Phyllis
Born
Indigo
Dick & Bonnie
Clare
Lama Thupten Rinpoche
Zoe
Guo Yuan Fashi
Mara
Joann
Karen H
Shinchok
Liz
Zen Master Ji Haeng
Aaron
GinaBeyond the Cushion
What does practice look like after we leave the cushion?
Real practitioners. Real questions. Real transformation.
Ani Palmo
John
Sensei Michael
Jude & Emma
Lisa
Genjo
Jogen
Roshi Shinge
Steven
Elinore
Willy & Kim
James
Geshe Denma
Michael
Tamara
Lisa ErnstThe vision
Preserving living lineages. Strengthening sangha.
A two-book series. A supporting non-profit. A living Dharma for generations to come.
Stories of Buddhist practice in everyday life
Not perfect practitioners. Real people walking the path.
Parents, teachers, workers, artists, monastics, and lay practitioners — photographed at home and in conversation about how meditation, compassion, and devotion meet the ordinary difficulties of modern life.
Nearly ten years in the making, the project is now becoming a two-book series.
Explore · New to Buddhism
The path often begins with a question, not a belief.
A quiet sense that there is more to understand about the mind, suffering, and compassion. Start with people who asked the same question.
Deepen · Already practicing
See how the Dharma is taking shape in the West.
A living expression of the Dharma is unfolding in real communities — practiced, tested, and embodied in this cultural moment.
Portraits
Meet the practitioners
Jeff
Recovery, sangha, and finding the Dharma in human connection.
Terry
Bringing the Dharma behind prison walls.
Colleen
Finding meaning through impermanence, death, and midlife.
Grace
Healing and everyday practice in Won Buddhism.
Mara
Grief, loss, and how practice and sangha changed her relationship to both.
Liz
From fashion to Dharma: building samaya through Tibetan Buddhist practice.
About the project
Over time, it became a way to honor the people, lineages, and communities quietly carrying the Dharma forward in the West.
About the project
Though I am only a beginner on the path, through causes and conditions—and through the blessings of the Buddhist lineages and forebears—I have had the good fortune to witness and participate in the vision of Beyond the Cushion.
Jack Huynh’s project arises from a sincere love of truth and a wish to support the flourishing of the Dharma in our time. With humility, intelligence, heart, and humanity, it seeks to bridge traditional Buddhist teachings with the realities of modern life.
At a time when spiritual teachings are often encountered in fragmented or decontextualized ways, Beyond the Cushion reminds us that authentic transformation is possible through dedication, refuge, relationship, community, and lived example.
Through documentary films, books, and the stories of diverse practitioners and sanghas, the project honors the places where the Dharma quietly takes root. It also offers support for those seeking to meet the challenges of contemporary culture with greater depth, wisdom, and compassion.
About the project
When the Mind Awakens, you will finally realize you weren’t there for any of it, because you were never more than a belief in self! Awakening has no you in it.
You will also realize that the only true loss is of greed, hatred and delusion, which are thankfully replaced by gifts/guardians of the heart. Those gifts are loving kindness, compassion and joy, with a new affection for the whole of humanity.
It is true, but come see for yourself.
Vision
Two books, a non-profit, and the living lineages behind them.
Emerging from years of immersion and relationship, the work has grown into a two-book series and a supporting non-profit dedicated to preserving living lineages and strengthening sangha.
My hope is not to define Buddhism, but to help make visible how it is lived imperfectly, sincerely, and in relationship.
Take part
Help carry the work forward
Support the project
For fellow practitioners: help preserve the authentic transmission of the Dharma as it takes root here.
Collaborate
Photographers help document the living presence of Buddhism in the West. Writers help shape the story of how it is unfolding.
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