January of 2012 will see the release of the documentary Daughters of Dolma: The Spiritual Journey of Tibetan Buddhist Nuns in Nepal. Produced by a team of six students from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, the film seeks to portray the nuns profiled as the individuals that they are beneath their saffron robes. The film is set to tackle issues of “spirituality, modernity and gender.” Read More
In Columbia Heights, Minnesota, a young boy, Jalue Dorjee (Tenzin Gyurme Trinley Dorjee), is believed to be the reincarnation of Taksham Nueden Dorjee, a late Tibetan lama. Jalue joins a small group of Americans tulkus, or reincarnated lamas. Read More
Dates have been set and registration opened for the second annual Buddhist Geeks conference, which will explore the intersection of Buddhism, technology, and global culture. Featured speakers include Lama Surya Das, Tami Simon, Stephen Batchelor, Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel, Ken McLeod, Susan Kaiser Greenland, Daniel Ingram, Sofia Diaz, Michael Stone, Martine Batchelor, Vincent Horn, Hokai Sobol, and Rohan Gunatillake (more are to be added).
The conference will take place in Boulder, Colorado, from August 9 – 11. Click here for more information and to sign up.
Photo by Tim Dose
In his commentary from our current issue, Zen teacher Barry Magid wonders about ancient ritual and its utility in practice for us today, not least of all among householders.
Click here to read it online now.
And click here to browse the whole issue online, including a teaching by the Dalai Lama, this issue’s Forum, “Why Is American Buddhism So White?”, calligraphies and commentaries by Shodo Harada Roshi, and much more.
The New York Times reports today on the outcome of a federal criminal case brought against William Lawrence Cassidy by Alyce Zeoli, who is better known as Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo — a recognized tulku within the Palyul lineage of the Nyingma Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Spiritual Director for Kunzang Odsal Palyul Changchub Choling, and subject of Martha Sherrill’s popular book The Buddha from Brooklyn. Read More
Plum Village, the main center for the lineage of the Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh, invites monthly or one-time gifts to the Thich Nhat Hanh Continuation and Legacy Foundation, a fundraising effort that seeks to deepen the Zen teacher’s community and its “capacity to bring healing and transformation to our world.” Click through to learn about the great things the Foundation plans to accomplish. Read More 
With much ink being spilled in the international press these days about recent reforms in Burma and whether or not they signal a meaningful shift in the country, which has from 1962 until recently been openly ruled for a repressive military junta, a new story for consideration emerges from the Buddhist sangha. The Irrawaddy is reporting that Sardu Pariyatti Monastery’s Ashin Pyinna Thiha, a prominent and politically active monk who has long supported the movement for democracy in his country, and who met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her recent historic trip to Burma, has been deemed “inobedient” by State Sangha Committee. Among other things, he faces being defrocked. Get the whole story here.
We’ve been talking a lot about the late E. Gene Smith here this week; now there’s related breaking news, by way of Jeff Wallman, Executive Director of the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center (of which the legendary Smith was the founder):
“On behalf of the Board of Directors of TBRC, I am pleased to announce TBRC is moving our US office in the coming year 2012. In order to expand on our success and further develop our resources, we will relocate our research, text preservation and administrative operations to the Cambridge/Boston area, where we can take advantage of the rich opportunities in Tibetan studies and information technology at universities and research institutions there. Read More
Our private screening contest is over — congratulations, Michael Dorfman! — but there’s still a bit more Digital Dharma to share with you. That is, we’re offering two more exclusive clips from the documentary about E. Gene Smith, who died one year ago this Friday. Watch them below. We also hope you’ll consider honoring Gene’s memory and mission of preserving and digitizing irreplaceable Tibetan Buddhist texts by contributing to Digital Dharma’s Kickstarter campaign. Read More
Posted by Mangala Shri Bhuti
Crucial Point is a biannual, full-color journal that offers articles by Kongtrul Rinpoche and other teachers in the Longchen Nyingtik lineage. We are delighted to announce that the Fall/Winter 2011 edition is now available! Inside this 34-page journal, you will find several talks by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche and photographs by Dungse Jampal Norbu, as well as excerpts from other wonderful teachers:
“How to Be a Bodhisattva in Modern Times” by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche
“The Origin of the Longchen Nyingtik Lineage” by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche Read More
Jinje Daejonsa, a Korean Zen master who recently made headlines for his trip to the United States, has been appointed spiritual head (jongjeong) of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. This news comes during a time when the Jogye Order has stated its intention to globalize. The position of jongjeong has no administrative function, yet it denotes the highest level of spiritual authority. Voted in unanimously by a 26-member panel, he will begin his 5-year term on March 25, 2012.
Photo via Sweeping Zen
Kim Quang Buddhist Temple in Sacramento, CA, recently realized that an important ceremonial item — a $15,000 copper incense holder weighing 1,000 pounds — had been stolen from their location. Members believe it to be the work of copper thieves. This is not the first time thieves have paid Kim Quang Buddhist Temple a visit, as members say that parts of the incense holder had started going missing about a month ago. The incense holder, a museum-quality piece imported from Vietnam a decade ago, had been bought with sangha donations.
Click here for the video.
(Photo by Robert Couse-Baker via Flickr, using a CC-BY license.)
Anne Seisen Saunders, Roshi
In a show of unity for the National Day of Action for Human Rights in San Diego this past Saturday, members of various interfaith groups, the Occupy movement, Veterans for Peace, ACCE, LGBT groups, PSS San Diego, and APRL marched together through the Gaslamp District of downtown San Diego. Preceding the march, Congresswoman Susan Davis and Anne Seisen Saunders of Sweetwater Zen Center delivered speeches in support of the march, reiterating that we are all in this together.
Marchers chanted, “We are unstoppable, a new world is possible!”
See the video here.
(Photo via Sweetwater Zen Center)
