Subscribe to our weekly newsletter

Donate

The virtue of generosity, charity or giving. Your donations are welcomed.

Learn more

Dharma Centre

Our online community to complement The Zen Gateway online resource and magazine.

Visit Dharma Centre

Verses from Dhammapada 146

Buddhist practice teaches us how to transform pain and suffering into joy and life.

Chögyam Trungpa: Working with negativity

Book Extracts
Chugyum Trungpa examines how using the negative emotions lead the way to liberation, and at what point this ‘negativity’ actually becomes a ‘negative’ influence in our lives.

The Poems I - Searching for the Bull

Entering deeper into this well-known Zen analogy of spiritual transformation this podcast examines the meaning of the poems associated with each picture as a window into the experience of the journey ahead.

Hakuin's Song of Zazen | with commentary by Michael Haggiag

Hakuin Ekaku, one of the most influential Rinzai Zen teachers, encapsulates Zen's most profound insights in just a few lines of poetry.

The Horror of Bodily Invasion in Folklore and Films

Themes of bodily invasions or being taken over by an alien intelligence are common in folklore and modern cinema, but there is also a frightening reality to these stories.

Latest Articles

Audio Talks

Transcending Mindfulness: 10 | The Digital Ego

The Purpose of Life

Transcending Mindfulness: 9 | Daily Grind Mindfulness

Practice

Low Impact Living

Exercises in Mindfulness
The idea that we should leave no traces of ourselves is implicit in Zen temples but, if we can consciously apply this to our daily lives, we will have a powerful tool for emptying out the heart.

Verses from the Dhammapada 32

If we can remain open to all situations, no matter how humdrum they may seem, the magic of the Buddha's insight can begin to pervade all of our activities.

The Alchemy of Adversity

By putting the Buddha's teachings into practice we are developing the ability to transform adversity into wisdom.

The Sword that Slays 10,000 Thoughts

Exercises in Mindfulness
If not one thought arises, you will at once climb up the Bodhi tree
Series

The Five Hindrances | Martin Goodson

These are the factors that hinder progress in meditation and daily life practice.

Magazine

Hakuin's Song of Zazen | with commentary by Michael Haggiag

Hakuin Ekaku, one of the most influential Rinzai Zen teachers, encapsulates Zen's most profound insights in just a few lines of poetry.

2025: A Year in View

Our annual look back at what has been happening on The Zen Gateway in 2025

The Selected Letters of Master Daie Soko with commentary by Ven Myokyo-ni

Book Review
Master Daie gives his lay students practical advise on how to apply Zen in ordinary life, in this invaluable collection of letters.

Easy by Nature by Lao Tsu | with commentary by Michael Haggiag

Poet's Corner
The virtues of being like water in spiritual training.

Yoka Daishi’s Realising the Way | Book Review by Lucy Spear

This book is a companion and a guide. The poem itself is not so much an instruction manual, rather it’s a distillation of what and how it is to be a pupil of the Way. 

Buddhism

Verses from Dhammapada 146

Buddhist practice teaches us how to transform pain and suffering into joy and life.

Verses from the Dhammapada 373

Rather than trying to create a joyful heart, Buddhist practice uncovers a natural joyfulness that is ever present.

Virya: Continuous Effort

The Six Parameters
Effort is needed for Zen practice to be effective but willpower can only take us so far. Dr. Alan Sidi explores how to apply effort from the perspective of Zen training.

Patient Endurance

Dr Alan Sidi explores how to transform the chaotic forces of the passions into the Buddha nature.

Skilful Restraint

The Wheel of life gives us a powerful tool for understanding the source of attachment and rebirth. By skilfully pairing this knowledge with the power of restraint we can begin to enter into Nirvana.

This week in the Dharma Centre...

Our online community to complement The Zen Gateway online resource and magazine.

Visit our Dharma Centre