Category Archives: Spiritual life

Image of service at Liverpool zendo

Some Reflections on Ritual in Zen – Tony Shinro Doubleday Sensei

East Barn Zendo exists so that people may come together to practise zazen (meditation) in the Zen Buddhist tradition promulgated by Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi Roshi (1931-1995). For this reason, the zendo (meditation room) has a Buddhist altar as its focus, towards which we bow and chant. Some people are disconcerted by the idea that in […]

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Jeremy Ryokan Sensei

Jeremy Ryokan Sensei was given dharma  transmission by Fr Patrick Eastman Kundo Roshi, founder of the Wild Goose Sangha in 2016. In April 2023 Ryokan received Shukke Tokudo from Keizan Roshi and joined Stonewater Zen Sangha. The inner life and the mystery of life fascinated and spoke to Jeremy from his teenage years. It emerged […]

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‘Pure Water, No Fish’- Examining the Four Noble Truths – Andy Tanzan Scott

The Four Noble Truths, along with the Eightfold Path and the Middle Way, are contained in the Buddha’s first teaching after his enlightenment. Called “Turning the Wheel of the Dharma”, this talk at Deer Park to his five former ascetic companions formed the basis of his teaching for the next forty-five years, so it is rather important. Nevertheless […]

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‘Changing My Mind’

A reflection by Maurice Shokatsu George ‘A human mind is an unfathomable entity. Nobody knows what it is. Nobody. Consciousness? Awareness? A by-product of the brain? A non-entity? A facet of the imagination? It’s no use consulting the experts. The only expert to manage my mind is me. No-one else. Nothing else. No Buddhas. Only […]

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