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. 

Tibetan Freedom, Nepali Foreign Policy, and Wikileaks

"When caretaker Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said in October that he wouldn't let foreign powers interfere in internal matters, Nepal's Telegraph newspaper called it the 'best joke of the month.'" - LA Times


LA Times article addresses the new Nepali Prime Minister's foreign policy approach with India and China in light of the Wikileaks documents released in December 2010.  The audio files have evidence that Nepali border police are sending Tibetans back to China, paid off by the Chinese government.  The claims that these audio records are true have been denied by both sides. 


Prithvi Narayan Shah, Nepal's Gorkha unifier (conquerer?) coined the phrase, "Yam between two boulders."  This phrase continues to be tossed around today to describe the delicate relationship between these three countries.  The Tibet issue is a bargaining chip China can freely use when negotiating with Nepal government - especially the factions that value strong ties with China.