Joy, giving, family, and peace—people of all faiths can celebrate these values of the holiday season. Eight Buddhists offer their take on yuletide dharma. One Perfect Christmas Bonnie Nadzam on letting go of holiday expectations, and simply enjoying the mystery and tradition of the season. I was raised Catholic and once, as a girl, I had The Perfect Christmas. The snow was [...]
Xmas Spirit
Sad, angry, lonely—Daniel Asa Rose and his sons are reeling from the recent family breakup. But in a closed bowling alley on Christmas Eve, they open their hearts and find seasonal cheer. Their mother wanted to have a few hours to herself, so I left the little rat’s nest I was subletting in New York and drove three hours to take our two boys to a bowling alley, one of the few [...]
“I’m culturally a Christian – but in every other way, a Buddhist”
With the Holiday season upon us, Sumi Loundon Kim reflects upon her split religious identity: culturally Christian, devoutly Buddhist. This last Christmas eve, my husband and I decided to take our young children to our local chapel, a building much like the cathedrals of France, to participate in the traditional Lessons and Carols pageant. As Joy to the World rang [...]
‘Tis the Season of Compassion
Author and interfaith spiritual director Janice Lynne Lundy explains how a simple question helps her to keep her heart open – to others, and to herself. “Do you have a kind heart today?” the Indian master Atisha asked. He posed this question to whomever he might encounter in his daily travels. Can you envision someone stopping you in a busy shopping mall in the midst of [...]
Joyful Giving
Tis always the season for giving. Six Buddhist teachers on why generosity is the starting place of all the virtues. Macaroni Art By Karen Maezen Miller I begged my father to take me to the store. It was the day before Christmas, and I had nothing to give to my mother except an art project I had brought home from school. It was a picture made with painted macaroni. How [...]
American nuns bless Capitol Christmas Tree
Ven. Thubten Chonyi reports on a group of American Sravasti Nuns who gave a blessing during a Christmas tree ceremony. Small town Newport, Washington was the send-off point for this year’s Capitol Christmas Tree, which is displayed annually at the Capitol building in Washington D.C. Newport is also home to Sravasti Abbey, a Buddhist monastery in the Tibetan tradition, and [...]
“Bulldog” – an excerpt from Calvin Malone’s “Razor-Wire Dharma”
There's powerful Buddhist writing coming out of American prisons. Maybe it’s the intense commitment they need to practice in prison, maybe it’s the difficult psychological and moral issues many prisoners have to address, maybe it’s the danger and stress of the environment. Or maybe it’s the great contrast when a little caring and gentleness is brought into such a bad place, as [...]
Glimpse of a Deeper Order
Synchronicity, says Rachel Naomi Remen, can startle us awake and restore us to ourselves. According to the Buddhist understanding of auspicious coincidence, all circumstances can be brought to the spiritual path. Everything that happens in our lives, whether positive or negative, can serve to awaken us to the nature of the world. But occasionally, events cluster in [...]
