Tabla de contenidos para Fall 2016 en Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly

Earlier this year, our not-for-profit foundation underwent a name change. If you were a reader of our other magazine, Shambhala Sun, you surely noticed, as both the foundation and that magazine changed their name to Lion’s Roar. If you’re strictly a Buddhadharma reader, however, this change might have passed you by. The lion’s roar was said to be the Buddha’s own metaphor for the fearless proclamation of the truth of the dharma. It reflects our aspiration to be a fearless and powerful voice for Buddhism in our society, supporting genuine Buddhism in all its forms, offering the dharma to everyone who would benefit from it, and communicating via the most appropriate means for each audience. Buddhadharma has always been intended for an audience of committed practitioners of all traditions: people…

Q I have been on the Buddhist path for fifteen years. Twice daily at home, I read from Buddhist books, meditate, and chant. But somehow, I just don’t get compassion as the Buddha taught it. My concern is that my practice is about saving myself. I have tried earnestly to change, but I don’t know how. What can you suggest? I feel both two-faced and guilty. NARAYAN HELEN LIEBENSON: I don’t think you are at all aware of the compassion already expressed in your sincere and honest question. To be holding this question with such puzzlement points to the dedication you already have to be compassionate toward all. If not, this wouldn’t be an issue for you. You would go merrily on your way, simply content with your own progress…

Tibet, 19th century Kagyu and Buddhist lineages Ground mineral pigment on cotton Collection Rubin Museum of Art item no. 65265 | himalayanart.org Practitioners today enjoy exposure to a great variety of Buddhist traditions. In the last several millennia, the Buddhist teachings have branched into innumerable traditions and lineages, each with their own doctrines and ritual techniques. The Buddha is often quoted (erroneously, it turns out) as telling his disciples to “be a light unto themselves” in evaluating the teachings; this message of individual choice has come to form a core part of Western Buddhism. There is a temptation to treat this bounty as one might a wellstocked buffet: take what appeals to us and leave what does not. Surely only we know best what is in our own interest, and…

Something Is Deeply Wrong Pema Chödrön speaks out about racist violence against Blacks in America. It has finally really gotten through to me how dangerous it is to be black in America, especially for black men. It feels like Emmett Till all over again. Even in the case of Trayvon Martin, who was killed by a private citizen, I wonder, “How could it be that George Zimmerman was not convicted of any crime?” As this systemic oppression is seen over and over again in full sight with no justice, it is not surprising that there will be violent reactions such as the tragic shooting of twelve innocent police in Dallas. QR If parents of black children have to teach them how to behave with police so they won’t get killed,…

Beginning with the Fall issue, you’ll be seeing different contributors to the Ask the Teachers column. We’d like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks to Narayan Helen Liebenson, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, and Sallie Jiko Tisdale. Narayan Helen Liebenson has been an integral part of the Ask the Teachers column since the first issue in 2002. Thank you, Narayan, for faithfully sharing your wisdom and guiding readers in the pages of Buddhadharma for so many years. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche joined Ask the Teachers in 2005, imparting the teaching of Bön and Tibetan Buddhism. Our thanks to Tenzin Rinpoche and also to Marcy Vaughn for her generous assistance with transcribing and editing. Sallie Jiko Tisdale became a contributor to the column in 2014 in the wake of Zenkei Blanche…

When Sayadaw U Pandita came to Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, in 1984 to lead a retreat primarily for a small group of Western teachers and senior Western students, most knew him then only as the successor to the Mahasi Sayadaw, who had passed away two years earlier. Yet for many of those who are the most senior teachers in the West today, that retreat provided a singular opportunity to do long-term intensive practice with one whom they came to regard as a true master. When I was training with him decades later, U Pandita pulled out photo albums from that retreat. I remember his joyous smile as he showed me pictures of Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, Jack Kornfield, and others, glowing from months of intensive practice and of…

