Dharma Library

We introduce Simon Child’s second dharma heir, Rebecca Li, interviewed by Skype from New York in January 2017. She edited the text and added some content that was not covered in the interview.

Extracts from Rebecca Li’s report on her breakthrough retreat 2010

I continued to hear the silence and maintain an open awareness of body, mind and environment. I found them to be arbitrary categories, none carrying more weight than the others. They arose like bubbles or ripples in a body of water and disappeared without a trace, leaving the mind back to silence. Yet I noticed a thought that…

We had been curious about the Western Zen Retreat after hearing about it - it was a process that had been developed by Dr. John Crook, Master Sheng Yen's (Shifu's) first Western Dharma heir. At first we thought the retreat was for beginners, only because we had been told that the retreat was a good way for those new to Chan to start their practice. But after taking part in a number of Western Zen…

How is life fulfilled?
To make everyone happy and to help,
that’s been how my life is viewed.
Parents, siblings, friends, co-workers,
husband and grandmother,
to whom heavy responsibilities I feel.
Regrets, guilt and discontent,
I thought I knew
how it is for life to be fulfilled.

But wait. How can fulfillment rely on others,
if, in perfection, everything lies right here?
Right now, how is life fulfilled?
W…