Contemporary American Buddhist

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Topic: Contemporary American Buddhist

Books

Book
Trusting the Gold
We receive so many messages from our culture meant to divide us from one another or turn us against ourselves. Yet when we stop judging, stop avoiding, stop trying to resist that which makes us afraid or ashamed, we open to our true nature―a boundless field of awareness that is innately fearless and loving.

This recognition of our essential human goodness may be the most radical act of healing we can take. “The gold of our true nature can never be tarnished,” says Tara Brach. “In the moments of remembering and trusting this basic goodness of our Being, we open to happiness, peace, and freedom.”

In Trusting the Gold, Tara draws from more than four decades of experience as a meditation teacher and psychologist to share her most valuable practices for reconnecting with the beauty of our humanity―from timeless Buddhist wisdom to techniques adapted to the specific challenges of our modern age. Here you’ll explore three pathways of remembering and living from your full aliveness:

• Opening to the Truth of the present moment
• Turning toward Love in any situation

• Resting in the Freedom of our natural, radiant awareness (Source Accessed Jan 19, 2022)
Brach, Tara. Trusting the Gold: Uncovering Your Natural Goodness. With Illustrations by Vicky Alvarez. Boulder, CO: Sounds True, 2021.

Articles

Article
Buddha Nature: Sharon Salzberg Post on Our Inner Lives
A blog post about buddha-nature by a contemporary American teacher.
Salzberg, Sharon. "Buddha Nature." Our Inner Lives: Spirit, Faith, and Action (blog). A project of Feminist.com. January 6, 2011. https://www.feminist.com/ourinnerlives/inspiration_realhappiness8.html.
Article
Does My Dog Have Buddhanature?
Remembering her beloved childhood pet, Andrea Miller ponders one of Zen’s most famous questions.
Miller, Andrea. "Does My Dog Have Buddhanature?" Lion's Roar, October 25, 2019.
Article
Everything Is Buddhanature
Original sin vs. original goodness: Mahayana Buddhism offers a more hopeful view of human nature. Zen teacher Melissa Myozen Blacker reveals how nondual practice frees us from our temporary obscurations and reveals our true, awakened nature.
Blacker, Melissa Myozen. “Everything Is Buddhanature” Lion's Roar, November 28, 2018. https://www.lionsroar.com/everything-is-buddhanature/.
Article
Everything’s Made of Mind
All that we are and experience is mind, explains Zen teacher Norman Fischer. That mind is original enlightenment itself.
Fischer, Norman. “Everything's Made of Mind” Lion's Roar, February 27, 2019. https://www.lionsroar.com/everythings-made-of-mind/.
Article
Impermanence is Buddha Nature
Change isn’t just a fact of life we have to accept and work with, says Norman Fischer. Practitioners have always understood impermanence as the cornerstone of Buddhist teachings and practice. All that exists is impermanent; nothing lasts. Therefore nothing can be grasped or held onto. When we don’t fully appreciate this simple but profound truth we suffer, as did the monks who descended into misery and despair at the Buddha’s passing. When we do, we have real peace and understanding, as did the monks who remained fully mindful and calm...
Fischer, Norman. "Impermanence is Buddha Nature." Lion's Roar, April 8, 2019.
Article
Mind Is Buddha
A simple three-word koan. Or just a one-word koan: buddhanature. So deceptively simple, so easy to leave in the realm of concept, yet it penetrates to the very heart of the matter. Here’s Geoffery Shugen Arnold, Sensei, on Case 30 of the Gateless Gate, “Mazu’s ‘Mind is buddha.'”
Arnold, Geoffrey Shugen. "Mind Is Buddha." Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly, March 1, 2005.
Article
The Dharma of Liberation
An interview with contemporary American teacher Sharon Salzburg
Salzburg, Sharon. The Dharma of Liberation. Interview by Stephen Batchelor. Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Spring 1993. https://tricycle.org/magazine/dharma-liberation/.
Article
The Nirvana Debate: Joseph Goldstein Extract
A teaching on buddha-nature by Joseph Goldstein
Wellings, Nigel. "The Nirvana Debate: Joseph Goldstein Extract." Bath and Bristol Mindfulness Courses (blog). An extract from Joseph Goldstein's One Dharma, 158–83. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 2003, May 28, 2009. https://bath-bristol-mindfulness-courses.co.uk/the-nivana-debate-joseph-goldstein-extract/.

Multimedia

Audio
Buddha-Nature: Taught by Cortland Dahl, October 2019
Cortland Dahl teaches a four-part series on buddha-nature during the month of October 2019 at the Tergar Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Each talk begins with a brief 15–20 minute meditation session.
Dahl, Cortland. "Buddha-Nature." Pt. 1 of 4. Recorded at Tergar Madison Meditation Center, Madison, WI, October 10, 2019. Audio, 1:31:21. https://soundcloud.com/tergar/buddha-nature-cortland-dahl-20191010-tmad.
Video
Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions: Chapter 14: Buddha Nature: A Talk by Thubten Chodron
Thubten Chodron guides viewers through her book, Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions in this video series produced by Sravasti Abbey. This talk addressing Chapter 14 discusses buddha-nature by way of emptiness. Venerable Thubten Chodron presents that emptiness is the reason that the mind's afflictions and obscurations can be purified and that purification process reveals buddha-nature inherent in the minds of all beings.
Chodron, T. "Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions. Chapter 14: Buddha Nature." Pt. 1 of 4. Produced by Sravasti Abbey, November 15, 2017. Video, 1:15:30, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XpyXg7sAnw.
Audio
Inherent Buddha Nature
Kaiji Jeffrey Schneider gives a general dharma talk on buddha-nature at the San Francisco Zen Center. He begins with a discussion of the five skandhas and discusses how the later notion of tathāgatagarbha represented a radical shift in the Buddhist understanding of the mind and consciousness.
Schneider, Jeffrey. "Inherent Buddha Nature." Recorded January 16, 2018 at San Francisco Zen Center's City Center. Audio, 32:01. https://soundcloud.com/sanfranciscozencenter/inherent-buddha-nature.
Video
We Are Frozen
Everest, Tsering. "We Are Frozen." Pt. 1 of 2. Filmed April 28, 2019 at Chagdud Gonpa Odsal Ling, Brazil. Video, 8:39. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcsNP5fumks.
Everest, Tsering. "We Are Frozen." Pt. 1 of 2. Filmed April 28, 2019 at Chagdud Gonpa Odsal Ling, Brazil. Video, 8:39. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcsNP5fumks.
Video
Primordial Self Esteem - Being Confident in Our Buddha-Nature
In this short clip, Tsultrim Allione relates the authentic confidence—compassion for others—that arises as a result of knowing that we are awake somewhere underneath our confusion.
Allione, Tsultrim. "Primordial Self Esteem - Being Confident in Our Buddha-Nature." Produced by Tara Mandala, August 25, 2016. Video, 1:17. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctgVpDj69Os.
Audio
The Mind: Intrinsically Empty, Naturally Radiant: Teaching by Joseph Goldstein
Goldstein, Joseph. “The Mind: Intrinsically Empty, Naturally Radiant.” Recorded March 25, 2006 at Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge, Barre, MA. Audio, 13:06. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PctzOkbGu0A
Goldstein, Joseph. “The Mind: Intrinsically Empty, Naturally Radiant.” Recorded March 25, 2006 at Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge, Barre, MA. Audio, 13:06. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PctzOkbGu0A

advaya - Literally, "without duality," it refers to that which is indivisible, in that it is not divided into two. Skt. अद्वय Tib. གཉིས་མེད་ Ch. 不二

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