I’m not saying I can’t appreciate a well-manicured lawn. It looks great when someone with a huge yard mows it in patterns, and thick green grass looks beautiful. The post Mindful Appreciation of Wild Beauty appeared first on The Tattooed Buddha ..read more

When I began attending Kindergarten, I had to leave my dog at home. I wasn’t crazy about this idea and I wailed about it loudly to my mother, who assured me that one day I’d have a job and I wouldn’t be able to take her there either. Immediately I crossed “get a job” off my to-do list. The post Doing God’s Work appeared first on The Tattooed Buddha ..read more

By Henry Blanke   It could be a spoonful of diamonds. It could be a spoonful of gold. I first heard these lyrics as a teenager sung by Eric Clapton with Cream. But when later I heard them sung—no growled—by Chicago bluesman Howlin Wolf it was a whole other thing. “Men lies about that. Men […] The post Zen Buddhism and the Blues appeared first on The Tattooed Buddha ..read more

In short, Yogacaras believed that everything is nothing but consciousness. It’s all happening in our heads (including the experience of having a head). The post Bending Minds and Dogmatic Slumbers: Psychedelic Buddhism appeared first on The Tattooed Buddha ..read more

Expecting someone or something to fix us is a powerful illusion. A cheap drug that promises to make everything all better but almost inevitably leads to deeper pain and suffering---not because the thing or person is bad but because it’s our views and expectations that really need the work, and we just don’t see it. The post This Does not Equal That: There is No Quick Fix appeared first on The Tattooed Buddha ..read more

So, when I see Buddhist communities that shun politics and political action among its members, I can’t help but say, “That’s wrong.” The post Political Animals: Should Buddhists Be Openly Political? appeared first on The Tattooed Buddha ..read more

We meet with Holly Herring---one of our columnists for The Tattooed Buddha. We chat about Holly's work with those that are homeless, her journey to being a writer and the process of writing. We also learn about how Holly and Michelleanne Bradley met and became friends, which in turn led her to write for The Tattooed Buddha! The post Getting to Know Holly Herring appeared first on The Tattooed Buddha ..read more

She explained to me that when the Buddha was born, he shot out of his mom’s side.She used her hands to demonstrate something that resembled a grenade launch from her rib cage. Then she told me that the baby came out walking and talking. The post Bathing Babies for World Peace appeared first on The Tattooed Buddha ..read more

The Dalai Lama is not the perfect superhuman entity I had imagined. As it turns out, he is human and possesses the same human limitations we all have. The post What We All Have in Common with the Dalai Lama appeared first on The Tattooed Buddha ..read more

  By Kellie Schorr I don’t have many boy crushes but Arnold Schwarzenegger in the winter of his life is one of them. So it was no surprise when my “Top Commercial of the Superbowl” vote went to State Farm’s Like a Good Neighbaaa.  One that didn’t make my list was the “Jesus Washed Feet” […] The post Jesus Washed Feet: What A Superbowl Ad Can Really Teach Us appeared first on The Tattooed Buddha ..read more