Category: Dharma & Society
Recent Buddhist Books by Black Authors — A 2024 Roundup
On Tina Turner and bell hooks, love and liberation—eight inspiring new books are reviewed by Arleta Little.
How to Free Yourself from the 7 Obsessions
To free ourselves from habitual patterns, says Valerie Mason-John, we need to see how they have become part of our identity.
No One Like Me
Lama Rod Owens on taking care of your own needs when you don’t see yourself represented in those around you.
5 Buddhist Practices to Help Tackle Climate Change
Willa Blythe Baker offers five meditations to help accept the truth of climate change, laying the ground for a skillful response.
Good, Evil, and Gaza
In a moving personal essay from the December issue of “Wheel of Dharma,” Buddhist Churches of America member Sydney Shiroyama reflects on the horrors of the Gaza war and what Shinran’s teachings about human nature and the deeper causes of good and evil tell us about the path to compassion and peace.
The Revolution Begins with the Self
Your individual meditation practice can aid collective liberation. Dr. g explains.
True Liberation: Black & Buddhist in America
Recently the nonprofit organization Dharma Relief awarded fellowships to Black Buddhist leaders for their work supporting Black communities. Here, Lion’s Roar’s Pamela Ayo Yetunde hosts a roundtable conversation with four of those fellows: Jean Marie Robbins, Pamela Freeman, Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith, and Victoria Cary. Bringing their lived experience to bear, they talk about how Buddhist practice is helping Black people heal from the impact of racism and discover inner peace.
Beyond the Binary
With our ideas of right and wrong, male and female, we’re stuck in the suffering of dualistic thinking. Nonbinary author Tomara Garrod wants freedom.
What AI Means for Buddhism
AI can articulate the sum total of human knowledge, but can it help us cultivate wisdom and compassion—or is it a danger on the spiritual path? Ross Nervig investigates.
For Love of Nature: Q&A with Jane Goodall
Andrea Miller talks with celebrated environmental and animal activist Jane Goodall, about the compassion that exists in our natural world.
The Race Koan
Are we all Black poets at night? E. Ethelbert Miller asks us to ponder this and other questions.
Honoring the Form
Everything is impermanent, but a chance encounter shows another truth—continuation. A short story by the renowned novelist Charles Johnson.
Engaged Parenting as Spiritual Practice
For years, Buddhist practitioner Leslie Davis felt she was too busy being a mother to practice Thich Nhat Hanh's tradition of "Engaged Buddhism" properly. Eventually, she discovered that parenting itself is a form of Engaged Buddhism.
How to Not Burn Out
Sustainable activism begins with not calling yourself an activist, says Keisha Bush.
Sweeping My Heart
When Zenju Earthlyn Manuel was assigned to clean the Zen temple, she felt generations of oppression rise in her. Conversing with her ancestors about what this work really meant helped her see how it could be healing.
Study finds Contemplative Medicine training reduces burnout in medical professionals
The study measured the effects of the New York Zen Center's twelve-month "Contemplative Medicine Fellowship" on burnout among medical professionals.
A Cloud Never Dies
Andrea Miller on what Thich Nhat Hanh taught her, his inspiring and courageous life, and how—through us—his wisdom continues.
Watch – New Videos and Resources on Reckoning With Abuse in Buddhist Communities
Confronting systemic abuse within spiritual communities is important for individual and community alike. That's why Damchö Diana Finnegan, co-founder of the Dharmadatta Community, has launched a series of interviews that aim to help us face and understand abuse and how to promote community accountability and justice for survivors. Freshly updated with new videos
When Refuge in Another Sangha on MLK Day Was No Longer Enough
Tanya Marie Bonner shares the journey of creating an annual program to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day at her home sangha.
The King We Need: Martin Luther King Jr., Moral Philosopher
He was even more than the civil rights leader he is remembered as today. Charles R. Johnson looks at how Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of America's greatest moral philosophers.