Vajrayana

Recently cringey excerpts from a video were released of the Dalai Lama's interaction with a young boy at a public event. I'll consider the background to that video and suggest five conclusions we might want to take from this episode.…

Considering the differences between devotional guru practices and "cultishness," discussed in a video interview with B. Allan Wallace, an expert on Tibetan Buddhism. What are some of the dangers with our relationship to a teacher or guru,…

When the Dalai Lama first heard of self-hatred, he was confounded by it. I'll look at his encounter with Sharon Salzberg and other eminent scholars and scientists, and consider their thoughts about where low self esteem arises from. I'll…

In the past few decades a controversy has arisen over the restarting of nuns' orders in two schools of Buddhism. We will discuss the controversy as it relates to the Theravāda school, and note in passing that a similar controversy exists…

We'll go over the history of tantric Buddhism, its origins as well as its differences from other forms of Buddhist belief and practice. Then we'll give an overall characterization of what constitutes this somewhat transgressive form of…

We will look at the three major schools of Buddhism, in the sort of contemporary context YouTubers would be likely to encounter them. We'll highlight some of the similarities and differences in their styles of belief and practice. This is…

Is the Dalai Lama a secular Buddhist? In two of his recent books he has outlined a universal, secular ethical program grounded in basic human values that are shared by believers and nonbelievers alike. We will take a look at these two…