Dharma Library

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

  • Search by keywords, using the search box
  • Or select articles by various categories such as topic or author - click on the section menus (found below the listed articles on a mobile view, or to the right on a desktop view)

Liturgy

Eddy Street

In terms of our ceremonies, as lay practitioners, we only undertake a small part of what occurs in monastic communities, but as with everything we need to examine and question what it is that we actually do. We need to discover the larger sense of what constitutes our liturgy and to appreciate its place within the totality that is Chan Buddhism. Our liturgy reveals a history of the tradition of…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2018 , Eddy Street

Meditation, Spirituality, Religion

Face of Buddha statue

Meditation, spirituality and religion can work together; however, they can also work apart.

We can meditate as if doing a technical exercise, engaging neither spirituality nor religion. Meditation works then on the psychological level, similarly to psychotherapy or personal development training. It is usually undertaken to improve our personal situation from within. We don’t feel comfortable…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2018 , Anna Jedynak

An Activist Awakens

Calligraphy for the character Chan

I was initially drawn to Chan out of a sense of loneliness. Two acquaintances were already participants in the Bristol Chan group: Sarah Bird, whom I knew from yoga practice, and Sally Masheder, a neighbour and fellow GP. I liked them a lot and I wanted to get to know them better. I had started meditation but was searching for a method that suited me. I also wanted to protect the planet and people…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2018 , Other Articles , Others

Poem for John

Fiona Nuttall

Because of your military background and Sandhurst voice,
Because of your wild white eyebrows, as mobile as eels,
Because I knew you before I knew you,
Because you could see with your third eye,
Because you saw me and smiled,
Because you said, ‘Are you ready for an adventure?’
Because I felt heard and known,
Because of your delight in chocolate biscuits,
Because of the predictability of cauliflower cheese…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2018 , Poetry , Fiona Nuttall

The Path to Transmission

Fiona Nuttall

When I was asked to write something for New Chan Forum about how I ended up as Simon’s Dharma heir I took a sharp intake of breath. How could I get that down in sentences? It has been a long, perhaps even tortuous, journey with many side roads and incursions into various unexpected places. I discussed this with some Christian friends of mine who I consider to be part of my wider Sangha and whom I…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2018 , Other Articles , Fiona Nuttall

Cookie Extension Logo