The major stream of Buddhism in Tibet, the Vajrayana emerged in the 7th century out of the Mahayana tradition. This form of Buddhism, sometimes called “Tantric Buddhism,” asserts that distinctive ritual practices and objects such as mantras, mandalas, and mudras allow one to attain awakening more quickly. ... Read more about Vajrayana: The Diamond Vehicle

How do Buddhists in America transmit their culture and tradition to new generations? In the Jodo Shinshu school of Japanese Buddhism, Sunday School classes have become an important religious educational tool to address this question, and its curriculum offers a particularly American approach to educating children about their tradition.... Read more about Teaching the Love of Buddha: The Next Generation

Pioneered by the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh in the 1970s, “Engaged Buddhism” brings a Buddhist perspective to the ongoing struggle for social and environmental justice in America.... Read more about Buddhism and Social Action: Engaged Buddhism

American Buddhism has created new roles for women in the Buddhist tradition. American Buddhist women have been active in movements to revive the ordination lineages of Buddhist nuns in the Theravada and Vajrayana traditions.... Read more about Women in American Buddhism

American convert Buddhism and immigrant Asian Buddhism have dramatically different models of authority and institutional hierarchy. Buddhist organizations and communities in America are forced to attend to the question of how spiritual, social, financial, and organizational authorities will be dispersed among its leaders and members.... Read more about Changing Patterns of Authority

A reflection on American Buddhist monasticism from the Venerable Walpola Piyananda highlights the tensions that arise when immigrant Buddhism encounters American social customs that differ from those in Asia.... Read more about The Difficulties of a Monk

In Vajrayana Buddhism, the mandala (“circle”) serves as a diagram of the cosmos. Creating a sand mandala can take weeks and requires intense concentration, but the ritual practice requires the mandala be destroyed or dismantled after its completion. This emphasizes the impermanence of all created things.... Read more about Creating a Mandala

Chanting scriptures and prayers to buddhas and bodhisattvas is a central practice in all streams of Buddhism, intended both to reflect upon content and to focus the mind.... Read more about Chanting the Sutras

Intensive Zen meditation retreats, or sesshins, such as one in Mt. Temper, New York, are designed for participants to focus intensively on monastic Buddhist practice and meditation. Retreats include many rituals to allow students to fully immerse themselves in their practice—even during mealtime.... Read more about Sesshin: A Meditation Retreat

The Chinese Chan, Korean Son, and Japanese Zen traditions emphasize meditation practice. In addition, other practices are commonly used, such as the presentation of koans, or questions given by a master to a student, intended to break students free of conceptualizing thoughts that are obstacles to enlightenment.... Read more about One Hand Clapping?

The Chuang Yen Monastery in Kent, New York, is a prime example of how Chinese Buddhism has flourished in America, in all its richness and complexity.... Read more about Monastery in the Hudson Valley