The Tattooed Buddha strives to be a platform for the spiritual misfits and contemplative rebels. We aim to promote peace and educate through writing, workshops and community. We offer a dialogue that is aware and awake to the reality of our present day, tackling issues of community, environment and compassionate living.
Just an Ordinary Jane Looking for a Little Zen, The Yoga Slut
Latest
Why are We All Watching the Monks and Their Peace Walk?
There are no demands for our attention. They aren't asking for anything. And still, crowds are gathering to watch.
A Mindful Berean
Latest
Bringing the Religion We Practiced Before Onto the Path
Buddha didn't teach a narrow, cramped road leading to Enlightenment. He didn't concern himself with divine wrath, or really divine anything. There's no reward for “getting it right,” nor punishment if you don't.
The Bodhisattva of Power Suits
Latest
How Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party Helped My Mental Health
The best thing I have done for my mental health in the last month was listen to the new album by Hayley Williams. If you struggle just getting through the day, this album provides a soundtrack for the struggle.
Loving Thoughts From Nowhere
Latest
The Art of Attention
A clear message can be seen from the start: this is an embodied practice.
Living the Dharma: Stories of Everyday Life
Latest
Rude Awakenings: Sam Bercholz’s Teachings on the Messy Path to Enlightenment
This is one of the most complete and instructive Buddhist books I have ever read. Thankfully, it also has the distinction of being one of the easiest to read and most authentically presented books as well.
The Renegade Buddhist
Latest
Which Seeds Do I Water? Yogacara and Connecting It All
By Johnathon Lee I sat on break, broken by emotional agony, thinking, “I don’t...
Buddha School Dropout
Latest
It’s Been One Helluva Week, but What Does that Have to do with Buddhist Practice?
I am a professional beginner in Buddhist practice when it comes to this stuff. I practice Metta a lot. I found myself repeating the mantras and deepening into the practice as my system spun out in an attempt to ground myself. Saturday felt a lot like grounding practice.
Distortion Mantra
Latest
Sticking it to the Man, or Right Livelihood in the Modern Age
As it was first told, Right Livelihood is the belief of finding a way to live which sits in alignment with our Buddha nature, ensuring that we can live without bringing suffering onto others.
- Buddhism
- Right Livelihood
- Addiction & Recovery
- Reviews
Impermanence: A Benign and Powerful Lesson
The gift of presence happens when we slow down, take deep breaths, and take in the beauty all around us even when our bodies are in pain or our plans are disrupted or our hearts are breaking with grief.
A Lawyer and a Tattooed Buddha Hang Out on a Blog
Lots of people now ask me how I make teaching mindfulness, writing, and practicing law, fit. Perhaps it is because of my copious life experience feeling like I don’t fit in, but I am comfortable with this question. In fact, it is one of my favorites.
In the Forge: Where Buddhism Fails (and Sometimes Works)
In my darker moments, I sometimes wonder if Buddhism in the West has become a plaything for middle class dilettantes, a sizeable number of whom seem to prefer to turn their back on current realities---because they can.
Rude Awakenings: Sam Bercholz’s Teachings on the Messy Path to Enlightenment
This is one of the most complete and instructive Buddhist books I have ever read. Thankfully, it also has the distinction of being one of the easiest to read and most authentically presented books as well.
The American Buddhist
Latest
The Thing Within Us That Lives Off Conflict
Like cats, looking for a fight, we have a thing within us that lives off of conflict.
Holly is Not Broken, She is Breaking Through
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The Way Back Home: Little Holly and the Three Needs
When things start to come back together, it’s not because everything is suddenly fixed. It’s because a few key pieces fall back into place.
Cultivating Peace Under Lock and Key
Latest
Wait: A Love Letter to Those in Despair {Book Review}
By Acharya Samaneti I have to admit that I have a soft spot for dhamma teachers that are,...
- Beginner Meditation
- Advanced Meditation
Distortion Mantra: Sitting Fast, Sitting Slow
Being calm enough to push back and set aside time to do nothing is truly subversive in these times, when even hobbies can be turned into consumable content or gamified.
Are You Enlightened?
Some Buddhist traditions are not helpful in regards to being comfortable with our meditation experiences. Especially those that insist that they belong to an unbroken chain of highly enlightened individuals whose experience has to be matched if you want to belong.
Addiction & Recovery
Latest
In the Forge: Where Buddhism Fails (and Sometimes Works)
In my darker moments, I sometimes wonder if Buddhism in the West has become a plaything for middle class dilettantes, a sizeable number of whom seem to prefer to turn their back on current realities---because they can.
- Empower Me
- Yoga
- Meditation 101
How Two Sunchoke Plants Reminded Me About Strength
My philosopher brain that always has to correlate a life lesson to things in nature began to spin.
Choosing to Run Toward (not Away) from Pain
By Robert Butler When I was 19 years old, I joined a Krishna ashram. Searching eagerly for...
When Observation Becomes Another Self
By K21 Opening scene Someone criticizes you. At first, there is only the sentence,...
Podcast
LatestMeeting Cuong Lu: Monk, Teacher, Former Prison Chaplain and Author
Born in Vietnam during the Vietnam war, Cuong Lu emigrated to the Netherlands in 1980 where he later studied at Plum Village under and later became ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh.
- News & Politics
Spiritual Gangster: The Buddha’s Lesson on Fear and Dread
I was preparing to go inside because I serve as a spiritual advisor to Christa Pike, a woman on death row whose execution is scheduled for later this year.
- Family & Parenting
- Relationships
- Interfaith
I am Still Hoping
Hope is a charged word---like love---that can have different meanings for people, and different ways of expressing it.
You’re Not Crazy. You’re Grieving: What Happens When a Relationship Ends in Betrayal and Trauma
Survivors of infidelity, abandonment or narcissistic abuse have long known it: the death of a deeply committed relationship can trigger trauma almost indistinguishable from PTSD. When betrayal, gaslighting, or emotional abuse are involved, grief becomes a labyrinth.
Wanting Little: An Excerpt from Jailbirds in Flight
I live in Religion Row, the first row of the 10 rows of bunks. Three of us were meditating yesterday on one end while three people at the other end were holding Bible study.
- Wellness
- Health and diet
- Environment
It’s Been One Helluva Week, but What Does that Have to do with Buddhist Practice?
I am a professional beginner in Buddhist practice when it comes to this stuff. I practice Metta a lot. I found myself repeating the mantras and deepening into the practice as my system spun out in an attempt to ground myself. Saturday felt a lot like grounding practice.
Easy Vegan Cream Cheese Made from Nuts
By Marcee Murray King When I became vegan, one of the biggest challenges was having to...
The Reason I Talk to Animals (I’m Not Dr. Doolitle)
By David Jones We have two cats at home, a couple of dogs and a visiting dog who I call the...
- The Faces of Meditation
Snapshots of Meditation: Deb Taylor
I used to roll out of bed and meditate in my room. However, in August of 2020, my boy died in his...
