Politics has become somewhat of a dirty word in Buddhist life. Sometimes, this is for legitimate reasons. However, if we are to be consistent, then we should welcome and support those who become statesmen with a genuine wish to benefit their people and whose vision has common ground with our Buddhist values. Zoya Sandzhieva, minister […]
Buddhism
The Extraordinary Conceptions of Mary and Maya
Conceiving a child without a man’s involvement is, at its heart, a miraculous phenomenon because pregnancy cannot occur without sexual activity and the fertilization of the egg by the sperm. Among some animals and insects we can witness asexual reproduction in which embryos grow without fertilization, or parthenogenesis (from the Greek “virgin creation”). According to […]
Science and Religion
Master Jingzong; English translation by Chia Chang Wang, edited by Jingtu “Religion” here refers specifically to faiths that embrace a single creator-god. Science and religion are like day and night. Science resembles the day; it wants to reveal things clearly. Religion is like the night, intending to enshroud everything. Don’t criticize religions as “superstitious,” or […]
Why Hindutva Ideology Will Obstruct Indian Buddhist Diplomacy
It was relatively recently in 2014 that Indian PM Narendra Modi went on an all-out charm offensive to Buddhists domestically and globally, appearing alongside Asian leaders at Buddhist sites during international trips and appearing personally at Bodh Gaya in September 2015 at the invitation of the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC). While activities related to […]
Buddhism and Youth: A Symposium
University of British Columbia • November 4, 2017 There are Buddhist monastic rules, stories, and teachings that directly address those of lesser years and the issues that are thought to be unique to their stage of life. And Buddhist individuals and groups have created literature, activities, and organizations for boys, girls, and young people in general. Although young people have appeared throughout Buddhist history, Buddhists have engaged most […]
Buddhism and the Tea Leaf: One Fine Marriage
From this month till December, The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Centre for Buddhist Studies at the University of Toronto is running a workshop series on the relationship between tea and Buddhist culture, history, and practice, along with tasting and sampling sessions with tea sommeliers. In the diverse regions covered in this series (the […]
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? […]
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 […]
What Happens to Our Karma If We Fall Into a Black Hole?
Crossing the event horizon of a black hole (astrophysical bodies born from the inward collapse of a massive star) means no coming back, because a black hole is not just an invisible object, but the collection of happenings that we, who are outside of the black hole, say don’t happen at all. This extraordinary and literal […]