Page title: MerseyBuddhists

StoneWater Zen Sangha
Formerly the Liverpool Zen Group

Our Tradition: The White Plum Asangha

Zen is a Japanese school of Buddhism that emphasises zazen (literally: sitting meditation) as a tool for seeing into the true nature of reality and realising our own intrinsic Buddha-nature.

"Zen is a pithy, stripped-down, determined, uncompromising, cut-to-the-chase, meditation-based Buddhism that takes no interest in doctrinal refinements. Not relying on scripture, doctrine, or ritual, Zen is verified by personal experience, and is passed on from master to disciple, hand-to-hand, ineffably, through hard, intimate training...

"Although Zen eventually developed traditions of study and ritual, its emphasis on personal experience has always made it a practice-oriented tradition. The practice is meditation, or sitting Zen (Zazen). Zazen is an intensely simple practice that is generally taught without steps, stages, or frills. The master teaches sitting in good, upright posture, paying full attention to breathing in your belly until you are fully alert and present. This sense of being present, with illumination and intensity, is the essence of zazen." – Norman Fischer in the Shambala Sun; March 2004

The White Plum Asanga, to which the StoneWater Zen Sangha is affiliated, was founded by Taizan Maezumi Roshi (1931-1995), a Japanese Zen Master who received 'dharma transmission' from three independent lineages in both the Soto and Rinzai sects of Zen. Maezumi Roshi has passed his transmission on to twelve Western Zen Masters, including Dennis Genpo Merzel Roshi and Charles Tenshin Fletcher Roshi, both of whom are connected to StoneWater Zen.

The StoneWater Zen Sangha is led by Dave Keizan Scott, an ordained Buddhist priest and lineage holder in the Soto Zen school, having received shiho (dharma transmission) from Tenshin Fletcher Roshi in October 2009. Keizan Sensei is also a widely published writer on Japan, Zen Buddhism, comparative religion and cookery, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Regular Zazen

We welcome people from all faiths and none. Beginners are asked to attend one of our introductory monthly sessions before joining the scheduled meditation sessions - please check our website for details of the next intro group (they are normally on the third Thursday of a month).

Our regular weekly schedule is:

Evening Zazen:
We meet every Wednesday and Thursday (starting 1 June '09) at 6.45 pm for zazen, which finishes around 9.00pm. We sit for two periods, followed by and concluding with a talk or reading by Keizan Sensei.
Morning Zazen:
Additionally, we sit on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings - please arrive by 6.50am. We will be finished by 8.10a.m.

The Zen group does have financial commitments, and donations of around £5.00 for a zazen session are requested from those able to afford them. The Sangha is supported by the StoneWater Zen Practice Trust (registered charity 289863) - for more information on how to donate, please see our website.

Contact Details & Venue

You can contact us via our web page - additionally, we maintain several mailing lists to which you might wish to subscribe.

From 1 June 2009, all StoneWater Zen sittings and monthly zazenkai will be held at:

The Dojo
Top Floor, 13 Hope Street
Liverpool

Please also see our website for a map.

Recommended Reading

  • David Scott & Tony Doubleday (1996). The Elements of Zen. Element Books. ISBN: 1862040427 (Link at Amazon.co.uk)
  • David Scott & Tenshin Fletcher-sensei (2003). The Way of Zen. Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN: 0312206208 (Link at Amazon.co.uk)

In addition, Sensei has written widely on Zen cooking, martial arts and Japan. For a more complete listing of his books and those of other teachers in this lineage, see reading-suggestions.

StoneWater members have access to a small (but growing) lending library, open before Wednesday evening zazen. Donations of books or other materials are very welcome!

Links

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