Guiding Questions Introduction Inspired by decades of experience caring for the dying and years teaching contemplative care around the world, Kirsten DeLeo shares down-to-earth advice and offers short, simple, on-the-spot tools to help you handle your emotions, deal with difficult relationships, talk about spiritual matters, listen fully, and practice self-care. Present Through the End shows [...]

[Note: This article on Buddhist publishing was originally written by Nikko Odiseos, president of Shambhala Publications for the blog Vajrayanaworld.com as requested by Lama Dechen Yeshe Wangmo.  As the blog is no longer, we are hosting it here with a few small updates.]  My longtime friend Lama Wangmo asked if I would pen a few [...]

Buddha Nature Read More In the eleventh century, the great Tibetan scholar-practitioner Gampopa (1079–1153) began his composition known as The Jewel Ornament of Liberation with an exposition on the cause for awakening. What is the cause for awakening? In the Vajrayana and third turning traditions of Buddhism it is buddha nature. Buddha nature is our [...]

The Six Paramitas Learn More The Six Paramitas, or "Perfections," are a fundamental set of teachings for Mahayahana Buddhism Statue of Bodhisattva Guan Yin (Avalokiteshvara) The six paramitas, or transcendent perfections, are an essential concept in the practice of Mahayana Buddhism. They are so fundamental in fact that the “Vehicle of the Perfections” is a [...]

Khandro Tsering Chödrön, from The Life and Times of Jamyang Chokyi Lodro One of the most remarkable Buddhist women of the 20th century surely was Khandro Tsering Chödrön. Born in 1925, she became the spiritual consort of Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, one of the most important teachers of the 20th century. As Tulku Thondup, who [...]

The Teacher-Student Relationship Learn More To truly understand Tibetan Buddhism, one must come to grips with the unique role of the teacher, the dynamics of the teacher-student relationship, and the possibilities that having a teacher can open up. To truly understand Tibetan Buddhism, one must come to grips with the unique role of the teacher, [...]

Milarepa: A Reader's Guide Learn More There are few figures more beloved in the Buddhist Himalayas than the 11th century yogi-hero Milarepa. Namkading Cave area where Milarepa spent many years in retreat Related Reader Guides: Profiles of early Indian Mahayana figures | Tibetan Masters of the 8th Century | Tibetan Masters of the 10th-11th Centuries The Kagyu Tradition | [...]

A Guide to Sera Khandro Learn More Sera Khandro (1892 - 1940), also known as Kunzang Dekyong Wagmo, was one of the great masters of the early 20th century and the English speaking world is fortunate now that both her story and her writings have been emerging more and more. Explore Nyingma Lineages: Dudjom Tersar [...]

One of the Five Maitreya Treatises—the five texts imparted to Asanga by the bodhisattva Maitreya—the Ornament of the Mahayana Sutras (in Sankrit the Mahayanasutralamkara, often shortened to Sutralamkara) presents explanations of bodhisattva motivation, meditation, conduct, and fruition as expounded in the Mahayana sutras as well as demonstrating the superiority of the Mahayana.  In English, the [...]

The Heart Sutra: A Reader's Guide     This is part of a series of articles on the arc of Zen thought, practice, and history, as presented in The Circle of the Way: A Concise History of Zen from the Buddha to the Modern World.  You can start at the beginning of this series or [...]