Reading for August 4

This week we’ll explore the second rung of the Eightfold Path, Right
Intention.
Right Intention
While right view refers to the cognitive aspect of wisdom, right intention refers to the volitional aspect, i.e. the kind of mental energy that controls our actions. Right intention can be described best as commitment to ethical and mental self-improvement. Buddha distinguishes three [...]

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Reading for July 28

We had an excellent discussion Monday night inspired by “Two Monks and a Woman” and had a chance to examine “right action” in relation to this parable. Starting Monday night, we will begin a discussion series on the entire Eightfold Path. Rather than simply a philosophical study, we will have a chance to examine how [...]

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In Buddhist news

The Tennessean’s article on our Open House.

clipped from tennessean.com

Four big Buddhist groups share stage at open house

The four major Nashville Buddhist groups are at one with each other. Well, at least under one roof.
The 12 South Dharma Center will host an open house today from 1 to 4 p.m. showcasing each of the four groups [...]

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Open House this Saturday

Don’t forget, everyone’s invited to an Open House this Saturday, to celebrate the new 12 South Dharma Center. It will be a great opportunity to meet people from other groups, see the new space, and to welcome the local community.
When: Saturday, July 26, 1 – 4 p.m.
Where: 12 South Dharma Center, 2301 12th Avenue South, entrance [...]

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Reading for July 21

This week’s short reading carries within it a number of dharma points. Which one speaks to you?
Two traveling Zen monks reached a river where they met a beautiful young woman. Wary of the current, she asked if they could carry her across. One of the monks hesitated, but the other quickly picked her up onto [...]

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Reading for July 14

Here’s another look at emptiness, especially as it applies to dharma practice. — Lisa
Emptiness
by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Emptiness is a mode of perception, a way of looking at experience. It adds nothing to and takes nothing away from the raw data of physical and mental events. You look at events in the mind and the senses with [...]

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Engaged Buddhism

clipped from www.atimes.com

Asia’s angry monk syndrome

By Megawati Wijaya

SINGAPORE – From Sri Lanka to South Korea, from Tibet to Myanmar, Asia’s
Buddhist clergy are in unprecedented numbers exerting their moral authority
onto politics, abandoning their detachment from worldly events and giving rise
to what at least one academic has referred to as a region-wide “angry monk
syndrome”.

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Buddhist people

Robert Thurman answers questions from the NYTimes. Succinctly.

clipped from www.nytimes.com

Questions for Robert Thurman

Seeing the Light

In a recent article Slavoj Zizek argued that the Tibetans are not necessarily
a spiritual people — that we’ve created that myth out of a need to
imagine an alternative to our crazy Western consumerism. Zizek is simply
misinformed. It’s leftist propaganda [...]

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Spiritual materialism?

clipped from www.newsweek.com

Beliefwatch: WWBD?

In the past year, Buddhism-themed restaurants and bars have proliferated; there are now at least 20 in about 13 cities. This spring, four bastions of serene extravagance–Buddakan, Buddha Bar, Megu Midtown and Moksha–opened in New York alone.

But even some Buddhists have gotten into the act. Lama Surya Das, American [...]

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