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  • Buddha Buzz: Buddhist News from Around the World, Week of November 12 Paid Member

    If there's anything we American Buddhists love to talk about, it's the emerging face of American Buddhism—whatever that means. Despite all the chatter, in my humble opinion the average American Buddhist isn't all that informed about some very basic realities of American Buddhism: who its adherents are, where they are located, what kind of Buddhism they practice, etc. Cue the Huffington Post, who this week published a slideshow of "Most and Least Buddhist Cities in America," based off of 2010 data by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. More »
  • Buddha Buzz: Buddhist News from Around the World, Week of October 22 Paid Member

    Happy Halloween! Since it's almost time for the year's only holiday that encourages you to pretend to be someone else, it's the perfect opportunity to let you know that if you live in Thailand, your local monks might not be what they seem. In fact, the Global Post reports, they might be meth dealers. Several Thai monks have been busted recently for buying, using, and dealing speed pills. One even insisted that he was using the drug money to refurbish his temple. Maybe I've just been watching too much Breaking Bad, but for some sad reason this story didn't even surprise me. How's that for some legitimate 21st century cynicism? More »
  • Buddha Buzz: Buddhist News from Around the World, Week of October 8 Paid Member

    In the wake of last week's attack on Buddhist temples and homes in Bangladesh, various news sources have reported that between 100 and 300 people have been arrested. In Burma last Friday, Buddhist monks protested in front of the Bangladesh embassy in Rangoon, although judging by the photo below, the protest was not entirely focused on Muslim-Buddhist relations. More »
  • Buddha Buzz: Wolverines, Starbucks, and a Buddhist Statue from Outer Space Paid Member

    For someone whose job consists of (among other things, I swear) writing about the news every week, I don't like reading the news all that much. It's just too depressing. So forgive me while I indulge myself in something much more fun.Hey there, Hugh Jackman.The promotional posters for the next Wolverine movie have been released, with Jackman standing in front of what looks like a Buddhist temple (see, this had relevance after all). The movie is set in Japan, so now I'm wondering: is it going to have a Buddhist theme? We'll have to wait until next July to find out. More »
  • Buddha Buzz: Buddhist News from Around the World, Week of September 17 Paid Member

    Here's a fun fact: the Tricycle offices in New York are in the same building as a club owned by the rapper Jay-Z. Usually, it doesn't mean much. No one is at work at 3 am on a Friday, which is presumably when the club is—excuse me for using this word—hoppin'. But this Monday Jay-Z and his wife Beyonce hosted a fundraiser for President Obama in the club, and the Tricycle staff were sent home early by what we presume were the Secret Service's orders. Because nothing is more threatening to the President's safety than a bunch of Buddhists typing furiously on their computers. More »
  • Buddha Buzz: Buddhist News from Around the World, Week of September 10 Paid Member

    Buddhist hipsters of the world, rejoice! A couple of Australian entrepreneurs have started to brew "Lucky Buddha Beer," which comes with the tagline...oh, just you wait for this one..."Get Lucky." Sigh. Always the clever ones, those Australian entrepreneurs. Wouldn't it be so nice if getting enlightened was as simple as buying a kitschy beer? The makers of Lucky Buddha Beer's website seem to think that it's as easy as clicking on a button: I'm praying to everything that I hold dear in this life that the advertising copy on their site was written with a healthy dose of humor: More »