Coming to Chan
I attended my first Western Chan Fellowship retreat at Shawbottom Farm, Peak District in February 2026. Whilst travelling back the 5-day silent retreat, I felt relieved, with a sense of homecoming, and more or less decided to follow this path from there on. My current daily practice is predominantly in the Chan tradition, using the books of Master Sheng Yen as my guidance. Compared to the Kagyu lineage, I find the Chan style more easy going, more simple and easier to integrate in everyday life.
Inspired by Jos’ article on mindfulness, tai chi (which is also part of my practice) and Chan practice, I found myself going back to the basics of Satipatthana, (re-)reading the books and commentary by Bhikku Analayo. I shared Jos’ article with my tai chi teacher, who promptly responded that balance seems to be the ‘thing’ that we try to establish in meditation and tai chi alike. Combining the instruction of the Satipatthana sutra on establishing the four foundations of mindfulness (at the start of each sitting) and subsequently resting with the hua tao is a routine that fits me well.
I don’t know why this way of practising feels so much lighter to me. Is it my Chinese-Indonesian heritage, which allows me to (unconsciously) relate to the imagery and metaphors more directly? Is it the daoist elements, to which I always have been attracted? Or is it just contingency, that after having spent 12 years in the Kagyu tradition with a lot of study and ‘ritualistic’ practice that this turning is just what I needed? I don’t know, and thankfully I don’t feel the need anymore to resolve this question anyway.
I have a strong feeling about the notion of :ekayana and am very much driven by finding commonalities rather than differences between different traditions (or even across religions and world views). Discussing the notion of devotion and whom to follow with a close dharma friend, who is a novice monk in the Karma Kagyu, I asked him whether he thinks that my approach is something that Ponlop Rinpoche would approve of and support. My friend answered: “I think that Rinpoche would not mind at all, as long as you practice within the context of Mahayana. If you decide to follow the Varjayana path, that would be a different matter.” I felt relieved by that answer, as indeed for a long time I was questioning whether the Vajrayana path is the path I want to follow. So for now I have decided I’ll just happily stay in the Mahayana, taking my lead from Master Sheng Yen and Gampopa combined.
The map is
not the territory,
Just as the finger is
not the moon.
What to make
Of the plethora of
pointing out instructions.
How to master the limitless
Approaches to dharma.
Rest your mind
on the body
Just as the body
rests on the cushion.
What is this?
Skin, flesh, bones.
Let go of expectations
Don’t strive for anything.
Don’t recall.
Don’t imagine.
Don’t think.
Don’t examine.
Don’t control.
Relax.
What is this?
What is it that feels?
What is it that knows?
Whom to follow,
What to practice.
No fear, no hope,
What is practice?
Enlightenment.