Dharma Library

Article commissioned by Medytacja magazine (Poland) issue 1 2013. 

Anyone who has ever tried any meditation will understand what I mean when I say that our minds are often noisy and dull. ‘Noisy’ because we experience the ‘voices’ of our thoughts filling our minds with words and images. ‘Dull’ because we see only a part of our present circumstances and environment, the part which preoccupies us,…

Article commissioned by Medytacja magazine (Poland), issue 1 2013. 

In his public talks and writings the Dalai Lama often expresses the view that people should stay within their own tradition. If you are someone who is exploring different traditions and practices then you may be surprised and perhaps disappointed by this advice – why shouldn’t you change tradition if that is what you decide to…

Rob has managed to earn a living in photography as a 'professional' while Eddy has the interest of an 'amateur'. They frequently discuss their shared involvement in this activity.

How extraordinary! How extraordinary!
The insentient express the way! How mysterious!
If you listen with the ears it is incomprehensible
If you hear sounds with the eyes it is truly knowledgeable.
Dongshan

By Way of…

I turn up the flame
from the snaking wick
coiled in my flammable heart

Although he is my lifelong friend I’m in two minds about him. Sometimes I don’t recognise him at all, with his ugly old face. Or I don’t like the way he can behave.

Perched on the wing mirror
robin preens himself
and shits

Then I play at being top dog and growl at him. But when he’s being helpful and kind, now there’s a man…

Traditional koan study under a fierce Japanese Roshi is tough.

…each session had its own special terror. Novice monks were repeatedly whacked with a kyosaku that looked more like a long baseball bat. Monitors patrolled the room menacingly, taunting and poking with the stick to see if your attention would wander from Mu. But zendo drama paled in comparison to meeting Mu in the dokusan room. “What…

The Western Chan Fellowship offers retreats ideally suited to those individuals who are training in and continuing a professional practice in therapies that are based on mindfulness.

With its innovative and unique retreat the "Western Zen Retreat" we offer an experience that is fully incorporated into an understanding of Western psychology whilst being based on a traditional and authentic…

As I write this, two days after my return, I am fine tuned. My heart is brilliant, clear and unobstructed. Someone throws a ball for a dog, which charges across the park, a furry blur of mad energy with scampering legs, and I laugh out loud. The sky has a glow which takes your breath away. I respond to these things with delight and amusement. I hear about the school massacre and weep without…

David Childs (1946 - 2011): A Tribute

And so, full of his life, came
not to the falls, the whirlpool or the cliff
but to the brim
and held a moment above it
seeing everything.

From ‘Notes’ by David Childs (2010)

How do we, or indeed, do we, prepare, or think about our own deaths, as Buddhists? Having a life threatening illness may trigger thoughts about dying. But we all face death at some point.…

I arrived at my first Western Zen retreat with no expectations and was looking forward to spending five days meditating in the beautiful Welsh countryside. When I arrived I felt immediately at home in the old converted farmhouse and the fact that there was no electricity supply only added to the atmosphere.

I had been on many retreats previously but this was my first retreat combining both…

The WZR was my first retreat with the WCF. Before that I had been practicing Zen in the Soto tradition for about eight years. I participated in about half a dozen sesshins with Roshis from Japan, and sitting one period of forty minutes daily at home.

What brought me to the WCF were two things: firstly at his age Roshi had became too fragile to come to Europe to hold sesshins; secondly and more…