How to Choose a Meditation Cushion: Zafu Height, Knee Pain, and Posture
A practical Buddhist guide to choosing a meditation cushion for posture, knee pain, hip support, and daily sitting without turning practice into a shopping problem.
Practice & Guides
Practical guides for meditation, daily practice and applying Buddhist teachings in life
Can Buddhists Use Weed or CBD? The Fifth Precept Today
Is marijuana an intoxicant? Does CBD count as 'heedlessness'? Explore the Buddhist perspective on cannabis, medical use, and the Fifth Precept in a modern context.
What Does It Mean to Be a Lay Buddhist? Practice Without Ordaining
Lay Buddhism is the foundation of Buddhist life for the vast majority of practitioners worldwide. This guide explains what lay Buddhists actually do, from taking refuge and keeping the Five Precepts to daily practice, community involvement, and the Uposatha tradition, and why the path works without monastic robes.
What Is Zazen? Why Zen Treats 'Just Sitting' as Complete Practice
Zazen is Zen Buddhism's core practice, a precise posture-based meditation that treats sitting itself as awakening. This guide covers what zazen literally means, the physical setup (legs, spine, mudra, half-open eyes), how Soto's shikantaza differs from Rinzai's koan method, and why Dogen insisted zazen is not meditation. Practical entry points included.
What Is Maranasati? Buddhist Death Awareness as a Practice for Living
Maranasati is the Buddhist practice of daily death contemplation, designed to sharpen how you live rather than prepare you for dying. Drawing on AN 6.19 and the Five Remembrances, this guide explains the traditional methods, what the practice actually changes in daily behavior, and why avoiding death awareness may be costing you more than facing it.
How Do You Actually Join a Buddhist Monastery? From First Visit to Residency
Joining a Buddhist monastery is not a single decision. It is a graduated process that can take years, moving from short visits through extended stays, provisional residency, and eventually ordination. This guide uses Sravasti Abbey's unusually transparent training pipeline as a concrete example to explain what each stage involves, what the monastery is evaluating, and what the emotional reality of each transition feels like.
What Is a Buddhist Path Program? Retreat, Study, and Practice in One Container
Buddhist path programs combine retreat experience, live teaching, text study, and sustained community into a single structured container lasting six months to two years. They fill the gap between standalone retreats and monastic commitment for practitioners who want depth and accountability without ordaining. This guide explains what path programs look like, who they serve, and how to evaluate whether one is legitimate.
Why Do Buddhists Eat Vegetarian on Certain Days? Uposatha and the Logic of Lunar Fasting
Many Buddhists eat vegetarian on the 1st and 15th of the lunar month, on Uposatha days, or during specific observance periods. This is not random. It connects to precept renewal, mindfulness cycles, and a practice framework that predates the Buddha. Here is why certain days carry more weight than others.