I think I speak for everyone reading when I say that the people of West, TX, the first responders to the tragedy, and others there are in our thoughts, prayers, and practice. If you’d like to know what you can do to help with efforts to help, the local affiliate of CBS News offers this useful link, and KBTX Media offers this one. In addition, ThinkProgress reports: The [West Fertilizer] plant hasn’t been inspected in the past five years, and... Read more

The people of Boston are in our thoughts, prayers, and practice. Be sure to read “Boston Marathon Explosions: How You Can Help” to find out how you can be of assistance. For comfort, I recommend that you take a look at “Stories of Kindness After the Bombing”. “Hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love alone is healed. This is an ancient and eternal law.” – The Buddha Read more

Deborah Bowman, Ph.D., is a psychologist, photographer, and author. She is also a professor at my alma mater Naropa University, where she founded the Transpersonal Counseling Psychology and Wilderness Therapy programs. In addition, she is part of the senior teaching faculty with the Boulder Psychotherapy Institute, and a licensed clinical psychologist and certified Gestalt therapist with over 25 years experience. Her new book is The Female Buddha, which is described this way: Within all of us is a Buddha, the awakened heart... Read more

“I believe emphathy is the most essential quality of a civilization.” – Roger Ebert The Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic, bestselling author, screenwriter, and television personality Roger Ebert has died at age 70. Of all the tributes and remembrances I’ve read so far, I was really touched by Scott Tobias’ for The A.V. Club, which I recommend. It certainly resonated with me. I wrote about Mr. Ebert many times at my former blog. I’ve long been a fan of him and his... Read more

I’m very pleased to tell you all that my book Benefit Beings!: The Buddhist Guide to Professional Chaplaincy is now available! You can purchase a print copy at Amazon.com, and you can also buy an e-book version at Amazon.com’s Kindle Store. I describe the book this way: Benefit Beings! was written to help Buddhists engaged in professional chaplaincy work in North America, and those who wish to join their ranks. The book is organized into several chapters, each offering a brief... Read more

I have contributed a chapter — “Three Yanas for Wise Caring: A Buddhist Perspective on Spiritual Care” — to editor Daniel S. Schipani’s Multifaith Views in Spiritual Care. It is the lone chapter about spiritual care from a Buddhist perspective in the book. The other chapters share approaches from six other religious perspectives. I’m very satisfied with how the chapter came out, and the volume as a whole is, I think, really something special and incredibly valuable. You can buy... Read more

Tricycle: The Buddhist Review has two excellent pieces — one in the latest issue of the magazine, and one published to their Awake in the World blog — on the plight of Burma’s Muslim Rohingyas. The magazine article is “Buddhist Nationalism in Burma” by Maung Zarni, and the blog post, an interview with Zarni, can be read here. Reuters reports today that attacks on the Rohingyas by Burmese Buddhists are rapidly increasing. The country’s president, Thein Sein, has threatened to use violence to control... Read more

It’s exactly what the title suggests! See below… (And do make sure to visit Long Beach Meditation online here.) Read more

It’s in Kyoto Journal. DO NOT MISS THIS! Beautifully written, inspiring stuff. Read more

This via Buddhist Art News: the new documentary Jesus and Buddha: Practicing Across Traditions is now available for free viewing online. The filmmakers were kind enough to send me a copy, which I plan to screen for our students in the Buddhist Chaplaincy Department at University of the West. The film is described in this way: Three leading figures in today’s Buddhist-Christian dialogue share their personal journeys in the new documentary “Jesus and Buddha: Practicing Across Traditions.” We learn how... Read more