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    Riding Two Horses Paid Member

    By Anne A. Simpkinson
    Anne A. Simpkinson on the increasing numbers of dharma teachers who are also therapists. What happens when your teacher is your shrink? For the past several decades, Westerners have generated new forms of Buddhism that reflect their own values and social contexts. A meditation hall where the cushions are arranged in an egalitarian circle-a nod to Native American council meetings-has a different feel from a classical Japanese zendo where the seating spells out the pecking order of the monastery. In the West, as many women as men are practicing today; this, and the increasing presence of women teachers, put another new face on Buddhism. More »
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    Stepping to a Different Drum Paid Member

    By Lee Yu Ban
    I noticed the afternoon was getting hotter as I unloaded my family from the car at the Subang Jaya Buddha Vihara in a suburb of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. “It's going to be great,” I convincingly reassured my two kids. “How often do you get to see someone ordain for real?” We had come to witness Chin Leag's pabbajja, or ordination as a novice monk. More »
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    Falun Gong Paid Member

    By Kenneth S. Cohen
    Kenneth S. Cohen on what got China's hackles up about the mysterious Qigong meditation movement. Is Falun Gong a turning of the dharma wheel or a new fundamentalism? More »
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    The Science of Enlightenment; Cause and Effect Paid Member

    By Brad Marston
    Winter was cut short again this year. Cherry trees on the Brown campus blossomed in December, and crocuses emerged at the start of March. The National Climate Data Center reported that the last three winters were the warmest on record. And this past winter was the warmest of those three. It is hard to deny that the modern world is out of balance. Carbon dioxide levels in the air have been rising since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and now surpass those of the previous half a million years by a wide margin. The global temperature of the past decade exceeded that of the preceding thirteen decades, and probably even the past millennium. Polar ice is thinning, glaciers are melting, and oceans are rising. Chanting the four great vows every day, I am reminded of the influence that we humans exert on the world around us, and of our vast ignorance of it: Sentient beings are numberless; I vow to save them all. Delusions are endless; More »
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    Dear Pope John Paul Paid Member

    By William R. LaFleur
    In an open letter, William R. LaFleur, professor of Japanese Studies, criticizes the Roman Catholic Church for its stand against contraception and implores the pope to reconsider the Vatican's position in light of Buddhist ethics. YOUR HOLINESS, Convinced that a fully responsible stewardship of our planet requires that we control the increasingly rapid growth of our population, and that the knowledge and use of effective contraceptives is a proven means to that end, I deplore your opposition to these as both wrong and directly contrary to what would clearly benefit humanity at this time in our history. By contrast, the public position of most Buddhists strikes me as ethical. Buddhist monks in Southeast and East Asia have openly supported programs to implement the responsible control of human birth and held that the use of contraceptive devices was not immoral and ought, in fact, to be encouraged. A Thai study in the 1980s stated: More »
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    Spirit in Exile: TIBETAN NUNS Paid Member

    By Susan Lirakis Nicolay
    Prior to their life in exile, many of the nuns in Tibet had demonstrated against Chinese rule. As a result, they were threatened, imprisoned, and tortured. Nuns who remained in Tibet held demonstrations in the late eighties and early nineties in Lhasa. Circumambulating the Jokhang Temple in Barkhor Square, nuns would shout, “Free Tibet!” “Chinese quit Tibet!” and “Long live the Dalai Lama!” During one such protest in 1991, Chinese police arrived, tied the nuns' arms behind their backs, hit their faces, and kicked them to the ground. The nuns were taken to Gurtsa Prison to be interrogated. The police demanded to know why the nuns were protesting and beat them with sticks and electric batons. During imprisonment, which for some was three months and for others five years, they were made to kneel on sharp stones for hours, beaten repeatedly by groups of police, and chased by dogs. Due to these beatings, some nuns have permanent internal injuries, hearing loss, or mental impairment. More »