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1,000 blessed by Buddhist relics in Sacramento stop

Nearly 1,000 area residents filed into Sacramento's Spiritual Life Center this weekend to be blessed by Buddha's remains. The ancient relics, described by one viewer as looking like irregular white tapioca balls with pearly sheens, have been touring the globe to spread enlightenment, love and world peace. More...

Child, 5, killed in Thai temple shooting: police

BANGKOK — A five-year-old girl and a local government official were shot dead and 11 people were injured in southern Thailand when gunmen burst into a Buddhist temple during an annual fair, police said Monday. More...

A pilgrim at Kalachakra

The Dalai Lama made remarks in both English and Tibetan on the opening day of the Kalachakra. Even though I don’t speak the language, I found myself equally engaged when he spoke Tibetan. More...

China warns US after politicians meet Dalai Lama

BEIJING - CHINA warned the United States not to interfere in its internal affairs after senior US politicians met in Washington exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, a man Beijing reviles as a separatist. More...

Hindus send greetings to Buddhists on Asalha Puja

Nevada (US), July 11: Hindus have sent greetings to Buddhist communities worldwide for the upcoming Asalha-Puja/Asanha-Puja/Asalha-Pucha/Asarnha-Bucha/Dhamma/Dharma Day, which falls on July 15 this year. More...

American Buddhism Keeps Asian Influence, Adapts to West

This week's visit of the Dalai Lama to the United States is focusing attention on American Buddhism, which is growing because of the influx of Asian immigrants and conversion of Westerners to the faith. American Buddhism retains its Asian flavor, but is adapting to Western ways. More...

Karmapa lama to travel to Washington DC

The 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the Tibetan lama who, it has been widely speculated, will succeed the Dalai Lama as the figurehead for Tibetan Buddhism, will be travelling to Washington DC today, for a tour of the US . More...

US Congressional leadership rallies behind Dalai Lama

Washington, Jul 8 (PTI) Shunning strong protest coming from China, US Congressional leadership, cutting across party lines rallied behind Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to greet him at at the Capitol Hill in apparent hints to the White House not to ignore top Buddhist monk. More...

Thousands Flock to Dalai Lama's Ancient Buddhist Ritual in DC

The Dalai Lama will celebrate his 76th birthday today in downtown Washington, D.C., as thousands gather to take part in an ancient Buddhist ritual and a call for world peace. Meanwhile, international political observers wait to see if the exiled Tibetan leader will be granted a meeting with President Obama, just a few blocks away. More...

From Greenwich artist to Buddhist nun

Greenwich native Kaz Flanagan is a fully ordained Buddhist nun. Currently living in India, Flanagan is hoping to translate a Buddhist practice, called the The Troma Nagmo Practice of Chöd, into English. More...

Dalai Lama's greatest challenge: trying to retire

In May, the Dalai Lama formally stepped down as head of the Tibetan government-in-exile, giving up the political power that he and his predecessors as Dalai Lama have wielded over Tibetans for hundreds of years. Though he remains the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, his decision to abdicate is one of the biggest upheavals in the community since the Chinese crackdown led him to flee in 1959 into exile in India. More...

Nepal challenge for Dalai Lama on his 76th birthday

Nepal’s age old relationship with Buddhism, one of the world’s oldest faiths, never needed a mention. But now the land of Buddha has started acting against its own Buddhist people who believe in the Dalai Lama as a living Buddha. More...

At 76, Dalai Lama wants to return to Tibet

He wakes up before the crack of dawn, has a punishing work schedule, tunes into the radio to stay connected, hits the treadmill sometimes and yet manages to devote 80 percent of time to spiritual activities. And as the Dalai Lama turns 76 Wednesday, the exiled leader still desires to return to Tibet some day. More...

Lama sex abuse claims call Buddhist taboos into question

Allegations against Sogyal Rinpoche highlight the dangers of Buddhist injunctions against gossip and insistence on loyalty. In November 1994 an American woman known as Janice Doe filed a $10m lawsuit against the Tibetan lama Sogyal Rinpoche, charging him with sexual, mental and physical abuse. The case was dealt with out of court and Janice Doe signed a non-disclosure agreement in return for a cash settlement. More...

