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Dharma Library

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

  • Search by keywords, using the search box

  • Or select articles by various categories such as for newcomers / highlighted, topic or author - click on the buttons found below the listed articles.


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  • Marian Partington

    The Hiss of Light: A Haibun

    Marian Partington | 2021-11-05

    1994 

    I attend my first Western Zen Buddhist retreat at Maenllwyd. The small Welsh farmhouse stands on a hillside at the end of a rough track below a narrow wooded valley, which leads up to a bare horizon. It just sits there, with no electricity, amidst the fields of sheep, aloof and barely visible from the straggly village some way below. The eastern horizon offers wide skies for the sunrise and…

    Read more of: The Hiss of Light: A Haibun
  • Anna Jedynak

    Nonviolent Communication and Meditation

    Anna Jedynak | 2021-11-05

    Right speech, part of the Noble Eightfold Path, is defined as speaking without lying, verbal aggression, intriguing, slandering or idle chatter. In recent times, a Swedish psychologist Marshall Rosenberg has developed a way of speaking more effectively and honestly, called nonviolent communication (NVC). It not only promotes ways of practising right speech, but also supports meditation practice. 

    …
    Read more of: Nonviolent Communication and Meditation
  • John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

    Host and Guests: A Retreat Talk

    John Crook | 2021-11-05

    (Given at a Western Zen Retreat in 1988) 

    We have been doing a meditation called searching the heart in which we have been allowing the experiences of our lives as they are remembered to rise within us – to tell us their story and bring us their feelings. In this way we have been reviewing and uncovering and allowing to emerge that which we are. Maybe we have also been seeing that, when that…

    Read more of: Host and Guests: A Retreat Talk
  • Simon Child

    Ten Years On: Remembering Dr John Crook

    Simon Child | 2021-11-05

    Founding Teacher of the Western Chan Fellowship 

    On 17 July 2021, ten years after the death of John Hurrell Crook at the age of 80, the Western Chan Fellowship held a Zoom gathering to remember and celebrate this remarkable man and teacher. The following is an adaptation of a talk written by Simon Child for that gathering. 

    John had such a full and diverse life that it’s not possible for me to…

    Read more of: Ten Years On: Remembering Dr John Crook
  • photo of old liturgy book page

    No Guru, No Church, No Dependency

    Susan Blackmore | 2021-11-05

    Rushing off to begin a solitary retreat last month, I suddenly remembered that I wanted to check something in the liturgy so, in a hurry (yes, I know!!), I grabbed the first copy I could find and set off to my hut. Only later, once I’d settled down, did I take a look and realise that it was a very old copy indeed. To my surprise, there, on the front cover (see overleaf), is some writing in John’s…

    Read more of: No Guru, No Church, No Dependency
  • Guy Roberts

    What is the Satipatthana Sutta?

    Guy Roberts | 2021-05-05

    What is the Satipatthana Sutta? Taken from the early Pali canon it seems, at first, a straightforward teaching of the Buddha, but as I read articles and listened to online talks it opened out into something with an endless depth and opportunity for a lifetime of study. A nuanced, ever growing exploration of the human condition showcasing the Buddha’s skilful teaching. I have become mildly obsessed…

    Read more of: What is the Satipatthana Sutta?
  • Eddy Street

    Haibun, by Eddy Street

    Eddy Street | 2021-05-05

    For a few moments I believe I’ve forgotten what day it is. The pandemic has removed an element of usual time for me as my accustomed props and punctuations of the week have become redundant and my old map for time spent has become obsolete. Global and local are now not so separated as ‘remote’ acquires a new meaning and I can spend time, described as real, with distant friends. I idle away at bits…

    Read more of: Haibun, by Eddy Street
  • Make Love not War: The Buddha's Response to Conflict

    Martin Nellany | 2021-05-05

    So, what might the Buddha have said nearly 2500 years ago as a means to resolve conflict, disputes and arguments? The solution to that question is perhaps even more relevant today, with a perceived increase in polarisation amongst groups as well as in our interpersonal relationships. 

    Well, there is an account in a lesser known Sutta within the Pali Canon which may provide pointers. In the Kosamb…

    Read more of: Make Love not War: The Buddha's Response to Conflict
  • Poems, by Steve Grundy

    Steve Grundy | 2021-05-05

    Fanfares
    celestial choirs
    no
    a soft ‘aha’
    paradigm shifted 

    eating my breakfast
    cat on my lap
    if I need to add to it
    I have not grasped it 

    I have misunderstood
    we zen practitioners
    need to
    get over
    our selves [sic]

    just sit …
    too simple …
    we are desperate
    to add to it … 

    Don’t 

    Drop attempts at explanation.
    Drop teachings.
    Sit.
    Live life.
    Nothing extra.
    Nothing missing.
    Nothing lasts.

    Gratitude.

    Read more of: Poems, by Steve Grundy
  • Peter Reason

    ‘It is Far Better to Light a Candle than Curse the Darkness’

    Peter Reason | 2021-05-05

    Our retreat teacher in her introductory remarks emphasized the importance of silence: both cultivating our own inner silence and maintaining silence in our interactions with others. Silence meant no conversations, but it didn’t mean that we couldn’t ask someone to pass the butter at lunch time. It did mean, however, that we should draw ourselves away from social contact with our fellow…

    Read more of: ‘It is Far Better to Light a Candle than Curse the Darkness’
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©Western Chan Fellowship CIO 2025. May not be quoted for commercial purposes. Anyone wishing to quote for non-commercial purposes may seek permission from the WCF Secretary.

The articles on this website have been submitted by various authors and the views expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the Western Chan Fellowship.

Permalink: https://w-c-f.org/Q358

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