2019 marked the 70th anniversary of the promulgation of India’s constitution: itself a complex and multilayered story in which Buddhism is interwoven. This year’s reception bid farewell to Mr. Puneet Agrawal as India’s consul-general in Hong Kong and Macau. Buddhistdoor Global first began collaborating on Buddhist projects with his predecessor. Under Shri Puneet Agrawal’s consulship, […]
Raymond Lam
Shortcomings and Spiritual Renewal
In the March of 2017, during a conference trip to Nalanda in India (the old site of this long-lost seat of Buddhist learning is particularly dusty during this time of year), I came down with a terrible hacking cough. I remember my diaphragm aching with each breath I took, even as I felt the overwhelming […]
The Tech Question Concerns Us All
In a letter dated 6 January to Monsignor Paglia for this month’s 25th anniversary of the Pontifical Academy for Life (which was founded in 1994), Pope Francis noted: “Relying on results obtained from physics, genetics and neuroscience, as well as on increasingly powerful computing capabilities, profound interventions on living organisms are now possible . . . Even […]
Resolutions of Character
“Resolution” has several meanings. The commonly held definition, particularly at the turn of each New Year, is the idea of committing to doing something differently, to improve oneself. Yet people often forget the other definition that needs to accompany this kind of resolution: the resolution denoting a strong will, the idea of perseverance and tenacity. […]
Postcard from Raymond: Merton’s Theology of the Problematic
My colleague Justin Whitaker has just published news about the 50th anniversary of the Catholic monk and writer Thomas Merton. It is no surprise that Buddhists have joined Christians in commemorating his life. I admired Merton to the point of making his work one half of my BA thesis, which was a Buddhist-Christian dialogue between […]
2019: A Year for Pastoral Caregiving to the World
Today we published a Buddhistdoor View advocating a “pastoral” perspective on the world. In the editorial we mean “pastoral” in its broadest, oldest possible sense: the act of listening and bearing witness, beyond even its common religious connotations, modern psychotherapeutic applications, or activist implications. This is the space of the shepherd: ever guiding yet ever open. […]
The Day the Buddha Woke Up – A Book for All Children
I met Andrea Miller, deputy editor of Lion’s Roar magazine, in India, during the 6th International Buddhist Conclave. While we did exchange editorial ideas and matters that affected the future of Buddhism around the world, from politics to culture, we also talked about family: she is a mother while I had married just a couple […]
Buddhist Media: Jesco Puluj’s Search for Paths Less Travelled
What does it mean to be a follower of the Buddha’s path? The Enlightened One was, after all, the Prime Wanderer, the First Monk. His life, no matter how shadowy from a historical perspective, defines how we see Buddhism and its subsequent presence in human history. In theory, he is not really unique at all, […]
Postcard from Raymond: Preservation at its Finest (Cave 26, Ajanta)
Of all the caves at the Ajanta complex, I found Cave 26 to be the most intricate, with the unmistakable sense of, “yes, this is it.” We were looking at the literal, physical transition between the earliest days of itinerant wanderers (sramanas) and the days of settled monastic institutions. Unlike the other caves that I felt […]
Postcard from Raymond: Prayers in the Darkness (Cave 4, Ajanta)
Of the many caves I visited at the Ajanta Caves complex, I felt myself encountering a particularly acute sense of timeless sacrality at Cave 4, one of the earliest cave monasteries. I think it was the vast main chamber that drew me in like a little child, as if I were in the presence of something, […]