Graham Lock Having recently reviewed David Loy’s latest book, I wasn’t intending to talk about him again so soon. Nor was I intending to add my voice to the howls of anguish following the election of Donald Trump. However, Raymond Lam, Buddhistdoor’s senior writer, recently sent me the transcript of a talk called “The Bodhisattva […]
Buddhism
The Harp in the Crisp Wind: Intersections of Buddhism and Celtic Christianity
Raymond Lam In July 2015, I wrote a book review of Laurence Cox’s Buddhism in Ireland: From the Celts to the Counter-Culture and Beyond. “Celtishness” has fascinated European and global culture, from influences in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to historical accounts of sacred places like Lindisfarne. There is an earthly, grassy, hearty beauty about everything Celtic, […]
Weaving Stories of Dharma and Joy
Raymond Lam Stories have been a beloved pastime of mine since I learned to read. In my childhood I devoured fiction of all kinds: from fantasy novels based on pop culture franchises to my favourite genre of world myths and legends retold in modern prose. Odin, Hathor, and Trickster Raven were my companions as much as my high school friends […]
On Reading David Loy’s “A New Buddhist Path”
Graham Lock I have recently finished David R. Loy’s latest book A New Buddhist Path: Enlightenment, Evolution and Ethics in the Modern World (2015, Boston: Wisdom Publications). While reading it I found myself frequently saying, “Yes! yes!” and furiously underlining passages to read again later (though, knowing me, I probably won’t). I’ll try to briefly […]
The Sage, the Wayfarer, and the Treasure in the Desert
Raymond Lam Imagine an endless desert, sparsely populated by tribes struggling to survive in a hostile wasteland. Murmuring starts to circulate in the scattered villages about a grotto of incredible treasure so precious that discovering this cave would summon miracles that restore verdant green and life to the desert. Accompanying the rumors about this incredible treasure […]
Buddhism and Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll—Part 2
Guan Her Ng He Hua Temple’s name was bestowed personally by Master Hsing Yun. The Chinese characters, “荷華,” symbolize the Netherlands and its most famous floral motif, the tulip. In addition, it also represents a lotus flower in a river. The temple’s mission is not only to give the neighborhood color and joy, but more […]
Am I a Buddhist?
Graham Lock I have recently seen a few YouTube vids of talks and discussions in which renowned Dharma teachers assert that there can be no Buddhism without rebirth, and in a couple of cases they go as far as to say that those who don’t believe in rebirth shouldn’t call themselves Buddhists. Debates about this […]
Descent
Steve Braff The left wing tips down into a lazy bank right above the bilious white cloud skyscrape to the horizon – an immensity that almost eclipses the jagged profile of distant range that Everesting place of the so many aspirants fallen. I stare into that expanse and try to take my measure. Humbled, we fall […]
Venice of the East: The Beautiful Ruins of Ayutthaya
Raymond Lam Ayutthaya is a city situated at the heart of Thailand’s maritime and overland history. Its main attraction, Ayutthaya Historical Park, boasts a period of spiritual piety and medieval might dating back to 1351. It has seen Hindu-Buddhist interaction, Chinese and Japanese trade, economic and political cooperation with the Portuguese, French, English, and Dutch […]
On Killing People
Graham Lock Watching scenes of barbarity on the news or reading about them in the newspaper, I have sometimes wondered whether there are any circumstances in which I would be willing to kill someone, or more realistically in my case (if I had a gun in my hand I would probably shoot myself in the […]