When Amazon.com first became a part of the nascent digital landscape back in 1995, online shoppers could buy only books. In the years since, however, the online retailer’s geographical reach and the range of products on offer have expanded exponentially. In Japan, that diversity has extended to include Buddhist monks for hire, a move that many if the country's Buddhist leaders view as an unseemly corruption of traditional practices.

Edward Timpson, British Conservative MP for Crewe and Nantwich, has urged schools across the UK to teach mindfulness and yoga to help children “unplug from their online world.” An education minister, Timpson emphasized during a debate in Parliament on 7 September that schools need to adapt to the constant presence of the Internet in students’ lives, and that mindfulness is critical in facilitating this adjustment. 

Nine-year-old Jalue Dorjee enjoys sports, watching movies on his laptop, and collecting Pokémon cards. However, this otherwise typical boy from Columbia Heights in Minnesota will not live an average life after he turns 10. Jalue was identified by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the 8th incarnation of Taksham Nueden Dorjee (a Tibetan lama who lived in the 16th century) at the age of 3 on 6 January 2009. The Dalai Lama also conferred on him a formal lama name, Tenzin Gyurme Trinley Dorjee.

Engineering students at K.J. Somaiya College of Engineering (KJSCE) in Mumbai, India, have joined a first-of-its-kind course on Buddhism titled, “Buddhism for Engineers.” Twenty students are reported to have enrolled in the audit course, which introduces the life and teachings of the Buddha and his analysis of the human mind. The purpose of the course is to examine the Buddhist theory of causality, which explains that every phenomenon comes into being because of intricate causes and conditions, and when these conditions break apart, things fall apart, which is a theory of interconnectedness that the college believes could enhance the students’ understanding of engineering.

The enchanting new stop-motion fantasy-action-comedy feature Kubo and the Two Strings, which was released in theaters earlier this month, is an engaging parable of learning about life, with a distinctly Buddhist flavor. Ostensibly geared towards children, Kubo and the Two Strings is just as likely to entertain and inform adult viewers as it broaches the weighty themes of bereavement, loss, change, broken families, and human identity, with references to Japanese folklore, death, and reincarnation.

The meat industry is famously controversial for a slew of unpalatable reasons—its roles as a key contributor to global climate change and a major consumer and polluter of fresh water among them, not to mention the brutal treatment meted out to the billions of sentient animals processed annually by industrial farms. However, a host of scientists and entrepreneurs are working to develop a more ethical, sustainable, and healthier form of animal protein in the form of lab-grown meat.

Myanmar plans to set up a new state-level committee aimed at resolving the humanitarian crisis in the country’s western Rakhine State, home to most of the country’s population of Rohingya Muslims. A government minister said the new nine-member panel would be tasked with liaising with local communities in Rakhine as well as international parties.

Scientists from the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia in Canada have revealed new findings about the benefits of meditation after investigating its effect on the brains of Buddhist monks at Tengboche Monastery in northeastern Nepal’s Solukhumbu district. Neuroscientist Olav Krigolson, co-leader of the research team, said that the group had studied 27 monks, all of whom are well-versed in meditation, with the aim of exploring how meditation enhances brain function.

As the 2016 Summer Olympics get underway in Brazil, slalom canoeist Kazuki Yazawa, who is representing Japan, may be unique among the hundreds of hopeful athletes competing at the games in the hope of bagging an Olympic medal in that he is also a full-time Buddhist monk.

The State Museum of Oriental Art (SMOA) in the heart of Moscow is exhibiting Russia’s biggest collection of Buddhist and Asian art, boasting a diverse collection from the Republic of Buryatia in the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, India, Iran, Mongolia, and Tibet. Visitors can view a unique range of artifacts and art that includes paintings, sculptures, and antiquities from the Middle Ages, such as weapons, jewellery, household items, and textiles.