"People are being exposed to so many different traditions and teachers, and so for me the big question is and remains, 'How to manage that? How do we handle all of that in a way that contributes to people’s understanding rather than confusion?' I think that’s the big challenge for the Dharma in the West." Joseph Goldstein is one of the best-known teachers of Vipassana [...]
Film Review: “The Lady,” Luc Besson’s Aung San Suu Kyi biopic
The Lady, which was released for awards consideration late last year, is now playing in limited release throughout the U.S. and Canada. At the time Danny Fisher saw the film at an advance screening, Burma was in the news as Hillary Clinton became the first U.S. Secretary of State to visit Burma in more than fifty years. Since then, the country, ruled by a military dictatorship [...]
Dalai Lama wins Templeton Prize
His Holiness the Dalai Lama was announced as the recipient of the 2012 Templeton Prize this morning. (See his reaction in the video above.) In their citation, the John Templeton Foundation notes (among other things) that "[His Holiness] encourages serious scientific investigative reviews of the power of compassion and its broad potential to address the world's fundamental [...]
Army dad ordered to remove Tibetan prayer flags from home
By Danny Fisher The Hudson Star Observer reports that the Lighthouse Villas Homeowners Association in Hudson, WI, has sent a letter ordering Don Chering to remove Tibetan prayer flags from the front of his home by the end of this month. Chering, a practicing Buddhist, is refusing to remove the flags, which he first hung on November 9th of last year, after his son Aaron left [...]
“There Is No Pizza in Nibbana” — Mirka Knaster and Robert Pryor on Anagarika Munindra
An interview by Danny Fisher with the authors of Living This Life Fully, a book reviewed earlier this year in Buddhadharma. Anagarika Sri Munindra (1914-2003) was the much-beloved Bengali master whose many students included such luminaries as Dipa Ma, Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, and Lama Surya Das. Many generations of young practitioners and up-and-coming scholars also [...]
Film review: Luc Besson’s Aung San Suu Kyi biopic, “The Lady”
Luc Besson's biopic of Aung San Suu Kyi is currently only playing at film festivals and in limited release. Danny Fisher attended an advance screening; here's what he saw. History seems to be in the making in Burma as Luc Besson’s The Lady, about National League for Democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, screens in New York and Los Angeles [...]
84000 “Reading Room” presents words of the Buddha via interactive technology
Danny Fisher reviews "84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha," the Tibetan canonical translation project headed up by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. "84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha," the Tibetan canonical translation project headed up by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, has announced the 84000 Reading Room -- a project of the organization, in collaboration with the [...]
“Happy Birthday, Dr. Ari!” Danny Fisher talks to Engaged Buddhism icon A.T. Ariyaratne
Danny Fisher interviews Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne, one of the most iconic and influential figures in the history of Engaged Buddhism. Saturday, November 5, marked the eightieth birthday of Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne — one of the most iconic and influential figures in the history of Engaged Buddhism. Though he was very busy this weekend as the center of celebrations, he graciously took [...]
Video: Suu Kyi biopic “The Lady” banned in China?
NDTV is reporting that Luc Besson's upcoming biopic of Nobel Peace laureate/engaged Buddhist icon Aung San Suu Kyi, "The Lady", as well as information about it, are currently being banned within China. [More, plus the film's trailer, after the jump.] [...]
What’s “After Buddhism”? An interview with Stephen Batchelor
The titular figure behind the recent popular memoir Confession of a Buddhist Atheist, Stephen Batchelor has had a diverse and fascinating history as a contributor to the development of Buddhism in the modern world. Here he speaks to Danny Fisher about atheism, his understanding of what and how the Buddha taught, why he appreciates his critics, and more. Stephen Batchelor has [...]