Original sin vs. original goodness: Mahayana Buddhism offers a more hopeful view of human nature. Zen teacher Melissa Myozen Blacker reveals how nondual practice frees us from our temporary obscurations and reveals our true, awakened nature.
Four Steps to Magical Powers
Before you fully embark on the path of the bodhisattvas and buddhas, says Sheng Yen, you must first practice the four steps to magical powers.
Who Was the Buddha?
“Buddha” means “one who is awake.” The Buddha who lived 2,600 years ago was not a god. He was an ordinary person, named Siddhartha Gautama.
Trust Practice, Practice Trust
Photo by David Gabriel Fischer.When we truly give ourselves over to practice, explains Roko Sherry Chayat, we let go of our dependence on outcomes and begin to trust just being what we are, buddhanature, revealed right here, right now, in this very body and place.
The Path of Gratitude
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.
The Clarity Aspect
Emptiness without wisdom can lead to nihilism, explains Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. That’s why we have the teachings on buddhanature.
How Do You Step Forward?
Jules Shuzen Harris asks: in the infinity of suchness, how do you achieve spiritual progress?
Impermanence is Buddha Nature
Change isn’t just a fact of life we have to accept and work with, says Norman Fischer.
This Is My Mind, Luminous and Empty
In Vajrayana, the fast track to awakening is to look directly at your own mind and discover its true nature. Tsoknyi Rinpoche shows us how.
Lasting Happiness
The hard part of lasting happiness, says Mingyur Rinpoche, is getting over our bad habit of seeking happiness in transient experiences.