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 topic or author - click on the section menus (found below the listed articles on a mobile view, or to the right on a desktop view)

Seven Years Later!

Calligraphy for the character Chan

It was the first time in seven years that I had been back to Maenllwyd. I had not seen the new Chan hall and was very impressed with the conversion. Sleeping arrangements had improved vastly though the slightly hillbilly, unkempt hay barn look had sadly disappeared.

As to the retreat. Sitting was not bad at all. Slightly more formal than in the old upstairs room. But plenty of zafus. Not much…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , Western Zen Retreat Reports , Anon

The Snowy Heron in the White Moon Hides

Eddy Street

Family therapy and Buddhism

two traditions, two authors, one article

Being

For many years our professional lives and personal /spiritual lives have had a curious intertwining. We have similar and different backgrounds and have interests in both family therapy and Zen Buddhism. We have worked together as family therapists and at work so often our discussions have drifted to spirituality and…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , Eddy Street

In The Spirit of Chan

Simon Child headshot

When I was first asked to lead this short retreat, my first thought was "Why do they need someone to lead a weekend retreat, can't they just gather together and sit together?"

I guessed I would have to provide some sort of teaching. So then I wondered what teaching might be valuable? Perhaps I should regurgitate something remembered from a book or a sutra that I have read but which you may not…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , Simon Child

The Place of Chan in Post-Modern Europe

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

This text is a re-edited version of an article of the same name published in a festchift volume celebrating Master Sheng-yen's 70th birthday. Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal, (2000) 13.2 549-584. Taipei. Shifu has encouraged me to assist Chan Sanghas in Europe as well as in Britain. Naturally this has caused me to look more closely at continental Buddhism than I might otherwise have done. Some of the…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , John Crook

What is the Western Chan Fellowship

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

Past Patron - The late Venerable Chan Master Dr Sheng Yen

Founding Teacher - The late Chan Master Dr John Crook Chuan-deng Jing-di

What is Chan?

Chan means Meditation, in Chinese. It is the historical root of Japanese Zen. Both Chan and Zen are rooted in the Mahayana traditions of Compassion and Wisdom which are central to the Buddhist path.

Chan employs traditional Buddhist meditation…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , John Crook , For Newcomers

Introducing Buddhism: A Guide for Western Beginners

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

Click for Kindle version

Why Begin?

Whenever you arrive as a newcomer at a meditation class in Buddhism the teacher will wonder why you have come. Maybe you are coming because a friend has suggested it; maybe you have heard a radio programme; maybe you have read something exciting about Zen. Whatever it was, the teacher will want to go deeper.

Westerners usually seek to explore meditation or…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , John Crook , For Newcomers

A New Proposal: A Lay Zen 'Monastic Centre'

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd


It is several years now since I proposed that the casual retreat arrangements at the Maenllwyd might be of greater value to people if we created a charitable institution. Soon the WCF was in being and is now safely established and supported by small affiliated groups in a number of British cities. We have important European contacts and, thanks to Simon Child, a site on the web appreciated by many…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , John Crook

Best of Both Sides

Calligraphy for the character Chan

The purpose of this article is to suggest that we all too often understand Buddhism in terms of One-Sided Solutions which don't actually solve anything, and that we would do better if, instead, we worked with the Complementary relationship between life's various two-sided polarities.

From the ridiculous to the sublime. A good example of a One-Sided Solution would be 'detachment', which is…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , Others

Teaching Meditation to Children

Alysun Jones

Those of us who have young children and some time to spare may wonder what kind of contribution to make in the schools they attend. Having made the same pizza at least thirty times with excitable eight-year-olds, I found my desire to help with Arts and Crafts quickly satiated. There was always more flour on the floor than in the pizza, and clearing up was never one of the kids stronger interests.…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , Others

Uncovering the Essence of Mind: A Teaching from the Chan Hall

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

The essence of mind is tranquil, spacious, illumined by joy,
unattached to thoughts or the thoughtless.
When it appears you may fill with a gratitude that slowly turns to bliss.
If a thought of others emerges there may be love.
Love is embracing all and being embraced by all.
Love passes: tranquillity resumes: the spaciousness sustains itself.
The thought of 'me' is absent.
Self-concern is no longer…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , John Crook

No Going by Appearances

Chan master Shengyen

Excerpted from Chan Magazine and lightly edited.

Outwardly like a complete fool,
Inwardly mind is empty and real.

Often, it is a monk who appears slow and some-what dumb who is the great practitioner; and the monk who appears to be extremely sharp and knowledgeable is the one who often needs to practice more diligently. Do not concern yourself with or waste time wondering what your experiences…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , Sheng Yen

Women and Buddhism: A conference in Cologne 30th March till 2nd April 2000

Calligraphy for the character Chan

This conference was run by women for women. and was visited by 1220 women of whom 700 took part in the whole conference. It originated from several previous meetings concerned with similar themes

In 1983 women from North America ran the first conference whose main theme was about women in Buddhism. In 1987 the first international conference concerning Buddhist nuns was held and, on that occasion,…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , Others

On Trying to Say "I'm Me"!

Calligraphy for the character Chan

In the yard, after the rain, every step makes mud. Why do I hate the squelching?

Mixed-up youth, far-out experiences. I first read about Zen, as a 15-year-old in 1966, in Alan Watts' "The Way of Zen". I was immediately attracted by the sense of the Zen masters knowing something that was wonderful yet ordinary in that it was always present. From that time, for perhaps 7 years, I read much about…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , Western Zen Retreat Reports , Anon

One Thought for a Thousand Years: A Chan Hall meditation

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd


Out of the corner of my eye I catch a glimpse of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbharaja seated upon the offering table in the Chan hall. As usual his serene countenance glows quietly there. I take a closer look. His expression of peace and tranquillity begins to enter and then to flood my mind. Time becomes motionless yet the soft wind gently moves the branches beyond the window, the distant rustle of the…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , John Crook

Meeting Shi-Fu

Chan master Shengyen

On retreat with Shifu many people have had encounters with him that must have surprised them. Shifu, too, encounters people who surprise him! The outcome of such meetings is often valuable. Sometimes when you meet a Buddha on the road it might be worthwhile seeing what he has to say before you kill him! At the beginning of a new Millennium let us see what happens when you bump into a Master. Of…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , Sheng Yen

Cookie Extension Logo