“To study Zen is to study the self, to study the self is to forget the self…“ Dogen Zenji Jean Baby: Sesshin at Bangor. October 1995. “To practise Zen is to know the self.” It’s to be present to ourselves, to be present to our body, and to all that we are beyond our […]
On Sunday 5th August a ceremony was held at La Gendronnière to commemorate the life of Jean Baby, an elder disciple of Master Deshimaru who died on Jan 1st of this year, aged 90. Jean was the founder of the Dojo of Strasbourg, and also (together with Nancy Amphoux) the founder of the UK branch […]
At a UK sesshin held at Gaunts House in the early 1990’s, during zazen, Jean said, “Please don’t die before me” – Jean had already held his 70th birthday party on Denny’s Barge in Bristol in 1991. Now nearly 20 years later Jean Baby has died after being very ill, unable to walk with damaged […]
It may not seem necessary, but it’s a reality. Remember that the first thing the Buddha said, when he started teaching, was that all is suffering. So suffering is a fundamental truth.We talked about suffering during a zazen day we held recently in Bristol;