05.08.2026 Dharma teachings — and a dharma teacher — we all should know It was my true honor last month to shoot a new Lion’s Roar online course with the dharma teacher Gaylon Ferguson, all about the universal takeaways from the famed Buddhist text, The Way of Awakening, by Shantideva. The course is called Awakening the Boundless Heart: How to Be a Bodhisattva in These Times. As a precursor to the course, we’ll be offering a free online event with Gaylon, Discover the Four Qualities of an Awakened Heart, presented live on Thursday, March 14th. In it, Gaylon will talk about how loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity show up in everyday life, lead a guided meditation to connect with these qualities directly, and take audience questions. Sign up now to register for your spot in this free event. I hope you’ll join, and will also check out the course when it releases in June. For two big reasons: 1: The teachings in Shantideva’s text really can benefit anyone, being as they lead us to develop our minds and hearts so that we can lean in more easily to what’s innately positive in us all: our kindness, our capacity for real listening and care, our wisdom. They teach us to let go of anger and instead choose patience, friendliness, and joyful effort. Who couldn’t use more of these? 2: Gaylon himself. Every step along the way of our collaboration with him, Gaylon naturally embodied all those qualities Shantideva points to. Developing the course with him, spending time with him, attending as the camera rolled and he unpacked the teachings, I kept thinking: What a perfect guide to this material. I learned so much, and I felt my heart lifted, too. You may well know Gaylon already — he’s been teaching meditation and Buddhism for decades, and has been featured by Lion’s Roar plenty of times, including leading two online workshops for Lion’s Roar members. Familiar or not, you can’t go wrong by better-knowing him and his work. So this Weekend Reader points you to his plain-spoken but powerful teachings, so encouraging and wise. And once you’ve done yourself that favor, do yourself another and check out these great examples of Gaylon and the teachings he so clearly articulates and embodies. Thanks for reading, and thank you for your practice. —Rod Meade Sperry, Senior Editor, Lion’s Roar Special Projects and Buddhadharma The Power of Buddhist Tantra In this article for Buddhadharma, Lion’s Roar’s site for committed Buddhists, Gaylon Ferguson explains how tantric view and practice help us turn confusion into clarity and wisdom. How is it possible to attain liberation from confused and confusing entanglements while actively engaging everyday life? Tantric Buddhist practice often involves reciting mantras, visualizing deities, while performing ritual gestures in elaborate ceremonies. Are these esoteric techniques the basis of tantra’s potency? Is there some magical efficacy in simply engaging these sacred activities? Some teachers suggest that it’s not the actions themselves but our genuine devotion and faith that are truly transformative. We see things not as they are but as we are. If we cleanse the doors of perception, we can see what is otherwise hidden. ADVERTISEMENT What “No Self” Really Means The journey of awakening, says Buddhist teacher Gaylon Ferguson, begins by examining our usual beliefs about who we are. Because maybe we’ve got it wrong. Letting go of the false sense of self feels liberating, like being released from a claustrophobic prison of mistaken view. What a relief to discover that we don’t have to pretend to be something we’re not! The initially surprising and challenging news of “no solid self” turns out to be a gentle invitation into a more spacious approach to living and being with others. Releasing fixation on permanence goes hand in hand with taking brave steps toward more communication and harmony in our lives, our actions, our relationships, and our work. Mindfulness and the Buddha’s Eightfold Path To understand how to practice mindfulness in daily life, says Gaylon Ferguson, we have to look at all eight steps of the Buddha’s noble eightfold path. In his first teaching at Deer Park, the Buddha praised mindfulness: “The Noble Eightfold Path is nourished by living mindfully.” From the beginning, the path of awakening includes all aspects of our human lives: physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and social. The aim is a mindful life. This means that our relationship to our sexuality and our consumerist economic system, our parenting, and our politics are all part of the path. This approach to living fully is outlined in the eightfold path. “Right mindfulness” is one aspect of this path, alongside right view, right intention, right effort, right meditative engagement, right speech, right livelihood, and right action. The Sanskrit word samyak—often translated as “right” or “perfect”—can also mean “complete.” Engaging mindfulness encourages complete engagement with life. Let’s walk through these aspects of the Buddhist spiritual path, returning mindfulness to her rightful place among her seven less famous but equally important sisters and brothers. MORE FROM LION’S ROAR