Blog Archives

Sangha News for August

8/15/2026

In this issue: August 2026

New commentaries & resources: Speechless in Autumn; Entering a hall
From our directors: July Annual Board Retreat summary

Practice recap: Summer Sanshin Salon; Quiet August practice continues
Coming up: 3-day Sep sesshin (register by Aug 27); Sharing the reality of Buddha virtual series with Tonen (register by Sep 7); Ten Major Themes of Dogen 3-day retreat with Hoko (register by Sep 24); Save-the-dates for Fall virtual dharma study intensive with Okumura Roshi

Sanshin Network: News from Japan, Europe, Austria & Colorado

~ New Commentaries & Resources ~

Dōgen’s Chinese Poems (102)
Speechless in Autumn
76. Dharma Hall Discourse
Commentary by Shohaku Okumura

In autumn, both the clouds and sun are calm and stately.
They partly chase the time of year, and partly stand still.
While facing [such autumn sky] I wonder how to speak,
and can’t find any transcendent response.

“Calm and stately” is a translation of 悠悠 (yūyū), in this case, meaning “distant,” “far-off,” or “boundless.” When he gives this jōdō, Dōgen Zenji is living at Kōshōji (興聖寺) in Fukakusa (深草), near Kyōto. Today, Fukakusa is a part of Kyōto city, and we see houses, stores, and some large buildings there. I don’t think it is possible to see the expansive sky. I know this because when I practiced at Antaiji, we sometimes did takuhatsu (begging for alms) in that area. But in the 13th century, it was on the outskirts of the city, without many people—probably just a farming village with some temples and aristocrats’ villas. Dōgen’s hermitage was secluded.[6] Fukakusa (深草) literally means “deep grass.” Compared with inside the capital city, it must have been a grass-grown countryside. Read more.

Dōgen’s hermitage in Fukakusa, Public domain

I Vow With All Beings:
Entering a Hall
Commentary and artwork by Hoko Karnegis

WHEN ENTERING A HALL,
I VOW WITH ALL BEINGS
TO ASCEND TO THE UNEXCELLED SANCTUARY
AND REST THERE SECURE AND UNSHAKABLE.

In North America, it’s likely that our dharma centers have been converted from some previous use–private homes, commercial buildings, churches, etc. In other words, the buildings were not conceived and built as Soto Zen temples. We’ve had to be creative in turning living rooms, offices, auditoriums, or sanctuaries into places for zazen, and sometimes these spaces have to serve multiple purposes and support various sangha activities. Read more.

More new resources on the web:

dharma recordings

July 19th: Hoko - The dharma of heat & defeat
July 26th: Okumura Roshi - Sawaki Roshi & nyoho-e
August 1st: Sanshin Salon - The Science of Sitting

The latest short release from Okumura Roshi's interview with Interior Mythos Journeys:

sanshin source

What's new at Sanshin Source?

We've added the content on the nature of morality from this year's precepts retreat. It includes key elements, character building and virtue, and Dogen on precepts and virtue.
Okumura Roshi's recent talk on the early history of Soto Zen and nyoho-e has been posted to our nyoho clothing page.
The video of our January Sanshin Salon conversation about the Buddhist storytelling tradition has been posted to our page Telling Tales.
There's a new entry on Tonen's blog, Thinking About Dharma.
There are monthly essays on the I Vow page.

Sanshin's monthly board meetings are open to the public.

Those who wish are welcome to listen in on this month's meeting on Sunday, August 23rd, from 7 - 9 pm ET, using the regular Zoom link on our virtual practice page.

~ From our directors ~

July Annual Board Retreat (July 17 - 19) summary
from Neil Schmitzer-Torbert, Chair of Sanshin's Board of Directors

Last month, the board of directors met for our annual retreat on July 17-18. Our work was facilitated by Norma Fogelberg, a former board director, current member of the Development Committee, and longtime supporter of Sanshin. With a number of new board members, an important focus for our work was to welcome and orient new directors to board functions, and then to turn to planning for the long-range vision for Sanshin. For the latter discussion, we were joined on Saturday by local sangha members Will Mruzek and Owen Miller. Our conversations about strategies to support the flourishing of Sanshin focused on updating the primary strategies that the board will focus on, and having each director take responsibility for one of these areas.

