Haiying Ni

Funding

University of Kent, Vice-Chancellor's Research Scholarship

Approaching Non-self: An Ethnographic Exploration of Chan Practice in a British lay Buddhist community (Western Chan Fellowship).

This thesis utilises ethnographic research to delve into the diverse experiences of Chan Buddhist practitioners in contemporary Britain. By analysing their experiences, this thesis sheds light on the detailed processes of translating and transferring Buddhist practices in a new cultural context.

By exploring the Western Chan Fellowship (WCF), a British Buddhist community practising Chinese Chan tradition, this study examines their initial engagement with Buddhism, their interpretations of religious disciplines and their personal incorporation of Buddhist concepts (such as non-self) into their practice. While previous studies on Buddhism in Britain have adopted a broad approach, encompassing various communities, this thesis distinguishes itself by closely examining a single community. This lens underscores the crucial role of interpersonal interactions and self-introspection within modern Buddhist practices.

Investigating the WCF community participants’ three decades of effort in practice is valuable. The two generations of heads of this community, John Crook (1930-2011) and Simon Child (1958- ), possess British cultural backgrounds and became Chinese Chan lineage bearers through transmission from Ven Master Sheng Yen (1931-2009), a revered Taiwanese Chan Master. This unique blend of Chan lineage inherited from East Asia and culturally British practitioners offers a setting to understand contemporary Western Buddhist practice life embedded within a global context.

Furthermore, the researcher is an ethnic Chinese person who started to study and practise Buddhism since adulthood (like WCF friends) rather than childhood as 'heritage Buddhists' in Asia. The observation of British Buddhism by such a researcher, from an auto-ethnography perspective, adds the value of this interesting discovery journey.  

Supervisors

• Dr Matthew Hodges