Teens face tough choices today. But we can get a lot of strength and support from a spiritual path. This is a place where we can talk about things like school, family, friends, love, and life in the light of Buddhist teachings. We've also put some great articles together to get your creative juices flowing. Your electronic community is waiting for you!

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The Precepts for Young People by Sandy Eastoak 

The Ten Precepts are the fundmental moral teachings of Buddhism. Here’s an interpretation that makes sense for our needs today.

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Tylenol Prayer Beads by Jarvis Jay Masters 

The central concept in Buddhism that all suffering is due to desire and attachment is particularly striking given the circumstances of Jarvis Jay Masters. Born in 1962 and now an inmate on Death Row in San Quentin Prison, Masters received his Buddhist initiation from a Tibetan lama on the other side of a glass partition, over a telephone. In these selections from his book, Finding Freedom: Writings from Death Row, Masters, alone in his cell, contemplates the karma of his own past actions and, in the midst of the daily violence of prison life, dedicates himself to the Buddhist precepts of purifying body, mind, and speech.

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Taming Your Gremlin: A Guide to Enjoying Yourself by Richard D. Carson 

Why is it so difficult to be at peace with yourself sometimes? Writer Richard D. Carson suggests that it may all be the fault of your gremlin.

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Difficulties on the Way by Karlfried Graf Dürckheim 

Karlfried Graf Dürckheim (1896-1988) was a German nobleman who explored many spiritual paths, including Hinduism, Zen and Jungian psychology. Here is his advice about facing difficulties on the way, from his book The Way of Transformation (London: Allen & Unwin, 1988).

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The Life of the Buddha by Cherry Gilchrist 

How the Buddha left a life of comfort and privilege and went on a relentless search for illumination.

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Spiritual Being Seeks Practice by Richard Smoley 

As we learn more about the practices of the world’s great spiritual traditions, the question becomes, how can we each discover what’s right for us?

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Eastern Lingo for Westerners by Richard Smoley 

Do you know what karma is? Or nirvana? If you’ve been hearing these words and want to know what they mean, here’s a brief glossary.

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