Author Archives: Suzanne Tsuko Adey

Zen and Therapy – Suzanne Tsuko Adey

Here we have the second contribution on the newsletter theme of ‘Zen and Therapy’, this time from Suzanne Adey, one of Stonewater’s monks and a counsellor and therapist I’ve been a counsellor and therapist for over twenty years and a Zen practitioner for fifteen years. I have always recognised an overlap between the two in […]

Changing my mind, changing my world – Suzanne Tsuko Adey

Here we have another contribution on the theme of “Changing my mind, changing my world”, this time a lovely piece by Suzanne Tsuko Adey: I grew up with a very dim view of my father. Growing up he was often aggressive and rude. As a child I feared him and as an adult I avoided […]

No creature ever falls short of its own completion. Wherever it stands it does not fail to cover the ground.

No creature ever falls short of its own completion. Wherever it stands it does not fail to cover the ground. Dogen Zenji I recently heard this quoted during a talk on sesshin at Crosby a few weeks ago. It caught my attention immediately with its profound depth and wisdom. I would like to share with […]

On becoming a monk 2. Suzanne

My name is Suzanne Adey. I have been a Counsellor and Therapist for about fifteen years. I joined StoneWater Zen Sangha nine years ago during a difficult time in my life. At that time my marriage was ending and I was trying to extricate myself from a very complex situation. My job was demanding and […]

Non-Violent Communication and Zen

I’d like to share with you my experience of Non-Violent Communication (NVC) and how it is on its way to being at the heart of my own personal Zen practice. Over the past fifteen years I have closely encountered the personal suffering of hundreds of individuals, from the privileged vantage point of one to one psychotherapist and counsellor. I have also observed my own suffering in relationship with myself and other people, and witnessed that of those closest to me. As a Zen practitioner I am constantly seeking to understand the suffering of human beings and ways to ‘put an end to it’. A part of this process for me has involved gaining a deeper insight into psychological and emotional styles of operating in the world, including my own.

First sesshin

I had been sitting for six months with this group and decided to go on my first sesshin. I had heard Tenshin give a talk a few months before. He had made a deep impression on me. Something about his way of being conveyed a level of wisdom and spirituality that I felt drawn to and wanted to know more about. I wanted to deepen my practice and I had a few burning questions that I was taking into interview with Dave – to do with the nature of life and death and the meaning of existence. I thought that I might get some of these answered on sesshin.