Deep Dive into Enlightenment

What is enlightenment? According to Buddhist teacher Joan Sutherland, it’s everything! When we view enlightenment as simply seeing things for what they really are, we understand that, indeed, everything is enlightenment. The following guide contains insights from Pema Chödrön, Norman Fischer, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel and others, all aimed at helping you along your journey toward seeing things as they really are.

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Sculpture of Shakyamuni Buddha sitting and touching the earth.

Who Was the Buddha?

The Buddha who lived 2,600 years ago was not a god. He was an ordinary person, named Siddhartha Gautama, whose teachings on enlightenment and the end of suffering became the basis of the world religion of Buddhism.

The Buddha’s Path to Awakening

The Buddha discovered a path to liberation, and more than two thousand years later people are still following in his footsteps. Heather Sanche unpacks his life, legacy, and essential teachings.

This Is the Practice

When the Buddha tended to a dying monk, he demonstrated how to live, how to die, how to care for others. Vanessa Sasson offers her retelling of that poignant story.

When the Buddha Was a Tree

Trees can show us how to be bodhisattvas. Rafe Jnan Martin draws important lessons from an old tale.

Opening to a Vaster Sense of Buddhist Practice

Brian Lesage reflects on how we can honor past and future generations of Buddhist practitioners by bringing the spirit of offering into our everyday practice.

Ask the Teachers: How do we determine what is true dharma?

Buddhism was an oral tradition for hundreds of years, and many of the earliest writings were lost centuries ago. If we can’t have 100 percent certainty about what the Buddha actually taught—and it seems that we can’t—how do we determine what is the true dharma?