Archives: BD Articles
This Fantastic, Unfolding Experiment
Reflecting on the history of the Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Jack Kornfield describes the challenges and tensions that have accompanied the movement to bring Buddhism to the West and the creative solutions that have emerged to meet them.
Outsiders or Infiltrators?
To be a societal force for change, you either have to work from an outsider stance or infiltrate and work from within.
Profile: Karma Triyana Dharmachakra
Andrea Miller profiles Karma Triyana Dharmachakra near Woodstock, New York.
Pain Not Suffering
Two Buddhist teachers offer techniques to lessen pain’s mental suffering, look at its true nature, and learn its valuable lessons
No Choice But Radical Acceptance
When you understand that this present moment is all there is, you have no choice but radical acceptance. Two teishos by Eido Shimano Roshi
The Path of Foolish Beings
Who are the foolish beings? According to the Shin tradition of Pure Land Buddhism, we all are. Mark Unno explains that only by becoming aware of our limited self and acknowledging our fundamental foolishness can we realize the oneness of all beings and the limitless flow of compassion.
The Right View of Rebirth
Ajahn Punnadhammo discusses the necessity of holding the right view of rebirth for Buddhist practice.
Profile: Inquiring Mind
Barry Boyce discusses the history of the first Buddhist journal in the West, the Inquiring Mind, having reached its 25 year anniversary.
The Eight Flashing Lances
In this commentary on a famed yogi’s spontaneous song of realization, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso explains why Mahamudra practice makes our view, meditation, and action free and unhindered, like a lance flashing free in the open sky.
The Integrity of Emptiness
The Mahayana view of emptiness, says Thanissaro Bhikkhu, is too abstract and philosophical to be of much help in our everyday lives. Instead he offers a Theravada path of emptiness that starts with taking an honest look at our day-to-day actions and leads ultimately to enlightenment.
Forum: Diversity and Divisions in American Buddhism
A forum on diversity and divisions in American Buddhism, with Socho Koshin Ogui, Rev. Ron Kobata, Wakoh Shannon Hickey, and Duncan Ryuken Williams. Introduction by Charles S. Prebish.
Searching for Bodhidharma
Andy Ferguson journeys through China with author and translator Red Pine in search of the historical Bodhidharma and evidence of his original teachings.
Profile: Unitarian Universalist Buddhist Fellowship
Barry Boyce reports on the growing community of Unitarian Universalists adopting Buddhist practices.
Caught in Indra’s Net
If you want to understand the full truth of “form is emptiness; emptiness is form,” says Robert Aitken Roshi, you must go beyond the Heart Sutra to philosophical texts like the Huayan Sutra, which unpack and elaborate this profound paradox.
The Phenomenal Universe of the Flower Ornament Sutra
The Huayan, or Flower Ornament Sutra, is not widely known in the West, yet it has had a profound and lasting impact on Zen and Chan Buddhism.
Crucial Instructions
The late Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, a great 20th century Buddhist teacher, offers four sets of pithy teachings on bringing the absolute nature into our path.
Forum: Practicing the Great Perfection
Forum with Marcia Schmidt, Ron Garry and Mingyur Rinpoche on the view, teachings, and challenges of Dzogchen.
In Translation: Nothing to be Discarded or Kept
Heart advice by Dzogchen masters, from the newly translated collection of teachings, Quintessential Dzogchen.