As someone dedicated to living a life of service to others, I have been struck recently by how little attention is paid to the amount of suffering in ... Read more: Congress, Poverty, US Poverty, Spirituality and Politics, Democrats, Tea Party, Compassion, Libertarians, Republicans, Buddhism, Culture News

By my rough estimation, we spend perhaps 50 percent or more of our waking hours in storytelling. Humans make stories but, in some sense, we are also made by our stories. Read more: Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, History, Islam, Sri Lanka Civil War, The Bible, Postmodernism, Science, Quran, Morality, Psychology, Religion and Science, Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud, Stories, Myths, ...

Gautama the Buddha and Buddhism have made excellent contributions towards strengthening the Indian Way, which is based on universal acceptance, particularly in making it dynamic and bringing the common man into its fold. Buddha’s contribution for taking this way in his time, when it was a narrow path, cannot be underestimated.

I came across an article in The Daily Beast the other morning entitled ""America the Angry"." In it, political consultant Douglas Schoen discusses the findings of a recent Newsweek/Daily Beast poll revealing that the vast majority of Americans are in a bad mood. As unemployment, gas and grocery prices are on the rise, so are people's levels of anger, anxiety and frustration. Three-quart...

Attending a silent meditation retreat can produce deep, lasting rewards. But for short-term pleasure, nothing beats that magical moment when you perceive that, having slogged through several difficult days doing nothing and saying even less, you're as high as a hippie in the seventh hour of a Grateful Dead gig. My most recent "far-out" flash arrived midway through a week-long affair a...

There is a famous Buddhist saying: "It is not the appearance that binds you, it's the attachment to the appearance that binds you." What does that really mean, and how might it apply to you and me? If you and I are anything alike, then I know there is a constant hunger in you that longs for something. Just stop and look for a moment, and you will find it. You may be successful, yet stil...

Last week I attended the festive opening of the Guibord Center at St. John's Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles. Founded by the Rev. Dr. Gwynne Guibord, former Officer of Ecumenical and Interreligious Concerns for The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, the center's mission is "to bring people together, to challenge assumptions, unleash The Holy and affirm the faith that transforms the wor...

Over the past month, there has been some speculation among members of the global Tamil community on whether Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited Texas to obtain cancer treatment in secret. The story in itself is not particularly interesting, but it does have relevance for the post-conflict situation in Sri Lanka. Many reacted to the news not with sadness, but with a sense that c...

By Vishal Arora Religion News Service NEW DELHI (RNS) India plans to lend rare fragments of the Buddha's bones to Sri Lanka for the 2,600th anniversary of Buddha's Enlightenment in May, and some see it as part of India's strategy to gain a regional edge over neighboring China. Indranil Banerjie, head of New Delhi-based think tank Security and Political Risk Analysis, said India's mov...

A decade ago, having recently begun Buddhist meditation practice, I attended a lecture/Q&A with a Tibetan master at a Buddhist center in Hollywood. The warm vibes and the stunning icons and paintings suggested a sacred, healing space. The speaker -- I knew so little at the time, I thought his name was "Sri" -- seemed the embodiment of enlightenment. He described how we can foster spiritua...

Most martial artists are familiar with the extraordinary powers of the Shaolin monks. They train in the use of 36 weapons, and each monk picks two animal movements and styles to specialize in. (See my previous article "The Transformative Powers of Kung Fu.") When I first watched the mesmerizing DVD "Shaolin: Wheel of Life," I got goosebumps. The monks seemed to be beings of pure spiritu...

Many people look to Siddhartha Gautama as an example of someone who attained nirvana, a buddha. Every other week in this column we look at what it might be like if Siddhartha were on his spiritual journey today. How would he combine Buddhism and dating? How would he handle stress in the workplace? "What Would Sid Do?" is devoted to taking an honest look at what we as meditators face in th...

Liberals and conservatives have chosen sides over the Muslim community center near Ground Zero and plan to use the anniversary of September 11 as their battlefield. Abortion polemics are out; the debate over Islam is in. And so, come this Saturday, there will be two massive demonstrations: one protesting the Muslim community center near Ground Zero, and one supporting it and religious fre...

A bright new face has been added to the crowded Web, drawing a large readership and uploading more than 900 stories in its first twelve weeks. Still in soft-launch, The Jim Luce Stewardship Report (JLSR) is focused on "Connecting Goodness." Covering Faces, Issues, World Affairs, Life Style, the Arts, and Video, JLSR offers articles by a global mix of over 50 writers since its spring inc...

