In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, according to the Dalai Lama, a person should closely observe a teacher for three years before consenting to be his/her student. It takes that long, apparently, to clearly differentiate Mara from Buddha. Read more: Narcissism, Dalai Lama, Buddha, Mara, Buddhist Meditation, Buddhist Teachings, Scripture Commentary, Meditation, Buddhism, Enl...
I take it as some cosmic law of exchange that if Disneyland pops up in Hong Kong and Tokyo, Buddhist temples can sprout up in Los Angeles. Indeed, it comes as no surprise to many Californians the most complex Buddhist city in the world is here. Read more: Buddhism, Bill Clinton, Globalization, Enlightenment, Los Angeles, Meditation, Religion in America, Prayer and Meditatio...
In order to honor those who made our life possible, I suggest that we go back to some form of ancestor worship, which requires that we dig into our evolutionary past and evoke the spirit of those who made it possible for us to become the brilliantly befuddled humans we are today. Read more: Endangered Species, Ecology, Buddhism, Religion and Science, Evolution, Green Faith...
Compassion does not imply ducking our responsibilities or shirking our power. Instead, it is a potent tool for transformation since it requires us to step outside of our conditioned response patterns. Read more: Interconnectedness, Outrage, Meditation, Buddhism, Sharon Salzberg, Compassion, Culture, Prayer and Meditation, Religion News
So many of us don't like contradictions. They upset the apple carts of our certainty. We're confident that our faith tradition is correct. So we do everything we can to make the contradictions go away. But maybe this kind of headache is precisely what we need. Read more: Christianity, Koan, Religion, Zen, Contradiction, Paradox, Spiritual Journey, Buddhism, Spiritual Path, ...
Some 95 percent of Cambodia's people are Buddhist. "Nation, Religion, King" is Cambodia's national motto and it is one of the few world nations where Buddhism is the state religion. The religious world here, however, is not just about Buddhism. Read more: Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Buddhism, Pagoda, Wat, Spirit Houses, Angkor Wat, Slideexpand, Religion News
How much positivity is too much? Where does healthy stop and delusional begin? And, maybe more to the point: Why does this kind of stuff feel like a relief? Read more: Unleash the Power Within, Positive Thinking, Oliver Burkeman, Perfectionism, Madeline Levine, The New York Times, Failure, Tiger Mother, Barbara Ehrenreich, Buddhism, Helicopter Parents, Tony Robbins, Overpar...
The powerful links between a mature love of nature, the capacity for spiritual transcendence and our moral sense have an emotional resonance that can leave us lost for words. Today, however, those links are threatened in an unprecedented way. Read more: Spirituality, Climate Change, Evolution, Green Faith, Religion and Science, Buddhism, Religion News
Peter Hershock is the author of Buddhism in the Public Sphere, which presents a set of Buddhist perspectives on a series of political and policy challenges. Read more: Hershock, Education, Flourishing, Buddhism, East-West Center, Diversity, Improvisation, Education News
Today, we too often believe that technology neatly solves a problem when in reality, technology merely shifts the nature of the challenges before us. I have no doubt that the inestimable Gene Smith deeply understood the depth of this issue. Read more: Digital Media, Historic Preservation, Tibet, Technology, Film, Buddhism, Rubin Museum of Art, Technology News
The quality of one's life is not determined by the circumstances. Is life perfect? No. I still manage to hit rough patches, or as friends say, "Oh great, another f-&*king growth opportunity." Read more: Buddhism Maitri, Coping Grief, Spirituality Grief, Pema Chodron, Friends in Deed, Grief, Crisis Opportunity, Buddhism, Chogyam Trungpa, Impact News
"There are the tools that you use for personal practice that help keep you grounded. Then there are relational tools that Buddhism has for dealing with others. And then at the third level are the Buddhist tools for understanding the world and society." Read more: Think Tanks, Buddhism, Activism, Engaged Buddhism, Religion and Politics, Buddhist Activism, International Netwo...
The same monks who campaigned against a brutal former regime are advocating against a stateless people, for what appears to be no other reason than their race and religion. How can we make sense of this, and where do we go from here? Read more: Islam, Nonviolence, Human Rights, Burma, Rohingya, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, Buddhism, Buddhist-Muslim Relations, Religion News ...
"Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech and a life of service and compassion renew humanity," the historical Buddha once said. One wonders what he would say now as innocent blood is shed in his name. Read more: Aung San Suu Kyi, Islam, Myanmar, Burma, Buddhism, Racial Discrimination, Myanmar Muslim Buddhist Clashes, Religion News
"Each person has a job to create the right consciousness in this moment, to bring positive energy to this world. Most people, they forget this moment and are always looking for something further. But we don't have further, we don't know next moment." Read more: Creativity, Pbs, Global Spirit, Lama Lhanang Rinpoche, Art, Spirituality, Creative Spirit, Buddhism, Video, Reli...
