Bhante Henepola Gunaratana — affectionately known as "Bhante G." — had a moment of coming face-to-face with death while on a flight. Here's what he told an audience at Cittaviveka, a Buddhist monastery in the UK, about it. I had received word of my mother's final illness. On the way to Sri Lanka from Washington, DC, I changed planes to a jumbo jet in Hawaii. An hour or two [...]
Watch 4 funny, poignant teachings from Ajahn Brahm
In this video series from Buddhadharma, Ajahn Brahm offers four short, insightful teachings. The editors of Buddhadharma were fortunate to have a visit with Theravada Buddhist monk Ajahn Brahm. Brahm is normally found in Western Australia, where he is the Abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery and a famous advocate for the full ordination of Buddhist nuns. He is also the author of many [...]
Five InsightLA teachers earn Theravada authorization; three others graduate from Spirit Rock’s Retreat Teacher Training Program
From InsightLA in Santa Monica, California, comes the announcement that five of the meditation center's teachers have become authorized "recognized, honored, and formally authorized in the Theravada lineage." On Saturday May 13th, Paloma Cain, Celeste Young, Lisa Kring, Emily Horn, and Vincent Horn were recognized, honored, and formally authorized in the Theravada lineage. [...]
Entering the Jhanas
Entering the jhanas is not easy—the harder you try, the more difficult it becomes. But as Leigh Brasington explains, you can make yourself ready for them to open up to you. Perhaps no aspect of the Buddha's teaching has been both more misunderstood and neglected than right concentration. Yet right concentration is obviously an integral part of the Buddha's path to awakening: [...]
How to Practice Vipassana Insight Meditation
Step-by-step instructions on how to do this important practice — the foundation of all Buddhist meditations — from the late Vipassana master Sayadaw U Pandita. What is Vipassana? Vipassana, or insight meditation, is the practice of continued close attention to sensation, through which one ultimately sees the true nature of existence. It is believed to be the form of [...]
Advice for Someone Who is Dying
Ajahn Chah's simple, profound advice to an aging student approaching her death. Today I have brought nothing material of any substance to offer you, only Dhamma, the teachings of the Buddha. Listen well. You should understand that even the Buddha himself, with his great store of accumulated virtue, could not avoid physical death. When he reached old age, he relinquished his [...]
A Surfer’s Guide to Buddhism’s Three Big Waves
Jaimal Yogis, the author and surfer behind the book (and movie) Saltwater Buddha and the forthcoming memoir, All Our Waves Are Water: Stumbling Toward Enlightenment and the Perfect Ride, on riding Buddhism's "three vehicles." When I was nineteen, I went to live in a Ch’an (Chinese Zen) Buddhist monastery, hoping to become a monk. I didn't. After about a year of the 3:30 AM [...]
Breathing Lessons
Richard Rosen, Larry Rosenberg, Edward Espe Brown, and Gaylon Ferguson compare breath practices in yoga and three schools of Buddhism—Theravada, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhism. Exhale and Hold Richard Rosen on the Breath in Yoga American yoga students have been fascinated with asana, the physical "postures" taught in American yoga classes for the last fifty years. Yet [...]
7 Things the Buddha Never Said
The historical Buddha said many things in his long lifetime of teaching. But have you ever heard a supposed Buddha quote and wondered, Did he really say that? Monk Thanissaro Bhikkhu, a trained translator of the Buddha's words, certainly has. Here he reveals seven of many he's found. See if you're not surprised. 1. "Life is suffering." This is one of the Big Lies of [...]
What are “Conditioned Things” in Buddhism?
Reality may seem solid, says Bhikkhu Bodhi, but it is merely a reflection of unstable, conditioned processes, or sankharas, coming together with no one in charge. Impermanent, alas, are conditioned things! Their very nature is to arise and vanish. Having arisen they then cease. Their subsiding is blissful! In Theravada Buddhist lands, this verse is always recited at [...]