Reflecting on today’s funeral for a great Hong Kong Buddhist master
mahayana
Ven. Rong Ling (1924-2022), Luminary of Hong Kong Buddhism, Passes Away at 98
A tribute to a luminary of Hong Kong Buddhism
From Nepal to Hong Kong: Global Networks of Mudra Zen Dance
An center in Hong Kong localizes international painting and dance arts, connecting traditions to local practitioners
Dominique Side’s “Discovering Buddhism”
A review of Dominique Side’s introduction to the Buddhist world
Soka Gakkai in Latin America: New Frontiers for Women
The worldwide organization of Soka Gakkai is classed as a “new religious movement,” which is characterized by lay leaders and pastors, a vibrant and proactive missionary philosophy, and a core message that is easily replicable and attractive. In Soka Gakkai’s hermeneutic, the Lotus Sutra is the core scripture that contains the essence of the Buddha’s […]
A Buddhist Prayer for Peace in Kyiv
Shortly before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a small group of Buddhists, affiliated with the Nipponzan-Myōhōji-Daisanga, gathered in Kyiv’s majestic Mikhailovska Square to pray for peace, chant the Lotus Sutra in the Nichiren tradition of “Namo myoho-renge-kyo,” and call for an end to Russo-Ukrainian hostilities. The Nipponzan-Myōhōji-Daisanga is a Nichiren-aligned movement founded in 1917, consisting […]
Havana Zen: A Japanese Tradition Arises in Cuba
One of the fastest-growing schools of Buddhism in Cuba is that of Japanese Zen, which has enjoyed a long and rich history in Latin America. It found roots in other countries earlier, most famously Brazil thanks to waves of immigration by Japanese people since the early 20th Century. However, thanks to a visionary pair of […]
Blazing a Bodhisattva Trail in Cuba, with Ven. Zhihan
The reinvigoration of the Chinese Mahayana tradition in Cuba has largely been thanks to a single Buddhist monk, Taiwan-born Ven. Zhihan. Ven. Zhihan was already an established name in Vancouver, where he had founded the Bodhiyana Foundation, an educational non-profit devoted to spreading the Buddhist teachings. Ven. Zhihan is a charismatic and thoughtful religious leader, […]
Mahayana in Cuba: Chinese Forebears
Lined by small restaurants, shops, laundromats, cultural societies, medicinal establishments, and leisure and education clubs, Barrío Chino in Havana is perhaps the largest “Chinatown” in the Latin American world, with a history dating to the 19th Century. This is the locus where the earliest recorded presence of people practicing Buddhist customs in Cuba can be […]
Healing the World with Thangtong Gyalpo’s Prayer
Since 1 August 2020, Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) Sangha have been coming together as a global community reciting “Thangtong Gyalpo’s Prayer” to reduce the suffering caused by the COVID pandemic. This 1 August marks its first year – a milestone that the founders themselves would have preferred not to reach. […]