Sangha News for March

3/15/2026

March 2026 - In this issue:

Commentaries & resources: Rolling up one piece of skin; Taking refuge in the community; Sanshin Source, Dharma talks, & upcoming baikaryu lecture

Practice recap: Nirvana Day; March sesshin & Uchiyama Roshi memorial service
Coming up: Ryaku fusatsu ceremony; Guiding Kyoshi visit (Koun Franz); Virtual dharma study intensive with Okumura Roshi; Ango with Myogen

Sanshin Network: News from Colombia, Austria, and Japan

Hoko's new pup, Kitty, meets the zendo.

Commentaries & resources

Dōgen’s Chinese Poems (97)
Rolling Up One Piece of Skin
Commentary by Shōhaku Okumura
110. Dharma Hall Discourse

Rolling up one piece of skin of this difficult World of Endurance,
ten thousand years or one moment are just ashes.
Within this [world], buddhas and ancestors appear one after another;
old Yama and karmic demons [from hell realms] become buddhas.

This is a jōdō given for a deceased monk named Egi (慧顗). No information is available about Egi; we don’t know how old he was, how long he practiced at Kōshōji under the guidance of Dōgen, etc. Because Dōgen used the word “ash (灰, hai)” in this poem, I suppose the jōdō was given soon after Egi died and was cremated. Incidentally, the next two jōdō, 111 and 112 are for another deceased monk, Sōkai (僧海), who served as the head monk (首座, shuso) of Kōshōji after Ejō.

I will talk about Sōkai and his death in the next article, for Kuchūgen (97), jōdō 112. It seems that two monks passed away at Kōshōji within a month or so. As with any other community of people, Zen monastic communities had sick people, aged people, people who are facing death, and people who have passed away. These communities had their ways of taking care of sick and/or aged people and finally holding funeral and memorial ceremonies for them. For example, in the section concerning Dongshan (洞山) in chapter 15 of the Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall (祖堂集, Ch. Zutang ji, Jp. Sodōshū), we find several stories about Zen Master Dongshan and people who were going to die. Read more.

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

TAKING REFUGE IN THE COMMUNITY,
I VOW WITH ALL BEINGS
TO ORDER THE MASSES,
ALL BECOMING FREE FROM OBSTRUCTION.

The kanji used here for community (僧 sō) is a sort of abbreviation of 僧伽 (sōgya), a transliteration of the Sanskrit saṃgha or sangha. 僧 can mean a Buddhist monk or the sangha as a whole.

By itself, 伽 is pronounced togi and it means nursing or attending, but when it’s given its Chinese pronunciation, ga or gya, it means a large temple. It’s likely that these words were used for transliteration simply because they sound similar to the original Sanskrit, but nonetheless, it’s clear that we’re talking about a collection of people doing something together rather than individuals doing something on their own.

In fact, the original technical meaning of sangha was a group of more than three monks, but throughout the tradition, sometimes it refers only to ordained people and sometimes it includes laypeople, particularly those who have taken the precepts. Here at Sanshin, we consider anyone practicing with us to be part of the sangha since we all come together in the common effort of practicing shikantaza and realizing awakening. Read more.

Other new resources on the web

Sanshin source

What's new on Sanshin Source?

This page has introductory information about baika, Soto Zen's hymn singing practice with handbells.
We've added information about denominational history and the surprising scope of Sotoshu as part of our World of Soto Zen theme.

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

Dharma recordings

Feb 15th: Hoko - Life-and-death Nirvana: Nirvana Day 2026
Mar 1: Hoko - World of Soto Zen: The Surprising Scope of Sotoshu
Mar 8: Okumura Roshi - Life, Death, & Uchiyama Roshi's practice of retirement (OHT #261 - final talk in series)

Upcoming online Baikaryu lecture with Rev. Shinryu Okuma
March 28, 2026, 7 - 8:30 pm Eastern

See here for context and resources on baikaryu eisanka, Soto Zen's hymn-singing tradition with handbells, along with the Zoom information for joining the lecture (also listed at right). The lecture is aimed at a Western audience.

Click here to join.
Meeting ID: 871 7391 9547
Passcode: 459487

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

Practice recap

Nirvana Day 2026: The sangha held its annual observance of Shakyamuni Buddha's death and parinirvana on Sunday, February 15th. Following zazen and Hoko's dharma talk, we carried out a ceremony that included chanting the Heart Sutra and the Verse of Homage to Buddha's Relics. After the chanting, each practitioner offered incense, lit a candle with the altar-candle's flame, and blew it out in unison, symbolizing the Buddha's passing and "nirvana-without-remainder." Study resources related to Nirvana Day (Nehan-e) are being gathered here.

