zen

ONE DAY IN 1977, in his “Literary History of the Beat Generation” class at Naropa Institute, Allen Ginsberg challenged his students with a question: “How many of you have signed up for meditation instruction yet?” Only about half of the scruffy aspir

Calligraphy by Hakuin. Above the character “Virtue” it reads: “If you pile up money for your children and grandchildren, they won’t be able to hold onto it. If you pile up books for your children and grandchildren, they won’t read any of them. No, th

TO say that Zen is an “embodied practice“is to say that Zen can’t be found in words on the page, or in the mind that creates the ideas behind those words. But we have to start somewhere, and words are what we have. When I study the talks in Zen Mind,

DHARMA REALM BUDDHIST UNIVERSITY 4951 Bodhi Way, Ukiah, CA 95482. (707) 621-7000, info@drbu.edu, www.drbu.edu • Dharma Realm Buddhist University (DRBU) is an accredited university in northern California dedicated to liberal education in the broad Bud

Quarantine life got you on edge? Experience the tranquility of a Zen garden in Kyoto without dealing with travel and, you know, people. Zen Fox Studio rock gardens, made in West Lafayette by artist Sarah Vrabely, come in a variety of sizes and styles

4300 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90029. (323) 665-4300, Fax: (323) 665-4404, service@againstthestream.org, www.againstthestream.org • Founded by Noah Levine, author of Dharma Punx, Against The Stream has two centers in Los Angeles and Santa Monica o

I was born in 1947 in a place that doesn’t exist anymore: the Panama Canal Zone. It was an American possession at the time and my father was stationed there. Growing up as a navy brat, I lived many places, and I’ve continued to move around a lot as a

Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight University of Hawai‘i Press 2,256 pages (3 volumes); $90 Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight is Paul Swanson’s English translation of the Mohe zhiguan (Jpn., Maka shikan; literally, “great calming and insight”), a massive comp

Homage to Jizo Bodhisattva, protector of those crossing over, guardian of children who have died, comforter of loved ones struggling on the path of crossing over from this life and those who grieve their deaths; homage to your great vow and to the fe

The second-century Indian Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna had it out for anyone addicted to logic. He recognized logic’s importance in the context of philosophical discourse but observed that many of his non-Buddhist contemporaries wrongly believed in

PEMA KHANDRO RINPOCHE is a lineage holder in the Nyingma and Kagyu traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as one of the few Westerners recognized and enthroned as a tulku. She founded the nonprofit organization Ngakpa International, residential medi

THERE IS A CLASSIC KOAN in the Zen tradition, called “Sun Faced Buddha, Moon Faced Buddha.” In this koan story, Zen master Baso is dying. The head monk comes to visit him and asks Baso, “How are you doing?” Baso replies, “Sun Faced Buddha, Moon Faced

I have just set up camp on a rock ledge when all hell breaks loose. A violent windstorm suddenly sweeps out of the Panhandle, shaking my tent like an earthquake, and me with it. I step out to check the ropes anchoring the tent and blowing sand fills

4951 Bodhi Way, Ukiah, CA 95482. (707) 621-7000, info@drbu.edu, www.drbu.edu • Dharma Realm Buddhist University (DRBU) is an accredited university in northern California dedicated to liberal education in the broad Buddhist tradition. 3436 Divisadero

In Conversation with Joseph Goldstein By Gail Stark Wisdom Publications 2020; 256 pp., $18.95 (paper) Joseph Goldstein is a key founder of the Insight Meditation movement in the West; Gail Stark, a businesswoman, has been his friend and student for m