Global Buddhist Community
Integrating Chan into Society An Interview with Žarko Andričević, Part 1
The interview is translated into Chinese and published in Issue 491 of Humanity Magazine (July 2024), in commemoration of the 15th anniversary of Master Sheng Yen's passing.
Editor's note:
Žarko Andričević received Dharma transmission from Master Sheng Yen in 2001 under the Dharma name of Chuanxin Jinghui (傳心淨慧), meaning "transmission of mind, pure wisdom." After receiving Dharma transmission, Žarko embarked on establishing a Dharma center in Croatia and has been invited to lead seven-day retreats and participate in conferences all over the world. His busy schedule, coupled with changes such as an earthquake in Croatia and the Covid pandemic in recent years, has made him truly realize that life as a whole and the circumstances it brings him into are the real field of practice.
Žarko underscores that the transmission of Chan practice should be lively and responsive, adapting to time and space, as well as the needs and openness of the people we are interacting with. The discipline of Zenyoga is one of Žarko's innovations that incorporates both Chan and exercise. Many people have entered the path of Chan through Zenyoga as a gateway. For the continuation of Chinese Chan Buddhism, Žarko believes that it is crucial to integrate into society and nurture the next generation.
Žarko Andričević received Dharma transmission from Master Sheng Yen in 2001 under the Dharma name of Chuanxin Jinghui (傳心淨慧), meaning "transmission of mind, pure wisdom." After receiving Dharma transmission, Žarko embarked on establishing a Dharma center in Croatia and has been invited to lead seven-day retreats and participate in conferences all over the world. His busy schedule, coupled with changes such as an earthquake in Croatia and the Covid pandemic in recent years, has made him truly realize that life as a whole and the circumstances it brings him into are the real field of practice.
Žarko underscores that the transmission of Chan practice should be lively and responsive, adapting to time and space, as well as the needs and openness of the people we are interacting with. The discipline of Zenyoga is one of Žarko's innovations that incorporates both Chan and exercise. Many people have entered the path of Chan through Zenyoga as a gateway. For the continuation of Chinese Chan Buddhism, Žarko believes that it is crucial to integrate into society and nurture the next generation.
1. After receiving transmission, how do you deepen your personal practice?
After receiving the transmission in 2001, I continued to deepen my practice by attending Shifu's retreats in the USA, Europe and Taiwan whenever possible. The last time I was on a retreat with Shifu was in 2007 in Taiwan. It was the 49-day Huatou retreat.
During that time, we intensively searched for land in Croatia suitable for the construction of a new retreat center and considered various architectural solutions. It was a really long process full of challenges. Perhaps the biggest one was getting a building permit in the first place. The construction started in 2015, and we had the opening 4 years later, in 2019. Despite many obstacles, we managed to build the center thanks, among other things, to the generosity and understanding of a large number of people from all over the world.But the challenges did not end there, because at the beginning of 2020, Zagreb was hit by a strong earthquake, and then the corona virus pandemic was also declared in Croatia. Due to both of these reasons, we had to leave the city center where we spent 22 years and move to a new center in Žumberak mountains. In addition to the physical relocation, we also had to move our program online. This entire experience confirmed to me that persistence, focus on the process, and not worrying about the outcome are important elements of the right approach in all spheres of life.
After the transmission and in parallel with the activities described above, I began to receive more and more invitations to teach outside of Croatia. In the beginning, there were invitations from several European countries. Later, regular trips to the USA, Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Australia followed. That period of intense travel, which also included participation in a large number of conferences, continued until 2020, when the world stopped because of the pandemic.
It was certainly the most intense and demanding period in my life. At the same time, it was an incredible opportunity for practice in new and different circumstances. Deepening our practice is often equated with practice in isolation. However, life as a whole and the circumstances it brings us into are the real field of our practice. Or, as the saying goes, "Whatever comes our way is the way".
2. What do you consider the key factors in the transmission of Chan teachings?
Many things need to come together to make that transmission possible, but I will mention three. First, a correct understanding of the Buddhadharma and its fundamental principles. Secondly, good knowledge and familiarity with methods of practice. And thirdly, inspiration for practice grounded in the Bodhi-mind. As Shifu once said, "What is really transmitted in Chan is the Buddhadharma."
It is important to have an intellectual understanding of the teachings and to have a clear vision of the path to liberation. However, the teachings should be made alive and transmitted in a way appropriate to the moment, needs and degree of one's openness. Only then does it become truly healing and truly motivating.
3. What unique propagation activities has your group undertaken compared to traditional approaches? How do you envision the future of Chan practice and the development of the retreat center?
Both due to the fact that people today get information via the Internet, and due to the fact that our center is not very easily accessible, the public face of our Community and Center is definitely our website. In the last few years, we have put a lot of effort into making it both attractive, functional and rich in resources in order to present our Center and program to as many people as possible in the best and most meaningful way. Of course, we are also present on social networks such as Facebook and Instagram, we regularly publish a newsletter, and we also have our own podcast.
However, what is unique to our community is certainly the discipline of Zenyoga. In addition to its health and therapeutic benefits, it is also taught as a form of meditation in movement. It is another door through which it is possible to enter the path of Chan, and many people come to us using this door.Our membership is very diverse both in terms of age and professions. However, the core of our community is made up of long-time members, and therefore we strive to reach the younger population through modern means of communication and special programs. This is an important condition for the continuation and further development of the Community and the Center.
With the aim of integrating the Center and its activities more deeply into society and its various spheres, we actively participate in inter-religious dialogue and have established a program for educational institutions. It is a program through which we cooperate with teachers and professors who bring their pupils and students to our Center to learn about Buddhism, Chan and the practice of meditation.
