Category Archives: Personal reflection

Picture of Miranda having her head shaved

Miranda Wayu Forward – Jukai and Tokudo, then and now

When I told my mum I was receiving Jukai, she said, “You always were a joiner”. At the time, I felt hurt, although I knew on one level she was right. I’ve always been looking for tribes of like-minded people following some path, sharing an understanding of the world, working together for a common cause. […]

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Zen Ups and Downs, but more Sideways – and a Photo Competition! – Gordon Gaho Tyrrall

I began Zen practice in 1983. I’d become interested in “spirituality” after abandoning a steady job to join a band of scruffy folkies touring Europe in 1979. I think I was looking for something to lean on in a time of insecurity. I read Krishnamurti, Gurdjieff and lots of other mumbo jumbo but felt strongly […]

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Koans are for life, not just interview: reflections of a koan committed – Guro Shoshin Huby

“Koans are not for me”, I used to think. “My practice is woefully inadequate. Koans are for serious and accomplished practitioners of Zen”. “Besides”, I would go on, “I live too much in my head. Koans would only make my head even fuller of words and distract me from the practice of being in the […]

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Roshi – A Diary, Zen Mountain Center August 2005

As part of a series of posts about sesshin gathered for the StoneWater Zen newsletter, here Roshi shares a very condensed diary of three weeks spent at Zen Mountain Center, California, August 4th, leave Manchester Airport 12 noon. Arrive Ontario airport, Los Angeles, 8pm, eight hours behind UK time. Tenshin meets me. Drive through desert […]

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