Dharma Library

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

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Paying Attention

dr-susan-blackmore

The question of lay Zen may appear difficult but it has a blindingly simple answer.

Pay attention!

Paying Attention is part of every practice that I know of, whether watching the breath, repeating the Buddha's name or practising bare awareness or mindfulness. My own practice is little more than just paying attention, greatly illuminated, especially in the early years, by John's magic…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1995 , Susan Blackmore , For Newcomers

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

Wind and Silence

Calligraphy for the character Chan

A Chan Retreat begins for me when leaving home; making the journey as relaxed as possible; taking my time. In the preceding months I'd felt the need for a period of concentrated practice, and was willing and determined to let go of the 'daily round' and make good use of this rare opportunity. I was greeted in the yard by John, whose warm welcome and gesture to park the car sealed my 'arrival'.

As…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1993 , Chan Retreat Reports , For Newcomers , Anon

Mind In Flow

Calligraphy for the character Chan

I have just returned home, and it seems sensible to write the report before the memories of the retreat begin to slip away. Yet even by writing about it, the events seem so strange and wonderful that words alone cannot express the sheer depth and vast space that has at times punctuated the practise; the clarity of perception, the long silences that can only be likened to the desert, not a…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1992 , Chan Retreat Reports , For Newcomers , Anon

Seeing the Nature

Simon Child headshot

It felt such a privilege to be attending the retreat with Shifu. I couldn't make the effort to go to New York, but he had come here! And yet a retreat is just a retreat. Really it was like a solitary retreat, as I just isolated myself from the environment and continued my practice.

I came to the retreat feeling that I wanted to be there, and John wanted me to be there in particular to confirm my…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1992 , Simon Child , For Newcomers , Silent Illumination Retreat Reports

Where's the Trick?

Calligraphy for the character Chan

I was fortunate to be able to collect Shifu, Guo Yen Hse and Paul Kennedy from the airport. We broke our journey to Wales in Bristol in order to see my family for lunch. As we were leaving and my wife was wishing us well for the retreat, Shifu said, in reference to the retreat, "It's a trick!"

"Yes," my wife replied, "But it's a very good one, and a very necessary one," looking pointedly in…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1992 , For Newcomers , Anon , Koan Retreat Reports

A Guestmaster's View

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

The role of guestmaster at a Chan retreat entails the responsibility for ensuring the comfort of the participants and visiting Master, the availability of necessary supplies and the organisation of affairs to ensure the even flow of the retreat programme. Together with Chief Cook and the Retreat Disciplinarian the work of the Guestmaster maintains the background quality of a retreat.

When I…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1992 , John Crook , Chan Retreat Reports , For Newcomers

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

Essentials of Chan Practice

Master Xuyun, known as Empty Cloud

This is part one of a translation of a text by the great Chan master of the early part of the 20th century, Hsu Yun (1839-1959). It is reprinted by permission of the Institute of Chung Hwa Buddhist Culture, New York, from Chan Newsletter 87, August 1991. The first part of this talk appeared in New Chan Forum No.7. Spring 1993.

The Prerequisites and Understanding Necessary to Begin Chan Practice

…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 1991 , Dharma Talks , Others

Thus Come, Thus Gone

Chan master Shengyen

A special lecture given by Master Sheng-yen at the Chan Center, New York, on 4th November 1990. First published in Chan Newsletter No. 98, July 93 and reprinted here, slightly edited, with permission.

Chan is "thus come, thus gone." Everything is Chan; this is "thus come." Nothing is Chan; this is "thus gone." Today I want to investigate these words. I think they will give you new insights into…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 1990 , Dharma Talks , Sheng Yen

Everything is as it is - This in Itself is Remarkable

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

If one is attempting to go into Zen deeply, to understand the relationship between one's mind and the universe, then it becomes important to turn over and over again, going backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards, many times over, the same refrain, the same theme. Not with the analytical intellect, nor with the mind of one who seeks explanation, but within the context of zazen, wherein…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 1990 , Other Articles , John Crook

Chan Retreat May 1990

Calligraphy for the character Chan

My stay at Maenllwyd was a gift which I received with gratitude. It has given me deep insights which will always remain. I have sought the truth for many years, joining this group or that, always looking outside myself, out there, beyond. The concentrated watching, the allowing of my mind to express itself are things which I have avoided, the associated feelings being only partially felt and…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1990 , Chan Retreat Reports , For Newcomers , Anon

Guarding the One

Chan master Shengyen

Talks given by Master Sheng-yen on the first two evenings of the Chan retreat in April 1989.

I

I have only been in your country for a day, but already I have learnt something about you people. You have a love for ancient things. This house is hundreds of years old, you treasure the worm-eaten beams and the crumbling stone walls, the bent timbers of the old barn. In Taiwan we are busily engaged…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 1989 , Dharma Talks , Sheng Yen

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