http://www.religionnewsblog.com Religion news about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:33:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23681/tensions-rise-as-police-question-monks-followers http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23681/tensions-rise-as-police-question-monks-followers#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:41:04 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23681 Followers of an internationally known Buddhist monk say tensions are rising at a monastery in Vietnam's Central Highlands after local officials accused them of trying to "sabotage" Vietnam's communist government.

An angry crowd gathered outside the Bat Nha monastery on Monday and local police conducted late-night searches of the rooms, said Brother Phap Tu, speaking by telephone Tuesday from the compound in Lam Dong province.

AP says the monks and nuns there are followers of Thich Nhat Hanh, an exiled Vietnam-born monk who has sold more than 1 million English-books in the West and is now based at the Plum Village monastery in southern France. ]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23681/tensions-rise-as-police-question-monks-followers/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23622/bhutan-buddhist-prayer-flags http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23622/bhutan-buddhist-prayer-flags#comments Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:14:23 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23622 THIMPHU, Bhutan (Reuters) - Bhutan has warned its citizens over cutting down thousands of young trees every year to make prayer flags, a threat to the tiny kingdom's lush scenery and the government's duty to bring "Gross National Happiness".

Himalayan Buddhists put up prayer flags for good luck or to help the dead find the right path to their next life. The more flag poles put up for the departed the better, and Buddhist monks say fresh poles must be used each time.

See: Hi-resolution Smithsonian picture of prayer flags in Bhutan]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23622/bhutan-buddhist-prayer-flags/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23592/in-the-arizona-desert-buddhists-will-embark-on-a-three-year-silent-retreat http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23592/in-the-arizona-desert-buddhists-will-embark-on-a-three-year-silent-retreat#comments Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:56:32 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23592 Several dozen Buddhists hope to find enlightenment in the silence, a gift they plan to share when they emerge from their long seclusion. They know that outsiders might dismiss them as eccentrics on a strange utopian trip, but their resumes suggest otherwise. Among them are an airline pilot, a dermatologist, a retired biochemist and a former television editor.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23592/in-the-arizona-desert-buddhists-will-embark-on-a-three-year-silent-retreat/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23450/gross-national-happiness http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23450/gross-national-happiness#comments Thu, 07 May 2009 06:26:03 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23450 In the tiny Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan, high in the Himalayan mountains, under a new Constitution adopted last year, government programs — from agriculture to transportation to foreign trade — must be judged not by the economic benefits they may offer but by the happiness they produce.

Now, the Bhutanese are refining the country’s guiding philosophy into what they see as a new political science, and it has ripened into government policy just when the world may need it]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23450/gross-national-happiness/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23442/buddhism-news http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23442/buddhism-news#comments Mon, 04 May 2009 10:44:54 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23442 • A primer on the Dalai Lama  • Dalai Lama inspires reverent silence, cheers at stadium  • The Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society practices a unique incarnation of Buddhism infused with punk rock's anti-establishment ethos  • The similarities between ancient Buddhism and modern psyschology: both practices are focused on releasing followers from suffering, and both aim for emotional health. But...]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23442/buddhism-news/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23325/buddha-bar-jakarta-indonesia http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23325/buddha-bar-jakarta-indonesia#comments Fri, 06 Mar 2009 11:01:07 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23325 About 200 Buddhist students held a peaceful protest rally outside an outlet of the international franchise Buddha Bar in the Indonesian capital on Thursday, accusing it of defaming their religion.

Avoiding alcohol and other intoxicants is the fifth of the "Five Precepts" that form the basic moral code of Buddhism.

Meanwhile the secretary-general of the Indonesian Pandita Sabha Buddha Dharma Foundation, said sealing off the bar was not the Buddhist way of seeking a solution. “Our way is never to force anything. A dialogue is needed,” he said.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23325/buddha-bar-jakarta-indonesia/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/21759/buddhism-japan http://www.religionnewsblog.com/21759/buddhism-japan#comments Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:09:33 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=21759 When it comes to funerals the Japanese have traditionally been inflexibly Buddhist - so much so that Buddhism in Japan is often called "funeral Buddhism," a reference to the religion's former near-monopoly on the elaborate, and lucrative, ceremonies surrounding deaths and memorial services.

But that expression also describes a religion that, by appearing to cater more to the needs of the dead than to those of the living, is losing its standing in Japanese society.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/21759/buddhism-japan/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/20918/buddhism-14 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/20918/buddhism-14#comments Fri, 21 Mar 2008 20:10:57 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/20918/buddhism-14 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/20918/buddhism-14/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/20530/buddhism-13 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/20530/buddhism-13#comments Tue, 05 Feb 2008 02:11:05 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/20530/buddhism-13 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/20530/buddhism-13/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/20496/buddhism-12 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/20496/buddhism-12#comments Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:56:25 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/20496/buddhism-12 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/20496/buddhism-12/feed 0