Dharma Library

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

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Retreat Report, Koan Retreat September 2022, a poem

Calligraphy for the character Chan

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…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2022 , Poetry , Koan Retreat Reports , Anon

My Sheltered Place: a Haibun

Calligraphy for the character Chan

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…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2022 , Poetry , Others

Practising in current times

Simon Child headshot

Simon reflects on impermanence and non-self in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I felt a dilemma when our editor Pat Simmons asked me to write an article for this issue of New Chan Forum. Should I write about how our lives and practice are affected by the current COVID-19 pandemic – clearly a major topic – or should I write on a more traditional teaching theme? How could I consider not…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2020 , Dharma Talks , Simon Child

Book Review: The World Could Be Otherwise by Norman Fischer

Cover of the World could be Otherwise

This book had been winking at me since the beginning of the year. For several years, Norman Fischer’s writing in Tricycle and elsewhere has been a source of pleasure to me. He writes lucidly and with a poet’s eye and phrase. Eventually, a couple of months after it was published, I gave in, bought this book, devoured it and then just reread it straight away. That’s rare for me. 

Its subtitle,…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2019 , Book Reviews , Others

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

Western Zen Retreat April 2019, a participant reports

Calligraphy for the character Chan

I arrived not knowing what the retreat was going to be like. I knew we would investigate the question “who am I?” but preferred to find out how once I got there to avoid expectations or anxiety. I was very much looking forward to the luxury of having everything organised for me. I would not have to make any decisions, just follow instructions and bells. This time, I didn't even wear a watch and it…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2019 , Western Zen Retreat Reports , Anon

Liturgy

Eddy Street

In terms of our ceremonies, as lay practitioners, we only undertake a small part of what occurs in monastic communities, but as with everything we need to examine and question what it is that we actually do. We need to discover the larger sense of what constitutes our liturgy and to appreciate its place within the totality that is Chan Buddhism. Our liturgy reveals a history of the tradition of…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2018 , Eddy Street

Meditation, Spirituality, Religion

Face of Buddha statue

Meditation, spirituality and religion can work together; however, they can also work apart.

We can meditate as if doing a technical exercise, engaging neither spirituality nor religion. Meditation works then on the psychological level, similarly to psychotherapy or personal development training. It is usually undertaken to improve our personal situation from within. We don’t feel comfortable…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2018 , Anna Jedynak

An Activist Awakens

Calligraphy for the character Chan

I was initially drawn to Chan out of a sense of loneliness. Two acquaintances were already participants in the Bristol Chan group: Sarah Bird, whom I knew from yoga practice, and Sally Masheder, a neighbour and fellow GP. I liked them a lot and I wanted to get to know them better. I had started meditation but was searching for a method that suited me. I also wanted to protect the planet and people…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2018 , Other Articles , Others

Poem for John

Fiona Nuttall

Because of your military background and Sandhurst voice,
Because of your wild white eyebrows, as mobile as eels,
Because I knew you before I knew you,
Because you could see with your third eye,
Because you saw me and smiled,
Because you said, ‘Are you ready for an adventure?’
Because I felt heard and known,
Because of your delight in chocolate biscuits,
Because of the predictability of cauliflower cheese…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2018 , Poetry , Fiona Nuttall

The Path to Transmission

Fiona Nuttall

When I was asked to write something for New Chan Forum about how I ended up as Simon’s Dharma heir I took a sharp intake of breath. How could I get that down in sentences? It has been a long, perhaps even tortuous, journey with many side roads and incursions into various unexpected places. I discussed this with some Christian friends of mine who I consider to be part of my wider Sangha and whom I…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2018 , Other Articles , Fiona Nuttall

Shattering the Great Doubt, Crosby Hall, August 2017

Calligraphy for the character Chan

…Day two. Koan day. I eventually plumped for one that, rather arrogantly, I believed I could answer. Hah! Silliness. We sat, the Koan playing in my mind as I searched for an answer. After a few sessions, Simon brought in a communication exercise whereby each retreatant sits with another and takes it in turns to answer a question on their Koan. I was coupled with the most open and honest individual…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2017 , Anon , Koan Retreat Reports

The Edge of a Cloud

Simon Child headshot

Today we have a blue sky, with a few little clouds. Yesterday we had plenty of clouds but not so much blue sky. Weather changes. Clouds slide around in the sky. Of course the sky is always blue, but we can’t always see the blue because of the clouds. How do we understand the cloud? A fluffy object floating in the sky; if we know what it’s made of we think of it as water drops. Sometimes it sinks…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2017 , Dharma Talks , Simon Child

The Four Noble Truths and Right Effort

Simon Child headshot

John Crook used to like to say that the essence of Chan is self-confrontation. I’ve already spoken about Dogen’s saying, “to study the Buddha way is to study the self ”. And on the first evening here a few of you mentioned you came here to understand who you are. Why this emphasis on self, who we are, confronting ourselves. What’s the use of it?

I’ve spoken about how your koans bite back on you,…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2017 , Dharma Talks , Simon Child

An Interview with Rebecca Li

Rebecca Li sitting with and talking to Chan Master Shengyen

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.

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2017 , Other Articles , Rebecca Li

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