A heart made of painted hands

A Meditation for Extending Loving-kindness

Charles Suhor guides you through a “Connectedness Meditation.”

Book Reviews for March 2017

We review "May Cause Love" by Kassi Underwood, "The Awakening Body" by Reginald Ray, Khyentse Norbu's latest film, and more.

Time to Tune In, Not Turn Away

Guo Cheen on why now, more than ever, is the time to dive in to Buddhist practice.

Kwan Yin statue

Who Is Kwan Yin?

One of Buddhism’s most beloved bodhisattvas, and the embodiment of compassion, Kwan Yin is known as “she who hears the cries of the world.”

How Do I Deal With Painful Thoughts of Revenge?

You needn't give harbor to thoughts of ill will, says Lewis Richmond, no matter how justified they seem to be.

mad men don draper meditating finale breakthrough

In Mad Men finale, a meditative breakthrough?

No, he didn’t become a Buddhist, but in “Person to Person,” Mad Men’s finale, Don Draper certainly came closer than many might have expected he could. Buddhism or no, it made for a memorable meditation-and-pop-culture moment. (Spoiler alert: this post does in fact address the very end of the final episode and some of the details leading up…

Looking Back on Barack Obama’s Friendly Relationship with Buddhism

As Barack Obama's presidency comes to a close, we're looking back on his friendly relationship with Buddhists around the world.

Conservative Buddhists Speak

We recently issued a call to conservative Buddhists so that their voices might be better represented. Here are some of the responses we’ve received.

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Suffering Opens The Real Path

Norman Fischer explains why it’s suffering that gives us the incentive, vision, and strength to transform our lives.

Knowing This Truth is Noble

When we accept dukkha or suffering in all its forms we stop denying it. A person is noble when one understands dukkha and how to work with it.

Cows in a slaughterhouse.

A Plea for the Animals

Animals feel suffering and want to live—just like us. Why do we withhold our compassion and kill these sentient beings by the billions?

Clasped hands.

How to Be a Help

We may not be able to stop someone from dying or suffering pain, but we can still help through the honesty, compassion and presence of mind we bring.

Heart in a nutshell, Buddhism, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

The Four Seals of Dharma are Buddhism in a Nutshell

People often ask me: “What is Buddhism in a nutshell?” Or they ask, “What is the particular view or philosophy of Buddhism?” Unfortunately, in the West Buddhism seems to have landed in the religious department, even in the self-help or self-improvement department, and clearly it’s in the trendy meditation department. I would like to challenge…

Christof Koch explains the neuroscientific view of consciousness to the Dalai Lama.

Leading neuroscientists & Buddhists agree: “Consciousness is everywhere”

New theories suggest Buddhist teachings on consciousness may be correct, and the implications for science could be huge.

What is a Buddha-Realm?

Jeff Wilson explores the profound concept of buddha-realms in various Buddhist traditions, where awakened beings exist in a purified sphere reflecting their enlightened reality.

How do Buddhism and yoga work together?

I’ve been practicing yoga for many years and love it. Recently I’ve become interested in Buddhism. How do the two practices work together?

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Watch this moving TED talk on how a Zen hospice is “redesigning” death

In this TED Talk, BJ Miller, a palliative caregiver at the Zen Hospice Project, describes how he wants to see death redesigned.

Teresita Gomez

This Zen priest teaches the Buddha’s middle-way approach to eating

Meet the Silicon Valley data scientist who is using the example of the Buddha to help Americans rethink their relationship to food.

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Offer Your Depression

Once I was in a meeting with a publisher to discuss a book I was writing (for which he had paid a tidy sum). He hated it. He hated me.

The Bodhisattva Vow

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche explains; those who take the bodhisattva vow make one simple commitment: to put others first, holding nothing back for themselves.