Category: Buddhist Wisdom
What is a Yidam?
A yidam as defined by Sarah Harding, a Tibetan translator and lama in the Kagyü school of Vajrayana Buddhism.
Niutou’s Song of Mind: A Commentary by Sheng Yen
Teachings at a meditation retreat by the renowned Chan Master Sheng Yen on stanzas one through five of the Chinese classic Song of Mind.
A Zen Demonstration
“Explanation-style teaching is not enough,” says Zen Master Seung Sahn. A commentary on Case 41 of "The Whole World is a Single Flower"
Forum: Translating the Dharma
A roundtable discussion with Bhikkhu Bodhi, Elizabeth Callahan, Francisca Cho and Larry Mermelstein on translating the Dharma.
In Translation: The View of the Conquerors
Vajra songs of the Dzogchen lineage, from Ani Jinba Palmo’s translation of The Great Image: The Life Story of Vairochana the Translator.
Deep in the Present Moment
John Malkin talks to Sister Chan Khong about peace, war, emptiness and working with Thich Nhat Hanh.
Koan Practice: The Great Way is Not Difficult If You Just Don’t Pick and Choose
Home to care for his dying mother, Zen teacher John Tarrant discovers what it means for himself and those around him to give up picking and choosing.
The Guru and the Great Vastness
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche looksat the role and the influence of the guru on learning in the vajrayana tradition.
Forum: Is Your Practice Working?
A roundtable discussion with Edward Brown, Josh Baran and Tsultrim Allione on the outcomes of Buddhist practice, moderated by Melvin McLeod.
Dogo Expresses Condolences
Is he alive or is he dead? A teaching by the late Roshi Philip Kapleau on the koan, "Dogo Expresses Condolences."
Intimate Distances
Speculations on the nature of self, other, boundary and embodiment by the great cognitive scientist and Buddhist practitioner Francisco J. Varela, written after undergoing a liver transplant. The scene is viewed from the side. The patient is lying on his half-raised hospital bed. Tubes, sutures and drains cover his body from nose to abdomen. On…
When the Candle is Blown Out: On The Death of Katagiri Roshi
Natalie Goldberg offers a remembrance of her teacher and a cri de coeur over all that is left incomplete and unanswered by his death.
The Wisdom of the Body and the Search for the Self
From the impermanent to the heroic to the sacred—The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche on how the view of body changes and evolves in the three vehicles of Buddhism.
Not Every Gauntlet Requires Picking Up
Not every challenge – nor every thought – needs to be acted on, says Sylvia Boorstein. We could be happier just letting go.
Trikaya: The Mahayana Buddhist Trinity
The “three bodies of the Buddha” may seem like a remote construct, says Reginald Ray, but the trikaya is present in every moment of our experience.
Make Your Decisions for Others
The reason it's so hard to make decisions, says Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, is that we're confused about what we really want. If we're motivated by the happiness and welfare of others, we'll have no trouble making clear and wise decisions.
Be Peace Embodied
"And if peace is their goal, they will in the field of politics be themselves peace embodied," Charles R. Johnson on the principles of enlightened politics
Khandro Rinpoche’s Tough Love
She is demanding of her students and uncompromising about the dharma, and she is a rarity—a prominent Tibetan teacher who is a woman. Trish Deitch Rohrer experiences the provocative and challenging Khandro Rinpoche. You took your twelve-year-old daughter to a children’s blessing the Venerable Khandro Rinpoche was presiding over a few years ago while on…