The first of the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths pointed to us the truth of suffering. Suffering needs to be recognized as such and faced head-on if we wish to truly alleviate it. Our efforts to deny it or indulge in sensory indulgences to distract ourselves from it will inevitably lead to more suffering. In the Second Noble Truth, the Buddha dives deeper to untangle the cause of this state of dukkha, this unsat ...

Reading her story, I cried. How similar she was to my teenage self! Holed up in my hot bedroom, singing to myself and dreaming of getting the hell outta dodge. But the racial stereotypes associated with my Asian Americanness afforded me opportunities. Her blackness was ghettoized; her murder, dismissed.    In an earlier piece exploring the ways in which systemic violence shapes the lives of today’s you ...

Open Call For Proposals: BPF 2014 Gathering [divide style="2"] Dear Friends, Wisdom. Awareness. Action. Together! For the first time since 2006, Buddhist Peace Fellowship will host a national gathering, meeting face to face to deepen our practice in social justice and spiritual awakening. The gathering, headlined by Sulak Sivaraksa and Joanna Macy as our Friday night keynote speakers, will take place on Aug ...

The first installment of this series considered the Four Noble Truths through the lens of social or systemic suffering. The question is: how can we use the Four Noble Truths as a tool for social analysis? My experience among India’s Buddhists, followers of the brilliant and exemplary untouchable leader B.R. Ambedkar, leads me to examine India’s enduring caste system — a source of suffering for more than two ...

BPF National Gathering August 29–31, Oakland, California [divide style="2"] Send us your Mandala Form to indicate your interest! (a limited number of scholarships also available. email us to find out more!) [divide style="2"] Wisdom. Awareness. Action. Together. Featuring Keynote speakers Sulak Sivaraksa and Joanna Macy [divide] For the first time since 2006, Buddhist Peace Fellowship will host a national G ...

Todd felt that “inner nudge.” You know the one. The one suggesting, then demanding, that you practice peace beyond the meditation cushion. The one longing for a community that believes in working together to address the world’s great concerns. Yep, that nudge. Where did Todd’s nudge take him? Like so many of today’s seekers, Todd found himself online. And there, sifting through the search results, Todd disc ...

How We Caused (and perpetuate) the African Homophobia we now Decry   [divide style="2"] Transcript forthcoming — TWM apologizes for the delay and thanks you for your patience!  [divide style="3"] Faith Adiele is the author of Meeting Faith (W.W. Norton), a memoir about becoming Thailand’s first black Buddhist nun, which won the PEN Beyond Margins Award for Best Memoir. She is the writer / narrator / su ...

"David Loy's new blog pulls no punches. Jumping off from the recent IPCC climate disruption report, he engages us deeply with the profound questions of whether and how Buddhadharma can be a force for the change we must see in the world. A provocative read!" —Belinda Griswold, BPF Board Member [divide] What Would the Buddha Do? [divide style="2"] By David Loy Originally on The Huffington Post Maybe every mod ...

  Storytelling, Movement Building, and the Second Noble Truth By Mushim Ikeda [divide] We were taking an easy family hike in Tilden Park, in the hills above Berkeley, California, and I was exhausted. This was around 18 years ago. Raising and being with a young child all day, every day, especially when you don’t have a lot of money, can do that to you. As parents go, I was on the whole fairly receptive, atte ...

[Editor's Note: If you, like us, are thirsting for more socially grounded perspectives on Dharma, you can help Zenju get her beautiful, boldly peaceful meditation center, Still Breathing, up and running in East Oakland, California.] Zenju at the opening ceremony of Still Breathing Meditation Center. Watch their video and support this brand-new sangha space here! [divide] artwork by Zenju Earthlyn Manuel Ouc ...