CEB which has incurred a heavy loss can be resurrected with a new action plan – both in terms of financial and corporate. The trade unions also support this effort. Their suggestions are also included in the action plan. It is a bottom-up approach which aims at transforming the CEB into a profitable insititution Renewable energy will be the new order of the energy sector in Sri Lanka in the...

The war continues to rage in Afghanistan. The enduring violence and conflict has left the nation, its people and economy in ruins. Over the past nine years, billions of dollars have been spent and army commanders have come and gone. Like many of its neighbours in the Middle East, Afghanistan continues to find its existence challenged by the problem of terrorism, fundamentalism and fanatic...

Religion comes into conflict with science when it is defined by unprovable claims that can be dismissed as superstitions, and when it treats as historical facts stories that read like legends and myths to non-believers. Other aspects of religion -- what I would consider the deeper and more significant elements -- are not only compatible with science but enrich its findings. The best evi...

I was excited to be able to address Lafayette College's Class of 2010 on the topic of "Awakening the Buddha Within." This very well might be the first time in Lafayette's history that the Baccalaureate Sermon was rendered from a Buddhist perspective, so I was thankful for this unique opportunity. The Baccalaureate Sermon has a long and proud tradition at Lafayette College. On June 16th, ...

It often happens that I wake up completely devoid of self-confidence. I have no idea when or why this is going to happen. It drives me mad. I sit down to write and some inner Miss Thing tells me I have nothing of interest to say. I want to call a friend but Miss Things says, "oh, she has no interest in talking to you." I want to ask a colleague to collaborate with me on something and she ...

Pat Buchanan, in his usual less-than-charming manner, brought up a point last week about the religious diversity (or lack thereof) of the Supreme Court. Buchanan pointed out that, if Elena Kagan is confirmed to the highest court (as seems likely), there will be only two religions represented on the court -- Judaism and Catholicism. He further points out that the court will be one-third ...

An expatriate Sri Lankan woman who wrote two books about her conversion from Buddhism to Islam has been arrested while on holiday in Sri Lanka, apparently for causing offence to Buddhists. Read more: Censorship, Sarah Malini Perera, Buddhists, Akon, Authors, Sri Lanka, Author Arrested, Books, Buddhism, Books News

Last night PBS aired The Buddha, a new TV special about the sage's life, impact, and particular relevance to our own bewildering times of violent change and spiritual confusion. By filmmaker David Grubin, the documentary features the work of some of the world's greatest artists and sculptors, who across two millennia have depicted the Buddha's life through art rich in beauty and complexit...

An expatriate Sri Lankan woman who wrote two books about her conversion from Buddhism to Islam has been arrested while on holiday in Sri Lanka, apparently for causing offence to Buddhists. Read more: Censorship, Sarah Malini Perera, Buddhists, Akon, Authors, Sri Lanka, Author Arrested, Books, Buddhism, Books News

Last night PBS aired The Buddha, a new TV special about the sage's life, impact, and particular relevance to our own bewildering times of violent change and spiritual confusion. By filmmaker David Grubin, the documentary features the work of some of the world's greatest artists and sculptors, who across two millennia have depicted the Buddha's life through art rich in beauty and complexit...

An expatriate Sri Lankan woman who wrote two books about her conversion from Buddhism to Islam has been arrested while on holiday in Sri Lanka, apparently for causing offence to Buddhists. Read more: Censorship, Sarah Malini Perera, Buddhists, Akon, Authors, Sri Lanka, Author Arrested, Books, Buddhism, Books News

Heaven, may I be a Yurikamome amid Chrysanthemum flowers at Gion Matsori? High over Yasaka, show me a bird's eye view of Kannon, the god of mercy Bosatsu. Eleven faces has Ju-ichimen; see them in The hondo of 33 bays at Rengeo-in. Kiyomizu Dera, inspired by Enchin. Let me ride on the wind like gails of Fujiin. Before I pass on I aim to seek 33 disguises peek by peek. Their piercing crys...

Heaven, may I be a Yurikamome amid Chrysanthemum flowers at Gion Matsori? High over Yasaka, show me a bird's eye view of Kannon, the god of mercy Bosatsu. Eleven faces has Ju-ichimen; see them in The hondo of 33 bays at Rengeo-in. Kiyomizu Dera, inspired by Enchin. Let me ride on the wind like gails of Fujiin. Before I pass on I aim to seek 33 disguises peek by peek. Their piercing crys...

At times like these, I often wonder what normal people might think about the strange behavior of the Chinese government when the Dalai Lama looms on the horizon. President Obama meets all manner of heads of state, even small states, business people, ministers, celebrities, religious leaders, and no one pays that much attention. He already met the Dalai Lama when he was a senator, and now ...