Buddhism in the West
What happens when Buddhism meets the modern world?
After 1968: Inner or Outer Revolution?
1968 saw riots in Paris and the start of western Buddhist movements. But who was right: the political or the spiritual revolutionaries? Thought for the Day 01/05/18 For anyone like me who didn't live through it, the images of workers and...
Learning the Harsh Way at the Croydon Buddhist Centre
This is a personal reflection on my involvement with a Buddhist Centre that went wrong in the 1980s: a cautionary tale about the complexities of ‘spiritual communities’ and how good intentions produce harmful results
Engaging Politically as a Buddhist
The UK is experiencing political turmoil in the wake of the EU referendum and, judging by my Facebook feed, many British Buddhists are following events closely. Here are some reflections on how we can do so most effectively. Engaging as Buddhists When Buddhists engage...
Greek Buddha
What if the Greek philosopher who travelled to India with Alexander the Great had become a monastic practitioner and taught Buddhism to the Greeks, thus offering dramatic new evidence of the true character of Early Buddhism. Do the claims of ‘Greek Buddha’ stack up?
The Buddha on Wall Street
What does Buddhism have to say about our society and how can it become a force for changing it? Book review of The Buddha on Wall Street: What’s Wrong with Capitalism and What We Can Do about It by Vaddhaka Linn
The Mindfulness Initiative & the Mindfulness All Party Parliamentary Group
The Mindfulness Initiative & the Mindfulness All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG). How mindfulness can benefit British society, and how public policy can support its development
Discipleship and its Discontents
In recent years Sangharakshita, the teacher and founder of the Triratna Buddhist Order has restated the importance of discipleship. But what does it means to be a disciple – in general and in relation to Sangharakshita in particular? How can we acknowledge squarely the difficulties this relationship can contain?
Discussing Mindfulness in Parliament
The Wellbeing Economics All Party Parliamentary Group in the UK’s Westminster parliament had a meeting discussing mindfulness on 9th April 2014. Here’s a report
Mindfulness in Westminster on PM (BBC Radio 4 News)
Here is a clip of a news programme on PM, the BBC Radio 4 afternoon news programme describing the mindfulness courses that have been running in Westminster for MPs and Lords. ...
UK Parliament Debates Mindfulness
Chris Ruane, the MP for the Vale of Clwyd in North Wales initiated a debate in the UK House of Commons on mindfulness, especially focusing on how it can help the unemployed.
Pilgrimage to Auschwitz
Some years ago I attended a Bearing Witness Retreat at Auschwitz concentration camp. It as a sobering, but deeply stirring experience.
Secular Mindfulness & Buddhism (2) A Wider View of Mindfulness
Buddhism offers an expanded view of mindfulness which places it in a coherent vision of human life, while many Buddhists themselves can offer the example of lived based around committed practice
Secular Mindfulness & Buddhism (1) Mining Buddhism
Buddhist mindfulness practices are being used in settings from healthcare to corporate stress management and military training. This is the secular Mindfulness Movement. But can what else can mainstream society learn from Buddhism, and what does a Buddhist context add to the view of mindfulness itself?
Street Zen: The Life and Work of Issan Dorsey
in his life before Buddhism, Issan Dorsey was a ‘bad drag queen’. But at the San Francisco Zen Centre he was a bodhisattva for a gay community blighted by AIDS. This biography vividly evokes the extraordinary life of this ordinary Buddhist
The New Buddhism: an Interview with David Brazier
David Brazier discovered Buddhism in the 1960’s and followed it as a personal spiritual quest and an outlet for his social idealism. The New Buddhism challenges the views of many western Buddhists, proposing a focus on the earliest Buddhist teachings and social activism
The Big Bang, the Buddha and the Baby Boom
The hippy discovery of Buddhism (along with a cacophony of Eastern teachers and new ideas) is an important part of western Buddhist history. Wes Nisker’s memoir evokes the era and comically reflects on his generation’s trajectory with satire, irony and sincerity
Tibetan and Zen Buddhism in Britain
This book gives a rare insight into two leading western Buddhist movements: the Tibetan-derived New Kadampa Tradition and the Zen Buddhist Order of Buddhist Contemplatives
When a Buddhist Becomes a Catholic – Reflections on Paul Williams’ Conversion
Paul Williams, a prominent Buddhist scholar and author of Mahayana Buddhism shocked the Buddhist world by converting from Buddhism to Catholicism. That made me ask how deep an adopted faith reaches into the psyche
Thich Nhat Hanh in Stormont
Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh recently visited Northern Ireland and addressed members of the Northern Ireland Assembly where former enemies work together in the Power-Sharing Executive. They listened respectfully to ideas that were influential in the province’s Peace Process.
Street Wise: Bernie Glassman in Yonkers
In the 1990s the American Zen teacher Bernie Glassman ditched traditional forms of practice and plunged into the poor, black community that surrounded his Center in Yonkers, New York. In 1997 I travelled there to witness this remarkable experiment in Buddhist social action and ask Bernie Glassman: is it working? and is it Buddhist?
Responding to Suffering: Learning from Mindfulness Based Approaches Pt 2
Mindfulness based approaches use Buddhist methods to address psychological difficulties. But they adapt them to the needs modern society by emphasising acceptance or moving towards the difficult; being nonjudgmental; and being kind to yourself
Learning From Mindfulness Based Approaches: the State We’re In
Buddhists are often wary of secular mindfulness training. But Buddhists can also learn from Mindfulness Based Approaches which are a meeting ground between meditation and modern psychology. (1 of two posts)
Buddhism & the Mindfulness Movement: Friends or Foes?
We’re in the middle of the Mindfulness Boom as Buddhist-derived meditation practices enter the cultural mainstream. But is this the Dharma touching and transforming western society, or is Buddhism being turned into a self-help technique and a consumer product?
How western Buddhism has changed in 50 years
It’s 50 years since Buddhist teachers started arriving in the west in the early 60s and Buddhism crash-landed into the counterculture. So what have we learned about western Buddhism? An article for The Guardian
The Shugden Dispute
The controversy surrounding the deity, Dorje Shugden became an open dispute in 1996. Here are my reflections then and now.
NKT, Succession and ‘The Rules’
As the controversial, fast-growing Buddhist movement, The New Kadampa Tradition prepares for life after its ageing founder it has produced a new constitution. It raises issues of control and diversity that concern Buddhists of all hues.
Hungary’s Gypsy Buddhists & Religious Discrimination
Hungary’s Gypsy Buddhists are under attack, along with other minority religious groups, from the country’s far-right Catholic-supporting government
The Future of Buddhism in the West
Forces at work in Buddhism today offer hints of the future for Buddhism in western countries and its influence on society
Guru Trouble
Wise men, eccentrics, geniuses and charlatans. Gurus have featured large as Buddhism has come the West. What should we make of them? Reviews of Madame Blavatsky’s Baboon: Theosophy and the Emergence of the Western Guru by Peter Washington; Riding the Tiger by Lama Ole Nydahl; Zen In America by Helen Tworkov
Research on Mindfulness & Meditation: Latest Findings
Around the world scientists are avidly researching the effects of mindfulness and meditation practice. The results are coming in and the are showing that they help you sleep better, avoid depression, make more rational decisions … and they change the shape of your brain. Here’s a roundup of important studies.
Buddhism in Pop Culture
Buddhism is in the ads, the movies and on TV. What’s happening and should we celebrate or despair? Surveying Buddhism in popular culture from Twin Peaks to the Golden Child, not forgetting the time the Dalai Lama edited Paris Vogue