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<\/a>For Sunday, the 20th of May, 2012.<\/p>\nAs before, a wrap-up of news in the world from my Buddhist<\/a> Perspective. Your perspective, on these or other stories, is always welcome in comments section.<\/p>\n First, a couple stories from my side of the pond (England). Last Sunday, as mentioned, the Dalai Lama was awarded around $1.7 million and promptly passed it on to others, saying something about his empty pocket maybe being upset with him, but otherwise trying to make the world a better place. Typical Dalai Lama awesomeness in words and deeds<\/strong>. (photos here<\/a>)<\/p>\n Meanwhile two sources of anti-Dalai-Lama-ism persist: namely the Chinese government and strange groups of \u201cBuddhists.\u201d In China, TV stations aired a documentary suggesting that the Dalai Lama himself is responsible for the many recent self-immolations<\/a> in Tibet (a nation controlled by China ever since 8 years of war and occupation drove the Dalai Lama to India). India, by the way, was the recipient (via the charity \u201cSave the Children\u201d) of about $1.5 million of those dollars the Dalai Lama was awarded last Sunday. So the Dalai Lama wins, India wins, and China\u2026 eh.<\/p>\n The \u201cBuddhists\u201d or in this case \u201cnon-Buddhists\u201d are actually old news (and not the NKT<\/a>), but the story about the Dalai Lama winning the money based on his commitment to dialog at the intersection of religion and science reminded me of the very odd article\/blog post called \u201cFanged Dialog<\/a>\u201d which begins, \u201cAll X-Buddhisms are incapable of genuinely conversing with the sciences and the humanities.\u201d It gets even weirder after that. Be sure to read the About, Warning!, Before you Read, and Before you Comment, pages before you read or comment.<\/p>\n Today, not too far away from St. Paul\u2019s where the Dalai Lama was last week, Stephen Batchelor and Don Cupit<\/a> will be debating the relevance of supernaturalism in religion (Buddhist and Christian at least). Andrew Brown of the Guardian questions whether supernaturalism is needed<\/a>, and in the end suggests that either way, they\u2019re not likely to ever get the kind of audience \u2013 and thus effect in the world \u2013 that someone like the Dalai Lama has. I\u2019m quite a fan of Batchelor, and wish I could have seen him today. But, alas, I was busy here in Bristol with my 10k charity run (I reached my humble fundraising goal, but you can still donate<\/a>).<\/p>\n Speaking of running, NPR had an interesting article on long distance runners and the ability to withstand pain<\/a>. I don\u2019t run that far (26.2 miles being my longest run to date), but I\u2019d like to one day, and I\u2019m intrigued by the mind-body (and thus to an extent spiritual-scientific) aspects of running.<\/p>\n Meanwhile the President\u2019s announcement of his support of Gay Marriage<\/a> continues to make ripples, notably in African American communities. The very good news yesterday<\/a> was that \u201cthe NAACP\u2019s board of directors voted Saturday to endorse same-sex marriage\u2026\u201d \u00a0I hope this is a topic that Buddhists (amongst others)<\/a> can rally around in the coming political season.<\/p>\n In getting back to specifically Buddhist news: gambling and drinking monks in Korea have made quite a name for themselves in the last week or so. \u00a0According to the Arizona Informant<\/a>:<\/p>\n The recent scandal involving gambling Buddhist monks could not have erupted at a worse time for the proponents of spreading Korean Buddhism globally.<\/p>\n Modern Korea is not a predominantly Buddhist country, but the nation has practiced and nurtured its own brand for more than 1,700 years after adopting it from China. Compared to Buddhism in other Asian countries such as Tibet, Japan or China, Korean Buddhism has largely remained inside the country.<\/p>\n Some insiders are worried that the latest scandal may taint the image of Korean Buddhism and hurt its already meager international presence.<\/p>\n \u201cThis story about the monks engaged in high-stakes gambling has been widely reported in the Western media,\u201d Robert Buswell, a renowned scholar on Korean Buddhism told The Korea Times.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Korean Buddhism, like others in Asia, isn\u2019t monolithic. And like Buddhism in China, Japan, and Taiwan, Korean Buddhism has seen a rise in different beliefs and forms of practice emerging in many ways from their encounters with the West in the 20th century (and earlier). Perhaps a positive outcome of this will be increasing public understanding of the many different faces of Korean Buddhism today. Meanwhile, as with religious \u2013 in particular Buddhist \u2013 groups elsewhere, we can hope this will bring renewed calls for financial and leadership openness<\/strong>.<\/p>\n