Views of Women in Buddhism

The ways that women are viewed in Buddhism tends to be a product of the context from which they arose. Culture and religion have an impact on one another; they intertwine to influence the views that people have on the world. This is evident in the variety of views that one is able…

The Delok

One never knows when one will die. That is one of the first four practices of the Nyingma tradition in Buddhism — the first of the four…

The relations between Buddhism, Hinduism and Champa

I have just arrived in Vietnam, I took a yak-drawn cart and then walked with a few other travelling monks and merchants along the way. They have been very helpful guiding me in my direction. I stayed at one of the traveller’s huts, his name…

Losar and a New Year

What a lovely, exciting time of year. The Tibetan New Year in the village is celebrated with such thought and ritual. Perhaps it is partly the newness of it all after so many years of watching the Time Square Celebrations on a television in Canada but Losar, as it is referred to in Tibet…

Dreaming of Kālacakra

March 30, 2015

Mount Koya and Kukai

I was so happy to find a letter from you when I arrived here at Koyasan. I thought of you often while taking the train…

The path of a bodhisattva

In Mahayana Buddhism, a bodhisattva is an enlightened being who seeks enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. They are motivated to help eliminate the suffering of all sentient beings. Although bodhisattvas have already attained supreme enlightenment, they made a vow to not enter nirvana…

Blog #10 — On a Japanese Funeral

In a recent letter from abroad, I have received word of the unfortunate passing of the wife of a dear friend of mine, whom I met in my early childhood days. This fellow was brought to my village from Japan at the age of 10 to train in the Buddhist philosophy and healing…

Blog #9 — Time travel and momos

As I sit down to write this journal, in my freezing, unheated Lhasa apartment, I see groups of people thronging in the streets below, blowing horns and eating fried doughy pastries in celebration of the New Year. When I awoke this morning, the familiar smell of sang had…