Women in Buddhism Guides

Sometimes the Only Thing to Do is Pray: An Excerpt from A Dakini’s Counsel

Sometimes the Only Thing to Do is Pray: An Excerpt from A Dakini’s Counsel

Sometimes The Only Thing to Do is Pray A Selection from Chapter 1 Excerpted from A Dakini's Counsel: Sera Khandro's Spiritual Advice and Dzogchen Instructions By Sera Khandro Translated by Christina Monson About This Title Sera Khandro Dewai Dorje was a modern Tibetan Buddhist teacher who single-pointedly pursued a life of Dharma while balancing family life and public [...]
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Heart Advice: Pronouncements Before Passing

Heart Advice: Pronouncements Before Passing

Heart Advice: Pronouncements Before Passing A Selection from Chapter 8 Excerpted from A Dakini's Counsel: Sera Khandro's Spiritual Advice and Dzogchen Instructions By Sera Khandro Translated by Christina Monson About This Title Sera Khandro Dewai Dorje was a modern Tibetan Buddhist teacher who single-pointedly pursued a life of Dharma while balancing family life and public teaching. This collection [...]
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Women in Buddhism

Women in Buddhism

Women in Buddhism Throughout history women have played a vital role in the preservation and presentation of Buddhism. The Buddha himself expressed deep respect for his mother and as several contemporary Buddhist scholars have pointed out, women have played a significant role in helping to shape and preserve Buddhism. That is certainly true for Buddhism [...]
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Tibetan Buddhist Books in 2023: A Review

Tibetan Buddhism in 2023 Read More We published many books of interest from the Vajrayana traditions of Tibet, Bhutan, and the Indian Himalayas See our other Year in Review Guides: Zen and Chan | Tibetan Buddhism | More in Buddhism Yoga | Kids Books Buy 2 books for 20% off, 3 books for 30% off, [...]
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The Passing of Christina Monson

The Passing of Christina Monson

The Passing of Christina Monson Christina's Masterpiece Available May, 2024 Paperback | Ebook  $26.95 - Paperback Add to Cart We are deeply saddened  to share the news that Christina Monson—teacher, translator, and disciple of Chatral Rinpoche among others—passed away November 19, 2023. Christina's book,  A Dakini's Counsel: Sera Khandro's Spiritual Advice and Dzogchen Instructions will [...]
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Tibetan Masters of the 8th Century

Tibetan Masters of the 8th Century

Masters of the 8th Century Learn More Reader Guides to some of the 8th century masters of Tibet See Also:  Profiles of early Indian Mahayana figures | Tibetan Masters of the 8th Century | Tibetan Masters of the 10th-11th Centuries Tibetan Masters of the Eighth Century The eighth century was an incredible flouring of the [...]
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Yeshe Tsogyal: A Guide for Readers to the Dakini Princess

Yeshe Tsogyal: A Guide for Readers to the Dakini Princess

Yeshe Tsogyal Learn More Kharchen Yeshe Tsogyal was a princess and queen of King Tritson Detsen until she became a disciple of Guru Rinpoche and achieved complete freedom Image from the cover of The Life and Visions of Yeshe Tsogyal See Also:  Dudjom Tersar | Longchen Nyingtig | Namcho & Palyul ___________________ Guru Rinpoche | [...]
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Tara the Liberator: A Guide for Readers

Tara the Liberator: A Guide for Readers

Tara the Liberator: A Guide for Readers Ārya Tārā (Sanskrit), also known as Jetsun Drölma in Tibetan, or simply "Tārā" is a meditation deity and an important figure in Buddhist thought, history, and practice. While often described as a goddess or protectress, she is considered a liberator for her ability to remove obstacles, especially fear [...]
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Knowing How to Be Satisfied

Knowing How to Be Satisfied

Knowing How to Be Satisfied An excerpt from Alive Until You’re Dead by Susan Moon. What is given to us is the chance to become human beings together. Even the challenges and the difficulties are given to us. We didn’t ask for these challenges, but they are given, and what is given is a gift. [...]
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Tibetan Buddhist Books in 2021: A Review

Tibetan Buddhist Books in 2021: A Review

Tibetan Buddhism in 2021 Read More We published many books of interest from the Vajrayana traditions of Tibet, Bhutan, and the Indian Himalayas See our other Year in Review Guides: Theravada/Pali/Insight | Chan, Zen, Mahayana | Tibetan Buddhism Receive a 30% discount on these titles through January 2nd using code 2021YE at checkout We are [...]
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The Return of the Buddha in Mahaprajapati’s Life

The Return of the Buddha in Mahaprajapati’s Life

Reunion of Mother and Son The following is an excerpt from The Woman Who Raised the Buddha By Wendy Garling Foreword by H.H. the Fourteenth Dalai Lama The Woman Who Raised the Buddha$18.95 - PaperbackBy: Wendy Garling Add to Cart Just as Mahaprajapati’s life was upended when Maya died, it was about to happen all over again. [...]
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Golden Dragon Activity from Kuan Yin | Free Download

Golden Dragon Activity from Kuan Yin | Free Download

Create a golden dragon twirler to send heartfelt wishes out into the world! For centuries, dragons have been represented in cultures throughout the world, though attitudes towards them differ. Chinese Emperors used the dragon as symbols of power, nobility, and divine descent for at least 6,000 years. We can find many dragons on furniture, clothing, [...]
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A Guide to the Treasury of Precious Instructions

