Category: Buddhist Wisdom
Gene Smith’s Mission
Lawrence Pintak profiles Gene Smith, the man from Ogden, Utah who single-handedly spearheaded the preservation of thousands of Tibetan texts.
Mahamudra and Dzogchen: Thought-Free Wakefulness
The ability to dissolve thoughts is essential to attaining liberation, says renowned Dzogchen teacher Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. Devotion and Pure Perception are two principles that lie at the root of Vajrayana practice that lead beyond confusion to thought-free wakefulness. Meditation training, in the sense of sustaining the nature of mind, is a way of being…
Basic Goodness or Original Sin?
Buddhist psychology is based on the notion that human beings are fundamentally good. Their most basic qualities are positive ones: openness, intelligence and warmth.
Relaxing with Suffering
"I'm certain that compassion is the only possible response to pain, yet I still sometimes become resentful when I or someone else is suffering."
Kobun Chino’s Trailer
Reginald Ray writes a remembrance of Zen master and famed calligrapher Kobun Chino Roshi, who died tragically with his young daughter in July, 2002.
After twenty years, I’m wondering: “What’s the point?”
I've been a Buddhist for more than twenty years and I've done a lot of meditation practice. More and more I find myself asking "What's the point?"
The Issue of Faith in a Non-theistic Religion
What does faith mean to a Buddhist? Zen teacher Norman Fischer talks with Sharon Salzberg about the conclusions she draws in her new book.
How Do We Develop Faith?
The Buddha once told this story about faith: A herd of cows arrives at the bank of a wide stream. The mature ones see the stream and simply wade across it.
Taming the Mind, Transforming Ourselves
Traleg Rinpoche describes the techniques of Buddhist meditation, explaining how working with our passions requires attention to one's body and thoughts.
Where Business Looks for Answers
As our world grows more chaotic and unpredictable, says Margaret Wheatley, we're asking questions that can only be answered by spiritual traditions.
The Red Coat and the Teaching of Impermanence
“In that moment, I discovered a love for her that had nothing to do with my own preconceptions.”
The Buddha’s Noble First Teaching
Tulku Thondup on the four simple and practical statements that encompass the entire Buddhist path, the Buddha's Four Noble Truths.
What is This Me?
Are we interested in exploring this amazing affair of ‘myself’ from moment to moment?
The Sharp Sword of Prajna
Wisdom, says Judy Lief, is not about answers. It's about the power of questioning, about developing a great inquisitiveness that cuts through all solidity and self-deception.
The Buddha’s Bravery
According to Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, to have the definite intention to emerge from samsara is an act of warriorship, a way of dealing with our fear of death.
The Practice of Karma
Reginald A. Ray on how T'hrinlay Wangmo transformed an horrific incident into a situation of blessing through her understanding of karma.
It’s Time to Listen
Margaret Wheatley discusses how to heal in the months following the tragedy of September 11, 2001.
You Are Avalokiteshvara
Eric Holm on how visualization practice helps us overcome ego and pacify obstacles. Includes “A Visualization Practice: Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion.” The buddhadharma is renowned for its skillful methods of meditative training. In Vajrayana Buddhism, many of these methods are based on the visualization of archetypal wisdom forms, or deities. Visualization practices come from…