Enjoy this summer project about Buddhist and Asian communities and arts and culture in the UAE: a “diamond in the desert”
Postcard from Raymond
An Intriguing Foray Into AR Exploration of Local Hong Kong Heritage
A new initiative by the Design and Cultural Studies Workshop engages commuters and students with a special world of stories about rural and urban Hong Kong
Telo Tulku Rinpoche in Pakistan: Modern Leader Greets Ancient Echoes
Telo Tulku Rinpoche’s visit to Buddhist sites in Pakistan reflects his openness and independence as a Dharma leader and teacher
Of Prayer Flags and Yak Cheese: Diane Barker’s “Portraits of Tibet”
An extraordinary new photo book documenting the daily lives of Tibet’s last nomads
“Seven Line Prayer to Guru Padmasambhava” – A Milestone Translation and Song
I remember first listening to the magical Imee Ooi over the speakers of a souvenir shop at Ngong Ping Village, which leads to the famous Po Lin Monastery in Hong Kong. It was 2010. Her songs, which are contemporary renditions of Buddhist dharanis, mantras, and passages from Buddhist texts, evoke aural Pure Lands. Her ethereal, […]
Nritya Mandala Mahavihara’s 10th Anniversary
From 21-22, Prajwal Ratna Vajracharya’s center in Portland, Orgeon, celebrated its tenth anniversary, with much of the discussion centered on its unique position as the only Nepalese Buddhist temple in the West: it is well known that the unique expression of Newari Buddhism is gaining both academic and popular attention in Europe and North America. […]
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 […]
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, […]
Postcard from Raymond: Entering a Sanctuary of Sanctity (Cave 2, Ajanta)
It had been about five years since I visited Ajanta, one of the oldest surviving complexes of rock-cut caves carved into the hillside. Apart from ongoing restoration work by the Archaeological Survey of India, little had changed, including the bright and sunny, humid weather and the understandably large crowds that came from all over India […]