I am writing to you and all the other members of the Western Chan Fellowship following a joint meeting of the Executive Committee and WCF retreat leaders on the weekend of October 1st and 2nd.
As you probably know, for the first 49 days after John's death we observed a 'Bardo' period, borrowing from the Tibetan Tradition. Subsequently, we discovered that a 49 day period is also observed in the Chan Buddhist tradition, and in fact after Master Sheng Yen's death there was a continuous 49-day service held at Dharma Drum Monastery in Taiwan.
One of the benefits of the 49-day observance was that it gave us time to pay due respects to John and to our feelings about him without getting caught up in 'where do we go from here'. That time is now passed and the Executive and Practice Committees met over the weekend of 1st and 2nd October to take stock and begin to come to grips with what we need to do to take forward the work we have been doing with John and which he inherited from the previous 99 generations of teachers going right back to the Buddha (John and Simon are considered to be in the 100th generation).
According to the Chan tradition, the 49 days observance is part of a three year period of mourning following the death of a Master. Long formal periods of mourning are not part of our culture, but nevertheless there is a value in an extended period of observance, or awareness. It emphasises continuity, it can serve as a counter to a 'throw away' mentality, it avoids any sense of rush, it will give us time to find out how to carry forward the best parts of John's teachings whilst allowing new priorities to evolve, and it gives time for those people whose sense of loyalty to the WCF was strongly rooted in their relationship with John, to feel their way in order to find out if that loyalty will continue within the Western Chan Fellowship. However, it is not a period for holding everything in aspic, it will be a period of steady and, we expect, fruitful evolution.
Whilst we do not plan to adopt a formal three year mourning period, the idea of an extended period of observance, during which mourning might well occur, was part of the backdrop to our two days of meetings.
Over the last ten years, John and others have done a great deal of work that leaves us well prepared, so that whilst John is deeply missed and his particular approach can never be repeated, nevertheless we are able to go forward without being in a state of disarray. For example,
- a year before John died the WCF had already negotiated an agreement for ongoing use of the Maenllwyd as a retreat centre, with John's children Tanya and Stamati;
- in addition to the Maenllwyd we use suitable retreat centres in North Yorkshire, Devon and the South East;
- there are several experienced retreat leaders who between them can lead Mahamudra, Silent Illumination, Koan, Hua tou and Western Zen Retreats;
- there is a website, facebook page and online booking facility;
- there are many local groups and Bristol Chan Group has been organising well attended conferences for some years;
- WCF leaders have been meeting, working and growing together each year for almost 10 years; we have a mentoring scheme to support and monitor what leaders do and we have developed ethical guidelines that leaders and teachers are aware of and are required to follow
- We have nearly 80 members and have just introduced a new category of membership to allow people from local groups to become associate members of the WCF, even if they are not able to attend the three retreats necessary for full membership;
- John drafted a refuge ceremony earlier this year that is now offered after retreats
- New Chan Forum has been produced two or three times every year for 20 years.
- Just before John's death we had worked together to rethink the role of Teacher and had decided on changes that would be needed in the constitution to reflect this.
These are real achievements that have evolved steadily, many under John's inspired leadership and guidance, but also relying on the ideas, creativity and hard work of the people who will now follow on from him.
At the meeting, the Executive Committee members appointed Chan Master Simon Child as the new Teacher of the Western Chan Fellowship. This decision has to be ratified by WCF Members (the recipients of this letter) at the next Annual General Meeting, which will be on January 28th 2012, but in the interim Simon is the new WCF Teacher. Before the meeting I spoke to many people informally about whether Simon, Master Sheng Yen's Dharma Heir, would be the right person for this role and there was unanimous support for him and a deep appreciation of the qualities he will bring to the role.
The Executive Committee comprises:
- Simon Child - WCF Teacher
- Fiona Nuttall - elected member and Acting Secretary
- Jeremy Woodward - Treasurer
- Kitty D'Costa - elected member
- Sarah Bird and Sophie Temple Muir - Teacher's representatives
- Hughie Carroll and Brian Symons - co-opted members
- myself Jake Lyne - Chair
Most members are elected except the Teacher's representatives, the Teacher who is invited, and the co-opted members who are invited for a specific term. On the 1st October we were joined by Hilary Richards and Eddy Street who are members of the Practice Committee.
We are an unusual Chan Buddhist organisation in that whilst we are associated with Dharma Drum Mountain and have a friendly relationship with Throssel Hole Monastery in the UK, ours is an authentic lay Chan Buddhist Sangha. It seems very likely that in the West and particularly in the UK monasteries will never again (since the Reformation) play a significant part in our society, so we have a rather special and important role in translating a tradition that has been centred on monasticism into a form that can be adapted to our culture. At the AGM Simon will give his first Teacher's address in which he will present some aspects of his vision for the way the WCF might continue to evolve its approach to presenting the Dharma outside of a monastic setting and how we might develop and support each other as a lay Sangha.
We have also decided to hold a 10-day 'Investiture' retreat to mark the handing over to a new Teacher and this will be led by Simon in June next year. We plan to book a large venue for this because we anticipate there will be high attendance and we would like to offer places to all comers if possible.
Eddy Street, who has previous experience as a Journal Editor, is to become the new Editor of New Chan Forum so please send articles, poems, book reviews etc. to him. Eddy will make his own announcement about that soon.
Pamela Butler has been the coordinator and trainer of cooks at the Maenllwyd for over 10 years. It is a vital role that Pam has carried out with warmth, kindness, patience and creativity. However, she now wants to hand over this role and I am glad to say she has an equally talented successor in Florencia Clifford, who has experience of cooking at the Maenllwyd, Barmoor in North Yorkshire and Bala Brook in Devon. Pam is going to try her hand at being a Guest Master at the December Western Zen Retreat.
Hughie Carroll continues as the WCF membership secretary, but much more than that, he also has developed a sophisticated database that allows us to manage bookings and membership details. Hughie is now taking over responsibility for keeping the WCF website up to date, leaving Simon more time for his new role as WCF Teacher.
Much more was discussed at our meetings and if you are curious, get in touch with me or with someone else who was there to find out more about what we covered. My overwhelming sense is that the work that John has begun is alive, well and safe in the hands of the WCF Sangha.
Yours in the Dharma,
Jake Lyne
Chairman of the Western Chan Fellowship
