Category: Buddhist Wisdom
Zen teachers issue open letter confronting abuse
As Zen teachers, we would like to express our gratitude to Buddhadharma's recent issue on abuse in Buddhist commiunities.
How Deep Is Your Love?
It isn't easy to offer spiritual comfort to a dying man when you can’t stop thinking about yourself. As Shozan Jack Haubner learned, sometimes you just have to fake it.
Dalai Lama affirms he may have no successor; China responds
Update, 12:30pm EST, December 19th: Read the response of China's chairman of ethnic and religious affairs.
Auction closed!
Norman Fischer writes that, if you think about it, "it seems that giving is the whole of the Buddha way." The Shambhala Sun auction is a chance to give a little more.
Watch: Compassion is not a pie chart
In our third video on confronting abuse, Pam Rubin says that having compassion for people who have been abused does not mean demonizing abusers.
Watch: Start confronting abuse by believing victims
Pam Rubin, a women's trauma counsellor and lawyer, explains why we need to start confronting abuse by believing victims.
Confronting Abuse of Power
Recent headlines have revealed that spiritual communities, including Buddhist ones, are particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse by male authority figures.
No More Secrets
We took our time getting to the issue of abuse in Buddhist sanghas—perhaps too long. In hindsight, I wish we had talked sooner.
Which River Will You Cross?
Whether buying products on the Internet or Skyping with our students and teachers, we instantly recognize our interdependence, and yet how about when we walk outside our door?
Books in Brief November 2014
A roundup of reviews including Sam Harris’s <em>Waking Up</em>, Thich Nhat Hanh’s <em>How to Eat</em> and Karen Speerstra and Herbet Anderson’s <em>The Divine Art of Dying</em>.
Ruth Ozeki’s musings on herself — and no-self
Andrew Sullivan, prolific blogger and former editor the The New Republic, gave a shout-out to award-winning novelist, filmmaker, Zen priest (and, Shambhala Sun contributor) Ruth Ozeki on Sunday. Sullivan noted how Ozeki weaves Buddhism into her writing in natural, subtle ways, and also her “shifty” concept of self. The interview, from the LA Review of Books,…
If you see the Buddha on 11th Avenue…
Via Chip Johnson of SF Gate comes an especially sweet little story out of Oakland, California: Dan Stevenson is neither a Buddhist nor a follower of any organized religion… The 11th Avenue resident in Oakland’s Eastlake neighborhood was simply feeling hopeful in 2009 when he went to an Ace hardware store, purchased a 2-foot-high stone Buddha…
Thich Nhat Hanh’s new translation of Heart Sutra
Thich Nhat Hanh on Sept. 11 released a new English translation of the Heart Sutra, titled “The Insight That Brings Us to the Other Shore.”
All the Rage: Buddhism Wisdom on Anger and Acceptance — Read the intro and Sylvia Boorstein’s contribution, “No Blame”
You would never peg me as someone who’d get in a fistfight, and you’d be right. But all the same, there was this one time more than a decade ago.
“Beyond Thought”: Ram Dass on how we arrive at spiritual understanding
Ram Dass shares his essential teachings for living in the here and now.
No Shortcut to Awakening
Ross Bolleter guides us through the Cycle of Merit, the ancient Chan master Dongshan’s map showing us the way to enlightenment and back to where we are.
Forum: Milestones and Dilemmas
Bhikkhu Bodhi, Sarah Harding, and T. Griffith Foulk reflect on the state of Buddhist translation and the challenges and opportunities ahead.
Being Shaken
Early in my Zen practice I could not sit still in meditation, as I was besieged with involuntary movements, says Edward Espe Brown.
Signs of Spiritual Progress
The idea of spiritual progress is pretty suspect. After all, isn’t it a journey without goal? But there are some ways we can tell if practice is working.
Nothing Special: The Joy of Being Ordinary
Geri Larkin tells us that when we honestly dare to be ordinary, the wisdom of the universe opens up for us. Joy happens. We feel free.