Latest Buddhism News
Sri Lankans' fury forced the powerful Rajapaksa clan out. Now its heir is running for president
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — When an uprising ousted Sri Lanka's president, many saw it as the end of his powerful family’s hold on the island nation after more than 12 years of rule. Now, as Sri Lanka prepares to elect a new leader, Namal Rajapaksa is running for president. The...
Pope ends Asia trip with same message at the start: Interfaith tolerance to heal troubled world
SINGAPORE (AP) — Pope Francis wrapped up his visit to Singapore on Friday by praising its tradition of interfaith harmony, closing out his four-nation trip through Asia with the same message of tolerance that he delivered at the start. Francis presided over a gathering of young...
Pope and imam of Southeast Asia's largest mosque make joint call to fight violence, protect planet
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Pope Francis and the grand imam of Southeast Asia’s largest mosque vowed Thursday to fight religiously inspired violence and protect the environment, issuing a joint call for interfaith friendship and common cause at the heart of Francis’ visit to Indonesia. ...
Dalai Lama returns to Indian headquarters after knee replacement surgery in the US
DHARAMSHALA, India (AP) — The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, returned to the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile in northern India on Wednesday after undergoing a knee replacement surgery in New York. Hundreds of followers in colorful, flowing robes, waving...
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...
