Sumeru News — History

Pyrrho's Way: The Ancient Greek Version of Buddhism, by Doug Bates, the founder and moderator at pyrrhonism.org, is almost ready for publication. Editing, design and pagination are complete. Here's chapter 1... Pyrrho’s Journey to the East "…[Pyrrho] even went as far as the Gymnosophists, in India, and the Magi. Owing to which circumstance, he seems to have taken a noble line in philosophy…." Diogenes Laertius, Life of Pyrrho "…whatever Greeks acquire from foreigners is finally turned by them into something nobler…." Plato (or more likely his student, Philip of Opus), Epinomis Even in antiquity Westerners looked to India for wisdom....

There is often some confusion about the relationship between Shakyamuni Buddha's first teachings, Sanskrit and Pali. Here's an article from Bhikkhu Mihita explaining the origins of Pali as the lingua franca of early Buddhism. https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/96735/1/Buddha%20as%20Progenitor%20of%20Pali_TSpace.pdf

Bhikkhu Mihita has graciously offered his small book as a free download for those interested in what actually happened on the night that Shakyamuni Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree some 2500 years ago. It is a revised version of Rebirth as Empirical Basis for The Four Noble Truths,  which Sumeru published in 2009. Here is the link to the free download.

AMERICAN SUTRA: A story of faith and freedom in the Second World War  by Duncan Ryūken Williams Harvard University Press, 2019 ISBN 9780674986534 7.4 x 10.5 in, 400 pages, illustrated   Buddhist identity in America is a chimerical thing. Many have tried to grasp its image, only to find its nature fragmented into seemingly irreconcilable facets. Many a heated argument has resulted from debates about which interpretation is correct. Without a solid understanding of the history of Buddhism in America, such debates are rather like walking through a hall of mirrors at the carnival – fun but distorted. By the same...

I've known Chris Ng for more than 30 years now. She's one of those leading figures in the history of Buddhism in Canada who prefers to work in the background to make things happen for others. As a co-founder of the Buddhist Education Foundation for Canada, she has been instrumental in funding courses and programs at the University of Toronto for more than a decade, as well as being a community organizer in many other capacities. I recently asked her if she would be kind enough to be interviewed about her work, for the benefit of posterity, and here is an...