Archive
Mindfulness in a time of Dis-ease: Breathing through Cancer, COVID & Climate Change
This article was originally published in Mindfully Speaking, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. My mind was racing. I couldn’t sleep despite the fatigue of the first trimester …
Spiritual Leadership in Myanmar
I visited Yangon for the first time in January 2020, and from the airport tarmac into its downtown, the city had been signposted with billboards of Aung Sang Suu Kyi’s face. She …
Bart Weetjens: Meet The Belgian Buddhist Training Entrepreneurs
This article was originally published by Religion Unplugged, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. LALOBBE, France — Bart Weetjens wants to save the world by teaching meditation to one …
The Mothers of the Righteous Society: Lay Buddhist Women as Agents of the Sinhala Nationalist Imagery
The following is an excerpt of an article by Nalika Gajaweera published in the Journal of Global Buddhism. Read the full article on globalbuddhism.org. Discussions about the gendered experience of Buddhism, especially …
Caroline Yongue: A Buddhist Lay Minister Asks ‘What Is A Good Death?’
This radio documentary was originally produced by KALW’s The Spiritual Edge, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. To hear this and other profiles, subscribe to The Spiritual Edge podcast in …
Celebrating Thich Nhat Hanh’s Influence on his 94th Birthday
Thich Nhat Hanh’s 94th birthday—or continuation day—is Oct 11. In honor of the day, Plum Village monastics asked his friends and students to share short reflections on how Thay, as his followers …
Chao-hwei Shih: Buddhist Nun Leads Asia’s Fight for Gay Marriage
This article was originally published in Harvard Divinity Bulletin, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. BUDDHIST MASTER THE VENERABLE Chao-hwei Shih beamed at two 30-year-old brides kneeling before her …
Tuenjai Deetes: Eliminating Statelessness in Thailand
This article was originally published in Southeast Asia Globe, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. The week started with an unexpected long, warm hug. Thai people usually do not hug …
Ashin Issariya: Leading the Charge Against Militant Buddhism
This article was originally published in New Statesman, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. January is the cool, dry season of traveling sermons in Myanmar, where members of …
Religion on the Move in Los Feliz
The current era of religious flux in the United States is often depicted through photographs of empty pews in mainline Protestant churches during a typical Sunday service. But the ongoing evolutions in American religious culture are …
Latter-day Zen: The Mormon Man Bringing Meditation to Home
This article originally appeared in Tricycle Magazine. The first thing that I noticed on my visit to Thomas McConkie’s apartment near the University of Utah was a small wooden tan—the raised platform …
Reimagining Religion Conference: The Future of Religion in Los Angeles
What does the future of religion in the United States look like? Even as religious affiliation declines, the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture finds signs of innovation and vitality in …
What’s So Wrong with Mindfulness?
This article originally appeared in Tricycle. “I was stressed out, burned out, and divorced. And then I started doing yoga.” This is how many people I have spoken to in the course …
Spiritual Healing Networks in Long Beach
Long Beach, California is a perfect example of the creativity and collaboration among people who embrace spiritual forms of healing, such as yoga and meditation. This video explores how this network operates: …
Against the Stream: Taking Refuge in an American Sangha
Against the Stream (ATS) is a Buddhist Meditation Center that seeks to introduce Buddhist teachings and practices rooted in traditional Buddhist lineages of South and Southeast Asia with a distinctly American anti-establishment …
Mapping the New Landscape of Religion in Los Feliz
This article originally appeared in BOOM: A Journal of California. Mt. Hollywood Congregational Church was in trouble. Its congregation had become too small to sustain the decaying Los Feliz building that had …
The Korean Buddhist Version of a Megachurch
Seoul isn’t just the megachurch capital of the world; Nungin Sunwon Zen Center is considered a mega-temple, with 100,000 members. Gold #Buddha at Nungin Sunwon #Zen Center in #Seoul, #SouthKorea. #ReligioninSeoul #nunginsunwon …
Traditional and Innovative – How Korean Buddhism Stays Relevant
South Korea has become most widely known for its rapidly growing Christian population in the recent past, but nearly a quarter of the country’s population identify as Buddhist. (A majority of the …
Religious, Spiritual and “None of the Above”: How Did Mindfulness Get So Big?
This post originally appeared on Religion Dispatches. The ever-growing popularity of mindfulness—from corporate boardrooms to inner-city schools—has finally made my academic interest a conversation-starter at dinner parties. “Ah, the Buddha was talking about cognitive …
Why Do Buddhists Give Money in Sri Lanka, But Not in the U.S.?
During visit to observe a Los Angeles-based mindfulness group a few months ago, the teacher asked me to explain to her students the significant role that dana, one of the ten pāramitā …