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.

Warriorship, bravery, Sakyong Mipham, Vajrayana / Tibetan Buddhism, Shambhala Sun, Lion's Roar, Buddhism

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…

Don’t Be So Sure

In a changing world, certainty doesn't give us stability; it just creates more chaos. "Now is the time for far less certainty and far more curiousity."

Hand holding a bowl of tea. Koan.

What did Yan T’ou Whisper? A Commentary on “Te Shan Holds His Bowl”

Zen Buddhist priest Norman Fischer gives a commentary on "Te Shan Holds His Bowl", a Zen koan.

Religion Without God

What does it mean to be a religion without a God? More broadly, what does it mean to live without an exterior savior of any kind?

Meditation, Sakyong Mipham, Shambhala Sun, Lion's Roar, Buddhism, Vajrayana

Meditation and Post-Meditation

Normally, when we talk about meditation, we're talking about formal meditation, meaning that our meditation session has a definite beginning and end.

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.

No-self, Sakyong Mipham, Self, Shambhala Sun, Lion's Roar, Buddhism

Do I Exist or Not?

<h4>The complete negation of everything — is that Buddhism? No, says Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, "Buddhism is more complicated than that: things don’t exist, but they don’t not exist either." </h4>

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.

On the Importance of Relating to Unseen Beings

While Westerners tend to view it as superstition or symbolism, Reginald Ray argues that spiritual ritual is at the very heart of tantric Buddhist practice.

Toy soldiers posed to fight each other.

The Sage Commander

We are all leaders in our own way. We all face conflict and chaos in our lives. But the wise leader seeks victory beyond aggression.

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche devotion

Approaching the Guru

A talk on devotion by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, given in 1996 in Boulder, Colorado at the commemoration of the death of His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

Becoming a Buddhist

“When we take refuge in the Buddha, we mean the qualities of the Buddha that are inherent within us. We are taking refuge in our own intrinsic enlightenment.”

The Innermost Essence

From "The Innermost Essence" by the great Dzogchen teacher Jigme Lingpa (1730-1798) and translated by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.

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.