Category: Teachings

Illustration of a man sitting zazen with his hair on fire.

Practice Like Your Hair’s on Fire

Enlightenment is possible in this lifetime but time is running out. We have to make the most of this rare and fleeting opportunity to wake up.

Mahaprajapati’s Daughters

If there’s a mother of Buddhism, it’s Mahaprajapati, says Andrea Miller. In women dharma teachers throughout the ages, we see a continuation of her strength and practicality, her wisdom and compassion.

The Four Givings

Buddhism’s four immeasurables aren’t just states of mind we can achieve, says Venerable Hui Cheng. They’re gifts we can give to others.

Severing the Roots of Our Discontent – The Buddhist Way

B. Alan Wallace on how the kleshas or “mental afflictors” keep us from realizing the true nature of our mind, and how we can begin to get to the root of our discontent by recognizing the kleshas for what they are.

Resources for Confronting Abuse in Spiritual Communities

From Ann Gleig and Amy Langenberg, authors of “Sexual Ethics and Healthy Boundaries in the Wake of Teacher Abuse,” from the Winter 2023 issue of Buddhadharma, comes this gathering of select websites, communities, and projects of value to Buddhist communities, teachers, and students looking to develop and maintain best practices when it comes to fostering healthy teacher-student relationships and addressing conflicts and pitfalls.

The Vastness of a Robe

Falling into bits and pieces, the robe — like everything else — becomes the universe. A teaching by Tenshin Reb Anderson.

Developing Our Spiritual Capacities

Informed by the teachings of Nichiren Shonin, founder of the Nichiren school of Buddhism, and Sot’aesan, the founder of Won Buddhism, Rev. Ryuei Michael McCormick looks at our capacity for spiritual awakening and how it relates to our maturity.

Awakening Through Sound

Guo Gu, contributor to the “Glimpses of Buddhanature” feature in the Fall 2023 issue of Buddhadharma, shares the practice of contemplation of hearing, a practice rooted in a method for awakening attributed to the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.

Man sitting on cliff overlooking mountain range

Venturing Beyond Our Fear of Emptiness

Paul Condon, author of “Buddhanature Beyond Mere Concept” from the Fall 2023 issue of Buddhadharma, explores how cognitive science can help us to realize buddhanature, and gain more capacity to participate effectively in the world.

Undoing Toxic Masculinity in Buddhist Communities

Ann Gleig, Nadine Levy, and Bhante Sujato shine a light on the harmful effects of toxic masculinity and its surprising, disturbing rise within the Buddhist milieu.

Tree silhouette with sunset in background

Unlocking the Wisdom of the Heart Sutra

The Heart Sutra is a pithy, powerful text. If you understand it, says Ven. Guan Cheng, you understand the Buddha's teachings.

Buddhanature Beyond Mere Concept

By letting go of the goal to realize buddhanature, says Paul Condon, we can embody it more freely.

Lotus flower photographed from below with sky in background.

Why Buddhanature Matters

Lopen Karma Phuntsho, writer-in-residence for Tsadra Foundation’s Buddha-Nature project, takes a look at the history and development of the Mahayana concept of buddhanature.

Nothing Is More Important Than Your Buddhanature

“What if,” asks Tsadra Foundation executive director Marcus Perman, “we were brought up with the knowledge that each one of us is by nature capable of complete freedom from suffering, and that we possess wisdom and compassion on a nearly unthinkable scale?”