Adele Tomlin writes that the incident surrounding Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi deserves a balanced, just, and compassionate analysis taking into account a context of sexual repression and patriarchal trauma
ethics
Augustine and Amoghavajra—Military Chaplaincy, Grand Strategy, and Buddhist Morality
A response to Brian Daizen Victoria’s essay on Buddhist involvement in the military: Exploring the moral and strategic tensions in Church Father Saint Augustine and esoteric master Amoghavajra
Buddhist Teachings on Eating Slaughtered Animals
Adele Tomlin debunks assumptions about meat consumption in Tibetan Buddhism, highlighting Vajrayana continuity with early Buddhist vegetarian ethics
Dr. Song Chong Lee’s Brave New World: The Mahayana Ethics of Cyberspace
In a working academic paper on Mahayana ethics, Dr. Song Chong Lee argues that the bodhisattva precepts opens up new possibilities for optimism about cyberspace
Turkey-Syria Earthquake: Compassionate Silence Over Hollow Karmic Answers
Why “compassionate silence” is better than karma when answering the grief and pain of a natural disaster
When is Generosity Not Genuine?
When I grew up, I’d occasionally stay up late watching TV. About 10 minutes into a show, the screen with cut away to the first ad. I remember the images used in commercials produced by NGOs that were meant to solicit donations, which appealed to the sensibilities of audiences in the developed world. The typical […]
The Collective Buddhist Studies Manifesto: New Challenges, New Voices
After the havoc of COVID-19 (which has not technically ended) and renewed self-reflection by many in the field of Buddhist Studies after 2020, there is a new mood in many scholarly communities that I am in contact with. There is a sense that Buddhist Studies needs rethinking and reforming if it is to make progress […]
Letter to an Editor
I think I know why I like this piece so much. It’s what I strive for in everything I do. It disrupts everyone. From Generation Z to those still living from the Greatest Generation, this one has something to unnerve and destabilize everyone’s sense of moral justice. No quarter. Almost no social or political allegiance whatsoever. […]
The Problem with Kindness
There is a gulf between the secular and the religious parts of our lives. In sacred settings we talk about kindness as something valuable and orthodox. At the office, at home, in our neighborhood, in our relationships, and in our friendships, we challenge its value in daily life. I’ve found myself with this bifurcated attitude, […]
Tugging on Our Feelings about Climate Change?
Like many people following the news today, I find myself deeply worried about climate change. Scientists are offering more and more dire warnings about what to expect in just 10 to 20 years. And we’re actually experiencing weather events that have never or only extremely rarely before occurred: the massive Typhoon Mangkhut that slammed into […]