Understanding Emptiness in Buddhist Teachings
The Buddhist concept of “emptiness” is one of the most misunderstood by Westerners. Perhaps some of its true meaning is lost in the translation to English, or perhaps some of...
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The Flower Sermon
While the Buddha gave many spoken sermons after he became enlightened, during one sermon in particular he did nothing but hold up a flower. It is said that upon seeing...
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Where is the Buddha?
A monk embarked on a long pilgrimage to find the Buddha. He wandered fruitlessly for several years until he reached a river. Across the river, it was said, was the...
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Panchayudha Jataka – Five Kinds of Weapons
The Bodhisattva was once born as a son to King Brahmadatta. At his naming ceremony, the king’s priests prophesied that the prince would become a good and noble ruler, famous...
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The Eight Stages of Jhana
Jhana is the Pali word for meditation or a meditative state that is best characterized as a condition of supreme tranquillity. According to the Pali Canon, there are eight stages...
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Buddhist Mudras: Hand Gestures of the Buddha
The serene smile of the Buddha is his most distinguishing feature. Along with this, the viewer’s attention cannot help but be drawn towards the Buddha’s graceful hands, displayed in a...
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The Buddhist Tour
Places connected to the life of the Buddha are sacred to Buddhists across the world. The most important of these are his birthplace in Lumbini, Nepal, and in India —...
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Tibetan Buddhism
History Buddhism travelled into Tibet towards the end of the 8th century CE when its King, Trisong Detsen, invited two Buddhist masters from India. Shantarakshita from Nalanda (in modern day...
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The Dalai Lama
Lamas or teachers are senior monks (or nuns). Lay Tibetans can also become lamas. Well-versed in the sacred texts, a lama must also possess the requisite skills for conducting rituals....
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What is the Pali Canon in Buddhism?
The Pali Canon refers to the collected scriptures of Theravada Buddhism (pure land Buddhism), the oldest school of Buddhism founded in India that later spread to Sri Lanka and the...
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Who is Kuan Yin? Also known as Kwan Yin & Guan Yin.
Dan Brown made the phrase “sacred feminine” a household term in his bestseller The Da Vinci Code; the concept, however, has been in existence for centuries and is a central...
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The Happy Buddha
Pictured above: Buddha Groove’s Cheering Happy Buddha Porcelain Statue Is Happy Buddha really a Buddha? The image of the Laughing Buddha is based on a wandering Chinese monk, Budai (Hotei,...
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What is significance of Ganesha in Buddhism?
Hindu traders from the 10th century onwards introduced Ganesha to the rest of Asia. Along with other Hindu gods (Brahma, Indra, Shiva and Vishnu), Ganesha was assimilated into Buddhism. The...
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