Outside the temple: Sangha and society
Realizing the self without relationship to others (non-reliance) which includes everything (interconnectedness).
Environment
Cultivating a wholesome relationship with the earth
  • ​Facility construction, renovation, and energy use
  • Stewardship of temple grounds
  • Travel to and from temple activities
  • General resource use and waste​
Coordinating with Sotoshu's practice to benefit the environment: 
​The Five Principles of Green Life:
  • Protect the green of the earth; the earth is the home of life.
  • Do not waste water; it is the source of life.
  • Do not waste fuel or electricity; they are the energy of life.
  • Keep the air clean; it is the plaza of life.
  • Co-exist with nature; it is the embodiment of Buddha.
Ethics
Understanding that we have some responsibility to and for other beings, and that what we do affects others
  • ​​​Morality as interconnectedness, not judgement
  • The study of cause and effect 
  • The nature of vow and repentance
  • The study of the precepts; jukai-e and ryaku fusatsu
  • Study of sila: Right speech, Right livelihood, Right action
Coordinating with Sotoshu's practice to preserve human rights: understanding how teachings about karma and original enlightenment can be used to justify discrimination (see Buddhist Essentials: Sotoshu as a denomination
Human Relationships
​Cultivating social and interpersonal relations between human beings that recognize both individuality and interdependence
Sotoshu considers international missionary work (in other words, working with overseas temples such as Sanshin) an important element of its peace work.
Creativity
Taking a broad perspective that includes practicing with not only physical objects and architecture but intangibles like sound, smell, events, language and media.
  • Poetry of Dogen and Ryokan
  • Creating home altars and other practice spaces
  • Art and the dharma
  • Baika (hymns and handbells)
    (for a more academic discussion, see “Singing and Zen Are One”: The Sōtō School’s Baikaryū" by 
    Michaela Mross in
    The Eastern Buddhist, THIRD SERIES, Vol. 4, No. 1 (2024), pp. 53-88.)
Strategic Development Goals and Sotoshu

Since 1991, Sotoshu has been engaged in a variety of activities under the slogan “human rights, peace, environment.” Part of that activity is in support of the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals.  Among the essays by Western dharma teachers on these 17 goals are writings by Sanshin Network members Doryu Cappelli (Italy) and Densho Quintero (Colombia).

We'd like to investigate the relationship between this section of our practice vision and Sotoshu's work on the SDGs, international guidelines adopted by the UN in 2015 to deal with issues of poverty, hunger, social inequalities, environmental degradation, etc.  Sotoshu says about its commitment to SDGs: 
For those of us who live by faith, “realizing a society in which no one is left behind” is an important theme that is deeply connected to the meaning of life and the practice of our faith.  The teachings of the Soto sect are not limited to the practice of zazen, but also include the practice of asceticism, such as respecting food and water as the very image of the Buddha, consuming them carefully and without waste, and practicing the bodhisattva way of praying and acting to alleviate, even if only a little, the suffering of people living with difficulties.