Each year in October, throngs of Dalits, members of India’s “untouchable” Scheduled Castes, across the subcontinent undergo a deeksha (initiation ceremony) to formally convert to Buddhism. These
His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa has voiced concern over the growing impact on water rights—particularly in Himalayan communities—stemming from climate change, observing that aberrant weather
There are not so many places left on Earth where the population is virtually 100 per cent Tantric Buddhist. Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh, India,
The state authorities have reportedly canceled the annual Dechen Shingdrup ceremony scheduled to be held at the renowned Larung Gar Buddhist Academy.
On 7–9 September, the international scientific conference “Buddhism in the Third Millennium: Trends and Prospects for Development” was held in the sacred land of Tuva.
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
One of the most widely practiced of all Japanese art forms is ikebana, or flower arrangement. The word “ikebana” literally means “living flowers,” suggesting that while
Ani Choying Drolma has become something of an anomaly. A Buddhist nun renowned for her numerous humanitarian activities, which include the education of young girls,
Despite their internationally recognized endangered status,* a recently published report by the wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic suggests that the world’s population of snow leopards
On 30 April 1975, the Vietnam War ended. Over 2 million people were killed and countless more were injured or missing. Today, more than 40
It is said that the Buddha taught 84,000 different methods for the liberation of sentient beings because of the diversity of sentient beings in their
It is commonly held that converting to a religion for reasons other than personal spiritual conviction or awakening is unethical and unseemly. Reading about Christian