Even Buddhist monks to sing for Chinese Communist Party’s 90th anniversary

Chinese citizens warmed up their vocal chords to celebrate the Chinese Communist Party’s 90th anniversary on Friday, July 1, by preparing a repertoire of patriotic songs for the big day. Much to the surprise of our Observer on the ground, even the country’s once ostracised Buddhist monks are rehearsing for the celebrations, despite their difficult past under the communist regime. More...

Buddhists delegation meet PM

A delegation of Himalayan Buddhists led by H E Tsona Gontse Rinpoche met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his office at New Delhi to discuss proposals for the welfare of the large number of Buddhism followers in the Himalayan belt, sources said today.During the half-an-hour meeting yesterday, the delegates put forward their request for the establishment of a Buddhist learning centre at Siliguri in West Bengal, Rinpoche said." More...

Buddhist groups seek help from vigilantes to disrobe ring members

Several Buddhist groups in Kuala Lumpur and Penang have sought the help of the “monk police” here to help eradicate bogus monks in their areas. The Sangha Sanctity Protection Centre, which set up the “monk police”, is now preparing to send over a team of five volunteers to carry out surveillance in both these states. More...

PIL against Ramdev’s magazine for calling Buddhist monks ‘cowards’

A write-up eulogising Baba Ramdev’s role as a crusader against corruption in the monthly magazine, Yog Sandesh, published by the yoga guru’s Patanjali Yogpeeth, has irked Buddhists and members of the Kushwaha and Maurya communities who claim to be descendants of Emperor Ashok. They have approached the Allahabad High Court with a PIL seeking the removal of words ‘coward’ and ‘corrupt’ to describe the descendants of Ashok and Buddhist monks. More...

Buddhist nun gangraped in Nepal bus

A 21-year-old Buddhist nun was gangraped by five men inside a bus in eastern Nepal, media reports said Monday. The victim, a resident of Bhojpur district in eastern Nepal, was travelling by bus when she was attacked by the group, which also included the driver of the bus. More...

Under watchful eyes

Namaste ... Lord Buddha. From up there, atop the grand dome of the Boudhanath stupa, can you see me? Hmm ... I guess that's not a smart question. What could possibly escape those all-seeing eyes of yours, right? More...

Buddhists at retreat in the dark about fire

A group of people whose safety could have been threatened by the Horseshoe Two Fire in southeastern Arizona may not even be fully aware of the blaze's existence. More...

Analysis: A debate over autonomy in Thailand's restive south

The motorcycle bomb burned the 27-year-old woman so badly her father only recognized her by a tattoo. She lost half her face and an arm in the attack by shadowy Muslim separatists in Thailand's troubled deep south. More...

Richard Gere speaks out on suffering in Tibet

American actor and practicing Tibetan Buddhist Richard Gere spoke out on the sufferings of Tibetans under Chinese occupation in Seoul, Wednesday. More...

Gere Criticizes China Over Abuse in Tibet

American actor Richard Gere is taking a swipe at China for what he calls its widespread abuse of Tibetans. Gere is in Seoul to promote a Tibet-themed exhibition of photos taken by him and other photographers. He's a practicing Buddhist and a longtime supporter of the Dalai Lama and Tibet. More...

Of course the Dalai Lama's a Marxist

The Dalai Lama has a refreshing tendency to confound western caricatures. As a cuddly old monk, he could comfort fans by fuzzily connecting us to an imagined Shangri-La that contrasts favourably with our own material world. Only he won't play the game, regularly making ethical, political, scientific and (ir)religious statements that rudely pop the projections laid on to him. More...

Thailand To Tattoo Tourists: Think Before You Ink

Many of Thailand's tattoo tourists find their way to Bangkok's Khao San Road, where tattoo parlors are nestled among the Internet cafes, noodle stalls and other backpacker hangouts. A visitor along this road might pick up a tattoo, along with some beads and dreadlocks, and perhaps even a nose ring . More...