During a break in a mixing session at a recording studio in Milan, Gomo Tulku, a Tibetan-American hip-hop artist, plays the sample he's inserting into... Read more: Gomo Tulku, Video, Buddhist Monk Turns to Music, Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism, Tulku, Buddhist, Buddhist Monk Leaves, Buddhist-Musicians, Buddhist Hip Hop Artist, Buddhism, Religion News
Many people still see Buddhists only as robe-wearing monastics who have given up worldly things like sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. Aren't Buddhists supposed to be beyond things like desire? Well, there are different kinds of Buddhists. Read more: 12-Step, Relationship Advice, Meditation, Buddhism, Religion and Sexuality, Addiction and Recovery, Addiction & Recovery,...
I should practice Ahimsa, non-harming. But in the situation of a madman with four guns and gas canisters, it might not be so simple. Read more: Meditation, Yoga, Buddhism, Aurora Shooting, Compassion, Violence, Nonviolence, Buddhist Practice, Religion News
In a national survey providing one of the first detailed glimpses into how Hinduism is practiced in the United States, the Pew Research Center offers new data that illuminate the complexity and richness of our pluralistic democracy. Read more: Religion in America, Buddhism in America, Pew Research Center, Interfaith, Hinduism in America, Hinduism, Buddhism, Religious Plural...
Dayangji Sherpa lives with her 25-year-old daughter, Nima, in a one-bedroom apartment in Woodside, Queens, where they sleep in the same bed to save mo... Read more: Buddhism, Religion News
If religions are to remain relevant today, they need to stop denying evolution and instead refocus their message on its meaning. Read more: Philosophy, Evolution, Buddhism, Religion and Science, Buddhism and Science, Eco-Buddhism Project, Religion News
As an atheist, I do not believe in god. Neither does Dr. Matthieu Ricard, a Buddhist monk who earned his PhD in cellular genetics and currently lives ... Read more: Religion News, Religion, Video, Dalai Lama, Atheism, Matthieu Ricard, Talk Nerdy to Me, Science, Cara Santa Maria, Science News, Religion and Science, Buddhism, Science and Religion, Science News
As someone dedicated to living a life of service to others, I have been struck recently by how little attention is paid to the amount of suffering in ... Read more: Congress, Poverty, US Poverty, Spirituality and Politics, Democrats, Tea Party, Compassion, Libertarians, Republicans, Buddhism, Culture News
Suzuki warned his audiences that ego-delusions spread great suffering everywhere. Get yourself out of the way, Suzuki said. Empty your own mind to see the spaciousness that is your birthright. Read more: John Cage Buddhist, Buddhist Sacred Sounds, Buddhist Sacred Music, John Cage, Buddhism, Sacred Sounds, Slideexpand, Religion News
Both the Buddha and Lao Tze talk about taking a middle road and living a harmonious, balanced life, and that is precisely what is required when it comes to judging. Read more: Addiction, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Judgment, Buddhism, Taoism, Religion News
As we enlarge our spiritual capacity to be with all of our experience, we also gain the capacity to be with the all of the experience of greater and greater numbers of beings. Read more: Buddha, Buddhist Meditation, Buddhist Teachings, Dharma, Buddhism, Religious Diversity, Diversity, Religion News
If self-immolation is intended as the ultimate rejection of Chinese control, a cry for independence and a declaration of human rights, what does this imply to the outside world? And what can this mean to us? Read more: Dalai Lama, Hunger Strike, Tibet, Buddhism, Self-Immolation, Genocide, Meditation, Tibetan Buddhism, Religion News
A devoutly Buddhist, lesbian couple will officially wed next month in Taiwan reports the Taipei Times. 30-year old Fish Huang and her partner will ... Read more: Taiwan Lesbian Wedding, Taiwan, Video, Gay Rights, Buddhist, Lesbian, Buddhism, Gay Marriage, Lesbian Buddhist Couple, Religion News
ISLAMABAD -- Pakistani police seized a large number of ancient Buddhist sculptures that smugglers were attempting to spirit out of the country and sel... Read more: Smuggling Relics, Buddhist Relics, Buddhism, Buddhist Smuggling, Religion News
Just as a sponge can only take on water after being wrung out, so too must we be able -- regardless of our experience or education -- to continually renounce our own fullness, lest we become bloated and stale. Read more: Arrogance, Ignorance, Humility, Wisdom, Orson Scott Card, Writing, The Book of Mormon, Ender's Game, George Rr Martin, Wonder, Closed-Mindedness, Joy,...