Category: Buddhist Wisdom
Forgotten Encounters of Tibetan Zen
The phrase “Tibetan Zen”—the title of scholar Sam van Schaik’s new book—may initially startle the casual reader.
Gods, Demons, Sages, and Enlightened Kings
We call it Tibetan Buddhism, but it’s really much more. Robin Kornman sees Tibet as the last of the Silk Route cultures, where the great religions of Asia unite in a magical world of Gods, Demons, Sages, and Enlightened Kings.
Enter… the Bodhisattva
David Loy on why Buddhism’s bodhisattva ideal is what the world needs now. Unless you’re on long retreat in a Himalayan cave, it’s becoming more difficult to overlook the fact that our world is beset by interacting ecological, economic, and social crises. Climate breakdown, species extinction, a dysfunctional economic system, corporate domination of government, overpopulation—it’s…
The Voices of Buddhism
Our editor-in-chief shares his admiration for the varied voices of Buddhism in today's twenty-first century world.
South Australia’s first Buddhist burial grounds to open
South Australia's first dedicated Buddhist garden and burial grounds will open Sunday, April 3 at Enfield Memorial Park.
How did a Buddha statue land in Viking hands?
Last month, Sweden Post released a stamp that depicts the Buddha sitting in a lotus as part of a series commemorating the Era of Vikings.
The Promise of Nibbana
What does final liberation and the end of suffering look like and how is it achieved? Mahasi Sayadaw explains Nibbana.
Book Briefs for Spring 2016
David M. DiValerio’s The Holy Madmen of Tibet (Oxford 2015) examines some of Tibetan history’s most fascinating figures. Diving straight into the grotesque for which these fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Kagyu “madmen” became known, DiValerio begins by describing Tsangnyon Heruka’s use of human remains as clothing and Drukpa Kunle’s verse about paying homage “not to the Buddha,…
The Basic Principle of Bodhicitta
Relative bodhicitta is how we learn to love each other and ourselves, according to Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. The basic principle of ultimate bodhicitta is to rest in the fundamental state of consciousness, before it is divided into ‘I and ‘other.'
Making Our Way: On Women and Buddhism
Grace Schireson, Christina Feldman, Rita Gross, and Lama Palden Drolma discuss how women are defining new roles as Buddhist leaders, teachers, and practitioners.