Feeding our demons rather than fighting them contradicts the conventional approach of fighting against whatever assails us. But it turns out to be a remarkably effective path to inner integration. Demons (maras in Sanskrit) are not bloodthirsty ghouls waiting for us...
Cómo compartir el dharma con tus hijos
Pregunta: Tengo dos hijos, uno de siete años y otro de catorce. Me gustaría iniciarles en la meditación y las enseñanzas budistas, pero es difícil competir contra los juegos de Nintendo, sus programas de televisión favoritos y todas las demás cosas emocionantes y...
The Editorial Advisors of Bodhi Leaves
Rev. Blayne Higa is the Resident Minister of the Kona Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, a Shin Buddhist sangha on the Big Island of Hawaii. Cathryn Dhanatya is cofounder and president/CEO of Growing Good Inc., a professional services firm that partners with nonprofit...
Morning meditation — Don’t make decisions on the strength of desires.
‘Don't make decisions on the strength of desires. Desires can puff us up into thinking we are something we're not.’ Ajahn Chah
Mindfulness with Every Step
Recently, we noticed a stuffy smell in our dharma hall. This led me to check the crawlspace, where I found the air conditioner drip-pan filled with water. This moisture had created the musty smell. While an engineer fixed the AC, I scooped the water into buckets and...
Lotus Seats for the Dead
My grandmother passed away in Vietnam in the late 1990s. I was only able to visit her once while she was alive. During that one visit, my mom made it a point to pre-pay for my grandmother’s plot, along with related end-of-life expenses. She knew it might be difficult...
Share Your Wisdom: Your Home Altar
For our next issue of Bodhi Leaves, we want to see your home altar! If you identify as Asian American or as part of the Asian diaspora, send a photo of yourself, your home altar, and a short description of what you display on your altar and why to...
The Pure Land of Parkour
With a running start of long, powerful strides, he launched head-first at a slab of concrete jutting up from the ground. He threw his arms out in front of him, his body stretching into the air, looking like a lion leaping at prey. As his palms struck down on the slab,...
The Karma of Taylor Swift
I invite you to practice a little thought experiment: imagine yourself in any social context, such as in your workplace, in a restaurant, or walking down the street. Imagine you overhear someone say something like, “Well, that’s just their karma. They must’ve done...
Welcome to “Bodhi Leaves: The Asian American Buddhist Monthly”
One hundred and seventy years ago, in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Chinese immigrants established the first Buddhist temple in the United States. Though Americans of Asian descent are the oldest and largest Buddhist group in the U.S., our voices have been strangely...
