Sangha News for October

10/16/2025

Commentaries

Dōgen’s Chinese Poems (93)
A Plum on Last Year's Branch
Commentary by Shōhaku Okumura

213. Enlightenment Day Dharma Hall Discourse [1246]
The old bandit Gautama entered the temptations of the demon Māra.
When Gautama afflicted the human and heavenly realms with confusion, stirring up disturbance,
people lost their eyes and so could not look for them.
The plum blossom opens afresh on the same branch as last year.

This particular poem is an homage to [Dogen's] late master Tiantong Rujing (天童如浄, Tendō Nyōjō, 1163–1228). Almost all of the expressions in this poem are taken from Recorded Sayings of Zen Master Tiangtong Rujing (天童如浄禅師語録, Tendō Nyōjō Zenji Gōroku).

老賊 (rōzoku) is “the old bandit.” 老 (rō) means “old,” the same as in 老師 (rōshi), old master. 賊 (zoku) has two meanings; one is a burglar who steals people’s possessions, the other is a rebel who commits treason. As far as I know, Rujing was the first person who called the Buddha “the old bandit” from the Gautama family. Zen masters sometimes use an expression of disrespect, an impolite or even dirty word, when they talk about the Buddha, his teachings, or his enlightenment. READ MORE

I Vow With All Beings:
Shaving the Head
Commentary and art by Hoko Karnegis

When shaving off my hair,
I vow with all beings
To forever divorce all afflictions
And pass on to ultimate tranquility.

In the Sōtō Zen tradition, members of the ordained sangha shave their heads on days with a date ending in a 4 or a 9. This shaving practice is known as jōhatsu 淨髮, literally something like “purifying the hair.”

In this issue:

Commentaries: A plum on last year's branch; Shaving the head
From our directors: End-of-year appeal underway
Practice perspective: Maintaining practice in college
Practice recap: Home Altar workshop; 1-day sit; October work day
Coming up: Virtual dharma study intensive w/ Okumura Roshi; Rohatsu sesshin
Sanshin Network: News from Danville, IN

New resources on the web

Sanshin source

We've added Hoko's essay "Precepts and Peacemaking" to our precepts page.
There's a new section on our Practicing in Community page dealing with struggling against the communal container.
There's a new entry on Tonen's blog, Thinking About Dharma.
There are weekly essays on the 108 Gates page and monthly essays on the I Vow page (as well as in this newsletter).

Dharma talks

108 Gates

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

Those who wish are welcome to sit in on this month's meeting on Sunday, October 26th, from 7 - 8:30 pm ET, using the regular Zoom link on our virtual practice page.

In the bodhisattva vows, delusions are inexhaustible, just as our hair never stops growing. We never run out of delusions. Worldly cares, sensual desire, passions, unfortunate longings, suffering, and pain all keep showing up; we don’t have to count up to 108 to know there are a lot. Yet our bodhisattva vow is to liberate all beings by helping them understand the nature of this delusion. To do so, we have to start with ourselves, taking every opportunity not to ignore delusion when it shows up, and letting go of it with both commitment and compassion. Taking head shaving as a practice gives us the chance to practice vow and repentance, recognizing that delusion keeps arriving and at the same time aspiring to cut off the attachments that lead to that delusion. READ MORE

From our directors

2025 End-of-year appeal underway: Taking good care of Sanshinji

The physical facilities and grounds at Sanshin Zen Community are the foundation of our shared engagement with the Buddha Way. Their care and maintenance is an important practice for now and the future, as we continue to offer practice opportunities on-site, facilitate virtual participation and programming, and provide study opportunities through our Dogen Institute and Sanshin Source.

We invite everyone's support, as you are able, in the shared and joyful work of maintaining our temple and continuous practice.

With gratitude,
Sanshin Development Committee
Mark Fraley, Norma Fogelberg, Tonen O'Connor, and Gene Elias

Our goal: $25,000
Raised so far: $4038

Practice perspective

Maintaining practice while away for college: Chris Record, a frequent local practitioner at Sanshin, recently headed off to Connecticut to begin undergraduate studies at Wesleyan University. In his new location and circumstances, he's been able to maintain his practice with fellow students and professors. Chris reports:

Dear Friends and Sangha,

I am pleased to share an update on my Buddhist practice here at Wesleyan University. While away from Sanshin, it has been amazing to continue engaging in formal practice and to be part of a supportive community on campus.

We have a small but consistent morning Zen practice group that meets Monday through Thursday at 7:30 AM. We begin with a period of zazen followed by a short chanting service. We sit for one period of zazen only. Our liturgy includes the Robe Verse, the Heart Sutra, the Sho Sai Myo Kichijo Dharani, a dedication verse, and the Four Bodhisattva Vows. We don’t do soji afterward—instead, we casually rise from our mats and begin our day. The zendo is a small tatami mat room with sliding glass doors that look out over a Japanese garden behind the Center for East Asian Studies. Typically, three to four practitioners from different class years sit regularly.

