Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly

uddhadharma offers in-depth teachings that reflect the wealth and range of Buddhist traditions, expert book reviews, and first-rate reporting on stories of special interest to Buddhists. It’s a precious resource for readers who want to deepen their understanding of Buddhist practice and philosophy.

Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly

Power & You

Cultivating the 5 Powers • Faith, diligence, mindfulness, concentration, insight: these are faculties found within us all. It’s up to us, of course, to develop and bring them out. In this conversation with Buddhadharma, author, medical doctor, and Plum Village monastic Sister Dang Nghiem (a.k.a. “Sister D”) talks about how her teacher Thich Nhat Hanh taught the “five strengths,” and how we can transform and harness them into powers that drive and deepen our dharma practice.

The Tathagata’s Ten Wisdom Powers • The Avatamsaka, or Flower Garland Sutra, details the path and practices of the bodhisattva. Among these are ten powers that arise from the awakened human mind. Rev. Heng Sure on how teacher and student alike might realize them.

Looking to the “Three Powers” for Patient Acceptance • Though deep in personal grief, Rev. Ryuei Michael McCormick knows that, through continued dedicated practice, he can nurture seeds of positivity within himself. “The power of the Buddha,” he writes, “is the power of believing that someone at some time overcame suffering and anguish in a mature, empathetic, and compassionate way.”

Understanding Self Power & Other Power • Meditation, largely understood to be powered by one’s self, is covered as the dominant practice paradigm in the West. But what about powers that need not be generated, but received? (Hint: It needn’t be an either/or proposition.) Mark Unno explains how giving ourselves over to other power, an idea central to Asian Buddhist thought, can lead us to awakening.

Fun & Games: Psychic Powers in the Wilderness • Buddhist monk and scholar Thanissaro Bhikkhu reflects on encounters with his dharma teacher, who “could obviously read my mind and anticipate future events.” Other students seemed to evidence similar capabilities. Are such supernormal powers helpful to our awakening? Might they bring us supernormal problems?

The Power of Buddhist Tantra • What is the source of Vajrayana Buddhism’s spiritual power, which is considered sufficient to lead us to liberation in one lifetime? Perhaps it’s not tantric practices themselves but their practitioners’ devotion and faith that are truly transformative. Gaylon Ferguson on how tantric view and practice help us turn confusion into clarity and wisdom.

The Dharma of the Second Bell • Standing up for what’s right isn’t always easy. Sometimes it’s just plain difficult, maybe even doomed to fall short. But we do it anyway. In this travelogue-meets-teaching, Rev. Joan Amaral recalls “Operation Bring John Home”—an effort to break through the bureaucracy that kept a married couple apart—while living one’s values and remaining unbowed.

BUDDHADHARMA ON BOOKS

TURNING WORD