Stone of discipline

When Zen Master Mark Horemans dedicated and opened the Symondsbury Zen Garden on May 28, 1994, I, as the garden's creator, strictly adhered to the traditional guidelines. This meant placing five stones in the garden.

The Stone of Courage, the Stone of Insight, the Stone of Independence, the Stone of Purification, and the Stone of Wisdom.

Five years after I created the Zen garden in southwest England, I spent some time as a travel journalist in Zimbabwe. In the language of the local Shona, Zimbabwe roughly means "stone houses," which was probably influenced by the Matobo landscape. In this magnificent natural setting, the stones don't just lie around; they reside, indeed, they sit enthroned in the landscape.

These stones from Matobo National Park now inspire an insight I've had. Although the meanings of the five stones at Symondsbury Zen Garden correspond to traditional Japanese Zen, today, I'm adding another stone.

The Stone of Discipline!

Nothing works without discipline, and especially in our time, there is a great lack of discipline. This lack must be remedied with the help of TerLiMa and discipline.