Everything Is Enlightenment
Enlightenment is everywhere we look, says Joan Sutherland — we can choose to notice it, but at the same time, we can also trust that it will find us, wherever we are.
The Dark Side of Buddhism
If you think Buddhism is free of the religious nationalism and violent extremism that plague other religions, think again. Editor-at-large Melvin McLeod talks to journalist Sonia Faleiro about her new book, The Robe and the Sword: How Buddhist Extremism Is Shaping Modern Asia.
Like Fire, We Rise Up Together
Roshi Joan Halifax of Upaya Zen Center looks at the notion of bodhisattva-based, socially engaged, participatory community — and how it could make a real difference in our world today.
Deep Dive
The Dharma as Antidote
The Buddha offered the world a diagnosis, and a cure. What ails us, he taught, has three roots: greed, aggression, and ignorance. These poisons don’t stay private and internal with us. If we don’t tend to them, they scale.
The pieces in this month’s Buddhadharma Deep Dive take the Buddha’s diagnosis seriously — and personally. They move from the interior work of seeing our own faults clearly, to the revelation that awakened nature is already present beneath the poisons, to the harder work of tracing greed, aggression, and ignorance into the world’s institutions, its hierarchies, its violence.
In every case, the teachings point in the same direction: the dharma is not a retreat from the world as it is. It is a way of meeting it. This is what the antidote looks like in practice.
Four Ways Mindfulness Can Transform an Unhealthy Sense of Self
Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche shares a teaching on Buddhism’s Four Foundations of Mindfulness — form, feeling, mind, and phenomena — and how they lead us to experience the deeply analytical insights found in the Abhidharma, known more colloquially as “Buddhist psychology.”
"Facing the Mirror"
What we perceive as the faults of others are simply a reflection of our own. A commentary on two verses of the Dhammapada by the late Ayya Khema.
What Is Harmful? What Is Helpful?
Chan teacher Guo Gu on how, through practice, we awaken to the best in others and ourselves.
Your Liberation Is on the Line
No one who has ever touched liberation could possibly want anything other than liberation for everyone, says Rev. angel Kyodo williams. She shares why we must each fully commit to our own path liberation, for the benefit of all.
Why We Go For the Gun
Gregory Snyder on how to reclaim the grace and humanity that our access to guns has led us to squander.
Bhikkhu Bodhi & the Joy of Generosity
From going without to feeding thousands, Bhikkhu Bodhi’s life reveals how deep practice can ripen into compassionate action. Toni Pressley-Sanon reports.
Let Us Be Brave
Rev. Blayne Higa on how to bring more light and wisdom to a world where greed, anger, and ignorance threaten to compromise, or even consume, us all.
Everything Is Buddhanature
Original sin vs. original goodness: Mahayana Buddhism offers a more hopeful view of human nature. Zen teacher Melissa Myozen Blacker reveals how nondual practice frees us from our temporary obscurations and reveals our true, awakened nature.
In Translation: Great Perfection in the Palm of Your Hand
Great Perfection in the palm of your hand. The seminal text Essential Advice for Solitary Meditation Practice, by the late Dudjom Rinpoche.
The Heart Sutra Will Change You Forever
Penetrate the true meaning of the Heart Sutra, says Karl Brunnhölzl, and nothing will be the same again. The secret is making it personal.
Dharma Books: Excerpts
The Pros & Cons of a Solitary Retreat
A solitary retreat offers the opportunity to deepen one’s practice in profound and lasting ways. But it’s not without pitfalls.
Toward a More Skillful Mode of Buddhist Political Speech
“Knowing that so many are engaged in resisting the current violences and attacks on democracy in our nation,” writes Gregory Snyder, “my hope is that our Buddhist communities will continue to work to develop a place that encourages our political voices.”
How Right Action and Right Livelihood Work Together
Forest Tradition teacher Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo (1907–1961) defines right action—how it manifests, within and without us, and informs our aspiration to engage in right livelihood. Introduced and translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
How Shinran, Founder of Shin Buddhism, Went Beyond the Self
Rev. Jon Turner on how Shinran Shonin was able to gain insight into the true nature of reality, awakening.
Creating Buddhism-informed Spiritual Care on College Campuses
The Maitreya Association’s co-founder and president explains the creation of the first-ever professional network of Buddhist college chaplains and its impact on American Buddhist higher education ministry.
How Buddhist Mandala Offering Practice Works – And Why
Mandala offering, an integral part of the foundation, or ngöndro, practices of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism, allows us to harness positive karmic forces through relentless generosity. Loppon Yudron Wangmo explains how these practices help create favorable conditions for spiritual growth and removes obstacles on the path to awakening.
Buddhism A–Z
Learn all about key Buddhist terms, concepts, and traditions in our in-depth glossary — perfect for beginners and committed dharma practitioners alike.
