The dialectical context I will use is from a school of Buddhism called Mādhyamaka, a Buddhist tradition founded by Nagarjuna some 600 years after the Buddha's parinirvana (the great passing).
The Buddha and His mesage: Past, present and future
The Nalanda tradition is a Buddhist philosophical and educational lineage that traces its origins to the ancient Nalanda University in Bihar, India. Nalanda was a renowned center of learning from the 5th to the 12th century CE and attracted diverse community of scholars from all over Asia, making significant contributions to Buddhist philosophy, logic and other fields of knowledge.
Publication of a special poem dedicated to our readers and all those who profess the Buddhist faith. May we all benefit from our Dharma practice so that all beings shall benefit from our love, kindness and compassion.
Theravada Buddhism became the primary cement holding together the numerous ethnic groups
Maitreya is a transcendent bodhisattva named as the universal Buddha of a future time.
Pure Land Buddhism is a somewhat unique school of Buddhism that was popularized in China, where it was transmitted to Japan.
Eihei Dogen (1200-1253), also called Dogen Kigen or Dogen Zenji, was a Japanese Buddhist monk who established Soto Zen in Japan. He is also known for the collection of his writing called Shobogenzo, a masterpiece of the world's religious literature.
The standard answer to the question "What is a Buddha?" is, "A Buddha is someone who has realized the enlightenment that ends the cycle of birth and death and which brings liberation from suffering."
The esoteric teachings, secret initiations, and erotic imagery associated with Buddhist tantra have fueled no end of interest. But tantra may not be what you think it is.
People believe many things about Buddhism that simply are incorrect. They think Buddhists want to get enlightened so they can be blissed out all the time. If something bad happens to you, it's because of something you did in a past life. Everybody knows that Buddhists have to be vegetarians. Unfortunately, much of what "everybody knows" about Buddhism isn't true. Explore these common but mistaken ideas many people in the West have about Buddhism.
I smacked into a couple of blog posts today on the question of what the Buddha said about God. And since the websites seem to think my comments are incoming spam, I am responding to one of the posts here.
Buddhism is practiced in many countries and cultures throughout the world. Mahayana Buddhism has played a significant role in China and it has a long and rich history.
The word "faith" often is used as a synonym for religion; people say "What is your faith?" to mean "What is your religion?"
Mahayana is the dominant form of Buddhism in China, Japan, Korea, Tibet, Vietnam, and several other nations.
Although male teachers dominate the recorded history of Zen Buddhism, many remarkable women were part of Zen history also.
You've heard of Zen. You may even have had moments of Zen—instances of insight and a feeling of connectedness and understanding that seem to come out of nowhere. But what exactly is Zen?
Buddhism is a religion based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who was born in the fifth century B.C. in what is now Nepal and northern India.