In the last few weeks, I have been teaching the Tale of Heike (Heike monogatari) to my students at Luther College. The Tale of Heike is central to Japanese
Music plays an integral role in the various traditions of Buddhism that exist in different parts of the world today. In Chinese Buddhism, scriptures and
It is a cliché to say that publishing an introductory textbook to a vast and philosophical subject like Buddhism is much harder than some writers
“Ultimately, all the creative arts are testaments to the foundational truths of Buddhist principles,” says Canadian-American writer Ruth Ozeki. Whether tracing the themes of interdependence
The story of the founder of Dharma Drum Mountain
In my previous article,* I introduced a method of reading Japanese Buddhist texts, especially writings by the Japanese Zen master Dōgen (1200–53).** Here, I would
Imagine you could give your child the kind of wise spiritual instruction provided to a young Tibetan lama. The kind of instruction that nurtures a
Imagine this: a young woman, heavily pregnant and in labor, makes the journey to a grove of trees sacred to the local goddess. The village
David McMahan is professor of Religious Studies at Franklin & Marshall College, Pennsylvania. In recent years he has offered the Buddhist Studies community a more
Spirit is without name, without form. Spirit does not occupy a specific place, but is everywhere at the same time. Spirit is beyond of the
James Sanford and his colleagues in their wonderful volume Flowing Traces (Sanford et al 1992, p.3) point out that “Buddhism’s beginnings in Japan had the arts at
Throughout the United States this year, Americans have taken to the streets to protest police violence against unarmed black citizens. Some of these demonstrations have
