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The best Buddhist blog in the world, except for all the others.
Happy Father’s Day!
We would like to wish all fathers a Happy Father's Day! Buddha taught us to cherish and honor our parents. Possibly the most important thing the Buddha said about our parents is in AN 2.33. He said even if we were to carry them on our shoulders for 100 years, we...
Coming up: Having Sects in Buddhism
Friends, Imagine a religion with a strict power hierarchy where orthodoxy is tightly regulated from the top. Now let's do a thought experiment, and imagine a religion that takes an almost exact opposite approach towards orthodoxy. What would it look like...
Coming up: How Early Buddhism was Preserved
Friends, The Buddha passed without appointing a successor. Instead, he told the monks, “After my passing, the Dharma and the discipline (Dhamma-vinaya) I taught you shall be your teacher.” It took three remarkable individuals to preserve Dhamma-vinaya for all of us...
This week in Buddhism: Vesak Day
Vesak Day is widely celebrated by Buddhists all over the world on the full moon day of the fourth Lunar month. It is considered to be the most important Buddhist celebration in the year. Buddhists commemorate the birth, enlightenment (nibbāna/nirvana) and final...
Vesak Day Celebrations & Teachings
Happy Vesak Day! Vesak Day is celebrated on the full moon day of the 4th lunar month, or on 22 May 2024. Vesak Day commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and final passing of the Buddha. This is a day of celebration of the joy of being alive, to remember and offer our...
Coming up: The unexpectedly intimate relationship between Buddhism and science
Friends, Having learned the non-theistic nature of Buddhism (see Topic #13), it should not surprise you to also learn that Buddhism has an uncanny degree of comfort with science. The Dalai Lama calls Buddhism “The Science of Mind”, and goes so far as to call...
Happy Mother’s Day!
Mother's Day is celebrated on the 12th of May 2024! We would like to wish all mother's a Happy Mother's Day! Buddha taught us to cherish and honor our parents. Possibly the most important thing the Buddha said about our parents is in AN 2.33. He said even if we...
This week in Buddhism: Wen Shu Bodhisattva (Manjushri) Birthday
Coming up on 11th May 2024 (4th day of the 4th Lunar Month) is Manjushri Bodhisattva’s Birthday. Let us use this day, to cultivate a Bodhi mind and connect to Manjushri Bodhisattva's compassion and wisdom in ourselves. "Manjushri (Chinese: Wen shu shi li, 文殊師利;...
Coming up: Gods just want to have fun
Friends, Having read Topics #1 to #12, we hope that you have now gained an excellent understanding of core Buddhism and the direct path to nirvana. And that you also see how Buddhism is joyful, secular, scientific, inclusive, and liberating. We hope that even those of...
Good news: Buddhism For All is now available in Kinokuniya Singapore & Buddhist Fellowship West Singapore
Friends, We are pleased to announce that the Buddhism For All is now available in Kinokuniya Singapore (purchase link), and it has already made their bestsellers list. And yes, they ship worldwide! You can also buy them in person at the Buddhist Fellowship West...
Coming Up: How to train a padawan
Friends, By now, you have learned all the Buddha’s core teachings (from Topic #1 to Topic #10). More importantly, you have learned how to put those teachings into practice (specifically, from Topic #6 to Topic #9). And perhaps even more important than...
Introducing Tom – His Journey to Buddhism
Tom is a dear friend of mine, and here's his story of learning Dharma and entering the gates of Buddhism. Read more about his recommendations of Buddhist communities in our Community Page. But first, here's his story. Tom's story I come from a Belgian family and grew...
This week in Buddhism: Pu Xian Bodhisattva (Samantabhadra) Birthday
Coming up on 30th March 2024 (21st day of the 2nd Lunar Month) is Pu Xian Bodhisattva (Samantabadra) Birthday. Let us use this day, to cultivate a Bodhi mind and connect with our aspirations, just like Samantabadra. Samantabhadra Bodhisattva is a bodhisattva in...
This week in Buddhism: Guan Yin Bodhisattva (Avalokiteśvara) Birthday
Coming up on 28th March 2024 (19th day of the 2nd Lunar Month) is Guan Yin Bodhisattva Birthday. Let us use this day, to cultivate a Bodhi mind and connect to Guanyin's compassion and wisdom in ourselves. "In Buddhist classics, Avalokiteśvara, or Guanyin Bodhisattva,...
Coming Up: Where’s My Nirvana Dammit?
Friends, You have now learned all the Buddha’s core teachings, including all Four Noble Truths, virtue (Topic #9), and “advanced subjects” such as emptiness, karma, and dependent origination (Topic #10). Congratulations. When I started learning Buddhism, I too...
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