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 the webmaster, Andy Scott, 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 Twitter, or via the webmaster if you don’t use social media.
I miss Sesshin! Trying to write down what I am missing and why, and what I can learn from this has helped me make sense of things. We had been thinking about the April trip from Norway to Crosby since the end of October sesshin. Then by March it was clear that the trip was […]
This year my little boy asked to celebrate the seasons, and we began with Imbolc, the half-way point between Winter and Spring. We wrote seeds on coloured paper that we felt we were planting in our lives, and planted them in the earth. One of mine was to push past my fears when I feel […]
Some more thoughts on the subject of Zen and Therapy from Andy Tanzan Scott and Sarah Kokai Thwaites. Andy Tanzan Scott “Zen and psychotherapy: the same or different or both?” For me, they are different. I see Zen as a branch of Buddhism and thus as a religion. It is concerned with meaning – of […]
Here another StoneWater practitioner and therapist Lorena Yosho Rivero de Beer explores Zen and Therapy. I started practicing Zen meditation not long after I started training as a Lacanian psychoanalyst 5 years ago. From the beginning their similarities and differences have enriched both practices for me. They bring both experiential depth in the points that […]
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 […]
The theme of the next SWZ newsletter is “Zen and therapy: different, the same or both?”. Here we have the first piece on the subject from long-time sangha member and therapist Jutta Keijo Pieper. Looking at the similarities and differences between psychotherapy and meditation, my focus will be on the Gestalt Psychotherapy approach which I […]
by Mark Kogan Shawcroft Driving though the road that splits the old Coalite site A plant that created smokeless fuel A plant the created Agent Orange for the Vietnam war A plant that allegedly put dioxins in soil Killed some cows and spoiled some milk Ended up stealing workers pensions. Constantly failing to give a […]
Best Wishes for the New Year from Keizan Scott Roshi Dear Fellow Practitioners, The theme of the present SWZ Newsletter just posted out is ‘What is my favourite koan and why?’ This newsletter is a really good issue with fine contributions and especially from Karen/Shoji and Jez/Yushin with their commentaries on a favourite koan. (you can find the […]
At StoneWater we are blessed in having some sangha members who are fine writers and who are able to share and reflect, often in very personal ways. Here’s a lovely piece by Stuart Gendai Hollyoak who explores the idea of intrinsic value. The ‘Identity of Relative and Absolute’ says that each thing ‘has its own […]
I had the opportunity to be Head Trainee (Shuso) in the Lakes this year. I don’t normally work on koans. My usual practice is just sitting (shikantaza). I chose this koan because of its ordinariness. It felt relevant to my everyday life. It involved Joshu and Nansen. Two of the great figures in Zen history. […]