Archives: BD Articles
It’s Time to Redefine “We”
How, asks Brian Joshin Byrnes, do we as Buddhists come into genuine contact with the people and places we reject?
Learning Is the Path Forward
In the commentary for Buddhadharma’s 20th-anniversary issue, Sonam Kachru reminds us we are all on a path of learning—and that we always have a long way to go.
How Are We Meeting This Moment?
Stephanie Kaza invites Buddhist communities, and specifically Buddhist leaders, to take a serious look at how they are—or aren’t—responding to the climate crisis.
How do I maintain my faith in Buddhist teachings?
Willa Blythe Baker, Josh Korda, and Tenku Ruff answer a practitioner's question about losing faith in the institutions of Buddhism and the dharma itself.
Welcoming Faith
For Myokei Caine-Barrett, how we welcome the various parts of our traditions is a reflection of how we welcome others.
Oh Tara, Protect Us
In this teaching, Thubten Chodron comments on a prayer to the buddha Tara to protect us from the eight dangers.
How do you know if you should practice with one Buddhist teacher or another?
the teachers are asked "How do you know if you should be with one teacher or another?"
How do we retain passion while accepting all of life equally?
The teachers are asked "How do we retain passion while accepting all of life with equanimity?"
How can I engage with emotions in a way that turns me towards the Dharma?
The teachers are asked how to engage emotional provocations and self-centeredness in ways that turn us toward dharma practice and life.
How Do We Make Sense of Rebirth?
Questions around rebirth—from how it works to whether it’s even real—have energized and divided Buddhists for millennia. In this excerpt from his book "Rebirth," Roger R. Jackson unpacks the complexity of it all and offers four basic approaches to incorporating it (or not) into our own practice.
Buddhism, Nonviolence, and the Moral Quandary of Ukraine
How does Buddhism make sense of war? In the abstract, the teachings are straightforward. But according to Bhikkhu Bodhi, if we find ourselves supporting those who are fighting back in Ukraine, then we have to ask some hard questions—and maybe accept some uncomfortable truths.
Zen in Vietnam: The Making of a Tradition
A century ago, Buddhists in Vietnam—and in much of Asia—started rewriting their traditions, and in some cases even their history. Alec Soucy explains how what we think we know of Vietnamese Buddhism points to a much more complex reality.
Buddhadharma Book Briefs for Summer 2022
Joie Szu-Chiao Chen reviews Through the Forests of Every Color by Joan Sutherland, Renunciation and Longing by Annabella Pitkin, The Dharma in DNA by Dee Denver, and more.
Wisdom Seeks for Wisdom
In this teaching from 1965—taken from the oldest extant recording of his talks—Shunryu Suzuki Roshi explains what it means to understand your true nature.
Listen, Contemplate, Meditate
These instructions, which appear across traditions, sound so simple that we may imagine they’re self-explanatory. Lama Karma Yeshe Chödrön invites us to look deeper.
Is Buddhism about ethics or enlightenment?
Bhante Sumano, Jisho Sara Siebert, and Gaylon Ferguson explore the meaning of ethics and enlightenment on the Buddhist path.
We Cannot Ignore Buddhist Extremism
If we don’t allow our practice to include the political, asks Brenna Artinger, then how can we stand up to those who do?
Black Buddhists, Black Buddhisms
Rhonda Magee reviews "Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition," by Rima Vesely-Flad.
Forum: BIPOC Buddhism
La Sarmiento, Margarita Loinaz, and Carol Iwata discuss the experiences of BIPOC Buddhist practitioners—the obstacles they face, and the contributions they are making. Moderated and with an introduction by Mariana Restrepo.
Meditation Only Goes So Far
If you want to connect with the open, spacious quality of mind, says Willa Blythe Baker, at some point you have to stop trying to meditate.