Sangha News for January 2024

1/16/2024

A Lion Knows a Lion's Roar

Shohaku Okumura

Dōgen’s Chinese Poems (73)
A Lion Knows a Lion's Roar
254. Dharma Hall Discourse

The sound of a lion’s roar is known by a lion.
The Dharma of the Dharma King is the same.
Everyone in the assembly is a person of saindhava,
so Mañjuśrī must pound the block a second time.

This is a Dharma hall discourse on the well-known kōan which appears in Case 92 of the Blue Cliff Record (碧巌録, Hekiganroku) and in Case 1 of the Book of Serenity (従容録, Shōyōroku).

Yunmen (雲門, Unmon) school master Xuedou Chungxian (雪竇重顕, Secchō Juken, 980–1052) collected one hundred kōans and composed a verse on each case. This collection is called Xuedou’s Verses Praising Ancient Kōans (雪竇頌古, Secchō Juko). Later, Rinzai Zen master Yuanwu Keqin (圜悟克勤, Engo Kokugon, 1063–1135) gave teishō on these kōans and verses. Yuanwu’s teishō on the kōans, together with Xuedou’s verses became the Blue Cliff Record. According to Dōgen’s biography, the day before returning to Japan, he copied the entire text of the Blue Cliff Record in one night with the help of a Japanese god. The text is stored at Daijōji in Kanazawa and is called the One-night Blue Cliff Record (一夜本, ichiya-bon). There is no evidence to prove that the text was copied by Dōgen in one night or not, but it is true that Dōgen respected Yuanwu and quoted his sayings many times. READ MORE

New this year at Sanshin

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.

Sawaki Nyoho-e Treasury:
A new division of Sanshin

As of the first of the year, Sanshin has a new division dedicated to accurately preserving, embodying and transmitting Kodo Sawaki’s nyoho-e teachings about sewing, wearing and encountering Buddha’s robe: the Sawaki Nyoho-e Treasury. Many people in the West are unaware that Kodo Sawaki was one of the two key figures in the 20th century nyoho-e movement that taught and encouraged practitioners in Japan to sew robes by hand in specific ways. While a number of Western and North American practitioners have some experience of nyoho-e sewing, and some may be deeply involved in it within their temples or sanghas, few realize that the 20th century movement started in Japan itself and comes from within Sanshin’s own dharma family. Thus the modern nyoho-e movement is a significant element of Sanshin style, and we must accurately preserve, articulate and transmit that legacy.

We aspire to be responsible for collecting and offering the most complete and accurate set of resources possible related specifically to our dharma great-grandfather’s nyoho-e teachings and practices. Anyone of any lineage is welcome to use those resources for their own practice. Sanshin’s nyoho-e practice is not limited to those who have taken precepts, either as laity or as clergy. There is something of interest and meaning to all practitioners, whether or not they sew or wear robes themselves.

The Treasury's web pages will be a gathering point for resources, including information, images, and new translations of relevant texts not previously available in English. Going beyond technical construction, topics will include the study of ehou ichinyo 衣法一如 (the robe and the dharma are one) that supports our broader understanding of Buddha’s robe and what it means within Soto Zen, and teachings related to wearing, handling, washing, storing and otherwise encountering and working with robes, whether our own or our teachers’.

Sanshin is uniquely positioned to gather and curate this legacy, and since we'll soon mark Sawaki Roshi's 60th memorial, this is an auspicious time to get the project underway.

New translation underway:
Great Robe of Liberation: A Study of the Kesa
Compiled by Echu Kyuma under the supervision of Kodo Sawaki
Translated by Koun Franz and Yuko Okumura

Echu Kyuma-roshi’s Great Robe of Liberation, since its original publication in 1967 (as Kesa no Kenkyuu), 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-roshi and Kosho Uchiyama-roshi, 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.

Woven throughout those discussions is an examination of the evolution of the robe—how it has taken shape in the vinaya and in our own Soto Zen tradition—and ultimately how we can understand it as an expression of the dharma. Great Robe of Liberation, now being translated into English for the first time, is a loving, curious, and rigorous exploration of the one object that most clearly symbolizes and embodies the practice of Zen Buddhism.

