Great to see a shift in Vatican policy towards Buddhism after the passing of John Paul II. Hope this mutual respect will continue to grow.

The temple was built in the 7th century. Nagano City. Zenkō-ji is one of the last few remaining pilgrimage sites in Japan. The monks have agreed to stand in solidarity with the oppressed monks of Tibet. Because of this the temple bells will be silent. Their actions speak volumes. May they continue. Peace, Rev. K. Bhante n. Kassapa Bhikkhu kassapa.org bhante_kassapa@yahoo.com

I read very recently that Buddhism in US is the 4th fastest religion from the last surveys done by the government and will edge out Islam by the next census. It is encouraging for me to read these types of reports and hear first hand of the growth that Buddhism is making. It is not necessary that everyone become Buddhist, however the message of the Buddha is universal. I minister to a growing US born American group that are finding Buddhism to be a path they can follow. My only wish is to teach compassion and peace and offer the middle way. If people choose to follow it is their own blessing. I wish you Peace. Rev k. Bhante n. Kassapa Bhikkhu kassapa.org bhante_kassapa@yahoo.com

My browser wasn't loading hhe page when clicked on the link, here's the direct URL though to the article http://www.mlive.com/annarbor/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-27/1208587262228420.xml&coll=2

I had to 'publish' this (with some others) from the upcoming section, even though it's already been published, for some reason it's reappeared there..some kind of bug with the software! Glenn(admin).

Some of these Sinhalese Buddhist monks who ponce around in parliament with their big egos in Sri Lanka promoting war! Fortunately there are many Buddhist Monks in Sri Lanka who practice and teach Buddhism in Sri Lanka in a simple and humble way. The way the Buddha meant his disciples to follow it. The Buddhist way of Compassion and Non-Violence. The Buddha wished his followers to think hard and deeply about the problems that we face and apply his teachings to solving our problems. His teachings are for all humanity not just for these monks or sinhalese to push a war agenda no matter how justified the cause for war may be. He says the war is justified to end the war as soon as possible. That may be true who knows no one can say in war. But remember that is NOT the Buddhist path. It is the path of relating to nationality and politics.Buddhism is for all planet Earth not just for Tiny Sri Lanka.I hope intelligent people see that they do not represent Buddhism or Buddhists. Rev. Athurliye Rathana can call himself whatever he wants but he is not a Buddhist. These people are a disgrace to Buddhism.

Still it's encouraging.... Arthur C Clarke predicted that Buddhism would be the main world religion by 2050 :)

I would think that the number of people who take and live by The 5 Precepts is sufficient. Enlightenment is nice but not necessary as a measure or comparative.

The more important indicator is the number of people who attain enlightenment rather than the number of people who call themselves 'Buddhists'! There may be no corelation between the number of 'Buddhists' and the number of people who attain enlightenment although one would hope that this would be the case!

Climbing up onto Bodnath and meditating was a wonderful and moving experience.

Having been through intense internet discussions with Chinese supporters of the crackdown, they do point out, in their own hysterically defensive way, that this photo has a suspicious pedigree - and justly. It has also been linked to a movie shoot in 2003. Check for yourself. Your mileage may vary.

What a great achievement! Sadhu!!

Hi - I tried to fix the broken pic by linking to the correct URL on the web - hope this right pic, Glenn (admin).

The author raises a very valid point but unfortunately Sri Lanka is in such a difficult position that it is unlikely that she will be able to voice her concerns about Tibet at this point in time. What can Sri Lanka do when the Western democracies who call themselves the guardians of world democratic system have turned their back on a democratically elected government which is fighting the most ruthless terrorist outfit in the world (as officially claimed by the FBI and most of the democratic countries themselves!)? A tragic situation but this is what happens when the 'guardian angels' are busy trying to make political and economic gains for themselves at the expense of less fortunates!! But no doubt most Sri Lankan Buddhists will be personally showing their solidarity with Tibet in their own way - at least to reciprocate in a very small way what ven. Mahinda did for Sri Lanka.

Brilliant!

As a cartoonist myself, I am envious of the mind that can do such things.

Thanks.

thanks guptila. i fixed it. ;)

Broken link.... :-)

What a fabulous talk.Thanks for letting everyone know about it - and thanks for Dr. Taylor for such a wonderful talk.

I'll be laughing at this for days, cheers :)

Interesting story. Makes me wonder what I'd do if something like that happened to me...

Good to hear this one again. see: http://www.youtube.com/user/BuddhistSocietyWA for a whole collection.

Sadly, it looks as though even Bhutanese culture is being morphed with the borg of Western materialism. :-(

This isn't the real Panchen Lama, but the phoney one appointed by the Chinese Communist Party. It just occurred to me however, how ironic it would be if he was given real power within the CCP and then went on to change things for the benefit of the Tibetan people and created a pathway for the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet. :-D