OUR TRADITIONS There are many great traditions in Buddhism. This year, the traditions of Theravada and Zen are represented, and the Festival is also hosted by Shambala, a more secular branch of Tibetan Buddhism; One Dharma Nashville, a group based on a more ecumenical trend; and the Nashville Mindfulness Center, a group supportive of the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, a Zen teacher, which has reached out to members of other religious groups. ONE DHARMA One Dharma Nashville reflects an emerging Western Buddhism that maintains an allegiance to a very basic question: “What works to free the mind from suffering and awaken the heart to compassion?” Although Buddhism has evolved differently in different times and places, the essential Dharma remains the same. One Dharma aims to take what is useful and beneficial from different traditions to enhance and deepen the practice experience. SHAMBHALA Shambala is a Tibetan lineage built around the examples of secular leaders who incorporated Buddhist ideals of benevolence and harmony into their societies, such as King Gesar of Tibet, King Ashoka of India, Prince Shotoku Taishi of Japan, and Emperor Yung-Lo of China. It emphasizes the essentially same principles and practices as the monastic lineages, and offers a version of Vajrayana (Tibetan Buddhsim) geared toward secular practioners, engaged in the world to develop enlightened society. THERAVADA Theravada Buddhism aims at the spiritual development of the individual through the practice of good moral behavior, concentration, and wisdom. A life of peace and dignity is possible if we understand and put together the necessary conditions. The teachings of the Buddha offer us guidance in how to gather wholesome factors and put them to use. With these teachings in mind, we practice meditation in order to realize insight for ourselves, by directly examining the arising and passing away of sensory objects. All this world is, in the Buddha's teaching, changing and transient, and this fact when profoundly understood leads to the ending of craving and clinging, and hence to release from all suffering. This release is the final goal, but all virtuous efforts along the path bring benefits. ZEN The practice of Zen as form is integrating into one’s life a routine of mindful sitting on a cushion. As non-form, the practice of Zen is letting go of ideas, opinions, and judgments so we can perceive this moment more clearly. Zen is realism, rather than idealism or materialism. It teaches that as one begins to live in reality rather than in thought-forms, fears or expectations, the student becomes one with the object of study and abandons his dissonance with the rest of existence.