Dharma Library

This is a questioning koan that John Crook referred to many times in his talks. His story about his encounter with this was that when he was in Hong Kong doing his national service in 1954, he was taken to Po Lam Chan Monastery on Lantau Island and over an arch leading to the monastery there were inscribed some Chinese characters. Under the arch these were translated as ‘There is no time. What is…

Silence…
What is there?
What IS there?

Chestnut bud in a vase
Feels pain in her green petals forcibly opened
By a greedy glance

Achoo!!!
The whole universe
Broke into pieces 

This mouthful of tea
Never drunk before
Nor ever again

An old monk
Slowly walking step by step
Through a violent storm

Frost
Winter may come any day now
Where has the last one gone? 

The stream
Flowing all the time
Never tired

Sprin…

This morning I went for a swim in a local lake. It is early December, the weather has just turned colder, and the water at 8 degrees is so cold it stings my skin. As I approach the water and feel the first touch of the cold on my feet and ankles, I find myself remembering holidays in the Mediterranean years before, getting into much warmer pools while the sun beat down on the back of my head.

It…

A Book by Rebecca Li

When faced with uncertainty that seems unbearable do you panic? Do you worry? Do you put things off? These are some of the all too human responses Rebecca Li discusses in her book Allow Joy into Our Hearts: Chan Practice in Uncertain Times. This delightful book is a series of essays written from recordings of talks Rebecca gave to her Zoom Chan Group in New Jersey at the…

The first week after coming back from retreat I finally rinsed the wash basin in the bathroom. For several months it waited for me to do it. I almost throw up by rinsing away hair and old grease clogging the pipe. However it was ok and not as difficult as I had visualised. 

This was my first koan retreat and I think the koan was supposed to let us see aspects of ourselves we attach to and helping…

In this book George Marsh, one-time editor of this journal, presents a collection of haibun. Those familiar with the muse and process of haiku and haibun will know, however, that you do not collect them, they collect you. So here we have the assembled work of someone that has been collected through the experiences and activities of his life including those of a Buddhist practitioner.

For readers…

All of us probably know the story that founded Chan. Even so, lets retell it, briefly.

The Buddha was out walking with a bunch of monks. The monks were arguing about a number of questions such as "Does the Universe have a beginning. Yes or no?", "Does it have an end?", "Do Buddhas live for ever?"

The Buddha took no part in the discussion. Noticing this, Ananda said  to him, "World Honoured one!…