7 min
Documentary · Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche
Heading West
Seven minutes from his own organisation on how he came out of Tibet and ended up teaching in the West.
Overview
What does buddhism point to?
Buddhism spans a wide range of lineages, Theravada, Zen, Tibetan and many others, united by an interest in the causes of suffering and the possibility of its release, rather than by a single fixed doctrine.
Practice usually combines ethical conduct, meditation and the cultivation of wisdom. Some traditions emphasise gradual training over many years; others point to a more immediate recognition available in ordinary moments.
Suffering arises from clinging to what cannot stay the same. What happens when we stop holding on?A central teaching within Buddhism
Explore Buddhism
Explore Buddhist Paths.
The full history is complex. The browse experience does not need to be. Start with a recognizable living tradition and discover its deeper context naturally.
Living tradition
Theravada & Insight
Early Buddhist monastic traditions alongside the modern Insight movement, related, but kept distinct in the underlying data.
Context may includeThai ForestInsight Meditation
Explore Theravada & Insight↗
Living traditionZen
Direct meditative practice, zazen and everyday awareness in traditions rooted in Chinese Chan and its later forms.
Explore Zen↗
Living traditionTibetan Buddhism
A diverse family of Vajrayana traditions combining philosophical study, meditation, ritual and lineage transmission.
Context may includeKagyuNyingmaGelugJonangSakya
Explore Tibetan Buddhism↗
Living traditionBön
Tibet's older religious tradition, with its own founder, canon, monasteries and Dzogchen lineage, closely resembling Tibetan Buddhism without descending from it.
Explore Bön↗
Living traditionPure Land
A path of trust in Amida Buddha, the Buddha of Infinite Light, carried above all in the recitation of his name: Namu Amida Butsu, Namo Amituofo.
Explore Pure Land↗
Teachers
Voices within this path.
Buddhism holds many schools and lineages beneath it. Its teachers are gathered below.
Retired
Buddhism
Adyashanti
American-born spiritual teacher who has taught for over 30 years, offering teachings free of any single tradition or ideology; founder of Open Gate Sangha, now retired.
TraditionZen
Buddhism
Ajahn Amaro
Theravada monk in the Thai Forest tradition; co-founder of Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in England.
LineageThai Forest
AD
Buddhism
Ajahn Dtun
Thai Forest monk and abbot of Wat Boonyawad in Chonburi province, Thailand, known for direct, practical instruction on meditation and the abandoning of unwholesome states of mind.
LineageThai Forest
AM
Buddhism
Ajahn Munindo
Ajahn Munindo, born in New Zealand in 1951, is a monk in the Thai Forest Tradition who received full ordination under Ajahn Chah in 1976. He came to Britain in 1980, helped establish a monastic community in Devon, and since 1991 has been abbot of Aruna Ratanagiri, Harnham Buddhist Monastery, in Northumberland. His teachings, including "A Dhammapada for Contemplation" and "Unexpected Freedom", are published for free distribution.
LineageThai Forest
AP
Buddhism
Ajahn Pasanno
Ajahn Pasanno was ordained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand in 1974 and trained under Ajahn Chah in the Thai Forest Tradition. He served as abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat, the international forest monastery in north-east Thailand, before co-founding Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in northern California, where he is now the guiding elder. He teaches meditation and Dhamma at the monastery and in retreats.
LineageThai Forest
AS
Buddhism
Ajahn Sona
Ajahn Sona, born Tom West in Canada in 1954, trained as a classical guitarist before taking up monastic life in the Thai Forest Tradition. After training in Thailand, he returned to Canada and in 1994 founded Birken Forest Monastery, a monastery of this tradition in British Columbia, where he is abbot. He now teaches mainly at the monastery and online, including regular question-and-answer sessions.
LineageThai Forest
Artists
Musicians and singers.
Devotional music and chant from within this path, alongside its teachers.
Buddhism
Ani Choying Drolma
Nepalese Buddhist nun of Tibetan origin from the Nagi Gompa nunnery, who brought Tibetan Buddhist chants and feast songs to audiences far outside the monastery.
TraditionTibetan Buddhism
Buddhism
Dechen Shak-Dagsay
Swiss-Tibetan singer who sets traditional Tibetan Buddhist mantras and prayers in contemporary arrangements, among them a double album on Arya Tara.
