How to Study the Dharma

Understanding Buddhism, says Reginald Ray, takes place in stages of ever-deepening and more direct experience.

Forum: Formless Meditation

A panel discussion with Ajahn Sumedho, Reverend Patricia Dai-En Bennage, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and Gaylon Ferguson on shikantaza – formless meditation.

wheel of dharma

Listen, Think, Practice and Realize Your Life As Peace

This teaching by Maezumi Roshi on practicing the dharma was first given in Los Angeles in 1994.

Just Don’t Do It

Sylvia Boorstein on the struggle of adjusting to new circumstances. Dealing with that stress? Maybe it's time to just take a break.

The Future of Zen

Interviews with experts Sojun Mel Weitsman, Steve Hagen, Jiko Linda Cutts, & John Tarrant on how Zen is evolving in the West.

Bernie Glassman Jan Chozen Bays John Daido Loori Los Angeles Zen Center Maezumi Roshi Shambhala Sun - March '04 Zen

White Plums and Lizard Tails: The story of Maezumi Roshi and his American Lineage

The story of a great Zen teacher—Taizan Maezumi Roshi—and his dharma heirs. Finding innovative ways to express their late teacher’s inspiration, the White Plum sangha is one of the most vital in Western Buddhism.

Personal Practice

There is a trio of activities that lead to enlightenment.

John Tarrant, Happiness, Zen, Shambhala Sun, Lion's Roar, Buddhism

The Paradox of Happiness

Real happiness is what we all want, but none of our strategies for finding it seem to work. Maybe it's the search for happiness that makes us unhappy. John Tarrant has some thoughts on why the Buddha smiles.

50 Stitches

After a serious head injury, artist Caroline Douglas rebuilds her life in clay.

The Practice and Philosophy of the Buddhist Path

Once you understand, through study, what the Buddha is saying about his own awakening, you are already within the fiery process of the path.

Go With the Flow

You’re mostly made of water, says Cyndi Lee, so why not act that way?

That Problematic “Self”

In the fourth and final post in his series on the Buddhist concept of "self," Dr. Reginald Ray talks about how we maintain our "self" and therefore suffer.

Jonathan Schell on the Choice We Face

The world faces a critical choice: whether to use military power or nonviolent political means to resolve our affairs. Jonathan Schell on this choice.

Change of Heart

"My heart riffs through a repertory of responses before I can think," says Sylvia Boorstein. But she doesn't mind—she's glad to have a responsive heart.

There Is No “I” Who Is Sitting

Master Sheng-yen teaches the technique of silent illumination.

Meditation, Peace, Sakyong Mipham, Vajrayana / Tibetan Buddhism, Shambhala Sun, Lion's Roar, Buddhism

A Courageous Activity

It may look as if we're doing nothing on the cushion, but in fact we're cultivating peace. From that point of view, the practice of meditation is a very courageous activity.

Deconstructing the “Self”

In the third in a four-part series by Dr. Reginald Ray on the "self" in Buddhism, he explores how we create the storyline of "self" and how to deconstruct it.

In Engaged Buddhism, Peace Begins with You

Thich Nhat Hanh, who originated Engaged Buddhism, in an interview with John Malkin.

Why Me?

In this second in a 4-part series on the "self" in Buddhism, Dr. Reginald Ray explains that the "self," though a fiction, is a response to naked fear.

Savasana

Tara Bray sets out to uncover the origin and meaning of savasana – corpse pose – and meditates on her life as a young girl who lost her mother too early.