Buddhism

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Zen Master Preached Compassion, a 'Return to the Breath'

Revered Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh has died at the age of 95

(Newser) - Thich Nhat Hanh, the revered Zen Buddhist monk who helped spread the practice of mindfulness in the West and socially engaged Buddhism in the East, has died. He was 95. The death was confirmed by a monk at Tu Hieu Pagoda in Hue, Vietnam, who said that Nhat Hanh, known...

Alabama Ends 28-Year Ban on Yoga in Schools

But there are some catches

(Newser) - For almost three decades, Alabama has banned yoga in public schools. But that ban will end with the start of the new school year. Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday signed a bill to allow the practice in schools for the first time since 1993, though restrictions will remain in place....

Dalai Lama to Drop First Album
Dalai Lama to
Drop First Album

Dalai Lama to Drop First Album

'Inner World' pairs his teachings with music

(Newser) - Stressed out while working at a bank in New Zealand, Junelle Kunin began searching for music paired with teachings from the Dalai Lama to calm herself down and allow herself to focus. But she couldn't find it online, per the AP . That's when the musician and practicing Buddhist...

Buddhist Poker Player Makes Enlightened Move

He's giving $671K in winnings to charity

(Newser) - Buddha wasn't talking about high-stakes poker when he said "Develop the mind of equilibrium," but it's advice that seems to be working out pretty well for Scott Wellenbach. The 67-year-old Canadian, who converted to Buddhism as a young man, won $671,240 at a poker tournament...

'Spiritual Heart of Tibetan Buddhism' Catches Fire

Serious damaged feared at 1,300-year-old Jokhang monastery

(Newser) - A 1,300-year-old monastery "considered the spiritual heart of Tibetan Buddhism" caught fire Saturday and may have suffered serious damage, the AP reports. Images on social media showed flames visible from hundreds of yards away covering a roof of the Jokhang monastery in Lhasa. According to Reuters , no casualties...

Burma Jails Tourist for Unplugging Speaker

It just happened to be blasting a Buddhist sermon

(Newser) - A Burma court sentenced a Dutch citizen to three months in prison Thursday for interfering with a religious observance in a most unusual way: He unplugged an amplifier blasting a late-night Buddhist sermon near his hotel in Mandalay. Klaas Haytema, 30, in handcuffs, wept with his girlfriend before he left...

Shandling Will Be Made Buddhist Monk Posthumously

Sources give TMZ details of comedian's funeral

(Newser) - Garry Shandling didn't speak much about it publicly, but he was Buddhist, and he had planned what TMZ calls an "elaborate" Buddhist funeral before his death. Sources tell the gossip site Shandling's head will be shaved by a monk, a symbolic gesture that ordains Shandling as a...

Monk Embezzled $200K From Temple to Fuel Gambling Habit

Khang Nguyen Le pleaded guilty

(Newser) - A Buddhist monk accused of embezzling more than $200,000 from his Louisiana temple to feed a casino gambling habit has pleaded guilty to fraud, the AP reports. The Advocate reports that 38-year-old Khang Nguyen Le will be sentenced June 27 after his guilty plea Thursday to one count of...

One Key to Civilization's Rise? Fear of an Angry God
One Key to Civilization's Rise? Fear of an Angry God
study says

One Key to Civilization's Rise? Fear of an Angry God

It's why strangers work together, say researchers

(Newser) - The belief in all-seeing and punitive gods may be a huge factor in how modern civilization came to be. So report researchers in the journal Nature after studying nearly 600 individuals from eight communities, including plant cultivators on the South Pacific island of Tanna, wage laborers on Fiji and in...

Tibet to China: Give Us Back the Boy Monk You Stole

2nd-highest Buddhist spiritual leader disappeared 20 years ago at age 6

(Newser) - Twenty years ago this week, a 6-year-old Tibetan boy was cornered by Chinese authorities, then apparently fell off the face of the Earth. He wasn't just any grade-schooler, though: Gedhun Choekyi Nyima had just been declared the 11th Panchen Lama (second only to the Dalai Lama in the Buddhist...

