Dogen's Chinese Poems (75)
In Stagnant Water a Dragon Hides
Dharma Hall Discourse on the Fifteenth day of the Second Month (Parinirvana Day, 1246)

On various people’s faces hang Gautama’s eyes,
but still they beat their breasts with fists in empty grieving.
I cannot bear the heavenly demon, or the demon of life and death,
who roll around on the floor with laughter seven or eight times at seeing Buddha [dying].

This Dharma hall discourse was given in 1246 on Parinirvāṇa Day, the 15th day of the second month. Dōgen’s six Dharma hall discourses on Parinirvāṇa Day are included in Dōgen’s Extensive Record. This is the second one. In the 7th month of 1243, Dōgen and his sangha moved from Kyoto to Echizen. They stayed at Yoshimine-dera and Yamashibu until their new temple Daibutsuji was constructed in 1244. They moved to the new temple in the fall of the year. In 1245, they held the first three-month summer practice period in Echizen. This discourse was given in the second month of 1246. During this year, Dōgen wrote only one fascicle of Shōbōgenzō, Leaving Home (出家, Shukke) but gave seventy-four Dharma hall discourses. On 15th day of the 6th month of this year, Dōgen publicized Chiji Shingi (知事清規) and on the same day, he changed his temple’s name from Daibutsuji to Eiheiji. It seems he had completed the preparation for establishing a monastic system and that practice in accordance with the traditional monastic regulations (清規) was ready to begin.

Verse 47 of Kuchūgen, which I introduced in December 2021, was the final dharma discourse on Nirvāṇa Day, given in 1252, a year before Dōgen’s death. In that discourse, Dōgen said nirvāṇa is neither departing nor entering the world, neither birth nor extinction, neither coming nor going. The buddha entered nirvāṇa but he always abides on Vulture Peak. In other words, nirvāṇa is the intersection of the impermanence of his rūpa-body and the eternity of his dharma-body.
READ MORE

​Earthquake relief funds for Japanese temples: On New Year's Day, the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture was hit by a catastrophic earthquake, resulting in many casualties.  The results of this natural disaster are still being felt as people begin working on recovery and restoration.  We have two opportunities to help Soto Zen temples that sustained heavy damage as a result of the earthquake: a fundraiser organized by the North American office of Sotoshu, for Sojiji-Soin, and another organized by Sanshin network member Jisho Takahashi, for two temples with connections to Sanshin. 
LEARN MORE AND MAKE YOUR GIFT

When all candels be out, all cats be grey.

A Western ancestor said, "When all candles are out, all cats are grey."  We should understand that candles are both wisdom and delusion, and grey is both wisdom and delusion.  This does not mean that candles and grey are the same thing.  It does not mean they are not the same thing.  We must see clearly the nature of candles and grey in order to go beyond candles and grey.

When the candle of desire is extinguished, nirvana is there.  When the candle of wisdom is extinguished, delusion and discrimination are there.  Which grey cat comes in when all candles are out?  How can we know that this is so?  Do not discriminate between the grey cat that comes in when the candle is out and another cat.  Grey is the wisdom of emptiness.  The burning candle hinders this grey cat.

However, the true grey cat throws no shadow.  This is because the Buddha eye of wisdom is unhindered.  We should investigate grey cats so that we encounter them intimately rather than simply seeing their shadows.  Like the Tathagatha himself, the grey cat is beyond all in and out, coming and going.  In the great empty darkness, the grey cat is all cats of all colors.

Candles illuminate the myriad forms and hundred grasses, and candles hide grey cats.  Candles illuminate grey cats, and do not hide the myriad forms and hundred grasses.  We should investigate this deeply.
    --Hoko

​Parinirvana Day 2024: In the heart of our "quiet February" practice schedule, during which most Sundays simply consisted of two periods of zazen with no dharma talk, we recognized Shakyamuni Buddha's death and parinirvana on Sunday, Feb 18th with a talk from Hoko ("Everyday Parinirvana"), a chanting service including the Heart Sutra and the Verse of Homage to Buddha's Relics, incense offerings from the sangha, and a potluck lunch. 

"Six Points" discussion series: On the evening of Thursday, March 28th, we'll carry out the first of a series of informal discussions related to our focus this year on lineage & legacy. Following a period of zazen at 6:30 pm EDT, we'll consider the first of Sanshin's six points of practice, which we inherit from our immediate dharma ancestors: zazen in the context of Buddha's teachings. How can we practice with the common thread that runs from the teachings of Shakyamuni through the Mahayana tradition, the teachings of Dogen Zenji, Sawaki and Uchiyama Roshis, down to Okumura Roshi and the practice of shikantaza at Sanshin and around the world today? 

