Buddhadharma offers us a tried-and-true compass to navigate a changing world, one that is shifting even more rapidly and in often heartbreaking ways. Through this column, I share ways that Buddhist teachings and practices have supported my own journey, as well as reflect on how the Dharma gives us a path to understand and respond to collective challenges including climate emergency, social breakdown, and racial and economic injustice.
Dharma Compass is published monthly.
In times of growing uncertainty regarding the world around us, Buddhists know that the Dharma offers an unshakeable refuge that can ground us as we work to offer inner and outer refuge to others
A welcome reminder of the fundamental truths of reality that the Buddha offered in his first teaching and how they are still deeply relevant to our lives today
Maia Duerr examines the profound suffering wrought by Catholic boarding schools for First Nations people in Canada and the healing that can come from facing this history
Maia Duerr shares the wisdom she has learned from her pet dog, Lucy
In a time of great upheaval, a key quality of the Dharma is its ability to give us support and stability—if we are open to it
Maia Duerr teaches us to lean into curiosity and openness in moments of discomfort and expectation, a powerful and often-difficult practice when confronting social injustice
A meditation on the complex life of spiritual friendships and their role on the Buddhist path
Mahapajapati deserves to be remembered as the founder of the great women’s community that remains to this day, and as a woman who stood up for gender equity, beginning work that is ongoing
Thich Nhat Hanh’s unique ability to reach people where they are and his emphasis on Buddhism as an always-engaged practice live on as two among many of his greatest accomplishments
A meditation on the virtue of generosity in our lives
Acknowledging the complexity of the current war, columnist Maia Duerr invites us to look back at our own minds as we think about and discuss this and similar situations
BDG columnist Maia Duerr ponders the meaning of the pandemic and the hope for change as we confront our interconnectedness