Read the Foreword by Uchiyama Roshi and Chapter 1, with more to come!

In this issue:

Okumura Roshi: A Lion Knows a Lion's Roar
Just for fun: Better is to bow than break
New this year at Sanshin: Lineage & legacy in 2024; Sawaki Nyoho-e Treasury launches; Sangha Stewardship workshops; Sanshin operations manager hired
Board of directors: From the treasurer
Practice recap: Bell dedication ceremony; work day
Coming up: Simplified practice schedule in February; ryaku fusatsu; Uchiyama Roshi memorial sesshin in March
American religious landscape: Many U.S. adults can be considered "spiritual," even if not "religious"
Sanshin network: News from New York and Japan, Minnesota, and Columbia

Just for fun:
What if Dogen Zenji taught using Western proverbs?

Better is to bow than break.

A Western ancestor said, "Better is to bow than break." We should understand that there is bowing without breaking and there is also bowing and braking. Bending and bowing are non-doing. The myriad grasses bend and bow in the breeze, and the breeze bows to the grasses. Grasses and breeze function together and neither breaks the other. Grasses do not brake the breeze and the breeze does not hinder the uprightness of the grasses. As a boat crosses the water, waves bow and break before the bow as they sail with the boat. When the bough bows, it does not break and the cradle does not fall. Birth and death are birth and death, and also there is no birth and death. In bowing, the myriad dharmas do not break.

And yet, ice breaks and becomes water, stone breaks and becomes sand, and water and sand remain ice and stone. Bowing to the Buddhas and ancestors, we brake the ego and break its grip. One person breaks and becomes five skandhas, and five skandhas remain one person. Braking breakneck speed and looking around, how can we ignore bowing to Buddhas and ancestors? How can we ignore bowing to the myriad dharmas? To bow and brake is to study the self without breaking the self or the ten thousand things.

Further, we should also understand that better is the view of karmic beings living in the world of samsara. The karmic self seeks the lessening of suffering and creates its own better and worse. Seen with the eyes of Buddha, bowing is not better than breaking and braking is not better than breaking. Bowing, breaking and braking are beyond bowing, breaking and braking and do not obstruct each other.
 -- Hoko

American religious landscape

In recent decades, Americans have become less likely to identify with an organized religion. Yet a new Pew Research Center survey shows that belief in spirits or a spiritual realm beyond this world is widespread, even among those who don’t consider themselves religious. The survey finds that overall, 70% of U.S. adults can be considered “spiritual” in some way, because they think of themselves as spiritual people or say spirituality is very important in their lives. Among the findings:

A total of 77% of U.S. adults say they spend time in nature at least a few times a month, and 26% say they do so mainly to feel connected, such as with something bigger than themselves (18%) or with their “true self” (6%). Half of Americans say they spend time in nature mainly for health benefits, to enjoy themselves or for other reasons. By comparison, fewer Americans (64%) say they look inward or center themselves at least a few times each month. But a relatively large share – 44% of all U.S. adults – say they look inward or center themselves mainly to feel connected, including 27% who do it mainly to feel connected with their “true self.” Roughly four-in-ten Americans meditate at least a few times a month (38%), including 22% of U.S. adults who meditate mainly to connect with their “true self” (11%) or with something bigger than themselves (10%). Also, 15% of Americans say they maintain a shrine, altar or icon in their home. READ MORE

Snowy sunrise following morning practice

Sangha Stewardship workshops in 2024: Once we become established as practitioners in our sanghas and demonstrate that we have some skills and abilities to share, it's not uncommon to be asked to fill various leadership roles: board officer, tenzo, committee member, ino, or other service positions. Sometimes we may feel that these activities contribute to the development of our own practice, and sometimes we might find them distracting commitments of a large amount of time. We might feel proud to be asked to serve, but resentful of the extra workload we've agreed to carry.

