See also: Buddhism

Ever since the first century, Buddhists have created images and other depictions of the Buddha in metal, wood, and stone with stylized hand-positions called mudras. Images of the Buddha are often the focus of reverence and devotion.... Read more about The Image of the Buddha

The Chinese Chan, Korean Son, and Japanese Zen traditions emphasize meditation practice. In addition, other practices are commonly used, such as the presentation of koans, or questions given by a master to a student, intended to break students free of conceptualizing thoughts that are obstacles to enlightenment.... Read more about One Hand Clapping?

Intensive Zen meditation retreats, or sesshins, such as one in Mt. Temper, New York, are designed for participants to focus intensively on monastic Buddhist practice and meditation. Retreats include many rituals to allow students to fully immerse themselves in their practice—even during mealtime.... Read more about Sesshin: A Meditation Retreat

Chanting scriptures and prayers to buddhas and bodhisattvas is a central practice in all streams of Buddhism, intended both to reflect upon content and to focus the mind.... Read more about Chanting the Sutras

In Vajrayana Buddhism, the mandala (“circle”) serves as a diagram of the cosmos. Creating a sand mandala can take weeks and requires intense concentration, but the ritual practice requires the mandala be destroyed or dismantled after its completion. This emphasizes the impermanence of all created things.... Read more about Creating a Mandala

The many streams of Buddhism differ in their approaches to monasticism and initiation rituals. For example, is it common in the Theravada tradition for young men to become novice monks as a rite of passage into adulthood. In some Mahayana traditions, women can take the Triple Platform Ordination and become nuns. Meanwhile, in some Japanese traditions, priests and masters can marry and have children.... Read more about Becoming a Monk

In Southern California, some Theravada temples have taken up the practice of granting temporary novice ordinations to Cambodian American gang members, with the hope of reorienting the youth toward their families’ religion and culture.... Read more about From Street Gangs to Temple

The compassionate bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, also known as Guanyin, is central to the practice of Chinese and Vietnamese Buddhists in America. A bodhisattva is an enlightened one who remains engaged in the world in order to enlighten all beings, and Buddhists channel the bodhisattva Guanyin by cultivating compassion for all beings in the world.... Read more about Devotion to Guanyin

In Olympia, Washington, the Vietnamese Buddhist community connects with ancestral dead through the celebration of the Ghost Festival. Similar remembrance traditions occur in many other Buddhist traditions,  both in America and elsewhere.... Read more about Remembering the Ancestors

Although the Lunar New Year is not a particularly “Buddhist” holiday, many Thai and Chinese Buddhists observe the occasion with celebration and visits to family and activities at Buddhist temples. ... Read more about Celebrating the New Year

The Chuang Yen Monastery in Kent, New York, is a prime example of how Chinese Buddhism has flourished in America, in all its richness and complexity.... Read more about Monastery in the Hudson Valley