Dharma Library

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

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Uncovering the Essence of Mind: A Teaching from the Chan Hall

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

The essence of mind is tranquil, spacious, illumined by joy,
unattached to thoughts or the thoughtless.
When it appears you may fill with a gratitude that slowly turns to bliss.
If a thought of others emerges there may be love.
Love is embracing all and being embraced by all.
Love passes: tranquillity resumes: the spaciousness sustains itself.
The thought of 'me' is absent.
Self-concern is no longer…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , Dharma Talks , 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 , Dharma Talks , John Crook

Not Knowing is Knowing

Chan master Shengyen

A lecture given on retreat at the Meditation Centre, New York, reprinted by kind permission from the Chan Magazine Fall 1993 p19 and slightly edited for this presentation.

Knowing dharmas is not knowing Not knowing is knowing the essential... The highest principle cannot be explained: It is neither free nor bound Lively and attuned to everything It is always right before you. 1

The Chan sect…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 1993 , Dharma Talks , Sheng Yen

A Mind like Snow

Chan master Shengyen

Given on November 14th 1993, published in Chan Magazine, Winter 1995. Presented here lightly edited with permission.

In day to day living, you may find it extremely difficult to settle the mind. It might seem that the only time the mind feels settled is when there is nothing to do. When something happens, either externally or internally, or when you encounter gain or loss, the emotions are…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 1993 , Dharma Talks , Sheng Yen

Always Harmonise with Living Beings

Chan master Shengyen

Text selected from 'The Compassionate Vows of Bodhisattva Samantabhadra'. Chan Magazine Winter 1993 with permission. Lightly edited.

'Living beings' means all sentient beings. Harmonising with living beings means giving to sentient beings whatever they wish. Even so, if they ask for your head, do you give it to them? If they ask for your body, do you give it to them? If they ask for your money,…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 1993 , Dharma Talks , Sheng Yen

Not Noticing

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

This talk is dedicated to the memory of Georgina Marjorie Crook. It was delivered to the assembly of practitioners at the Two Day Retreat in Rickford, October 24th 1992.

Two things are omnipresent in our lives and yet day after day we fail to notice them - death and the sky. Every day people are dying: if they are our dear ones we know and feel it but the fact of everyday dying, next door, in the…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1992 , Dharma Talks , John Crook

No Path at All!

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

from the "Sermons to the Stones and Trees" tapes, Summer 1992

There comes a moment in Zen training, a moment both shocking and surprising, when one realises intuitively that there is no path at all.

Ho! What then is Zen practice?

Practice is the realisation that there is no path at all, yet one keeps on going, going on, going on beyond, always becoming being.

Listening to a talk on Buddhism on…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1992 , Dharma Talks , John Crook

A Small Insect Cannot Stop a Chariot

Chan master Shengyen

Excerpts from a talk given at the Chan meditation Center, New York, edited with permission by John Crook. Published in Chan Magazine 12.1. Winter 1992 pp18-21

Even if an iron wheel whirls in your head perfect clear samadhi and wisdom are never lost.

You cannot cling to the idea that the genuine wisdom of enlightenment has concrete existence. Yet, if you accept and realise Dharma, then you will…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1992 , Dharma Talks , Sheng Yen

The Importance of Buddhadharma in the Modern World

Chan master Shengyen

Lecture by Master Sheng-yen on October 13, 1991. Reprinted with permission from Chan Newsletter 89, November 1991.

The world we live in has a genuine need for Buddhadharma. There are many fine things in the modern world, but there is much that is less than desirable. The world is becoming smaller and more crowded and people are getting busier and busier.

As a child, I read a Chinese novel called…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 1991 , Dharma Talks , Sheng Yen

Methods of Practice in the Chan Hall

Master Xuyun, known as Empty Cloud

This is part two of a translation of a text by the great Chan master of the early part of the 20th century, Hsu Yun (1839-1959). It is reprinted by permission of the Institute of Chung Hwa Buddhist Culture, New York, from Chan Newsletter 87, August 1991. The first part of this talk appeared in New Chan Forum No.4. Spring 1992.

1. Introduction:

Many people come to ask me for guidance. This makes…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: Highlighted , 1991 , Dharma Talks , Others

Essentials of Chan Practice

Master Xuyun, known as Empty Cloud

This is part one of a translation of a text by the great Chan master of the early part of the 20th century, Hsu Yun (1839-1959). It is reprinted by permission of the Institute of Chung Hwa Buddhist Culture, New York, from Chan Newsletter 87, August 1991. The first part of this talk appeared in New Chan Forum No.7. Spring 1993.

The Prerequisites and Understanding Necessary to Begin Chan Practice

…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 1991 , Dharma Talks , Others

Opening The Treasure House

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

from the "Sermons to the Stones and Trees" tapes, Summer 1991

"If you do these things for some time the treasure house will open naturally and you will enjoy it fully." These are the concluding words of a Soto Zen ritual. Remember: "The treasure house will open naturally."

In meditation, it is not that one has to work desperately hard to get somewhere. The practice of meditation should be…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1991 , Dharma Talks , John Crook

Thus Come, Thus Gone

Chan master Shengyen

A special lecture given by Master Sheng-yen at the Chan Center, New York, on 4th November 1990. First published in Chan Newsletter No. 98, July 93 and reprinted here, slightly edited, with permission.

Chan is "thus come, thus gone." Everything is Chan; this is "thus come." Nothing is Chan; this is "thus gone." Today I want to investigate these words. I think they will give you new insights into…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 1990 , Dharma Talks , Sheng Yen

Guarding the One

Chan master Shengyen

Talks given by Master Sheng-yen on the first two evenings of the Chan retreat in April 1989.

I

I have only been in your country for a day, but already I have learnt something about you people. You have a love for ancient things. This house is hundreds of years old, you treasure the worm-eaten beams and the crumbling stone walls, the bent timbers of the old barn. In Taiwan we are busily engaged…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 1989 , Dharma Talks , Sheng Yen

False and True Self

Chan master Shengyen

Reprinted with permission from Chan Newsletter, 69, 1988 and lightly edited. Based on a talk given on JHC's first visit to Shifu.

Ananda asks the Buddha about the nature of the self. Is there an all-encompassing ego, a true self that unites everyone in the world, or is there a self at all? I'm going to talk about this question and discuss how it is dealt with by "outer path" systems of thought…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1987 , Dharma Talks , Sheng Yen

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