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 topic or author - click on the section menus (found below the listed articles on a mobile view, or to the right on a desktop view)

Thoughts on Japan

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

The world was deeply shocked by the terrible catastrophe in Japan. We send our condolences to all who have lost loved ones and are still suffering there at this time. When I think of a 30 foot wave striking the Somerset coast, I see the land lost to the sea all the way from Weston super Mare to the Dorset hills, lapping up the valleys below Winterhead Hill and leaving Glastonbury Tor as a lonely…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2011 , Other Articles , John Crook

The Illusion of Separateness

Žarko Andričević teaching

Žarko Andricevic is the Teacher of Dharmaloka – the Chan Buddhist Community, Croatia.

Our incapability to live in harmony with others, the environment and ourselves is a consequence of deep ignorance of our nature and the nature of existence in general. All human suffering, misery and discontent, be it personal or collective, arises out of a fundamental ignorance that is called avidya…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2011 , Dharma Talks , Others

Why Buddhism and the West Need Each Other: The Nonduality of Personal and Social Transformation

David Loy

Paper given at the conference "Western Buddhism: Engaged Buddhism?" by David Loy on 30-Sep-2011, Bristol UK.

Within Western Buddhism the importance of social engagement is now generally accepted; certainly many Buddhist individuals and groups are seriously involved in activities such as prison dharma, raising money for impoverished people, and so forth. But almost all such activities involve what…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2011 , Other Articles , David Loy

Summary Of Conference "Western Buddhism: Engaged Buddhism?"

Hilary Richards

Summary of conference presentations by Hilary Richards

I would like to bow to you all and to thank everyone for attending. All the speakers have told us how they planned their talks. My plan for summing up was to take some key points from each of the talks and the odd quotation or two, note them down and tell you about them again now. But this plan is not going to work as everything we have heard…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2011 , Other Articles , Hilary Richards

Towards a Radical Culture of Awakening

Ken Jones headshot

Talk by Ken Jones delivered 30 October 2011 at the WCF conference: "Western Buddhism: Engaged Buddhism?"

“Suffering I teach and the way out of suffering.”

Part One of this talk will explain how the origins of social suffering  lie ultimately in  the human condition itself. Part Two will offer a way out of social suffering.

Part One

Delusion

Buddhists regularly remind themselves of their great…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2011 , Ken Jones

Prison Chaplaincy

Calligraphy for the character Chan

Talk by Devin Ashwood delivered 29th October 2011 at the WCF conference: "Western Buddhism: Engaged Buddhism?"

My name is Devin Ashwood and I work as a Buddhist Chaplain in the Prison Service.

I have been asked to talk a little about Buddhist Chaplaincy in Prisons and while I had very little idea of what I would talk about, I agreed. At first, I thought I could say all there was to say in about…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2011 , Other Articles , Others

The Circling Birds: Openings to Insight on the Path of Chan

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

In Chan Comes West, Master Sheng Yen’s five lay Dharma heirs share their stories on the path, including how they came to the practice, their inner struggles along the path, and what receiving Dharma transmission has meant for them. It is hoped that readers will find these stories inspiring and be encouraged to make great vows in their own practice. Here is John Crook’s chapter from that book,…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 2011 , Other Articles , John Crook

The Buddha's Face

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

Some of us keep a Buddha image in the place where we like to meditate. Maybe we also light a candle and incense stick before entering zazen, or do some chanting. Why do we do these things?

Maybe it is simply out of respect for the memory of the Buddha or a habitual gesture of the Sangha to which we belong. Maybe the Buddha represents for us the aspiration that underlies our practice. Yet, we also…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2011 , Teishos John Crook , John Crook

The Arriving Birds

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

This morning, sitting in the Buddha Room at Winterhead, I glanced out of the window. There in the holly tree flitted a small brown bird, a Phyloscopus warbler arrived from Africa riding on the spring weather coming up from the south. Species of this genus are difficult to identify, all small brownies. There are three of them visiting Britain, the Chiffchaff, the Willow Warbler and the Wood…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2011 , Teishos John Crook , John Crook

On Taking Refuge

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

When someone has decided to follow the path of the Buddha it is usual for him or her to make a formal commitment to that path by participating in a simple ceremony known as Taking Refuge. We have recently put together a short liturgical text enabling people to Take Refuge through the Western Chan Fellowship. This Teisho seeks to explain what is involved and to provide a source for the presentation…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2011 , Teishos John Crook , John Crook

New Year's Day Teisho, 2011

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

Kuan yin says, "Yesterday was 2010. Today is 2011. Have you yet made the transition?"

When silence flows from the loom of illumination vastness appears, right hemisphere regaining authority over the left, a moment of complete understanding arising.

For some the word "God" evokes it; for others the stillness of space simply emerges. With the fading of clouds, the sun shines in clarity, warming…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2011 , Teishos John Crook , John Crook

New Year Teisho, 2011

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

So Christmas has come and gone – and a white Christmas too. Was it splendid as a White Christmas should be? Well - that depends. If you were quietly at home with the kids, it was probably wonderful – the beauty of the scenery, the fun of the children tobogganing but if you were struggling to fly from Heathrow or Gatwick or stuck on the M5 or M25 – then it was pretty well a cold hell. Whatever it…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2010 , Teishos John Crook , John Crook

The Meanings in the Flower

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

All of us probably know the story that founded Chan. Even so, lets retell it, briefly.

The Buddha was out walking with a bunch of monks. The monks were arguing about a number of questions such as "Does the Universe have a beginning. Yes or no?", "Does it have an end?", "Do Buddhas live for ever?"

The Buddha took no part in the discussion. Noticing this, Ananda said  to him, "World Honoured one!…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2010 , Teishos John Crook , John Crook

Summer Night

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

On my way to bed, I turn out the light and notice with surprise another illumination filling the room from my large window. I open it and look outside. A full moon is riding the sky above the pear trees. Its silvery light glistens delicately on the dewy lawn. Late summer yet the air is warm while the moonlight sheds a cooling touch.

I go out onto the lawn. Nothing moves. There is a perfect…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2010 , Teishos John Crook , John Crook

The Two Ways of Working with Knowledge

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

The reach of the human mind becomes more extraordinary the more one contemplates it. Some recent studies have compared the two main ways by which we deal with the knowledge that accumulates in our heads during our lifetime. These two ways have not always been recognised or one has been given priority over the other. In the practice of Zen, these two ways are both employed but to rather differing…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2010 , Teishos John Crook , John Crook

Cookie Extension Logo