The Elephant Story

The Dalai Lama

Mar 27, 2017 | 0 comments

If anyone was asked who was the most famous Buddhist in the world, most would say The Dalai Lama. In actual fact, he is the 14th Dalai Lama whose religious name is Tenzin Gyatso. He was born in 1935 in a small Tibetan village and was designated as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama in 1937 and enthroned as the 14th Dalai Lama in 1950. Although he is recognized as one of the leading figures in the world, he continues to represent a thorn in the side of China since he fled Tibet to India in 1959. The communist...

Activism in Buddhism

Jan 16, 2017 | 0 comments

We think about Buddhism being a kind of a passive religious faith but the author would describe it as a form of spirituality from a deeply revered enlightened one whose teachings were not radically different than those of Jesus and Mohamed in their recognized religions. Moreover, despite the massive bloodshed in the past over alleged religious reasons, the precepts are all pretty much the same. So what has caused Buddhist monks to be less than the passive, quiet folks, they are supposed to be? In the final analysis, when things are woefully wrong, they step up and react. Without going...

Former Indochina Foes Become New Best Friends

Oct 24, 2016 | 0 comments

As you can judge from a number of our blogs, things were not always friendly between the United States and the countries of Vietnam and Laos. However, after many years of war, misunderstanding and acrimony, the U.S. has finally joined hands with Vietnam and Laos. It is amazing what impact an expansionist China can have on its neighbors and the U.S. as the Chinese build man-made islands with aircraft fighter hangers on them in the South China sea without any plausible justification of a sovereign claim whatsoever. Arrogance and ignorance often create an explosive cocktail as it has in Southeast...

Luang Prabang, A Home to Buddhist Spirituality

Sep 09, 2016 | 0 comments

When we were recently in Luang Prabang, Laos, we introduced our grandson, Story, to a bit of Buddhist spirituality in an effort to provide him a proper balance to the demands of Pokemon at which he has become an established expert. We began the first morning making merit by offering food to the monks followed by visits to a number of interesting and historically significant temples. Luang Prabang sits in a northern Laos mountain range and, in that setting, the Buddhist temples seem even more spiritual than those of far-away Bangkok. Many of the mountain villagers send their children to...