by Vishvapani | Mar 4, 2013 | Buddhism, Thought for the Day
Imagine you are Bradley Manning in 2009: a low-ranking US intelligence officer stationed in Iraq with access to vast amounts of diplomatic and military data. You discover much that you consider unethical. So do you keep quiet, or do you leak the information, risking...
by Vishvapani | Feb 21, 2013 | Buddhism, Ethics
Buddhism has traditionally opposed abortion, while tolerating its practice. Exploring this difficult territory means looking at ethics from a Buddhist perspective and considering how we balance compassion for the unborn child and for the mother In the grounds of the...
by Vishvapani | Jan 23, 2013 | Buddhist World, Reviews
Two rival candidates currently claim the position of Karmapa, leader of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. The controversy has split the school and prompted a flurry of books describing the conflict. But what is really going on in this dispute, and why have...
by Vishvapani | Jan 18, 2013 | Buddhism in the West, Mindfulness
On 4th December, 2012, 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 Chris Ruane starts his speech by citing indicators of a dramatic rise in...
by Vishvapani | Jan 1, 2013 | Buddhism, Buddhism in the West, Featured, Practice
Some years ago I attended a Bearing Witness Retreat at Auschwitz concentration camp. It as a sobering, but deeply stirring experience. >When I announced I was going to do a retreat at Auschwitz, I met many responses. Some people were shocked, as if uttering...
by Vishvapani | Oct 19, 2012 | Buddhism in the West, Practice
What can the secular mindfulness movement learn from Buddhism? As well as Mining Buddhism for more teachings and practices, Buddhism offers an expanded view of mindfulness which places it in a coherent vision of human life, while many Buddhists themselves can offer...
