Appreciate Your Life

The pitfall is always within yourself. This very body and mind is the Way. You are complete to begin with. There is no gap, but you think there is.

The Case for Contemplative Psychology

When spiritual tradition is viewed as its own school of psychology, it can offer more effective techniques and profound goals than conventional psychology.

A man giving a homeless person some spare change.

Noble Heart of All Existence

Compassion is not a path that is taken because it leads somewhere else. Everything that we encounter, all that we experience, is this path.

Take a Closer Look at the Journey from Birth to Death

We could look at our life as a whole as a journey from our birth to our death, says Judy Lief. But we should not stop there. We could take a closer look.

The Rain and the Temple

"Pushing the dripping hair from my face, the rain running down my cheeks, I speak to my old teacher. ‘I’m here. It took me a while, but I made it.’

Pure Passion

Judith Simmer-Brown on the role of desire in Buddhist Tantra: "The intensity of desire can only be liberated by desire itself."

Liberalism and Religion – We Should Talk

Liberalism's objections to mythic forms do not apply to formless awareness. Thus liberalism and authentic spirituality can walk hand in hand.

A Memorable Ass-chew

In my virginal, pre-ass-chew state, I was thick-headedly oblivious to the danger, my mind racing past that minor detail.

Sympathy for the Devil

Gary Davis was called a devil for the brutal murder he had committed, but on his long journey toward the death chamber, Gary Davis had profoundly changed.

The Faith Factor

Mind/Body pioneer Herbert Benson on the health benefits of spirituality.

We Will All take This Journey

Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen sits down with Shambhala Sun's Melvin McLeod to discuss illness, loss and spiritual growth.

Meeting in the Darkness

With the people who live with chronic hopelessness and fear, we try to live comfortably in their darkness. And that's the hardest thing of all.

Natalie Goldberg Puts It All Into Words

Writing is where I give everything. I know that when I'm doing sitting meditation, I hold back. Writing is where I put my ass on the line.

rainbow dharma, lgbt, lion's roar, buddhism, shambhala sun

Queer Spirituality

Peter Sweasey discusses sexual identity as help and hindrance on the path towards spiritual discovery.

There’s No Place to Go But Up — bell hooks and Maya Angelou in conversation

A mind-to-mind exchange between Maya Angelou and bell hooks, two important African-American women writers, who care and think deeply about life.

The Kosmos According to Ken Wilber

Ken Wilber discusses how to integrate many levels of knowledge from the most concrete to the most etheral into a great unified view of the living universe.

Padmasambhava, Bodhichitta, Buddhism, Shambhala Sun, Lion's Roar, Vajrayana, Tibetan Buddhism, Buddhist Translation

Padmasambhava gives Advice to King Trisong Detsen I

A translated passage in which Padmasambhava gives advice to Trisong Detsen I following the consecration of a construction site.

Lojong Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche Shambhala Sun Buddhism Lion's Roar Mahayana

The Seven Points of Training the Mind

The Seven Points of Training the Mind, as translated Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche.