Sanshin's practice vision
Sanshin style practice
Realizing the self without relationship to others (non-reliance) which includes everything (interconnectedness). Six Points of Practice • Zazen in a Buddhist context • Keeping forms simple • Balancing peace and progress • Dharma study as a support for zazen • Work practice as an investigation of community • Deeply inquiring into the teaching of ehou ichinyo: kesa and dharma are one |
Zazen 6 points: Zazen in a Buddhist context Understanding the common thread that runs from the teachings of Shakyamuni through the practice of shikantaza at Sanshin today. Work 6 points: Balancing peace and progress; Work practice as an investigation of community Work as an active engagement with the community in this time and place Study 6 points: Dharma study as a support for practice Understanding our practice and practicing our understanding Ritual 6 points: Keeping forms simple so we know what we’re doing and why Ritual as an active engagement with the community across space and time |
Environment Cultivating a wholesome relationship with the earth Ethics Understanding that we have some responsibility to and for other beings, and that what we do affects others. Human relationships Cultivating social and interpersonal relations between human beings that recognize both individuality and interdependence Buddhist material culture Taking a broad perspective that includes not only physical objects and architecture but intangibles like sound, smell, events, language and media. |
Uchiyama Roshi’s final teaching:
- Study and practice the Buddha-dharma only for the sake of the Buddha-dharma, not for the sake of human emotions and worldly ideas.
- Zazen is the most venerable and only true teacher.
- Zazen must work concretely in our daily lives as the two practices (vow and repentance), the three minds (magnanimous mind, parental mind, and joyful mind), and as the realization of the saying, “Gaining is delusion, losing is enlightenment.”
- Live by vow and root it deeply.
- Realizing that development and backsliding are your responsibility alone, endeavor to practice and develop.
- Sit silently for ten years, then for ten more years, and then for another ten years.
- Cooperate with one another and aim to create a place where sincere practitioners can practice without trouble.