Dharma Library

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

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The Circling Birds: Openings to Insight on the Path of Chan

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

In Chan Comes West, Master Sheng Yen’s five lay Dharma heirs share their stories on the path, including how they came to the practice, their inner struggles along the path, and what receiving Dharma transmission has meant for them. It is hoped that readers will find these stories inspiring and be encouraged to make great vows in their own practice. Here is John Crook’s chapter from that book,…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 2011 , Other Articles , John Crook

Master Yen Wai of Hong Kong

Calligraphy for the character Chan

When I arrived in Hong Kong (1953) on my National Service during the Korean War, I soon set about trying to meet Chinese people. I wanted to follow up my reading of Buddhism carried out during the several weeks' voyage on the troop ship from Southampton. Through contacts with the HK university I met Professor Ma Meng who introduced me to a Mr Yen Shi liang, a Buddhist merchant with an embroidery…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2009 , Other Articles , John Crook , Others

A Day in the Life of Bruce in Sogenji

Calligraphy for the character Chan

Last year Bruce Stevenson took himself off to Japan for a period of practice in a Zen monastery. This was not Bruce's first such expedition but it is the first he has written about for us. Let us continue this issue then with a further account of experiences in the distant East. Bruce tells us Sogenji is, as far as he knows, the only monastery in Japan full of Westerners - well this includes a…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2009 , Other Articles , Others

Hope For The Future

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

During my last visit to Dharma Drum Retreat Centre in Pine Bush, New York, I was introduced to Dena Miriam the head of the Global Peace Initiative of Women based in Manhattan. We discussed the world crisis and I promised her a copy of my new book, World Crisis and Buddhist Humanism, as soon as it appeared. In due course I sent a copy to her and received an invitation to attend the Conference of…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2009 , Other Articles , John Crook

Shifu's Legacy

Calligraphy for the character Chan

This has been a noteworthy year at Dharma Drum Retreat Center. Since we lost our Shifu in February, one might expect an atmosphere of desolation and loss. Instead, we are enjoying one of the most vibrant periods in the history of the place. More than one person has remarked on it. It is as if, having left the body, Shifu's Dharma spirit is manifesting itself in the heirs and students he left…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2009 , Other Articles , Others

Ancient Teachers in Full Flow

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

On two occasions during our tour, we met extraordinary ninety-year-old masters who were clearly delighted to be talking with us. These two men were rarities indeed. Their monastic careers cover a vast length of time including the period of repression of Buddhism under the communists. In Yun Men Si some years ago, my friend Yiu Yan-nang and I had talked with the Guestmaster who had said that the…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2009 , Other Articles , John Crook

Meditation and Personal Disclosure: The Western Zen Retreat

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

Supreme accomplishment is to realize immanence without hope. (Tilopa1)

In the last couple of years several people have asked me to contribute something on the Western Zen Retreat to the NCF. This was indeed the founding retreat practised at the Maenllwyd before Shi fu came there and the WCF was founded. We prefer all practitioners to begin by attending one of them before proceeding to other Chan…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2009 , Other Articles , John Crook

Mindfulness and 'Mindfulness Training'

Eddy Street

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness can be interpreted in two ways;

  • concentration which is narrow and laser-like
  • awareness which is more panoramic. 

These are obviously linked, for with concentration there is the focus, and awareness is knowing that one is focused. When we are aware we are mindful not only of what we are doing but the feelings, the emotions that are arising and what's happening…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2006 , Other Articles , Eddy Street

Friends of Manjushree Vidyapith School and Orphanage (FMVSO)

Calligraphy for the character Chan

Last autumn John Crook organized a 2 week journey to the Buddhist sites of Arunachal Pradesh in the Himalayas of North East India. The remote district of Tawang is situated at 10-12,000 feet in an area of outstanding natural beauty but relative impoverishment. Access requires 2 days of tiring journey along winding mountain roads made treacherous by mudslides and avalanches. There is no access by…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2006 , Other Articles , Others

A WCF Centre for Buddhist Education: Proposal for Discussion

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

On further reflection concerning the possible futures of the WCF (See NCF 31) I have recently come up with the following ideas.

1. The WCF does very well in promoting the Dharma through the medium of intensive retreats. Many retreatants come again and again to one or other of our events. This is all to the good. However many retreats simply serve a remedial function for those stressed by the…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2006 , Other Articles , John Crook

Cardiff is a Nice Place

Eddy Street

Evidently inspired by the Ten Koans of Layman John (NCF32) Eddy recalled this finely crafted koan. Enjoy. Tsan!! Eds

At a time of great personal turmoil, Layman Street, who had not yet stepped onto the Path, had it suggested to him that he visit Lam Rim Buddhist Centre and speak with Geshe Damchos Yontan. Layman Street had only read about meeting with Buddhist teachers and he had the notion that…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2006 , Other Articles , Eddy Street

The Heart Sutra - An Introduction

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

Almost as soon as anyone interested in Zen, or indeed almost any form of Mahayana Buddhism, begins to sit with a group of practitioners he or she will encounter the Heart Sutra. Most groups like to include a short liturgy in their evening's 'sit' and it is very probable that the Heart Sutra will form the key element in this. The text is by no means self-explanatory and meditation instructors…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: Highlighted , 2001 , Other Articles , John Crook

Training to Learn, Learning to Train

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

Experience in Chan Teaching

Most of us have read the story of how the great yogin Milarepa trained in Dharma practice in the household of his teacher Marpa. It is one of the classics of Tibetan religious literature and extremely important as a guide for those concerned with questions of how to advance on the Dharma path.

As a boy Milarepa had to endure extreme pain in family life as an uncle…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2001 , Other Articles , John Crook

The Snowy Heron in the White Moon Hides

Eddy Street

Family therapy and Buddhism

two traditions, two authors, one article

Being

For many years our professional lives and personal /spiritual lives have had a curious intertwining. We have similar and different backgrounds and have interests in both family therapy and Zen Buddhism. We have worked together as family therapists and at work so often our discussions have drifted to spirituality and…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , Other Articles , Eddy Street

The Place of Chan in Post-Modern Europe

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

This text is a re-edited version of an article of the same name published in a festchift volume celebrating Master Sheng-yen's 70th birthday. Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal, (2000) 13.2 549-584. Taipei. Shifu has encouraged me to assist Chan Sanghas in Europe as well as in Britain. Naturally this has caused me to look more closely at continental Buddhism than I might otherwise have done. Some of the…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , Other Articles , John Crook

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