Jessica Pimentel as Maria Ruiz with Taylor Schilling as Piper Chapman on  Orange Is the New Black.

How “Orange Is the New Black” taught actor Jessica Pimentel the danger of attachment

Jessica Pimentel on what she’s learned from seeing life through a Buddhist lens and the eyes of her character, Maria, on Orange Is the New Black.

Book Reviews for July 2016

We review Mark Gerzon's "The Reunited States of America," Dzogchen Ponlop's "Emotional Rescue," a Buddhist baby book, and more.

Bed with books.

Waking Up to Happiness

Natalie Goldberg was awfully sick yet she was happy. Happiness is available to everyone, she realized, but we can find it only when we’re still.

Hospital bed.

Death on the ICU

As a Buddhist chaplain on a Medical ICU, Phyllis Coletta saw the suffering patients and families endured, and knew we all have to do better.

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Feminine Principal

The principal figure in Buddhism is the teacher, a role traditionally dominated by men. Andrea Miller profiles three women teachers — Trudy Goodman, Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara, and Lama Palden Drolma — who are changing the face of Buddhism and making the teachings whole.

The Dalai Lama squeezes Richard Gere's nose.

Richard Gere: My Journey as a Buddhist

Richard Gere talks about his many years of Buddhist practice, his devotion to his teacher the Dalai Lama, and his work for Tibetan freedom.

Zafu.

Buddhist Meditation is Relaxing with the Truth

It is only when we begin to relax with ourselves as we are that meditation becomes a transformative process.

Chris Cole.

Waking Up Bipolar

Many years after his first psychotic break, Chris Cole learned that recovery meant understanding his bipolar disorder through both medicine and spiritually.

The Unhappiness Gap

Karen Maezen Miller looks at why people the world over are finding themselves unhappy, despite being told of more and more ways to find happiness.

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Is that the Karmapa’s Dream Flag over Colorado?

Or is it just a Kelvin-Helmholtz cloud formation?

A Zen monk of the Soto School performs gassho salutation at the Seiryu ji Temple in Hikone City Japan

The Thief Who Stole the World

Steve Antinoff remembers his first teacher, an intimidating Zen monk whose every gesture seemed charged with the Absolute.

Dr. BJ Miller.

All Part of Being Human

Dr. BJ Miller shares the story of how he came to devote his life to helping others face their death because he has stared straight at his own.

Caroline Contillo.

Is My Original Face Gay?

Caroline Contillo explores the reality of identity.

Blank screen at the cinema.

Life as Cinema

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche uses film and the cinema as a metaphor for Buddha's teaching about samsara and nirvana.

The Dalai Lama Basic Goodness Teaching Lion's Roar Buddhism

Basically Good

His Holiness the Dalai Lama on good heart, awakened mind, the causes of happiness and other basic principles of Buddhism. I believe that all human beings are of the same nature. At the mental and emotional levels we are the same. We all have the potential to become happy and nice people and we also…

Bodhisattva Fear Chogyam Trungpa Buddhism Lion's Roar

The Warrior Tradition: Conquering Fear

“Conquering Fear” is based on a seminar Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche conducted in 1979 for teachers in Shambhala Training on meditation and the view of warriorship.

Avalokiteshvara.

Developing Pure Perception Through Visualization

We visualize deities to connect with their enlightened energy. Anyen Rinpoche and Allison Choying Zangmo teach us how to visualize Avalokiteshvara.

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Zen pioneer Zenkei Blanche Hartman Roshi dies

Zenkei Blanche Hartman, Senior Dharma Teacher of San Francisco Zen Center, has died.

A person walking alone on a path.

Taking Refuge in the Triple Gem

Essentially each practitioner of Buddhist meditation makes the journey alone, but many find that committing themselves to the three jewels—Buddha, dharma, and sangha—helps take them further. These three make up the lineage, philosophy, and community of Buddhism, explains Christina Feldman, and their purpose is to deepen and expand our practice.

Buddha face.

Announcing “Finding Freedom From Painful Emotions,” the 2016 Lion’s Roar Retreat

We’re delighted to announce our annual community retreat, "Finding Freedom From Painful Emotions," with Karen Maezen Miller, Josh Korda, and Anyen Rinpoche.