Bodhi Obfuscatus (Space Baby). By Michael Joo. From davidsenouf.com Since my schooldays I’ve been interested in exploring the discourse around “confessional” professions. In popular culture, it’s still assumed that one can trace a straight line from a business degree to a job in a bank, or from a law degree to a practicing barrister’s office. […]
religion
Why Hong Kong remains a pulsing hub of Buddhist inspiration
“Who said Hong Kong is too small? In size perhaps but not in its soul and personality. Every corner in this city giving you full of surprises, if not every hour but at least every day….” ― Baris Gencel Some of my favourite cities and towns are Wanaka and Queenstown in New Zealand, Haarlem in the Netherlands, […]
Burn the Bridge After Crossing It
Master Jingzong; English translation by Foyuan, edited by Fojin If a man finds faith in the Dharma in the course of secular learning, he should give up that learning and devote his energy to his new-found faith in order to derive the maximum benefits from the Dharma. This is called “burning the bridge after crossing it” […]
Book Review – “Symbols & Symbolism: Embrace Multiculturalism”
What symbols do we recognize most in our corporatized world today? Logos like those of the apple of Apple Inc. or the arched M of McDonald’s? What about images as innocuous as the male and female figures on restroom doors, ingraining in us specific assumptions about reality and directing us to live our lives in […]
Chösgyal: Kings of Old Tubo
A stele of a Buddha or bodhisattva image in Purang in Ngari Prefecture, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, exudes the courtly mystique and power of the ancient Tibetan imperium (Tubo) during the first diffusion of Buddhism. Functioning perhaps as a donative monument or a pillar of a long-lost temple, this stele was erected in either 826 or 838: […]
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 […]
Pop Culture: The Case for A Greater Buddhist Presence
I never bought the argument that sacred stories, figures, and themes should not be brought to pop culture media like films or novels. Some of our more powerful and compelling pieces of modern fiction (and indeed, fiction from any era) was informed by not just the author’s spiritual identity or values, but by their intentional […]
On Exploring Karma and Rebirth by Nagapriya
Graham Lock As some people said they liked my review of David Loy’s book (well, two people actually), I thought I would again present some musings on what I have been reading. Nagapriya’s Exploring Karma and Rebirth is not a new book (it was published in 2004), but I came across it only recently in […]
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 […]
My Difficulties with the Lotus Sutra
Graham Lock I have recently been studying the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Marvelous Dharma (妙法蓮花經), usually called the Lotus Sutra in English. This sutra has been and still is enormously important and influential in East Asian Buddhism. As far as I understand it, the sutra makes three main points: firstly, that the […]