“Tuesday, September 30, 2003, 7:00 pm. The apartment, which is located on an avenue running along the moat of Mandalay’s palace, is suddenly plunged into
The scope of the environmental crisis may leave us feeling overwhelmed and helpless to do anything about it. According to Joanna Macy, it is necessary
The Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni graces almost every postcard, pamphlet, and webpage about the Russian republic of Kalmykia. Cast against the backdrop of a
The fickle mainstream press has long moved on from the refugee crisis. The famous photo of a dead Syrian boy, Aylan Kurdi, lying face down
After seeing several Cham festivals in remote places on a 2014 trip to Ladakh and neighboring Zanskar, I came to the conclusion that video-documenting Cham
As I arrive at Wonderwell Mountain Refuge for a weekend stay, it is immediately evident that while Wonderwell is a place of meditation, it is
A few chapters into the newly published Time to Stand Up, I joined the Sierra Club, one of America’s largest and oldest environmental groups. About halfway
Meditative practitioners are entitled to rebirth in the Pure Land In the Contemplation Sutra, Queen Vaidehi asks Shakyamuni Buddha to teach her how to meditate and
The eastern Indian state of Odisha (until recently named Orissa) is home to a large number of temples and Buddhist heritage sites that draw scholars
A commonly held view is that the body houses the soul—but have you ever thought that the soul could live elsewhere? I have experienced that
I am not qualified to be a theologian, although I share with many of my former teachers and fellow students of religion a belief in interfaith dialogue. The objective
Shamatha meditation is the practice of settling the mind into a stable and calm state of present-moment awareness. Once the mind is in such a state,