The current long-range plan is still in revision, but will focus on continuing to develop our regional sangha (led by Clark Kinney), to develop and offer practice resources to support the practice vision (led by Alex Fine), to develop and offer residential practice as an integral part of the practice vision and in alignment with Okumura Roshi’s original intention for Sanshin (led by Kanzan John Slattery), to create and maintain our physical facilities (also led by Clark Kinney), to create a new financial model to fully support our practice vision (led by Seth Zimmerman and Gene Elias), and to develop the sources of support needed to support the mission and realize Sanshin’s vision (led by Jeff Alberts). The board is already at work to advance each of these areas, and anyone interested in contributing is encouraged to reach out to the board president (Neil Schmitzer-Torbert) or any of the board directors.

Several directors participated in morning practice activities during their retreat.

At the regular business meeting, the board approved the slate of officers (Neil Schmitzer-Torbert, President; Alex Fine, Vice President and Secretary; Seth Zimmerman, Treasurer). The board also approved updated mission and vision statements for Sanshin:

Sanshin Zen Community Mission Statement: Sanshin Zen Community enables and encourages the practice of authentically transmitted Soto Zen Buddhism as handed down by our 20th century ancestors: Kodo Sawaki, Kosho Uchiyama and Shohaku Okumura. We do this by offering zazen, work, study and ritual in the context of community.

Sanshin Zen Community Vision Statement: Sanshin aspires to offer sustainable intensive Soto Zen practice to both residential and non-residential practitioners. We will remain firmly grounded in the authentic Soto Zen tradition as stewarded by the denomination and deeply value our connection with the larger Soto Zen community in Japan and around the world. At the same time, we will take a clear and realistic view of what it means to bring the dharma we've inherited from our 20th century ancestors to modern and midwestern North America with these bodies and minds and in this culture.

~ Practice recap ~

Summer Salon: The Science of Sitting
The theme of our second salon was "The Science of Sitting," exploring the biological underpinnings of the posture (body and mind) we take up in our practice of zazen. As part of the evening, Hoko facilitated a panel discussion (recording available at right) featuring Neil Schmitzer-Torbert, Professor of Psychology at Wabash College and Chair of Sanshin's board of directors, and Gregory Lewis, Associate Professor of Intelligent Systems Engineering and Associate Research Scientist at Indiana University's Kinsey Institute. About twenty people showed up for the living room gathering and enjoyed dinner, dessert, and continuing conversation. Our next Sanshin Salon will likely be held in January of next year.

Quiet August practice carries on: The simplified schedule of Quiet August offers an extended opportunity to focus in on the core elements of our practice. We'll return to our regular practice schedule in September.

~ Coming up ~

3-day September sesshin
Thurs, Sep 3 - Sun, Sep 6 - Register by Aug 27

Sesshin at Sanshin is an opportunity to practice zazen intensively in a refined, shared practice container. We set aside the usual activities – or entertainments – of temple life, like work periods, meetings with teachers, liturgy and dharma talks, and approach the whole sesshin as one seamless period of zazen, inclusive of the basic practical tasks and ritual forms necessary for functioning together without trouble. Learn more & register.

Sharing the reality of Buddha: Two-part virtual discussion series with Tonen O'Connor - Register by Sep 7
Two Thursdays, Sep 10 & 17, 7 - 8:30 pm ET
- OR -
Two Fridays, Sep 11 & 18, 10 - 11:30 am ET

Practitioners are invited to join Tonen O'Connor, resident priest emerita of the Milwaukee Zen Center and longtime friend of Sanshin, for a two-part virtual discussion via Zoom. Continuing our explorations of key tenets in the Soto Zen tradition (we explored sokushin zebutsu last spring) we find two more to consider:

Butsu no sugata 仏の姿 The practice of zazen is realized as the form of Buddha
Seiden no buppo 正伝の仏法 The authentic transmission of the Buddha dharma

Exploring these two connected teachings is particularly timely within the context of our World of Soto Zen practice themes this year at Sanshin. Learn more & register.

3-day retreat with Hoko: Ten Major Themes of Dogen
Thurs, Oct 1 - Sun, Oct 4 -- Register by Sep 24

When we're familiar with and can recognize the major themes of Dogen's teaching, his writings become a little less opaque, and their relationship to our ordinary day to day practice becomes clearer. As well as having a basic understanding of each individual teaching, it's important to see how they're completely interpenetrated and represent one coherent worldview. Each one builds on the others and points out some specific aspect of reality; we’re just looking at the same reality through multiple windows.

Join Hoko and fellow practitioners for an introduction to these themes within an immersive communal retreat structure including zazen, formal meals, and lectures with Q & A sessions. The aim is to give participants a framework and resources for their continuing dharma study beyond the retreat. Learn more & register for the full retreat or for lectures-only (virtually or in-person).

