Buddha Buzz: Chinese New Year and Death Cafes
Chinese New Year this year falls on Sunday, February 10. It’s the year of the black water snake. If you’re celebrating (and hey, even if you’re not), a very happy new year to you! The Chinese/Lunar…
Buddha
The historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, was a prince who lived about 2,600 years ago. After leaving his palace and discovering the realities of sickness, old age, and death for the first time, he resolved to understand and transcend suffering. He awakened under the Bodhi tree in modern day Bodhgaya, India, and began to teach the four noble truths, and the path to liberation from samsara—the cycle of birth, suffering, and death.
Buddha Buzz: Buddha Porta Potties, Marine Mindfulness, and Tibetan Rap
I don’t know what Dutch company Boels Rental was thinking when they green-lighted an advertising campaign that involved images of Shakyamuni Buddha printed on Porta Potties around the Netherlands, but it’s safe to say they didn’t…
Buddha Buzz: AIDS Activist Buddha
Found this funny Buddhist bumper sticker on chron.com, amid many Christian ones. As the post says, there’s something about expressing your religion publicly, for all to see; it’s a clear identity statement. But the thing…
Jataka Tales: The Birth Story of the Great Monkey (Mahavanarajatakam)
This story is from the Jataka tales, stories of the Buddha’s past lives. Though not from the Pali Canon, The Birth Story of the Great Monkey was written in Sanskrit by the poet Aryashura. It’s taken…
Commemorating Pearl Harbor and Celebrating Rohatsu
Yesterday marked the 70th anniversary of the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor. Thousands lost their lives, and a nation filled its heart with anger. On the following day, December 8th, 1941, President Roosevelt declared war against…
9 Minute Enlightenment
How can we really address the issue of awakening as lay people caught up in our day-to-day activities? Joseph Goldstein has come up with a plan: “The nine-minute-a-day turbo-charged path to enlightenment!”* It consists of three…
Mahaparinibbana Sutta: Four Places of Pilgrimage
“There are four places, Ananda, that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence. What are the four? “‘Here the Tathagata was born!’ [Lumbini] This, Ananda, is a place that a pious…
Week 2 Roundup: The Buddha’s Original Ideas
We’re finishing up week 2 of Rita Gross’s Tricycle Retreat, “Buddhist History for Buddhist Practitioners,” today. This week Gross discussed India’s spiritual scene at the time of the Buddha. She reminds us that the Buddha didn’t…
The Buddha’s Original Ideas: Week 2 of Rita Gross’s Retreat
Week 2 of Rita Gross’s Tricycle Retreat, “Buddhist History for Buddhist Practitioners,” starts today. This week, entitled “The Buddha’s Original Ideas,” explores the questions: How much of what the Buddha taught was original? How much of…
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