Guo Gu, a longtime student of the late Master Sheng Yen, presents an experiential look at the Chan practice of silent illumination. Silent illumination is a Buddhist practice that can be traced back not only to Huineng (638–713), the sixth patriarch of Chan, and other Chinese masters but also to the early teachings of the Buddha. In the Chan tradition, silent illumination is [...]
Buddhist Visualization Practice Is Pure, Clear, and Vibrant
Visualization practice sometimes involves traditional symbolism that Westerners have trouble relating to, says Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. He shows us how we can make the most of this powerful method for transforming perception. The technique of visualization is employed throughout the Vajrayana practices of Tibetan Buddhism. Its use of our imagination makes it quite different [...]
The Path of Gratitude
Photo by Michael Kenna. The goal of Shin Buddhism’s central practice, nembutsu, is not to attain buddhahood for ourselves, says Jeff Wilson, but to express gratitude for all we have received. I visit a lot of Buddhist temples and groups in North America, and it’s pretty common for people to ask, “So, what’s your practice?” It’s a sort of icebreaker in the Buddhist world. I [...]
Ask the Teachers: How do I share the dharma with my kids?
Question: I have two sons, one seven and the other fourteen. I’d like to introduce them to meditation and the Buddhist teachings but it’s difficult to compete with Nintendo games, favorite television shows, and all the other exciting and flashy things kids gravitate to these days. How can I share the gift of dharma with my sons without trying to force it on them and potentially [...]
The Sound of Silence
Ajahn Amaro explains how to practice nada yoga and why this simple act of listening to inner sound can help you realize emptiness. Along with the more well-known methods designed to help practitioners of Buddhist meditation ground their attention in the present moment— such as focusing on the rhythm of the breath, paying attention to the feeling of footsteps, or [...]
Meditating on the Mind Itself
A teaching on the practice of Mahamudra by Kagyu master Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche, who passed away in July 2012 at the age of 57. According to the Buddhist Mahayana tradition, practitioners need to eradicate certain defilements and obscurations of the mind in order to realize ultimate truth, or ultimate reality, and the most effective way to achieve this is through the [...]
Is Meditation Enough?
Sharon Salzberg, Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, and Gaylon Ferguson examine the central role of meditation in Western Buddhism and explore how other practices, such as study and ritual, may or may not be necessary. With introduction by Norman Fischer. The introduction of Buddhism to the West has necessarily involved comparing and contrasting various aspects of Buddhism with our own [...]
No Small Effort
"Coming back to the issue of diversity," say dharma teachers Gina Sharpe and Larry Yang, "is no different from bringing one’s awareness back to the breath or any object of awareness; it is a practice, and sometimes a long and difficult one." From the Winter 2012 issue of Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly. On September 19, Spirit Rock Meditation Center held a [...]
The Tibetan Leonardo
The Treasury of Knowledge By Jamgön Kongtrul 10 volumes Snow Lion Publications, 2003–2012 Reviewed by Roger R. Jackson Addressing a dinner for Nobel Prize laureates in 1962, President John F. Kennedy quipped that never before had so much genius been present in the White House—“with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.” The same might be said about [...]
Shinnyo-en’s floating lanterns
As Honolulu’s nearby skyscrapers gleamed pink in the late afternoon light, forty thousand people gathered in Ala Moana Beach Park on Memorial Day 2012. The festivities unfolded with taiko drumming, hula dancing, and traditional Hawaiian chanting. Then at twilight, Shinso Ito, the leader of the Japanese Buddhist organization Shinnyo-en, took the podium, her bright orange [...]