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    Sitting on the Fence Paid Member

    By Sharon Salzberg
    In order to practice, we have to surrender, we have to take a risk. Otherwise what we’re doing is standing back in order to judge, in order to feel superior. Often the obstacle is fear: we don’t think we’ll ever succeed. And so we’d rather stand apart and be cynical, to feel protected in that way, not having to try. More »
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    Hearing: A Door to Liberation Paid Member

    By William Bodri and Lee Shu-Mei
    The most famous cultivation techique in the Shurangama Sutra is the method reported by the Bodhisattva Kuan-Yin, who used hearing to realize the self-nature. Using hearing, she was able to enter samadhi and ultimately attain complete enlightenment. Manjushri, who is the Buddha of Wisdom and teacher of the other Buddhas, said that this technique surpassed all the other dharma doors in existence. More »
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    Sound Meditation Paid Member

    By Sylvia Boorstein
    One specific method for practicing mindfulness of body sensations is to focus your attention on sounds. Sounds, like everything else, arise and pass away. Just by listening, you can experience the insight of impermanence, an understanding the Buddha taught as crucial for the development of wisdom. Early morning is great for listening. Sounds start to slip into the stillness. In a rural setting, the sounds are likely to be those of birds and animals waking up. In a city, sounds of outside action begin-garbage collection, building construction, traffic. Even in the rarefied air of a high-rise hotel room, plumbing sounds and elevator sounds and footsteps in the hall pick up in pace. Sit in a position in which you can be relaxed and alert. Close your eyes. More »
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    Practices of Purification Paid Member

    THE GOLDSMITH Shakyamuni Buddha THERE ARE THESE GROSS IMPURITlES in gold: dirty sand, gravel, and grit. The dirt-washer, having placed the gold in a vat, washes it again and again until he has washed them away. More »
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    May We All Be Happy... Paid Member

    By Gil Fronsdal
    May all beings be happy. May they live in safety and joy. All living beings, Whether weak or strong, Tall, stout, average, or short, Seen or unseen, near or distant, Born or to be born, May they all be happy. - From the Metta Sutta, Sutta Nipata I.8 More »
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    What is This? Paid Member

    By Martine Bachelor
    . IN sixth-century China, the Buddhist schools were quite scholastic and focused on the scriptures. To move away from this academic direction and toward the Buddha’s original teaching of practicing meditation and realizing awakening in this very life, the Zen school developed its koan practice, in which stories of monks’ awakenings became a starting point for meditative inquiry. By asking and focusing on a single question as a meditative method, Zen practitioners aimed to develop a rich experiential wisdom.In the Korean Zen tradition, one generally meditates on the koan What is this? This question derives from an encounter between the Sixth Patriarch, Huineng (638–713 C.E.), and a young monk, Huaijang, who became one of his foremost disciples: More »