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 Sarah Thwaites if you don't use social media.
Sesshin used to be an even more special place than it is today, and that is saying something. Sesshin was Special because this was where that SOMETHING was going to happen. Exactly what that SOMETHING was was not clear to me, and I couldn’t put it into words. I don’t think I even realised I […]
I’ve tried quite a few things to keep sane in the last seven weeks. I felt optimistic when lockdown started. A honeymoon phase. I was glad the schools had closed and I didn’t have to do any more supply work. But everything felt strange and upside down. The news was heartbreaking. The death, grief and […]
When I first pondered this question, the only word that appeared in my head was ‘life’. I tend to take a rather wide and inclusive approach to practice so before I jump to that conclusion it is perhaps more helpful to start with a more focused definition: Buddha as the historical figure whose example still […]
I have heard it said that different groups and traditions emphasise different aspects of the three treasures. Some, taking a scholarly or esoteric approach, place their emphasis on the Dharma. Others, putting great weight on the importance of meditation, put Buddha to the fore. If that is so, we could also ask which of the […]
What does Buddha, Dharma, Sangha mean to me? As a newbie to practice, these Buddhist words haven’t quite infiltrated my mind fully yet so I need to constantly remind myself. My very basic understanding of these words (from Google) is that the Buddha is the Enlightened/Awakened One, the Dharma is the teaching of the Awakened […]
The phrase “there is space for it all” came into my head while sitting this morning and it seems to describe for me (so far) practising during the pandemic. My main practice at any time seems to be sitting with whatever feels the least comfortable. It’s not a practice I deliberately choose but on reflection […]
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 […]