The Earliest Buddhist Teaching on Living in the Present Moment

Our Appointment With Life: Discourse on Living Happily in the Present Moment is a translation of, and commentary on, the Sutra on Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone by Vietnamese Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. This sutra – or basic text of Buddhist scripture – is the earliest teaching of the Buddha on how…

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A Buddhist Perspective on Gossiping

“Gossip is what no one claims to like, but everybody enjoys.” – Joseph Conrad The Noble Eightfold Path is traditionally considered to be the essence of Buddhist practice, and it is intended to help people escape the unease and unsatisfactoriness which is intrinsic to the human condition. The First Noble Truth in Buddhism (of which…

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Is David Cameron Right to Call Britain a Christian Country?

Many were surprised to see David Cameron take on a new persona, that of an evangelical Christian. In an article he wrote for the Church Times, our beloved PM made had the following to say: I believe we should be more confident about our status as a Christian country, more ambitious about expanding the role…

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Denmark Bans Kosher Slaughter Methods

Denmark has recently decided to ban the kosher and halal methods of slaughter. Denmark’s Agriculture and Food Ministry announced that this new ban will come into effect today. Similar bans already exist in Poland, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Sweden. The halal and kosher method of slaughter involves exsanguination – slitting the throat of the animal…

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Ecological Messages in Native American Religion, Paganism, and the Psychedelic Experience

In this article, I would like to draw attention to the similarities between the ecological messages in Native American religion, Paganism, and those often conveyed in the psychedelic experience. Embedded in Native American religion is an ecological view of the world – the intrinsic interconnectedness of all things in nature. Unlike the Western world, Native…

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