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Social Justice

 Buddhism teaches that we are noble by our actions, not by birth or circumstance
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    Buddhist Nationalism in Burma Paid Member

    By Maung Zarni
    For those outside Burma, the broadcast images of the Theravada monks of the “Saffron Revolution” of 2007 are still fresh. Backed by the devout Buddhist population, these monks were seen chanting metta and the Lovingkindness Sutta on the streets of Rangoon, Mandalay, and Pakhoke-ku, calling for an improvement in public well-being in the face of the growing economic hardships afflicting Burma’s Buddhists. The barefooted monks’ brave protests against the rule of the country’s junta represented a fine example of engaged Buddhism, a version of Buddhist activism that resonates with the age-old Orientalist, decontextualized view of what Buddhists are like: lovable, smiley, hospitable people who lead their lives mindfully and have much to offer the non-Buddhist world in the ways of fostering peace. More »
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    A Change of Heart Paid Member

    For many years we’ve heard the same slogan called out again and again, a cry for reconciliation between Israel and Palestine: “Peace in the Middle East!” In October, this call will be heard once again, but this time it will not be shouted out or scrawled on posters. It will be cried out another way: by the silent presence of peace walkers. More »
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    Buying Wisdom Paid Member

    By Richard Eskow
    Outside a conference on mindfulness for the Silicon Valley crowd stood a corkboard and a pad of yellow Post-it Notes. There, in keeping with the conference’s “Wisdom 2.0” name and theme, attendees were invited to write down their thoughts on creating a “global wisdom culture.” There were 50 or 60 suggestions on the board, mostly for things like online platforms to encourage “lateral communication.” But something was missing, I thought. I grabbed a pen, tore off a Post-it, and added a word that was conspicuously absent from the board: Wisdom. More »
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    Tricycle Talks: Jules Shell and Foundation Rwanda Paid Member

    Posted by Eric Wetzel on 27 Mar 2012
    I recently spoke with Jules Shell, co-founder and executive director of Foundation Rwanda. Begun in July of 2008, Foundation Rwanda has the primary goal of helping mothers fulfill the wish for their children to have secondary school education. From Foundation Rwanda's site: "In February of 2006, photojournalist Jonathan Torgovnik traveled to East Africa with then Newsweek health editor Geoffrey Cowley to report on a story for Newsweek Magazine about the 25th year anniversary of the inception of HIV/AIDS. More »
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    G-20 Dharma Paid Member

    By Michael Stone
    When I search for an image to describe the core of my spiritual practice, the one that presses up through the others is a memory of the G-20 summit in June 2010. I’m carrying my six-year-old son away from a burning police car in front of a bank tower on Bay Street in downtown Toronto. Three young protesters dressed in black jumped on the roof of the car as my son and I turned away and began making our way home. More »