The Rev. Bhikku Vupasama from The Original Buddhism Meditation Society of Enlightenment presented his talk on "The Law of Dependent Origination and the Buddhist View of Life and Death" on October 16th as part of the Columbia University Buddhist Studies Seminar series. Unfortunately only the first part of his talk was successfully recoreded, but it includes a very interesting discussion of an attempt to discern the original teachings of the Buddha through an examination of early Buddhist texts.
CBSS Podcast: Oliver Freiberger
Oliver Freiberger from the University of Texas at Austin, presented his talk on "Controversies on Asceticism in Early Buddhism" on October 9th, 2008 as part of the Columbia University Buddhist Studies Seminar series. The talk examines different voices present in early Buddhist texts on the question of extreme ascetic practices, and offers a critical viewpoint on the doctrine of the "middle way" as a core Buddhist teaching.
Podcast: Pochi Huang
Pochi Huang from National Cheng-chi University in Taiwan presented this talk on May 1st, 2008. In it he explores the development of Theravada culture in South and Southeast Asia and the continuing linkages between Buddhist doctrine and political rule. The talk focuses on Sri Lanka but also touches upon Burma as well.
News: Support the Monks in Myanmar
There have been a few inquiries about the protests in Myanmar, and how to support the monks there. For those of you following this story, you may want to join the following group in Facebook:
"Support the Monks' protest in Burma."
They've the latest news on the protests both in Myanmar and North America, as well as a number of valuable links to digital resources.
UPDATE
Sept 30
If you are on campus, or in the New York area, click here to find details about local protests. See also the NY-Burma roundtable blog
Oct 1
Add your name to this petition
Oct 4
Click here to read an important letter from Janet Gyatso and Charlie Hallisey (Co-Chairs for the Buddhism section of the American Academy of Religion)