​Virtual and in-person participation is welcome; no registration required. For a complete schedule of the year's discussion evenings and more, visit our lineage & legacy webpage.

​Ango with Esho begins in April: Our annual ango, or practice period, begins 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.

Muso's passing: On Sunday, February 18, 2024, at approximately 5:30 p.m. PST, Muso Jim Biggs passed away. He was a very good friend to many of us, a strong practitioner and supporter of our practice and practice centers.

Remembrance from Okumura Roshi: "In 1998, on March 13, Uchiyama Roshi passed away. In April, I had a memorial sesshin for my teacher. Muso Jim Biggs was among the several people who joined the sesshin. That was the first time I met him. The following year, he invited me to stay at his apartment in Santa Monica for one year. We sat together each morning, except when I traveled to teach, and we had a monthly sesshin. When Sanshinji was established, he moved here and became my disciple. He was a dedicated zazen practitioner and a good friend of mine.​"

Remembrance from Norma Horin Fogelberg: "Jim was an intrepid adventurer. For several years, he regularly swam across the San Francisco Bay to Alcatraz and back. He walked a good portion of the length of Italy and hiked the Camino de Santiago across France, Spain, and Portugal several times. He traveled spiritually as well. When he became a Buddhist priest, he lived and studied at the training temple Bukkokuji in Japan. He learned to craft and play beautiful violins and violas, sang in many choirs, and, in the last two years, took up sketching and painting the hills and valleys of Sonoma, CA. Whatever Jim pursued, he did it wholeheartedly. Jim was a true Renaissance man, and a wonderful friend to many."

​Continuing Adding Beauty to Brocade talk series: Teijo Munnich of Great Tree Zen Women's Temple has invited several contributors to the Sanshin Network book Adding Beauty to Brocade to give dharma talks expanding on the essays they wrote for that book. Recordings of several of these talks can be found on Great Tree's Youtube channel, including the latest from Eido Reinhart (who also serves as one of Sanshin's board members) on "takuhatsu in everday life."

Successful 2023 annual fund campaign: We offer our deepest gratitude to everyone for helping Sanshin Zen Community end the year on a stronger financial footing. We have been working very hard to make up ground for revenues lost due to the pandemic. For the first time, Sanshin formed an annual campaign committee, with a goal of raising $25,000 by the end of last year to support our practice.  Because of your generosity, we surpassed our goal!

Thank you to everyone who supported our efforts and especially to members of the campaign committee: Norma Fogelberg, Mark Fraley, Tonen O’Connor, Komyo Melfi,
Laura Miller, Karla Passalacqua, Henry Coffey, Neil Chase, Gene Elias, and Jeff Alberts.

Our dharma community’s generosity supports the everyday life of Sanshin as we work together to take care of our facilities, make practice resources available, and simply
gather for zazen, work and study.  Read on in this newsletter and watch our website for a variety of exciting new practice opportunities in 2024.  We’ll be focusing on our lineage & legacy, offering Sangha Stewardship workshops for practice leaders and board members around the region, and continuing development of our newest division, the Sawaki Nyoho-e Treasury. We look forward to your participation in these activities as well as our regular weekly practice, either virtually or in person.  It’s your involvement that makes these things possible.

Hoko Karnegis, Senior Dharma Teacher
Komyo Melfi, Board President
Mark Fraley, Annual Campaign Chair

Introducing Zenki: Zenki Kathleen Batson has been appointed to fill the out-of-lineage clergy seat on Sanshin's board of directors.  Zenki is a Soto Zen Buddhist priest in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki and is Vice-Abbess of the Chapel Hill Zen Center in North Carolina. She grew up in metro Detroit and first tried meditating in sixth grade after reading Shunryu Suzuki’s book, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. She began developing a consistent meditation practice in her early 20s and was introduced to Dogen’s writings in a college course on Taoism and Zen Buddhism taught by Tom Kasulis at Northland College. She first received the Precepts in 1995 at a retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh and first heard Okumura Roshi speak at MZMC in the 1990’s. She began practicing with her teacher Josho Pat Phelan in 2000. She received zaike tokudo in 2002, shukke tokudo in 2015, was shuso in 2019, and received Dharma transmission from her teacher on January 1, 2023. Zenki deeply appreciates Okumura Roshi’s work and has attended several of his genzo-e retreats over the last two decades. In her free time, she enjoys making music and art and spending time camping and kayaking calm waters. She lives in Durham, NC with her husband, son, and a cat. 

