Dharma Library

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

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Introducing Buddhism: A Guide for Western Beginners

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

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Why Begin?

Whenever you arrive as a newcomer at a meditation class in Buddhism the teacher will wonder why you have come. Maybe you are coming because a friend has suggested it; maybe you have heard a radio programme; maybe you have read something exciting about Zen. Whatever it was, the teacher will want to go deeper.

Westerners usually seek to explore meditation or…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 2000 , Other Articles , John Crook

A New Proposal: A Lay Zen 'Monastic Centre'

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

It is several years now since I proposed that the casual retreat arrangements at the Maenllwyd might be of greater value to people if we created a charitable institution. Soon the WCF was in being and is now safely established and supported by small affiliated groups in a number of British cities. We have important European contacts and, thanks to Simon Child, a site on the web appreciated by many…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , Other Articles , John Crook

Uncovering the Essence of Mind: A Teaching from the Chan Hall

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

The essence of mind is tranquil, spacious, illumined by joy,
unattached to thoughts or the thoughtless.
When it appears you may fill with a gratitude that slowly turns to bliss.
If a thought of others emerges there may be love.
Love is embracing all and being embraced by all.
Love passes: tranquillity resumes: the spaciousness sustains itself.
The thought of 'me' is absent.
Self-concern is no longer…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , Dharma Talks , John Crook

One Thought for a Thousand Years: A Chan Hall meditation

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

Out of the corner of my eye I catch a glimpse of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbharaja seated upon the offering table in the Chan hall. As usual his serene countenance glows quietly there. I take a closer look. His expression of peace and tranquillity begins to enter and then to flood my mind. Time becomes motionless yet the soft wind gently moves the branches beyond the window, the distant rustle of the…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 2000 , Other Articles , John Crook

Working with a Master

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

What is it like for a lay practitioner to work with a master over a period of time? A single retreat provides an introductory experience but what if one persists through a series of such events? This would indeed be a requirement if the aim was to train in Chan. Training takes time but does it take one anywhere?

To assist those for whom this question may be relevant, I attempt to answer it…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1999 , John Crook , For Newcomers , Chan Retreat Reports

Language and Freedom: Meaning in Zen. Review by John Crook

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

What is the place of Zen in contemporary thought, the relation of Buddhist metaphysics to philosophy and the value of ancient texts to thinking people today? These and related questions form the subject matter of this intelligent, subtle and provoking book. Dale S. Wright, Professor of Religious Studies, Occidental College, Los Angeles, provides a thought provoking read especially for those of us…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1999 , John Crook , Book Reviews

Welsh Mandala

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

Akshobya

Dark light before dawn
no wind and in the silence
a fox barking on the hill;
suddenly in the candle lit room
the cold landscape unfurls
invisible rocks, burrows of badgers
trolling the turf for bulbs and insects
the starlit dome, dusk before dawn
Blue immensity.

Ratnasambhava

Sunrise, far to the SSE
almost at the point of turning
a midwinter sky lined by the tracery of trees,
northern thrushes…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1998 , Poetry , John Crook , For Newcomers

Dangers in Devotion: Buddhist Cults and the Tasks of a Guru

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

Paper presented at the conference 'The Psychology of Awakening II' at Dartington Hall, October 1998 (1)

Western Buddhism: Problems and Presentations

In recent years a number of cases of individual corruption in sexual and financial matters have been exposed in Buddhist organisations, usually the result of the behaviour or indiscretions of individuals in leadership roles(2). Ken Jones' recent…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1998 , Other Articles , John Crook

The Fenceless Gate

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

for Hughie

High in the hills of Wales
somewhere above Ceredigion
a fenceless gate swings in the wind.

Bold spirit are you?
A rugged glance, good boots or a 4 by 4
and you're away.

among sheep and ravens
cloudwise among crags
bogs and sudden mist

a falling white out
lost in the desert
chilly too.

Coming down a valley no one ever saw before
the dead still sing in the Inn.
Finding a way home not so easy…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1998 , Poetry , John Crook , Highlighted

Chan Revival in Mainland China

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

Chan Buddhism is undergoing a marked revival in mainland China. Monasteries are renewing their fabric and providing services to the public. Meditation is starting again for young monks in the Chan halls. In July 1997, with my old friend Yiu Yan-nang as interpreter, I visited two of the most famous monasteries in southern China and was surprised by what we found.

When I entered China from Hong…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1997 , Other Articles , John Crook

The Western Chan Fellowship: Constitutional Discussion

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

First meeting: June 1996: In June 1996 John Crook called an assembly of Chan practitioners to a meeting at the Maenllwyd to consider his proposal to respond to numerous requests for a development in the field of Chan practice in the UK by setting up a charitable institution to promote Chan in Great Britain.

The following persons attended: Tim Paine, Frank Tait, Caroline Paine, Simon Child, Sally…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1997 , Other Articles , John Crook

Visiting Mother

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

Copper whispers blowing in the wind,
beech leaves chase the rough grasses down the field.
At ninety two, I ask myself,
will she see another spring?
She rests there, quiet, her busy conversation gone,
anxieties softened now in forgetfulness of age.
Beside her in the garden, dozing off,
I see her smiling in a ray of autumn sun.
She set my character in grooves
so like her own, wakeful mornings worrying;
skille…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1997 , Poetry , John Crook

Sitting: Method and Function

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

A Talk by to the Swindon Buddhist Meditation Group on 26th May 1997

(The first minute or so of the talk never made it onto the tape. But it went something like this...)

('What is driving the mind?' The key question in Buddhism is "What is driving the mind right now?' What underlying drive pre-occupies us? On my way here this evening, looking at the countryside - la, la, la, very nice - maybe…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1997 , Dharma Talks , John Crook

Obituaries: Don Ball and Jane Turner

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

In the last few months old hands at the Maenllwyd have lost two much loved retreat companions. Don Ball and Jane Turner had been coming to the Maenllwyd ever since we started retreats there. They both knew the days when accommodation consisted of a barn with a much holed roof through which snow might drift or an owl come in to share the shelter. They both knew the crowded retreats we used to have…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1997 , John Crook , Obituaries , Highlighted

Comet Above The Yard

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

Up at the Maenllwyd -
funny how the days roll by.
I don't seem to be doing anything,
cleaning and writing and cooking
and sitting and walking
sleeping and waking.

Where does it all go?

The time so clear
nobody here
hours - hours
or merely minutes?
Today it is warm;
yesterday cold;
the wind changes,
clouds keep going -
in different directions.

Tonight a comet hangs over the yard
tail streaming in far off sunshine.
D…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1997 , Poetry , John Crook , Highlighted

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