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.
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 […]
The title of this is a question I was asked online about a year ago, and I’ve just stumbled across my answer to it. We touch on the idea of ritual, ceremony and ‘the form’ from time to time in Northampton, especially when people come to their first sit with a service! Usually, I answer […]
Dear sangha member, I am a researcher at the University of Northampton, UK, and as you might know, I am also a Zen practitioner in the StoneWater Sangha. I received tokudo in 2011, and was made ‘Hoshi’ last year by Keizan Roshi, who’s graciously permitted me to send out this call for help with my new research project, which […]
On Wednesday 20th March there will be a change to the regular schedule. After one period of meditation, Alan Lessik, an author and Zen student in the Shunryu Suzuki Roshi Soto Zen linage, will be reading from his new Zen novel, Make the Dark Night Shine. Inspired by his Aunt Nina Uchida´s family story, Make […]
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 […]
A monk asked, “Does a dog have Buddha Nature or not?” Jōshū answered, “Mu!” Joshu’s Mu is the first of 48 cases or kōan appearing in the Gateless Gate kōan collection (the Mumonkan) complied by Mumon Ekai (1183-1260), in 1228. It’s also the first case in the 200 introductory kōan studied by students working with […]
I have recently been reading Yoka Daishi’s ‘Realising the Way’. One line that really struck me was “Just cast of the dirty old clothes you treasure and don’t boast of your pure living to others”. Firstly, I thought about appearance and how we all kind of have our own look: Hipster, Punk, Farmer, Golfer, Teacher, […]
This was a teisho given 26th October, 2023 at Fell End Thank you for your welcome, it’s such joy to be among you as part of the StoneWater sangha, thank you for the beautiful open heartedness you offered in Daisan, it feels like something of the measure of practice here and says something deeply wonderful […]
It had been 10 years since my last sesshin at Fell End. In the intervening years I had continued my practice ploughing a lone furrow but with regular contact with Suigen Sensei, my teacher. Like many Sangha members, I experienced immense support through sitting via Zoom from pandemic times onward. My world had changed during […]
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 […]