New Chan Forum Issue 53

"Zen is a special transmission outside of words and letters". This saying is attributed to Bodhidharma the supposed founder of Chan Buddhism in sixth Century China. However the first record of the phrase appeared in the tenth Century, and was a literary counter to the more traditional understanding that Chan Meditation and Buddhist teachings are interdependent. In 2008 a group of Western Chan Fellowship leaders visited The Buddhist Institute in Beijing; I have a photo of Simon Child standing on the steps. This was the setting of the beginnings of intellectual revival in the Chan tradition, led by the controversial reformer Venerable Taixu in the early 20th Century, in reaction to what he saw as a lamentable decline in Buddhist education.

At the time we decided to offer Buddhist educational events in our Sangha, but apart from a course on the early sutras offered by Hughie Carroll, not much happened. Then at last, two years ago, Simon Child, Fiona Nuttall, Hilary Richards and myself offered a course for WCF group leaders. It was a wonderful learning event for all of us.

In this edition of New Chan Forum we share some course essays, projects and poster boards.

• Guest Editors’ Introduction - Jake Lyne
• Pointing out the Great Way - Simon Child
• Project Report: intended exploration of the Satipatthana Sutta - David Hope
• The Distinctiveness of the Buddha’s Teaching in his time - Jeremy Woodward
• The Practice of Dana: a personal perspective of Meritorious Actions - Juliet Hackney
• Project Report: Teaching Buddhism in Schools - Alysun Jones
• Dependent Origination and Rebirth - Jane Spray
• Project Report: Beginners’ Evening - Ned Reiter
• Poster presentation: Running and Meditation Workshop - Stuart Mcleod
• Vimalakirti Sutra: The Doctrine of the Emancipation Beyond Comprehension - Pat Simmons