Dharma Library

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

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Scattering

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

I have just returned from the ceremony of Scattering the Ashes of Dr Sally Masheder at the Cairn above The Maenllwyd. Before the Scattering we held a brief ceremony of chants and prayers chosen in her last days by Sally herself and I gave this short Teisho:

I have been wondering why Sally should have chosen The Maenllwyd as the location for the scattering of her ashes. Perhaps it was because:

St…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2010 , Teishos John Crook , John Crook

Deviation

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

Many of us beginners do not really understand the central theme of the Dharma. This is because most of us come into practice for basically therapeutic reasons, seeking freedom from alienation in life or suffering. In fact, the Buddha supplies us with a total worldview upon which to base a personal understanding of the place of our sentient lives in the Universe. This worldview replaces the need…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2010 , Teishos John Crook , John Crook

8. How to be Kind

Ken Jones headshot

This is one of an ongoing series of writings which encapsulate talks given on various retreats. Several of the originals were not recorded at all or else have been recorded in different locations, with much overlap. This series is produced in response to several requests for a more permanent and edited record, for distribution to past retreatants on my mailing list and to anyone else who might…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2010 , Ken Jones

Preceptual Truth

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

If you were asked, "What is the most important idea in Buddhism?" What would you say? I would have to answer 'Preceptual Truth'; so, what is 'Preceptual Truth'? It is an expression that I believe comes from Roshi Jiyu Kennet, the founder and first Abbess of Throssel Hole Abbey. As we know, our Chan Lay precepts are: Not to kill; Not to steal; Not to lie; Not to commit harmful sex; Not to become…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2010 , Teishos John Crook , John Crook

For Non-beginners and Beginners Alike

Rebecca Li headshot

We had been curious about the Western Zen Retreat after hearing about it - it was a process that had been developed by Dr. John Crook, Master Sheng Yen's (Shifu's) first Western Dharma heir. At first we thought the retreat was for beginners, only because we had been told that the retreat was a good way for those new to Chan to start their practice. But after taking part in a number of Western Zen…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2010 , Highlighted , Western Zen Retreat Reports , Rebecca Li

Being Buddha

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

We all know the last line of the Heart Sutra because we chant it every day on retreat and probably from time to time on weekly meetings. The Sanskrit is Gaté Gaté Paragaté, Parasamgaté Bodhi Svaha usually translated as "Gone, gone, gone beyond, altogether gone. Wisdom All Hail". It is often taken to be a description of the enlightenment experience known as Kensho in Japanese or Kaiwu in Chinese.…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2010 , Teishos John Crook , John Crook

Accepting the World

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

"Accept the unacceptable - only then will it leave you." So said Jean-Marc Mantel, a wise psychiatrist and savant of spirituality, at the Mindfulness conference in Bristol last summer. It was in response to a question regarding the difficulty of accepting the unexpected death of a loved one.

"Accept the unacceptable - only then will it leave you"

What is the unacceptable? When you explore this,…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2010 , Teishos John Crook , John Crook

Empty Midnight

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

From the start of our training we will have been confronted by the classical definition of Chan "A special transmission outside the scriptures, no dependence on words and letters, Direct seeing into the human heart." But if words and reading are not allowed how on earth can one start and indeed continue any practice of Chan as a beginner. Further more, any visit to bookshops reveals a mammoth…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2010 , Teishos John Crook , John Crook

7. Don't Know Mind and Storehouse Consciousness

Ken Jones headshot

This is one of an ongoing series of writings which encapsulate talks given on various retreats. Several of the originals were not recorded at all or else have been recorded in different locations, with much overlap, and with the disadvantages of unedited, ad hoc records. This series is produced in response to several requests for a more permanent and edited record, for distribution to past…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2010 , Ken Jones

A Little Problem concerning Tails

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

Master Wuzu, he who got stuck in an inn talking too much with three monk companions so that the lights went out on them, left us several outstanding koans. One of them reads:

"It is like a Buffalo passing through a window. Head, horns and all four legs have all passed through. Why does the tail not follow?"

What a curious story! To begin with, what on earth is a buffalo doing trying to get…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2010 , Teishos John Crook , John Crook

Snowfall

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

Snow is falling. The white flakes drift down from the sky. Coming from the north the gentle blizzard reaches the southern hills. As the snow arrives, so comes the great silence. The track is filling up, no one can come, and no one can go. Stillness lies in the reflection of the cloud brightened snow, white around the bird table. The Bullfinch is stealing the whitened buds, the tits are pecking at…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2010 , Teishos John Crook , John Crook

Master Yen Wai of Hong Kong

Calligraphy for the character Chan

When I arrived in Hong Kong (1953) on my National Service during the Korean War, I soon set about trying to meet Chinese people. I wanted to follow up my reading of Buddhism carried out during the several weeks' voyage on the troop ship from Southampton. Through contacts with the HK university I met Professor Ma Meng who introduced me to a Mr Yen Shi liang, a Buddhist merchant with an embroidery…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2009 , Other Articles , John Crook , Others

A Day in the Life of Bruce in Sogenji

Calligraphy for the character Chan

Last year Bruce Stevenson took himself off to Japan for a period of practice in a Zen monastery. This was not Bruce's first such expedition but it is the first he has written about for us. Let us continue this issue then with a further account of experiences in the distant East. Bruce tells us Sogenji is, as far as he knows, the only monastery in Japan full of Westerners - well this includes a…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2009 , Other Articles , Others

Epiphany

Ken Jones headshot

Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

T.S. Eliot - The Rock

The open door of the shabby little Hotel de la Gare. The municipal street washer has just clattered over the cobbles, freshening the air before the sun gets up. On their way to work, the locals drop in for a  petit noir or a shot of something stronger. Hands are briefly shaken…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2009 , Ken Jones

Ten Zen Questions

dr-susan-blackmore

This short extract introduces you to Sue Blackmore's new book in which she puzzles her way into certain serious Zen questions. You must read it to decide whether she has solved them or not but her discussion is characteristically lively and interesting; further more it is based in retreats at Maenllwyd. We place it here for your interest and information. Eds.

The idea for "Ten Zen Questions" 1…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2009 , Susan Blackmore , Book Reviews

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