So much of our life is spent asleep— “dead to the outer world, but potentially alive to an exciting inner world,” as Andrew Holecek puts it. In Dream Yoga (Sounds True 2016), Holecek draws on decades of experience navigating this inner world to give us detailed instructions on how to induce lucid dreaming and develop it into a transformative practice. Skillfully combining modern Western approaches with traditional Tibetan yogas of sleep, Holecek describes how these techniques can help us confront fear, rid ourselves of the delusions that keep us “asleep to the true nature of things,” and prepare for the experience of death. What is doubt’s role in Chan Buddhist practice? In his short and powerful book Great Doubt (Wisdom 2016), Jeff Shore explains that one form of doubt—skeptical doubt—produces…

Twenty years ago I took part in a jukai ceremony and received the precepts. I had debated with myself over whether to make such a public declaration, and then I read a description that likened the precepts to logs laid across a marsh: they were there to help you in your journey. I went ahead with the ceremony and have never regretted it. However, at the time, even though many people sew a rakusu, or buddha robe, as part of jukai, I accepted the option not to. On the one hand, though I feel dedicated to the study and practice of the dharma, I am not sure that I can confidently call myself a Buddhist. The terms “Buddhism” and “Buddhist” are only a couple of hundred years old and of…

To know her, one needed only to sew alongside her. It was as if she was holding your hand with each stitch. After being taught by Kasai Joshin Sensei, a teacher in the lineage of Sawaki Kodo Roshi, she transmitted the practice of sewing robes, or nyoho-e, to students across the country, gently waking up delusion as she went. If you acted as though you knew what you were doing and boasted about how good your stitches were, she would frown and say, “This is zazen,” bringing you back to the profound ordinariness of life. If you were struggling, she would smile and say, “This is zazen,” and you would remember to breathe. In this way, you could know her heart—and your own. Zenkei Blanche Hartman passed into the great…

Prajnatara Transmission of the Light | Case 28 MAIN CASE The Buddhist master Punyamitra said to Prajnatara, “Do you remember events of the past?” Prajnatara said, “I remember in a distant eon I was living in the same place as you. You were expounding great wisdom, and I was reciting the most profound scripture. This event today is in conformity with past cause.” VERSE The light of the moon reflected in the depths of the pond is bright in the sky. The water flowing to the horizon is thoroughly clear and pure. Sifting and straining, over and over, even if you know it exists, Boundless and clear, it turns out to be utterly ineffable. — from Keizan Jokin’s Transmission of the Light, translation by Thomas Cleary Prajnatara was the teacher…

Bodhisattvas are beings dedicated to helping relieve suffering for all, realizing universal awakening, and leading all beings to that same awakening. Such practice cannot be merely about self-help or personal salvation. Bodhisattva practitioners are those who realize their deep interconnectedness with all beings. Such realization might start from hearing teachings but then becomes viscerally affirmed through meditative or devotional practices. Bodhisattva practitioners do not see all the suffering beings as “other” or separate. We are all in this together. What are the implications of this for modern practitioners amid the many challenges we now face? Among many other traditional lists of bodhisattva practices, we have the classic four vows: to free or save all the innumerable beings; to destroy all the numberless delusions, deeply ingrained in ourselves and our society;…

MEDITATION CENTERS CALIFORNIA AGAINST THE STREAM BUDDHIST MEDITATION SOCIETY 4300 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90029. (323) 665-4300, Fax: (323) 665-4404, service@ , www.againstthestream.org * Founded by Noah Levine, author of Dharma Punx, Against the Stream has two centers in Los Angeles and Santa Monica offering weekly classes, daylong retreats, and special class series. AGAINST THE STREAM BUDDHIST MEDITATION SOCIETY 2701 Folsom St, San Francisco, CA 94110. bayarea@againstthestream.org, www.againstthestream.org * Meditation center in the Mission offers weekly classes, day-longs, class series and residential retreats. CHAGDUD GONPA RIGDZIN LING PO Box 279, Junction City, CA 96048. (530) 623-2714, FAX: (530) 623-6709, sangha@chagdudgonpa.org, www.chagdudgonpa.org * Nyingma Buddhist center in serene Northern California Alps. Founded by Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche. Daily meditation; teaching and retreat programs; individual retreat facilities. DHARMA ZEN CENTER 1025 S…