Tourists: Buddha Tattoos are Taboo; as are See-Through dresses at Buddhist holy sites

Last updated on: August 12, 2016 at 1:37 pm By Justin Whitaker

It seems like only last month that another tourist was deported from Myanmar (Burma) for publicly showing off his Buddha tattoo. Oh wait, it was. The Washington Post reported that Cesar Hernandez of Spain was there with his wife when people began noticing his seated Buddha tattoo covering much of his calf. Buddhist monks kindly informed him that the tattoo was inappropriate. The tourists were then detained and deported or, perhaps, asked kindly to leave or be careful. As the Post reports,... Read more

Tibetan Nun commits suicide as China destroys vast Buddhist religious city

Last updated on: August 9, 2016 at 2:35 pm By Justin Whitaker

This is Larung Gar a year ago. It is a vast monastic complex in eastern Tibet (in China’s Sichuan Province) housing as many as 40,000 Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns (10,000 being a more likely number). Recently, it has come under scrutiny by the Chinese government and demolitions have recently begun, threatening up to half of the monastics living there. The town has grown rapidly, from just a handful of disciples of the Tibetan teacher from the Nyingma tradition, Khenpo Jigme... Read more

7 characteristics of Flow States & how Mindfulness brings us there

Last updated on: August 8, 2016 at 5:09 pm By Justin Whitaker

George Mumford, a mindfulness teacher and author of the book, The Mindful Athlete, offers an “anatomy of the Zone” as observed in the words of top athletes talking about their performance. The Zone, or Flow, has been described in cultures around the world, but has a special connection to the Buddhist practice of mindfulness. Flow states can, and do, happen to us all of time, from playing music to sports or just a great conversation with friends or colleagues. But... Read more

Buddhist Political Preferences (Reader poll, July-Aug reporting)

Last updated on: August 7, 2016 at 8:05 pm By Justin Whitaker

Last month I was too busy teaching, traveling, and doing a bit of meditation in China to write a report on the June-July readers survey of political preferences. In fact, I was a bit lax in publicizing the poll as well, which I think played a roll in the marked downturn in responses. With just 107 (self-selected, online, non-randomized) respondents and demographics roughly matching previous months’ polls, we’ll jump right to the question of which candidate each respondent most supported: Despite... Read more

Major Sites of the Indus Valley (aka Sarasvati or Harappa) Civilization

Last updated on: August 4, 2016 at 4:00 pm By Justin Whitaker

Any survey of Buddhist history has to cover the great ancient civilization of India: the Indus Valley Civilization. Though little is known of the civilizations today, archaeologists and other scholars continue to unearth artifacts from the civilization and posit ever more extensive theories about the lives of people in the civilizations. The civilization flourished from approx 2600-1900 BCE, with earliest traces dating to 6500-6000 BCE and final developments ending around 1300 BCE. Despite predating Buddhism by at least almost 1000 years,... Read more

Japanese Religion: Buddhism and Shintoism

Last updated on: August 2, 2016 at 4:32 pm By Justin Whitaker

In this wonderful short documentary, filmmaker Andrew Bush explores the two main religions of Japan: Buddhism and Shintoism. Through interviews with an American Zen Priest, Rick ‘Jyozen’ Beal, and a Japanese (Tendai) Buddhist Priest, Jokan Ono, Bush helps distinguish some of the overlapping and unique features of the religions in Japan today. The focus of the discussions is more on Buddhism, so to find out more on Shinto, you can watch this short video from the Asian Art Museum: Read... Read more

July Buddhist Political Affiliations and the 2016 US Presidential Race (Reader Poll)

Last updated on: August 2, 2016 at 10:50 am By Justin Whitaker

I am currently in China, living in a Chan Buddhist monastery, just wrapping up a long silent retreat. I hear there have been some interesting things happening in the US political realm. Do tell. With all of my work here I have not had an opportunity to crunch the numbers from last month’s (June/July) reader survey, but those results along with the results of this month’s poll will be posted in early August. In the meantime, please fill out this... Read more

Tibetan Buddhist nuns make history with Geshema Degrees (Doctorates in Buddhist Philosophy)

Last updated on: July 15, 2016 at 3:15 am By Justin Whitaker

From the Tibetan Nuns Project: Seattle, WA: Twenty Tibetan Buddhist nuns have just made history, becoming the first Tibetan women to successfully pass all the exams for the Geshema degree, equivalent to a Doctorate in Buddhist philosophy. Exam results were announced by the Department of Religion and Culture of the Central Tibetan Administration. All 20 candidates for the degree passed. Their success fulfills a longstanding wish of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and marks a new chapter in the development... Read more

“Health” in the Buddhism and Science Dialogue

Last updated on: July 4, 2016 at 7:10 am By Justin Whitaker

Guest post by Kin Cheung In the current dialogue between Buddhist traditions and the sciences—an engagement dominated by Tibetan and Zen Buddhists on one side and psychologists and neuroscientists on the other—the subject of health is featured prominently. However, despite the shared term, participants aren’t actually talking about the same thing. Early proponents of the Buddhism-science dialogue, like Paul Ekman, Richard Davidson, Matthieu Ricard, and Alan Wallace, have focused on the theme of psychological health. One prominent outcome of this... Read more

Buddhist Political Affiliations and the 2016 US Presidential Race (Reader Poll)

Last updated on: June 29, 2016 at 3:17 am By Justin Whitaker

It’s time once again for another reader survey on US presidential politics. This one is up a bit later than previous months so will stay up until July 5th. Check back shortly after that for results. As always, thanks for filling in the survey and please spread the word via email/facebook/twitter/etc so that as many people see and take the survey as possible. Loading… Curious about the perils of polling in general? Read excerpts from a discussion of problems and... Read more