As part of its 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, we'll explore the roles of tenzo (head cook) and ino. On October 5th and 6th, we'll explore the role of director, specifically in a sangha board of directors context. Workshops include both higher-level doctrinal context and practical applications. These sessions are also particularly aimed at small sanghas in our region which may be ready to add more structure to their communities, to take on more traditional practices, or to move from being informal gatherings to legally recognized organizations. Stay tuned for more information and registration details for the April workshop in the coming weeks.

Operations manager: After a year working as Sanshin's event coordinator, Bloomington practitioner Sawyer Jisho Hitchcock has been hired as Sanshin's operations manager. He's taken on a few more responsibilities in addition to previous duties, such as compiling this and future newsletters, assisting our work leader in coordinating work practice at the temple, facilitating organizational discernment towards continuing to operationalize board-adopted policies and aspiration statements, and generally working with the board of directors, Hoko, Okumura Roshi, the Dōgen Institute, and the sangha at large as we aim to carry out our everyday practice and mission together "without hindrance."

Sawyer grew up primarily in central Indiana, and found his way to Sanshinji in 2016, while living at his family’s cabin house a half-hour away in Yellowwood State Forest. He lived at Sanshin as a resident practitioner from April through December of 2022 and found it deeply compelling to be a part of establishing residential practice here. As a part-time farmhand, he has found it meaningful to begin to develop relationships between Sanshin and nearby small, sustainably-minded farms, sourcing produce from the local community for the sesshin and retreats he helps to coordinate. He received lay precepts from Hoko Karnegis in July of 2023, and is glad for the opportunity to continue to practice, serve, and work with the sangha in this role.

Board of directors

From the Treasurer:
Gene Kishin Elias

The year 2023 is behind us, and we are looking forward to 2024. The list of what we want to do this year and beyond is long, and the board of directors is working very hard to prioritize what we want versus what we can feasibly do. By the January board meeting, we will have finalized our budget for 2024.

But that is the future. I thought it would be helpful to understand how your gifts were used in 2023. The chart above indicates how those monies were spent. As shown by the chart, the largest expenses have been and will continue to be teaching, research and content generation – that is by far our primary mission. Our overhead includes a lot of expenses that we simply don’t have any control over, like keeping the lights on, heating and cooling, and internet costs, among other items.

The board works very hard to ensure our monies go to the most important priorities. Your gifts of financial support enable Sanshin to make Soto Zen practice available in its own particular style, which is based on the teachings of the Buddha, Dōgen Zenji, and Sawaki, Uchiyama and Okumura Roshis. Around the US and across the worldwide Sanshin Network, thanks to friends like you we continue to carry out our mission of enabling the investigation of interconnectedness as it manifests in community by engaging in six points of Soto Zen practice.

If you have questions about Sanshin's finances, please email me. Thank you for your support, and may your life be filled with kindness, joy and magnanimity.

Practice recap

Bell dedication: Following Okumura Roshi's Sunday dharma talk on January 7th, we held a dedication ceremony for an old Buddhist temple bell donated to Sanshin by Bloomington community members John Lawrence and Elaine and Phil Emmi. The bell will be used to mark the beginning and end of every zazen period we do henceforth. The ceremony was a simplified version of what would traditionally be done for the dedication of a newly cast bonsho in a bell tower, including ceremonial strikes of the bell by one of the donors, our senior teacher Hoko, and board president Michael Komyo Melfi on behalf of the sangha. The sangha also chanted the Heart Sutra, which was followed by an extended eko for the occasion and remarks from the donor.

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."

During her remarks at the ceremony, Elaine said, "My parents - their religion was nature. They were very spiritual people. They cared for every living thing. I'm so happy that this bell has this new home here, in this beautiful community. Thank you for taking care of the bell."

January work day: During this month's work day, we took on a few indoor projects amid temperatures near zero degrees Fahrenheit outside. Practitioners reorganized and added recently donated books to our donated dharma book library, shredded old administrative files in a continuing effort to clear office space, affixed one of two planned wall fans in the zendo, started the process of removing the paint from our recently donated zendo bell to increase its tonal clarity, and continued work on installing a sliding barn door to the kitchen just outside of the zendo.

