April intro event & some news

Just a quick reminder of the introductory evening being held this Wednesday (see "When & Where" for map etc). Please do feel free to come along even if you've been before - arrival is 7.00ish for a 7.15 start. We'll have about an hour's introductory session before joining the others for one period of zazen (seated meditation) followed tea & a talk on Zen practice that I'll be giving. Hope to see you there.

In other news - I've recently come back from a week's meditation retreat with my teacher, Keizan Scott Sensei, during which he asked me to start taking on more responsibilities to supervise others' Zen practice. So, starting this week, I'll be offering one-on-one interviews during zazen in which we can discuss your individual practice. Interviews will be at least monthly, and there'll be no additional charge for them (donations to the group always welcome in the Big Brown Box of course!). Note: I will not be offering koan instruction.

If you'd like to take advantage of these interviews, please come along on to zazen on the third Wednesday of each month (interviews won't be offered to folk on their very first visit) and put you name on the list that will be out before zazen.

Zen for Beginners - Introductory evening 20 April

We'll be holding an introductory evening for those who have little or no experience of Zen practice and who'd like to find out a bit more and have a taste of what it's like to sit formal zazen (seated Zen meditation). No commitment to join the group on an ongoing basis (though of course you're welcome to).

Please arrive at around 7.00 for a 7.15 start, in the Marten Room upstairs at the Quaker Meeting House.  The evening will consist of an hour's introduction and discussion, after which we'll join the regular weekly meeting for a 30-minute period of zazen.

We'll conclude with tea and a formal talk on Zen practice by group convenor & Zen monk Alasdair Taisen Gordon-Finlayson.

For repeat offenders, the regular schedule of 7.30 zazen continues of course...!

No zazen 6 April

Hi all - just a quick note that there will be no meeting on Weds 6 April - I'll be away at the Crosby sesshin for the week. We'll pick up again on Weds 13th.

A visit to the UoN's Meditation Society

A big thank you to the organisers of the University of Northampton's Meditation Society who invited me to visit yesterday. There was a great turnout - 20 if you include the photographer (and as he also sat with us, you can definitely include him!), and the session seemed appreciated.

The members of Meditation Society are probably not Buddhist (though some are), and definitely not Zennistas, so I used the forms of Zen as an example of how meditation can be practised in a ritualised context. We bowed, we sat in straight lines with straight postures (and a good strong sitting it was too), and then afterwards we chanted the Identity of Relative and Absolute, then ended with a few more bows!

Chatting afterwards it seems the chanting was considered the 'oddest' element, but that the ritual context helped people get into a good frame of mind for meditation. I asked people to consider what rituals they already use or might develop in their own practice and left them to chew on that for a while.

Thanks especially to Chetack Nangare and Charmaine Sonnex, Pres & Sec of Meditation Society, for the invitation and help setting up & breaking down... as well as permission to share these photos...

A very appropriate fundraiser...!

My friend and sangha sister Miranda Forward is taking tokudo this spring - becoming a monk. As you know, part of the ritual is the shaving of the head, and Miranda is using this opportunity to raise funds for the charity Alopecia UK.

If you'd like to contribute, please go to her JustGiving.com page (remember GiftAid if you're a UK taxpayer).

Zen at UoN

The chair of the UoN Meditation Society, Chetak Nangare (and it must be said in the interests of full disclosure, one of my PhD students!) has put a flyer and Facebook event up for this week's session at the uni:

Event link: www.facebook.com/events/767647123379579/

Upcoming visits

Just to keep everyone posted (and show that I'm keeping busy!), thought I'd drop a note here to say that I'll be doing two visits in the next couple of weeks.

First I'll be attending Eastfield Academy to run a full-school assembly there. I'll be trying to remember not to embarrass my son too much, who's in Year 4 at Eastfield! I've done a few primary school visits before, and always enjoy the kids' curiosity and occasionally odd questions.

The following week I'll also be visiting the University of Northampton's Meditation Society to give them a bit of a taste of formal zazen practice - curious to find what they make of it.

Should anyone else happen to need a visit from a Zen monk, drop me a line!