by Vishvapani | Sep 30, 2011 | Buddha, Buddhism, Reviews
What, if anything, do we ‘know’ about the Buddha? In addition to its importance for Buddhist studies, this question is — or at least should be — of fundamental interest to those who consider themselves the Buddha’s followers. But scholars have grown increasingly...
by Vishvapani | Sep 19, 2011 | Buddhism in the West, Mindfulness, Practice
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...
by Vishvapani | Sep 2, 2011 | Buddha, Buddhism, Reviews
Like many literary youths just out of college, Pankaj Mishra dreamt in his early 20s of being a writer. He holed up in the Kashmiri Himalayas of his native India to read and reflect, and he found his imagination caught by the maroon-robed Ladhaki monks. Dreaming of...
by Vishvapani | Aug 27, 2011 | Buddhism, Buddhist World
The Cambodian Buddhist leader and peace activist Maha Ghosananda led the restoration of Buddhism in his homeland following the killing by the Khmer Rouge between 1976 and 1979 of all but 3,000 of the country’s 60,000 Buddhist monks. Despite losing his entire...
by Vishvapani | Aug 23, 2011 | Audio & Video, Buddhism, Gautama Buddha, Talks
The Buddha of history is not the same as the archetypal Buddha, but we can come close to him through the words he left behind and though imagination. This was a keynote talk at the 2011 Triratna Buddhist Order Convention and reveals the Buddha to be a man of humour...
by Vishvapani | Jul 31, 2011 | Buddhism, Ethics, Mindfulness, Practice
Decisions shape our lives, but psychologists say we are remarkably bad at making them. That’s true of strategic decisions, tactical decisions and decisions made in the heat of the moment. Typically, we are poor at assessing risk, understanding probabilities and...
