Kiera Van Gelder is an artist, educator, and mental health activist. She is the author of the recently published memoir The Buddha and the Borderline: My Recovery From Borderline Personality Disorder ...

You’ve probably heard this famous gong’an (Jpn., koan), based on an exchange between a monk and Chan master Zhaozhou: The monk asked, “Does a dog have buddhanature?” Zhaozhou responded, “Wu [No]!” ...

Discover the different types of Buddhism, from Theravada and Mahayana to Vajrayana, and explore how each tradition addresses suffering, compassion, and mindfulness practices. Buddhism is one of the ...

It is 5:00 in the morning at the Nishiyama Betsuin, a training center for Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist priests in Kyoto, Japan. The wake-up music has not started yet. That comes at 5:30, an old beautiful ...

Pure Land, one of the oldest branches of Mahayana, is one of the most widely practiced forms of Buddhism, especially in East Asia. Pure Land Buddhism is one of the most widely practiced forms of ...

During difficult times like this, I’m feeling that the most important thing is our love for each other and remembering to express that and avoid the temptation to get caught in negative and aggressive ...

In traditional Buddhist (as well as Hindu) cosmology, kalpas are unfathomably long periods of time. Though they come in different sizes, even a “regular” kalpa is beyond huge: 16,000,000 years. A ...

Rinpoche is an honorific used for important teachers in the Tibetan tradition. It literally means “Precious Jewel.” When a teacher is called “Rinpoche” it usually means they are a tulku, who has been ...

Peter Coyote doesn’t read the scripts in advance. He has narrated eight of Ken Burns’ famously epic documentaries, including The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, The Vietnam War, and Country Music.

At the heart of a Zen funeral is ordination. In the ceremony, the deceased is ritually ordained in the same way that living monks and nuns are. This is done because total dedication to spiritual life, ...

When bell hooks met Buddhist Teacher Thich Nhat Hanh for the first time, all that could come out of her mouth were the words “I’m so angry.” In this video, she shares how he responded. This ...

Have you ever wondered about that bib-like garment that Zen priests and some lay practitioners wear around their necks? (It was also worn by three people on the cover of the first issue of Lion’s Roar ...