Two new chapters available: New translations of Chapters Two and Three of A Study of the Kesa by Echu Kyuma are now linked from our Sawaki Nyoho-e Treasury site.  Chapter Two covers the names of the okesa, while Chapter Three deals with appropriate materials.  The book is being translated by Koun Franz and Yuko Okumura, and new chapters are posted as translations are completed.  The Sawaki Nyoho-e Treasury is a division of Sanshin that works to accurately preserve, embody and transmit Kodo Sawaki’s nyoho-e teachings about sewing, wearing and encountering Buddha’s robe.

New resource for discussion groups: 

​





​Hoko's comments and discussion questions about the Ippyakuhachi Homyomon, or 108 Gates of Dharma Illumination, are now being posted to Sanshin's website on a weekly basis for use by dharma discussion groups or individual practitioners.  "I hope it's helpful particularly for small regional sanghas that may not have teachers or may be looking for new things to talk about," she says.  "The 108 Gates cover such a broad territory, and there's a lot here for folks to dig into that relates directly to our daily practice life.  Groups can take up a new gate each week, read the commentary together or before their meetings, and use the discussion questions as a springboard for a conversation about what it means for them."

The text appears as the 11th fascicle of the 12 fascicle version of Dogen Zenji’s Shobogenzo.  He didn't compile the list himself; it's mostly a long quote from another text called the Sutra of Collected Past Deeds of the Buddha.  Dogen wrote a final paragraph recommending that we investigate these gates thoroughly.  

Hoko has been talking about the gates one by one since 2016.  New gate commentaries, along with discussion questions and suggestions for further reading, go up on Mondays.

 ​"Six points of practice" discussion series begins next month: Sanshin's six points of practice are direct legacies of the last three holders of our lineage: Okumura, Uchiyama and Sawaki Roshis.  Throughout this year of our focus on lineage and legacy, join us for a series of informal discussions aimed at exploring how each of these points works in our everyday practice lives. On March 28th, following a period of zazen, we'll consider the first point: zazen in the context of Buddha's teachings. Virtual and in-person participation is welcome; no registration required. For a complete schedule of the year's discussion evenings and more, please visit our lineage & legacy webpage.

​Sangha Stewardship workshop (Apr 4 & 5): As part of our work practice in 2024, Sanshin will be offering two short workshops on bodhisattva leadership as experienced through the positions of sangha stewards, both practice leaders and administrative leaders.  On April 5th and 6th, Hoko will lead a workshop exploring the roles of the tenzo ​(head cook) and ino (practice manager). The workshop will include both higher-level doctrinal context and practical applications.  This session is also particularly aimed at small sanghas in our region which may be ready to add more structure to their communities or to take on more traditional practices in the context of their own contemporary circumstances and available resources. To learn more about this year's new offerings and to register for the upcoming workshop, please visit our Sangha Stewardship webpage.

Sanshin network and hossenshiki at Kotaiji: Eisho Amaya, a student of Densho Quintero in Colombia, completed his hossenshiki ceremony at Kotaiji in Nagasaki, Japan, in mid-January. Also present in the ceremony were two ordained students of Okumura Roshi, Gyoriki Herskamp and Jikei Kido, who have been participating in practice periods at Kotaiji. 

Belgian book study: Practitioners at the Centre Shikantaza in Mons, Belgium, founded and led by Mokusho Depreay, have been studying Okumura Roshi's e-book "The Structure of the Self in Mahayana Buddhism."

Lineage & legacy in 2024: Last year in March, we marked Uchiyama Roshi's 25th memorial. Next year in December, we'll mark Sawaki Roshi's 60th memorial. Here in between in 2024, we're taking the opportunity to focus throughout the year on lineage & legacy​, in support of our continuing discernment about who we are as a dharma family, what we bring to the national and international Soto Zen conversation, and how our immediate ancestors have laid the groundwork for the practice we carry on today. Sanshin's six points of practice are direct legacies of the last three holders of our lineage, Okumura, Uchiyama and Sawaki Roshis.  Throughout this year, join us in-person or virtually for a series of informal discussions aimed at exploring how each of these points works in our everyday practice lives.  We'll see how they came to be centralized in our practice, how they relate to other teachings, and what it means to actually take them on for ourselves. For full information on the year's discussion schedule and more, please refer to our lineage & legacy webpage.

