Western Chan Fellowship
Chan is the Chinese ancestor of Zen Buddhism. The Western Chan Fellowship is an association of lay Chan practitioners, a lay Sangha, based in the UK. We are registered as a charity in England and Wales, but we also have contacts in Europe, principally in Norway, Poland, Germany, Croatia and Switzerland, and also in USA. Our Zen retreats and other activities are open equally to both Buddhists and non-Buddhists.
UK Zen Retreat, Buddhist Retreat, Meditation Retreat, Silent Retreat, Solitary Retreat
We lead intensive meditation retreats at our main retreat centre in Wales, and also at other meditation centres in England and Scotland. We also have facilities for solitary retreats. We have a range of different types of Buddhist retreats.
Some of our Zen meditation retreats follow closely the traditional methods of teaching and practice, and others such as our 'Western Zen Retreat' include adaptations to match the needs of Westerners. We also use some Tibetan Buddhist meditation practices such as Mahamudra. Most of our retreats are silent retreats - read the retreat descriptions for details.
Zen Meditation Groups
There are Chan meditation groups meeting at various locations across the UK. Attending a local zen sangha may be an easy way to make a first contact with meditation and the WCF, or it may be that you are an experienced practitioner looking for a Zen community to support your own practice and the cultivation of mindfulness in daily life.
Lineage
Our Patron is Chan Master Sheng-yen of Dharma Drum Mountain in Taiwan, and our Teacher is his first Western Dharma Heir, Dr John Crook. Following Chan Master Sheng-yen our practice includes the methods of the lineages of both Linji Chan (Japanese: Rinzai Zen) and Caodong Chan (Japanese: Soto Zen). Hence we practice a range of methods of Buddhist meditation e.g. Gong-an (Japanese: Koan), Hua-tou, Silent Illumination (Ch. Mo-zhao, related to Jap. Shikantaza), and other methods such as use of the breath.
Website Guide
This website includes:
- Introductory articles for newcomers to Chan, Zen, Buddhism, meditation, retreats, and to the Western Chan Fellowship
- Retreats and other events - Details of our activities such as our retreat programme
- Meditation group details and general contacts
- Dharma Talks, by Chan Master Sheng-yen, Dr John Crook, and others
- Articles by well-known authors such as Stephen Batchelor and Susan Blackmore
- New Chan Forum - Free Back-Issues of our journal
- Retreat Reports - What is like to go on retreat? Read articles written by participants on their experience of retreat
- Photo Gallery
Lots more besides - come in and browse around.
About Us