Dharma Library

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

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Chan Revival in Mainland China

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

Chan Buddhism is undergoing a marked revival in mainland China. Monasteries are renewing their fabric and providing services to the public. Meditation is starting again for young monks in the Chan halls. In July 1997, with my old friend Yiu Yan-nang as interpreter, I visited two of the most famous monasteries in southern China and was surprised by what we found.

When I entered China from Hong…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1997 , John Crook

Zen and the Art of Haiku

Ken Jones headshot

What is it about haiku that imparts that mysterious little whiff of insight, so difficult to describe and yet so strangely satisfying? I would like to offer some pointers from my experience as a long term Zen Buddhist for whom the Way of haiku has become a valued part of my practice.

Characteristically we endeavour to secure and console our fragile self-identity by processing, shaping and…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1997 , Ken Jones

The Natural Great Perfection

Calligraphy for the character Chan

A 3-week Dzogchen retreat with Lama Surya Das: Canandaigua, New York, 1997

Perhaps it was hearing John Crook talking about the Tibetan practice of Dzogchen which first sparked my interest. For some time I had been practising Tibetan Buddhism in the Karma Kagyu school, finding its gentler approach a welcome complement to the more rigorous practice of Chan/Zen. Dzogchen, which is sometimes referred…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1997 , Other Retreat Reports , Anon

The Western Chan Fellowship: Constitutional Discussion

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd


First meeting: June 1996: In June 1996 John Crook called an assembly of Chan practitioners to a meeting at the Maenllwyd to consider his proposal to respond to numerous requests for a development in the field of Chan practice in the UK by setting up a charitable institution to promote Chan in Great Britain.

The following persons attended: Tim Paine, Frank Tait, Caroline Paine, Simon Child, Sally…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1997 , John Crook

Visiting Mother

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd


Copper whispers blowing in the wind, 
beech leaves chase the rough grasses down the field.
At ninety two, I ask myself, 
will she see another spring? 
She rests there, quiet, her busy conversation gone,
anxieties softened now in forgetfulness of age. 
Beside her in the garden, dozing off, 
I see her smiling in a ray of autumn sun. 
She set my character in grooves 
so like her own, wakeful mornings…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1997 , Poetry , John Crook

Sitting: Method and Function

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

A Talk by to the Swindon Buddhist Meditation Group on 26th May 1997

(The first minute or so of the talk never made it onto the tape. But it went something like this...)

('What is driving the mind?' The key question in Buddhism is "What is driving the mind right now?' What underlying drive pre-occupies us? On my way here this evening, looking at the countryside - la, la, la, very nice - maybe…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1997 , John Crook

Obituaries: Don Ball and Jane Turner

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd


In the last few months old hands at the Maenllwyd have lost two much loved retreat companions. Don Ball and Jane Turner had been coming to the Maenllwyd ever since we started retreats there. They both knew the days when accommodation consisted of a barn with a much holed roof through which snow might drift or an owl come in to share the shelter. They both knew the crowded retreats we used to have…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1997 , John Crook , Obituaries , Highlighted

Comet Above The Yard

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd


Up at the Maenllwyd -
funny how the days roll by. 
I don't seem to be doing anything,
cleaning and writing and cooking
and sitting and walking
sleeping and waking.

Where does it all go?

The time so clear 
nobody here 
hours - hours 
or merely minutes? 
Today it is warm; 
yesterday cold; 
the wind changes,
clouds keep going -
in different directions.

Tonight a comet hangs over the yard 
tail streaming in far off…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1997 , Poetry , John Crook , Highlighted

The Goose is Out

Calligraphy for the character Chan

"a man is always a teller of tales, he lives surrounded by his stories and the stories of others, he sees everything that happens to him through them; and he tries to live his life as if he were telling a story" Jean-Paul Sartre

I have always been fascinated by the art of story telling and this short book was my first "taste of Zen" through the medium of the story. It is a compilation of a series…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1997 , Book Reviews , Others

A Eucharist on the Ganges

Calligraphy for the character Chan

During our recent trip to India we spent one whole day in a rowing boat being taken down river to Banares.

We had an early morning start from a sandy beach clutching our picnic boxes and water bottles to sustain us through the day. Blazing sunshine mellowed and warmed the coolness of the morning as we embarked to the amusement of the village onlookers.

The river Ganga or Ganges is for Indians…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1997 , Others

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