 One of the donors, Elaine, grew up in the home that now serves as headquarters for the Sycamore Land Trust, a conservation organization in Bloomington, where the bell previously resided. The bell came into her family's hands through the work and travel of her father, who ran the Southeast Asian studies program at Indiana University. 

Sanshin practitioner Doju Layton currently works as a land steward for the Sycamore Land Trust, and served as the doshi for the ceremony due to this connection. In his own remarks after the ceremony, Doju said, "The sort of fundamental theme of our practice here is that we work on behalf of all beings, and of course at Sycamore Land Trust, we are trying to do the same thing, in a slightly different way." 

Shohaku Okumura

Okumura Roshi’s virtual talk: In mid-November Sanshin held a joint Sunday practice with the Minnesota Zen Center, since Okumura Roshi had been asked to give a talk in honor of that center’s 50-year anniversary. He served as head teacher there in the mid 1990s, and for this talk he provided a commentary on founder Dainin Katagiri’s death poem.

Rohatsu sesshin: Five participants (three regional and two local) sat the entire seven-day sesshin, with another six regular sangha members joining us for one or more partial days.  As usual, on the final night we sat until midnight and closed with a brief chanting service, which we repeated following full sangha practice on the next Sunsday.

We inaugurated three new tables, built by Hosshin Shoaf and Jeff Seikan Alberts, for our oryoki meals, as well as two drop-down hallway shelves built by Komyo Melfi for meal staging.  We continue to refine our oryoki practice, which was reinstated with the September sesshin after many years of buffet meals at the rental unit next door.  Practitioners have picked it up quickly and are taking increasing responsibility for setup, cooking and forms.  In this way we can continue to welcome newer practitioners and fold them into a stable existing practice structure.

Holiday closures: Sanshin will be closed, with no practice activities or administrative work going on.

• December 24 - 26 for Christmas
• January 1 - 3 for New Year

In this issue:​

• Okumura Roshi: In accord
• Just for fun:  Ye cannot see the wood for trees
• ​Practice recap: Okumura Roshi's virtual talk; Rohatsu sesshin
• Coming up: Holiday closures; Sawaki Roshi memorial; ryaku fusatsu; Intro to Zen
• American religious landscape:  Americans value hobbies, community, money and work over religion
• Sanshin Network: News from Italy and Minnesota

Ye can not see the wood for trees.

A Western ancestor warned, "Ye can not see the wood for trees."  Indeed, to be blind in this way is truly pitiable!  It is certainly possible not to see the wood, but to see only the trees is to ignore the life of the forest.  Ordinary beings see only leaves and branches and don't even dream of the existence of the wood.  If the eye of Buddha was open, we would see that the forest is nothing other than the trees and the trees are nothing other than the forest.  We should understand that the forest and the trees are two sides of one reality that arise together.  To see only the trees and not the wood is to be caught in the delusion of separation.  

There is no wood before trees.  However, do not think that trees are not distinct from the wood.  You cannot see the wood without trees; you can only see the wood with trees.  The wood is for trees and the trees are for wood.  The life of the wood is nothing other than the life of trees; wood and trees do not hinder each other.  Do not close one eye to see the wood and fail to see the trees.  Open both eyes to observe the life of trees in the wood and the life of the wood in trees.

And yet, in the moment of tree, there is nothing but tree and in the moment of wood, there is nothing but wood.  Each is completely itself.  Four trees or forty trees are one forest, and four trees or forty trees are four or forty trees.  Who would deny this?  Whether we would or would not, the wood knots itself into a network of trees and the trees cannot not knot themselves into a network of forest.  Where is the tree?  Where is the wood?  When they become one piece, if you call their names you may only hear the reply of the wind.

In the East, the sangha* is a forest of many individual trees functioning completely to carry out the virtue of peace and harmony.  There, an ancient buddha said that when more than four monks gather together, they form a sangha, which is a priceless treasure of the country.  Four monks or forty monks are one sangha, and four monks or forty monks are four or forty monks.  If I call your name, how do you reply?  Do you obscure the forest?  Are you obscured by the forest?  Consider this carefully.
  -- Hoko

* Sorin 叢林 (sangha), lit. thicket or grove of trees.