Richard Gere visits Buddhist temple in South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea -- Richard Gere is visiting a Buddhist temple in Seoul where he received gifts of prayer beads, ceremonial clothing and porcelain incense burners. More...

Search for world's cultural treasures

SUMMIT COUNTY — ANCIENT German beech forests, rock carvings in Mongolia, Buddhist sites in Japan and the architectural works of the modernist genius Le Corbusier are among the nominations before UNESCO this week as it debates which cultural treasures to elevate to its world heritage list . More...

Wildfires: Horseshoe 2 blaze looms at Buddhist center

SUMMIT COUNTY — A group of 40 American Buddhists in Arizona is hoping that the U.S. Forest Service will continue to hold the line on the Horseshoe 2 Fire to keep the flames away from the Diamond Mountain Retreat Center, near Bowie. More...

Chinese gov’t-backed foundation to develop ‘Buddhist Mecca’ at Lumbini

China is providing funds to Nepal to build a $3 billion 'Buddhist Mecca' to attract millions of pilgrims and spiritual tourists to the birthplace of the religion's founder Gautama, Lord Buddha, reported telegraph.co.uk Jun 17. More...

Why I'm imperfect, the Dalai tells

A CHARMING, chuckling, sometimes cheeky Dalai Lama reminded a crowd of 4000 people that happiness was found on the inside rather than the outside when he visited the Chenrezig Buddhist instititute at Eudlo yesterday. More...

China plans to help Nepal develop Buddha’s birthplace at Lumbini

A Chinese-backed foundation and Nepal’s government plan to transform Lord Buddha’s birthplace in southern Nepal into a magnet for Buddhists in the same way as Mecca is to Muslims and the Vatican for Catholics. The Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation plans to raise $3 billion at home and abroad to build temples, an airport, a highway, hotels, convention centres and a Buddhist university in the town of Lumbini, about 171 km (107 miles) southwest of Nepal’s capital Kathmandu. More...

Visakha Puja Day at United Nations

The 2600th anniversary of the Enlightenment of the Buddha. More...

The Malaysian floods in pictures

JOHOR BARU - FLOOD waters have cut off links to a number of towns in Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Malacca and Sabah, in a repeat of the major floods of 2006. More...

Cambodia's land-grab 'cancer' keeps spreading

PHNOM PENH (AFP) – Standing knee-deep in dirty water, 60-year-old Men Chhoeuy uses a crowbar to dismantle his small wooden house on the edge of a lake in the Cambodian capital. More...

Bhutanese refugees leaving Nepal passes 40,000

KATMANDU, Nepal -- A campaign to resettle ethnic Nepalese forced out of Bhutan two decades ago has found homes for 40,000 refugees in Western countries, although tens of thousands continue to wait, an official said Monday. More...

At least 378 die in Cambodia stampede

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Rescuers trawled a muddy river Tuesday for more bodies and Cambodia prepared for a day of mourning following a stampede by thousands of festival-goers that left at least 378 dead and hundreds injured. More...

Death toll from Cambodia stampede rises to 345

The death toll from a stampede at a Cambodian festival has risen to 345, the country's official news agency said Tuesday. In addition to the deaths, another 391 people were injured at the annual Water Festival in the capital city of Phnom Penh on Monday, the AKP news agency said. More...

Cambodia declares day of mourning for stampede dead

Cambodia has declared Thursday a national day of mourning after at least 378 people were killed in a stampede in the capital, Phnom Penh.More...

Stampede in Cambodia kills hundreds, government says

A stampede that occurred during a festival in Cambodia's capital city of Phnom Penh has killed 339 people, officials said Monday. More...

Burma regime warns Aung San Suu Kyi against election challenge

The move could set Ms Suu Kyi, 65, in direct conflict with the generals as she has already pledged to investigate widespread allegations of voting irregularities even though her National League for Democracy (NLD) boycotted the poll derided as "neither free nor fair". More...

