Peter Clothier is an internationally-known novelist, art critic, and blogger. A student of Theravada Buddhism and well-known Buddhist blogger (at The Buddha Diaries), Peter’s work is characterized by his hopes to “use his online platforms to integrate compassion, non-attachment, and political engagement into our contemporary discourse, even as he gradually integrates those same qualities into his own life.” Peter is also a published author, whose books include While I Am Not Afraid: Secrets of a Man’s Heart, Persist: In Praise of the... Read more

This via Tricycle‘s Awake in the World blog: Chris Grosso, Spiritual Director of the interfaith center The Sanctuary at Shepardfields, has a substantial new interview with Jarvis Jay Masters, the Buddhist author and death row inmate, over at elephantjournal.com. Do take a look. You can learn more about Jarvis and his case at www.freejarvis.org. His writings are also collected in the extraordinary book Finding Freedom: Writings from Death Row. Jarvis has said of himself, “Those who want to make sense of my life... Read more

My friend Joshua Eaton has a new article up over at The Huffington Post, entitled “Minority Religions Absent at Obama’s Inaugural Prayer Service”. I’m quoted in it alongside some admirable thinkers and leaders. As with his other work, you don’t want to miss this piece by Joshua. I hope you’ll take a look. You can read the whole article here. Joshua is, of course, the editor, writer, and translator who founded the visionary Dana Wiki (www.danawiki.org) — an online resource meant to aid Buddhist Americans... Read more

Via Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly Online (for whom I also blog — though I didn’t write this particular post): The 2013 International Buddhist-Christian Conference, ” Enlightenment and Liberation: Engaged Buddhists and Liberation Theologians in Dialogue,” is scheduled for April 17–20 at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Speakers will include Pat Enkyo O’Hara, David Loy, Robert Thurman, Jan Willis, Bernie Glassman, Cornel West and many more. Co-sponsored by the seminary and Great Seon Master Jinje, Supreme Patriarch of... Read more

This via a press release from Soka Gakkai International: the Buddhist organization’s president, Daisaku Ikeda, issued his 31st annual peace proposal, entitled “Compassion, Wisdom and Courage: Building a Global Society of Peace and Creative Coexistence,” on January 26th (the anniversary of the founding of SGI). A full English translation of the proposal will be available to the public in mid-February, according to SGI’s website. Until then, here are the highlights of the proposal, explicated in the press release: Ikeda stresses the... Read more

Recently, I told you about Robert Thurman’s internet memes on the subjects of Grover Norquist’s Congressional pledges and proposed cuts to Social Security. Dr. Thurman has a new one — just released — about the self-immolations taking place within Tibet. It’s posted below… Read more

Today is your last chance to donate to new film entitled The Cause of Progress, which is about how some Cambodians (including Buddhist monks) are responding to their country’s economic developments. The film is described at its website this way: “The Cause of Progress” tells the story of the lives of three Cambodians caught up in the country’s chaotic and often violent economic progress, set against the backdrop of the shifting political, religious and familial landscapes of modern-day Cambodia. Shot... Read more

So I had a pretty amazing evening two weeks ago: I was honored to serve as moderator for an event with Academy Award-winning actor Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski, True Grit, Tron) and Zen master Bernie Glassman for the Library Foundation of Los Angeles’ [ALOUD] series. It was a joyful, hilarious, warm, and often profound experience for me — not only getting to hang out with Bernie and Jeff, but also working with the amazing folks at [ALOUD]. I’m pleased to tell... Read more

Today a new semester starts at University of the West, where I work as an assistant professor and Coordinator of the Buddhist Chaplaincy Department. Over the weekend, one of our students posted the above picture on Facebook; it shows a large group of our monastic students returned to campus. As you can imagine, it brought a smile to many UWest faces when it was posted. This semester, I’m teaching a course on “Spiritual Leadership” to the graduate students in our... Read more

Yes. That and some serious organizing and policy-making. You can read more about what Thay said at The Guardian. I did a larger post on climate change — with an offer to Buddhist communities — not long ago. You can read that here. Read more