We are also planning workshops for artists where they would be introduced to the tradition of Chan, the history of the connection between Chan and art, and the actual application of Chan principles in certain arts. We are also planning a program of activities for the civil sector, associations for human rights, non-violence, ecology and other activist groups. Through these programs, we want to present Chan not as an isolated contemplative practice, but as a tradition that can enrich all spheres of personal and social life.
I believe that the future of Chan practice and our Center will largely depend on the degree of this integration, as well as on whether we will succeed in creating a new generation of Chan practitioners and teachers. Three years ago, for that purpose, we started a school for teachers of Dharma and Chan, which has about fifteen students. We hope to finish the program by February next year (2025).
There is No Beginning Nor End to Practice
An Interview with Ela Vukelja
An Interview with Ela Vukelja
Editor's note:
Having grown up practicing martial arts, Ela Vukelja has had a fascination with Eastern philosophies. She began developing an interest in Buddhism and practicing Chan in the 1980s after learning yoga and martial arts with a Buddhist group organized by Žarko Andričević. In 2002, Ela traveled to Dharma Drum Retreat Center in New York to participate in a ten-day Silent Illumination Chan retreat, where she met Master Sheng Yen for the first time. In 2006, she received the bodhisattva precepts from Master Sheng Yen.
Having grown up practicing martial arts, Ela Vukelja has had a fascination with Eastern philosophies. She began developing an interest in Buddhism and practicing Chan in the 1980s after learning yoga and martial arts with a Buddhist group organized by Žarko Andričević. In 2002, Ela traveled to Dharma Drum Retreat Center in New York to participate in a ten-day Silent Illumination Chan retreat, where she met Master Sheng Yen for the first time. In 2006, she received the bodhisattva precepts from Master Sheng Yen.
Ela has been teaching yoga for over 20 years and became a Zenyoga teacher in 2005. She is also a member of Chan Retreat Center Hartovski Vrh. Together with Žarko, who is not only a teacher but also her friend, she leads Chan practice and Zenyoga-related conferences and workshops.
Imprinted in my memory is the spirit of silent and still sitting practice before the martial arts training sessions in my childhood. It left a mark and directed me towards the ideas and philosophy of the Far East. Embracing Buddhadharma as a worldview was quite a natural progression. The physical, natural laws of cause and effect, faith based on trust, encouragement to explore and question beyond the obvious, it all strengthen my interest and motivated me to walk more firmly on the path.
Recognizing Žarko as My Teacher
In my later years, I encountered Chan which came as the supreme remedy during a crisis in my life. Although I have known teacher Žarko since my youth, it was through his guidance and teachings during meditation retreats that Buddhist theory became more clear and alive to me. The simplicity and straightforwardness of Chan, together with a regular meditation practice, made my life purposeful in a new way. Through teacher Žarko I also had the opportunity to meet Shifu Sheng Yen and members of the Dharma Drum Mountain Sangha, for which I am immensely grateful.
Everyone who has attended retreats under the guidance of teacher Žarko is surely familiar with his approach that is both firm and gentle, moreover, structure and spontaneity, discipline and humor. He steadily guides the retreats participants whose minds might wander in fog and darkness towards clarity.
His skill in teaching Buddhism, Chan, meditation, and its methods is characterized by an exceptionally thorough understanding of the subject matter and the ease with which he selflessly imparts his understanding to students. A hallmark of good teachers is that the way they teach affirms the content they teach.
Such an approach is memorable and passed on. This, at first glance perhaps a less important quality, is how I recognized my teacher. It is clear to me what Shifu Sheng Yen saw in him, choosing him as a successor and bearer of the light of Dharma.
Furthermore, the teacher is a friend. And not just to me. With a good balance of friendship and teaching he generously and sincerely builds relationships with his students, knowing the value of the human potential that connects us and directs us towards each other.
Becoming Part of the Team
Over the past two years, I have been part of the team that create, coordinate, and implement programs at the Chan Center on Hartovski Vrh. My husband once told me that it is a great position in my retirement - I am at a place I would have visited often anyway, surrounded by colleagues who are friends, and with the teacher, I am involved in organizing and implementing activities in which I would gladly participate. At meditation retreats I would surely sit peacefully and meditate on my own, but now, in the role of coordinator, I have the opportunity to practice in relationships and interactions with others. This is my new challenge and platform for improving my own practice. And it has become a way to act for the benefit of others. Sitting in meditation facing the wall I used to comfort myself sometimes thinking, "Chan is one mistake after another." These days I am guided by the saying that "there is no beginning or end to practice, just as there is no beginning or end to enlightenment."
The organization and implementation of all activities at the Center include courses in Chan meditation for those who come to learn the first steps of cultivating the mind, one-day or multi-day meditation retreats, workshops and seminars on zen yoga, and events in which adults and children participate together. Interaction and communication with people and bringing valuable contents of the Chan Center closer to different groups of adults, youth, and children is a challenging area for deepening my own practice. I see my activity in this as an ideal way to gain a deeper understanding of complex human situations and to integrate the experience of personal formal practice into everyday life.
I invite all members of the extended Chan family to come and be a part of one of our programs. You can personally witness how Chan manifests in the beautiful nature of Hartovski Vrh, in the circle of our sangha, and with teacher Žarko. I sincerely welcome you!
Related Interviews:
Integrating Chan into Society - An Interview with Žarko Andričević, Part 1
Integrating Chan into Society - An Interview with Žarko Andričević, Part 2