
History

A professor of Japanese religion discusses what manga and myth can teach us about the creativity of the Buddhist tradition.

A New Weekly Series on Epigraphy Explores the Lives of Ancient Buddhist Women
The community-oriented group meets on Fridays to “interpret a bunch of old stones and think about how women lived in history.”

Hiroshima: Fire Sermon
Visiting ground zero, an American Zen minister confronts the incomprehensible destruction of the atomic bombs and reflects on his father’s own experience there

The Lost Buddhist Kingdom of Khotan
History has largely forgotten how important this jewel of a country and cradle of the dharma once was.

Cambodia’s Wat Phum Thmei Palm Leaf Library and the Resilience of Buddhist Texts
No other library emerged from the Khmer Rouge regime as unscathed.

A Buddhist Book of Spells
Scholar Sam van Schaik discusses Buddhist Magic and the disappearing act around the dharma’s supernatural history. (Plus, six Buddhist enchantments for curious practitioners.)

How a Historic Buddhist Site Has Eluded Destruction—for Now
Plans to open-pit mine the ancient city of Mes Aynak in Afghanistan have been put on hold, but the site is still far from safe.

Did the Buddha Really Have a Wife and Son?
Reconsidering the familiar tale we know about the Buddha’s family

Do Buddhists Have Fellow Travelers in the Stoics?
What an ancient group of ethicists can teach us about overcoming self-caused suffering

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