The day concluded with a sangha potluck lunch.

Uchiyama Roshi memorial sesshin & ceremony: Eight practitioners participated throughout (and several others dropped in for significant portions, in-person and virtually from home) our three-day sesshin (Mar 5 - 8), held each year at the beginning of March in honor of our founder's teacher, Uchiyama Roshi. Many thanks to Eunyoung for cooking and bringing in a meal from home and to Rachel for baking celebratory cookies for afterward.

During regular Sunday practice immediately following sesshin, Okumura Roshi gave the final talk in his long-running (20- year!) series on Uchiyama Roshi's book Opening the Hand of Thought. Fittingly, the talk was followed by our annual memorial service for Uchiyama Roshi, who died on March 13th, 1998.

Most of the sesshin participants.

Coming up

March ryaku fusatsu ceremony
Monday, Mar 16th, 7 - 8 pm, in-person and virtually

Ryaku fusatsu is our monthly ceremony of recognizing and 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.

Soto Zen North America Guiding Kyoshi virtual visit with Koun Franz
Monday, Mar 23rd, 6 - 7 pm ET - virtual only

Koun Franz, Guiding Kyoshi of Soto Zen North America and longtime friend of Sanshin, will be visiting Sanshin virtually on behalf of this relatively new organization, whose mission is "to cultivate a North American Soto Zen denomination that stewards the lineage of Shakyamuni Buddha, as transmitted through Dogen Zenji and Keizan Zenji, with shared purpose, mutual responsibility, and a commitment to ongoing connection with our roots in Japan." Hoko currently serves as president of its board of directors. Learn more about Soto Zen North America.

Koun says: I'd like to talk a little about what we as Soto Zen practitioners do (the sitting, the chanting, the sewing, all of it), why we do it, and what it might mean for us to do it together--not just as a sangha, but as a denomination. I also want to hear your questions about what it means to make and be part of something like Soto Zen North America.

All are welcome and encouraged to join us through our virtual practice page.

Koun Franz, Guiding Kyoshi of Soto Zen N. A.

Ango with Myogen
April 1st - July 5th

Ango, or practice period, is an opportunity to focus a bit more intensively on our practice and perhaps to make a commitment to ourselves to stretch a little -- to sit a little more, attend a little more frequently, learn something new or take on a particular activity. 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 Myogen Ahlstrom. His theme for the ango is "Being." He will be supporting our practice, and we will be supporting his growth as a leader. Learn more.

Virtual dharma study intensive with Okumura Roshi: Kesa Kudoku, Part II
10 weekday mornings, Apr 27 - May 1 & May 4 - 8, 10 am - noon ET (and recorded for registrants)

Registration is now open for this spring's virtual dharma study intensive, during which Okumura Roshi will continue his commentary 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 us and others through our day-to-day practice – whether or not we're wearing a rakusu or okesa ourselves.

Whether or not you were present for Okumura Roshi's lectures last fall, you are welcome to join us for this spring's series. Background materials and recordings of Okumura Roshi's first ten lectures on this text from last fall will be provided to registrants. Learn more & register.

Sanshin Network

Shuso ceremonies in Colombia: With Jakusho Pignatiello serving as shuso, honsoku gyocha and hossenshiki ceremonies were carried out at Daishinji in Bogota, Colombia on the weekend of February 28th and March 1st. Daishinji is led and was founded by Densho Quintero, a dharma heir of Okumura Roshi. Densho reports:

We were honoured with the attendance of Rev. Yoshitani Roshi, abbot of Myohonji, as Jokeshi; Rev. Gakudo Nakamura, abbot of Tozenji in Japan, and Rev. Koun Franz, abbot of Thousand Harbour Zen temple in Canada. They kindly came to support our practice.

I am happy everything went pretty well and we had a nice celebration after the ceremonies.

Shinko's senmon sodo report: Shinko Hagn, an ordained student of Hoko and founder of Daijihi in Vienna, Austria, recently spent some time living and practicing at Kotaiji, a Soto Zen training temple in Nagasaki, as part of his clergy credentialing process. He offers some photos and reflections below:

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