Coming up

Virtual discussion in honor of Uchiyama Roshi:
On Thursday, April 25th, from 6:30 - 8 pm EDT, join us for zazen and a virtual discussion with Daitsū Tom Wright, Arthur Braverman, and Michael Hofmann, all of whom spent significant time practicing with Uchiyama Roshi and the Antaiji sangha in Kyoto in the late 1960's and 70's.

As part of our yearlong exploration of lineage & legacy, we'll focus the evening's discussion around the insights and memories of these North American practitioners who travelled to Japan and experienced Uchiyama Roshi's teaching and practice directly.

Practitioners in the area are welcome to gather in-person at Sanshin for the occasion, though our guests will be joining us via Zoom. Virtual participation from wherever you are is also welcome (simply use the green button on our virtual practice page). Bring your questions for a rare opportunity to hear from these longtime practitioners together in one conversation space.

See our lineage & legacy webpage for more information on the event, including bios of our guests. There's no registration - just drop in!

Michael Hofmann's sumi-e portrait of Uchiyama Roshi, alongside another of Sawaki Roshi, hangs in the stairway down to the zendo at Sanshinji

Virtual dharma study intensive with Okumura Roshi:
Registration will remain open through Sunday, April 28th for Okumura Roshi's series of ten lectures on Menzan Zuiho's Jijuyū Zanmai, as part of this May's virtual dharma study intensive (May 2 - 11).

Jijuyū Zanmai was written as a guide to zazen for lay students. In it, Menzan explains that the Buddha's samadhi is nothing other than the zazen which we practice with our body and mind, and he urges us to live in accordance with the three-fold pure bodhisattva precepts. Okumura Roshi has newly translated this important text for this May's study intensive. LEARN MORE AND REGISTER

Ryaku fusatsu in May: Ryaku fusatsu is our monthly ceremony of renewing our aspiration to practice with the sixteen bodhisattva precepts. Our next one happens Monday, May 13th, at 7 pm EDT, and Hosshin Shoaf will officiate for the first time as a newly transmitted teacher. All are welcome, in-person and virtually, whether or not you've formally received precepts.

June sesshin: Registration is now open for our 5-day June sesshin (June 4 - 9), which we carry out in the heart of our annual three-month practice period, or ango (see above). Sesshin at Sanshin is an opportunity to practice without distraction. We set aside the usual activities -- or entertainments -- of temple life, like work periods, meetings with teachers and dharma talks, and focus completely on zazen. This sesshin-without-toys style of practice was created by our founder's teacher, Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, and practiced at Antaiji in Kyoto, Japan. We carry on and offer this tradition of our lineage here at Sanshin.
LEARN MORE AND REGISTER

American religious landscape

Many say their beliefs are at odds with mainstream culture: Among American adults, there is a growing sense that their own religious beliefs conflict with the society in which they live, according to a new Pew survey. Nearly half say there is a “great deal” of conflict or “some” conflict between their own religious beliefs and mainstream American culture, up from 42% who said this in 2020. Twenty nine percent say they think of themselves as part of a minority group because of their religious beliefs, up from 24% in 2020. Majorities in every religious group analyzed in the study agreed that religion’s influence in public life is shrinking, as did most Republicans and Democrats, and most across age groups, and most think this is not a good thing. READ MORE

Sanshin network

Practice reflections from Kotaiji

Two of Okumura Roshi's ordained students recently spent time practicing in residence at Kotaiji in Nagasaki, Japan, as part of their clergy training and credentialing process with Sotoshu. Jikei Kido from Oakland, CA was ordained as a novice in December of 2022, and Gyoriki Herskamp from Germany received dharma transmission in October of 2023. They offer reflections on their experiences below:

Jikei says: At first, I was just curious. I wanted to see if a half-baked zen practitioner from America can survive in a training monastery (sōdō) in Japan.

I was the first female practitioner in the last 40 years (out of its 400 years history) to be accepted to train at this temple.

Okumura Roshi, who usually doesn’t give much advice, told me before I joined the monastery:

“Make sure other female practitioners will be welcomed there in the future.”
And, “Go make friends who you can practice with for the rest of your life.”

Throughout the whole time I was there, I was the slowest, weakest, most useless, clueless, rebellious practitioner there. Still, the other practitioners took me in and trained with me very patiently. Even when I was being the lousiest monk ever, my life was supported by everybody and everything in this world just to be here. To truly realize this was humbling, and made me want to live my life to the fullest.

My time at the monastery clearly wasn’t enough to learn everything about being a monk. But at least I know that much, and that I need to come back for more.

Needless to say that I had a blast.

180 Days on Planet Kotaiji
by Gyoriki Herskamp

On September 1st, at the age of 58, I stood in front of the Hatto of the international Senmon Sodo Kotai-ji in old traditional monk's outfit in the blazing Japanese summer sun, the sweat is pouring down everywhere, I can hardly breathe, the air is so heavy and waited for an hour or so to be allowed in and wondered, what I would do so often in the next few months: “Why am I doing this to myself!?

“Why you want come in here, why you don’t go home?” Reiho Roshi asks me.

“I want testing the roots of Japanese Soto-Zen!” I shout.

But the truth was, I didn’t knew not exactly. You have to do it, if you want to be a fully authorized Soto Zen teacher, but I wasn't really sure if I wanted to do that. The only thing that was clear was, that I wasn't getting any younger and every year I waited, would make it more difficult.

I also had to reset. I no longer wanted to work in my old job and wanted to give up the practice center in the Black Forest, in order to start over in a new place, closer to the people. I wanted to step down from the lonely wonderful mountains to the valley, back to the people again. Maybe this is one last big adventure in my life, in any case, based on my practice, I knew I had to do it.

READ MORE of Gyoriki's account of his time at Kotaiji here, and of his zuise ceremonies at Eiheiji and Sojiji here.

Two transmissions: Over the course of about three weeks in mid to late March at Sanshinji, Okumura Roshi gave dharma transmission to two of his students: Issan Koyama, who leads the New York Zen Community for Dogen Study, and Hosshin Shoaf, who serves as Sanshin's work leader in Bloomington.

Issan & Todo-san

Hosshin & Todo-san

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