Americans value hobbies, community, money and work over religion: Recent research on trends in Americans' personal values continues to show the decline in the perceived importance of religion over the past few decades.  According to a new Gallup report, "Out of eight life aspects updated, Americans rated seven as having equal or more importance in their lives now than 20 years ago -- community activities, hobbies or recreational activities, your money, your work, your friends, your health, and your family.  The only aspect of life tested showing a significant decline in importance was 'your religion.'”  While Americans appear to have moved away from certain social norms and have become less religious, they have become more attached to other aspects of their daily lives -- including hobbies, community activities, money and work.  READ MORE
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Representatives of the US Embassy of the Holy See joined a meeting of Encounters: Pathways to Interfaith Dialogue at Centro Zen Anshin, where high school students learned about the importance of places of worship as not only religious spaces but also as social reference points. There was also a brainstorming with students, and a Q&A session led by Doryu Cappelli and Gyoetsu Epifanìa. They gave their personal testimony about Buddhism and the importance of the small temple.

Shohaku Okumura

Dōgen’s Chinese Poems (71)
The Importance of Zazen
375.  Dharma Hall Discourse

The essence of patch-robed monks’ study of the way is meditation.
The dharma of dropping off body and mind has been transmitted to the present.
All right and wrong are never executed.
[Bodhidharma’s arrival in China in] the years of Universal Penetration is not the same as a petty matter.

This Dharma hall discourse was probably given during the summer practice period in 1250, three years before Dōgen Zenji’s passing away. Seven years had passed since he had moved from Fukakusa near Kyoto to the remote mountains in Echizen.

Dōgen and his sangha moved to Echizen in the 7th month in 1243. Until the next spring, in 1244, they stayed at Yoshiminedera and Yamashibu — both old, small temples. Since they did not have monastery buildings, Dōgen focused on writing fascicles of Shōbōgenzō. Among them, he wrote Shōbōgenzō Zazengi (坐禅儀, Standards of Zazen). To the assembly, he presented Shōbōgenzō Zazenshin (坐禅箴, Acupuncture needle of Zazen), written in 1242. Based on these writings, I suppose that he revised The Way of Zazen Recommended Universally (普勧坐禅儀, Fukanzazengi). Thus, he accomplished his final and decisive expressions of the instructions for zazen practice.   READ MORE

From the Treasurer
Gene Kishin Elias

I live in the forest of Southern Indiana.  Fall and spring are by far the busiest times of year for me.  Fall especially – wood to stack up for the winter, leaves to mulch for the garden and various other chores to get ready for the cold weather. We’ve already had a hard freeze.  The squirrels are scrambling as well.  Nut production is down this year; on my back deck, some years I get several hundred nuts falling from the trees daily.  This year, it's maybe 20 a day.

Like the seasons, Sanshin finances have ebbs and flows.  September was a good month for our community; enough money came in from our programs and donations to cover all of our expenses.  October was not quite as good as we had to dip into our savings to cover all of the bills,  Less than $700 was needed to cover them, so it wasn't too bad.

Once I get my wood stacked and the leaves mulched, I’ll be back to work on our 2024 budget.  I’ve already submitted a preliminary budget to the board, and since then I’ve gotten good feedback and updates to send to the board before our December meeting.

Have a great Thanksgiving holiday, and if you have questions or comments please email me.  Thank you for your support, and may your life be filled with kindness, joy and magnanimity.

Many hands make light work.

A Western ancestor said, "Many hands make light work."  We should understand that all hands are doing the work of the light at all times and in all places.  The work of the hands is nothing other than the complete functioning of the light.  The light manifests itself through the work of the hands, and the hands completely realize the light.  The many hands are necessary to the light because they make it work.  However, do not think that there are many hands or few hands.  All hands are one hand.  Thus no hand carries the entire responsibility for the work and light  work does not become heavy.  Because the light shines continuously without obstruction, the working of the light is always light work.

We must practice our understanding that the hands and the light are completely one piece.  The thousand hands of Kannon are nothing other than the manifestation of the light, and the light is nothing other than the thousand hands of Kannon as they wave, point or clap.  The hands of fences, walls, tiles and pebbles are also like this.  They make light-work and yet they do not make anything.  If we can see the light-work we illuminate the ten-direction dharma world.  