Mining threatens Afghanistan's Buddhist treasures

For almost 2,000 years a monastery has perched on a rocky outcrop amid the khaki moonscape of Aynak in Afghanistan. In its heyday a pair of mighty turrets towered over an affluent community of monks who exploited local copper deposits and built beautiful places of worship. More...

Aung San Suu Kyi released in Burma (Myanmar), but don't forget what happened in Depayin

The world has cheered the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, after more than seven years under house arrest. She is busy giving interviews, meeting political allies, and getting her political bearings in military-ruled Burma (Myanmar). More...

The World's Oldest Buddhist Scriptures Displays in Thailand

Bangkok, Thailand -- The World's oldest Buddhist Scriptures are exhibited for the first time in Thailand at the Phutthamonthon Buddhist Park in Nakhon Pathom province from 8 November 2010 to 5 February 2011. More...

Suu Kyi won't accept conditional release

MYANMAR'S democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, will not accept conditions on her freedom if the military government releases her this week when her latest period of detention is due to end, her lawyer said on Wednesday. More...

The Dalai Lama visits Nara, the ancient Buddhist capital in Japan

Nara, Japan -- Early on a bright and shining morning, His Holiness began the second day of his autumn tour of Japan by traveling across the Deer Park at the heart of the ancient Buddhist capital of Nara, to the modern Nara Prefecture Auditorium, where 250 or so Koreans filled a large room, standing up and greeting him when he appeared. To this Buddhist group, including many monks and nuns, he delivered a rigorous Buddhist talk on shunyata, and the powers of the mind. More...

Cambodia: Buddhist monks barred from water festival to prevent undignified behaviour

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Buddhist monks in Cambodia will be banned from taking part in a water festival this month to prevent undignified behaviour such as mingling with scantily clad women and seeing couples kissing, the country's chief monk said Wednesday. More...

Trade fair for Buddhist crafts in Xiamen boosts cross-strait co-operation

Nearly 600 companies attended a four-day trade fair for Buddhist crafts held in east China's Xiamen city beginning on Friday. Also, an expo for vegetarian food was held on the sidelines of the fair. More...

Powerful imagery in Buddhist art on display at MFA

"Heaven and Hell in Japanese Art" is an eclectic mix of statues, paintings and tapestries exhibited in the Buddhist wing of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston through May 1, 2011. Most of the pieces on display are from the Edo period in Japanese history and represent conceptions of heaven and hell in the Pure Land Buddhist tradition. More...

International Buddhist College flooded, appeals for humanitarian help

Songkla, Thailand -- The north eastern provinces of Thailand have been experiencing very bad flooding recently. Pak Thong Chai town where the International Buddhist College (IBC) campus is situated was the first town to be hit by flood waters. The IBC campus itself was flooded, with the dinning hall under 7 feet of water. More...

On an Indian Reservation, a Garden of Buddhas

ARLEE, Mont. (USA) -- On a rural American Indian reservation here, amid grazing horses and cattle, a Buddhist lama from the other side of the world is nearing completion of a .6 million meditative garden that he hopes will draw spiritual pilgrims. More...

Dalai Lama visit continues Tibet-Atlanta connection

The fifth visit of the Dalai Lama to Atlanta, which commences Sunday, underscores a growing connection between this city and the cultural, spiritual and educational traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. More...

Third anniversary of Buddhist monk massacre in Myanmar commemorated

Colombo, Sri Lanka -- Politicians, human rights activists and religious leaders took part in a peaceful sit-in in front of the Myanmar Embassy in Colombo yesterday. They called on the world not to forget, highlighting the difficulties democracy encounters in Sri Lanka itself. More...

Wangkang Boat Burning Ritual - Indonesia

Wangkang boat burning is held at Bhakti Suci Funeral Park, Pontianak, Indonesia It is to mark the peak of funeral rituals conducted in the second and seventh month of the lunar calendar. According to local Chinese tradition, these are the moments when the heaven's gate would open, and the deceased ones can visit their families on earth. More...

