No zazen on Weds 7th Nov

Hi all... just a quick note that there will be no meeting on the evening of Weds 7th November as several folk (including myself) are away.

We'll resume as usual the following Wednesday (14th), and do remember the Zazenkai on Saturday 24th.

A line of shussos...

Really enjoyed today's newsletter from StoneWater, there were some great reflections in there from all sorts of folks. Wonderful to see images of Stephan's tokudo ceremony (monastic ordination).

(Newsletters are archived at www.stonewaterzen.org/newsletter-archive - the most recent one isn't up there yet but I assume it will be soon... have a browse, there's some interesting stuff there!)

One of the images really stood out for me (and not just because I'm in it!) - a line of shussos! Each year, one of the senior monks or practitioners for the past five years has undertaken their shusso ango, a month-long retreat in the Lakes where they take on the role of head monk (shusso) which culminates in a dharma combat ceremony in Liverpool (see my posts from last August for reflections on my own). Here's a line-up of our shussos...

From back to front (and in the order in which we did our shusso angos) are John Suigen Kenworthy, Andy Tanzan Scott, Tony Shinro Doubleday, Alasdair Taisen Gordon-Finlayson, Keith Shingo Parr and in the front, all queued up to do the shusso ango in 2019, Karen Shoji Robbie. A wonderful sense of continuation and hopefully a mark of the sangha's robust health.

My undying gratitude to all those in the line-up, in front of and behind me, and to Keizan Sensei who has put so much energy into the sangha over the last couple of decades.

On a lighter note, I also loved this moment caught by Jenny Shoshin Best, during Keith's address at his shusso hossenshiki (head monk's dharma combat ceremony) this past August:

Zazenkai time again!

"Zen"

We're pleased to announce that we're running another zazenkai - Zen practice day - on Saturday 24th November in Collingtree Village (off the M1, just outside Northampton).

The day will run from 9.30am to 4.00pm and include lunch, plenty of zazen and the usual side-order of service, interviews, dharma talk, samu, etc. We might just end up at the pub across the road for a swift half before heading home! (Has been known to happen...)

Our zazenkai days are appropriate for beginners as well as more seasoned practitioners, and everyone in between. We usually ask for £20 for the day including lunch (£15 concessions or drop me a line).

(Feel free to give more if you're feeling flush! Trying to save up for a proper hako box for service!)

Sticking to your practice...

The folks at the Mindfulness Project blog posted some useful tips today on sticking to your practice... While this is framed for people who are into secular mindfulness practice that's usually taught & supported on formal eight-week courses, much of the advice is relevant to anyone who's trying to maintain a regular meditation practice.

Amongst other tips, they suggest:

• Seek community: Well, of course I would point that one out! We meet every week on Wednesday evenings, and all are welcome (even if you've no experience of meditation... or even haven't been for a while!).
• Start with small commitments: It's unlikely that you'll be able to dive into four hours a day of serene zazen! They remind us that "even small amounts of practice -- 5 minute bursts, for example -- are better than no practice at all". Often it's about finding space in your day for regular practice - early morning works best for most (not me!), last thing at night for others, or some regular time during the day. Establishing a dedicated space at home for your practice has helped many, too.

Mostly, though, I liked that title of the piece which used Sharon Salzberg's exhortation to "Just start over." Just start over every time you sit, and when you're seated, just start over every time you're distracted. And more fundamentally, start over with every breath, with every moment.

"Zazen is not Shuzen"

Last night we looked at the first of two articles by Rev Issho Fujita, currently Director of the Soto Zen International Center in San Fransisco (pictured right), which were shared by Matthew Gindin on his Blue Waters, Blue Mountains blog a few years back (but I only came across them this week!). They were originally published in Dharma Eye (vol 28: link to original).

Rev Fujita's discussion is about what constitutes 'true' zazen, as opposed to shuzen, meditation practised in order to cultivate some special state of mind. He talks about his experience with other forms of meditation and contrasts them to the zazen of Bodhidharma and Dogen.

Link to the post is: susuddho.blogspot.com/2012/05/issho-fujita-zazen-is-not-shuzen.html

We only looked over the first half during our tea-and-biccies post-zazen chat, and will have a crack at the second half in a few weeks. Quite what zazen, shikantaza is, can be difficult to express verbally ("just do it"!). Rev Fujita quotes the inimitable Uchiyama Roshi, who called it: "an effort to continuously aim at a correct sitting posture with flesh and bones and to totally leave everything to that." There's the challenge - just to leave it alone! It reminds me of the classic developmental psychology experiment in which children as left alone in a room with some sweeties in front of them, and are asked not to eat them... that if they manage not to eat them, they'll get more sweeties when the experimenter returns. How hard it is to leave the sweeties alone... how much harder to leave our minds alone in our seated practice.

