Archives: LR Articles
How to Read Dharma
Studying Buddhist teachings is different from learning other subjects. Judy Lief shows you how to read the dharma so that it really changes you.
Why do Buddhists bow?
In Asian traditions, bowing is a gesture of humbleness and respect, but it can seem strange in the modern West.
The Five Precepts—Buddha’s Training Wheels
Zachary Bremmer explains why we should approach the five precepts as training wheels to guide our practice.
Bringing Manjushri Home
When Diana Reynolds Roome brought home a thangka of Manjushri from Nepal she wondered, “How could I bring this great bodhisattva into my humdrum existence?”
Philip Glass and the Exquisite Moment
A 1997 interview with composer and performer Philip Glass, conducted by Stephen Brooks.
The Wisdom of Anger
If you know how to use it, says Melvin McLeod, the energy of anger becomes fierce and compassionate wisdom. Even the buddhas get angry about injustice.
Loving-kindness for Litterbugs
Armed with a trash picker and a garbage bag, Lina Blanchet finds an unusual opportunity to discover the sacred nature of life, in all of its guises.
Why Is Rebecca Solnit Hopeful?
Writer and activist Rebecca Solnit tells the truth about misogyny, injustice, and environmental destruction, along with the hope found in uncertainty.
San Francisco’s famed Zen hospice closes doors while seeking funding
The Zen Hospice Project guesthouse opened in 1990, during the height of the AIDS epidemic.
How to Unleash Your Creativity
Geshe Tenzin Wangyal tells us how to unleash powerful creative energy and turn every action into a work of art.
Going Outside
When life gets too busy, Kathleen Dean Moore remembers the childhood joy of nature. Stress, she reminds us, is the antonym of gratitude.
What are the Eight Awakenings?
The eight awakenings are pithy descriptions of what bodhisattvas and other enlightened beings realize, which are chanted mainly in the Mahayana tradition.
Metta (Loving-Kindness) Meditation for Kids
You’re never too young to practice loving-kindness. Gail Silver on how to teach metta to your kids.
How to Transform Anger in 4 Steps
Using the traditional metaphor of the poison tree, Judy Lief teaches us four Buddhist techniques to work with our anger.
The Message of the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths
The message of Buddha's Four Noble Truths is that paying attention and seeing clearly lead to behaving impeccably in every moment on behalf of all beings.
This Land is Pure Land: The Buddhist Churches of America
Lindsay Kyte traces the history of the Buddhist Churches of America — and the Japanese immigrant experience in America — through four generations of one family.
Advice From a Queer Sangha Leader
“We are all spokes on a wheel. Can you have respect for another spoke?” Hal Atwood talks to Against the Stream's queer sangha leader, Steve Levitt.
Do you see the glass as half full or ultimately empty?
“Do you see the glass half full or half empty?” a therapist asks Nadia Colburn. That's not the question, she says. In truth, the glass is already broken.
Philip Glass, Wayne Shorter to receive Kennedy Center Honors
“Right here in this group of five, you have the whole picture," said Glass of this year's group of honorees.
Farts, Frantz Fanon, and Rainbow Boogers
Breeze Harper on the precarious balance of work and motherhood.