Prajnaparamita is the Buddhist goddess of wisdom, a personification of knowledge, revealed in the Prajnaparamita Sutras that laid the foundations of Mahayana Buddhism. The term combines the Sanskrit words prajna (wisdom) and paramita (perfection). Paramita is interpreted as having reached the opposite shore of samsara, and prajnaparamita is translated as “perfection of wisdom” or “transcendental […]
May the Force Be Unnecessary With You
One needs wisdom, strength, and ethics to pursue a Buddhist life. It’s a discipline and a challenge. It’s a journey through the internal world. The Star Wars film series depicts worldly struggle: lightsaber duels, space battles, galactic journeys, and political intrigue. How can a close examination of the movies deepen our appreciation of the Dhamma? […]
Cultural Repatriation of Buddhist Artifacts: A Job for Cool Heads
Instinctively, my politics is anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist. However, I also appreciate the complexity inherent in human affairs and recognize that nuance of thought is required even in—perhaps especially for—matters as emotionally charged as the repatriation of cultural and artistic relics. Today my fellow writer and blogger BD Dipananda has published an article looking back on […]
Master Huijing’s Dharma Words about the Purpose of Life
If we step back and pause to reflect a little, we’ll realize just how many concerns dog us in our daily existence. As Buddhists we shouldn’t seek to ignore the conventional realities that can cause concern and vexation to arise in us. I’d be the first to confess that I have plenty of worries. But […]
Good to See Our Own Misdeeds
Master Jingzong; English translation by Foyi, edited by Fojin Some people get panicky when they become aware of their own wrongdoings. Others stay nonchalant, as though they don’t see any transgression. As a matter of fact, those who can see their own misdeeds have reason to be quietly relieved. By contrast, those who are oblivious […]
Life, Death… All a Matter of Perspective
We like to tell ourselves that we intellectually (even if we struggle to emotionally) grasp the significance of death as the end of our present existence. But time, life, and death are nowhere near as commonsense as we think. In an article in The Independent, professor Robert Lanza lays out the concept of biocentrism: ‘the universe […]
The Right Balance: Negotiating Buddhist Power in Sri Lanka
After a mob attacked a UN safe house for Rohingya refugees on 26 September near the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne came out with some of the strongest public words I’ve seen leveled by a Buddhist public servant against fellow, self-proclaimed Buddhists. “As a Buddhist I am ashamed at what happened,” […]
No Easy Answers: Bangladesh’s Buddhists and Rohingya Refugees
The tragedy of Myanmar’s displacement of Rohingya Muslims, aside from its complex ethnic, historical, and religious backdrop, is exacerbated by two essential political realities. The first is that Western media and governments erroneously saw what it wished to see in Aung San Suu Kyi throughout her difficult struggle against the Burmese junta. When she decided […]
Postcard from Raymond: Holy Chamber
The darkness inspires awe, even as the divine faces around me are illuminated for my mortal eyes. The cavern’s patterns, the motifs, the mosaics, the chapels, the shrines. Mortal channels of traceless wisdom and compassion. Tangible expressions of immaterial insight. Within this cool shroud of black, with only a streak of warm illumination from the […]
Pop Culture: The Case for A Greater Buddhist Presence
I never bought the argument that sacred stories, figures, and themes should not be brought to pop culture media like films or novels. Some of our more powerful and compelling pieces of modern fiction (and indeed, fiction from any era) was informed by not just the author’s spiritual identity or values, but by their intentional […]