WCF News

Friday 20th - Sunday 22nd June 2025

WCF members are invited to stay at Shawbottom free of charge during the period Friday 20th - Sunday 22nd June, to coincide with the WCF AGM on 22nd June.

This is for socialising, sangha building, and to give an opportunity for exploring the area such as by taking longer walks than is possible in retreat walk periods of only an hour. It is also an occasion to…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO AGM

Nominations are now open, for three vacancies for trustees of WCF.

Elections will be held at the AGM on June 22nd if more than three nominations are received.

Nomination forms

• Trustee nomination form as Word docx file (editable)
• Trustee nomination form as PDF file

Closing date for receipt of nominations is 30th May.

AGM details

To access the AGM details you…

"Rebecca Li’s teachings are deep, lucid, and accessible. She helps undo the habits blocking realization of our naturally radiant, awake being." —Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance

• Join Zen Peacemakers for the online event "Silent Illumination and Peacemaking" with Dr. Rebecca Li. Tuesday, March 4, 2025 5 p.m. GMT,  Online, Free
• Register at: https://hive.zenpeacemakers.org/events/162250

Sak…

Morning of Sunday June 22^nd 2025

Similar to 2023, the 2025 AGM will be held as a hybrid meeting both online and also in person at Shawbottom.

This includes an open invitation to members to take the opportunity to visit Shawbottom and stay over the weekend on a self-catering basis at no charge. An opportunity for socialising, for longer walks in the area, or whatever you prefer. If you wish to…

Newsletter 51 with Retreat Programme 2025 is now available for download.

This newsletter also includes a report on our recent survey, local group news, and advance notice of our 2025 AGM on June 22nd. 

A questionnaire to help us plan future retreat programmes to suit you.

Please respond promptly, as we will be analysing the results about two weeks after you receive this newsletter.

It is two years since we restarted residential retreats following the ending of pandemic restrictions, and we are noticing that retreat booking numbers are lower than pre-pandemic. Clearly one factor may be…

A talk by Jake Lyne on ecodharma, now available on youTube

This 23 minute talk opens with a quote from William Shatner of Star Trek fame, the oldest person to go into space, who was profoundly shocked by the contrast between the beauty of earth from space and his understanding that life is in peril from climate change and loss of biodiversity.

Using video clips to illustrate the talk, Jake…

Western Chan Fellowship is rerunning the free online course, ‘Introduction to Meditation, Buddhism and Chan’. This consists of four weekly online 90-minute sessions led by two experienced Western Chan Fellowship group leaders, David Valentine-Hagart and Guy Roberts. It is geared towards newcomers to the WCF, but those already engaged with the WCF and interested in finding out more about the…

New Chan Forum issues 65 and 66 are now available from the New Chan Forum archive

New Chan Forum issue 64 is now available for download.

Visit the New Chan Forum 64 page.