Our friends at Dharma Ocean are looking for an executive director and a program manager. Click on the job titles for more information about each position, and click here for more information about Dharma Ocean and its programs.
A young Nanao Sakaki oversaw the proceedings by way of this blown-up photo; Gary Snyder addresses the gathering. Photos and below text by Steve Silberman.
Friday night, in celebration of his new book of collected poems, How to Live on Planet Earth, the San Francisco Poetry Center and Green Arcade Books hosted a tribute to Nanao Sakaki in a mattress factory. The event featured Gary Snyder, Michael McClure, Joanne Kyger, Patricia Wakida, Gary Lawless, Dale Pendell, Malcolm Margolin, and other poets and friends. It was a marvelous evening. Read More
The Interdependence Project is leading a 30-day compassion meditation marathon in August. They’re encouraging people to commit to practicing lovingkindness meditation every day that month, along with the entire IDP community. Read more about it here.
The IDP is also offering a Monday night course in August on cultivating compassion and the other three immeasurables; click here for more information.
Ajahn Jamnian (also known as Ajahn Jumnnien) is traveling from Thailand, along with a small number of other monastics to the United States in early June 2013. Ajahn Jamnian will be giving Dhamma talks and retreats in the Los Angeles area in mid-June and in the Pacific Northwest in late June.
Ajahn Jamnian has practiced as a Theravada monk for over 55 years and is known throughout Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Taiwan, for his Vipassana (Insight Meditation Practice) and his loving kindness. He is featured in the book “Sons of the Buddha: The Lives of Three Extraordinary Thai Buddhist Masters” by Kamala Tiyanvanich. Read More
The Welsh National Opera is set to perform Wagner Dream, an opera composed by the late Jonathan Harvey, partly in the ancient Indian language Pali.
Wagner Dream explores Richard Wagner’s interest in Buddhism, showing Wagner on his deathbed lamenting his unfinished Buddhist opera, and having a dream in which he’s visited by the Buddha and other Buddhist figures. Harvey, who died last year, wrote the opera in English, but this new production has Wagner and his contemporaries speaking in German, while the Buddhist characters in his dream speak Pali. 
Read More
Spirit Rock Meditation Center is raising funds for its scholarship program. Over 1,000 people are expected to apply for scholarships to attend programs at Spirit Rock this year — people who would not be able to attend these programs without the scholarships. Last year, donors gave $104,000 to the scholarship fund, but demand exceeded $300,000. Read More
We recently shared with you news about modern Tibetan thangka master Tashi Dhargyal, now working on a massive thanbochi – the first of its kind made outside of Tibet – in his new studio in California. Now, in this beautiful new video featuring his work and the school from which he learned his craft, you’ll learn more about thangkas — including how they’re made, and the unique way in which they convey Buddhist teachings.
The Tibet Post reports that Chinese authorities have started demolishing historical buildings in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, including Jokhang Temple, considered to be the holiest Buddhist site in the city. A large new shopping mall, which includes underground parking, is being built in the old section of Lhasa. Jokhang Temple is an extension of the Potala Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Read More
Colleen Hanabusa, a member of the House of Representatives from Hawaii, announced last week that she plans to run in the state’s Democratic Senate primary next year.
She’ll be running against Brian Schatz, who was appointed to the Senate post by Governor Neil Abercrombie after longtime Senator Daniel K. Inouye died in December. Schatz’s appointment came as a surprise to many, because Inouye wrote to Abercrombie just before he died to tell him he wished for Hanabusa to replace him. Read more at the Washington Post.
Hanabusa is a practicing Buddhist; a campaign flyer from her 2010 congressional run said she “integrates her Buddhist values into American political leadership.” Read More
His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s talks and discussions from the Dalai Lama Environmental Summit at Maitripa College and the University of Oregon will be broadcast live on YouTube on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Click through for the full schedule with video links. Read More
Speaking to an audience of 15,000 at the University of Maryland on Tuesday, the Dalai Lama spoke out against religiously motivated attacks against Muslims in Burma and Sri Lanka. Over the past year, violent clashes between Buddhists and Muslims have killed hundreds and displaced over 100,000 people, with some Buddhist monks inciting and participating in the attacks. In Sri Lanka, Buddhists have recently attacked Muslim-owned businesses.
Killing in the name of religion, His Holiness said, is “really very sad, unthinkable.” He said he sometimes counsels Buddhists to think of the face of the Buddha when they feel any negative emotions toward Muslims. Read the full story in the Washington Post.
His Holiness is continuing his US tour throughout May, with stops scheduled in Oregon, Wisconsin, Louisiana, and Kentucky. Click here for his full tour schedule.
Tickets are on sale for Buddhafest, a four-day festival of films, talks, meditation, and music just outside Washington, DC. Inspired by the Buddhist practices of mindfulness, compassion, and meditation, this year’s Buddhafest runs from June 20 to 23 at the Artisphere in Rosslyn, Virginia. Speakers include Robert Thurman, Sharon Salzberg, Ven. Pannavati Bhikkhuni, Khen Rinpoche Lobzang Tsetan, and many more. The film lineup features One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das, An Uncommon King, Digital Dharma and more — click here for a full list of speakers and films. Read More
Naropa University has announced a new scholarship fund in honor of the university’s founder, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Three scholarships will be available each year, for prospective students who show “exceptional academic promise.” $100,000 will fully endow the scholarship, but the university hopes to raise at least $1 million as a tribute to its founder, and to help students for years to come. Read More
