Via Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly Online (for whom I also blog -- though I didn't write this particular post): The 2013 International Buddhist-Christian Conference, ” Enlightenment and Liberation: Engaged Buddhists and Liberation Theologians in Dialogue,” is scheduled for April 17–20 at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Speakers will include Pat Enkyo O’Hara, David Loy, Robert Thurman, Jan Willis, Bernie Glassman, Cornel West and many more.Co-sponsored by the semi … [Read more...]

This via a press release from Soka Gakkai International: the Buddhist organization's president, Daisaku Ikeda, issued his 31st annual peace proposal, entitled "Compassion, Wisdom and Courage: Building a Global Society of Peace and Creative Coexistence," on January 26th (the anniversary of the founding of SGI).A full English translation of the proposal will be available to the public in mid-February, according to SGI's website. Until then, here are the highlights of the proposal, explicated … [Read more...]

Recently, I told you about Robert Thurman's internet memes on the subjects of Grover Norquist’s Congressional pledges and proposed cuts to Social Security. Dr. Thurman has a new one -- just released -- about the self-immolations taking place within Tibet. It's posted below... … [Read more...]

Today is your last chance to donate to new film entitled The Cause of Progress, which is about how some Cambodians (including Buddhist monks) are responding to their country's economic developments.The film is described at its website this way: “The Cause of Progress” tells the story of the lives of three Cambodians caught up in the country’s chaotic and often violent economic progress, set against the backdrop of the shifting political, religious and familial landscapes of modern-day Cambo … [Read more...]

So I had a pretty amazing evening two weeks ago: I was honored to serve as moderator for an event with Academy Award-winning actor Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski, True Grit, Tron) and Zen master Bernie Glassman for the Library Foundation of Los Angeles’ [ALOUD] series.It was a joyful, hilarious, warm, and often profound experience for me -- not only getting to hang out with Bernie and Jeff, but also working with the amazing folks at [ALOUD].I'm pleased to tell you that “An Evening with Je … [Read more...]

Today a new semester starts at University of the West, where I work as an assistant professor and Coordinator of the Buddhist Chaplaincy Department. Over the weekend, one of our students posted the above picture on Facebook; it shows a large group of our monastic students returned to campus. As you can imagine, it brought a smile to many UWest faces when it was posted.This semester, I'm teaching a course on "Spiritual Leadership" to the graduate students in our MDiv program. It's my favorite … [Read more...]

Yes. That and some serious organizing and policy-making.You can read more about what Thay said at The Guardian.I did a larger post on climate change -- with an offer to Buddhist communities -- not long ago. You can read that here. … [Read more...]

"So I've got that going for me...which is nice." Please follow me if you're into this sort of thing. … [Read more...]