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Sangha News for November

11/15/2025

Dōgen’s Chinese Poems (94)
Encouragement for the Autumn Rocks
Commentary by Shōhaku Okumura
346. Dharma Hall Discourse

The bright years of a single lifetime exist within an evening thunderbolt.
Who can bind up the ten thousand conditions, which are empty from beginning to end?Even if you sympathize with your nostrils hanging in front of your face,
still you should cherish the merit of engaging the way, even for a short time.

This jōdō was given at the end of the eighth month, the end of mid-autumn. The ninth month is called “late autumn.” In the solar calendar, this could be anywhere from the beginning to the middle of October. In Fukui Prefecture (Echizen) where Eiheiji is located, they usually begin to have autumnal tints in the middle of October. This is the time when people feel the change of the season; the colors of the mountains begin to turn red, yellow, orange, and brown. I suppose that when Dōgen gives this discourse, some leaves on the mountains are still green, but other leaves have already begun to change color. People also presage that after the short and beautiful late autumn, the long, cold, dark, and snowy winter is coming. They must work hard to make firewood as preparation for both cooking and heating, and must store as much food as they need to survive for several months, until the next spring. October is the time of harvesting, the result of hard work in the summer, and the time of preparing for the coming long winter. READ MORE.

I Vow With All Beings:
Putting on Robes
Commentary and artwork by Hoko Karnegis

When putting on robes,
I vow with all beings
To be undefiled in mind
And fulfill the way of the great sage.

Some of us do physically put on robes before going into the zendo to practice, and this kind of outward display of aspiration and intention can be very helpful and meaningful.

In this issue:

Commentaries: Encouragement for the autumn rocks; Putting on robes
From our directors: End-of-year appeal continues
Practice recap: Virtual dharma study intensive; November work day
Coming up: Rohatsu sesshin (schedule update); Ryaku fusatsu (Nov 17); Introduction to sesshin workshop (Jan 10, 2026)
Sanshin Network: The Sound That Perceives the World; Shodo's book tour

New resources on the web

Sanshin Source

What's new at Sanshin Source?

This new page points to resources for practitioners ready to go beyond the basics.
We've begun to add content to the shelter page of our section on nyoho as part of this year's practice theme, Tangible Thusness. It includes a page on altars.
There are new photos in our image gallery showing Sanshin's temple okesa under construction.
This page provides background on Hoko, Sanshin's senior dharma teacher.
There's a new entry on Tonen's blog, Thinking About Dharma.
There are weekly essays on the 108 Gates page and monthly essays on the I Vow page.

Dharma talks

Oct 5: Okumura Roshi - Creating a place to practice without trouble (OHT #259)
Oct 19: Doju - Halloween Dharma: Spooky Japanese Buddhist tales
Oct 25: Hoko - A layout of awakening: shichido garan
Nov 2: Hosshin - Boudlessness within walls: Houses, temples, & Hojoki

108 Gates

New commentaries by Hoko Karnegis:

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

Those who wish are welcome to sit in on this month's meeting on Sunday, November 23rd, from 7 - 8:30 pm ET, using the regular Zoom link on our virtual practice page.

However, we could also say that the more important robing activity is to embody the qualities of a bodhisattva, known as the six paramitas (generosity, morality, patience, energy, meditation, and wisdom). As Sawaki Rōshi reminds us, the robe and the dharma are one, so to put on a robe is to enter into the dharmakāya, or the dharma body of Buddha. This is everyone’s practice, regardless of their clothing. READ MORE

From our directors

End of year appeal goal: $25,000

Raised so far: $12,102

Practice recap

Virtual dharma study intensive
Kesa Kudoku, Pt. 1

About 80 practitioners from across the U.S. and the world participated in the most recent virtual dharma study intensive with Okumura Roshi. The ten-part lecture series ran for two hours each morning from Oct 27 - 31 and Nov 3 - 7, thoroughly exploring Dogen's important text dealing with the meaning of Buddha's robe, Kesa Kudoku.

Dates for next spring's virtual DSI, continuing to explore Kesa Kudoku, are not yet finalized, but will likely fall in late April/early May, 2026. Stay tuned to this newsletter and our Schedules & Calendars page for the latest information. For teachings and resources related to the okesa and rakusu in the Soto Zen tradition and our dharma family, you can visit our Sawaki Nyoho-e Treasury.