Sri Lankan Police block protesting monks from marching towards Hindu temple in Chilaw

Chilaw: Sri Lankan Police officers today prevented a group of protesting Buddhist monks form marching towards the Munneswaram Kali Amman Hindu Temple in Chilaw in the North Western Province. More...

Afghan archaeologists find Buddhist site as war rages

KABUL (Reuters) - Archaeologists in Afghanistan, where Taliban Islamists are fighting the Western-backed government, have uncovered Buddhist-era remains in an area south of Kabul, an official said on Tuesday. More...

Global leaders condemn Sri Lanka's 'disdain' for human rights

A group of eminent global leaders that includes Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Jimmy Carter has hit out at the Sri Lankan government over its poor human rights record.
More...

Buddhist monk impostors besiege Public Security Bureau

According to the Inner Mongolia-based Northern Papers, over 100 bogus Buddhist monks overran a local Public Security Bureau and were captured in Inner Mongolia on Aug. 7. More...

To the circus: conservationists warn of elephant
exodus from Laos

It may be known as the Land of a Million Elephants, but conservationists are warning that the imminent exportation of more than a third of Laos's remaining domesticated elephant calves to a Chinese circus could prove disastrous for the endangered species. More...

Worship rooms provided for Buddhist inmates

KUTA: Kerobokan Penitentiary in Kuta has recently provided worship rooms for Buddhist inmates, adding to the prison's existing worship facilities for Hindus, Muslims and Christians, a prison warden says. More...

First group of Bhutanese refugees depart Nepal for Britain after years in UN-run camps

KATMANDU, Nepal — A group of Bhutanese refugees expelled from their Himalayan homeland nearly two decades ago left Nepal for Britain on Monday to begin new lives after living in United Nations-run camps for years. More...

Ladakh: A paradise lost to human greed?

NEW DELHI: I started going to Ladakh in the late 80s. Leh, which is the largest town in Ladakh and perhaps one of the last bastions of Buddhism, was a clean small town then — or you can even say a rather large village — with barley fields and kuchha tracks snaking their way through small shops. More...

Police arrest man in pagoda voyeur case

Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced a man to a month in jail after finding him guilty of distributing pornographic videos linked to a defrocked monk, officials said. Keo Thea, director of the municipal bureau of anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection, said that Soeun Sophak, 24, was arrested in Tuol Kork district on Thursday after police found him downloading video clips of naked women bathing at Srah Chak pagoda. More...

Choosing healthy foods now called a mental disorder

(NaturalNews) In its never-ending attempt to fabricate "mental disorders" out of every human activity, the psychiatric industry is now pushing the most ridiculous disease they've invented yet: Healthy eating disorder.

This is no joke: If you focus on eating healthy foods, you're "mentally diseased" and probably need some sort of chemical treatment involving powerful psychotropic drugs. The Guardian newspaper reports, "Fixation with healthy eating can be sign of serious psychological disorder" and goes on to claim this "disease" is called orthorexia nervosa -- which is basically just Latin for "nervous about correct eating." More...

Dalai Lama says many Buddhist texts yet to be translated in Japan

Over 300 Buddhist texts written by great Indian masters of the ancient Nalanda University including Nagarjuna, Shantarakshita, Dhigna, Dharmakirti are available only in Tibetan language and not in Japanese and Chinese languages, said His Holiness the Dalai Lama in his teaching of the Heart Sutra at Ishikawa concert hall this afternoon in Kanazawa, the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture. More...

Christian preacher arrested for saying homosexuality is a sin

Dale McAlpine was charged with causing “harassment, alarm or distress” after a homosexual police community support officer (PCSO) overheard him reciting a number of “sins” referred to in the Bible, including blasphemy, drunkenness and same sex relationships. More...

