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
Dreams As Teachers: What’s the Point? {series}
I was confronted by several folks who had one question: “Do we have to be here?” In the first session, some folks had been told the class was for something else, like tips on increasing production. When I said that it wasn’t, some wanted to leave, and I allowed it. It wasn’t mandatory.
The Bodhisattva of Power Suits
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Renunciation, Perfectionism, and Joyful Liberation
Who wants a dukkha pie? Nobody. At least not us Buddhists.
Loving Thoughts From Nowhere
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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.
Living the Dharma: Stories of Everyday Life
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Holmes, Shirilla, and Clancy: How do You Find Justice When You Don’t Believe in Hell?
How do we believe justice has been served when there is no evidence of remorse that we can see?
The Renegade Buddhist
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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
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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
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Songs of Suffering, or Why Sad Songs Can Help Us in Our Practice
Melancholia and sadness come from our awareness of impermanence, and how attachment will ultimately lead to suffering.
- Buddhism
- Right Livelihood
- Addiction & Recovery
- Reviews
Fishes’ Eyes Swim with Tears
But even though I have found peace and stillness through my meditation practice and Buddhist teachings, I still grieve.
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
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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
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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
Mindfulness for Perfectionists: When the Cushion Becomes a Scoreboard
That is what good therapy offers that a cushion cannot. The cushion is solitary, and the perfectionist is already alone with the judge. A therapist is a second person in the room, one who can notice the judge with you, name where it came from and help you test whether its warnings are still true.
Mindfulness for Perfectionists: When the Cushion Becomes a Scoreboard
That is what good therapy offers that a cushion cannot. The cushion is solitary, and the perfectionist is already alone with the judge. A therapist is a second person in the room, one who can notice the judge with you, name where it came from and help you test whether its warnings are still true.
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
Loving-Kindness for the Weeks That Are Too Much
Research on loving-kindness meditation has linked it with more positive emotion and a greater sense of connection with others. But you don't need a study to feel what happens in your chest when you think of someone you love. That softening is the whole point.
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...
Loving-Kindness for the Weeks That Are Too Much
Research on loving-kindness meditation has linked it with more positive emotion and a greater sense of connection with others. But you don't need a study to feel what happens in your chest when you think of someone you love. That softening is the whole point.
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
A Change in Stance from Jehovah’s Witnesses, and a Dream of Compassion
This was true on Thursday night, September 17th. By the next evening, accepting a transfusion of whole blood was still forbidden, but “after prayerful consideration,” the Governing Body decided accepting any of those four separate components was now a conscience matter, a personal decision that no longer carried any punishment or stigma. It was presented as “brighter light” of understanding from God.
- 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.
A Change in Stance from Jehovah’s Witnesses, and a Dream of Compassion
This was true on Thursday night, September 17th. By the next evening, accepting a transfusion of whole blood was still forbidden, but “after prayerful consideration,” the Governing Body decided accepting any of those four separate components was now a conscience matter, a personal decision that no longer carried any punishment or stigma. It was presented as “brighter light” of understanding from God.
- Wellness
- Health and diet
- Environment
Mindfulness for Perfectionists: When the Cushion Becomes a Scoreboard
That is what good therapy offers that a cushion cannot. The cushion is solitary, and the perfectionist is already alone with the judge. A therapist is a second person in the room, one who can notice the judge with you, name where it came from and help you test whether its warnings are still true.
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...
