Bhikkhu Bodhi responds to US President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement. Much has been written over the past couple of weeks about the political and economic repercussions of Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out from the Paris Climate Agreement. It’s been pointed out that the decision will diminish our standing in the world and cast us in [...]
About Bhikkhu Bodhi
Stand Against Suffering: An Unprecedented Call to Action by Buddhist Teachers
Thirteen leading Buddhist teachers, joined by more than 140 additional signatories, call on Buddhists and all people of faith to take a stand against policies of the new administration that will create suffering for the most vulnerable in society. As published in the May 2017 Lion's Roar magazine. As long as a society protects the vulnerable among them, they can be expected [...]
What are “Conditioned Things” in Buddhism?
Reality may seem solid, says Bhikkhu Bodhi, but it is merely a reflection of unstable, conditioned processes, or sankharas, coming together with no one in charge. Impermanent, alas, are conditioned things! Their very nature is to arise and vanish. Having arisen they then cease. Their subsiding is blissful! In Theravada Buddhist lands, this verse is always recited at [...]
Let’s Stand Up Together
In this commentary from the Spring 2017 issue of Buddhadharma, monk-scholar Bhikkhu Bodhi urges Buddhists to become "more visible as advocates of peace, basic sanity, and social justice" — and explains why doing so transcends party politics. I recently came across a news report stating that 2,500 religious leaders had signed a petition urging Congress to reject Donald [...]
Pain Is My Built-in Buddha
Bhikkhu Bodhi on the stern but eloquent teachings of chronic pain. When I write about living with pain, I don’t have to use my imagination. Since 1976 I have been afflicted with chronic head pain that has grown worse over the decades. This condition has thrown a granite boulder across the tracks of my meditation practice. Pain often wipes a day and night off my calendar, [...]
What Kind of World Do We Want?
For many of us in the West, Buddhism first appears on the horizon as a path to inner peace offering relief from the tensions of daily living. This perception is reinforced by popular culture, which pictures the Buddha as a man sitting motionless with crossed legs and closed eyes, seemingly lost to his surroundings. Seldom do we think that Buddhism might hold out practical clues [...]
A Challenge to Buddhists
Each morning, I check out a number of Internet news reports and commentaries on websites ranging from the BBC to Truthout. Reading about current events strongly reinforces for me the acuity of the Buddha’s words: “The world is grounded upon suffering.” Almost daily I am awed by the enormity of the suffering that assails human beings on every continent, and even more by the hard [...]