Dharma Library

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

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Chan Brushwork Retreat 2019

Calligraphy for the character Chan

The image that comes to mind when I try to sum up the retreat is of a triple: a three-legged stool, a tripod, a triptych. This represents what were for me the three components of the retreat: the huatou, the brushwork, and the sitting. Each locked into the other.

I can’t remember the exact words of the huatou but in essence Joshu asks Nansen how to pursue The Way. Nansen tells him that making…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2019 , Chan Retreat Reports , Anon

Reflections on Chan Taster Week, Derbyshire, February 2017

Calligraphy for the character Chan

The first day was just awful really. Sitting there, facing myself. It was like torture. No distraction, no ‘phone a friend’, no reading, no internet, no work, no walking the dog, no watching tv. Just sitting there, having to face what emerges in my mind. I found it unbearable. I really did think I could not bear to stay and started thinking about how I could just leave. I was cold; it didn’t…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2017 , Anon , Chan Retreat Reports

Working with a Master

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

What is it like for a lay practitioner to work with a master over a period of time? A single retreat provides an introductory experience but what if one persists through a series of such events? This would indeed be a requirement if the aim was to train in Chan. Training takes time but does it take one anywhere?

To assist those for whom this question may be relevant, I attempt to answer it…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1999 , John Crook , For Newcomers , Chan Retreat Reports

Immeasurable Sweetness

Calligraphy for the character Chan

Pale light after dawn
Low clouds scudding over green fields
Weathervane - SSW

Nine cars
In the yard
Tathagatas

Welsh hills in June
Misty rain
Wet tents

Sunbeams at dusk
Reaching round the corner of the hill
Only this week the sun so far

Cutting the tall grass
goggle eyed frog leaps for safety
Sorry !

Round the temple chanting
Koonyam poussa koon yam poussa
Outside cuckoos calling

Morning…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1998 , Chan Retreat Reports , Anon

What has Happened to the Entity that was Me?

Calligraphy for the character Chan

This was my first retreat of any kind and it was very difficult to start with the rigorous Chan approach. However, I felt very privileged to be accepted onto the retreat and I did not want to miss such an incredible opportunity to improve my practice. I undertook the retreat on the basis of intuition; it seemed entirely the right thing to do and the right time to be doing it.

Three years ago Zen…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1998 , Chan Retreat Reports , Anon

No Success, No Failure

Calligraphy for the character Chan

I came to the New York retreat unsure of what to expect. Earlier retreats at Maenllwyd had afforded powerful experiences and insight into dilemmas. In the back of my mind however I began to feel that in some way I was beginning to second guess the retreat process and was becoming too familiar with John's centre in Wales. I wanted to embark on a retreat with no idea of where I might come out at the…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1994 , Chan Retreat Reports , Anon

A Nameless Dread

Calligraphy for the character Chan

I arrived at the retreat in poor shape. I was tired and stressed and, although there were no major problems in my life, the general wear and tear had taken its toll. I always expect the first days of a retreat to be difficult but this time they were exceptionally so. During a previous retreat I had developed a severe middle-ear infection which had required a course of anti-biotics. I had had…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1994 , Chan Retreat Reports , Anon

Making Friends With The Universe

Calligraphy for the character Chan

I began my second Chan retreat at the Maenllwyd with the method of counting the breath but soon, stimulated by the phrases" Nothing to do. Nowhere to go", I changed to pure breath observation, a relief in its simplicity.

Quite early on I became aware of how my whole body liked to turn very slowly and deliberately around to my left like a spring gradually winding itself up. It was as though I…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1993 , Chan Retreat Reports , Anon

So Wonderful

Calligraphy for the character Chan

How different my life would have been had I never attended retreats at Maenllwyd I cannot say, but without a doubt my life has changed phenomenally over the last four years. Until then, when I had the good fortune to come on my first Western Zen Retreat, I had been motivated almost entirely by fear and self- doubt. I had a deep rooted sense of worthlesness, critical of self and others. I was…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1993 , Chan Retreat Reports , Anon

Wind and Silence

Calligraphy for the character Chan

A Chan Retreat begins for me when leaving home; making the journey as relaxed as possible; taking my time. In the preceding months I'd felt the need for a period of concentrated practice, and was willing and determined to let go of the 'daily round' and make good use of this rare opportunity. I was greeted in the yard by John, whose warm welcome and gesture to park the car sealed my 'arrival'.

As…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1993 , Chan Retreat Reports , For Newcomers , Anon

Mind In Flow

Calligraphy for the character Chan

I have just returned home, and it seems sensible to write the report before the memories of the retreat begin to slip away. Yet even by writing about it, the events seem so strange and wonderful that words alone cannot express the sheer depth and vast space that has at times punctuated the practise; the clarity of perception, the long silences that can only be likened to the desert, not a…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1992 , Chan Retreat Reports , For Newcomers , Anon

What Can I Say?

Calligraphy for the character Chan

The retreat was an opportunity to practice. But it was also a rare event, for when does a Chan Master such as Master Sheng Yen ever come to a remote Welsh cottage to lead a retreat? Those of us who were able to participate were indeed fortunate.

Last December in New York, Shifu advised me to rest before my next retreat. Having suffered greatly in New York, I made sure I took his advice. I…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1992 , Chan Retreat Reports , Anon

Raising the Doubt

Calligraphy for the character Chan

There is no beginning and no end to it, the Sesshin Soto Chan style began on my 49th birthday and ended on my 59th; ten years of ordinary living in one week. So much tension and pain has left my mind-body, and is still leaving me, falling away after another three days. There is much silent stillness now and longer periods of being without thinking, just not habitual and unnecessary stirring this…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1992 , Anon , Chan Retreat Reports

A Guestmaster's View

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

The role of guestmaster at a Chan retreat entails the responsibility for ensuring the comfort of the participants and visiting Master, the availability of necessary supplies and the organisation of affairs to ensure the even flow of the retreat programme. Together with Chief Cook and the Retreat Disciplinarian the work of the Guestmaster maintains the background quality of a retreat.

When I…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1992 , John Crook , Chan Retreat Reports , For Newcomers

On Meeting a Monster

Calligraphy for the character Chan

This was my first Chan retreat and I was so excited. My life felt calm and stable and I hoped to be able to work through whatever the Universe presented. I also hoped I would learn greater concentration in sitting to deepen my novice practice. On a previous retreat I had perceived the futility of living solely under the influence of my ego states and it seemed pointless not to search further…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1991 , Chan Retreat Reports , Anon

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