Sangha News for February

2/16/2026

February 2026 - In this issue:

Commentaries: Holding the universe in a demon's cave; Taking refuge in the teachings
From our directors: Board member updates; New board committee & working group

Coming up: 3-day Uchiyama Roshi memorial sesshin - register by Feb 26; "Mind Itself is Buddha" virtual discussion series with Tonen; Save-the-date for the Spring virtual dharma study intensive with Okumura Roshi

Other news: Sesshin e-book now available - Facing the Wall, Facing Ourselves
Practice recap: Sanshin Salon (recordings available); Quiet February practice
Sanshin Network: News from New York

Commentaries & resources

Dōgen’s Chinese Poems (96)
Holding the Universe in a Demon's Cave
Commentary by Shōhaku Okumura
107. Dharma Hall Discourse

The entire universe in all directions is one bright pearl.
The sun, moon, and stars resemble a rabbit and crows.
If you want to understand the complete roundness, but you don’t understand,
being in the black mountain demon’s cave is good, strenuous practice.

Although “One bright jewel (一顆明珠)” is translated in Dōgen’s Extensive Record as “one bright pearl,” I think “jewel” is a better translation than “pearl,” because this “jewel” refers to the “maṇi-jewel” which appears in many Buddhist texts and Zen literature, and which is considered to be transparent. I think a pearl is produced within a shell and is not transparent. In Sanskrit and Pali, “maṇi” means “jewel” or “gem” in general. Maṇi-ju (摩尼珠) is a compound of the transliteration of the Sanskrit word (the first two characters) plus its Chinese equivalent (the last character). In Buddhist texts, the maṇi-jewel is mentioned as one of the seven treasures owned by a wheel-turning king (cakravartī-rāja, 転輪聖王, tenrin jō-ō). It was said that as long as the king kept his maṇi-jewel with him, he would continue to be a king, but if the jewel was lost, he would lose his throne. Read more.

Arhat with wish granting jewel.

I Vow With All Beings:
Taking Refuge in the Teachings
Commentary and artwork by Hoko Karnegis

TAKING REFUGE IN THE TEACHING,
I VOW WITH ALL BEINGS
TO ENTER DEEPLY INTO THE SCRIPTURES
WITH WISDOM AS DEEP AS THE SEA.

When undertaking dharma study, we need to approach teachings with an open mind and some flexibility. We might not immediately agree with what’s being said, and that’s OK. We have the chance to investigate where our reactions and resistance are really coming from. Are they about the text or ourselves? Maybe if we accept that this teaching is true, we’d have to change how we see ourselves, or the world, or our own habits. That can be unsettling, but it’s also an opportunity to see where we’re stuck. Read more.

More new resources on the web

Sanshin source

What's new at Sanshin Source?

We're reworking the navigation on the site, and we know it's a bit difficult to get around at the moment. The site map on the homepage is probably the best way to find what you're looking for.
We've begun this page to collect resources related to Nehan-e, or Nirvana Day.
The miracle tales Doju read at the January Sanshin Salon are posted here for you to enjoy.
There's a new entry on Tonen's blog, Thinking About Dharma.
There are monthly essays on the I Vow page.

dharma recordings

Jan 4: Okumura Roshi - The role of practice, the practice of roles (OHT #260)
Jan 18: Esho - Getting out of the burning house (Life of Sawaki Roshi Pt. II)
Jan 25: Hoko - A brief denominational history (World of Soto Zen)
Jan 31: Sanshin Salon - Transmitting Tales

From our directors

Board member updates: Neil Neido Schmitzer-Torbert was welcomed to Sanshin's board of directors at their January meeting, at which Neil was also appointed the board's chair. We thank Michael Komyo Melfi for his dedicated service as Sanshin's board chair for the past two+ years, and are fortunate to have him remain on the board as an at-large member, continuing to hold and provide institutional knowledge.

Neil Schmitzer-Torbert started practicing with Sanshin in 2022, and regularly attends zazen, dharma talks, and book discussions virtually (and occasionally in person). He took the precepts as a lay practitioner at Sanshin with Hoko Karnegis in 2023. He lives in Crawfordsville, Indiana, with his family, where he teaches in the Psychology department of Wabash College. He has teaching and research interests in the neuroscience of memory and decision-making, and also offers mindfulness programming at Wabash and in his local community.

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, February 22nd, from 7 - 8:30 pm ET, using the regular Zoom link on our virtual practice page.

We also recognize and thank Karla Jigen Passalacqua for her several years of service as our board secretary. With Karla's departure from the board late last year, board member Doshin Johnson took up the position of secretary. Karla continues to be an active participant in Sanshin's virtual practice opportunities. Local practitioner Clark Kuon Kinney was also recently appointed to our board of directors; a bio will be available soon. Learn more about Sanshin's current board of directors.

New committee and working group: Also during the board's busy January meeting, board and sangha members were appointed to two work teams which will have an important impact on Sanshin's healthy functioning in the near and longer term. An ad hoc working group was formed to review the goals of the long-range plan in relation to Sanshin activities and priorities in 2026; members are Michael Komyo Melfi, Neil Schmitzer-Torbert, Hoko Karnegis, and Jeff Alberts. A building committee was formed to identify building needs to meet the Sanshin mission and vision; members are Doju Layton, Hosshin Shoaf, Clark, Kinney, Jeff Alberts, and Doshin Johnson.