Coming up

Simplified February practice schedule: During February and August at Sanshin, the regular practice schedule becomes quieter, less busy, and more focused on zazen. This seasonal practice rhythm is related to Uchiyama Roshi's sesshin schedule at Antaiji, where a sesshin was held every month except February and August, marked as the coldest and hottest months each year. Although we have centralized heating and air conditioning in the zendo at Sanshinji, we can acknowledge the facts of winter and summer in deeply settling into these two months of quieter, simplified practice activities. See our S chedules & Calendars page for full information on the changes.

Ryaku fusatsu: There will be no ryaku fusatsu ceremony in February, due to the simplified practice schedule. Our next ceremony of renewing our aspiration to practice with the precepts happens March 18th at 7 pm. Both in-person and virtual participation is possible, and everyone is welcome regardless of whether or not you've formally taken precepts.

Uchiyama Roshi memorial sesshin (Mar 7 - 10): We dedicate our March sesshin to the memory of Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, the teacher of our founder, Shohaku Okumura. 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. LEARN MORE AND REGISTER HERE

Visit our Schedules and Calendars page for information on all upcoming practice activities.

Sanshin Network

Sangha-travels with Issan: Members of the New York Zen Community for Dogen Study, founded and led by Issan Koyama, are preparing to visit important Soto Zen sites for themselves. Issan says, "February is approaching which means we are moving toward the launch of our pilot Dōgen Pilgrimage Tour of Japan, February 1 through February 22nd. It is with excitement that we look forward to visiting sites important to Buddhism while gaining a visceral experience of Dōgen’s life and teaching.

A few sangha members will be joining Paul and me on a three weeks trip through Japan. The route is Tokyo - Nara - Asuka Village - Koya-san - Eihei-ji (overnight stay program) - Kyoto - then to Hakata (2 days in Myoko-ji, visiting other sites in Kumamoto, Nagasaki and Fukuoka). On the way back we are planning to make a detour to either Kanazawa or Morioka (iwate-prefecture). This portion is to be confirmed soon.

At each site, I will be explaining the history and related texts by Dogen and others, etc. This is the first time I "officially" travel with sangha members and we decided to call it the Dogen Pilgrimage Japan Tour. I hope to continue to do this each year.

If you would like to follow our footsteps virtually, we will be posting about our whereabouts, what we are visiting, studying, practicing, etc on both Facebook and Instagram, so others can feel they are joining us virtually. If interested, please send friend requests to either/both New York Zen Community for Dogen Study and/or Hajime Issan Koyama on Facebook, or "Follow" Issan Koyama on Instagram."

See also the new website with an online practice schedule for the New York Zen Community for Dogen Study.

Coming up with Shodo: Shodo will be offering two online dharma talks from Minnesota in the coming weeks, one for Hokyoji on January 21st, and one on 'EcoDharma' for North Shore Zen on February 1st. On three Wednesday evenings beginning February 7th, she will be leading a three-part online study workshop on Fukanzazengi. She will also be giving a talk and leading a one-day retreat with Bluestone Zen Practice Community in Duluth, MN on February 9th and 10th. Find links and more information for all of these offerings on the 2024 Mountains and Waters Alliance practice calendar.

Densho reports from Colombia: "We are at the end of a great year for our temple. Many good things happened and next year we have many plans for our sangha.

We have started the adequations of the new land. For the time being, we are not going to start a big construction, so we are not going to have yet a zendo to practice. Instead, we are accommodating the construction that already exists, to begin to sit. We have space to house about 25 people for a simple sesshin. In the land there is a natural source of water for consumption, and we have installed a two-chamber anaerobic septic system, with a grease trap and filtration system for water purification. The water used in the kitchen, the restrooms, and the baths, will return 100% pure back to nature. This is part of our commitment to protect water. We hope to start doing sesshin in the new place, so we do not have to rent a place.

At the end of February, I will travel to Caracas, Venezuela, to officiate a Jukai ceremony for 8 members of Dokan sangha, which is guided by Jakusho Pignatiello. Because economic conditions are very bad at present in Venezuela, we are going to have something very simple. Maybe a zazenkai with zazen and Teisho, and next day, the Jukai ceremony."

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