Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly Online reports on a short Wall Street Journal interview with Buddha Issara, “the monk who has taken a leadership role in anti-government protests in Thailand.” (For more on the demonstrations in the Southeast Asian nation, I recommend Dr. Dion Peoples’ recent op-ed for my Patheos colleague and friend Justin Whitaker’s essential blog American Buddhist Perspective.) Though a number of things are discussed, Buddhadharma points out that one interesting aspect of the dialogue is that the venerable “urged a shift... Read more

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about how a talk on “corporate mindfulness” by Google executives was disrupted by protesters at Wisdom 2.0. Since then, there has been quite a bit more discussion about the incident, as well as the possibilities and (more specifically) the problems of corporate mindfulness. Here’s a rundown: First and foremost, the organizer of the protest has spoken at Tricycle: The Buddhist Review‘s blog: In her bio, Amanda Ream is identified as “a member of... Read more

I recently mentioned Hozan Alan Senauke’s brand new, highly recommend book Heirs To Ambedkar: The Rebirth of Engaged Buddhism in India, which is an outstanding introduction to the revival of Indian Buddhism that began with “untouchables” converting in part to confront and undermine the systemic oppression of the caste system. As it turns out, Hozan’s book is one of a few excellent resources that have appeared recently about the Dalit Buddhists. Hozan has also begun a series of posts about the Dalit Buddhists... Read more

The full video is below. Taigen Dan Leighton is, of course, the noted “author, scholar, and translator, as well as a fully authorized teacher in Shunryu Suzuki Roshi’s Soto Zen lineage and a Dharma heir of Tenshin Reb Anderson” who serves as Guiding Dharma Teacher at Chicago’s Ancient Dragon Zen Gate. His books include the essential Faces of Compassion: Classic Bodhisattva Archetypes and Their Modern Expression. The College of Complexes is a Chicago-based free speech forum built around this idea: Our constitution... Read more

You can watch the entire prayer below, courtesy of the Associated Press. In addition, the International Campaign for Tibet reports on the event and the rest of His Holiness’ visit to Capitol Hill. Here’s a snippet: The day began with the Dalai Lama serving as guest chaplain in the Senate chamber. He offered a prayer from “A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life by the Buddhist master Shantideva, which he said was his favorite. He devoted his prayer to... Read more

While visiting Depaul University, Hozan Alan Senauke — founder of the Clear View Project, one of the founders of Think Sangha, vice-abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center, and former executive director of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship — appeared on Chicago’s Live from the Heartland Show. The full video is below. Incidentally, Hozan has a brand new book out that I’ve read and highly recommend: Heirs To Ambedkar: The Rebirth of Engaged Buddhism in India. You can order it now from the Clear View... Read more

The documentary The Wisdom to Survive: Climate Change, Capitalism & Community is now available on video, and among the many noted environmentalists and others who serve as “talking heads” for the film is none other than engaged Buddhist icon Joanna Macy. Macy is, of course, the eco-philosopher and scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology whose books include the essentials World As Lover, World As Self: Courage for Global Justice and Ecological Renewal and Mutual Causality in Buddhism and General Systems... Read more

Almost two weeks ago, I told you about the lawsuit filed by the ACLU alleging that an anonymous sixth grade Buddhist in Louisiana known only as “C.C.” who was told that his or her religion was “stupid,” and that he or she should transfer to a school with “more Asians.” The ACLU has now posted a petition to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder at their action center that you can sign to help the young pupil, his family, and the case.... Read more

The title says it all, folks! Lewis, the editor of the online magazine devoted to “the mindful life,” speaks to Maull, the noted engaged Buddhist teacher and Prison Mindfulness Institute founder to whom the prison dharma movement owes much. Elephant Journal describes the full Google Hangout this way: Waylon talks with senior Buddhist teacher Fleet Maull about prison reform, shadows, national karma, his amazing story, mindfulness and gated community spirituality. You can watch it all below…   Read more

Dr. Janet Gyatso, the Hershey Professor of Buddhist Studies at Harvard University, has an extensive new piece on the self-immolations in Tibet that has just been posted at Tricycle: The Buddhist Review‘s blog. Entitled “In the Face of Tragedy”, the essay begins with Gyatso recanting much of an earlier piece she wrote on the subject and then explaining why. Here’s a snippet: [Previously] I argued that in self-immolating, monks both stood for and instantiated the power of Buddhism (and religion), a... Read more