No one escapes suffering in Rikers Island. Not prisoners, not staff. Jennifer Keishin Armstrong profiles Justin von Bujdoss, the first-ever Buddhist chaplain in America’s most notorious jail. In a small, cinder-block room lit by shards of afternoon sun sneaking in through windows in the ceiling, thirteen jail guards in dark blue uniforms sit quietly on gray plastic chairs. [...]
Why Thai Buddhist activist Sulak Sivaraksa could go to jail over a history lesson
Sulak Sivaraksa, 85-year-old founder of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists, could face 15 years in prison because he suggested that a 16th-century elephant battle might not have really happened. Matteo Pistono, author of a biography of Sivaraksa, breaks down what the charges mean for Sivaraksa and the rest of Thailand. The prominent socially engaged Buddhist [...]
The Fourteen Precepts of Engaged Buddhism
Thich Nhat Hanh's guidelines for anyone wishing to live mindfully. The Order of Interbeing (Tiep Hien) was formed by the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh in the mid-1960’s, at a time when the Vietnam War was escalating and the teachings of the Buddha were desperately needed to combat the hatred, violence, and divisiveness enveloping his country. On the full moon day of [...]
Thich Nhat Hanh to receive Catholic “Peace on Earth” award
Thich Nhat Hanh has been chosen to receive this year's Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award. A representative of Nhat Hanh, along with 120 monastics in his order, will accept the award on his behalf on October 31 — the 50th anniversary of the same honor being granted to his friend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Given annually since 1964 by Davenport Catholic Interracial [...]
Socially Engaged Buddhism at the United Nations
The outspoken socially engaged Buddhist, Sulak Sivaraksa, brought a message stressing individual responsibility, and a harsh critique of the worldwide capitalist system, to the United Nations on Wednesday during the annual week of meetings in New York City. Sulak, along with Therese Mema Mapenzi from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Dr. Rahmawati Husein from Indonesian, [...]
Buddhist activist Ken Jones dies
The Welsh Buddhist activist, poet, and teacher, Ken Jones (1930-2015) passed away on August 2nd. In his farewell message to Gaia House this year he spoke about his prostate cancer. Jones was an important voice in socially engaged Buddhism and was the founder and later president of the UK Network of Engaged Buddhists and a member of the International Advisory Committee of the [...]
Buddhists Betray the Teachings: Jack Kornfield on the anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar
A religion known for nonviolence is being used to fuel a genocidal campaign against the Muslims of Burma. Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield, recently returned from Burma, urges us to join the call for peace. His full article from the September 2014 Shambhala Sun (now known as Lion's Roar) appears below -- you can also download and share this PDF of the article -- along with with [...]
Facing suffering, finding joy: Women combat veterans at Tassajara
Every year since 2011, more and more women combat veterans have been making their way to Northern California’s remote Tassajara Zen Mountain Center for specially focused retreats called “Honoring the Path of the Warrior.” This year, the New York Times sat in as twenty women vets processed “the impact of combat, of taking life and of seeing life taken” as well as the particular [...]
Reflections on Rwanda: Bearing Witness
It’s been twenty years since the genocide in Rwanda, which claimed more than a million lives. To mark this anniversary, Zen master Bernie Glassman and Grover Genro Gauntt of the Zen Peacemaker Order traveled to Rwanda where they led a multi-faith, multi-national bearing witness retreat in April. Here, one participant, Russell Delman, recounts his moving retreat experience. [...]
Brooklyn Zen Center helps organize “A Day of Silent Recognition” to heal wounds of gun violence in its community
As referenced in a post here last month, the push to end gun violence will bring together Bedford-Stuyvesent community groups and citizens at Brooklyn, NY's Von King Park Bandshell April 5 for “A Silent Day of Recognition,” led by activists at the Brooklyn Zen Center’s Awake Youth Project. The event, organized by BZC executive director Greg Snyder along with DIVAS for Social [...]
