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...

Growing up in America as a first-generation immigrant was a challenge. I never quite felt like I fully belonged. I was “too American” to be fully Thai and too “Thai” to be fully American. My parents are devout Theravada Buddhists, and they practice Buddhist rituals as...

‘Buddha isn’t one sided. The nature of mind is basically empty, neither pure nor impure. Free of both practise and realisation.’ Bodhidharma

The Summer Day Who made the world? Who made the swan, and the black bear? Who made the grasshopper? this grasshopper, I mean— the one who has flung herself out of the grass, the one who is eating sugar out of my hand, who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of...

Buddhism famously says that everything we are looking for—happiness, the end of suffering, even enlightenment—is found right here in this life. Chop wood, carry water, and all that. But what is this life? It may be much vaster and deeper than we think, both less real...

‘Unless you see your nature, all this talk about cause and effect is nonsense. Buddhas don’t practise nonsense.’ Bodhidharma

‘Nature of mind is basically empty, neither pure nor impure Free of both practise and realisation.’ Bodhidharma

Wu Wei is a key concept within Daoism — and refers to a serene acceptance of events. It’s a wisdom we’re very uninclined to remember in our own times.

‘There's a unborn unbecome unmade unconditioned. If there were no unborn-unconditioned, no escape would be possible from the born.’ The Buddha

Question: I recently moved to a Buddhist retreat center where I am pretty much the only person of color. I knew that going in, but it’s been more difficult than I expected. I love the practice and don’t want to leave, but I feel uncomfortable and miss my own people...