Library
This library provides a database of articles, some from past issues of New Chan Forum and some available only from the website.
- To select articles by various categories such as topic or author or date click on the menu to the left, and the corresponding articles will be listed below the searchbox.
- Search by keywords, using the search box, and the corresponding articles will be listed below the search box (followed by recently published articles).
What is Silent Illumination?
Article commissioned by Medytacja magazine (Poland). Anyone who has ever tried any meditation will understand what I mean when I say that our minds are often noisy and dull. ‘Noisy’ because we...[more]
The Accidental Buddhist
Article commissioned by Medytacja magazine (Poland). In his public talks and writings the Dalai Lama often expresses the view that people should stay within their own tradition. If you are...[more]
What is the Western Chan Fellowship
Past Patron - The late Venerable Chan Master Dr Sheng Yen Founding Teacher - The late Chan Master Dr John Crook Chuan-deng Jing-di What is Chan? Chan means Meditation, in Chinese. It is the...[more]
Introducing Buddhism: A Guide for Western Beginners
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...[more]
Working with a Master
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...[more]
On the Path of Dharma: Bill Pickard's letters to Eric Johns 1984-1987
In NCF 18 Eric Johns described how he set out to discover the Buddha Way by visiting Bill Pickard at Mousehole in Cornwall where there was a small group living under his instruction in Soto Zen....[more]
Prerequisites for Chan Practice
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.[more]
The Birth of the Western Chan Fellowship
Some years ago in NCF No. 12 John suggested the possibility of establishing an organisation based on the work at and attenders of Maenllwyd. My initial reaction, and I suspect also that of many...[more]
Life at Po Lam Chan Monastery, Hong Kong
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]
Intoxication and the Precepts
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...[more]
Shifting Shit
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...[more]
Authenticity and the Practice of Zen
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...[more]
No Mind - Mind Only
We are presenting here an important article sent us by Dr Simon Child. Based in his personal practice of meditation it clarifies a way of looking at the Buddhist concept of rebirth which is often a...[more]
A "Ting" of the Bell
We arrived after an incredibly long journey from the north with scattered brain experiences and a chip shop repast. Was this my last meal as a normal human being? The farmhouse seemed a ridiculously...[more]
Welcome to Chinese Zen: An Introduction to Chan Practice
Chinese Zen, or Chan as it is called in China, is a way of life that encourages clarity of mind, compassion to all sentient beings and a wisdom that comes from going beyond the concerns of self. This...[more]
Paying Attention
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...[more]
Not Knowing is Knowing
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.[more]
A Mind like Snow
Given on November 14th 1993, published in Chan Magazine, Winter 1995. Presented here lightly edited with permission.[more]
Always Harmonise with Living Beings
Text selected from 'The Compassionate Vows of Bodhisattva Samantabhadra'. Chan Magazine Winter 1993 with permission. Lightly edited.[more]