by Thanissara As a young nun, one day I was distractedly flipping through a series of small cards that depicted, in the artistic style f a Thai temple, the trajectory of the Buddha’s life. In the middle of the pack there was a picture of the emaciated Siddhartha, then him receiving milk rice from Sujata, then enlightened under the bodhi tree, peaceful, with a radiant halo. What leapt out to me was this: the Buddha only reached enlightenment by going through the portal of the

by Susan Szpakowski Inspired by our Women of Wisdom conversation about social action. Let’s just say the Buddha walks through a membrane into this time and place. Not the Indian or Tibetan or Japanese or even American Buddha. He’s just fresh out of the dharmakaya, where he always resides. Not even a he. This Buddha looks around and shakes his head. I say, It seems we’re on the edge of an apocalypse. I guess you always knew we were wired for trouble. Wired to ignore reality as

by Pema Chödrön When I was about six years old I received the essential bodhichitta teaching from an old woman sitting in the sun. I was walking by her house one day feeling lonely, unloved, and mad, kicking anything I could find. Laughing, she said to me, "Little girl, don't you go letting life harden your heart." Right there, I received this pith instruction: we can let the circumstances of our lives harden us so that we become increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can l

by Lama Tsultrim Allione Feeding our demons rather than fighting them might seem to contradict the conventional Western approach to what assails us, but it turns out to be a remarkably effective path to inner peace and liberation. Demons are our obsessions and fears, chronic illnesses, or common problems like depression, anxiety and addiction. They are not bloodthirsty ghouls waiting for us in dark places; they are within us, the forces that we fight inside ourselves. They ar

by Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo To me the special female quality (which of course many men have as well) is first of all a sharpness, a clarity. It cuts through—especially intellectual ossification. It's very sharp and gets to the point. To me the Dakini principle stands for the intuitive force. Women get it in a flash—they're not interested in intellectual discussion which they normally find dry and cold with minimum appeal. To women that's the long way of going about it. They go t

by Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo In Tibetan Buddhism in the West ••• “Sometimes, even if the lama is sitting in front of you, you can feel there’s a thousand miles between you; likewise, you can be a thousand miles away and feel that the guru is right there, sitting in your heart.” Q: If one has taken a teacher and then sees them behaving badly or in seemingly inappropriate ways, what advice do you give students who are interpreting this? Is it even acceptable to leave a teacher onc

by Jack Jenkins In Think Progress Rev. angel Kyodo williams doesn’t like stereotypes.  That’s not entirely surprising, since she also seems to enjoy shattering them. She’s a black queer woman in an American Buddhist tradition often steered by white men; a Buddhist operating in activist circles of mostly Christians and Jews; a leader of the Religious Left who doesn’t use the word “God.” And while williams — whose first and last name aren’t capitalized — is known as a hard-char

by Nora Bateson I keep hearing people say we have a crisis of leadership. I agree. But the leadership required now is not old-school leadership. Whatever leadership used to be—it used to be. Now, it has to be something different. Now, we all have to be more than we were. Leadership models come in many flavors. Strategic leadership, leadership from behind, organizational, innovative, creative leadership, collective leadership, transformational leadership, cross cultural leader

by Susan Szpakowski In our study circle, we have been exploring the lives of women practitioners and teachers. We want to know about their experience, how they express their path and understanding. But when we read about the lives of Yeshe Tsogyal and Mandarava, two 8th-9th century consorts of Padmasambhava (centre), we realize it's difficult to separate fact from fiction. Their stories are fantastical, with versions that are sometimes contradictory. How can we peer through t

by Rikke Braren Lauritzen A glimpse into everyday life within a contemporary Tibetan nunnery, as experienced by a Western woman. Excerpted from LEVEKUNST art of life. Here the nuns are satisfied and happy with the conditions and they smile and spread their love everywhere they come and go. In Denmark I sometimes have the craving of isolating myself from others, going to remote places and meditating and in daily life appreciating just doing my own things in my own way. I norma

by Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche This is what I know about my mother, and what has been told to me by the people who knew her. When she was young, she had a very loving heart and really cared about the welfare of others. She liked to help poor people and animals. This was one of her main qualities as a child. She especially cared about the Law of Karma and was very careful about even her small deeds. While still very young, 13 or 14 years old, she took teachings in Tibet from differe

Mandala: What inspired you to write this book? Vicki Mackenzie: I never met Freda Bedi. It was such a shame. But from my earliest days in the Dharma, I heard about her. I went to Kopan in November 1976 for my first course there, and she had just visited. There was a buzz because Lama Yeshe had brought her into the gompa, into “the Tent” as it was then called, and put her on the throne. He made three full-length prostrations to her. Unfortunately, she died shortly afterwards,