ReligionBuddhism
DG
Buddhism
Drukmo Gyal
Drukmo Gyal was born in Rebgong in the Amdo region of north-eastern Tibet into a family of ngakpas, lay tantric practitioners, and grew up with mantra chanting in the household. She studied traditional Tibetan medicine in Amdo and later worked at the Estonian Academy for Traditional Tibetan Medicine in Tallinn; her teacher is Dr. Nida Chenagtsang. She sings traditional Tibetan and Sanskrit mantras in concerts in Europe, the Americas and Asia, and leads retreats in the Yuthok Nyingthig, the meditation tradition of Tibetan physicians.
TraditionTibetan Buddhism
GS
Buddhism
Gaden Shartse Monks
The Gaden Shartse Monks come from Gaden Shartse, a Gelug monastic college re-established in exile in South India. They tour internationally to share Tibetan Buddhist ritual practice: during their visits they create sand mandalas, chant and perform pujas, and dissolve the mandala at the end of their stay. The tours also raise funds for the monastery.
SchoolGelug
Buddhism
Imee Ooi
Chinese-Malaysian composer, producer and singer who sets classical Buddhist chant, mantra and dharani in Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan and Mandarin, with more than fifty albums to her name.
ReligionsBuddhismPure Land
Buddhism
James Nyoraku Schlefer
Shakuhachi grand master and composer in New York, trained in the Kinko school and certified dai shihan in 2001. He teaches the solo honkyoku, the repertoire the komusō monks of Fuke Zen played as suizen, blowing zen, where the breath is the practice rather than the performance, and he brings the bamboo flute into Western chamber music.
TraditionZen
Upcoming events
Gatherings across buddhism.
Events attached to unpublished lineages still roll up to the nearest public path, so this hub remains complete.
05NOV
Zazenkai - Zen Meditation Weekend in Silence
Herrischried, Germany · Weekend meditation retreat
See event pageWeekend meditation retreat
05NOV
Ango Intensive: Buddha Nature - Revealing the Jewel Within
Mount Tremper, New York, United States · Short intensive retreat
See event pageShort intensive retreat
05NOV
Tummo Bliss Retreat
Lloret de Mar, Spain · Retreat
See event pageRetreat
05NOV
Casual Conversation with Ven. Pomnyun Sunim, Jakarta: second day
Jakarta, Indonesia · Question and answer gathering
See event pageQuestion and answer gathering
Talks & videos
Watch across buddhism.
Documentaries, interviews and talks connected to this path and its lineages.
16 min
Talk · Lama Jampa Thaye
Patterns in Emptiness
Dependent origination explained as pattern rather than as a chain of causes.
30 min
Talk · Lama Jampa Thaye
Stages of the Path in the Karma Kagyu Tradition
The structure of the path as his own lineage lays it out, in thirty minutes.
32 min
Talk · Lama Jampa Thaye
Interpretations of Emptiness
Half an hour mapping how the schools actually differ on emptiness, without taking sides early.
Listen
Recordings from across buddhism.
Talks, guided meditations and podcast conversations from the teachers within this path.
Tara BrachInsight Meditation
A Apple Podcasts
A Path with Joy — A conversation between Tara Brach and James Baraz
From the podcast Tara Brach
Tara BrachInsight Meditation
A Apple Podcasts
Tara BrachInsight Meditation
A Apple Podcasts
Listening to the Song: The Transformative Power of Deep Listening - Part 2
From the podcast Tara Brach
Tara BrachInsight Meditation
A Apple Podcasts
Reading Room
Source texts
The source texts beneath this path, free to read.
Theravada & Insight
The Dhammapada
Translated by F. Max Müller
The standard free translation, from the Sacred Books of the East — formal but clear.
Buddhism
The Diamond Sutra
Translated by William Gemmell · 1912
A foundational Mahayana text on emptiness and non-attachment, read across Buddhist schools.
Theravada & Insight
The Questions of King Milinda
Translated by T. W. Rhys Davids · 1890
A Greek king's dialogue with the monk Nagasena — Buddhist philosophy made through conversation.
Buddhism
The Heart Sutra
Translated by F. Max Müller · 1894
The shortest and most recited Mahayana text, distilling the Prajnaparamita teaching on emptiness.
Discernment
Clarity should include the human context.
Meditation instructions can surface difficult material. A teacher's training and access to appropriate support matter as much as the technique itself.
Ask about contextIs a statement philosophical, meditative, relational or practical?
Notice powerHow are authority, money, intimacy and complaints handled?
Include embodimentDoes the teaching make room for emotion, the body and nervous-system limits?
Keep agencyA useful teacher supports clear choice rather than demanding surrender of judgement.