The group is partially led by Kando, a retired Wesleyan professor with ties to Zen Mountain Monastery and experience practicing in Japan. The morning sittings have been a part of campus life since the early 1990s, and it’s wonderful to be part of such a long-standing tradition. Just last week, an alumnus who helped start the practice with Kando came back to sit with us while his daughter visited Wesleyan!

In addition to morning practice, there’s also a student-run sangha that meets in the evenings once or twice a week. These gatherings are a bit larger, usually around ten students, and take place in the meditation room in the Chapel basement. We sit in a circle for about twenty minutes of open meditation, welcoming all traditions and styles. Afterward, someone offers a short reading: usually a passage from a book or a poem, which we discuss briefly before ending.

Overall, I’ve found the campus to be incredibly open and welcoming when it comes to Buddhist practice. Several of my friends have joined me in the mornings, and many others have engaged in meaningful curiosity-driven conversations. The mindfulness classes offered through the East Asian Studies department are also hugely popular. It’s been grounding and a blessing to continue practicing here in such a thoughtful and supportive community.

I hope all is well back at the temple—sending my warmest regards to everyone at Sanshinji!

Practice recap

Home Altar workshop: Five practitioners participated in the home altar-building workshop led by Sanshin work leader Hosshin Shoaf on Saturday, September 20th. Under Hosshin's direction, each participant constructed a simple altar to be mounted on a wall in their house, as a foundation for practice at home and beyond. The workshop offered an opportunity to take up the study of shelter as one of the three faces of nyoho: our focus for the last three months of our year of Tangible Thusness at Sanshin.

The workshop ended with an "eye-opening" ceremony during which participants offered incense at their altars for the first time.

One-day sit: Eight practitioners participated in a one-day sit, also led by Hosshin, on Saturday, Oct 4th. The day followed our usual sesshin structure (i.e. alternating 50 minute sitting periods with 10-minute kinhin periods), but began at 8 am and ended at 6 pm, and included an informal lunch. Participants then ventured into town for dinner at a local restaurant to wrap up their day of practice together.

October work day: The sangha gathered for our monthly work day on Sunday, Oct 12th. A small team ventured out to Sanshin's off-site storage unit to begin the process of transferring its contents to our new storage shed at Sanshin (as well as offering much to the local Goodwill). On-site, practitioners worked on cleaning Okumura Roshi's office, raking the first of the fall leaves (for use in our compost heap), and clearing and weeding the moss garden.

Doju & Hosshin wholeheartedly engaging the ancient practice of negotiating space and stuff.

Coming up

Virtual dharma study intensive with Okumura Roshi -- One week left to register (by Oct 22nd)
Kesa Kudoku (Virtue of the Kashaya)
10 weekday mornings: Oct 27 - 31 & Nov 3 - 7 (The lectures are also recorded and made available to registrants each day.)

There is one week left to register for this fall's dharma study intensive, during which Okumura Roshi will offer ten lectures on his own newly edited translation of Eihei Dogen Zenji's Kesa Kudoku (Virtue of the Kashaya). 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. LEARN MORE & REGISTER

Rohatsu sesshin (Nov 30 - Dec 8): Rohatsu sesshin offers a particularly intensive opportunity each year to come together to embody the Buddha's practice, recognizing his awakening under the bodhi tree. This year, our intention and plan remains to carry out the full Nov. 30 - Dec. 8 Rohatsu sesshin. However, depending on registrations, there is some potential for the number of days to be reduced. Regardless, we'll finish on Dec. 8th, the traditional date of Buddha's awakening. We will make a final decision about start date and inform everyone by Nov. 11th at latest.

Thus, if you aspire to participate in Rohatsu at Sanshin this year, being proactive in coming to a decision and registering early will be helpful for everyone's planning. Registration for all or a selection of full days is welcome. LEARN MORE & REGISTER

Sanshin Network

New issue from Midwest Zen: Mark Howell, former Sanshin board president and one of two editors of Midwest Zen, reports:

The theme of this issue is Stillness, in keeping with our hope to maintain a calm space amid the torrent of worldly affairs. This magazine has as many thoughtful observations on silence and stillness as there are contributors. It includes an excerpt from Just This is It by Taigen Dan Leighton. The teachings seem a contra dance of speaking and silence, of stillness and dynamic reality.

You can freely access the full issue here.

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We invite everyone's support in the shared and joyful work of maintaining our temple and continuous practice.

End of year appeal goal: $25,000

Raised so far: $4038