DharmaStack is Here!

a directory of Buddhist-inspired newsletters on Substack

Welcome to DharmaStack v. 1! Updated August 29, 2024.

This is a directory of Buddhist-inspired newsletters on Substack — many of which you won’t find by using Substack's search and category functions. I've put together this directory to meet that need by offering curation of the many excellent Buddhist-inspired newsletters on Substack. I hope this service will be of benefit to many people.

This project is a labor of love.

If you’d like to contribute something in appreciation of my time and efforts to bring this together, you are invited to make a one-time donation, or sign up for a free or paid subscription to my newsletter, The Practice of Life.

A few important notes before you dive in…

• We are just getting started! This means there are undoubtedly more Buddhist-inspired newsletters out there than what you see in this first version. If you are the author of such a newsletter or know someone who is, please use this form to submit your publication for addition to the directory. I’ll update it monthly and send a message to let subscribers know the updated version is ready. To make sure you receive notifications about future updates, please consider subscribing:

• When you subscribe, you’ll also be signed up to receive posts from my main newsletter, The Practice of Life, but if you’d prefer to only receive DharmaStack updates, you can set your preferences on this page.

• In this first iteration, newsletters are organized alphabetically by their title, with information about the author and their Buddhist influences (when provided). Newsletters that start with “A” are listed in the A’s; “The” are listed in the T’s. Future versions may have more layers of organization, including around topics and the primary Buddhist tradition of the authors. We’re starting simple to get this out of the gate!

• Newsletters included in this directory have met these criteria:

  • The newsletter has been active within the last six months.

  • The newsletter has a connection with Dharma teachings and practices. This can take many diverse forms, and writers may focus on topics such as art, activism, relationships, sobriety, traditional Buddhist teachings, and much more.

  • The author has one or more of the following:

    • a regular meditation/contemplative practice;

    • a relationship with a teacher in a Buddhist lineage (in some cases the authors are teachers);

    • a relationship with a recognized Buddhist temple/sangha.

To me, it’s important that writers here have more than a theoretical familiarity with Buddhism, that they’ve done some time on the cushion and ideally with teachers and sanghas.

Down the road, DharmaStack may become its own separate publication with more bells and whistles (and perhaps collaborators).

Thank you for your interest, and enjoy!

- Maia Duerr

A - F

A Hillbilly in the Zendo by Kojun (Janet Patterson)

A blog about Zen adventures in the rural South

Ruminations, mutterings, and musing. Telling stories about the obvious. I've called myself a Buddhist since the early 1990's. Maybe I have unlearned something along the way. Formal Zen study x 6 years. I wish it had been 60.

Buddhist influences: Mahayana

A Phoenix’s Hut by Taishin Michael Augustin

A Phoenix’s Hut features personal reflections on Buddhist teachings and recent Dharma talks from Taishin Michael Augustin. You can find his ever-changing story as a Zen Priest in recovery, some poetry, and pictures of Dharma cats here, too.

Taishin is Resident Priest of O-An Zendo, a small Soto Zen Buddhist temple in central Pennsylvania.

Buddhist influences: Mahayana

A Suitable Vessel by Kara Westerman

A Suitable Vessel is the place my late husband lives. Inside the book I have been making for us, a paper house for us to ride the winds of Eternity. No kidding.

Kara is a published fiction author, journalist, teacher, podcaster, oral history facilitator, and fearless leader of East Hampton Writer’s Collective, now known on Zoom as The Writers Collective Out East.

Buddhist influences: Vajrayana / Tibetan Buddhism, Dream Yoga in Tibetan Buddhism and the Mezoamerican tradition

Alchemy of a Journey by Kert Lenseigne

Using the ingredients of every ordinary moment to cook up a life of meaning—with Zen, Buddhist, and Taoist flavoring sprinkled in.

Husband, Father, Brother. Zen Student, Soul Advocate/Activist, Apprentice/Advocate to Grief. Hospice Volunteer; Guardian of Human Possibility. Vegan… But who am I really? “Only Don’t Know.”

Buddhist influences: Mahayana

Ataraxia or Bust! by Doug Bates

Articles about the intersection of Buddhism and ancient Greek philosophy; and in particular, the philosophy that arose from this intersection: Pyrrhonism.

Doug is the author of "Pyrrho's Way: the Ancient Greek Version of Buddhism."

Buddhist influences: Mahayana

Bodhisavage by Tasha Schumann

Meditations on being creative, aware, wild beings.