Save-the-dates: Virtual dharma study intensive with Okumura Roshi on Dogen Zenji Goroku
Oct 26 - 30 & Nov 2 - 6 -- Registration to open in early September

This year in November, as well as in May of 2027, Okumura Roshi intends to lecture on a selection from his new translation of the Dogen Zenji Goroku, the Recorded Sayings of Dogen Zenji (道元禅師語録). This text is a version of the Eihei Koroku with a very interesting history; there are important differences between the Goroku and the Koroku, and these differences will be the focus of the two upcoming Intensives.

Registration is scheduled to open in early September.

learn more about the dogen zenji goroku

The Goroku is a selection of jodo (formal dharma hall discourses), shosan (informal discourses), hogo (dharma words), and Chinese poems from Eihei koroku (Dogen's Extensive Record). It was selected after Dogen's death. One of his disciples, Kangan Giin, took the Eihei koroku manuscript to China, and asked Gion (義遠) one of Dogen's dharma brothers who had also been under the guidance of Tiantong Rujing (the teacher from whom Dogen received transmission), to write an introduction. Gion was the person who had earlier sent a copy of the Recorded Sayings of Tiangtong Rujing to Dogen. Gion selected about 10% of the Eihei koroku and wrote an introduction and postscript; two other Chinese masters wrote postscripts. This text was published as a woodblock print in 1358 by the sixth abbot of Eiheiji, Donki. It was one of the earliest publications of a Soto Zen text. After that, the text was widely read; Eihei koroku was too large and was not published until the 17th century. There are some important and interesting differences between the Dogen Zenji Goroku and Eihei koroku.

~ Sanshin Network ~

Antaiji 50th anniversary: This year marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of the "new" Antaiji in northern Hyogo Prefecture. Antaiji was moved from its original location in Kyoto in 1976, a year after Uchiyama Roshi's retirement from day to day leadership there. In honor of the anniversary, the roof tiles on the Buddha Hall have been renewed, and the broken tiles transformed into art pieces bearing Uchiyama Roshi's calligraphy.

Sanshin was the recipent of one of these pieces, which shows the kanji 帰命（kimyo), a Chinese translation of the Sanskrit "namas" (devoting one's life to the Buddha or obeying the Buddha's teaching). This kanji is displayed at the entrance to the Buddha Hall, and Uchiyama Roshi might read this as 帰 (Return) to the 命 (Universal Life).

A gathering in France - Jinryu Wachowitz reports:

As in previous years, Rev. Jokei Lambert organized a “Mini-Ango” at the “La demeure sans limites” (“Boundless Dwelling”) temple in Ardèche, France. About 18 participants experienced this gift of shared, intensive practice from July 10–18. Six ordained members of the European Sanshin family also took part. The retreat schedule included several daily sessions of zazen, samu, formal meals, and, in the afternoons, lectures by the teachers in attendance, most of which were translated into either English or French by the nun Shuzan, as it was a truly international gathering.

Rev. Doryu Capelli (Italy) provided a profound insight into the Gyohatsu Nenju under the title “The Universe in one Bowl”; Abbess Rev. Jokei Lambert (France) taught about the Ryaku Fusatsu ceremony and its origins in the Uposatha Day during the Buddha’s time; Rev. Chimyo Atkinson (USA) explored in depth the central theme of “Suffering”; Rev. Gyoetsu Epifania (Italy) gave a talk on “Sacred Reference—The Kanno Doko in Dogen’s Hokyoki”; and Rev. Mokusho Depreay inspired the group with his presentation on “Kalyana-Mitta, the spiritual friend.” Also participating were the monks and nuns Doshin (Italy), Jinryu (Germany), and Shuzan (Belgium), as well as several long-time, experienced, and dedicated lay practitioners and a few who were attending for the first time. The tranquility of the secluded location, the clear structure of the event, the great kindness of those present, and the challenges of a deep practice quickly came together to form a harmonious whole—a powerful expression of the path.

The view from Hokkaiji.

Shinko & Koryu's travels in Japan - and Daijihi Impact Report

Shinko is an ordained student of Hoko, and leads practice at Daihiji in Vienna, Austria. You can download the PDF's below for a larger view.

Callum's wedding: In late July, Hoko traveled to Estes Park, Colorado to officiate the wedding of Callum Henwood (who received precepts from Hosshin at Sanshin in 2025) and Mia O'Neal. Congratulations!

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