In Zen we chant the Makahannyharamitashingyo, The Heart Sutra. This text can seem inaccessible or mysterious.

If we go back to the foundation of the Buddhist teaching, we know the Buddha practiced meditation.  He looked very deeply into himself.  With the same penetrating eye he also looked outside himself. What he found as an underlying principle underneath everything is the principle of change.  Everything, slowly or quickly, is changing.  These days that is very easy for us to recognise.  Scientists are telling us that all atoms are in constant movement, even in a piece of wood or something seemingly very solid such as a diamond.  At the time of the Buddha, this view was very new.  It was a new vision.  Looking within himself the Buddha couldn’t find anything that doesn’t change. Looking outside himself he couldn’t find anything that doesn’t change.

This was important because at the time, in spiritual culture, there was a very strong view that each person had a soul and this soul was like a little piece of God that was separate and was on a journey back again to God.  This piece of God was seen as something that didn’t change and would be passed on from life to life like a baton in a relay race.  The Buddha however looked very deeply inside himself.  He looked very deeply outside himself.  He said he couldn’t find anything that corresponded to this unchanging piece of God.  Because everything changes, because there isn’t this fixed element within us or within anything else, he also realised that, by the very nature of things, no one thing, no one person, no one situation can ever completely satisfy us because it is changing.  We are changing.  Everything is changing.  So when we fixate in our minds about having a five bedroom house, a Maserati, a new Apple laptop, a new boyfriend or whatever we will never be satisfied.  We will never be completely fully happy when we get whatever it is we want.

In the old Indian texts, these three qualities are called:

“anatta”, the universal principle of change;

“Anicca”, the fact that there is no fixed essence within us;

and “dukkha”, a sense of the unsatisfactoriness of things.

These three qualities together form the foundation of all Buddhism.  When you put all of these qualities together, a shorthand word is “shunyata,” emptiness.  But emptiness  doesn’t mean that we don’t exist.  It doesn’t mean that things don’t exist.  Emptiness means that things are changing and nothing has a fixed essence. Nothing is permanently satisfactory.

Everything that we think of as a thing is actually a process which is moving, dynamic and alive. Every person is actually a process.  It is what we call in Buddhism, “shunyata”, or “ku” in Japanese.

It is to this negation that the Maka Hannya Haramita Sutra is pointing. The text says, “No eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind.” The truth is actually when I point to my eye, this is no eye, when I point to my ear, this is no ear, this is no nose  and this is no tongue.  When we make things more solid than they really are, we enter the world of illusion . When we allow things to be dynamic, fluid, ungraspable, we enter the world of enlightenment.

The cornerstone of our practice is to see reality as it really is. As we start to see this life, this flow and this movement.  This seeing, is called “hannya” in Japanese or “prajna” in Sanskrit. It means a view that is based in wisdom and clarity and in seeing how things really are. So in a sense what is being referred to throughout the whole text is what this perception of emptiness is like.

It is however important we don’t make emptiness into a thing. it is not a thing. It is a quality of all things. It is just the way things are. And the more that our practice develops, the more we get to see this ungraspable nature of things, and then we automatically let go. Because why would we hang on to things that are changing? Why would we try to hold on to a mountain stream?  When you let go, you enter the world of reality and you can know what it is to have satisfaction rather than dissatisfaction; to find peace rather than a sense of unhappiness and to find true joy and beauty. All based in looking deeply, both into ourselves and into all things.

Daizan, zen, Meditation, Mindfulness, Teacher, wisdom, hannya, makahannyaharamitashingyo, heart sutra, Rinzai, Training, Roshi, Zen Master, Shinzan, London, Camberwell, Yugagyo, Zen Yoga, Kensho, Satori, Daizan, zen, Meditation, Mindfulness, Teacher, wisdom, hannya, makahannyaharamitashingyo, heart sutra, Rinzai, Training, Roshi, Zen Master, Shinzan, London, Camberwell, Yugagyo, Zen Yoga, Kensho, Satori, Daizan, zen, Meditation, Mindfulness, Teacher, wisdom, hannya, makahannyaharamitashingyo, heart sutra, Rinzai, Training, Roshi, Zen Master, Shinzan, London, Camberwell, Yugagyo, Zen Yoga, Kensho, Satori, Daizan, zen, Meditation, Mindfulness, Teacher, wisdom, hannya, makahannyaharamitashingyo, heart sutra, Rinzai, Training, Roshi, Zen Master, Shinzan, London, Camberwell, Yugagyo, Zen Yoga, Kensho, Satori, Daizan, zen, Meditation, Mindfulness, Teacher, wisdom, hannya, makahannyaharamitashingyo, heart sutra, Rinzai, Training, Roshi, Zen Master, Shinzan, London, Camberwell, Yugagyo, Zen Yoga, Kensho, Satori, Daizan, zen, Meditation, Mindfulness, Teacher, wisdom, hannya, makahannyaharamitashingyo, heart sutra, Rinzai, Training, Roshi, Zen Master, Shinzan, London, Camberwell, Yugagyo, Zen Yoga, Kensho, Satori,

In tough times it’s easy to contract in your thinking and your activities. The tradition we come from doesn’t advise this. Shakyamuni Buddha teaches:

“If people knew as I know the results of giving and sharing, they would not eat without having given…

Even if they were down to their last bit of food, they would not eat without having shared it, if those to receive it were present.”