Garden season closing ceremony & November work day: The sangha gathered on a chilly fall Sunday for our monthly work day on Nov 9th. The day's activities began with a garden season closing ceremony held at our Bloomington Community Garden plot a few blocks away from Sanshin, followed by some end-of-season cleanup and final harvests of arugula, lettuce, and radishes. The rest of the day consisted of leaf management in the yard and nearly completing the transfer of materials into our new tool and storage sheds. Our next work day is scheduled for Sunday, Dec 14th.

Many thanks to all involved in the garden for your diligent and energetic practice this season. See you next year!

Coming up

Rohatsu sesshin -- register by Nov 23rd
Wed, Dec 3 - Mon, Dec 8 (please note updated dates)

Rohatsu sesshin offers a particularly intensive opportunity each year to come together to embody the Buddha's practice, recognizing his awakening under the bodhi tree. This year at Sanshin, Rohatsu sesshin will be carried out from Dec 3 - 8. Registration for all or a selection of full days is welcome. LEARN MORE & REGISTER

November ryaku fusatsu ceremony
Mon, Nov 17th, 7 - 8 PM ET

Ryaku fusatsu is our monthly ceremony of renewing our aspiration to embody the bodhisattva precepts throughout our lives. All are welcome, in-person and virtually, whether or not you've formally received precepts.

If attending in person, please show up by 6:50 pm, to allow enough time for offering incense and purifying rakusu or okesa (if you have one) before the ceremony.

Introduction to sesshin -- register by Jan 6th, 2026
Saturday, Jan 10th, 2026

This one-day workshop, facilitated by Dōju Layton, offers participants an opportunity to enter the practice of sesshin in the Sōtō Zen tradition transmitted through Kōshō Uchiyama Rōshi and Shōhaku Okumura Rōshi. Those who are interested in our full 3-, 5-, and 7-day sesshins, but may feel apprehensive, are particularly encouraged to participate. Newcomers and experienced practitioners who wish to deepen their understanding of Sanshin-style sesshin are welcome. LEARN MORE & REGISTER

Sanshin Network

Shodo's book tour for Open Reality: Shodo Spring, a dharma heir of Okumura Roshi and founder of Mountains and Waters Alliance, is on tour in support of her recently published book, Open Reality: Navigating the Polycrisis Together With All Beings. See her recent blog post HERE, recounting her travels so far and pointing to upcoming events. Some of her recent talks on the book can be found on her Youtube channel.

Available for pre-order: The Sound That Perceives the World
Kosho Uchiyama, translated by Howard Lazzarini with foreword by Shohaku Okumura

This book offers musings and autobiographically informed commentary on the human condition through the lens of the Kannon-gyo—chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra—connecting Zen and Pure Land Buddhism through the practice of venerating and chanting the names of buddhas and bodhisattvas.

The Kannon-gyo is chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra, and its focus is the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara, known in China as Guanyin, and in Japan as Kannon or Kanzeon. The text describes the many ways in which calling out the bodhisattva’s name--Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu—can relieve suffering.

Most schools of Zen Buddhism, and especially the Soto school, eschew such practices as chanting the names of buddhas and bodhisattvas, along with venerating such figures.
The eminent Soto Zen master Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, however, while doing hard physical labor early in his career, could not practice zazen—that is, formal sitting meditation. He came to appreciate the Kannon-gyo and the practices related to it. In particular, he took to reciting Kannon’s name, as recommended in the text of the Kannon-gyo.

Later in life, Uchiyama Roshi suffered from illness that again prevented him from practicing formal Zen, so he returned to the Kannon-gyo and the practice of chanting. He went so far as to assert that chanting Kannon’s name is completely equivalent to zazen, that the two practices are simply two sides of the same coin—a revolutionary idea seemingly at odds with Zen.

Chanting practice is especially accessible, as it can be done while working, traveling, or suffering from illness, and other activities that would ordinarily get in the way of formal Zen practice.

With these practices, the Kannon-gyo, and Kannon herself as a backdrop, Uchiyama Roshi muses about the purposes of religion, the goals of religious practice, and the meaning of enlightenment—and their relation to suffering itself.

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