Articles

Since I started studying buddhist texts in a more thorough and general way I’ve been curious about the traditional methods of learning and pedagogics used by monks, and how efficient they might be.

Certain practices may seem overly traditional, t…

A Voice at the Borders of Silence is the story of a life of passion lived at the forefront of intersecting avant-garde movements and spent in the unyielding pursuit of the ultimate self-understanding and awareness.

In a lifetime that almost coin…

This is a professional&nb…

The dilemma of vegetarianism was a vexed one for Buddhists in Tibet, where the large alpine landscape is acceptable for nomadic herding and a meat-and-dairy-based diet. A folk story recounted by American writer Lama Surya Das from the publication The S…

For many reasons, there has never been a greater time to be alive. Violence plagues some corners of the world, and too many still live under the grip of tyrannical regimes. And even though all the world’s major faiths profess love, compassion and toler…

More than 2500 years ago, the Buddha announced an eight-fold path to end suffering. Here’s a short introduction to that Path.

As an exercise, I’ve been working on following the Buddhist Eightfold Path, as originally laid down by…

You might be surprised to hear that non-attachment is an important quality for relationships.

Isn’t non-attachment something very similar to indifference? Actually, not at all.

Non-attachment is a highly beneficial state of mind in all fiel…

On the first day of his class on ancient Chinese philosophy, professor Michael Puett makes a promise to all the students:

If you take the ideas in these texts seriously, they will change your life.

Ever been caught in the grip of extreme emotions? I'm gonna guess whatever decision you made next probably wasn't a good one.

When we're anxious, angry, or sad, we rarely do the smart thing. And that can seriously mess up our lives. At work, in l…

There are books, too numerous to mention, that relate the story of the historic Buddha, Prince Gautama Shakyamuni, and explain his teachings and the basic concepts of the spiritual insight that he attained. Buddhism comprises three major branches or sc…

Overview:

Vajrayāna Buddhism is a.k.a. Tantric Buddhism, Tantra, Mantrayana, Tantrayana, Esoteric Buddhism, Diamond Vehicle, Adamantine Vehicle, Completion Vehicle, Thunderbold Vehicle, Indestructable Path, True Words Sect, Short Path, Lam…

Tibetan Buddhism, the teaching of the Buddha as practiced and taught in Tibet, is at last becoming known to the world. Because of Tibet’s secluded location, the Buddhist tradition developed there for fourteen centuries in relative isolation, unknown or…

Chinese Traditional Religions

With around 400 million adherents Chinese folk religion is the third major religion in the world comprising about 6% of world population. In China, more than 30% of the population adheres to Shenism or Taoism.…

We like to see the ancient world as filled with a lot of certain religions, all somehow clear and authentic in themselves. But the reality is more complex, for sure. Muslims, Christians, and Jews debated each other at times, and their religions affecte…

Quantum mechanics suggest that consciousness arises in a measurement-explanatory feedback loop between our experiences and the accommodation-model we hold in our memory. If correct, what we see in front of our nose is not the real external world, nor e…

It doesn't matter if you're an atheist, devout follower of your faith, an agnostic, or anywhere in between—there's wisdom to be learned from the world's religions. Here are some of the most important, universally applicable teachings from sacr…

When I read James Doty’s New York Times bestseller, Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain, I was thoroughly enchanted. His story inspired me to believe that my future could be brighter than I can currently i…

We live at the apex of a long era of revolutionary change, with deep roots in history. This change has accelerated over the past centuries due to the technologies gained from empirical and scientific investigation.

Our change stems from a process…

Brightly-colored Buddhas holding strange ritual implements, meditational deities wearing human bone ornaments, voluptuous goddesses and terrifying, wrathful manifestations—the exotic Buddhist art of Tibet is often misunderstood through ignorance of its…

Rays of the Absolute (the Legacy of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

“Having understood the nature of consciousness you will also understand that you are not the consciousness.”

~ Nisargadatta Maharaj

In 2006 Stephen Wolinsky proposed the id…

From the time we wake up till we go to sleep, we receive so much of input every day through our senses that we hardly have time to pay attention to what is going on. Our minds devise their own methods and shortcuts to deal with the vast amount of infor…

We propose a generalized theory of “Non-Dual Conscious Realism” addressing the fundamental issue of consciousness. This theoretical framework posits the universing arising from an undifferentiated, non-dual field of pure conscious awareness. From withi…

A unified reality in which there are “not two” or there is “nothing apart” surely confirms the illusory nature of separation.

If separation is illusory, then any attempt to not be separate is rooted in a dualistic perspective.

So the basic …

Ask people to name the world’s oldest printed book and the common reply is Gutenberg’s Bible. Few venture that the answer is a revered Buddhist text called the Diamond Sutra, printed in 868 A.D. Or that by the time Gutenberg got ink on his fingers near…