It is the Buddha’s philosophy that does and always has, attracted most attention and this is only understandable. However, philosophy is by no means the only legacy the Buddha has left for us; there are many others. One of these … Read the rest

According to the introduction to the Jātaka, after the Buddha’s awakening he spent seven weeks at Uruvelā, the modern Bodh Gaya, and during the second week he sat gazing at the Bodhi Tree without blinking. In time, a shrine called … Read the rest

As is well-known, Lumbini is the first of the four major holy places of Buddhism, it being where the person who was to become the Buddha was born. Almost every account of the Buddha’s life, traditional or contemporary, recounts the … Read the rest

What is it about water that has captured our fascination from the time our earliest ancestors first dipped their hands is a flowing stream or felt drops of cooling rain on their skin? Our familiarity with water has made us … Read the rest

Some Western drug companies spend millions of dollars developing and marketing a new drug only to have the health authorities later discover that it has dangerous side-effects and then ban it. Needing to recover their investment and unable to sell … Read the rest

Like us, the Buddha lived in a world where politics had a profound influence on all aspects of life. So what was the Buddha’s attitude to politics?

A little to the south-east of the entrance of the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya are three stupas made out of carved stones held together by iron clamps. The form of these stupas and the decorations on them indicate that … Read the rest

After the Buddha himself, the most revered and universally popular figure in Buddhism is Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. Since his appearance in about the first century BCE this beloved bodhisattva has been worshipped with almost unparalleled fervor by the … Read the rest

When, in about 1455, Gutenberg printed his Bible it was hailed as a major technological and cultural achievement and for centuries after was considered to be one of the pivotal moments in human history. Before the invention of printing all … Read the rest

When the British took over Ceylon and Burma they used at first robust but gradually more subtle means to weaken the traditional religions; Hinduism but more so Buddhism, believing that the Anglicization of the subject peoples would make them more … Read the rest