Author: Shen Shián

A Dharma friend recounted the first time she stepped into a Chinese Buddhist temple out of interest to learn chanting….

Above: [Stele with a Buddha & two Bodhisattvas, Eastern Wei (534–50 CE), Limestone, overall height 310 cm, Collection of the…

Something simple happened a couple of days ago, that upon hindsight, seems more significant than not. I was seated at…

Maybe the occasional smoker is already addicted to the occasional smoking.

Q: If a child makes a mistake out of ignorance or delusion, that he is not aware of as wrong…

I seem to be having a strange problem. But really, this problem has been there all along, only aggravated by…

While chatting with Sophie over dinner at Yes Natural (a healthy vegetarian food restaurant) this evening, she asked if it…

Leaving Kong Meng San monastery in the evening, I happened to turn around and saw a rainbow arching towards the…

The Middle Path is… not to sit on the fence, neutral, not to be ambivalent, uncertain, not to be apathetic,…

‘Scold! Scold! Scold!’ Listen… listen… listen… Gosh! He’s right! May I accept the fault-finding graciously. No need to get mad…

The bones from our bodies of our past lives would pile higher than the highest mountain. Why am I still…

The water gun shaped as a sentient being made me think… What do I load myself with? Just water (and…

Busy hands with multiplied actions. Busy with extended compassion. Calm palms with collected stillness. Calm with unified wisdom. (In each…

Maitreya* Bodhisattva, the loving one, contemplates how to guide beings with love… reminding us not to dread helping others, that…

Economy of shape Economy of lines Economy of face But still expression But still compassion But still gracefulness (Picture of…

While anticipating Coldplay’s March concert here, I re-listened to the song ‘Viva La Vida’ from their international bestselling album (of…

Wrathful flames of Wisdom burning away raging passions, Acala is the Immovable Wisdom King. (不动明王) The fearsome Destroyer of Delusion.*…

The Cintamani*… fulfills any wish in concord with the Dharma, represents the boundless power of the Dharma, reminds us to…

The first picture… the Buddha at rest (with eyes closed?) The Awakened One… always in peaceful repose. The second picture……

In ‘Superman: Camelot Falls’ by Kurt Busiek, Superman resists a spell by repeating a ‘mantra’ (taught by J’onn Jones) that…