Itivuttaka 26

Try it, in a manageable, sane, gradual way. Notice how your world completely transforms.

London, generosity, Dana, zen yoga, camberwell, zen, Meditation, Mindfulness, Teacher, Instructor, shakyamuni, buddha, Training, Roshi, Zen Master, Daizan, Wellbeing, Stress, Insight, Stress-reduction,London, generosity, Dana, zen yoga, camberwell, zen, Meditation, Mindfulness, Teacher, Instructor, shakyamuni, buddha, Training, Roshi, Zen Master, Daizan, Wellbeing, Stress, Insight, Stress-reduction,London, generosity, Dana, zen yoga, camberwell, zen, Meditation, Mindfulness, Teacher, Instructor, shakyamuni, buddha, Training, Roshi, Zen Master, Daizan, Wellbeing, Stress, Insight, Stress-reduction,London, generosity, Dana, zen yoga, camberwell, zen, Meditation, Mindfulness, Teacher, Instructor, shakyamuni, buddha, Training, Roshi, Zen Master, Daizan, Wellbeing, Stress, Insight, Stress-reduction,London, generosity, Dana, zen yoga, camberwell, zen, Meditation, Mindfulness, Teacher, Instructor, shakyamuni, buddha, Training, Roshi, Zen Master, Daizan, Wellbeing, Stress, Insight, Stress-reduction,

On 28th May, Shinzan Roshi opened our new training hall in London, giving it the English name, “Zen Yoga”, Japanese name “Yugagyo Dojo”.

“Yugagyo” is the Japanese version of the Sanskrit, “Yogacara”, which means “Yoga practice”. The Yogacara is the Buddhist philosophy and psychology of awakening. One of the key texts of Yogacara is the Lankavatara Sutra. The Ancestor, Bodhidharma, who is credited with bringing our lineage from India to China, is reputed to have arrived with the Lankavatara Sutra. In the early days, our tradition was known as “The Lankavatara School”.

Shinzan Roshi presented us with a huge enso, zen circle, to be the centrepiece of our dojo.

Wikipedia explains the enso thus: “In Zen Buddhist painting, ens? symbolizes a moment when the mind is free to simply let the body/spirit create. The brushed ink of the circle is usually done on silk or rice paper in one movement (but the great Bankei used two strokes sometimes) and there is no possibility of modification: it shows the expressive movement of the spirit at that time. Zen Buddhists “believe that the character of the artist is fully exposed in how she or he draws an enso. Only a person who is mentally and spiritually complete can draw a true enso.”

The Dojo will have classes in Zen Yoga as well as weekly zazen, sitting meditation, sessions. Sanzen – one-to-one practice interviews are available with our resident teacher, Daizan Roshi. You can book classes and find more information at zenyoga.org.uk.

Yugagyo; Shinzan Miyamae Roshi

We were honoured to have Shinzan Roshi come to the UK in May and lead a sesshin, a Zen retreat, at Gaunts House in Dorset.

Shinzan Roshi laid out the way to ‘kensho’ – ‘percieving your true nature’ meditating on the koan or spiritual question, ‘Mu’.

“If you want to pass this barrier, you must work through every bone in your body, through every pore of your skin, filled with this question:What is Mu? and carry it day and night.”

Then your previous lesser knowledge disappears. As a fruit ripening in season, your subjectivity and objectivity naturally become one. It is like a dumb man who has had a dream. He knows about it but he cannot tell it.” Mumonkan.

Shinzan Roshi urged-on the Zen students throughout the week. He reported that he was impressed with the level of sincerity he perceived and predicted that some fine future Zen teachers will be emerging from Europe.

We have an upcoming sesshin 18th-23rd September 2012 at Earth Spirit Retreat Centre, Glastonbury. Limited places available. Email zenways@london.com to book.

29 July to 5 August 2012

We’ll be at Gaunts House, a beautiful and comfortable retreat centre in Dorset. More information about the venue here http://www.gauntshouse.com/Venue#accomodation. Enquire about the special earlybird price for course fees at £1160 and full-board accommodation at £67 per day. There are a maximum of just sixteen places available, so you’ll need to get in early. Your first step is to email zenways@london.com.

We are delighted to announce that our teacher Shinzan Roshi will be visiting the UK in May this year. This is his first time teaching in the UK and a rare opportunity to study with a Japanese Rinzai Zen Master. Here is his schedule of public events:

17th – 22nd May – Sesshin, Zen retreat at Gaunts House, Dorset. Currently there are no places. Email zenways@london.com if you would like to be on the reserve list.

