Dharma Library

This library provides a database of articles, some from past issues of New Chan Forum and some available only from the website.

  • Search by keywords, using the search box, and the corresponding articles will be listed below the search box (followed by recently published articles).
  • To select articles by various categories such as topic or author or date click on the section menus ( below the listed articles on a mobile view, or to the right on a desktop view), and the corresponding articles will be listed below the searchbox.


Chronological List of articles:

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

Learning to be a Zen Cook

Pam Butler

Driving home from the January Mahamudra retreat I thought obsessively about taking up the opportunity to cook. Finally, decided to drop it, not think about it for a few days and just see if the situation clarified.

Next morning, the postman knocked and handed over a parcel. It turned out to contain a Christmas present from my brother - a teapot and a book on vegetarian cooking! I decided the…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1998 , Other Retreat Reports , Highlighted , Anon

Going On Into The Snow Alone

Calligraphy for the character Chan

The opening words of the retreat "Where the path stops, you go on into the snow alone" have an enormously powerful effect on me and the combination of the clear Welsh air, the burning incense, the peace, and the clarity of the bell bring tears to my eyes and a lump in my throat so that I am unable to join in the words myself.

The retreat begins, the guest master cheerfully and conscientiously…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1998 , Western Zen Retreat Reports , Anon

The Natural Great Perfection

Calligraphy for the character Chan

A 3-week Dzogchen retreat with Lama Surya Das: Canandaigua, New York, 1997

Perhaps it was hearing John Crook talking about the Tibetan practice of Dzogchen which first sparked my interest. For some time I had been practising Tibetan Buddhism in the Karma Kagyu school, finding its gentler approach a welcome complement to the more rigorous practice of Chan/Zen. Dzogchen, which is sometimes referred…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1997 , Other Retreat Reports , Anon

An Experience with Mahamudra

Calligraphy for the character Chan

A particular attraction of this retreat was for me the possibility of examining the stages of meditation as it deepened. In order that the process of moving towards a reasonably quiet and spacious state could become rather less haphazard, I had been trying to identify progression in my own meditation. I found the Mahamudra immensely helpful in this respect, clarifying the exact point where it is…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1996 , Other Retreat Reports , Anon

On an Empty Hill - Not a Retreat Report

Calligraphy for the character Chan

Walking across the hillside the fresh spring sunlight warmed the skin, the distant fir woods glistened and a pair of buzzards were playing in the sky.

"Funny!" he said to himself, "I am not here."

There were the feet, two of them, his feet, steadily pacing through the grasses; looking down he could see his coat collar and the binoculars hanging from their strap. Lifting his hand he observed the…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1995 , Other Retreat Reports , Anon

A "Ting" of the Bell

Calligraphy for the character Chan

We arrived after an incredibly long journey from the north with scattered brain experiences and a chip shop repast. Was this my last meal as a normal human being? The farmhouse seemed a ridiculously long way from the road. And those gates! We seemed tobe travelling deeper and deeper into the mountain but perhaps I was entering more deeply into myself. Voices, torchlight. I recognised John…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1995 , Western Zen Retreat Reports , For Newcomers , Anon

Black Slugs - One Here - One There

Calligraphy for the character Chan

This was the first occasion I had been at the Maenllwyd and from the start it had a magical feel to it - like entering a different time and space. Coming up the track to the house and its surroundings was just like entering a live jewel. At this time of year the place was brimful of bird sound, lambs, insects and wind in the trees. All these and the environment were, as I was to discover, to take…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1995 , Anon , Silent Illumination Retreat Reports

Maturity

Calligraphy for the character Chan

Previous Western Zen Retreats have been enormously powerful and emotional experiences and I brought with me all sorts of expectations.

My koan was "What is life?" The aspect of my life that came up over and over again was to do with my work, specifically the job I am doing now, which involves four hours travelling a day and is turning out more and more to be not what I want to do.

Last summer on…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1995 , Western Zen 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

Good Medicine Always Tastes Horrible

Calligraphy for the character Chan

Tantric Retreat, Maenllwyd, July 1994

Driving up to Maenllwyd, knowing that I would be asked, I tried to formulate the reason as to why I wanted to participate in the retreat. I couldn't really think of an answer and was quite relieved when not asked. With hindsight I think that I went because I was curious as to what "Adding Tantra to the Path" entailed and wanted to experience the same…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1994 , Other Retreat Reports , Anon

All Things are Teachers

Calligraphy for the character Chan

On the first evening John told us that he was going to teach silent illumination. This is a method that I have felt affinity for, and have begun to use on previous retreats. I have had glimpses of serenity and silence but I have found it difficult to sustain and use at home. Should I stick to my plan of "raising the doubt" as I had set out to do? I decided that the only thing to do was to go along…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1994 , Anon , Silent Illumination Retreat Reports

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

People Talking in a Big Space

Calligraphy for the character Chan

I felt very much at home sitting around the fire on the first evening, happy I'd come and ready for the retreat. I'd taken a bit more care than usual to prepare myself with additional meditation and tried not to arrive too tired. My wife and I have had a lot of sadness in the last few years, which has beaten us down, and the retreat was a chance to emerge from this. I also wanted to explore the…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1994 , Western Zen 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

Cookie Extension Logo