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    Who hijacked Himalayan art? Or any art, for that matter? Paid Member

    Posted by James Shaheen on 06 Aug 2010
    Himalayan Art Resources (HAR) is the most comprehensive collection of Himalayan art available, much of it Buddhist. For years now, Jeff Watt, HAR's director, has been exhorting us to understand and critique Himalayan art on its own merit—much as we might consider, say, a Fra Angelico—and rescue it from the theory-laden university art history departments. For support, Jeff refers us to to an article in yesterday's New York Times, in which Laurence Kantner, an expert in early Italian painting and former curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, has this to say: "Art history has been hijacked by other disciplines,” said Mr. More »
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    Uproot the Core Problems Paid Member

    Posted by Monty McKeever on 21 Jul 2010
    Today's Daily Dharma, In the Buddhist path we are bringing together our actions, our view, and our practice. It is a balance of awareness, insight, and action, working harmoniously together. In that way our energy is no longer divided or scattered, but we are fully present in whatever we do. That is what it means to be a genuine human being. In Buddhism, the point is not simply to be accomplished meditators but to change our whole approach to life. Meditation is not merely a useful technique or mental gymnastic, but part of a balanced system designed to change they way we go about things at the most fundamental level. More »
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    Dalai Lama: My Reincarnation Will Appear In Free Country Paid Member

    Posted by Monty McKeever on 20 Jul 2010
    VIA P. Vijian at Bernama.com, DHARAMSALA, July 20 (Bernama) -- Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama believes his next reincarnation will be in a "free country", if the Tibetan crisis prolongs without a cordial solution. "If I die as a refugee and the Tibetan situation remains like this, then logically, my reincarnation will appear in a free country, because the very purpose of reincarnation is to carry on the work which began in my previous life. "And, there is some contribution, some fulfillment in work started in the previous life. Then, that is truly reincarnation," he told Bernama in a recent interview at his exile-base in Dharamsala in northern India. He said, if obstacles were created against carrying out the tasks of the Dalai Lama's previous life, than the "reality is not reincarnation." More »
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    Is it ok to say "the West"? Paid Member

    Posted by James Shaheen on 15 Jul 2010
    Editor-at-Large Andrew Cooper stopped by for a visit yesterday—quite a change from the Pacific Northwest, where he lives. The heat and rain are very familiar to him, though. He hails from the New York metro area. Still, he may miss the cool breezes off Puget Sound. Andy, web editor Phil Ryan and I got to talking (Phil was not distracted by the Shady Buddha during this meeting), and Phil noted that every time we use the term "Western Buddhism"—or even just "the West"—some people object. These comments have been helpful, forcing us to examine our use of the term. More »
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    Deep Roots Need Good Soil Paid Member

    Posted by Monty McKeever on 12 Jul 2010
    Today’s Daily Dharma: If you have a supportive sangha, it’s easy to nourish your bodhicitta, the seeds of enlightenment. If you don’t have anyone who understands you, who encourages you in the practice of the living dharma, your desire to practice may wither. Your sangha—family, friends, and copractitioners—is the soil, and you are the seed. No matter how vigorous the seed is, if the soil does not provide nourishment, your seed will die. A good sangha is crucial for the practice. More »
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    Buddhism with God Paid Member

    Posted by James Shaheen on 25 Jun 2010
    Norman Fischer teaches meditation in lots of places—at San Francisco Zen Center, where he was once abbot; at the Googleplex, where he teaches techies "emotional intelligence"; and at Jewish retreats, where he practices the religion of his birth and speaks of God—not something we're used to hearing from a Buddhist teacher. Fischer, one of the leading Zen teachers in the United States, tells Kate Olsen at Religion & Ethics Newsleweekly, Buddhism in general is not committed to God or no God. It’s committed to awakening. So taking this practice from Buddhism and applying it to Judaism, it’s a way to go deeper into our heart, our mind, our consciousness and in a Jewish context, when you do that I think, at the bottom, you find the divine. More »