Tibetan, Indian, Burmese activists learn Gandhian tactics

“Be ready to become the unsociable, and face criticism” said Prof Samdhong Rinpoche, the Prime Minister of the exile Tibetan government based here. The former academician and Gandhian was speaking to a group of nonviolent social and political activists in a training programme currently underway at the House of Peace and Dialogue in upper TCV school. “We do not have to become unsociable, but we have to understand limitation of so called modern civilization which itself is very evil.” More...

Watching TV at Age 2 Linked to a Host of Problems at 10

Too much TV in childhood might have negative ramifications later in life, a new study finds.The results show the amount of time spent in front of the tube at 2 years of age is linked with academic, social and health problems at age 10. For instance, too much TV is associated with less engagement in classroom activities, less exercise on weekends, and a higher chance of being picked on by classmates in the fourth grade. More...

Hunt on for serial sex killing elephant in India

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India — Wildlife experts in southern India are hunting a rogue bull elephant who is thought to have gored 12 female tuskers to death because they spurned his sexual advances. More...

Russia denies entry visa to Dalai Lama

Moscow: Russia has denied entry visa to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to visit Kalmykia, a mainly Buddhist region of the country. More...

Beijing wants reincarnation of a Dalai Lama in Chinese colours

Question: Since the end of the Olympic Games silence has fallen about the situation in Tibet. What is really happening today?

Answer: The violation of the human rights of the Tibetans continues.There is a systematic attempt to suppress their devotion to and reverence for His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. It is a crime even to have in one's possession a picture of His Holiness. To intimidate the population and to prevent any new uprisings against Beijing, arrests of Tibetans suspected of sympathy for His Holiness and being critical of the policies of Beijing are made periodically under the pretext of a campaign against splittism.Despite this, Tibetan defiance continues. More...

Garden of 1,000 Buddhas growing in Arlee the Big Sky

In Arlee, about 20 miles north of Missoula, a hardworking community of Buddhists is creating a tranquil, one-of-a-kind sanctuary called the Garden of 1,000 Buddhas. Once completed, the special site will be consecrated by the Dalai Lama, one of the world's most beloved spiritual leaders. More...

Panel explores Tibetan medicine

Tibetan medical practices’ inclusion of Buddhist religious principles has prevented them from being accepted by the Western medical community, several panelists argued in a discussion hosted Friday by the Zen Practice Group. The panelists, who contended that Western doctors should further explore Tibetan medical practices, discussed their research about Tibetan medicine, as well as their own personal experiences with the practice. More...

Why can't we trust what we see?

The human memory can be impressive, but it is equally prone to letting us down. Now groundbreaking research has revealed the extent of just how fragile it can be - and how to use it better. More...

Arrests of Buddhist monks in Tibet continue

Lhasa (AsiaNews) - The campaign of arrests of Buddhist monks in Tibet, launched in recent months by Beijing to "reassure" the province and prevent further mass protests, is intensifying. After numerous arrests in early April, police from the Office of Public Safety in Nyagrong County – the Tibetan Prefecture of Kardze in the northern province of Sichuan - arrested yet another monk on April 8. The arrest is reported by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (Tchrd), which has been monitoring the situation in the area. More...

New species 'live without oxygen'

Three species of creature, which are only a millimetre long and resemble jellyfish encased in shells, were found 2.2 miles (3.5km) underwater on the ocean floor, 124 miles (200km) off the coast of Crete, in an area with almost no oxygen. More...

Woman wants Buddha statues banned from Hope Valley nursing home

Vista, Australia -- A CHRISTIAN woman is demanding a nursing home in South Australia remove decorative Buddhist statues, saying they are "stressful" for Christian residents including her 89-year-old father-in-law. More...

Buddhist temple in Richmond strives to maintain relevance in new land

RICHMOND — Many men who grew up in Laos have stories of how they became a novice Buddhist monk, donning the orange robes and leaving family homes for the temple. More...

Do Our Organs Have Memories?

Transplant patients sometimes take on part of their donors’ personalities. More...

Family of 6,000 gathers

TAIPEI - AROUND 6,000 members of the same family gathered in Taiwan for a traditional festival to honour their ancestors, a newspaper reported on Tuesday. More...

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