And yet, there is light-work which is light and light-work which is dark.  Within light-work which is light, there are many hands.  Within light-work which is dark, there are no hands.  Our hands must practice and understand light-work which is light, light-work which is dark, and light-work which is beyond light and dark.  By their nature, all hands are working together without a gap and with none left out.  When the light is handed to us, we should investigate it thoroughly.   
-- Hoko

New article by Okumura Roshi:  The most current issue of Buddhadharma takes as its theme "Glimpses of Buddha nature" and features a short piece by Okumura Roshi entitled "How Insentient Beings Expound Dharma."  The article is also available here on the Lion's Roar website. 

Gyoetsu tells her story:  Gyoetsu Epifania from Centro Zen Anshin is featured in a new web series celebrating women’s creativity, passion, and initiative.  "She has danced with the best of the best dancers, but she realized she wanted to do more for others - so she changed her practice to the power of Zen."

Shohaku Okumura

Dōgen’s Chinese Poems (70)

• 363.  Dharma Hall Discourse for the Memorial for My Nurturing Father, Counselor of State Minamoto


• Eihei’s staff is a branch of plum blossoms.

It is from a seed planted in the Tenryaku era,
but the fragrance of its five petals endures without fading up to the present.
Its roots, stems, and fruit are truly
​far-reaching

Dōgen gave this verse on the anniversary of his father Minamoto Michitomo’s death, the 2nd day of the 9th month in 1250.  Dōgen Zenji did not talk or write much about his family. We don’t even have reliable information about the identities of his father and mother. This verse and another in 1252 (discourse 524) were given on the occasion of the memorial service for his father Minamoto Michitomo (源通具, 1171–1227). Dōgen also gave Dharma hall discourses for his mother: Dharma hall discourse 409 in 1251 and discourse 478 in 1252. His father is mentioned only by his family name and the name of the highest position his father occupied in the imperial court, asō (亜相, assistant minister). Asō is a Chinese name for the Japanese term dainagon (大納言). We translated the position as “Counselor.” In this discourse, Dōgen calls Michitomo “ikufu (育父),” meaning “nurturing father.” From the time of Menzan’s work in the eighteenth century until recently, many scholars thought that Michitomo’s father Michichika (通親, 1149–1202) was Dōgen’s real father, and that Michitomo fostered Dōgen after Michichika died, when Dōgen was two years old. Today many scholars think that Michitomo was indeed his Dōgen’s real father.  READ MORE

In This Issue:

• Okumura Roshi: In gratitude to my father
• Practice recap: Work day, Hoko's visits, Okumura Roshi in Pennsylvania
• Coming up: Virtual dharma study intensive, Rohatsu sesshin
• American religious landscape:  Religion and wellbeing
• Sanshin Network: News from California, Colombia, Arkansas, France, Austria and Italy
  
  

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Shotai's passing:  Shotai de la Rosa, one of the founders of the Soto Zen community in Bogota, passed away in late September from a heart attack.  She was at Metta Forest Monastery in California at the time.  She became a Zen Buddhist in 1989 and from the 1990s onwards she first studied Zen under Dokusho Villalba (Spain) and Fausto Taiten Guareshiin (Italy), then in the USA and finally at the Aichi Senmon Niso-doin, Nagoya, Japan.

South America to middle America:  Jakusho from Venezuela completed his temporary residency at Sanshin and spent a week practicing with Shoryu at Gyobutsuji in Arkansas before heading home.  Hoko drove him there from Indiana so that he could see a bit of middle America and the Ozark mountains.

Italians honor Keizan:  Centro Zen Anshin representatives attended Sotoshu's 700th memorial observances for Keizan Zenji in Paris.  Keizan Zenji is considered one of the two founders of Soto Zen.

Shohaku Okumura

Fall appeal underway:  If we know how to contact you by land mail or email, you'll have received our fall appeal letter.  Now that we've successfully completed our leadership transition and are working to implement the strategies we've developed over the last three years, part of determining the way forward is committing to maintain real financial stability.  Contributing to our Annual Fund appeal is an easy way to provide your financial support to Sanshin.  You'll be helping to replenish the emergency funds we needed to spend during the pandemic in order to preserve our practice and keep it going, allowing everyone to continue to practice together, first virtually and then in person once again.  Your gift also supports the everyday life of Sanshin as we work together to take care of our facilities, make practice resources available, and simply gather for zazen, work and study.  Please make your gift today.