July Zazenkai

We have a date for the next zazenkai (practice day) - Saturday 21st July. It will be held in the Collingtree Village Room, the same venue as previous zazenkai.

Zazenkai gives us a chance to focus on our practice for a longer period than is usually possible in our day-to-day lives, and to deepen our practice together. During the day, we will have service, a samu (mindful labour) period, we'll share a meal, have a talk, practice interviews will be offered... and of course we'll do lots of zazen.

Full details will be posted later - I look forward to practising together with you.

Talk: Kindness and an open heart

Weekly zazen continues - remember, we meet every Wednesday come rain or shine (unless there's a notice here that it's cancelled!). Please make a commitment to your practice and, when the circumstances of your life permit it, join us!

This week, rather than reading from a book or listening to me waffle on, we played an audio recording of a dharma talk by Keizan Sensei that he gave last month at the end of the Retreat to the City held in Liverpool. It was a nice change of pace, and we'll probably do it again, maybe once a month or so.

For those who missed it, here it is...

If you come across other talks that you think would be good to share in the group, let me know (email me the link at alasdair@gordon-finlayson.net) - doesn't have to be a StoneWater or White Plum teacher, but definitely Zen rather than other traditions (and preferably a max of 20 mins or so to allow a bit of discussion afterwards without going too late into the night!

No zazen Weds 4 April

Just a quick note to say that there will be no zazen on the evening of Wednesday 4 April as I'm away on sesshin (retreat) that week. Zazen this week (28/3) and the following week (11/4) as usual.

For those curious about sesshin, here's a link to a piece by Andy Tanzan Scott from a few years back which gives some of the basics. There are a few blog posts about sesshin on the main StoneWater site actually - worth a browse, some great reflections there from experienced sitters and those newer to the practice. Sesshin isn't just for those who've been practising for years, we do occasionally have people join us who have never sat before! (Heck of a way to start...!)

For those of you considering going on sesshin, I'd very much encourage it - it's an integral part of Zen practice. Being able to spend 4, 5 or 6 days focusing on your practice is a wonderful opportunity to deepen your experience of zazen, to meet many other people in our fantastic sangha, and to have "proper" interviews with an actual Zen teacher!

All the folk attending the Spring sesshin 2017 with Tenshin Roshi (grey kesa)
and Keizan Sensei (blue kesa). Muggins is in the back row! 

Back to campus...!

Thanks again to Chetak, Joey and the rest of the committee and members of the University of Northampton Meditation Society for their invitation to run an introductory session on Zen meditation last Thursday. This was part of a series of sessions for "Meditation March", a chance to commit to practising regularly for the month of March.

Rather than delving into too much of the arcane and theatrical, this time we just did some "plain" zazen - OK, perhaps a bit of kin-hin and the Four Vows thrown in, but otherwise just plain old zazen.

It was a dark and stormy night... really! With the snow building up around the county, I was very impressed that we had fourteen people turn up to give it a go, and we had a chance for an interesting chat at the end.

Once again, I really enjoyed my visit, the MedSoc aways gives a warm and attentive welcome (as you'd hope!), and I'm already looking forward to the next one.

Chetak took some photos of the day - a brief selection below...

Zazenkai Sat 24 February

I'm pleased to announce that we'll be holding a day of Zen practice in Collingtree village (just outside of Northampton and just off J15 on the M1) on Saturday 24 February 2018.

The day will start at 10.00am and run until 4.00pm, and will follow a schedule of meditation, Zen teaching and one-on-one interviews about your practice (optional), with a communal lunch and work period.

Zazenkai (trans: "coming together for zazen") is an opportunity to deepen our meditation practice in a way that's not always possible in our daily routine. For some, it's also a welcome opportunity to sit with a group of people - a sangha, or community - that isn't normally available. Please consider joining the Northampton group for this wonderful opportunity to firmly stand in our own shoes!

Our Zazenkai are suitable for both beginners and seasoned practitioners - introductory instruction will be given if you've not sat before, or perhaps just not sat with a StoneWater group. Wear dark-ish (i.e. non-distracting), comfortable clothing, rakusu if you have one.

Suggested donation: £20 (£15 concessions) - all proceeds go to meet costs and to support the Northampton group (and we're a bit skint right now!)
Venue: Collingtree Village Rooms, High Street, Collingtree, NN4 0NQ
Bookings: Not required, but it would help if you could give us notice so that we can make sure there's enough food for everyone!
Contact: Call Alasdair on 07807 753 781, or email me on alasdair@gordon-finlayson.net.

Zazen cancelled tonight

Apologies to all - afraid I've stuffed my back up and won't be able to host our regular zazen this evening.

Sure that things will be back to normal next week!