What to Do When You’re Lonely

The holidays are supposed to be a time of togetherness, but what if it’s the time of year you feel most alone? Therapist Harry Um offers advice. 

Everything Is Our Teacher, Even Death

Tremendous healing can occur during the dying process, both for the dying person and for their family and friends. Barbara Rhodes on how to awaken to life, even as we die.

The Joy of Interbeing

Gather around the table, says Allyson Pimentel. A holiday meal can fill your belly and heart — and even give you a taste of enlightenment.

Liftoff

Realizing emptiness, realizing no-self — it’s as freeing as flight, says Hokuto Daniel Diffin Osho.

America has Zen all the time. Why, my Teacher, should I meddle?

Teachings and poems by the late Nyogen Senzaki. From Like A Dream, Like a Fantasy: The Zen Writings and Translations of Nyogen Senzaki.

The Lamp of Zazen

The point of zazen, says Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, is to live each moment in complete combustion, like a clean-burning kerosene lamp.

Empty, Pure, Luminous: Mind in Dzogchen and Mahamudra

Roger R. Jackson explains how different Tibetan schools approach the nature of mind, and why it matters.

Karen Maezen Miller, Dishes, Leaves, Lion's Roar, Shambhala Sun, Joshu, Zen, Life

Do Dishes, Rake Leaves: The Wisdom of the Ancient Homemakers

Karen Maezen Miller on how the domestic practice of ancient Zen masters can lead us to intimate encounters with our own lives.

How Does Buddhism Speak to Us Today: An Interview with Stephen Batchelor

Stephen Batchelor talks to <em>Buddhadharma</em> deputy editor Koun Franz about the importance of study in Buddhist practice and the relevance of the Buddha's teachings to modern life.

Buddhism, Sex, Lion's Roar

Revisiting the Traditional Buddhist Views on Sex and Sexuality

When it comes to sex, Western Buddhists tend to be fairly liberal. But as scholar José Cabezón explains, Buddhist tradition takes a much more conservative approach, prohibiting, among other things, oral or anal sex, male homosexuality, and even sex during daylight hours. 
He challenges us not to dismiss traditional Buddhist views on sexuality but rather to critically examine them, beginning with the study of sexual ethics in Buddhist texts.

I’m Not Here to Be a Vessel for Fear

Kaira Jewel Lingo encourages us to confront our own fears and assumptions with mindful presence and compassion, inspiring a path toward healing a fractured country.

Churning waves.

Pema Chödrön’s Three Methods for Working with Chaos

Pema Chödrön describes three ways to use our problems as the path to awakening and joy.

Form ritual Zen

Why Forms are Fundamental to Buddhist Practice

Embrace the ritual forms of Buddhist practice, says Buddhadharma deputy editor Koun Franz — you can't escape them anyway.

You Are the Great Perfection

Rest in your true nature without effort or distraction — Mingyur Rinpoche teaches the renowned practice of Dzogchen.

Beyond Good and Evil

Jan Chozen Bays ponders the question of evil's origin, considering the Christian and the Buddhist perspectives on good and evil.

Meet a Teacher: Rev. Doyeon Park

Rev. Park is a minister in the Won Buddhist community and the Buddhist chaplain at two New York universities.

Practice Is the Right Medicine

This, says Jan Chozen Bays, is the healing power of practice: we release our fear, transform our unskillfulness, and discover our kindest selves.

On Suffering and the End of Suffering

It's an essential truth about life itself: suffering of one kind or another is a natural part of existence. Knowing this truth gives our lives wholeness and peace, as it frees us from the exhausting postures of pretense and denial.

“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.

How to Break the Chains of Thought

When you study your thought process, says Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, you not only see how it rules your life. In the breaks and gaps between thoughts, you can experience awakened mind on the spot.