Nepal's Struggles Continue

Constituent Assembly dissolved: May 27, 2012.  New elections set for November.  Why did Bhattarai dissolve the Assembly?  There may be a bigger game afoot as the Maoists split.

Read more here.

Sulak Sivaraksha on 'Engaged Buddhism"

"In America and Europe, everyone is very active. But if you become too active, you lose the essence of Buddhism. You only have the Buddhist labels. One must cultivate peace to be compassionate. Without this, what you do, even as an 'engaged Buddhist' is just a lot of activity with no good purpose."

- Sulak Sivaraksa, “In Exile from Siam”

Essential Buddhism

Chhoje Rinpoche

Dialogue and Diplomacy

Why Dialogue is an essential part of listening to interest groups' positions.  Coming to the table to have our own perspective heard but remaining genuinely open to the perspectives of the "other" is the most important part of dialogue - a deeper understanding from which we can make clearer decisions about moving forward in personal conflicts and international conflicts.
See what Jonas Gahr Store has to say:
TED talk on the importance of Dialogue in diplomacy

Felix's article on Dr. Ariyaratne and Sarvodaya movement in Sri Lanka
published in Buddhadharma

Buddhism For Development

"Spiritual and economic development should not be separated into two separate realms. In Buddhism, one is not more important than the other. We have a saying, "Nāma-rupa" which means that mind and matter have to go together. Mind affects matter and matter affects the mind. It is the teaching of the Buddha that economic development and spiritual development need to be done alongside each other."  - Heng Monychenda, founder of Buddhism for Development (BFD)


Buddhism for Development, founded in 1990, has been working to create opportunities for monks to engage in social work activities.  Huffington Post published an article by Katherine Marshall (Georgetown) describing the motivation and impact of the organization over the past 20 years.  Here's the full article from the Berkeley Center at Georgetown. 


Thanks, CL, for sending this article!

RSA Animate - The Empathic Civilisation

Assumptions we've created based on our educational, economic, and political institutions may be wrong.  Our identities or where we feel we "belong" has shifted over the course of human civilization based on arbitrary outward situations.  i.e. the "fiction" called the nationstate, religious affiliation, blood ties.

Empathy is the opposite of utopia - there is no mortality or suffering in utopia.  Empathy is based on frailty and imperfections: the ability to show solidarity with other humans, other creatures, and our biosphere.

"Mirror Neurons" are proving empathetic capacity - humans are softwired for belonging, attachment, sociability rather than aggression and selfishness.

Is it possible to extend our empathy to the entire human race?  the other creatures we share this biosphere with?  and the biosphere itself?

To Empathize is to Civilize.