My friend Venerable Benkong took this photo of a lotus pond last year in Beijing's Haidian district. Photo © Venerable Benkong, 2019

"A highly individualized spiritual belief system composed of selected elements drawn from various doctrines." — Judie Sigdel
My friend Venerable Benkong took this photo of a lotus pond last year in Beijing's Haidian district. Photo © Venerable Benkong, 2019
This gorgeous golden Tara is located on the grounds of the Giant Seated Buddha on a hill overlooking Thimphu in the kingdom of Bhutan. Many thanks to my friend Barry Fahrer for sharing this photo with my readers. Photo © Barry Fahrer 2019
I am in love with every churchAnd mosqueAnd templeAnd any kind of shrineBecause I know it is thereThat people say the different namesOf the One God. -- Hafez Barry Fahrer sent me this stunning photo of a shrine in Kathmandu, Nepal. I don't know if it's Hindu or Buddhist. And I tend to agree with …
Here's another great shot from Barry Fahrer. © Barry Fahrer 2019
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do …
Nobody knows whether there is reincarnation, and equally one does not know that there is none. Buddha himself was convinced of reincarnation, but he himself on being asked twice by his disciples about it, left it quite open whether there is a continuity of your personality or not. ~Carl Jung, Letters Vol. II, Pages 103-104.| …
geSays she talks to angels. They call her out by her name. Oh yeah, she talks to angels. Says they call her out by her name. -- Black Crowes Although I was raised as a Christian, angels didn't play much of a role in religion as I understood it. Sure, I was familiar with the …
some have wanted to worship the Buddha as a powerful foreign god). It simply requires one to relinquish the notion of self and follow a path designed to provide a way out of the trap of cyclic existence.
I hope that you enjoy the fourth installment of the Convert a Friend series. As always, I am posting it without edits. The following essay was written by Melissa Illingworth. If I was going to try to convince a friend to become either Buddhist or Hindu, what arguments would you use and why? Hinduism is a …
Hinduism is ranked as the fourth largest world religion with approximately 900 million followers (Adherents.com, 2007). But if you're like most Westerners, you probably don't know much about it. Tonight's post, the second in the Convert a Friend series, may shed a little light. This guest series features essays written by Professor Michele Scott James's Eastern Religions students at MiraCosta …