Category Archives: Zen & the internet

No Edge – Stuart Gendai Hollyoak

Once or twice in his Dharma talks throughout the pandemic Roshi has said that on Zoom there’s no edge to our practice. Many mornings I have crawled out of bed five minutes before a sitting and sat in my pyjamas. Many evenings I have declined an interview with a teacher because I told myself I […]

Zoom keeps me regular – Rhys Jones

Zoom keeps me sitting regular You’ve seen and been the proof Without you I would not have done it My virtual inos in shashu Off the Way I had completely fallen Broadoak bedlam bound was I Then years it took to get back seated This is the truth and not a lie But […]

Boxes – Mark Kogan Shawcroft

Scanning the green slopes below, I discuss the profound principle with the white cloud. Though the feeling of the wild is in mountains and waters, truly, I long for company of the way. (Hanshan) Driving past the fields turning yellow, What principle is this? The roadkill understands. Let go to hold on to heart. It […]

Zoom sitting – Gordon Gaho Tyrall

I was a bit slow joining the Zoom sessions. My first encounter with the platform was an Angulimala meeting (the Buddhist prison chaplaincy organisation which holds four meetings a year at the Forest Hermitage in Warwickshire under normal conditions). But I held back from the StoneWater sessions for a while for some reason. I’m reasonably […]

Zoom sitting – Sarah Kokai Thwaites

Six months before the pandemic, I attended a conference of the European Buddhist Union. It included a workshop about online dharma led by an American who worked with the youth network of Thich Nhat Hahn’s Plum Village sangha. I think he despaired at the lack of tech experience of our mostly middle-aged/older gathering of well-meaning […]

IT in Zen – How does the electronic mindfulness work?

Here Woo-Young Tetsugen Yang looks at some of the technology of meditation. Smartphone apps have become very popular and widely used, especially by Mindfulness practitioners. But can they also be useful in a more traditional style of Zen practice? Here is Woo’s experience: Insight Timer (https://insighttimer.com) is a meditation app that I have used every single […]

The Internet: Navigating a Middle Way? – Alan Kaishin Crawford

Here is another piece in our theme of practice in the age of the internet, this time from Alan Kaishin Crawford. Thinking about the topic of whether practice is supported or hindered by technology is an interesting one for me. It provokes mixed feelings as it is something I have wrestled with in my own […]

In Defence of Social Media by Sarah Kokai Thwaites

The internet, like everything else, has benefits and dangers. I know that for some people it can feel like an addictive and agitating way to spend time and can serve as a distraction from real life and practice. For me though the internet, and the connections it makes possible, has been an integral part of […]

Social media is OK – as long as you keep it social

Here is another piece on our Zen and the Internet theme – this from Mark Kogan Shawcroft: To post or not to post that is the question. I used to post the odd opinion on Facebook. But lately I have stuck to just putting photos of my kids having a good time, just to show the […]

The Internet – a corrupting influence?

Is the internet a corrupting influence? Martin Huiskens thinks so: We live in a world where parents are bullied into buying computers for their children. Children now have their own computers in their bedrooms and internet on their phones. Many children now spend on average 6 hours a day lost in cyberspace. This has created […]