Tasha Schumann is a Buddhist Lama, writer, visual artist, co-host of The Mind Bod Adventure Pod and Juno-nominated recording artist whose work has been streamed many millions of times around the world. 

Buddhist influences: Vajrayana / Tibetan Buddhism, Mahayana

Bright Earth Buddhist Temple by Kaspa and Satya

Teachings from Bright Earth Buddhist Temple.

Kaspa is a Psychotherapist and Buddhist Priest based in the United Kingdom. Satya is recognized as a teacher in the Pure Land tradition, and is based in the United Kingdom.

Buddhist influences: Mahayana

CMoon by Cristina Moon

Finding spiritual strength and the ability to stay calm amid chaos.

Cristina Moon is a Zen priest and author at Chozen-ji, a Zen temple and martial arts dojo in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Buddhist influences: Mahayana

Doctor Eclectic by Randall Hayes

neuroscientist and meditator rants about science and popular culture

“Your friendly neighborhood neuroscientist,” Randall corresponds from North Carolina.

Buddhist influences: Mahayana

Drip, Drip, Drip, The Bucket Fills by Cyndi Lee

Buddhist wisdom for ordinary people on ordinary days. A slow and steady way to an awakened life.

Cyndi Lee began teaching meditation 30 years ago with the blessing of her root guru, the great Tibetan master, Gelek Rimpoche. In 2018 she was ordained as a Buddhist Chaplain, under the guidance of Roshi Joan Halifax. Cyndi is also the first female Western yoga teacher to fully integrate yoga asana and Tibetan Buddhism in her practice and teaching.

Buddhist influences: Vajrayana, Mahayana, Vipassana

Edel Maex

Dharma talks and guided meditation by Edel Maex.

Edel is a Zen Teacher and Psychiatrist based in Antwerp, Belgium.

Buddhist influences: Mahayana, Vipassana

Everyday Buddhism by Wendy Shinyo Haylett

Author, podcast host, Buddhist Lay Minister, and Sensei sharing the "tips and tricks" found in Buddhist teachings to help make your life better ... everyday!

Buddhist influences: Mahayana, Vajrayana / Tibetan Buddhism, Jodo Shinshu

Forgetting the Self by Sarah Whiteside

A newsletter for people who think differently, exploring practices for creative and divergent living.

Sarah is a late-identified autistic writer, erstwhile musician, and zen practitioner. Her stories and articles have appeared in Ambit, Gutter, Brittle Star, Northwords Now, The Letters Page, and New Writing Scotland. She has Masters degrees in both creative writing and music therapy,

Buddhist influences: Mahayana

From the Pure Land by Mel Pine

"This very earth is the Lotus Land of purity, and this very body is the Body of Buddha."—Hakuin Ekaku (1686-1769). It has taken me 78 years of life and 40 years of Buddhist practice to realize that I already live in a Pure Land. Join me there!

Mel has been a practicing Buddhist for close to 40 years. His teachers have included Thich Nhat Hanh, Lama Surya Das, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, and Anam Thubten. He and his wife Carol live in western Loudoun County, Virginia.

Buddhist influences: Vipassana, Mahayana, Vajrayana

G - K

Going Gently by Satya Robyn

How to be kinder to yourself, others & dear Earth

Satya is recognized as a teacher in the Pure Land tradition, and is based in the United Kingdom.

Buddhist influences: Mahayana

Hiraeth: Post-Activism in the Anthropocene by Gregory Pettys

EcoVillage Life. Bardo Travel. Parenting in Times of Uncertainty. Unschooling. ReWilding. Dharma, Animism, & Embodied Myth. SeedSaving. Grief. Praise. ReMatriation. Forgiveness. Ancient Futures. PostActivism. Memory, Culture and the Search for Home.

Gregory is a father, husband and recovering academic turned organic farmer/seed saver living communally in an eco-village in Northern Thailand dedicated to self-sufficiency. A cross pollinator of culture exploring how best to raise children in uncertain times.

Buddhist influences: Vajrayana, Vipassana / Insight meditation, Mahayana

in The Field by Erin P Meehan

love notes from the field. on creativity, nature, transformation & kinship with the unknown. for inspiration, tending, contemplating or rearranging.

Erin is an artist, ritualist, mish mash of life experience human, whose writing is infused from a background as a meditator and trained meditation teacher, somatic, expressive and healing arts guide.

