We asked ten actors, filmmakers, and writers to each tell us their favorite movie that has a Buddhist message. We think the Buddha would have liked movies. Since he often taught through stories and parables, he would have appreciated the powerful spiritual stories that great films tell. Krista Tippett on Perfect Sense David Grubin on A Man Escaped Jeff Bridges on [...]
What Are the Three Kinds of Suffering?
There’s a good reason that Buddhists seem obsessed with suffering. Suffering is the central problem that Buddhism addresses, and recognizing our suffering is the first step to its solution. Suffering is a universal truth—along with impermanence and nonself it’s one of the three basic qualities (marks) of existence—but it comes in many forms. To help us recognize our [...]
Making Friends on the Buddhist Path
Because we are fundamentally alone when we meditate, it’s easy to think of Buddhism as a solitary path. That’s a mistake, says Zen teacher Norman Fischer. He extols the beauty and benefit of spiritual friendship. Once the Buddha’s disciple Ananda asked him about friendship. Ananda knew that having good and encouraging friends was very important for the path. He even [...]
Buddhism in the Age of #BlackLivesMatter
We need to update the traditional narrative of the Buddha’s life, says Pamela Ayo Yetunde, for people who know suffering all too well. She offers some alternative stories for the time of #BlackLivesMatter. I am a person of African descent practicing Buddhism in the age of #BlackLivesMatter. I am also trained in the Insight Meditation tradition to organize and lead Buddhist [...]
The Buddhist Life of Benedict Cumberbatch
Starring roles from van Gogh and Alan Turing to Sherlock Holmes and Hamlet have made Benedict Cumberbatch one of the world’s most celebrated actors. Through it all, he’s remained good-humored, grounded, and compassionate. He sits down with Dominic Wells to talk about the leading role Buddhism has played in his life and career. Spirituality and art, even in the supposedly [...]
What do Buddhists mean when they talk about karma?
It's pretty common these days to talk about someone's "karma." Usually it means someone got what they deserved, or that something that happened was predetermined. What do Buddhists really mean when they talk about karma? The Dalai Lama has said that of all Buddhist concepts, karma is the most difficult to understand. The simplest way to look at it is as cause and effect: [...]
A Buddhist psychoanalyst puts our divided country on the couch
Psychoanalyst Robert Langan traces the current climate of demonization to the three poisons: greed, aversion, and the ignorance of self-righteous certainty. In this election year of 2016 you may have decided that the country—if not the world—has gone crazy. We have war and mayhem abroad, teetering economies, millions of refugees, and an ever-hotter planet. At [...]
How “Orange Is the New Black” taught actor Jessica Pimentel the danger of attachment
Jessica Pimentel on what she’s learned from seeing life through the eyes of her character, Maria, on Orange Is the New Black. In Orange Is the New Black, you play a woman who gave birth in prison and was immediately separated from her baby. What is that like? It’s extremely painful. I must have cried every day for the first two years. Your reality changes when [...]
The False Comfort of the Familiar
Being with people like us feels comfortable and secure—and it’s a big reason why communities aren’t more diverse, says Zen teacher Jules Shuzen Harris. From the May 2016 Lion's Roar magazine. Also in this issue, Pamela Ayo Yetunde updates the stories of Buddhism for the age of #BlackLivesMatter. I recall the early days of my Buddhist practice when, either on retreat or [...]
On Being’s Krista Tippett on her top “Big Screen Buddhism” pick
The Buddha often taught through stories and parables, so we think he would have appreciated the powerful spiritual stories that great films so often tell. Inside our May 2016 magazine, 10 industry insiders -- including bell hooks, Jeff Bridges, Peter Coyote, Naima Mora, and more — nominate their favorite Buddhist-themed films, from Groundhog Day to Kung Fu Panda. Here On [...]