future

  • David Nichtern on the Future of Buddhism in the West Paid Member

    VIA the Huffington Post, The essence of Buddhism, I think most Buddhists would agree, is to cultivate awareness and compassion and to explore our existence in an open and unbiased way. In some sense Buddhism has always been what we Westerners would consider a fusion of religion and science. There are no articles of faith, there is no dogma, nothing to believe without verification. Buddhism is considered a non-theistic tradition, and from that point of view it should mix well with scientific, technological and rationalist thought. Over the past 50 years or so, the Buddhist teachings have taken root (to a certain extent) in our Western culture. Many great teachers have worked hard to translate these teachings and practices into English and European languages and into forms that are accessible to Western students. More »
  • Swayed by the Movement of Mind Paid Member

    An ordinary person’s attention strays according to any movement of mind. Suddenly there is the confusion of believing in self and other, subject and object, and this situation goes on and on repeating itself endlessly. This is samsaric existence. The buddhas and bodhisattvas were successful in getting up on the dry land of enlightenment. But we sentient beings became bewildered, and are now in the unsuccessful, unsatisfactory state we all find ourselves in. We are still in the ocean of samsara; we have not yet gotten our heads fully out of the water. We have roamed about in one confused state of experience after the other, endlessly. At the same time, we haven’t lost our buddha nature. More »