Buddhist influences: Vajrayana / Tibetan Buddhism, Bön

Just as You Are by Kaspa Thompson

"Interesting, thought provoking and witty.” Helping you to be yourself. Untangling the knots that come with being human. Let's all be kinder to ourselves.

Kaspa is a Psychotherapist and Buddhist Priest based in the United Kingdom.

Buddhist influences: Mahayana

keep sweeping by jacob seiryo gendelman

I’m a lover of language, silence, fiction, poetry, landscapes, film, comics, and music of all kinds. I’m pretty omnivorous when it comes to culture. Don’t mistake anything you see here for teaching: I’m exploring where this writing practice takes me, informed by zen practice, so there’ll be lots of overlaps and investigation of that Venn diagram along the way. It’s most definitely a work in progress.

Jacob is a writer and zen priest based in the lower Hudson Valley of New York, and the caretaker/priest at Warwick Zendo in Warwick, NY. He’s a student of Tenshin Fletcher Roshi at Yokoji Zen Mountain Center in California.

Buddhist influences: Mahayana, Vipassana

L - O

Light Hive by Logan Juliano, PhD

Mindfulness for People with Complex Identities

Logan is a workshop facilitator, writing lecturer at UCLA, and mindfulness mentor.

Buddhist influences: Vipassana / Insight meditation, Mahayana

Living Dharma by Zuisei Goddard

Making sense of life and its living through the teachings and practices of Buddhism

Zuisei is a writer, editor, and the Guiding Teacher at Ocean Mind Sangha.

Buddhist influences: Mahayana

Make Pure Thy Heart by Paolo Peralta

Mindfulness with a whole lot of relatability.

Paolo: Vegan dishes, too much yoga, guitarist, tattooist.

Buddhist influences: Mahayana

Meditation with Heart by Kimberly Brown

Practical tools and relatable insights to help you create a loving and wise life, from meditation teacher, Buddhist student, and author Kimberly Brown.

Buddhist influences: Vipassana / Insight meditation, Mahayana, Vajrayana / Tibetan Buddhism

Mindful Mom in the Mud by Kathryn Barbash, PsyD

Navigating the mess of parenthood with humor, compassion and common sense.

Kathryn is a mom and licensed clinical psychologist passionate about parental mental health, mindfulness, psychology, neurodiversity and coffee.

Buddhist influences: Mahayana

Nearly Me by Elly Marie

Explorations on how to be harmoniously human in daily life using dharma and featuring cute cat pics 💜

Elly is personal essayist, who brings in her experience as a long-time practising Buddhist, ex-management consultant and trainee psychotherapist; alongside being part of the LGBTQIA+ and polyamorous communities.

Buddhist influences: Mahayana, Vajrayana / Tibetan Buddhism

News from Tuwhiri

News and information from the secular Buddhist publishing imprint, Tuwhiri. Helping people find meaning in a difficult world, Tuwhiri produces educational resources for secular dharma practitioners. Based in New Zealand.

Buddhist influences: Vipassana / Insight meditation, Secular Buddhism, Sŏn Buddhism

Nicole Croft by Nicole Croft

Weekly musings on life that draw on the Buddhist & Yogic traditions for both inspiration & wisdom

Nicole is a long time yoga teacher, Buddhist practitioner and writer. A weaver of words and chaser of blue skies, she is a mother to three now grown up children. When not travelling, she lives wth her husband in the midst of the English countryside.

Buddhist influences: Vajrayana / Tibetan Buddhism

P - S

Postcards from the Bright Void by Patrick Lawlor

Lyric Essays on Art, Meditation, and Consciousness

Buddhist influences: Secular, Vipassana, Mahayana, Vajrayana

Rooted Ways by Utpaladhi

Deepening connection to ourselves, the earth and community.

Utpaladhi is a human being trying to find meaning and joy in this wonderful mysterious life. Buddhist, yogi, nature lover, beginner herbalist, mum. She/her

Buddhist influences: Triratna (ecumenical)

Shy Guy Meets the Buddha by Don Boivin

Reflections on Work, Love, and Nature

Don is a husband, father, carpenter, writer, and nature lover. He tries to take things slowly.

Buddhist influences: Vipassana / Insight meditation

Sober Soulful by Dana Leigh Lyons

Sober Soulful is for anyone exploring their relationship to unhelpful patterns and seeking kind, kindred community. You’ll find intimate essays on addiction, sobriety, and being human.

Dana is a sober Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine and writer whose teachings and practices are rooted in Buddhism, Taoism, and yoga.

