For the first time ever, the Indian Museum, Kolkata is making its extensive holdings of Buddhist art available online. The project, which includes the museum’s famed Gandharan sculptures, the largest collection in India, is being developed in collaboration with the Google Cultural Institute. So far, three exhibitions are on virtual display: The Life of the Buddha in Indian Art, Indian Buddhist Art, and a 360-degree panoramic Museum View.

As our pilgrimage through central Tibet proceeded towards Samye prior to our long journey across the Western Tibetan plateau to Mount Kailash, I noticed a palpable excitement building—a sublime, devotional version of boyish glee. As if the two epic days visiting Drak Yerpa and Gangri Tokar (documented in the first part of this series)* were not vast enough, we were now approaching the sacred site of the primary transmission of realization to the early Tibetan masters who established the authentic Buddha Dharma in Tibet. This was the site of the nexus, the initial gateway for the profound teachings that Vajrayana practitioners the world over are receiving and practicing today. 

Archaeologists from Australia’s University of Sydney and the Nan Tien Institute in New South Wales are on a conservation mission to clean and document the hundreds of marble stelae—sometimes referred to as the world’s largest book—at Kuthodaw Pagoda in Mandalay, Myanmar.

A standing bronze statue of the Tathagata Buddha, one of two ancient Buddhist statues stolen from Japan three years ago by South Korean thieves and designated an important cultural property by the Japanese government, has been returned to the island city of Tsushima in Japan’s Nagasaki Prefecture, the city office said.

There is a painting in the Freer Gallery of Art’s current exhibition, Zen, Tea, and Chinese Art in Medieval Japan, that beautifully symbolizes the remarkable cultural exchange and synthesis that occurred in East Asia between the 12th and 16th centuries. The painting Bodhidharma Crossing the Yangzi on a Reed is a copy by a 15th-century Japanese artist of an earlier Chinese painting of the 5th/6th-century Indian patriarch of meditational Buddhism, Bodhidharma. Meditational Buddhism, or dhyana, was transmitted by Bodhidharma from India to China, where it was known as Chan and practiced by thousands of followers and particularly in the southeast, an area where tea was grown and drunk by Chan monks to help them stay awake during meditation. When Japanese Buddhists learned of this practice many traveled to China to study it, drank plenty of Chinese tea, and then transmitted both traditions back to Japan. Just as Bodhidharma supposedly floated along the river on a reed, Chan Buddhism and powdered tea drinking were carried across land and sea from one culture to another, landing in Japan in the late 12th century and changing its culture forever.

“Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.” Chanting the praises of the Lotus Sutra with her eyes closed and hands clasped together, Naima Mora allows her spiritual world to unfold in front of the camera. One might recognize her as the sweet dancing girl from Detroit, or the winner of America’s Next Top Model in 2005. In the short video, the 30-year-old model talks about her childhood, career, ups and downs in life, and her Buddhist faith. It reveals her struggles and how she rose above them. It is a peek into the life of this established model and happy-go-lucky soul. As of today, Mora’s video has received more than 31,000 views on YouTube.

Feb 27 -- As deforestation ravages large parts of the earth, Buddhist monks in some Theravada countries have invented an interesting and innovative method of preserving the ecology. This is a newly adopted feature in the Buddhist rituals, which were not practiced by the earliest generation of Buddhists. Kishani Samaraweera of Sri Lanka’s The Nation reports that this initiative was first taken by a group of “ecology monks” in Thailand. The reporter further states that monks also practice this in Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam. At present, this is widely practiced in Thailand.

February 20 -- Sri Lanka's ancient cities, Buddhist remnants and natural beauty, made us relish every moment of this tour.

February 14 -- Acclaimed French photographer Daniel Cordonnier will charm Bangkok’s art scene with his pioneering photography starting Feb 26.

Jan 30 -- VietNamNet Bridge: To pray for a good new year, you should go to the Ngoc Hoang temple on Mai Thi Luu Street, District 1. To enjoy a view and pray for peace, you should visit the Vinh Nghiem Pagoda.