The following is an excerpt from the pamphlet Why Take Refuge in the Three Jewels? by Master Sheng Yen. The pamphlet was translated by Larry Liang and Guogu, edited by Harry Miller with the assistance of Ayn Steele, and excerpted for Chan Magazine by David Berman. “A path that leads you home is a genuine refuge. […]

Photo by: leshkamal/Pexels Perception and Sensation At each morning service and evening service we chant The Heart Sutra together. In one part it says: Form is precisely emptiness and emptiness precisely form. So also are sensation, perception, volition, and consciousness.  Most of you will know that these are the five skandhas: form, sensation, perception, volition, and consciousness –

  Photo by: Lu Gao In this retreat I have reviewed what  the ancient masters thought was the essence of Chan, and of how to practice. I have been bringing up to you various practice points, some of which you are used to hearing about, others you are not. For some of them we were

This article is taken from Master Sheng Yen Teaches Guan Yin’s Methods of Practice. It was translated and edited by Ocean Cloud, a group of practitioners, students of Chan Master Sheng Yen, who endeavor to bring the classics of Chinese Buddhism to the English-speaking community in the spirit of dana-paramita. They are: Chang Wen (David

This article is an excerpt from Song of Mind: Wisdom from the Zen Classic Xing Ming by Master Sheng Yen (Shambhala Publications, 2004). This book is a verse-by-verse commentary on the classic poem by Chan Master Niutou Farong. The commentaries were given as Dharma talks on intensive Chan retreats.  Splitting hairs deviates from the eternal.Seeking

The following is issue no. 30 of the Chan Newsletter published in June 1983.  Q: What is the huatou method and how is it related to the great doubt? The huatou is a question that you ask yourself as a way of practice. Hua means words, tou means head or source. When we practice on