Is Pure Land Buddhism a “Mystic” Tradition?

A groundbreaking conference between Teresian sisters and priests and Buddhist scholars and monastics has just concluded at the University of Mysticism in Avila, Spain. During our time here among new friends and Carmelite masters, I had the chance to visit many churches in the Old City (the UNESCO-listed complex behind the grand walled fortifications) and […]

The Importance of Interreligious Dialogue and Goals for the Encounter: From the Buddhist Perspective

A speech given by Ven. Hin Hung, director of the Centre of Buddhist Studies at The University of Hong Kong, on 27 July 2017 at The University of Mysticism in Avila, Spain. Our world is rapidly changing. With the advances in science and technology, modern means of communication and transportation bring us closer together, but, […]

No Matter What

By Master Huijing; English translation by Jingtu No matter what, Amitabha’s Fundamental Vow Is like diamond, never changing. No matter what, Amitabha thinks of me Like a mother remembers her child, never abandoning it. No matter what, Amitabha is with me Every moment, never letting me go. No matter what, sinful sentient beings Need Amitabha and […]

1st. World Encounter Teresian Mysticism and Interreligious Dialogue: Theravada Buddhism and Teresian Mysticism — Meditation and Contemplation, Pathways to Peace

Dear friends, a troupe from HKU’s Centre of Buddhist Studies and Buddhistdoor Global are in the medieval city of Avila, the hometown of Saint Teresa of Avila and where the University of Mysticism is based. The University will hold its interfaith conference between Carmelite and Buddhist contemplatives tomorrow on the 27th. If this sounds of […]

Myanmar: Another Square on the Buddhist Chessboard

From 5-6 August, the Vivekananda Foundation and the Tokyo Foundation will be hosting the second Samvad conference* at Sitagu International Buddhist Academy (SIBA), Yangon. I reported on Samvad’s first symposium two years ago in New Delhi, and it was then that it became clear India’s government was trying to manoeuvre among different Asian countries – […]

Show me the Truth

This poem on insight and illusion was translated from Portuguese to English by Daniela Boeira. Show me the truth Honey is sweet by nature Offer me the most precious treasure The lamp that dissipates the darkness Within my hesitant mind Small and slow steps Your enlightened compassion does not waver While cutting sharply through illusions I […]

A Conversation with Tenzin Palmo on Nuns and Challenging Sexism

In this extended discussion recorded on the spot by Sónia Gomes, Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo discusses important but often uncomfortable gender issues in Vajrayana, including the need to challenge engrained cultural sexism in monasteries and the plight of ordained Western women, who more often than not have no institutional, psychological, or moral support after becoming nuns. […]

Embodied Women

What does it mean to be a woman in the Buddhist tradition? To me, even a question as important as bhikkhuni ordination in the Theravada and Vajrayana schools is not as basic as the question of “the woman” in Buddhism. Nor am I convinced that gender is inconsequential to conventional Buddhist life just because gender […]