Jan Chozen Bays on the incessant desires that fuel our confusion and suffering. Desire. That’s what The Buddha found after six years of investigating the cause of suffering. Desire. At the end of a seven-day retreat my mind is clear enough to see it arise. I drive past a neon sign that reads “PIZZA,” and a voice in my mind says, “I want some. Let’s stop.” Then another part [...]
Thanks to Gene Smith
Gene Smith dedicated his life to preserving Tibet’s literary heritage, and played a key role in its survival. In December he passed away, at the age of 74. Janet Gyatso remembers the man and his historic contribution. Gene Smith was an academic maverick and preeminent pioneer of Tibetan Studies who singlehandedly preserved for posterity the vast heritage of Tibet’s texts [...]
Lighten Up
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo encourages Western students of the dharma to relax and have more fun with their practice. In traditional Buddhist countries, people are quite realistic and laid back concerning dharma practice. Although they have deep faith and devotion, they understand that we are all flawed human beings. So they tend to be less critical both of themselves and [...]
Inside Art, with Kay Larson
Kay Larson reviews "Grain of Emptiness", an exhibition at the Rubin Museum of Art. In its timely wisdom, the Rubin Museum of Art in Manhattan is asking interesting questions about the soft landing being achieved as the Buddha sets a gentle foot in Western culture. The traditional imprint of his teachings, as we know, is an emptiness (a footprint) given form by the [...]
The Worst Place in the World
After visiting the concentration camp where her Jewish father was held during the Holocaust, Roberta Werdinger reflects upon sites of trauma. In May of 1995, I found myself standing with my father, a Polish Jew who had lost his entire birth family in the Holocaust, at the threshold of the worst place in the world. We had travelled to northern Austria, along with thousands of [...]
Ask the Teachers: I live far from my Sangha, should I practice with a different one?
Question: I am a Zen Buddhist practitioner and I live many states away from the order with which I practice, so most of the time I practice alone even though there is a large community of Tibetan Buddhists and teachers nearby. I feel an affinity with Zen Buddhism, and I wonder about that attachment. Am I missing something by not opening myself to the teachings of those where I [...]
Refreshing Zen
Arthur Braverman presents the life and teachings of Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, whose emphasis on the simple practice of zazen was a breath of fresh air amid the formalism of Japanese Zen. While Shunryu Suzuki was igniting a Zen revolution in San Francisco in the late 1960s, Kosho Uchiyama was trying to foster a Zen reformation in Japan. It was perhaps an even more imposing [...]
Book Briefs – Spring 2011
The Caves of Dunhuang (Dunhuang Academy and London Editions 2010) by Fan Jinshi is a rare glimpse into one of the great artistic achievements of human history. With spectacular photographs that reveal the caves’ murals and sculptures in magnificent detail, this is a book to get lost in. The art and architecture of the Dunhuang caves, which were excavated by hand between the [...]
The Upside of Money Troubles
Carolyn Rose Gimian reminds us that our difficulties with money are valuable opportunities for working with our mind and strengthening our practice. Working with money is a challenging and somewhat inescapable practice. Do you have enough to live on? Do you need more to buy a new (fill in the blank)? Should you give some money to charity? We all grapple with such questions [...]
Happiness in Every Breath
When we stop feeding our cravings, says Thich Nhat Hanh, we discover that we already have everything we need to be happy. The human mind is always searching for possessions and never feels fulfilled. This causes impure actions ever to increase. Bodhisattvas, however, always remember the principle of having few desires. They live a simple life in peace in order to practice [...]