Dharma Library

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

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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

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

Life at Po Lam Chan Monastery, Hong Kong

Calligraphy for the character Chan

Shortly before my fifteenth birthday I parted company with school. At seventeen I took karate lessons and at the end of each lesson we would practise zazen. I enjoyed this so much that I asked for more. The instructor suggested I go find myself a Buddhist group and I was prompt to act upon this advice.

When I was 20 I came across The Secrets of Chinese Meditation, a book by Charles Luk. It…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: Highlighted , 1998 , Other Articles , Others

Intoxication and the Precepts

Calligraphy for the character Chan

At the culmination of retreats led by Shi-Fu the opportunity is usually given to participants to take the Precepts. Retreatants are told that they may take all the precepts, or they may choose to take only some. I think without exception participants unhesitatingly recite their intention to keep all the Precepts until the recitation reaches the Precept that states the intention to "refrain from…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: Highlighted , 1998 , Other Articles , Others

Sitting in No-sense

Calligraphy for the character Chan

Eric Rommeluere (b 1960) has practised Zen since 1978. He is the author of a collection of major Zen texts entitled 'Les Fleurs du Vide' (Paris, Grasset 1995), which he translated directly from the Chinese or Japanese. Recently he published 'Guide du Zen' (Paris, Hachette 1997) detailing all the Zen groups currently active worldwide. John Crook met and stayed with Eric in May 1997 at the first…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1998 , Other Articles , Others

The Bright Field Ploughed

Calligraphy for the character Chan

'Ploughing the Bright Field' was the title of an exhibition of contemporary Buddhist art, held at the Create Centre, Bristol, in November 1997.

The exhibition attracted around 500 visitors during a fortnight. It showed the work of 20 artists from all over the country. Most were professional artists whose work is either partly or wholly inspired by Buddhist practice. A few were artists whose work…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1998 , Other Articles , Others

Shifting Shit

Calligraphy for the character Chan

There seems to be a question: 'Can I be enlightened if I'm not a monk/nun?' Possibly not often for lay people, but can Buddhist teachings and practice improve the quality of our lives - the answer is a resounding 'Yes'.

A lay practitioner is constantly faced with personal obstacles, disagreements, tensions and difficulties which can lead to days and weeks of self analysis or can be ridden over…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: For Newcomers , 1998 , Other Articles , Others

My Father's Hands

Calligraphy for the character Chan

I had always loved my father's hands. They seemed to be the only part of him I could love in safety.

I could love them in secret and in silence and my mother would never know. I could look at them when she was out of the room, cooking in the kitchen, banging the pots and pans as she worked.

She was an angry woman who had been forced to marry my father when she was only twenty years old because…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: Highlighted , 1998 , Other Articles , Others

Greek Flavoured Chan

Calligraphy for the character Chan

Some years ago, when I was younger and cleverer than I am now, I would have known exactly what to write when invited to contribute an article on Chan.

As it is, I thought to write of counselling and psychotherapy, for there is no doubt that the Buddha dispensed a powerful medicine, strong enough to quench the fever in this world and the next; to examine the nature of what arises, moment by…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1998 , Other Articles , Others

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

A Eucharist on the Ganges

Iris Tute

During our recent trip to India we spent one whole day in a rowing boat being taken down river to Banares.

We had an early morning start from a sandy beach clutching our picnic boxes and water bottles to sustain us through the day. Blazing sunshine mellowed and warmed the coolness of the morning as we embarked to the amusement of the village onlookers.

The river Ganga or Ganges is for Indians…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1997 , Other Articles , Others

Indian Pilgrimage 1996

Mount Kailash

The "Grand Tour of Buddhist India", a major contribution to our pilgrimage programme, visited nearly all the major sites of Buddhist history and archaeology in India: Elephanta, Kanheri, Bhaja, Karla, Nasik, Ajanta, Ellora, Sanchi, Sarnath, Bodhgaya, Rajgriha, Kusinagara and Lumbini, just over the border in Nepal. Along the way we wrote notes and poetry some of which we record here. Julia has…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: 1996 , Poetry , Other Articles , John Crook , Others

Authenticity and the Practice of Zen

John Crook sitting in front of the altar at Maenllwyd

The Need for an Examination

The authority of experience depends upon authenticity. If we base our action or feeling in inauthentic experience it can only lead to play acting or pretence with potentially catastrophic consequences. Sadly, many of our justifications for action rest on the outcomes of past personal, familial and social tensions that have remained unresolved and which distort our…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: Highlighted , 1996 , Other Articles , John Crook

Mind in Agriculture

Calligraphy for the character Chan

To work the land or to gain one's living from the land is 99% hard work and, in the history of Man, the shift from hunting and gathering to settled agriculture was perhaps the most important change in our whole structure and way of thinking.

Without agriculture where would the monasteries be? To sustain such a complex there must be a stable local economy or at least a trade route nearby. The very…

Western Chan Fellowship CIO

Categories: Highlighted , 1996 , Other Articles , Others

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