There was a great photo of a mural with both Buddha and Jesus hung in Bloomington City Hall in the news last week — Now it’s disappeared. Such is the impermanence of the web. Anyway, it — along with several other murals set up in Bloomington, Indiana’s City hall to welcome the Dalai Lama — got some of Indiana’s Christians hot under the collar. Here’s a collection of links on this issue in Indiana:

Christians, Bloomington Officials at Odds over Display (10/19/07)

Bloomington Bans Bible but welcomes Buddha (10/19/07)

(Bloomington) City Hall accuses Christians of politics (10/23/07)

Buddhism for Christians (10/26/07)

Also, some readers have wondered about the various Buddhist communities that may have been in the path of southern California’s fires. Peter of The Buddha Diaries tells us that Thanissaro Bhikkhu and the monks of Metta Forest Monastery are ok, as is the place itself. We’ll let you know as we get news on more.

– Philip Ryan, Web Editor