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  1. Western Chan Fellowship
  2. Resources
  3. Dharma Library

Dharma Library

A large collection of articles, from past issues of New Chan Forum and more besides.

  • Search by keywords, using the search box
  • Or select articles by various categories such as for newcomers / highlighted, topic or author - click on the buttons found below the listed articles.

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  • David Valentine-Hagart

    Grieving for Millie

    David Valentine-Hagart | 05-04-2025

    Suddenly
    The presence of
    Absence
    Yet her bowls still sit
    On the kitchen floor
    Her bed
    Her donut of comfort
    Still lies outside
    Our bedroom door
    I cannot move them
    Yet
    Though she is so sudden gone
    I must ease myself gently
    Through this grief
    These things are yet remembrance
    Of our little friend
    Her sudden unexpected end
    Death, the unexpected thief
    In due time
    They will be washed clean
    And then put away
    Like all memories
    …

    Read more of: Grieving for Millie
  • Person sitting on stone block overlooking landscape

    An Anonymous Haiku

    Anonymous | 06-01-2025

    Written During a Snowy Retreat in January 2025 

    midwinter 

    a hare's tracks 

    returning to solitude

    Read more of: An Anonymous Haiku
  • Jos Hadfield sitting on garden bench

    Five Haiku

    Jos Hadfield | 01-08-2024

    Standing in the yard,
    my face turned up to the sky;
    soft blessings of rain.

    Shimmering orange
    of the tree’s pyrotechnics;
    the dark bracken rests.

    Backlit by a flame
    I see my projection,
    watchfully waiting.

    I look down to see
    two old hands resting on my lap;
    winter is coming.

    I was thinking of
    the purity of lotus blossoms,
    and slipped in the mud.

    Read more of: Five Haiku
  • David Valentine-Hagart

    Two Poems: Quiet Mind; Day Retreat in York March 2015

    David Valentine-Hagart | 21-07-2024

    Quiet Mind

    When the quiet mind comes
    I am moving up steadily
    Hold after hold
    Rock is under my hands
    Under my feet
    Sky above
    Earth below 

    When the quiet mind comes
    I am in the midst of music
    Note following note
    Hands, steel and timber
    All one
    As each song unfolds 

    When the quiet mind comes
    I am ocean floating
    On a glassy board
    Waiting for the only wave
    That will carry me
    To shore

    When the quiet mind comes
    I am…

    Read more of: Two Poems: Quiet Mind; Day Retreat in York March 2015
  • Jake Lyne head and shoulders

    Purification

    Jake Lyne | 07-01-2024

    Look up!
    Soot grey snowflakes
    dancing, whirling, falling, landing –
    white side up.

    Read more of: Purification
  • Anna Jedynak

    Haiku

    Anna Jedynak | 21-07-2023

    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…

    Read more of: Haiku
  • Person sitting on stone block overlooking landscape

    Retreat Report, Koan Retreat September 2022, a poem

    Anonymous | 31-10-2022

    Planting a great oak at Shawbottom
    and returning each year to say, “I did that”,
    that would be something.
    The sapling trees were ready in pots,
    the spade resting against the shed.

    I could only claim a short-lived success
    weeding between the paving slabs.
    About his many enlightenment experiences
    Sawaki Roshi once said,
    “they didn’t amount to a whole hill of beans”.

    In my secret koan, ‘Tokusan’s Bowls’,
    eg…

    Read more of: Retreat Report, Koan Retreat September 2022, a poem
  • Andy Henderson

    My Sheltered Place: a Haibun

    Andy Henderson | 31-10-2022

    The fresh crisp morning air assails my senses as I quietly close the kitchen door behind me. The gravel crunches under my feet, yet all is silent.

    I turn the corner of the street and the south-west wind rushes across my face.

    I hear the sea before I see the sea, for all is still dark at this early hour.

    The smell of wet briny beach is strong as I descend the steps to the beachside path and turn…

    Read more of: My Sheltered Place: a Haibun
  • Chan calligraphy

    Stories from the Zoomiverse: A Virtual Sangha in the Time of Covid

    Richard Spalding | 06-07-2022

    the guest house by rumi 

    This being human is a guest house. 

    Every morning a new arrival. 

    A joy, a depression, a meanness, 

    some momentary awareness comes 

    as an unexpected visitor… 

    Welcome and entertain them all! 

    Be grateful for whoever comes, 

    because each has been sent as a 

    guide from beyond. 

    Communicating in a group via the Internet during a viral pandemic has been an…

    Read more of: Stories from the Zoomiverse: A Virtual Sangha in the Time of Covid
  • Marian Partington

    The Hiss of Light: A Haibun

    Marian Partington | 05-11-2021

    1994 

    I attend my first Western Zen Buddhist retreat at Maenllwyd. The small Welsh farmhouse stands on a hillside at the end of a rough track below a narrow wooded valley, which leads up to a bare horizon. It just sits there, with no electricity, amidst the fields of sheep, aloof and barely visible from the straggly village some way below. The eastern horizon offers wide skies for the sunrise and…

    Read more of: The Hiss of Light: A Haibun
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©Western Chan Fellowship CIO 2025. May not be quoted for commercial purposes. Anyone wishing to quote for non-commercial purposes may seek permission from the WCF Secretary.

The articles on this website have been submitted by various authors and the views expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the Western Chan Fellowship.

Permalink: https://w-c-f.org/Q358

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