This is where we invite you, the Sangha members, to contribute your short articles on your experiences, ideas
or readings that you feel will interest others. Send these direct to Sarah Kokai Thwaites, or via the contact page. Posts will be linked and publicised in general mailings, Facebook and Twitter. Comments may
be made on the StoneWater Zen Facebook page or via Sarah Thwaites if you don't use social media.
Richard wrote this on sesshin last summer and dedicates it to all sangha members especially Colin, the summer Shuso I’m sitting here in silence And waiting for the bell To relieve my suffering body From this self-inflicted hell Of pain and angst and heartache I’ve dredged up on the way. I’m struggling to work it […]
I’ve heard Roshi mention a few times the ‘vertical’ nature of our practice—from teacher to student, a bloodline travelling through many generations. For practitioners acquainted with ‘secular’ expressions of the Dharma (as I was when I left traditional practice for a time after studying for ten years with my teacher, Genpo Roshi), this avowedly religious […]
It was while I was a resident at Yokoji Zen Mountain Center that I completed the Blue Cliff Record (J: Hekiganroku), the classic koan collection compiled by Setchō Jusen (980–1052). I decided it might be useful to collate my numerous scribbled notes, phrases and poetic allegories into some cohesive order. With time and study, I […]
It was a great pleasure to be present and participate when Keizan Rōshi gave Denkai and Denbō to Dan Kōjin Bushin Gallagher on 30 October 2024. When thinking about the preparations for Dharma Transmission, I began to reflect on our lineage and the ceremony’s general significance for a talk during the sesshin. What follows is […]
This week Roshi has been featured in the Liverpool Echo with this interview. The founder of one of Liverpool’s most fabled bars is sending a message of acceptance, kindness and compassion in an ever polarised world. David Scott, who founded the original Everyman Bistro with business partner Paddy Byrne, runs the Stonewater Zen Centre, which […]
Awakenings is a non-fiction hands-on look at the human condition, the causes of suffering, what can be done about them and how to take up help in the pursuit of its resolve. “I wrote the book as a response to the increased suffering I see around me in my life caused by the isolation experienced […]
I use that word without fully understanding what it means. A seeker? Spiritual quester? Searcher of Truth – and finder of it too? My mum has just published a book called Diaries of a Young Mystic, which reveals her to be all of the above. She recently rediscovered her diaries from the 70s, having landed […]
Witnessing a tokudo ceremony gets me every time. At the Spring sesshin this year I heard Roshi say that receiving the homeless vows implies, among other things, being at home everywhere. An attractive suggestion. And a difficult task. It brings up memories of long flights, of giving in at last (after idle movie-watching and desiccated […]
This time last year I was in Thailand, embarking on a two-month stint that became everything I didn’t know I was looking for. I kept diaries of my reflections, particularly throughout a stay in a Vipassana temple, and started to write up a piece on my return which I eventually abandoned. It feels personally apt […]
Notebooks of a Wandering Monk by Matthieu Ricard, (Translated by Jesse Browner. 2023. 702pp. Hardback £28.00) This is a giant, magnificent book in weight and its import, depth, and unique and extraordinary viewpoint. Matthieu Ricard gives us an intimate insider’s perception of the world of Tibetan Buddhism over its last half-century journey and beyond. This […]