Sangha News for July

7/16/2026

July 2026 - In this issue:

New commentaries & resources: Difficult to hear; Receiving the precepts
From our directors: June meeting summary, annual board retreat and opportunities to practice with directors this weekend; goal met for Spring Fund Appeal

Practice recap: Shuso ceremonies; precepts retreat and jukai-e; July work day and garden work practice
Coming up: Sanshin Salon (Aug 1) - RSVP by July 29; Quiet August practice; 3-day September sesshin - register by Aug 27

Sanshin Network: Esho's talk for Ancient Dragon Zen Gate

Lineage papers received by precepts recipients at the jukai-e ceremony earlier this month.

- New commentaries & resources -

Dōgen’s Chinese Poems (101)
Difficult to Hear
Commentary by Shohaku Okumura

Dharma Hall Discourse
There is no stopping the coming and going within the six realms.
It is difficult [to have the opportunity] to hear one phrase of true Dharma.
You, great assembly monks, stop blindly sleeping,
Days and nights for one hundred years [the stream of time] turn [you] like a [stray] bullet.

Dōgen Zenji gave this jōdō soon after the end of the three-month summer practice period. I imagine that when the practice period was over, training monks were released from the tension and relaxed for a while. If they have had any visiting monks and lay participants staying at Kōshōji during the practice period, those people have already left. Resident monks could take a short rest. Possibly this jōdō was given when they needed to return to the usual practice routine and renew their aspiration to study and practice. Dōgen wants to encourage his monks to brace themselves again for the early autumn. Read more.

“The New Year Painting of Zhang Xian”

I Vow With All Beings:
Receiving the precepts
Commentary and artwork by Hoko Karnegis

RECEIVING THE FULL SET OF PRECEPTS
I VOW WITH ALL BEINGS
TO FULFILL ALL MEANS OF LIBERATION
AND MASTER THE SUPREME TEACHING.

Early Buddhists received five precepts as laypeople and many more as ordained sangha. It was the receipt of the full 10 major and 48 minor bodhisattva precepts that was said to lead to the accomplishment of awakening. In the Sōtō Zen tradition, when we receive precepts either as laypeople or novices, we receive sixteen of them.

Each of these precepts is a gateway into understanding the nature of liberation and embodying awakening. Imagine the supreme teachings or supreme dharma in the center of a space, with all sixteen precepts arrayed and pointing toward it, serving as doorways. Now we can look at each of these elements and see the whole picture. Read more.

More new resources on the web:

Dharma Recordings

June 20: "Are you protected or are you confined?" - Hoko's honsoku gyocha talk on the case of "Changsha takes a step"
June 21: Taking care of this dharma legacy - Hoko's post-hossenshiki talk
June 28: Always one more thing to do - Myogen's last talk as shuso

SHOHAKU OKUMURA ON
INTERIOR MYTHOS JOURNEYS

Here's a playlist of the five newest videos featuring Sanshin's founder.

Sanshin Source

There's a new entry on Tonen's blog, Thinking About Dharma.
There are monthly essays on the I Vow page.

Dharma for all from soto Zen North america

Every other month, supervising kyoshi affiliated with Soto Zen North America share teachings for the benefit of all practitioners:

Cultivating sitting "with" pain by Gigen Austin

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

Those who wish are welcome to listen in on this month's meeting on Saturday, July 18th, from 5:30 - 7:30 pm ET, using the regular Zoom link on our virtual practice page. Note that this meeting will be preceded by a public period of zazen (in-person and virtually beginning at 5 pm) and constitutes the conclusion of our board's annual retreat for 2026. See below for more details.

- From our directors -

June meeting summary and annual board retreat this Friday and Saturday
(July 17th and 18th)
from Neil Schmitzer-Torbert, Chair of Sanshin's Board of Directors

Our June board meeting fell on the weekend after the honsoku gyocha and hossenshiki ceremonies, and just a few days before the start of the annual precepts retreat. The board was very thankful for the efforts of our practice leaders and sangha to support these activities, and felt that the intensity of our practice activities in these summer months is an inspiration to all.

At the meeting, recently appointed director Seth Zimmerman was elected as Treasurer. We are glad to welcome Seth to the board and appreciate his willingness to take on this important role. We are also very grateful to Gene Elias, who is completing his second term as Treasurer.

The board also approved the charter for the Building and Campus Committee (which replaces the Facilities Committee), which reads:

“The Building and Campus Committee provides strategic management of the building(s), structures, and grounds to support implementing the mission and vision of Sanshin Zen Community. This includes creating, updating, and maintaining a 3-5 year plan for development, construction, maintenance, repairs, and upgrades. The committee manages major projects together with the facilities and operations managers at the direction of the board of directors.”

This committee will have an important role in managing our maintenance of our current facilities, and helping with our strategic thinking about how to continue to support the practice vision into the future. Board member Clark Kinney is chairing the committee, which also includes directors Jeff Alberts and Kanzan John Slattery, and also Hosshin Shoaf, Doju Layton. Hoko Karnegis (Senior Dharma Teacher) and I serve ex officio.

