Latest Buddhism News
UN cultural agency decides against placing Lumbini, Buddha's birthplace in Nepal, on endangered list
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — The United Nations' cultural agency decided Thursday against putting the Buddhist pilgrimage destination of Lumbini on its list of heritage sites in danger, instead giving authorities in Nepal more time to help restore the famous gardens and temple that are falling into...
Who is the Buddhist nun who built a global charity from a tiny apartment in rural Taiwan?
HUALIEN, Taiwan (AP) — The Buddhist teacher who founded what is now a global charity and religion with a $283 million operating budget grew up at a time when women could not be ordained as Buddhist nuns. What Cheng Yen, now 87, started in 1966 in Taiwan's countryside as a...
A Taiwan-based Buddhist charity attempts to take the founding nun's message of compassion global
HUALIEN, Taiwan (AP) — When a 7.4-magnitude earthquake ripped through Taiwan in April, it took about 30 minutes for the region’s most ubiquitous charity to set up an emergency response center. Tzu Chi, an international Buddhist organization led by an 87-year-old nun, the...
Hundreds of mostly exiled Tibetans celebrate the Dalai Lama's 89th birthday in India's Dharamshala
DHARAMSHALA, India (AP) — Hundreds of mostly exiled Tibetans gathered in India’s hillside town of Dharamshala to celebrate the birthday of the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama, who turned 89 on Saturday. The Dalai Lama has made the hillside town his...
Cambodia welcomes the Met's repatriation of centuries-old statues looted during past turmoil
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The return to Cambodia this week of 14 sculptures that had been looted from the country during a period of war and unrest is like welcoming home the souls of ancestors, Cambodia’s culture minister said Thursday. The items repatriated from New York’s...
Funeral for monk shot by soldiers highlights Myanmar army's delicate relationship to Buddhist clergy
BANGKOK (AP) — Hundreds of people attended the funeral on Thursday of a senior monk who was fatally shot by soldiers in an incident that could undermine the cozy relationship that Myanmar’s military government has tried to maintain with the country’s Buddhist clergy. The body...
US lawmakers meet with Dalai Lama in India's Dharamshala, sparking anger from China
DHARAMSHALA, India (AP) — A bipartisan United States congressional delegation met with the Dalai Lama Wednesday at his residence in India's Dharamshala, sparking anger from China which views the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism as a dangerous separatist. This comes as...
Myanmar's army is reportedly emptying villages in a western state to boost defenses against rebels
BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military has been emptying villages on the outskirts of the capital of the western state of Rakhine as part of an evident effort to defend against expected attacks by a powerful rebel group that has captured most of the surrounding area, according to residents, a local...
In secular France, chaplains prepare to provide Olympians with spiritual support during the Games
PARIS (AP) — As athletes rev up their training and organizers finalize everything from ceremonies to podiums before the Paris Olympics, more than 120 faith leaders are preparing for a different challenge — spiritually supporting some 10,000 Olympic athletes from around the world, especially...
AP Week in Pictures: Global
May 17-23, 2024 Iranians attended the funeral of the late President Ebrahim Raisi and others killed in a helicopter crash. Police tried to stop a pro-Palestinian rally in Berlin, and Buddhists around Asia marked the birth, enlightenment and passing of Buddha. This...
