Mahakala

Buddhist Pacifists at War

In the early centuries of Vajrayāna Buddhism in India, practitioners worked to reconcile the religion’s teaching of nonviolence with the realities of warfare.
Walter Evans-Wentz and Lama Kazi Dawa Samdup, c. 1919

Where Tulpas Come From

Created through the power of the human mind, tulpas bear little resemblance to anything found in the Tibetan traditions in which they allegedly originated.
Dried meat in Bhutan

In Bhutan, Real Citizens Don’t Eat Meat

The fusion of Buddhism and politics in Bhutan has forced “good citizens” to reconsider their relationship with the procurement and consumption of meat.
Scholar Reclining and Watching Rising Clouds, an illustration of a poem by Wang Wei

Wang Wei, Poet of Buddhist Emptiness

Focusing almost exclusively on nature, the Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei expressed the philosophy of the Chan school.
Thoreau as a Young Man

Did Thoreau Do Yoga?

The transcendentalist was big on Asian texts—at least as he understood them.
Kuan Yin and Attendants, 1368

Hair Embroidery as Women’s Buddhist Practice

In late imperial China, it was a devotional art using hairs plucked from devotees' own heads.
Daisetsu Teitarō Suzuki photographed by Shigeru Tamura

D.T. Suzuki’s Very American Zen

Zen was a conservative form of Buddhism in Japan that eventually became a way for Americans to find inner peace.
Shakyamuni Buddha with Avadana Legend Scenes

How Comparative Religion Took Root in the 19th Century

Many Americans considered faiths outside Christianity and Judaism to be "pagan." Unitarian minister James Freeman Clarke argued otherwise.
Alan Watts

When Buddhism Came to America

Buddhism was embraced by the Beats of 1950s America. But some Buddhists felt these converts were engaging with the practice in a shallow way.
Woman doing yoga on beach

How American Buddhism is Like an Elephant

Researchers see a distinct difference between Buddhist immigrants and Americans of European ancestry who have embraced Buddhism's tenets.