Still Water

A black and white photo of a long temple hall with rows of low meditation mats on a polished floor, a statue at the far end.

The doors are open every morning at half past six

A small zen temple in a house with a garden. Twenty cushions, one teacher, and nothing to join. Come and sit; if you come back, sit again.

Your first morning

Sitting

A quiet wooden room with round cushions on the floor and sunlight falling through a slatted screen.

06:30 – 07:10, every day

Two periods of twenty-five minutes facing the wall, with a short walk between. A bell begins it and a bell ends it.

How to sit

Walking

A covered wooden walkway beside a mossy garden and a low pavilion among maples.

Between the two sittings

Kinhin: slow walking, half a step with each breath, once around the veranda. In the rain too; it's roofed.

See a Sunday

Tea

A dark wooden veranda with a stone bench, a small bonsai and a glazed pot beside it.

Sundays, after the talk

Green tea on the veranda and conversation, which is allowed again by then. Most questions get asked here.

What it costs

A Sunday morning

The longest practice of the week, and the best one to come to first. You don't need to know any of this; somebody will show you as you go.

09:00Arrive, shoes off in the porch, sit anywhere in the hall.
09:15Instruction for anyone new, in the side room, ten minutes.
09:30Sitting, twenty-five minutes. Then walking. Then sitting again.
10:30A short chant, with the words on a card. Join in or don't.
10:40A talk from the teacher, about twenty minutes, then questions.
11:15Tea on the veranda. Leave whenever you like.
A wooden veranda looking out onto a mossy garden with a small maple and a gravel path.

What it costs

The temple runs on a bowl by the door. Nobody watches it, and nobody is asked twice.

Daily sittingfree

Sunday morningfree

A day of sitting, monthly£15, lunch included

A cushion of your own£40, or borrow one

Before you come

No experience

Most people who come on a Sunday have never sat before. The instruction is for them, and it's short.

A chair is fine

There are six along the back wall. Knees, hips and backs are the reason, and nobody minds.

Wear something loose

In a dark, quiet colour if you have it; it's less distracting for the person next to you.

Any faith, or none

We bow and chant, and you're welcome to. Nobody will ask what you believe.

A rust-orange floor cushion and woven round poufs on a pale wooden floor.
A raked gravel garden with large rounded boulders and a covered walkway behind. A person sitting still on low stone benches under a wide old tree at sunset. Three people sitting cross-legged on mats in a park among autumn trees, eyes closed. A woman in a white shirt sitting cross-legged on a patterned cushion, stretching her arms up.
Come on Sunday

No need to let us know. The door is on the left of the house; take your shoes off in the porch.