Dharma Library

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

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Bumping up Against Ourselves

Eddy Street

The spiritual path is seldom if ever straightforward. When we embark on our spiritual quest, we naturally engage the nature of the person that we are with the tasks that will present themselves to us along the way. The trials, tribulations and obstacles along the path are not an inherent element of the path itself but are the outcome of the way we personally interact with the requirements involved…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2013 , Other Articles , Eddy Street

Great Doubt

Calligraphy for the character Chan

Koan retreats with the Western Chan Fellowship have become a staple part of my dharma practice over the past few years since I have found a connection with this specific method. Coming to Wales for such retreats has become routine for me, and I had no expectations on booking it or on arrival.

One day into the retreat it became clear that my practice was very different to previous retreats. On…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2013 , Koan Retreat Reports , Anon

Rephrasing and Asking

Calligraphy for the character Chan

Silent Illumination retreat report

I arrived to the retreat ill. Nothing really serious, just a sore throat and runny nose, but still I was a bit worried about waking up my room-mates with a cough at night. Moreover before the retreat I had neglected my practice, and now expected the first days to be rather difficult. But surprisingly everything went fine: beautiful sunny weather cured me within…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2013 , Silent Illumination Retreat Reports , Anon

Experience

Calligraphy for the character Chan

A Silent Illumination retreat report

Similar to my last retreats I shifted pretty fast into the retreat modus, where thoughts are kept in the background and the focus stays for the most part in the present moment. Generally a very pleasant state.

During the interview Simon said that there is something I keep inside myself – something I do not really look at. We were then discussing that I have…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2013 , Silent Illumination Retreat Reports , Anon

A Visit to the Doctor

Calligraphy for the character Chan

Most people who are familiar with Buddhism know of the metaphor of the Buddha as a doctor for the world’s ills. I’m going to update this metaphor to the 21st century to describe and explain the Three Characteristics of Impermanence, Dissatisfaction, and No Self.

Let’s say the Buddha is a doctor and he has his office in any town or village for that matter. He has a nice expansive clean office. I…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2013 , Other Articles , Others

What is Silent Illumination?

Cover of Medytacja magazine, #1 2013

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,…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 2012 , Other Articles , Simon Child

The Accidental Buddhist

Cover of Medytacja magazine, #1 2013

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…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 2012 , Other Articles , Simon Child

Hearing Photos: an Exploration by Eddy Street and Rob Stratton

Man jumped from a bridge to swim in the river

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…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2012 , Eddy Street

Who?

Ken Jones headshot

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…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2012 , Ken Jones

Meaningless that makes Sense: Working with Mu

George Marsh

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…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2012 , Other Articles , George Marsh

Finely Tuned

Calligraphy for the character Chan

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…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2012 , Anon , Koan Retreat Reports

Consolations: Preparations for Dying

Alysun Jones

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.…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2012 , Other Articles , Others

Letting go of this, letting go of that: what then?

Calligraphy for the character Chan

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…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2012 , Western Zen Retreat Reports

Not a Bad Starting Point!

Calligraphy for the character Chan

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…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2012 , Western Zen Retreat Reports

30 Years Later

Calligraphy for the character Chan

The retreat gave me a space and context to deal with a situation that seemed overwhelming and allowed me to feel grief and sadness freely, without any preconditions or parameters but just simply for what they were. It helped me to reconnect with my feelings and allow them to flow through me or out of me. The support of the group and everybody working together on their inner world within the…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2012 , Western Zen Retreat Reports

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