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Shōgen Blair Thomson

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Tag archives: Zazen

Kusen

After zazen when we chant the Heart Sutra we are chanting the short condensed version – heart/essence – of the massively longer Great Real Wisdom Perfection Sutras (an early Mahayana …

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14 August, 201915 August, 2019Posted inArt & BuddhismTags: drawing & painting, sketchbook, Soto Zen, Zazen

Listen with Our Listening – Kusen Collaboration with John Fraser

John’s Kusen A pernicious and invisible delusion for practitioners is that there is an inside and an outside to experience: We should cleanse inner experience by eradicating thoughts and noise, …

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29 January, 201522 June, 2020Posted inArt & BuddhismTags: John Fraser, Kusen collaboration, Soto Zen, Zazen

Full Dynamic – Kusen collaboration with John Fraser

John’s Kusen When we do zazen, we may imagine that we are sitting quietly. But our weight is dropping down into the earth. We are pushing the earth with all …

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15 April, 201422 June, 2020Posted inArt & BuddhismTags: drawing & painting, Soto Zen, Zazen

Ardfern Zen Retreat – a few recipes from the Tenzo…

Here are a few recipes and images (many thanks to Ylva Champion for her photos) from the kitchen during the retreat. Huge thanks to all that helped with the food …

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14 June, 201330 July, 2019Posted inArt & BuddhismTags: cooking and food, meditation, Scotland, Soto Zen, Zazen

Dogen’s Waka: 2 Poems, 2 Commentaries

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First poem and commentary by John Fraser: My free translation of Master Dogen’s poem Shobogenzo: 波も引き風もつながぬ捨小舟 月こそ夜半のさかひ成けり In the heart of the dark The moonlight holding A small boat drifting Unmoved …

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2 May, 201328 July, 2019Posted inArt & BuddhismTags: Dogen, John Fraser, Poetry, Waka, Zazen

Working on new city themed artist’s film

In the last couple of weeks, or certainly since the last heavier snows, I’ve been putting together a strange new film piece taking in lots of city and infrastructure footage, …

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24 February, 201329 July, 2019Posted inArt activitiesTags: Japan, journey to nowhere, Tokyo, video art, Zazen

Arran Zen Retreat

In July the Glasgow Zen Group had their summer retreat down at Kilmory in the south of Arran. It was great to have a longer sustained period of Zazen meditation …

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5 August, 201228 July, 2019Posted inArt & BuddhismTags: cooking and food, Japan, meditation, Soto Zen, Zazen

Depth of Reflection – notes on David Lynch and Dogen

I made this small visual note after running along the Firth and Forth Canal, the reflections can be so deep, somehow reality is deepened. The space is literally deeper, becoming …

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12 April, 201230 July, 2019Posted inCulturalTags: David Lynch, Dogen, Glasgow Zen Group, photography, Poetry, Soto Zen, Zazen

A thought on Zazen and painting

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Zazen Silent movement Passing through the stillness And empty form. This wee haiku is a thought on zazen and experience. After my recent studio shift, zazen and considering the looser …

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5 February, 201228 July, 2019Posted inArt & BuddhismTags: Glasgow Zen Group, Haiku, Poetry, Zazen

New Year Zen Retreat

Over the new year weekend I went to the inaugural Glasgow Zen Group retreat, or sesshin, at Kagyu Samye Dzong in Glasgow’s west end. Every morning up at half past …

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10 January, 201228 July, 2019Posted inArt & BuddhismTags: cooking and food, Glasgow Zen Group, Soto Zen, Zazen

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