Buddha Weekly's Latest Features
How to Read Buddhist texts in the original language and why it is a power practice.
Verbal recitation of Suttas and Sutras is a powerful, profound practice — especially if recited in Pali or Sanskrit. Many teachers recommend trying to recite and read in the original transcribed language, in the language the Buddha spoke. Reading in this way, you can visualize yourself listening to the Buddha. To illustrate...
How Tibetan singing bowls help our body: the healing benefits of the three-thousand-year old practice.
Did you know that sound has healing effects? Tibetan singing bowls are being used for more than 3000 years now and it is believed that these singing bowls can help reduce stress and induce relaxation. In this article, we will see how Tibetan singing bowls affect our body and whether these bowls...
What’s so special about Hayagriva? In difficult times the wrathful Heruka emanation of Amitabha is an important Buddhist practice
"Whoever, including even the insects, has heard the name and mantra of Hayagriva only one time will never again fall into the lower paths." [6] Many Buddhist teachers recommend Hayagriva as the practice most needed in modern times of rampant Egoism and Attachment. Hayagriva — Amtitabha's most wrathful form — is the...
The Discourse that Set the Dharma Wheel Rolling: Three Key Principles Taught by Buddha in Forty Life-Inspiring Verses
Buddha taught three key principles of the Buddha Dharma path, summarized elegantly in "The Discourse that Set the Dharma-Wheel Rolling" as forty life-inspiring verses. [Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. The full text as verses in English translation are below. This concise version excludes some of the lengthier narrative commentaries.] This sutra sets out the fundamental...
15 Miracles and 15 Days: Chotrul Duchen, the Day Buddha’s Great Miracles: Buddha, reluctant to use miraculous powers, displayed 15 miracles to help correct the errors of six prideful teachers
The first moon of the New Year (Lunar) is Chotrul Cuchen (Chunga Choepa) the Day celebrating Buddha's Miracles — often celebrated with a butter lamp festival. The festival of Buddha's fifteen miracles actually begins on Losar (New Year), this year on February 12, 2021. For 15 consecutive days, the faithful celebrate the...
Preparing for Losar, Lunar New Year 2021, Year of the Golden Ox. May All Beings be Happy!
Lunar New Year is celebrated in many countries around the world — as Losar, the Tibetan New Year, as Chinese New Year, or just as "lunar" new year. Most special occasions in Buddhism align with the lunar calendar. This year, Losar is on Friday, February 12, 2021, the year of the Golden...
Celebrating the Lunar: Special Dates in 2021 for Buddha Dharma Practice including Buddha Days, Tsog, Medicine Buddha, Tara
Most special days in Buddhist Practices tend to align on lunar calendars. Buddha's birthday, for example, varies on the Western calendar year-to-year. Losar, or Tibetan New Year, is celebrated on the Lunar calendar. The most important days of the entire year are typically the "Buddha Days" at the beginning of the year,...
Buddha’s tooth or dog’s tooth? Are Buddhist deities real? How deities actually exist and why Buddhist faith is still important
In Vajrayana and Mahayana we accept multiple Buddhas and deities — not only the historical Buddha. To some Westerners, the only way to accept this view is with rationalizations such as, "Deities are mind-constructs", they are "archetypes and symbols given form", or "Deities are our own Buddha Nature," and so on. Or,...
How Your Spirituality and Buddhist Refuge Can Impact Your Health — a Buddhist Approach to Healthy Faith
Numerous medical research studies support the concept that faith and spirituality are "good for your health." Although many mistake one for the other — and they have some things in common — faith and spirituality are quite different. They both contain the idea of developing a relationship with a higher understanding or...
Book Excerpt: Gelug Mahamudra, Eloquent Speech of Manjushri, a commentary and practice guide on Sutra and Tantra Mahamudra by H.E. Zasep Tulku Rinpoche
On November 24, Gelug Mahamudra: Eloquent Speech of Manjushri, will release with a book signing launch event in Toronto, Canada. The beautiful book, by H.E. Zasep Rinpoche, is lavishly illustrated in colour by well-known Tangkha artist Ben Christian. [1000 word excerpt from Chapter 1 below.] The book, Gelug Mahamudra Eloquent Speech of...
Why do Buddhas and Enlightened Beings need offerings? The simple answer: they don’t. The better answer is…
Nothing confuses people interested in Buddhism — or new to the Dharma — more than the topic of offerings. It seems counter-intuitive from a "western" point-of-view. Buddhas have gone beyond all attachment, cravings or even the sense of "self" and "other" so why would an Enlightened Being appreciate an offering of fruit, incense,...
Guanyin: “Most Widely Beloved Buddhist Divinity”; Devotion to the 33 Forms of Compassion and Love
Guanyin is often referred to as the "most widely beloved Buddhist Divinity."[2] Why? Because Her love is unconditional, all-embracing — with all 1000 arms! — and She will never cease her merciful activity until all beings are rescued from Samsara's suffering. Guanshiyin Bodhisattva's popularity and forms eclipse any dualistic attempts to define...
