Amid the turmoil and scandal of the contemporary political world, many eyes are turning toward China as a natural counterbalance to the stumbling United States. The continued growth, both internally and externally in influence, trade, new ports and infrastructure around the world should give pause to any China skeptics still remaining out there. The political […]
America
Spiritual Colossi: Buddhism and Christianity in China and America
As the United States launches its long-awaited trade war against China, I wonder whether something subtler, but just as significant, is bubbling under the already tumultuous surface. I pondered for a short while whether this observation held any water. After all, indirect pressures or persuasions, rather than outright pronunciations and their enforcement, characterize the influence […]
Buddhism and Today: Ancient Principles, Contemporary Conscience
Buddhism. It’s a millennia-long religious story that begins at Lumbini, at the foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal, where the historical Buddha, Prince Siddhartha Gautama, was born. There, he lived in comfort, until, the legend tells us, he was motivated to begin his journey to Buddhahood after seeing a white-haired, wrinkled old man dressed in […]
If you think of the dark
Ratnadevi I see this poem by Carol Ann Duffy, the current UK poet laureate on our bathroom wall every day; it helps me to keep my cool when faced with the many concerns of 21st century living that easily spark fear. For example: the recent election of Donald Trump as the American president. In a […]