A Guide to the Treasury of Precious Instructions

The Treasury of Precious Instructions Guide for Readers This guide to exploring The Treasury of Precious Instructions includes selections from the text, words of advice and praises from distinguished Tibetan teachers, audio and video series from the translators, and helpful resources. Use the navigation menu below to explore each page and discover this truly remarkable [...]
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Remembering Diane di Prima

Remembering Diane di Prima

“the only war that matters is the war against the imagination.” —Diane di Prima Onehandclapping, CC BY-SA 3.0 We just learned that Diane di Prima passed away on October 25th, 2020.  While we did not publish any of her extraordinary stand-alone works, she and her work appear in many Shambhala Publications books.  Though I had [...]
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Remembering Yvonne Rand

Remembering Yvonne Rand

Yvonne’s dear friend and colleague, Zen priest and teacher Jisho Warner, composed the following obituary of Yvonne Rand. You can also view our profile of Yvonne here. Yvonne Rand, September 23, 1935 – August 19, 2020   no wind, yet the windbells keep on ringing —Kokan Shiren   Yvonne Rand (née Boye), a significant member of [...]
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Death by Seiza

Death by Seiza

The History of the Zen Nuns’ Practice Excerpt from Naked in the Zendo Early in my Japanese monastic practice, I had a wonderful trip to Eiheiji, the head temple for Soto Zen in Japan. Eiheiji has the stature and grandeur of the Vatican in Rome. Its scenery, dignity, deep practice, and beautiful furnishings inspire reverie [...]
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Practicing Patience

Practicing Patience

Kshanti Paramita An excerpt from Deep Hope If this present moment is lived whole-heartedly and meticulously, the future will take care of itself. —Alan Arkin, An Improvised Life We’ve all heard it before, these directives that suggest we could get off, or at least pause from, whatever trajectory our habits have set us on. But [...]
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Free Video Series with Pema Chödrön

Free Video Series with Pema Chödrön

Sign Up for 5 Free Videos and a Meditation Practice from Pema Chödrön! ENTER YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS TO RECEIVE A SERIES OF 5 VIDEOS AND A MEDITATION PRACTICE. In her first new book of spiritual teachings in over seven years, Pema Chödrön offers fresh wisdom, heartfelt reflections, and the signature humor and insight that have [...]
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Khandro Tsering Chödrön: A Reader’s Guide

Khandro Tsering Chödrön: A Reader’s Guide

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 [...]
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Butterfly Kiss for the Buddha

Butterfly Kiss for the Buddha

Sutra 5 An Excerpt from The Mama Sutra I’m speeding down Sir Francis Drake Boulevard on a glorious fall day, running through yellow lights, completely stressed out, trying to get to the meditation hall on time. I’m teaching the daily yoga classes at a women’s meditation retreat at Spirit Rock, a Buddhist retreat center in [...]
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Devī and Pema | A Duet

Devī and Pema | A Duet

The following is an excerpt from Inseparable Across Lifetimes by Holly Gayley A Letter from Tāre Lhamo The tenth letter Tāre Lhamo sent to Namtrul Rinpoche during their correspondence. This is a duet that Tāre Lhamo composed between Devī and Pema. Devī means “goddess” in Sanskrit and translates the second part of her name, Lhamo, [...]
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Sera Khandro: A Reader’s Guide

Sera Khandro: A Reader’s Guide

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 [...]
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We Won’t Last Forever | An Excerpt from Let the Whole Thundering World Come Home

We Won’t Last Forever | An Excerpt from Let the Whole Thundering World Come Home

Death A Long Distance Call On a Wednesday morning, sitting in my old blue Volvo in a parking lot after just getting a facial—my cheeks redolent with cream, all pores clean—I called the Cancer Center in Santa Fe, persuaded an oncologist to look up my chart. The oncologist I was assigned to was on vacation, [...]
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The Future of Religion: A Reader’s Guide

The Future of Religion: A Reader’s Guide

In the world of religion, some things stay the same, while many are constantly adapting to meet our new world of the internet and cell phones, scientific discovery, increasing awareness of gender and race dynamics, multiculturalism, the numbers of people identifying their religion as “none” or “spiritual but not religious,” and so much more. We [...]
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Sacred Are the Trees

Sacred Are the Trees

Sacred Are the Trees: A Retelling of Ancient Stories from Biographies of the Buddha by Wendy Garling, author of Stars at Dawn Why Trees? Those familiar with the Buddha’s biography know that all major events in his life took place under trees. He was born under a shala tree (shorea robusta), for example, as his [...]
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Mandarava Reader’s Guide

Mandarava Reader’s Guide

Mandarava Learn More A Reader's Guide to one of Guru Rinpoche's main disciples See Also:  Profiles of early Indian Mahayana figures | Tibetan Masters of the 8th Century | Tibetan Masters of the 10th-11th Centuries Guru Rinpoche | Yeshe Tsogyal | Mandarava| Kawa Peltsek | More of Guru Rinpoche's 25 Disciples This series of blog [...]
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An Interview with Thubten Chodron

An Interview with Thubten Chodron

Thubten Chodron is an American Buddhist nun in the Tibetan tradition. A student of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan masters, she became a nun in 1977. She is abbess of Sravasti Abbey, a Buddhist monastery in eastern Washington State. She is the author of several books, her most recent being  Don't Believe [...]
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Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo’s Pilgrimage to China

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo’s Pilgrimage to China

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, author of Into the Heart of Life , Reflections of a Mountain Lake, and Cave in the Snow, and who is profiled in the recently released Dakini Power, just returned from a pilgrimage in China, following the footsteps of Xuanzang and visiting the Four Sacred Mountains and four Buddhist rock grottoes.   [...]
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