Looking ahead, our annual board of directors retreat will be held in Bloomington this week (Friday and Saturday, July 17 and 18). With several new board directors, much of our work will be centered on board development, and also on revisiting our strategic plan, with a focus on our goals for the rest of 2026 and looking ahead to 2027. Local and virtual sangha who would be interested in practicing with board directors this week are invited to join regular morning practice on Friday, as well as a special morning practice and service Saturday morning beginning at 7 am. We will also hold a 30 minute zazen period on Friday and Saturday evenings at 5pm. Some board directors will also be able to stay through Sunday, to join in practice activities with the local sangha. In-person and virtual participation is welcome; please see the Schedules and Calendars page for details.

2026 Spring fund appeal complete

Our goal: $10,000
Amount raised: $11,694

You are welcome to visit Sanshin's Giving Page at any time of year.

A bow of gratitude: Deep practice requires deep gratitude. Dogen wrote that our lives are the fortunate outcome of the continuous practice of the past, and that we should express our gratitude immediately.

During our Spring fund drive, your giving has helped the dharma deepen its roots here. All who practice and engage with our community (including you) are the fortunate beneficiaries of your generosity.

We have now reached our Spring goal of $10,000. We bow to you in gratitude for your practice and your giving.

Mark Fraley, Reverend Tonen O’Connor, Norma Fogelberg, Gene Elias
Sanshin Zen Community’s Development Team

- Practice recap -

Shuso ceremonies: The sangha gathered for honsoku gyocha and hossenshiki ceremonies on June 20th and 21st. The ceremonies recognized the coming completion of Myogen Ahlstrom's term as shuso, in which he demonstrated his dharma mastery to the sangha and his readiness to teach and serve independently. A recording of the hossenshiki is forthcoming.

These ceremonies also marked Hoko's first ango serving as hodoshi, an elevation in rank that allows her to officially preside over angos and hossenshiki at Sanshin, which are registered with Sotoshu and become part of the shuso's training record. Previously, Okumura Roshi came out of retirement briefly every year to preside so that our activities could be recognized by the denomination. It's another step in Sanshin's maturation as a community and the development of Soto Zen in North America.

Servers Reghan and Neil prepare to serve cookies and tea to participants in the honsoku gyocha.

Myogen bows with the shippei during the hossenshiki ceremony.

Myogen hands off his koan to Hoko before her talk during the honsoku gyocha.

The precepts recipients chant the robe verse with their own rakusu for the first time during the jukai-e.

The sangha chants the Heart Sutra with the precepts recipients.

Precepts retreat & jukai-e: Six practitioners participated throughout this year's precepts retreat June 30 - July 5, with another half dozen or so dropping in virtually and in-person to participate in discussions, zazen, work periods, and meal prep. This year's discussions with Hoko placed our traditional Soto Zen precepts in dialogue with other traditions (religious and secular) of ethics and morality, and examined some of the lenses we often use in the West when considering what it is to be "a good person." Stay tuned to Sanshin Source for resources arising from these discussions in the coming months.

At the concluding jukai-e ceremony, Will Onshin Mruzek, Eunyoung Enyu Rey, Jane-Marie Jinsei Law, and Seth Yumon Zimmerman formally received the sixteen bodhisattva precepts, marking a deepening as well as a new beginning in their lives of practice.

- Coming up -

Summer Sanshin Salon: The Science of Sitting
Saturday, Aug 1st, beginning at 6 pm ET - RSVP by July 29

What exactly happens in the body and mind when we take the posture, breathe deeply through the nose, keep the eyes open and let go of thoughts? Join us for an evening salon of sangha fellowship and exploration of how sciences of body and mind may illuminate sitting practice. We'll hear from two regional neuroscientists who are engaged in exploring intersections between sitting practices like mindfulness meditation and shikantaza and items like brain waves, emotional regulation, memory, physical health and cognitive function. Learn more and RSVP by July 29th.

In-person attendance is encouraged for all in the area who wish to participate (please RSVP at right). We are also working on finalizing tech infrastructure that would allow virtual participation during the discussion - stay tuned!

Some of the group at the January 2026 Winter Sanshin Salon.

Quiet August simplified practice schedule: During February and August 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. Keep an eye on our Schedules and Calendars page to see how regular practice activities shift next month.

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.

Note that beginning this September, our sesshin schedule has shifted, beginning one hour later each morning (5 am) and ending one hour earlier each evening (8 pm) than previously, providing additional hours of sleep. This shift is intended to reflect the reality of carrying out our "sesshin-without-toys" style sustainably and wholeheartedly as a community of non-residential, commuting practitioners with various householding responsibilities. Should we be able to support residential practice at Sanshin in the future, the 4am - 9pm schedule will return. Learn more about the origins of Sanshin's style of sesshin.

- Sanshin Network -

Esho's upcoming dharma talk for Ancient Dragon Zen Gate: Esho Morimoto, a practice leader at Sanshin and an ordained student of Okumura Roshi, will be visiting Ancient Dragon Zen Gate in Chicago to give a dharma talk on Sunday, July 19th, beginning at 10:15. Details about the morning's practice schedule and a link to join via Zoom are here.

Are we reaching you?

Do we have the best and most current contact information for you? If you've changed your e-mail address or moved to a new place of residence, or if we've never had complete information about how to reach you, it's time to update your record. Please take a moment to go here to send us the contact information you'd like us to use. We'll check it against your current record and update as needed. Don't miss any of the upcoming communications from Sanshin -- update your info today!