Time and Zen

Dr Sue Blackmore, November 16th

In Zen practice we are often urged to stay with the "now" - but is there a now? In some experiences time itself seems to disappear or stop - but what has stopped? Sue’s struggles with koans such as "There is no time, what is memory?" and "When is this?" have provoked more bewilderment than answers, and she hopes to share this bewilderment with you.

Sue Blackmore is Visiting Professor of Psychology at the University of Plymouth and author of Ten Zen Questions.

The Good Eye: Mindfulness, Buddhism and Photography

Duncan Moss, November 9th

When you appreciate a painting or a piece of music or a work of literature, no matter when it was created, you appreciate it NOW. You experience the same nowness in which it was created. It is always NOW ~ Chogyam Trungpa.

We can practice mindfulness in other ways than sitting on a cushion.  Duncan will show what happened when his students brought their cameras to their meditation.  In ‘mindful photography’ they discovered a tradition developed by the famous Tibetan Teacher Chogyam Trungpa, in which the quality of mindfulness informs photography and other forms of creativity.  Duncan teaches Clinical Psychology at the University of Plymouth, and has a long-standing interest in making mindfulness more accessible.  He is an amateur photographer.