Chapter 1. Standing up was tricky, but I steadied myself. It felt like someone else’s prosthetic leg had been left propped up under my hip, but otherwise I was good. Along with the others in the group I did a small bow from the hip. A gentle turn to the left. It’s going to be […]
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I have noticed lately how each of my days have become inextricably opened and closed by the passage of the sun. Always a morning person I guess, apart from a couple of years spent vigorously exploring a more nocturnal emphasis to my day that (strange as it may seem) coincided pretty much exactly with moving […]
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I have been meditating regularly for quite a few years now. I usually sit Zazen (Zen meditation) for 1 hour most mornings. Dawn is the best time for me. There is something about the stillness and the quality of the light first thing that I find very conducive to quieting down and settling into a […]
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Today we went to visit the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion just outside of Bendigo. A stupa is a sacred building symbolising the enlightened mind and the path to enlightenment in Buddhism. This particular stupa is a massive structure with each side if its square base measuring 50 metre and tapers to a crown some […]
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I recently came across this picture in my Instagram feed and I thought it was pretty cool. Just a group of zen practitioners fooling around at the beach. But also pretty good reminder (for me at least) that appearances are only skin deep. That, and perhaps….never take yourself to seriously! As it says in the […]
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In a couple of weeks I will be going off to sit my butt down on a small round cushion for 7 days of intense meditation. I say intense, because despite the appearance of not much going on other than a room full of people sitting down and staring at the floor, believe me….there is […]
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A short video on painter, Gert Johan Manschot.
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I have just returned from a week long intensive meditation retreat or sesshin at Kodoji Zendo. It was one of the most difficult and rewarding things I have done.
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I’m about to head into Sesshin ( a meditation retreat) for the next 7 days. So I will be untethered, uncontactable and off-grid for that time. This seems like a good time to disconnect myself from a few other things too. I have taken breaks from using Facebook in the past and have been thinking […]
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