A Year After the Earthquake, Nepal Is a Man-Made Disaster. This is the headline today at the Huffington Post at least. The news from PRI isn’t much better: One year after Nepal’s devastating earthquake, much of the country is still in ruins. And this CNN video concludes with a quote from residents saying that “they don’t think their country will ever be the same again.” When I wrote about the Nepal earthquake a year ago, I listed 5 Ways to Help... Read more
“The West of which I speak is but another name for the Wild; and what I have been preparing to say is, that in Wildness is the preservation of the world.” – Henry David Thoreau, “Walking” (emphasis added) In this sentiment, Thoreau, who was influenced by the Indian philosophy trickling into the Euro-American mindset of his time, echoes the Buddha’s words about life in the forest (Pali arañña). Much scholarly ink has been spilled on Buddhism and the environment. An excellent... Read more
A guest post by Daniel D. Woo (© 2016) I once thought that I had very few indelible childhood memories in the first 4 years of my life and that what little I remembered had no impact on my life. Then I remembered learning from infancy three songs: The Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalists) Republic of China (ROC) National Anthem The US Army Aircorp The drinking song “Glorious” The ROC anthem’s translated lyrics are: “San Min Chu-i, Our aim shall be: To found a... Read more
This week’s episode (airing Sunday the 24th), brings us face to face with the question of creation. As Morgan Freeman muses at the beginning, walking through his own history in Mississippi, “You can’t understand me without understanding where I was created.” “Every religion has a creation story,” he continues. But is that true? The episode doesn’t cover my area of specialization, Buddhism, but it does cover Hinduism. And the other religious stories of creation, including those of Islam, Australian Aboriginals, Catholics,... Read more
Today is George Takei’s 79th birthday. In honor of the occasion; and perhaps in horor of the latest Trump primary victory, we revisit George Takei’s remarks about growing up with Japanese heritage in the xenophobic period around WW II. He is celebrating his birthday at Seattle’s Key Arena advocating for “We Day” celebrating youth engaged in volunteer work. Follow him and see video from this morning in Seattle on facebook. (December 10, 2015) Ever since Donald Trump proposed a ban... Read more
In 2009 I traveled to China to experience Chinese Buddhist monastic life and learn about the practice, philosophy, and history unique to Chan/Zen Buddhism. Back then, it was focused mostly on graduate students in Buddhism or Chinese culture/religion/history but it has since grown in size and scope to look a bit like the program that was then run separately at Fo Guang Shan monastery in southern Taiwan. My experience with the 2009 program was so positive that I applied for and participated... Read more
Almost 3 years ago exactly, 3 AM Magazine interviewed Jay Garfield, one of the best-known Buddhist philosophers in academia today. I wrote about that interview and still look back fondly on the comments and conversations that ensued. So it was with great joy that I saw 3 AM Magazine’s latest interview with a Buddhist philosopher: Nicolas Bommarito, who teaches at NYU and the University of Buffalo. It was a great reminder that great thought within the academy is still being... Read more
A guest post by Lama Justin von Bujdoss (Repa Dorje Odzer) On April 22nd the 2nd Race and Buddhism Conference will be held at Harvard Divinity School. This is a unique gathering of academics, dharma teachers and activists meeting to explore how engaged responses to the problems of racism within the dharma world can be developed, as well as how dharma can be a response to heal the pain and suffering that racism creates in a more general sense. On... Read more
Speaking at the annual conference of the European Universities Association in Galway, Irish President Michael D. Higgins made remarks that should reverberate around the world and through the mouths and policy statements of educators and policy makers everywhere. On the disconnect between policy makers and education today, Higgins said (emphasis added): I suggest that at the present moment in Europe and far beyond it, insofar as policy makers focus attention on education policy, they tend to view universities in a rather utilitarian way,... Read more
I have been fascinated by religion and its associated mythologies, philosophies, and practices for well over half of my life now. I was raised Catholic, but a very liberal Catholic, and when – around the age of 12 or 13 – I was given the choice of going to Church or not, I chose not. Fast forward a few years, and I created a very small community of non-believers, dubbed the “Helena Heretics.” I think I still have an unused email address... Read more
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