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.

Group of people sitting on the floor in a zendo

Orchestral Manoeuvres in (and out of) the Zendo – Manu Myōshin Bazzano

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 […]

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Monks in robes pulling suitcases

Too Much Baggage – Mokuin Sensei

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 […]

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Roshi in zendo in zazen posture

Interview with Roshi in the Liverpool Echo

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 […]

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New book by Tim Zenki Steel

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 […]

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Image of the book cover

Book Review by Clive Tenryu Lindley-Jones of Matthieu Ricard’s Notebooks of a Wandering Monk

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 […]

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