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    Panchen Lama Too Young for Politics, Burmese and Sri Lankan News Paid Member

    Posted by Philip Ryan on 04 Mar 2008
    China has apparently changed its mind and now says Beijing's Panchen Lama is too young for politics. The Dalai Lama's choice for Panchen Lama remains hidden somewhere, probably under arrest. having undergone years of "re-education." U.N> special envoy Ibrahim Gambari heads back to Burma. Will he diplomatically express his dissatisfaction with Burma's "roadmap to democracy?" India, the world's largest democracy, is tightening ties with Burma. They are neighbors after all. Can India use its considerable leverage to ameliorate the situation? Time will tell, but first the money has to start flowing. Imagine your next-door neighbor beats up his wife. But he sells you lots of things you want very cheaply and lets you park your RV in his driveway. More »
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    Is Certainty Possible? Paid Member

    Posted by Philip Ryan on 03 Mar 2008
    A very interesting Salon article on the possibility that knowledge (or the feeling of knowing) is biologically based rather than the result of thinking. So should we always say "I believe" rather than "I know"? This one will get the epistemologists and everyone else up in arms. The writer is Robert Burton, author of On Being Certain. More »
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    Falun Gong in Wellington and Tum-mo Everywhere Paid Member

    Posted by Philip Ryan on 27 Feb 2008
    Falun Gong defies the government... the city council of Wellington, New Zealand, that is. Tum-mo and your mind/body: In a monastery in northern India, Tibetan monks sat quietly in a room, deep in meditation. Although the room was a chilly 39˚ F, the men - using a yoga technique known as Tum-mo - were scarcely clothed, but seemed unaffected by the cold. Nearby, other monks soaked large sheets in freezing cold water and placed them on the shoulders of the meditators. Within an hour, the sheets were dry. Scientists who have studied the monks - some of whom were capable of raising the temperature of their fingers and toes by 17˚ F - have yet to determine how the meditative process was able to generate so much heat. More »
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    From the Blogs Paid Member

    Posted by Philip Ryan on 26 Feb 2008
    There's so much great stuff to be found out there on the Buddhist blogs. Here's just a tiny taste: Anyone planning to be in New Haven, Connecticut on April 11th should check out Danny Fisher's lecture, "What Does a Buddhist Chaplain Do? More »
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    Thaksin to return to Thailand; Monlam Chenmo Paid Member

    Posted by Philip Ryan on 26 Feb 2008
    Deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is expected back in Thailand February 28th. After President Bush imposed fresh sanctions on Burma's business interests, The Irrawaddy says Burma's Asian neighbors, who are bigger trading partners than the U.S., need to do the same. Reuters on Monlam Chenmo, Tibet's Great Prayer Festival. More on Monlam from Phayul.com. More »
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    Buddhism in Vietnam and England; Buddhist Center in Kashmir Paid Member

    Posted by Philip Ryan on 23 Feb 2008
    Buddhism has had rocky times in communist Vietnam, but now the state-sanctioned church is flexing its muscles at the expense of Catholics. But it's very different in London, where Cambodian Buddhists use a two-bedroom flat as their temple and community center. They now have no place to gather, after a recent fire. In India, the government set up a Buddhist center in Kashmir and cited the religion's influence on Mahatma Gandhi, and value as an antidote to the extremism that plagues the region. And in gratuitous celebrity news, Orlando Bloom's squeeze Miranda Kerr discusses the couple's mutual love of Buddhism. More »