Although I have on occasion glimpsed what I took to be the light of wisdom in some mutt’s orbs, and while I’m convinced that when asked if a dog had Buddha-nature, Master Joshu answered not wu…

Why most dog lovers don't want to know the answer

A Traditional Tibetan Tale

These stories present varying views—traditional and new—which, collectively, reflect the ancient dharma debate on whether or not a dog has Buddha-nature. Tina Fields, Pico Iyer, Elsie Mitchell, Darryl Ponicsan, and Tom Robbins give us contemporary views.…

The dyslexic believes in dog, and so do I. Blessed be we. My dog, Toby, does a handstand, face deep into his bowl, and eats while balanced on his forepaws. I am astonished. I want to…

Dogs I usually think of as four-legged muscle relaxants, wagging counterparts to Penelope, or helicopter look-alikes with floppy ears for radars. They are creatures of hearth and home—household gods with legs—and they tie us to the…

Once, as a Tibetan trader was preparing to leave on his travels, his mother asked him if he would bring her back a relic from India, the land of the Buddha. “I’m too old to make…

I On a shelf above a wide bedsit two Chinese-green jade Fu dogs;Shishi, lion dogs, Japanese people call them.As centuries drifted by, pairs replaceda solitary guardian, protectorof Buddhist altars, temples,graveyards, Imperial thrones, prosperous homes. This is…

I am the chosen life-companion of a part wolf. As her years were growing long, I became concerned about the quality of her life. Then I heard that a Tibetan lama, the venerable Kusum Lingpa Rinpoche,…

Adapted from the Kukkuravatika Sutta by Jeff Wilson

Can antidepressants help or hinder waking up?

Joseph Goldstein, dharma teacher and IMS cofounder, talks with Amy Gross about Vipassana and Dzogchen.

Every year from as far back as I can remember until I left home to go to college, I would wake up on three or four Sundays each winter to find my dad at war with…

An American Jewish Tibetan Buddhist Nun Visits Israel

Henry Shukman investigates the controversy around an extensive Buddhist network based in London

The mountains and rivers of the immediate present are the manifestation of the path of the ancient buddhas. Because they are the self before the emergence of signs, they are the penetrating liberation of ultimate reality.…

President Clinton has certainly carved out an odd legacy of language. Only months ago, his behavior in the Oval Office turned prime-time television news into salacious reports in need of parental monitoring. Now, the White House…

Khunu Rinpoche Tendzin Gyaltsen has been called a bodhisattva and saint by those who knew him. His knowledge of Tibetan Buddhism was so superior that he came to be accepted by lamas of different schools as…

In Remembrance: Michael Aris Dr. Michael V. Aris, the husband of Burmese opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, died of prostate cancer in London on March 27, his 53rd birthday. Dr. Aris earned…

The First Step in Cultivating Compassion

I am not a Buddhist although I have enjoyed Buddha’s company for many years. Cast in cement, he sits quietly on the deck outside my painting studio surrounded by lumpy concrete animals all purchased at Pizzarilli’s…

As a front-line organic gardener allergic to pesticides of any stripe, I have ample opportunity to practice Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in our huge, teeming garden. Lately, as clouds of pests and beneficial organisms descend onto…

Another Brick in the Wall I would like to respond to one point made by Aitkin Roshi in the article “Buddhism Without Walls.” It is the question of what we may wish to retain in the…

Heal Thy SelfLessons in Mindfulness in MedicineSaki SantorelliCrown: New York, 1999288 pp.; $23 (paper) — Lotus in the Fire:The Healing Power of ZenJim BedardShambhala: Boston, 1999TK pp.; $14.95 (paper) At least two major surveys over the…

Recently I was sitting in a musty old church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, waiting for Jack Kornfield to arrive for an evening dharma talk. As I looked out over the packed pews, I surveyed the sea of…