Burmese monastic Gotami’s personal example recaptures and renews a sense of the holy inspiration the Buddhist sangha has traditionally radiated
myanmar
Eye on Southeast Asia: An Italian Gotami – A Young Woman’s Success and Struggle in Myanmar’s Female Monasticism
Italian-born Gotami’s ordination as a junior female monastic in the Burmese tradition sets her on a unique path toward institutional reform and revitalisation
The Grace of Gold: Buddhist Exhibit Highlights at The British Library’s “GOLD: 50 spectacular manuscripts from around the world”
In lieu of physically attending a private viewing of The British Library’s “GOLD: 50 spectacular manuscripts from around the world,” I was privileged to enjoy a rich and informative virtual tour of the exhibit in the early hours of the Hong Kong morning with others that could not be in London this month. Gold is grandeur. […]
Myanmar Art Fundraiser in NYC from 9-11 December
Artists Against Tyranny is launching a project with three different components to support Burmese artists, humanitarian efforts in Myanmar, and the country’s democratic movement. An art exhibit featuring art from Myanmar artists at the Jane Lombard Gallery at 58 White Street, New York City from 9-11 December. Gallery-goers will have the option to purchase the artwork […]
Jon Kolkin’s “Inner Harmony: Living in Balance” – Visual Stories from the Heart of Asia
Dr. Jon Kolkin’s photographic volume Inner Harmony: Living in Balance exudes creative ambition and heart. A cursory look at the time it took for him to compile this collection of images – seventeen extended visits to Asia from 2007 to 2018 – attests to the time, patience, and toil that the distinguished and globe-trotting creator […]
Overturned Alms Bowl: The Buddhist Take on the Myanmar Crisis
Aung San Suu Kyi. From Reuters Since the generation of Bogyoke Aung San (1915–47), the father of modern Myanmar and father of Aung San Suu Kyi, the nation has been locked in constant political tension over the direction of the country’s governance. On 1 February, the Myanmar military deposed the Burmese government, declaring a year-long […]
Spiritually Bypassing the Coup
By Joah McGee This article was originally published on Insight Myanmar. To my knowledge, in this month since the current crisis in Myanmar began, The Lion’s Roar, the premier Buddhist publication in the West, has published exactly one article on this topic: a brief and somewhat vague (and not quite historically accurate) thinkpiece by Randy […]
Mongolia’s Buddhist Diplomacy and India’s Union of Religious and Foreign Policy
The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), along with Indian, Japanese, and Mongolian partners, hosted its third Samvad (which, in Hindi, means “dialogue”) conference in Ulaanbaatar over last Friday and the weekend. As reported in BDG’s news article on the conclave, Mongolian political and religious leaders took this event very seriously. In his closing speech on the […]
Simon Hui’s Mindful Studio for Life
Simon Hui is founder of Mindful Studio HK, a yoga studio offering courses to seekers of physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing. Try imagining someone born in Hong Kong who grew up in Nigeria, was educated in the US, learned yoga in India, and ordained as a monk in Myanmar. That is my continuously unfolding adventure, and […]
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 […]