Mission
Founded in 2010, by Unshin Sangaku Dan Joslyn-sensei, the Falmouth Soto Zen Sangha’s (FSZS) mission is to help reduce the suffering in ourselves and others through sharing the Dharma. This is our Fifteenth Anniversary Year. Check our website often as we will be involved in a variety of new activities.
FSZS is an affiliate sangha of the Silent Thunder Order (STO), a 501c3 non-profit organization, and a member of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association (SZBA) and the Lay Zen Teachers Association (LZTA).
Sensei’s (teacher) lineage is through Soyu Zengaku Matsuoka-roshi, Shōhaku Okumura-roshi, and Taiun Michael Elliston-roshi.
Priest and Guiding Teacher
Sensei Unshin Sangaku Dan Joslyn
Sensei Unshin Sangaku Dan Joslyn is a Silent Thunder Order Transmitted Priest. As Leader of the Falmouth Soto Zen Sangha, he is a member and follows the ethical standards of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association (SZBA), the Lay Zen Teachers Association (LZTA) and Cape Clergy. Sensei also works in drug and alcohol counseling and engaging senior citizens in learning meditation.
Before becoming a priest, he was an organizational sociologist working with nonprofit groups in strategic planning, program-evaluation, and management training. His largest client base was Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).
In addition, he has been a college lecturer at several institutions and served on a number of boards of trustees. He is available to speak on the history of Buddhism and Zen and their role in everyday life, and “How a Small-Town Boy from Forsyth, Georgia, Grew Up to be a Zen Buddhist Priest.”
Practice Leader of the Sangha
Mokuo Nancy Sherwood
Mokuo Nancy Sherwood taught Special Education in San Francisco, Boston, and in a residential school on Cape Cod for many years. She was introduced to her Zen practice at The Falmouth Soto Zen Sangha (FSZS) in 2015 under the founder and Guiding Teacher Sensei Sangaku Dan Joslyn.
In 2017 Mokuo took Jukai in the Falmouth Sangha. Mokuo serves as Tenso for the Sangha and participates in outreach by teaching meditation to people in alcohol and drug treatment centers. Mokuo completed Discipleship training through Joslyn-sensei and her mentors, Kaaren Wilken, Kuwasan Ann Glasmann, and Zenku Jerry Smyers-sensei. Her Zaike ceremony was officiated by Hojo Taiun Elliston-roshi (Abbot of the Silent Thunder Order) in November 2020. As of March, 2024, she is the senior disciple of the Falmouth Soto Zen Sangha.
As Practice Leader she is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Sangha.
Value and Vows
- We vow to be welcoming to newcomers and inquirers
- We vow to consider all beings as our Sangha, as best we’re able
- and to continually express the dharma through body, speech, and mind
- We vow to welcome and include all who want to learn, practice, and live the dharma
- We vow to take-up the way of listening deeply
- We vow to live a life of self-learning
- We vow to help others deepen our practice
- We vow to make no distinction between ourselves and others
- We vow to express compassion in our thought and action
- We vow to support the Guiding Teacher and Practice Leader
- We vow to pay respect and take refuge in the three treasures for ourselves and others
- We vow to create a harmonious community by mindful and compassionate behavior
- We vow to not waste this life.