Dharma Library

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

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No Going by Appearances

Chan master Shengyen

Excerpted from Chan Magazine and lightly edited.

Outwardly like a complete fool,
Inwardly mind is empty and real.

Often, it is a monk who appears slow and some-what dumb who is the great practitioner; and the monk who appears to be extremely sharp and knowledgeable is the one who often needs to practice more diligently. Do not concern yourself with or waste time wondering what your experiences…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , Sheng Yen

Meeting Shi-Fu

Chan master Shengyen

On retreat with Shifu many people have had encounters with him that must have surprised them. Shifu, too, encounters people who surprise him! The outcome of such meetings is often valuable. Sometimes when you meet a Buddha on the road it might be worthwhile seeing what he has to say before you kill him! At the beginning of a new Millennium let us see what happens when you bump into a Master. Of…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , Other Articles , Sheng Yen

Prerequisites for Chan Practice

Chan master Shengyen

This article is reprinted from Chan Magazine. Fall 1998, p32-35. Based on several lectures by Shih Fu, edited by Dan Stevenson, adapted for NCF by John Crook.

The Chinese term for practising Chan is ts'an-ch'an, which means to investigate, engage, or dig into (ts'an) the heart or living enlightenment of the Chan tradition. It is often said in Chan that the door to Chan is "no door," that the…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 1998 , Other Articles , Sheng Yen

Chan Attitudes

Chan master Shengyen

On the wall of the dining hall in the Chan Center in Elmhurst, New York, hangs a notice summarising the attitude to be adopted by resident and visiting practitioners. These suggestions seem to provide very sensible guidelines for a life of appropriate relatedness with others, not only within but also outside the meditation hall. So we present them here, slightly edited, for your reflection. They…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1998 , Poetry , Sheng Yen , Highlighted

Reading Sutras as a Spiritual Practice

Chan master Shengyen

A talk delivered at Tibet House in New York City, on 5 November, 1994 and edited by Linda Peer and Harry Miller, edited with permission for NCF by John Crook 1998. In this talk Shifu tells us about the traditional uses to which the Sutras are put in China. Some of us may like to make use of these methods. For Westerners Sutra reading is also important. In particular the oldest Sutras, the ones…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1994 , Sheng Yen , Highlighted

Words of Encouragement to Disciples

Chan master Shengyen

Believe in the Buddha, learn the Dharma, respect the Sangha;
Triple gem is the bright lamp of ten thousand generations.
Uplift the quality of mankind;
Establish the pure land in the human world.
First, understand grace and the repayment of grace;
To benefit others is to benefit oneself.
To make one's best effort is the highest virtue;
Don't create difference between one another or argue for more or less.
…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1994 , Poetry , Sheng Yen

Is the View of Practice More Important than Practice Itself

Chan master Shengyen

Published with permission and lightly edited from Chan Magazine. Spring 1994 11-15.

Shifu, I have a question. A Chan aphorism says, "The practice is important but the view of practice is even more important." It seems to me this is a contradiction of Chan because any view I hold must be subjective and a distortion of truth and therefore an obstruction. If the ego goes away in the experience of…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1994 , Other Articles , Sheng Yen

Not Knowing is Knowing

Chan master Shengyen

A lecture given on retreat at the Meditation Centre, New York, reprinted by kind permission from the Chan Magazine Fall 1993 p19 and slightly edited for this presentation.

Knowing dharmas is not knowing Not knowing is knowing the essential... The highest principle cannot be explained: It is neither free nor bound Lively and attuned to everything It is always right before you. 1

The Chan sect…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 1993 , Dharma Talks , Sheng Yen

A Mind like Snow

Chan master Shengyen

Given on November 14th 1993, published in Chan Magazine, Winter 1995. Presented here lightly edited with permission.

In day to day living, you may find it extremely difficult to settle the mind. It might seem that the only time the mind feels settled is when there is nothing to do. When something happens, either externally or internally, or when you encounter gain or loss, the emotions are…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 1993 , Dharma Talks , Sheng Yen

Always Harmonise with Living Beings

Chan master Shengyen

Text selected from 'The Compassionate Vows of Bodhisattva Samantabhadra'. Chan Magazine Winter 1993 with permission. Lightly edited.

'Living beings' means all sentient beings. Harmonising with living beings means giving to sentient beings whatever they wish. Even so, if they ask for your head, do you give it to them? If they ask for your body, do you give it to them? If they ask for your money,…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 1993 , Dharma Talks , Sheng Yen

Chan and Psychoanalysis

Chan master Shengyen

This dialogue is reprinted with permission from the Institute of Chung Hua Buddhist Culture in New York. It was first published in Chan Magazine Volume 12, Number 4, Fall 1992.

Question: How is Chan similar or different from psychotherapy? Is the relationship between student and Master similar to that of patient and therapist?

Shifu: There are similarities and differences. The goals of Chan are…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: Highlighted , 1992 , Other Articles , Sheng Yen

A Small Insect Cannot Stop a Chariot

Chan master Shengyen

Excerpts from a talk given at the Chan meditation Center, New York, edited with permission by John Crook. Published in Chan Magazine 12.1. Winter 1992 pp18-21

Even if an iron wheel whirls in your head perfect clear samadhi and wisdom are never lost.

You cannot cling to the idea that the genuine wisdom of enlightenment has concrete existence. Yet, if you accept and realise Dharma, then you will…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1992 , Dharma Talks , Sheng Yen

Life in a Chan Monastery

Chan master Shengyen

Lecture by Master Sheng-yen at the University of Toronto on October 18th 1991. Edited text by permission from Chan Newsletter No.92, May 92

In ancient Chinese monasteries a practitioner's time was divided between meditation, attending Dharma talks and daily work. Morning and evening was spent in meditation, daytime was for working. We are somewhat ignorant of the daily schedule in early Chan…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: Highlighted , 1991 , Other Articles , Sheng Yen

The Importance of Buddhadharma in the Modern World

Chan master Shengyen

Lecture by Master Sheng-yen on October 13, 1991. Reprinted with permission from Chan Newsletter 89, November 1991.

The world we live in has a genuine need for Buddhadharma. There are many fine things in the modern world, but there is much that is less than desirable. The world is becoming smaller and more crowded and people are getting busier and busier.

As a child, I read a Chinese novel called…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 1991 , Dharma Talks , Sheng Yen

Human Conciousness in the Chan Perspective

Chan master Shengyen

Edited version of a lecture delivered by Master Sheng-yen at Brooklyn College on November 8, 1990. From Chan Newsletter No.84, March 1991, with permission.

Buddhism generally divides human consciousness into False Mind and True Mind. False Mind, sometimes called the illusory mind, refers to the mental activity of ordinary sentient beings. This mind is filled with innumerable vexations that arise…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1990 , Sheng Yen

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