This photo was taken December 2005 at Ryoanji, a Zen temple in Kyoto. The little fountain is a tsukubai, a basin for visitors to purify themselves by washing their hands ... Read More

Yesterday in New York a store clerk was trampled to death by a surging crowd of shoppers. Today there is no end of commentary about what this tragedy means and ... Read More

Rev. Mugo at Jade Mountains has some thoughts on faith for this post-feast day. Faith is believing that everything is OK. That's despite the human wish for things to be ... Read More

Yes, there is a Miss Tibet pageant, held recently in Dharmsala. The winner this year is Sonam Choedon, 18. The Washington Post has a photo of her. Washington Post reporter ... Read More

A young girl plays near one of the large sculptures at Longmen Grottoes on the outskirts of Luoyang of Henan Province, China. Work on the grottoes began in the late ... Read More

Malcolm Moore reports for the Telegraph (UK) that Chinese archaeologists have found a very small "pagoda" -- it sounds more like an ornate reliquary shaped like a pogoda -- that ... Read More

Three Tibet-related news stories worth a read: Tim Johnson, McClatchy Newspapers, "Meet a living Buddha: Young, handsome, with an old soul" Johnson begins his profile of Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the 17th Gyalwang ... Read More

What's for Thanksgiving dinner if not turkey? For something that's maybe sorta like turkey -- I can't vouch for it personally -- Jolinda Hackett (About.com Guide to Vegetarian Food) explains ... Read More

"Let us reflect on the effort that brought us this food and consider how it comes to us" is a line from a verse often chanted before meals by Zen ... Read More

This past week, nearly 600 exiled Tibetans, monks and laypeople, have been meeting in Dharamsala, India, to discuss the future of Tibet. Emily Wax reports for the Washington Post that ... Read More

Reuters reports that Ram Bahadur Bamjon, the so-called "Buddha Boy" of Nepal, has disappeared. No need to be alarmed; this is part of a pattern. Ten days ago Bamjon reappeared after ... Read More

Robert Emmons, professor of psychology at University of California, Davis, says gratitude is good for you. "When people are grateful, they experience 'calm energy' -- they feel more alert, alive, ... Read More

It was a particularly grisly crime -- six Buddhist monks, a nun and two novices were shot to death, execution-style, in a Buddhist temple west of Phoenix, Arizona. The bodies ... Read More

The American Thanksgiving holiday is one week from today. For those of you in Asia and elsewhere, this is a holiday for families to gather and eat grotesque amounts of ... Read More

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has called hundreds of exiled Tibetans together in Dharamsala, India, the seat of the Tibetan government in exile, to discuss a new strategy for Tibet. ... Read More

A teenager in Nepal is being worshiped as a reincarnation of "Buddha." Whether that's "a" Buddha or "the" Buddha is not clear, however. Buddhist scholars point out that a Buddha by ... Read More

(Photo Credit: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images) This photograph is not pertinent to anything in particular, but is it not too cute? The photograph was taken in May 2007 at a Chogye temple ... Read More

At the Washington Post's "On Faith" site, historian Karen Armstrong argues that compassion is "central to every one of the major world religions." "My religion is kindness," said the Dalai ... Read More

Here's an update on the trials of monks arrested after the Saffron Revolution in Burma, from Ashin Mettacara at OpEd News. Six monks have been sentenced by the military dictatorship of ... Read More

Wasps in Rochester, Minnesota, chose the eave of a Cambodian Buddhist temple for a nesting site. Considerately, they built the nest in the shape of a seated Buddha. Although with ... Read More

Once again, the U.S. Supreme Court is hearing a case about the display of the Ten Commandments on public property. Pleasant Grove City, Utah, allows a monument to the Ten ... Read More

His Holiness the Dalai Lama sent a congratulatory message to President-elect Barack Obama last week: Dear President-elect Obama, Congratulations on your election as the President of the United States of America. I am ... Read More

I know, in the U.S. it's supposed to be Veteran's Day. But the original November 11 holiday was Armistice Day, marking the end of World War I, on November 11, ... Read More

Buddhism flourished in Japan for more than 14 centuries. But it flourishes no more. In recent years there has been an epidemic of temple closings and fallen membership. Priests, including ... Read More

Last year Judy Franklin of Elkhorn, Wisconsin, was ordained a Theravada nun. Manya A. Brachear tells her story in today's Chicago Tribune. Franklin, now Bhikkhuni Vimala, and about a dozen other ... Read More

The United States has a new president-elect, Barack Obama, who will be inaugurated in January. The extensive ceremonies will include prayers and invocations by invited clergy. Wouldn't it be lovely ... Read More

Congratulations to the two Buddhists in the U.S. House of Representatives -- the first two Buddhists in Congress -- who won re-election yesterday. Congresswoman Mazie Hirono represents Hawaii's 2nd District. ... Read More

Tricycle has an interview with Daisaku Ikeda, president of Soka Gakkai International, by Clark Strand. After you've finished this week's spotlight feature on SGI, you might want to check it ... Read More

At a time when most of the planet is twitchy over politics and the financial crisis, "Monkinthecity" writes a timely essay on fear. He points to Zen teacher Dennis ... Read More

According to Claire Suddath at Time magazine, November 1 is World Vegan Day. Vegans do not eat meat, dairy products, eggs, gelatin or honey. They avoid sugar refined with bone ... Read More