Winter 2026:
Transmitting Tales​

Saturday, January 31, 2026
Beginning at 6:00 pm at
1730 S Maxwell St., Bloomington, IN

Buddhism has a deep and rich tradition of tale literature and storytelling.  We may think immediately of koan stories or the Jataka tales, but there's a whole genre of Buddhist vernacular stories and miracle tales that can contribute to our understanding of spiritual practice in the human experience.  Stories entertain and amuse while teaching the dharma, giving accessible spiritual guidance and showing us how to practice as everyday people while living as bodhisattvas.

Tales of personal experiences bring us the dharma from the informal point of view.  These are not academic lectures or cryptic teachings but ways to make a shared, emotional, and intellectual connection between our spiritual practice as individuals and the world of the human religious experience, making the dharma immediate and relatable.  (Plus, they're fun!) For more background on Buddhist storytelling traditions, see here.

Join us for an evening salon that offers sangha fellowship as the backdrop to discussion of the role of myths and stories in our practice of Soto Zen: transmitting the tradition, building connections and community, and encouraging personal and spiritual growth.

Note that this event is in-person only and is not being held at Sanshin itself, but at a nearby private home.

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About our panelists

​Michael D. May
Curriculum Advisor, Interior Mythos Journeys

Michael serves as a hay farmer and wildlife sanctuary groundskeeper in eastern Monroe County. A Bloomington native, his grandfather was a real stone cutter. When not spreading horse manure on hay fields, clearing brush, or practicing chainsaw therapy on hiking trails, Michael spreads a message of universal existential exploration and practice on the YouTube Channel of Interior Mythos Journeys through the Life Journeys video series.  This series is a set of sequential modules designed to nurture contemporary contemplative practitioners.  Each module can support solitary inquiry or serve as an artform for group discussion. The teaching of Okumura Roshi is deeply woven into this series, alongside the work of other contemporary and historical teachers.

Michael is a graduate of Indiana University, the Academy of the Ecumenical Institute, and the International Training Institute of the Institute of Cultural Affairs. A former faculty member of the Ecumenical Institute, he is a lifelong student and practitioner of contemplative exploration in the lineage of Søren Kierkegaard, Nikos Kazantzakis, Joseph Campbell, Thomas Merton, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and many other existential guides.  Michael is passionate about nurturing depth-practice in a new generation and a world alienated from its center.

Ryo Uehara
Religious Studies Master's Student at Indiana University Bloomington

Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Ryo says that half of his life has been spent as an American, and the other half  as a Japanese.  While having this bicultural background has its advantages, living most of his life in the United States has made him curious about his Japanese background.  Living in Japan for a year during an exchange program at Waseda University kick-started his intense curiosity about Japanese culture, namely religion and folklore.  He's now pursuing an academic journey to learn about Japan’s religious culture and folk values, connect with his Japanese roots, and learn more about what Japan has to offer.
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Aside from reading folktales and watching and listening to folklore videos, he entertains himself by experimenting with foodstuffs (edible, though not always) and exploring the motifs and etymology of folklore through foods and cultural materials.  "Folklore is everywhere as long as human beings exist, and I am heavily invested in learning it as the origins of worldviews," he says.

What is a salon?

Historically, a salon was a regular meeting of prominent or elegant people, such as artists, writers, or intellectuals, to discuss art, literature, or music.  These days, it's a living-room gathering of friends and friends-of-friends to enjoy food and conversation and, for an hour or so, learn more about an interesting topic by hearing from a couple of people who are engaged with it and willing to share their perspective to get the discussion started.  

A salon is not:

• Formal or fussy
• A lecture or dharma talk
• A debate or performance​

Let's see where the conversation goes!

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Plan for the evening

6:00 pm  Informal dinner and socializing are available
7:15 pm  Hoko gives a preview of the first half of the year at Sanshin
7:30 pm  Hoko facilitates discussion between panelists
8:00 pm  Questions, reflections and open discussion with all attendees
8:30 pm  Dessert, fellowship, and continued conversation
We end whenever we've had enough!