Category: Teachings
What Does It Mean to Be Enlightened?
Contrary to popular thought, awakening isn’t a distant goal. In fact, says Lisa Ernst, awakening is always available.
Your Enlightened Nature
The essence of mind is empty, luminous awareness. Mingyur Rinpoche on the Tibetan Buddhist practice of Dzogchen.
Discover the Joy of Doing Nothing
Zen teacher Pat Enkyo O’Hara teaches us the practice of Shikantaza.
The Clarity Aspect
Emptiness without wisdom can lead to nihilism, explains Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. That's why we have the teachings on buddhanature.
Matthieu Ricard: The Path to a Compassionate Society
In this video interview, Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard joins Lion’s Roar editor-in-chief Melvin McLeod to discuss compassion as a transformative force for addressing the challenges of our time. Drawing on his decades of humanitarian work with Karuna-Shechen, he shares how altruism can help build a more compassionate and hopeful society.
Quick! Who Can Save This Cat?
Zoketsu Norman Fischer's commentary on Mumonkan Case 14: Nanchuan's Cat.
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.
“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.
Do Buddhas think?
Zen teacher Blanche Hartman, Tibetan teacher Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, and Insight teacher Narayan Helen Liebenson answer the question, "Do Buddhas think?"
Ask the Teachers: Why can’t I perceive bodhisattvas or deities?
Buddhism says that there are all kinds of beings out there—buddhas, bodhisattvas, deities—but I can't perceive them. How do I work with this discrepancy?
How Can I Accept the Suffering of Others?
Three teachers are asked about coming to terms with the suffering of others.
Awakening the Sacred Feminine
In Vajrayana Buddhism, dakinis are seen as unbridled and enlightened feminine energy. Lama Tsultrim Allione on how she discovered her own dakini power.
Forum: The Myths, Challenges, and Rewards of Tantra
A forum on Tantra with Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Anne Carolyn Klein, and Larry Mermelstein, with an introduction by Reggie Ray.
Impermanence is Buddha Nature
Change isn’t just a fact of life we have to accept and work with, says Norman Fischer.
How Equanimity Powers Love
True equanimity, says Kaira Jewel Lingo, is not in any way detached or uncaring—it's inclusive, and loving, and the foundation for spiritual courage.
Moving Beyond Meditation
Grounded in our formal practice of meditation, we can relax into the vast, open awareness that is our ultimate nature. Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche tells the story of his own introduction to the Great Perfection.
Lucidity Without Limit
Dream yoga, says Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, is a practice of changing our waking life. He shares the four foundational practices of this powerful mind training.
Hope for the Hopeless
Rev. Blayne Higa on the founder of Shin Buddhism’s “spiritual insight of imperfection and radical acceptance.” It can lead us to the ultimate realization of buddhanature.
Who Was Patrul Rinpoche?
Matthieu Ricard provides a glimpse into the life of Patrul Rinpoche, one of the most revered spiritual teachers in Tibetan history.