Buddhism
24 pieces
Dharamshala for Americans: His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Hometown
Dharamshala, India. First, it’s in India. Second, it’s spelled four ways. And third, it’s His Holiness the Dalai Lama ’s hometown. At least, for now. We arrived in Dharam…
Following in the Footsteps of His Ancestor at Harvard
Cambridge, MA . Sir Thomas Dudley (1576-1653) was the colonial magistrate who served several terms as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He is the great-great-grea…
In Himalayas: Once Greater Tibet, Now Tragically Divided
Delhi, India. With its original capital in Lhasa, Tibet and Tibetan influence once reached from India to Mongolia and included Mount Everest. The Tibetan Empire (Tibetan:…
Shock of a Lifetime - My Dream Fulfilled Under the Buddha Tree
Bihar, India. I began working ‘in the field,’ out of New York in developing countries, in 1999. Never in two decades of helping humanity have I been more shocked that I w…
Following the Footsteps of the Buddha Across North East India
A mericans have been flocking to India in search of enlightenment since before America was founded. Europeans, too, the conscientious objector E.M. Forster and psychoanal…
Israeli Film: Unmistaken Child in Tibet
New York, N.Y. The Buddhist concept of reincarnation, while both mysterious and enchanting, is hard for most Westerners to grasp.A new film - from Israel - is out to chan…
On the Banks of the Ganges: Reflections of a Journey in Time
Varanasi, India . I realize this is winter in northern India just like in New York, but I had thought that India would be warmer and greener. The countryside is often dra…
As U.N. Marks Buddhist Holiday, Ban Pays Tribute to Victims of Nepal Earthquake
New York, N.Y. On the Day of Vesak, which acknowledges the contribution of Buddhism to the spirituality of humanity, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is payin…
Bollywood for Beginners - A Seeker’s Guide
New York, N.Y. Speaking broadly, we don’t appreciate Bollywood because we don’t understand it. We fail to grasp it not for any intellectual flaw, but for a major cultural…
Essay Five Years Ago: Will a Vow of Poverty Fill the Void In My Soul?
New York, N.Y. As I approach my fiftieth birthday, I am feeling incomplete. Part of me - my soul? - is still missing. In secular terms, I think I am not yet in touch with…
Thich Nhat Hanh’s New, Passionate Love Letter to the Earth
Paris, France. At this very moment, the Earth is above you, below you, all around you, and even inside you. The Earth is everywhere. You may be used to thinking of the Ea…
Ambassador: From the Killing Fields to the White House
New York, N.Y. I first met Ambassador Sichan Siv in 2004 when I was invited to hear him speak at the imposing Women's Republican National Club, just north of Rockefeller…
Buddhism and the Universal Concept of Social Responsibility
Bodh Gaya, India . Studying in Japan back in college, I had a very unique Buddhist experience, one of which I did not understand until years afterwards. I had joined a Bu…
Buddhism for Beginners: Insights from a Non-Buddhist
Bodh Gaya, India. Sitting here in the media tent of His Holiness The Dalai Lama 14th in Bodh Gaya , the town where Prince Siddhartha, the Gautama Buddha – following his p…
My Pilgrimage Complete: Life Continues Like a Wheel
Bodh Gaya, India. Four years ago I wrote the most-read piece of my life: Will a Vow of Poverty Fill the Void in My Soul? One of the reasons I was interested in this pilgr…
Next Step of Indian Pilgrimage: Vultures’ Peak Where Buddha Preached
Rajgir, India. Following several days in Bodh Gaya, where Buddha obtained enlightenment under the tree, we continue our pilgrimage to another holy site of Buddhism: Rajgi…
Rediscovering the World’s First Great University in Buddhist India
Nālandā, India. The next stop of our pilgrimage is the ancient center of higher learning , Nālandā. Unknown to me before in New York, the Buddhists built the first great…
U.N. to Celebrate Buddhist International Day of Vesak Tonight
United Nations, N.Y. Vesak – “Buddha's Birthday” – is the most sacred day in the Buddhist calendar, which celebrates the birth, enlightenment and the Parinirvãna (passing…
Celebration for Union Army Colonel Who Changed Course of Sri Lankan Culture
By Dr. Wije Kottahachchi, edited by Jim Luce. Orange, New Jersey. When Colonel Henry Steel Olcott landed by ship in the southern coastal town of Galle in the British colo…
Jim Luce on Buddhism
J im Luce's best friend his freshman year at college, living in the international dorm, was a Japanese Buddhist by the name of Ryuichi Hirabayashi who influenced Jim to s…
Evil in America? U.S. Fundamentalist Group to Burn Koran on 9/11
New York, N.Y. One need not journey to the mountains of Afghanistan or Pakistan to discover evil. We have our own home-grown variety of dangerous extremism here in Florid…
My Favorite Coffee Table Book: India Unveiled
R obert Arnett's India Unveiled is, for my taste, Coffee Book of the Decade. Did you know that India is the most populous democracy in the world? It is the second-most po…
The Stewardship Report Announces Editorial Calendar
New York, N.Y. 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 sof…
Tibet: Polar Perspectives. Can Both Sides Be Heard?
New York, N.Y. The 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's exile has generated much press and media attention. News accounts have been full of the Dalai Lama's visa revocati…