China Slams Dalai Lama's Views on Reincarnation

Official disputes spiritual leader's suggestion he might not be reincarnated

(Newser) - The Dalai Lama has said he could be the last of his kind , and China's governor of Tibet doesn't take kindly to the suggestion, Reuters reports. "I think that, in fact, he is profaning religion and Tibetan Buddhism," Padma Choling says. According to Tibetan Buddhism, the...

Man's Body Found in Ancient Buddha Statue

Dutch experts say it's the Buddhist master Liuquan

(Newser) - Look inside a 1,000-year-old Chinese Buddha statue, and what do you find? Why, a mummified body, of course. At least that's what Dutch researchers saw when performing a CT scan on a statue shown last year in the Netherlands at Drents Museum, Discover reports. The body is believed...

Buddhists: Mummified Monk Is Just in Trance

Lama found in lotus position may not be dead, experts suggest

(Newser) - The 200-year-old Buddhist monk found still seated in the lotus position is not dead, but is rather in a rare spiritual state known as tukdam, Buddhism experts suggest. Dr. Barry Kerzin, a famous fellow monk who is also a physician to the Dalai Lama, tells the Siberian Times that monks...

Remains of Man in Lotus Position Discovered
Remains of Man in Lotus Position Discovered
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Remains of Man in Lotus Position Discovered

His mummified body is exceedingly well-preserved

(Newser) - Mummified remains were found in Mongolia this week, and there's something remarkable about them. "The mummified body sits in a lotus position, as if still meditating," says a report in Mongolia's Morning News cited by the Siberian Times , which reports that the age of the remains...

Dalai Lama to Buddhists: Stop Killing Muslims

He calls for end to violence in Burma, Sri Lanka

(Newser) - If monks going on the rampage against Muslims doesn't sound very Buddhist to you, then the Dalai Lama is in agreement. At a celebration high in the Himalayas to mark his 79th birthday, the religious leader spoke out against attacks on the Muslim minorities in Burma and Sri Lanka,...

Tourist's Buddha Tattoo Gets Her Arrested

Sri Lanka will deport her over 'disrespectful' tattoo

(Newser) - A British woman learned the hard way that it's not a good idea to visit Sri Lanka if you have a visible Buddha tattoo. Tourist Naomi Michelle Coleman, 37, was arrested after arriving from India at Sri Lanka's main international airport yesterday; she was taken before a judge,...

Accused Navy Yard Gunman Was a Buddhist

Dad also told police he was traumatized from 9/11

(Newser) - New details have emerged about accused Washington Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis . Perhaps most unexpected: Alexis was a practicing Buddhist, who visited a Fort Worth Thai Buddhist temple to meditate twice a week. "From the outside, he was a quiet person," says one of the monk's assistants,...

Bombs Strike Top Buddhist Holy Site in India

2 injured in series of blasts

(Newser) - Two people were injured as a number of small bombs hit a major Buddhist temple yesterday in eastern India. The Mahabodhi temple complex, home to a tree where Buddha is said to have reached enlightenment, was struck by at least four blasts, but the temple wasn't damaged, CNN reports—...

US Marines Meditate, Practice 'Mindfulness'

New study could overcome stress and suicide rates

(Newser) - The US Marine Corps, known for turning out some of the military's toughest warriors, is studying how to make its troops even tougher through meditative practices, yoga-type stretching, and exercises based on mindfulness. Marine Corps officials say they will build a curriculum that would integrate mindfulness-based techniques into their...

Scientists: The World's Happiest Man Is ...
 Scientists: 
 The World's 
 Happiest 
 Man Is ... 
in case you missed it

Scientists: The World's Happiest Man Is ...

... Matthieu Ricard, a confidant of the Dalai Lama

(Newser) - French neuroscientists have wired up a confidant of the Dalai Lama and declared him the world's happiest man—or at least the happiest one they know about, the Daily News reports. The brain scans of Matthieu Ricard, a renowned Buddhist thinker, show that his gray matter emits a quantity...

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