> Kings and ministers thus boasted among themselves over their exclusive fidelity to orthodox Confucian values, even as they worked to assure that the Buddhist institution was aligned with the practical needs of the kingdom.

> The nunneries and monasteries are trying to respond to these critiques and to this question of identity but, as often times with religious institutions, the changes are slower than the changes in the societies around them.

> [This article discusses...] the perceptions of Tibetan identity within and outside of the Tibetan community, the influence of sponsorship programs in India that are based on identification, the importance of marriage, political engagement, and whether it is important to be Buddhist or not. Lastly, the role of the Dalai Lama in the eyes of the research subjects is also explored.

> Common difficulties included finding time to practice formally and falling asleep during formal practice. > Content analysis revealed "practical resources," "time/routine," "support from others," and "attitudes and beliefs," which were supportive factors for maintaining mindfulness practice. > Informal mindfulness practice was related to positive wellbeing and psychological flexibility. > Frequency (but not duration) of formal mindfulness practice was associated with positive wellbeing.

> There was a significant improvement on the Digit Letter Substitution Test, the Perceived Stress Scale, and three subscales of the Emotional Competencies Scale. > Analysis of non-normal data on the Wilcoxon sign-ranked test revealed significant improvement in the Adequate Depth of Feeling subscale of Emotional Competence and all subscales of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.

> Some philosophers have pushed against such reductive approaches and argued for a framework that recognises the complexity and multidimensionality of persons.

> The harmony between the master and the disciple was as fortunate as a mustard seed falling from the sky hitting the point of a needle.

> Early texts, like the Vimalaprabhā or the Lam yig of Man luṅ pa, do not describe Śambhala as a paradise on earth. They rather stress the spiritual qualities of the country and its inhabitants. Later works, especially the smon lam, the most popular texts on Śambhala among the Tibetan and Mongolian Buddhist lay people, concentrate on the paradisiac nature of the hidden kingdom.

> Science and scientists can learn much from religion when it comes to how to deal with scientific fundamentalism.

This short film follows novice monks, many starting at a young age, at Phukthar Monastery in Zanskar through their rigorous schedule of work, study, and meditation.

> Contrary to popular assumption, the thought world of the Pali discourses is well populated with gods and spirits, demons and ghosts, as picturesque as the imagination of a reader of Tolkien's novels could wish for.

> Contrary to popular assumption, the thought world of the Pali discourses is well populated with gods and spirits, demons and ghosts, as picturesque as the imagination of a reader of Tolkien's novels could wish for.

> Students who are well-trained in Mindfulness cope with dukkha in a very different fashion from the rest of us whose minds are still at the “drunken monkey” stage.

> Tantra is an important part of the path to liberation in the Geluk tradition. It is a path to liberation that is held to involve distinct, esoteric methods, but without diverging from the philosophical view of emptiness, which is indispensable.

> Jane Goodall started asking people to consider whether we are alone on _this_ planet.

> Another interesting source of 'slavery' in Buddhist temples in historic Sri Lanka was donating oneself voluntarily as a slave to gain merit attached to the deed...

> These commentaries, known as *sūtra sannayas*, and/or as *sūtra vistara sannayas*, were composed in large numbers beginning in the middle of the eighteenth century. In what follows, I present the historical context for this change in Buddhist textual practices...

> This paper is critical of any Buddhist environmentalism that fails to give due attention to both dimensions, and it emphasizes that both the relational and developmental dimensions must be held in balance in order for a genuine Buddhist environmentalism to be possible.

> Scholars of Chinese Buddhism have given much attention to vilified foodstuffs such as meat and pungent vegetables and less attention to celebrated foods. > While proscriptions are important for their role in constructing boundaries used in group identification, we should not overlook the celebration of particular foods such as congee (zhōu 粥).

> Socioecological models for agriculture provide an opportunity to explore feedbacks, trade-offs, and synergies that can optimize and strengthen emerging connections between farming and society. > With the right incentives, innovative research, and political will, a sustainable agriculture is within our reach.

> The position of the family-priest is legitimated by the application of a fundamental [Tantric] Buddhist idea: the hierarchy of Disciples' Way (śrāvakayāna), Great Way (mahāyāna) and Diamond Way (vajrayāna). > Thus the family-priesthood in Newar Buddhism, exercised by the Vajrācāryas alone, is justified in terms of the images of bodhisattva (altruistic saint) and siddha (accomplished one), the ideals of Great Way and Diamond Way respectively. > Vajrācāryas are monks, householders and priests all at once and the contradiction this seems to entail in modern eyes is avoided traditionally by viewing this sequence as a hierarchy.

> Taking the verses in the Dasanipata of the Theragatha as examples, this article focuses on the stylistic interplay of rhythmic uniformity and change in the expression of core messages in a Pali poem. It aims to unveil the poets’ strategies in the use of various types of metres and prosodic elements to create the narrative style of each poem and draw the audiences’ attention to the Buddha’s key teachings in the verses.

> You live in the mountains a few years and then you go into town, you sit on the bus... you look at all those people and you feel, 'Who are you struggling for?'

> ... because I have discerned the teachings by perceiving my own mind, I feel respect for the tradition that bases itself on mind [i.e., Chan]. Moreover, because I have understood the cultivation of mind by discerning the teachings, I have reverent regard for the meaning of the teachings.

> So when in deep, rapturous meditation, we enter the state of flow, when we are one with the present moment, this is the 'immortal nectar.' This is why the Tibetan texts speak of *amrita* as the elixir of timeless awareness. It's not an external liquid. It's a byproduct of steeping in the awareness of the present moment which, when all the hormonal centers of the brain kick in, feels like being soaked in honey, basking in the nectar of the eternal 'now.'