September sesshin restarts oryoki practice:  Fourteen participants were part of the successful relaunch of oryoki practice during sesshin after many years.  When Sanshin stopped renting the building next door, it lost the use of the larger kitchen and meals area, so returning to oryoki practice in the zendo for sesshin meals was the best option.  The process and style are taken from what's done at Antaiji in Japan.  Practice leaders planned and prepared for some time beforehand to ensure that the re-introduction would be as minimally disruptive as possible, and while it was necessary to break the usual complete silence in order to train and direct participants for the first few meals, folks quickly picked up the new systems and were able to fully enter into it as practice. 

Practitioners reported feeling more connected as a community taking meals this way than going through a buffet line and eating and washing up as individuals as before.  Everything from the tenzo cooking right next door to the zendo, to remaining the the same building and the same room throughout the day, to cooperating on setup, to the need to hand things to and serve each other during meals allowed for the investigation of interconnectedness through community that is at the heart of Sanshin's mission.

There are a few challenges to resolve before the Rohatsu sesshin, but this experience proved that oryoki practice can be done within the framework of sesshin as we carry it out.  We now have a group of regular sesshin participants who are experienced with meal practice and can help newcomers fold in.

Soto Zen anniversary in South America: Densho reports from Lima, where he served as ino for the 120th Anniversary of Soto Zen in South America.  "Nine members of our sangha attended the activities, which included the X Latin American Zen Encounter.  It was a very nice opportunity to meet people from diverse countries for this important celebration. We had a sesshin, lectures, Dharma talks, cultural events, and the formal ceremonies."  Densho leads the Soto Zen Colombia community.

Shohaku Okumura

Dōgen’s Chinese Poems (67)
Not Designing Buddha
338. Dharma Hall Discourse

In seeking for Buddhahood through Zen practice, have no designs on becoming a buddha.
If you practice Zen by designing a buddha, Buddha becomes increasingly estranged.
When the tile is shattered and the mirror vanishes, where is your face?
Thereupon we understand that reaching here requires some effort. 

“Having designs on becoming a buddha (圖佛, zu butsu),” and “the tile and mirror” are taken from the kōan story of “Polishing a tile for making a mirror (磨塼作鏡, masen sakyō),”  a kōan important to Dōgen Zenji for expressing the meaning of zazen practice. He quotes this story twice in Shōbōgenzō: Kokyō (古鏡, Ancient Mirror) and Zazenshin (坐禅箴, Acupuncture Needle of Zazen). In Dōgen’s Extensive Record (永平広録, Eiheikōroku) he mentioned this expression in seven dharma hall discourses. All of them were given after he moved to Echizen and established Eiheiji. The first four jōdō (270, 277, 279, 281) were given in 1248. The next two (338, 345) were given in 1249, and the final one (453) was given in 1251. In Volume 9, Juko (Praising verses of ancient kōans), case 38 is about this story. In Volume 10, he used the expressions from this story in the poem given to a monk from Mt. Koya (see Kuchūgen 34). Dōgen also talked about this story in Zuimonki, 3–17

READ MORE​

About 60 in-person attendees participated in a much-anticipated weekend of reconnection, updates, discussions, and ceremonies during the Platinum Celebration, marking Sanshin's 20th anniversary as well as the transfer of practice leadership from Okumura Roshi to Hoko and the importance of nyoho sewing practice led by Yuko Okumura. 

​World renowned pianist and 2007 lay precepts recipient Yael Weiss kicked off the weekend with a Concert Conversation featuring her commissioning project, 32 Bright Clouds.  The following day included morning zazen and liturgy, a presentation and discussion of the five strategies of Sanshin's strategic plan, and author readings from the just-published collaborative book Adding Beauty to Brocade, before founder Shohaku Okumura's stepping down ceremony as abbot.  The final morning featured a display of dharma robes curated and presented by Yuko Okumura, and Hoko's stepping up ceremony.  The event concluded with the drawing for an art piece donated by well-known artist Mayumi Oda, from which Shinko Hagn of Vienna emerged the delighted winner. 

• If you participated in person or virtually and have feedback and messages to share, please do that here.
• Relive the weekend's events on our YouTube channel.
• Stay tuned for a revamped Platinum Celebration webpage, which will become an online memory book. 

Zendo ceiling upgrade:  Just in time for the opening of the Platinum Celebration, Hosshin completed work on the redesigned zendo ceiling.  On the opening day of Rohatsu sesshin last December, water leaking from the ceiling into the middle of the floor closed the zendo for a couple of days.  The new ceiling, made of wood panels and strips of wood molding, is stronger and much better looking than the original, and ties together the look of the bamboo wainscoting, the darker trim and the sage green walls.  Hosshin has also begun work on a wooden valance over the altar that helps to delineate the space.