25th May – 10 am – 5.30pm, Day retreat at  The Buddhist Society, 38 Eccleston Square, London, SW1V 1PH. Call  020 7834 5858 to book. Places still available.

6.30pm – Public talk, “Continuity and Change in Zen” at The Buddhist Society, address as above, no need to book.

26th May 4.15 pm, Lecture, “A Zen Model for Human Development with reference to the philosophy of Nishida” at The Old Refectory, Wadham College, Oxford. Contact oxfordzen@yahoo.co.uk to book.

6.30pm – 9pm, Zazenkai (practice meeting) at The Oxford Zen Society, Quaker Meeting House, 43 Saint Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW. Contact oxfordzen@yahoo.co.uk to book.

29th May, 2-4.30pm, Public Talk at The 2600th Sambuddha Jayanthi, Anniversary celebration of the Enlightenment of the Buddha; at Hammersmith Town Hall, King Street, London W6 9JU. Email secretary@sambuddhajayanthi.info to book.

Sunday 29th July to Sunday 5th August 2012. We’ll be at Gaunts House, a beautiful and comfortable retreat centre in Dorset. More information about the venue here http://www.gauntshouse.com/ Enquire about the special early-bird price for course fees at £1160 and full-board accommodation at £67 per day. There are a maximum of just sixteen places available, so you’ll need to get in early. Your first step is to email zenways@london.com.

13 October to 27 October 2012

Early booking price £2630 fully residential.

We’ll be at Gaunts House, a beautiful and comfortable retreat centre in Dorset. More information about the venue here http://www.gauntshouse.com/ Enquire about the special Early Bird price for course fees and full-board accommodation of £2630. There are limited places available, so you’ll need to get in early. Your first step is to email zenways@london.com.

Gaunts House Dorset

Zen, Yoga, Yoga Alliance, Meditation, Mindfulness, Teacher, Instructor, Training, Roshi, Zen Master, Daizan, Wellbeing, Stress, Insight, Stress-reduction, AshtangaZen, Yoga, Yoga Alliance, Meditation, Mindfulness, Teacher, Instructor, Training, Roshi, Zen Master, Daizan, Wellbeing, Stress, Insight, Stress-reduction, AshtangaZen, Yoga, Yoga Alliance, Meditation, Mindfulness, Teacher, Instructor, Training, Roshi, Zen Master, Daizan, Wellbeing, Stress, Insight, Stress-reduction, AshtangaZen, Yoga, Yoga Alliance, Meditation, Mindfulness, Teacher, Instructor, Training, Roshi, Zen Master, Daizan, Wellbeing, Stress, Insight, Stress-reduction, AshtangaZen, Yoga, Yoga Alliance, Meditation, Mindfulness, Teacher, Instructor, Training, Roshi, Zen Master, Daizan, Wellbeing, Stress, Insight, Stress-reduction, AshtangaZen, Yoga, Yoga Alliance, Meditation, Mindfulness, Teacher, Instructor, Training, Roshi, Zen Master, Daizan, Wellbeing, Stress, Insight, Stress-reduction, Ashtanga

“The Yoga secret for maximum health is living in a way that brings joy to the very force of life itself, thus enabling the individual human being to manifest his own abilities to the full and to cooperate with others… According to the Zen Yoga system, in order for a person to be beautiful, the entire personality including its psychological, physical and lifestyle aspects, must be beautiful.”

Zen Yoga Therapy; Oki Masahiro Sensei

Kajiura Itsugai is the eighty-second ancestor in our lineage. As a young Zen monk he practiced in Daitokuji Temple in Kyoto. Later he became abbot of Shogenji, the strictest Zen temple in Japan and later still, as the abbot of Myoshinji, became the seniormost Zen Master of the Rinzai School.

When he was in training at Daitokuji, every single one of his contemporaries had experience the joyful awakening of kensho – the perception of your true nature. Itsugai alone had not found this. He vowed to meditate all night in the temple graveyard for one hundred day. It was in the middle of winter and of all Japan, Kyoto is notable for its winter cold. Even when snow fell on him, the earnest young monk didn’t falter in his practice. When he went to see his teacher for sanzen, the private interview where a trainee expresses his understanding, sometimes Itsugai would faint from cold. He battled on through the hundred days, seeming to make no progress at all.

Snow, Moon, Flower – Kajiura Itsugai Roshi

Then came a rest day. The Daitokuji monks wondered into the city, but not Itsugai. He spent a little time at a nearby shrine his mother used to visit. He bowed his head and prayed that his spiritual eye would open. Then he returned to Daitokuji and continued his meditation. Evening came , it began to get dark, but the monks had not yet returned. Their laundry  was still hanging outside so he brought it in, mindfully folded it and placed it in front of their rooms. The rest day is also the bathing day in a Zen temple so he prepared the bath. He filled the furnace with firewood. Unconsciously, automatically he piled on more wood and lit the fire. All of a sudden a stream of fire and heat came out and hit his body. At that moment he realised his true nature. The returning monks found him dancing and singing with joy.