Sumeru News — Engaged Buddhism

The Barre Center for Buddhist Studies is sponsoring a four-week webinar series entitled Mindfully Facing Climate Change, starting in January 2020. Bhikkhu Analayo is the lead presenter. Here is the link to read more about the event (which is funded by dana): https://www.buddhistinquiry.org/resources/bhikkhu-analayo-mfcc/ At the bottom of the page, there is a further link to download a free PDF e-book of the same name, published by the Barre Center.

This excerpt is from my recently-published book, BODHISATTVA 4.0: A Primer for Engaged Buddhists. It's one of 108 topics. This one is about guns, and it comes from the section of the book on violence. In all, the book has more than 500 online resources for deeper study and networking. https://sumeru-books.com/products/bodhisattva-4-0 GUNS “On an average day in America, seven children and teens will be shot dead.” Gary Younge, Another Day in the Death of America There is no Buddhist justification for guns. There is no way to “normalize” gun violence. There is no karmic upside to the business of making and selling guns,...

This morning I saw an article in The New York Times, How High Tech Is Transforming One of the Oldest Jobs: Farming It reminded me of a section on farming from my new book, Bodhisattva 4.0: A Primer for Engaged Buddhists, the excerpt from which I include here. Hopefully you read them and find them both valuable. FARM "The real cause of hunger is the powerlessness of the poor to gain access to the resources they need to feed themselves." Frances Moore Lappé We have enough food for everybody, but they can’t get it. They are like hungry ghosts. There is no...

Roar: Sulak Sivaraksa and the Path of Socially Engaged Buddhism By Matteo Pistono Foreword by John Ralston Saul Paperback | $15.95  Published by North Atlantic Books Mar 05, 2019 | 288 Pages | 6 x 8-1/2| ISBN 9781623173326 https://www.northatlanticbooks.com/shop/roar/ In this time overshadowed by the impending doom threatening our planetary biosphere, some spiritual leaders are turning their attention to a path forward with a new paradigm of sustainable development. In the past, social justice initiatives by the spiritually-motivated have focused on the plight of the poor and oppressed, but the scope now is suddenly much broader. In researching my latest...

Ecology, Ethics, and Interdependence The Dalai Lama in Conversation with Leading Thinkers on Climate Change Edited by John Dunne and Daniel Goleman Wisdom Publications (October 2018), 344 pages, ISBN: 9781614294948 When I first heard about this book, I was excited to have the opportunity to read and review it. The topic of engaged Buddhism and sustainable development in the face of climate change is of great importance to all of us, and I wanted to know more about what insights, advice and examples might be discovered from His Holiness and the other Buddhist teachers assembled in Dharmsala for the 23rd...