Board Members


Shohaku Okumura
President of the Board
Shohaku Okumura is currently President of the Board of Directors. He is the founder and guiding teacher of Sanshin Zen Community, and has served on the Board since the organization's founding in 1996. He lives at Sanshinji, in Bloomington, Indiana.

Norma Fogelberg
nfogelberg@sprynet.com
Vice President of the Board and Development Chair
Norma Fogelberg, currently Vice President of the Board of Directors, has been serving on the Board since Sept 2006. Norma lives in San Francisco, CA, and along with fellow Board Member, Neil Chase, received the precepts in 2004. As Chair of the Development Committee for Sanshin Zen Community, the committee focus is connecting those who live outside of Bloomington with the practice at Sanshinji, cultivating and engaging the many individuals who care about Okumura-roshi's translation work, Antaiji practice and the Sanshin Community. "We are a local, national and international community with many dedicated practitioners, all of whom are very grateful to have access to Okumura-roshi's teachings and translations. If you have any questions about our practice or would like to get involved, please feel encouraged to contact me."

Susan Gray
wesgray@earthlink.net
Secretary and Administration Chair
Susan Gray is retired and lives in Columbus, Ohio. She has been participating in retreats and sesshins at Sanshin since 2007 and received the precepts from Rev. Okumura in 2008. She is currently serving as the Sanshin Board Secretary and Administration Chair.

Don Orr
djorr@verizon.net
Treasurer and Finance Chair
Don joined the board of Sanshin in June of 2008 and took on the role of Treasurer in 2009. He has been a student of Shohaku-san for more than a decade and received precepts from him in 1998. He is a native of Malta and became a US citizen sometime in the previous century. He lives and works as an academic in Pittsburgh where he practices at Stillpoint, a lay organization of Zen practioners that has been in existence since 1990. Don is a longtime board member and former president of Stillpoint and spearheaded the group's successful efforts to purchase and rehab a structure in the Lawrenceville section of the city and opening its own practice center in 2002. Shohaku-san has been leading retreats at Stillpoint since the mid 90s and has performed three jukai ceremonies for its members.

Bob Meadows
rmeadows@indiana.edu
Facilities & Grounds Chair
Bob Meadows comes to Sanshin from the Zen Center of Bloomington, the local group that preceded Sanshin Zen Community establishing its permanent home in Bloomington. In the fall of 2000, Bob was a part of the discussions and search for an appropriate location for SZC's permanent home in Bloomington. Trained as an architect he designed and facilitated the construction of Sanshin-ji on Olive Street. Bob joined the Sanshin Board of Directors in 2006 where he currently serves as Chair of Facilities. He is employed by Indiana University as an Assistant Vice President for Facilities and University Architect. Prior to his moving to Bloomington in 1996 Bob and his family resided in New York City where he had an architectural practice.

Neil Chase
neil.chase@gmail.com
Technology Chair
Neil Chase has been a member of the Board of Directors since March 2008. He is currently Technology Chair. In 2004, he received the precepts from Shohaku Okumura. From July 2004 - July 2007, he served as archivist of Sanshin's audio recordings. He now lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The Technology Committee is preserving the archive of Okumura-roshi's recorded talks (audio and video), it provides office support for Sanshinji, and it works closely with the Communications and Development Committees.

Mark Pfaff
mpfaff@iupui.edu
Communications Chair
Mark Pfaff has been a member of the Board of Directors since August 2009. He is currently Communications Chair. In 2001, he received the precepts from Shohaku Okumura. From 2001 to 2004, he served on the board of Stillpoint, a Soto Zen practice community in Pittsburgh, PA, where he was the leader of the gardening crew, a member of the outreach community, and webmaster. He now lives in Indianapolis, IN, and is an assistant professor in the School of Informatics at Indiana University. The Communications Committee collaborates with Sanshin's Technology and Development efforts to get information out to the local and global Sanshin audience, and aims to keep the sangha interconnected through traditional and cutting-edge online technologies.

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Welcome, you are
invited to zazen
instruction on Sunday
at 9:00 am.

Next zazen instruction
is on Sept.12.
Please contact us
beforehand.

Upcoming


September Sesshin (Spt.1-6)

Wednesday Study Group
on September 22. The text is
Awakening of Faith
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