Buddhism shouldn’t be stereotyped as a New Age fad or reduced to a mere technique, says Scott Mitchell. We miss so much by not acknowledging what it really is. In the American imagination, Buddhism has long been associated with counterculture drop-outs—Beat generation iconoclasts, Age of Aquarius hippies, woo-woo New Agers. This unfortunate stereotype identifies Western [...]
Every Crime and Every Act of Kindness: Cloud Atlas, reviewed
The film version of Cloud Atlas, says our reviewer Scott Mitchell, presents a surprisingly traditional view of karma and rebirth— “and so any attempt to figure out its logic is probably doomed." Cloud Atlas is an ambitious film: one that is both compelling and something of a mental workout. In its attempts to convey both the broad scope of humanity across several centuries [...]
Stephen Colbert brings his view of Buddhism to the “Nation”
A guest post by Scott Mitchell, who teaches at the Institute of Buddhist Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, and is co-host of the DharmaRealm podcast. Drats. It would appear I could soon be out of a job, and thanks to Stephen Colbert, no less. Right now, Colbert Nation – the website, of course, of Comedy Central's Colbert Report – is featuring a [...]
