Buddha Weekly's Latest Features
Vajrasattva, the Great Purifier, among the most powerful and profound healing and purifications techniques in Vajrayana Buddhism
All Buddhist practices could ultimately be described by the goal "purification of the five aggregates" — through various forms of meditation and virtues (actions and thoughts.) Purification is a core concept. H.E. Zasep Tulku Rinpoche discusses Vajrasattva purification in video teaching (below.) Vajrasattva meditation and mantra is the...
Karma is Not Fate: Why Karma is Empowering
Why is Karma empowering? One way of viewing Karma is as an aggregate of all of our actions, thoughts, words, dreams, desires into a user-controlled version of fate — that is you control your fate instead of some invisible higher being. Another concept of karma, aligned to both mystical sciences and scientific...
Mahayana Sutra Of The Three Superior Heaps — now, is always the right time to confess downfalls and purify them
Venerable Thubten Chodren explains the importance of the Sutra of the Three Heaps, and why it should be part of everyone's practice: "There are a variety of purification practices, The Bodhisattva’s Confession of Ethical Downfalls being one of the most popular. We all have done actions that we now feel badly about...
Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta: The Great Discourse on the Establishing of Awareness; mindfulness of body, feelings, mind, mental qualities
Perhaps the greatest teaching on mindfulness, the Maha (translates as: great) Satipatthana is a Sutta that serious meditators of all traditions reference in modern teachings. As a Pali sutta, it is an important teaching for the elder path (Theravada) — and mindfulness is a major foundational practice. In advanced Mahamudra and Dzogchen, Vajrayana Buddhist...
Immortal Rain Long Life Prayer to Venerable Zasep Rinpoche from HH. Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche
Venerable Zasep Rinpoche, Spiritual Director of Gaden for the West, is known for the clarity of his profound Buddhist teachings, many of which are found in Buddha Weekly's YouTube Channel. To honour his kindness in offering these teachings, Buddha Weekly offers this tribute and long-life prayer video, based on the Long Life...
Healing meditation, prayer and mantras? Do they work — according to research? Can we turn to mantras for help?
Do you feel silly when you turn to “mantras” for healing? Do you think meditation is healthy but not necessarily healing? Does it seem impossible to expect results from meditating on the Medicine Buddha? To chant or not to chant? — that is the question. To Pray or not to pray? To...
Buddha on Dharma Prayer Wheels: “defilements will be purified and the face of the deity will appear”; Guru Rinpoche: you will “be able to attain mystic powers…”
It's unlikely you'll be levitating off the ground any time soon — even if you undertake millions of prayer wheel spins — so what did the great Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava mean when he wrote: you will "be able to attain mystic powers... eliminate immeasurable karmic obscurations" in teachings on Prayer Wheels? We...
Sutra in Forty-Two Sections — excerpts of timeless wisdom and practice advice from the World Honoured One
This sutra contains many favorite gems: "You should be mindful of the four elements within the body. Though each has a name, none of them is the self. Since they are not the self, they are like an illusion." "When you see someone who is practicing giving, aid him joyfully, and you...
Angry Wisdom: Yamantaka, the Destroyer of Death; Vajrabhairava, the wrathful Highest Yoga Tantra Heruka manifestation of Manjushri, the Buddha of Wisdom
Vajrabhairava and consort Vajravateli. "When the tantric wrathful deity is understood and related to skillfully, it has the necessary qualities to be a catalyst of transformation. One deity that embodies the power to transform the destructive, agressive aspect of the Shadow is Yamantaka. Vajrabhairava, as he is...
Meditation is Good For You: A How To, the Research of Benefits and the Two Main Types of Meditation
Mindfulness is an important practice in virtually all schools of Buddhist thought, and in one form or another, most Buddhists practice it. From formal Chan practice, such as archery or KungFu practice in Shaolin, to facing the wall meditation, to active mindful chore meditation, to mantra or sutta recitation, to simple things...
A Map of the Mind Universe — the Mandala of the Five Buddhas: a perfect practice; a perfect remedy for the five poisons
Buddha literally translates as "Awakened" — referring to One who has Awakened to the True Nature of Reality. Shakyamuni awoke to the true nature of reality and the true nature of suffering — and gave us remedies for the five poisons that keep us trapped in Samsara: anger, attachment, pride, jealousy, and...
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,...