Buddhist influences: Vipassana / Insight meditation, Mahayana

Softening Time with Elena Brower

Dedicated to practice, study and small transformations.

Mother, mentor, artist, and author.

Buddhist influences: Mahayana

Soul Mastery Dispatch by Nancy Boyd

Plunge into the depths of our ever changing world and connect with insights, stories, inspiration and a light touch to help you navigate the journey when it gets wild out there (or in there as the case may be.)

Nancy is a healer, author, award-winning life coach, and founder of The Soul Path Academy ~ Soul Mastery in Conscious Evolution.

Buddhist influences: Vajrayana, Vipassana , Mahayana

SoulSmith by Jiva Smith

SoulSmith combines meditation, wisdom, and community. Like a high-quality spiritual public radio. To help everyone connect to their own path.

Jiva Smith is a meditation teacher, leadership coach, and founder of SoulSmith. 

Buddhist influences: Mahayana, Vajrayana

Spark Zen by Rev. Shoren Heather

Spark Zen is for introspective, iconoclastic thinkers interested in Zen/Buddhism; hosted by a Zen priest who lived as a monk for seven years.

Zen Priestess. Writer. Adventurer. Director of Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, nestled in the Ventana Wilderness in Northern California.

Buddhist influences: Mahayana

Stacking Stones by Justyna Cyrankiewicz

Stacking Stones is a collection of guideposts to help us find our unique pathways. Having overcome a six-year-long depression, I committed to finding simplicity in my overly complicated mind. My weekly letters are dedicated to the practice of inwardness, deepening both our individual and collective experiences. Through this practice, we explore our tender relationship with the world, the wonders of dailiness, the power of love, and the ever-changing nature of existence.

Practitioner, writer, a friend. 

Buddhist influences: Vipassana / Insight meditation

Stoetry by Christopher Meesto Erato

Poems, Plays and Ideas from a life of seeking and creating.

MA in Arts Ed (NYU) & BA in Psychology. Artist, Teacher, Writer & Activist.

Buddhist influences: Vipassana / Insight meditation, Mahayana, Vajrayana / Tibetan Buddhism, Soka Gakkai / Nichiren Buddhism, Korean

T - Z

The Art of Doing Nothing & The Divine Truth by Spiritual Entertainer

Providing insights on mindfulness, Eastern religions (zen, Daoism, buddhism), spiritual discipline, nature, ancient esoteric and occult knowledge and theology in general.

Writer, Spiritualist and Mindfulness Practitioner. Interested in Self Realization, Expansion of Human Consciousness, Zen Buddhism, Theology, ancient esoteric and occult knowledge, and nature.

Buddhist influences: Vipassana / Insight meditation, Mahayana

The Creekmasons by Geoffe Gallinger

Musings, reframings, and rituals for Liminal Trickster Mystics on the blog; Dharmic transmission in the Discord community, which seeks to be a sort of digital sangha fueled by discussion, group meditation, and commitment to one another’s spiritual growth.

Buddhist influences: Vipassana / Insight meditation, Vajrayana / Tibetan Buddhism, American Theravada (Jack Kornfield’s tradition); Pragmatic Dharma (eg Daniel Ingram and Culadasa)

The Dalai Lama’s Cat: Buddhist compassion in action by David Michie

Insight, hope and uplifting wisdom from Tibetan Buddhism. Paying subscribers support animal rescue centres and Buddhist not-for-profits in Africa and the Himalayas.

David is the internationally best-selling author of numerous fiction and non-fiction titles, translated into over 30 languages. He leads annual Mindful Safaris to Africa.

Buddhist influences: Vajrayana / Tibetan Buddhism

The Laundry by Adreanna Limbach & Lodro Rinzler

Reflections on meditation and Buddhist practice at the intersection of parenthood, partnership and everyday life from teachers, authors and married couple Lodro Rinzler and Adreanna Limbach.

Buddhist influences: Vajrayana / Tibetan Buddhism, Mahayana

The Liberal Buddhist Review by Tom Cummings

A newsletter commenting on current events through the twin lenses of secular Buddhism and political liberalism, written for anyone concerned about the vast and ever-increasing amount of suffering in the world.

Tom Cummings is a political liberal for the past fifty-five years, and a committed secular Buddhist for the last fifteen.

Buddhist influences: Vipassana / Insight meditation, Mahayana (Zen, Pure Land, Thich Nhat Hanh's community), Secular Buddhism

The Mindful Writer by Amanda Saint

Ideas for mindful living and writing; wonderings about the nature of reality, life, love and the experience of being a human; and how you can write meaningfully about it.

