Meditation and a Busy Lifestyle: Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

Last updated on: October 18, 2015 at 3:43 am By Justin Whitaker

Here’s a new video from Mingyur Rinpoche, founder of Bodhgaya’s giant Tergar Monastery and author of numerous widely praised books on Buddhist practice including The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness and Joyful Wisdom: Embracing Change and Finding Freedom. In August I posted his video on the topic: “I’m Too Lazy to Start a Meditation Practice.” As I wrote then: “substitute “Busy” for “Lazy” and I think we’ll have most of the non-meditating world covered.” And as chance would have it, Mingyur Rinpoche’s... Read more

The importance of texts and their authenticity in Buddhism

Last updated on: October 12, 2015 at 5:31 am By Justin Whitaker

Teaching, travels, an upcoming conference, and more exciting things are keeping me too busy at the moment to write everything I’d like to be writing at the moment. But a series about teaching Buddhism has been on my mind since the semester started and I’d like to at least start posting little notes, vignettes of a sort. This one is called, “The importance of texts and their authenticity in Buddhism.” Texts Texts, as preservers of the word of the Buddha,... Read more

Gun Violence and the Paradox of our Time

Last updated on: October 4, 2015 at 10:40 pm By Justin Whitaker

This is a slightly edited version of a reflection I was asked to give at today’s Big Sky Unitarian Universalist fellowship. The given topic was the poem, often attributed to the Dalai Lama, called The Paradox of our Time (or Age). An original, lengthier text by that title is by Bob Moorehead (on the false attribution to the Dalai Lama read here). The Paradox of our Time When I was first invited to offer a reflection on this poem I... Read more

Dalai Lama biography: “Man of Peace” is nearing its crowdfunding goal

Last updated on: October 3, 2015 at 11:50 pm By Justin Whitaker

With just under a month to go, the illustrated graphic novel of the Dalai Lama’s life is now less than $3000 short of its crowdfunding goal of $25,000. In his latest update on the progress of this biography of the Dalai Lama, Robert Thurman announces that they are just 2-3 months away from completion, needing to color and polish the last set of pages. Then the book will be sent to the printer for its first edition, with the goal that... Read more

Dalai Lama leaves Mayo Clinic in good health and good spirits [Video] (UPDATED)

Last updated on: October 1, 2015 at 12:11 am By Justin Whitaker

The Rochester Minnesota based Post Bulletin reported today that the Dalai Lama has been released from his stay at the Mayo Clinic, where he had been admitted last week after a routine check-up. He was greeted there by dozens of traditionally dressed Tibetans, who were invited to come to him for blessings. The Dalai Lama canceled a series of October appearances in the United States on advice from his U.S. doctors. No specific issues have been named, the 80 year-old religious leader... Read more

May all beings be at ease! A Buddhist #PrayerforEveryone

Last updated on: September 26, 2015 at 12:23 am By Justin Whitaker

Let none deceive another, Or despise any being in any state. Let none through anger or ill-will Wish harm upon another. Even as a mother protects with her life Her child, her only child, So with a boundless heart Should one cherish all living beings; — from the Karaniya-Metta Sutta, translated by the Amaravati Sangha, from accesstoinsight.com (emphasis added). Today I join fellow Patheos bloggers across traditions in supporting and promoting the #PrayerforEveryone Global Goals for Sustainable Development,... Read more

Dalai Lama in hot water over “sexist” comments – again

Last updated on: September 25, 2015 at 1:57 am By Justin Whitaker

In May the Dalai Lama told the UK’s Sunday Times that he might come back as a “mischievous blonde woman” adding that “then her face must be very attractive” or “nobody pay much attention.” That didn’t seem to upset too many people, but a fellow Patheos blogger picked it up, calling the Dalai Lama sexist, and I followed up with some context, opening the incident up for conversation with readers. I also inserted a (non-scientific) poll asking readers if they felt his comments were outrageous or if they... Read more

Happy 65th Birthday, Bill Murray – thanks for the laughs, the Dharma talk, and so much more

Last updated on: September 21, 2015 at 9:48 pm By Justin Whitaker

*Call it a Dharma talk, a guided meditation, existential philosophy, or just a bit of calm and sanity in our too-often superficial sound bite driven world. Whatever it is, it’s something worth hearing and reflecting upon. As On Being’s Trent Gillis notes, this was recorded last August after a screening of Murray’s recent film, St. Vincent. When asked by the interviewer, “What’s it like to be you?” – a question that could easily go in any number of directions – Murray avoids... Read more

Compassion beyond boundaries: little girl asks why animals must be chopped up

Last updated on: September 21, 2015 at 4:48 pm By Justin Whitaker

Two years ago, 5-year-old Luiz Antonio stole the hearts of many around the world when he refused to eat meat, telling his laughing/weeping mother (translated from Portuguese), “When we eat animals, they die. Why? … I don’t like that they die… These animals … you gotta take care of them … and not eat them.” And now, another child, this time from Ireland, will melt your heart with her tear-filled explanation to her father, “I don’t like what people eat, animals. I... Read more

Bernie Sanders, #BlackLivesMatter, the Liberty U Speech, and Buddhism

Last updated on: September 20, 2015 at 7:17 am By Justin Whitaker

Bernie Sanders appeals to white Progressives. That much is obvious. But not all Progressives are lining up behind him. Notably, those fighting for racial justice under the #BlackLivesMatter banner have targeted him and he finds himself far behind Clinton and even trailing yet-to-be-running Biden in South Carolina, where 55 percent of the voters are black. In a recent column in the New York Times, Charles M. Blow explores Sanders’ lack of appeal with black voters. There he writes that “An August Gallup... Read more