Thirsting for Enlightenment
Ayya Khema likens the path to a walk through the desert.
Enlightenment
Enlightenment, or awakening, in Buddhism is used to translate the Pali and Sanskrit term bodhi, which has its root in the meaning of to awaken and to know. It means direct insight into the fundamental truths of existence: the four noble truths, which are the truth of suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the path out of suffering, known as the eightfold path. Enlightenment, or awakening, is distinct from nirvana (Pali, nibbana), which is the extinguishing of suffering, as opposed to understanding the ultimate nature of reality.
TeachingsMagazine | Enlightement
The Mind of Enlightenment: Commentary on Shantideva’s Guide
On Buddhist spiritual practice and attaining the fully awakened state of mind
MeditationMagazine | Interview
The Taboo of Enlightenment
Do we really believe we can awaken? Stephan Bodian talks with popular lay teacher Adyashanti.
Buddha in 2001: Two New Versions of the Path
The retelling of the story of Buddha Shakyamuni's enlightenment
Alice in Enlightenedland
A reimagining of Alice’s encounter with the Cheshire Cat, blending Buddhist concepts of enlightenment, desire, and the nature of reality.
TeachingsMagazine | Special Section
What Is Enlightenment?
Shunryu Suzuki Roshi (1904-1971), founder of Zen Center San Francisco and author of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, was known to discourage questions about enlightenment. Once, when pressed on the subject, he replied, What do you want…
Personal ReflectionsMagazine | Special Section
To the Source
When my mother took LSD in 1975, under the amicable supervision of Stanislav Grof and Joan Halifax, she had no idea I was growing inside her. Throughout the trip, she commented on the movement in her…
MeditationMagazine | Special Section
The Psychedelic Journey to the Zafu
I was nineteen when I first dropped acid. A sophomore at UC Santa Cruz, I was living with my best friend, Kat, in a ramshackle beach cottage. We gave each other a long gaze, wished each…
IdeasMagazine | Special Section
The Roundtable: Help or Hindrance
Whether or not psychedelics have any usefulness to someone on a Buddhist path was the subject of four recent interviews, conducted by Allan Hunt Badiner and combined into the following roundtable discussion. Robert Aitken Roshi of Hawaii is…
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