Other news

New e-book published by the Dogen Institute:
Facing the Wall, Facing Ourselves by Shohaku Okumura
Understanding the practice of sesshin

With his usual depth and clarity, Okumura Roshi offers a comprehensive exploration of the significance of sesshin in Uchiyama Roshi’s style of practice, as he comments on a chapter from his teacher’s seminal work on zazen, Opening the Hand of Thought.

Sesshin is intricately interwoven with an overall approach to practice in our dharma family and throughout the Soto Zen tradition. It’s not a stand-alone special event or an opportunity for concentrating on ourselves, but a natural outgrowth of our understanding about shikantaza and its relationship to universal functioning. In order to understand sesshin and why we do it, we need to understand the larger context of our practice. Learn more & purchase an e-copy.

Practice recap

Sanshin Salon: Transmitting Tales

About twenty people came together in a sangha member's living room for our inaugural Sanshin Salon on Saturday, January 31st, an informal gathering of sangha fellowship, food and conversation, and dharma exploration in a broader social context. Between dinner and dessert, Hoko facilitated a panel discussion about storytelling in the Buddhist tradition and the human spiritual experience with two Bloomington community members, Ryo Uehara and Michael May, who have expertise in these areas, and Doju read aloud a few stories from Buddhism's vast vernacular storytelling tradition. See the recording below, and learn more about these Buddhist "tales-outside-the-sutras" here. We plan to hold another salon in early August, tentatively on the topic of "The Science of Zazen."

Quiet February practice carries on: During February at Sanshin, the regular practice schedule becomes quieter, less busy, and more focused on zazen. We let go of chanting services and Shobogenzo Zuimonki readings on weekday mornings, most Sunday dharma talks (which are replaced by one more period of zazen), and all evening practice activities. It offers an extended opportunity to focus in on the core elements of our practice. We'll return to our regular practice schedule in March.

Coming up

3-day Uchiyama Roshi memorial sesshin -- register by Feb 26
Mar 5 - 8

We dedicate our March sesshin each year to the memory of Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, the teacher of our founder, Shohaku Okumura. As he is one of the main shapers of Sanshin style, we can't help but be grateful for Uchiyama Roshi's life and practice. He died on March 13, 1998. We will hold a brief memorial service following the usual Sunday morning zazen and dharma talk, given by Okumura Roshi himself - as it happens, this will be the final talk in his long-running series on Uchiyama Roshi's foundational book Opening the Hand of Thought. Learn more & register by Feb 26.

Sokushin zebutsu: Mind itself is Buddha
Mar 12, 19, & 26 OR Mar 16, 23 & 30 online with Tonen O'Connor

Practitioners are invited to join Tonen O'Connor, longtime friend of Sanshin and resident priest emerita of the Milwaukee Zen Center, for a series of three virtual discussions exploring a central teaching in the Soto Zen tradition: "Mind Itself is Buddha" (sokushin zebutsu). We'll delve into the meaning(s) of its component terms -- Mind, Itself, and Buddha -- to discover how they work together to create the vast, beautiful and ever-changing world Buddhism speaks of. Learn more & register.

Exploring Mind itself is Buddha is particularly important within the context of this year's practice theme.

Save-the-date: Virtual dharma study intensive w/ Okumura Roshi -- Dogen's Kesa Kudoku, Part II
Apr 27 - 31 & May 3 - 7

This spring, Okumura Roshi will continue lecturing on Eihei Dogen Zenji's Kesa Kudoku (Virtue of the Kashaya), offering ten lectures on his own translation.

In this text, Dogen discusses the meaning and importance of Buddha's robe (known as kashaya or okesa) as a direct expression and transmission of the dharma, supporting ourselves and others through our day-to-day practice -- whether or not we're wearing a formal rakusu or okesa ourselves. Background materials on Okumura Roshi's first ten lectures on this text last fall will be provided to registrants.

Stay tuned to this newsletter and our Schedules & Calendars page, as registration is scheduled to open in early March.

Sanshin Network

A developing Dōgen Study Library: The Dōgen Study Library is the audio-visual archive of the ongoing Lecture Series offered by the New York Zen Community for Dōgen Study under the guidance of Rev. Issan Koyama, a Dharma heir of Okumura Roshi. The Dōgen Study Library is a resource being developed for all students of Buddhism who wish to study the scriptures most treasured by our school at their own pace, with the support of guidance and commentaries.

Serious students of Dōgen know that to understand Dōgen’s teachings, it is essential to become familiar with the vast number of Buddhist scriptures that influenced him and that he quotes extensively in his writings. Therefore, in addition to Dōgen's teachings, this library will also offer information on the fundamental teachings from Ancient Buddhism and Mahāyāna Buddhism, Kōans and other related materials. Explore the library here.

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We're grateful for the financial support of our many friends and community members worldwide. Coming together as a sangha to take care of our temple and practice in this way is simply an instance of the universe carrying out its functioning. Thank you for your participation!