Montague, population 6,000, is the kind place where, even if you’ve lived there since you were a baby, folks will still call you a “come from away.” That is, until hundreds of Taiwanese Buddhist monks moved to town, and the new neighbors realized they had more in common than they expected. Being lost on Canada’s Prince Edward Island is glorious. As I navigate the back roads of [...]
Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, leader of the International Dzogchen Community, dies at 79
Norbu was a Tibetan master of Dzogchen and taught extensively around the world. Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, a respected Dzogchen master, Buddhist scholar, and leader of the International Dzogchen Community, died at Merigar West Buddhist Center in Arcidisso, Italy, at age 79. The founder of Merigar West, Norbu was recently honored by Italian President Sergio Mattarella for [...]
Pema Chödrön apologizes for dismissing allegation of sexual assault from young woman
On Saturday, famed Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön released a statement responding to an allegation that she once dismissed a woman’s report that she was raped by a Shambhala Center director. Chödrön is a Buddhist nun, best-selling author, and senior teacher in the Shambhala community. She is a member of Shambhala’s “Transition Task Force,” the temporary committee appointed to [...]
New York Zendo Shobo-ji celebrates 50th anniversary
New York Zendo Shobo-ji (NYZ), one of the first Zen Buddhist temples established in the West, will mark its 50th anniversary with a three-day celebration this weekend, September 14 to 16. NYZ, located in Manhattan, was opened by the Zen Studies Society (ZSS) in 1968. ZSS, which also includes the Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-Ji monastery in the Catskill mountains, was founded to [...]
Italian president honors Buddhist teacher Namkhai Norbu
President Mattarella gave Norbu the title of "Commander in the Order Of Merit of the Italian Republic." Dzogchen teacher and Buddhist scholar Namkai Norbu was bestowed the title of Commander in the Order Of Merit of the Italian Republic by President Sergio Mattarella. Norbu is the president of the International Dzogchen Community, as well as the founder of Merigar West [...]
After Noah Levine sexual misconduct investigation, Against the Stream centers to shut down; Update: Levine responds
[Saturday, September 1 update] On Saturday, Noah Levine sent an open letter to the Against the Stream and Refuge Recovery communities addressing the allegations of sexual misconduct against him and the organization’s decision to shut down its centers. Read the letter in its entirety below: This is a complicated letter to write because I am essentially writing three groups [...]
Karmapa planning return to India after year-long stay in United States
In an interview with Radio Free Asia's (RFA) Tibet Service, the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje said he plans to return to India following his year-long stay in the United States. In October of last year, canceled a trip home to India following a general health check-up in New York that revealed medical issues. He addressed his extended stay in the United States via a live [...]
This Land is Pure Land: The Buddhist Churches of America
Lindsay Kyte traces the history of the Buddhist Churches of America — and the Japanese immigrant experience in America — through four generations of one family. When Akiko Rogers sat down for our interview at the Jodo Shinshu Center in Berkeley, California, she placed a packet of tissues on the table between us. I thought maybe she had a cold. But Rogers knew she was about [...]
Buddhist teacher researches ways to improve Indigenous healthcare
Native American Buddhist teacher Bonnie Duran works to decolonize healthcare for Indigenous communities. For Bonnie Duran, it felt like coming home. For two months in 1982, she lived at a Tibetan monastery in Nepal. As a mixed-race Native American, she’d long witnessed the suffering of her community, and what she learned there about Buddhism’s first noble truth—that [...]
How to Help Tibet and the Dalai Lama
Want to support the people of Tibet and their spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama? We've gathered information and links for some of the many fine organizations who do just that. Tibet Fund Since 1981, the Tibet Fund has been the primary funding organization for health care, education, refugee rehabilitation, religious and cultural preservation, elder care, and [...]
