shamatha, vipassana, meditation, zazen, mindfulness, awareness, calm abiding, insight, sitting, buddhist, terms, names, lion's roar, buddhism, shambhala sun

What do all of the terms for Buddhist meditation mean?

I’m confused about all the different terms for meditation, like shamatha, vipassana, zazen, mindfulness, calm abiding, insight, just sitting. What's what?

Architectural drawing of a door.

The Doors of Liberation

No self, no form, no goal: Thich Nhat Hanh on the truth we’re distracting ourselves from.

10 Steps to Tame the Elephant

For generations, Tibetan practitioners have been guided by a chart outlining the nine stages of samatha meditation. Jan Willis takes us through the map and introduces us to the characters along the way.

The Freedom of Emptiness

At the heart of the path of the paramitas is prajna, or wisdom—but a wisdom that goes beyond our conventional ideas about it. Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche unpacks how that kind of wisdom works.

Ask the Teachers: What would the Buddha do?

Myokei Caine-Barrett, Dave Smith, and Lama Karma Yeshe Chödrön on knowing — or not knowing — what the Buddha would do.

Rest in Your Buddhanature

Your true nature is like the sky, says Mingyur Rinpoche, its love and wisdom unaffected by the clouds of life. You can access it with this awareness meditation.

Meditating on the Hugeness of Life

It's a three-week "practice period" at the Zen Center. Sure, it sounds tough — but in the end, it's all love.

Enlightenment of the Cosmic Buddhas

Through the Pure Land practice of nembutsu, explains Mark Unno, we “foolish beings” entrust ourselves to the full awakening of Amida, the primordial Buddha of Infinite Light.

Everything Is This Wisdom

Pema Khandro on the primordial knowing that, according to the Dzogchen teachings of Tibetan Buddhism, is the source and true nature of ourselves and all reality.

This Very Mind Is Buddha

In the Chan and Zen traditions, says Guo Gu, enlightenment is not something we create or achieve. It’s who we already are.