Working with doubt and grief As a young nun I remember vividly Ajahn Sumedho exhorting us to questions what motivated us.  He would say that as a young monk himself he had thought, “If Ajahn Chah disrobes, if His Holiness the Dalai Lama runs away with a 16 year old American girl, would I still [...]

In the Pali language May is known as Vesak. The full moon of Vesak is singularly the most significant Buddhist holiday of the year as it commemorates events of significance to Buddhists of all traditions: The birth, enlightenment (Nibbana), and the passing away (Parinibbana) of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha. As we consider for a moment what [...]

There has been enough information about the situation in the Forest Tradition for many people to seriously wonder, what is next? It seems to me that a new model is emerging or needs to. What the following article speaks to is the power of realizing our highest potential. Keeping this in mind, I trust new [...]

When there is understanding of the way that patterns repeat through history then there the possibility of doing things differently. Without understanding patterns continue. Ajahn Sujato has tied together some interesting facts about  Buddha’s core principles, the premise behind the Bhikhuni ordination  with some myths about women and brought out the salient feature that what [...]

The following is copied verbatim from Bhante Sujato’s blog post http://sujato.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/sexism-andocentrism-misogyny/ In all of the years that I have lived in monasteries and the years before, I haven’t come across anything that is as clear or accurate a description of what we are dealing with as this piece on sexism, androcentrism and misogyny. True enough [...]

Dear friends, Thanissara just sent me this letter. Having known her as a nun at Amaravati and having just come out of the community from which these events have been occurring, I would encourage you to read the letter below and sign the petition if you too are concerned and agree with the points. Metta, [...]

There are times in life when the situations one finds oneself in present challenges that do not have simple solutions.  When what one has been familiar with suddenly becomes non-existent, the challenge in practice is to accept things the way they are and find an appropriate response.  Often there can be an overlay of the [...]

Dipa Ma, The Story of a Great Master March 25, 1911 – September 1, 1989 I first heard about Dipa Ma in 1979 while I was a student at the University of California at Santa Cruz.  I was taking a course with Jack Engler and the stories he told about Dipa Ma’s depth of suffering [...]

The Kalama sutta is often cited as the Buddhist charter for free inquiry. Countering dogmatism and supporting free inquiry is a refreshing contrast to the doctrines that stipulate that tradition, scripture, or the advice from teachers is what one needs to rely upon. This refreshing contrast is particularly apparent when what is being asked requires [...]

We live in a time where we have little faith. Our leaders have spent too long saying things that are untrue; using distortions to promote the privilege of some at the expense of others; promoting policy that makes no sense. Discernment has seen this for what it is. We have listened to rhetoric and party [...]