Zen teacher Joan Sutherland on life's dreamlike nature and why it should be embraced. One of our Western sutras is the children’s round that goes: Row, row, row your boat Gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, Life is but a dream. The image of a human life as a small skiff on the wide waters of the world has been around as long as people have had [...]
Slow Down, You Move Too Fast
Speed creates its own power and momentum, which begin to rule us, says Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. When we speed around, are we mastering our life or hanging on for dear life? A month or two after returning from a trip to Tibet, I ran into Aaron, a physician who had traveled with me. I asked him how it felt to be back in the West. He said that he felt as if he were winding up [...]
Generosity’s Perfection
Giving up, giving in, just plain giving—Sharon Salzberg says that’s the truly transformative experience. Generosity opens our heart, frees us from attachment and is the basis of all good qualities. It’s the foundation of the Buddhist path. The cultivation of generosity is the beginning of spiritual awakening. Generosity has tremendous force because it arises from an inner [...]
The Heart of the Buddha
Forget all the fancy meditation practices, says His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the real heart of Buddhism is complete commitment to others. In this commentary on The Way of the Bodhisattva, he describes the awakened heart of the Buddha, which is his vow to attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. In his famed text The Way of the Bodhisattva, Shantideva states [...]
Letting It Really Sink In
Advice from four prominent Buddhist teachers on opening up to the dharma so it really changes your life. Trish Deitch Rohrer interviews Judy Lief, The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, John Tarrant, and Philip Moffitt. They say it’s as difficult for the dharma to penetrate the heart of a student as it is for a flower to grow on a rock. It’s not that we can’t intellectually grasp the [...]
The Answer to Anger & Aggression is Patience
We can suppress anger and aggression or act it out, either way making things worse for ourselves and others. Or we can practice patience: wait, experience the anger and investigate its nature. Pema Chödrön takes us step by step through this powerful practice. The Buddhist teachings tell us that patience is the antidote to anger and aggression. When we feel aggression in all [...]
Quintessence of Compassion
The first lineage of tantric Buddhism established in Tibet is known as the Nyingma tradition, the "School of the Ancients." Since its founding by Padmasambhava in the eighth century, teachers of this tradition have taught the profound view of mind called Dzogchen. From her book Sacred Voices, Sandra Scales offers a selection of portraits and teachings by some of the [...]