Shuso ceremonies demonstrate dharma mastery:  Shinko's term as shuso ended with a weekend of ceremonies.  During the honsoku gyocha, or formal tea, Konjin Godwin, Director of the Soto Zen Buddhism International Center in San Francisco, gave a talk on Shinko's chosen case from the Shoyoroku, or Book of Serenity.  On the following morning the sangha gathered for the hossenshiki, at which he answered questions on the case.  Completion of the hossenshiki and the term of service as shuso is a necessary step for novices as they move toward completing their training and dharma transmission to become fully recognized dharma teachers authorized by the denomination.  

Though Shinko had to return to Vienna directly following the ceremonies, the ango itself continued through the precepts retreat and jukai-e a few weeks later.

Three kaitei take lay precepts: Following a five-day retreat focused on studying and practicing with the sixteen bodhisattva precepts, three people received them from Hoko in the annual jukai ceremony.  Kaitei also received a dharma name and a rakusu, or small robe, which they sewed beforehand, as well as the lineage chart they copied themselves by hand during the retreat.  All three recipients are local or regional to Sanshin.

The next opportunity to receive lay precepts will begin next spring.  Full in-person attendance at both the weeklong sewing retreat in April and the precepts retreat in July are required.

Shohaku Okumura

Dōgen’s Chinese Poems (66)
A Fire Boy’s Dedicated Play
299.  Dharma Hall Discourse in Appreciation of the Previous Director

The fire boy comes seeking fire.
With complete dedication, do not stop when you have only seen the smoke.
Play with the golden star (Venus), manifesting so brightly.
A December plum blooms colorfully on the tip of an old branch.

The position of the director is the highest among all temple administrators, and has the overall responsibility for temple affairs. The person appointed to this position must be a capable and experienced monk. Xuanze was such a person, but during the three years since joining Fayan’s monastery, he had never attended dharma gatherings such as dharma hall discourses (jōdō), minor gatherings (shōsan), etc. to listen to Fayan’s dharma teachings. He did not visit the abbot’s room to ask dharma questions. When asked the reason, Xuanze said that he had attained awakening when he practiced with another master in the past, therefore he did not need to listen to other teacher’s dharma teachings anymore.

Fayan asked with which saying he had attained awakening. According to Xuanze, he asked his previous teacher “What is the self of this student [Xuanze himself]?” Then the teacher said, “The fire boy comes seeking fire.”  READ MORE

Weekend of June 23, 2023 recognizing:

• Sanshin's 20th anniversary
• Shohaku Okumura making a transition from abbot to founding teacher
• Yuko Okumura stepping back as Sanshin's main dharma ​sewing teacher
• Hoko taking leadership of the day-to-day practice
• Release of new Sanshin Network collaborative book Adding Beauty to Brocade on the teachings of the Bodaisatta Shishobo.

Sanshin's 20th anniversary celebration will give our community the chance to connect, greet old and new friends, reflect on twenty years of practice, and look ahead to Sanshin's future.  Below you'll find the schedule of events for the weekend and more information on the presenters and activities as well as the tools for entering the drawing for artwork by Mayumi Oda and sponsoring a congratulatory message in the printed program.
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In person event registration has closed. Virtual attendance does not require registration.  We will post virtual attendance information on the Platinum and virtual practice pages before the events begin. 
Thank you for your participation!

Zuise completed: Kyoku Lutz (Germany) and Mokusho Depreay (Belgium) have completed zuise at each of Sotoshu’s two head temples in Japan.  They are now authorized to fully function as recognized dharma teachers.  Zuise had been delayed for a number of Western teachers for several years because of the pandemic, so it’s good to finally close the loop on their credentialing process.

New Sanshin Network collaborative book:  In this volume, sixteen teachers from around the network respond to Okumura Roshi's opening essay on Bodaisatta Shishobo (Four Embracing Actions of the Bodhisattva).  The official publication date of Adding Beauty to Brocade is Saturday, June 24 to coincide with our Platinum Celebration.  Order the print version through online resellers, such as Bookshop.org; your local bookseller may also be willing to special order copies of the book for you.  Print copies retail for $20.00 USD. An e-book version will be available on the Dōgen Institute’s podia site. The e-book version is provided as a non-printable PDF, and retails for $16.99 USD.