The quality of one's life is not determined by the circumstances. Is life perfect? No. I still manage to hit rough patches, or as friends say, "Oh great, another f-&*king growth opportunity." Read more: Buddhism Maitri, Coping Grief, Spirituality Grief, Pema Chodron, Friends in Deed, Grief, Crisis Opportunity, Buddhism, Chogyam Trungpa, Impact News

It is increasingly obvious that natural limitations will soon force economic growth to cease. Buddhist teachings emphasize that this does not require a reduction in the quality of life. Read more: Sustainability, Green Living, Buddhism, Peak Oil, Economic Crisis, Green Faith, Eco-Theology, Eco-Buddhism Project, Free Market Capitalism, Economic Reform, Gross National Happine...

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...

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...

Sometimes I wonder what the New York Times bestseller list would look like if it reflected true quality of writing and the substance and value of important and challenging ideas, rather than celebrity, noisy political rhetoric, easy answers to complex questions, and of course the money that flows freely in commercial hype. I wrote a while ago about a novel, Driftless, by David Rhodes, ...

President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second term commences on a manifestly futuristic note signifying a creative approach to governance. Political observers credit the President for being remarkably accessible casting himself as the proverbial safe pair of hands, an unmatched leadership quality. Many favourable trends mark the event: First and foremost his adroit prosecution of the war would prove...

Except for the single piece by an Indian columnist (a former senior civil servant), there is hardly any mention, leave alone assessment, in the Sri Lankan newspapers, of a portentous event with (at least) indirect implications for our country and which has been discussed in publications and seminars from Washington to Delhi, Islamabad, Tokyo and Djakarta. That is the Deepavali visit of President B...

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 ...