Amanda Saint is a writer, editor, teacher and publisher from the UK who moves around a lot. She is houseless but not homeless as home is inside her and her happy, loving marriage.

Buddhist influences: Mahayana

The Practice of Life by Maia Duerr

inspiration for personal and collective liberation, rooted in the teachings of the Buddha as well as my own meandering yet magnificent life journey.

Maia is a longtime Zen practitioner in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, as well as a writer and cultural anthropologist based in New Mexico. Her book, Work That Matters, serves as a mindfulness-based guide to career transformation.

Buddhist influences: Mahayana

The Softer Gaze by Dominique Side

Non-fiction, stories and musings about life from a Buddhist perspective. A softer and more compassionate gaze.

Dominique is a teacher specialized in Buddhist thought and literary writing, and the author of “Discovering Buddhism” (Troubador, 2022).

Buddhist influences: Vajrayana / Tibetan Buddhism, Academic study of all traditions at university and shedra

The Uses of Art by Sal Randolph

New ways of seeing, shaped by Zen Buddhist practice, from artist and poet Sal Randolph.

Sal is an artist and writer who lives in New York and works between language and action.

Buddhist influences: Mahayana

This Is All Going Away by Sarah Kokernot

Monthly posts on writing into the numinous. Essays on meditation and everyday joy. Buddhism but make it wild and witchy. 

Writer & secret poet. Also: a vajrayana Buddhist who reads Thomas Merton & worships trees. Work in The New York Times, Best American Short Stories, Michigan Quarterly Review, Crazyhorse, West Branch, and other publications.

Buddhist influences: Vajrayana / Tibetan Buddhism

Tsering Dorji's Newsletter

Yoga in Vajrayana Buddhism.

Tsering Dorji has studied Buddhism in both monastic and academic settings for the past twenty years, and is now been studying (body-oriented) yoga in Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism for the past three years, developing and refining an approach to the ancient Tibetan texts that is both rigorous and reverent.

Buddhist influences: Vajrayana

Unanswered Question by James Ford

Rooted in the Zen Buddhist tradition, but also explores interspiritual dimensions, especially Christian mysticism.

Zen teacher and Unitarian Universalist minister.

Buddhist influences: Mahayana

Van Dharma by Matthew Gindin

My adventures in Vanlife and daily Zen practice.

Matthew is an independent journalist and editor of Strange Wonder.

Buddhist influences: Mahayana, Vipassana, Vajrayana / Tibetan Buddhism, Thai Forest Tradition/Theravada

What's Growing On? by Nessa Meshkaty

Being human takes practice. Practice needs attention. Our attention is divided. What we pay attention to grows.

Nessa is a recovering Infectious Disease Physician turned Storyteller Gardener Photographer.

Buddhist influences: Mix of Vipassana and Zen

Whistling by Forrest Beway

Life musings from a Zen practitioner from a non-duality perspective.

An human being being huma, just like you. Oh! I misspelled "huma". Wonderful. That's what we all are. Imperfect and wonderful at the same time.

Buddhist influences: Soto Zen

Wild Arisings by Sandra Pawula

Calming our minds, healing our hearts, and accessing our inner wisdom together.

“I’m not a special or extraordinary person. I’m just an everyday person who is curious about healing unhelpful emotional and mental patterns and living a more aware and awake life.” Sandra lives on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Buddhist influences: Vajrayana / Tibetan Buddhism

Zen Peacemakers

The Zen Peacemakers' newsletter offers an inspiring resource that invites readers on a journey toward personal and societal harmony. Through its exploration of the Zen Peacemakers Three Tenets, Engaged Buddhism, and their multi-faith international community, this newsletter provides valuable compassion and connection.

Buddhist influences: Mahayana

Zenju Earthlyn Manuel

Spirituality, Zen, and culture.

Osho Zenju Earthlyn Marselean Manuel, poet, author, ordained Zen priest, and medicine woman of the drum, is the dharma heir of Buddha and the late Zenkei Blanche Hartman in the Shunryu Suzuki Roshi lineage through the San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC). Prior to enter Zen Buddhism, Zenju practiced in the Nichiren/Soka Gakkai tradition for 15 years. She entered Zen in 2001 and began again as a beginner on the path. Zenju’s practice is influenced by Native American and African indigenous traditions.