Hundreds gathered at the historic Buddhist temple Todai-ji in the Japanese city of Nara early on Sunday morning to observe the annual Omizutori, or water-drawing, ceremony. Dating to 752, Omizutori, which is performed with the intention of cleansing the participants and attendees of negative karma, takes place during the two-week-long Shunie Buddhist festival held in Nara to banish drought, epidemics, and war and to bring good luck.

His Holiness Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, last week launched a free medical camp for disabled residents of Gaya District in the Indian state of Bihar. Running from 5–8 March in Bodh Gaya, the camp provided prosthetic limbs, orthopedic braces for polio sufferers, and crutches and wheelchairs for the mobility impaired.

A Buddhist monk based in Trout Lake, Washington State, has spoken of his sympathy and forgiveness for the perpetrator of an Islamophobic attack mistakenly inflicted on him.

An ecclesiastical dispute in Thailand is mirroring a major conflict between Thailand’s two most important political factions.

Buddhism is enjoying a surge of interest among a once impervious demographic: middle-class Indians in urban areas.While the narrative of its complete extinction in medieval India is problematic, Buddhism is nevertheless a minority religion in its home country today. It is currently supported by the impoverished but politically powerful Dalit community, as well as ethnic minorities such as the Mog, Chakma, Barua, and Uchai in states like Tripura. The new crop of urbanites subscribing to Buddhist practice encompasses a diverse spectrum of people and professionals ranging from students to wives, mothers, and businesspeople.

Prominent Buddhist scholar Sulak Sivaraksa has condemned calls from Nationalist monks and lay Buddhists in Thailand, who are demanding that the kingdom’s next constitution recognize Buddhism as the official state religion. Sulak cautioned that such a move would do more harm than good and could serve to antagonize religious discord in the country. “Those who think like this are extremely nationalistic,” he said. (Khaosod English)

While science and medical care continue to make remarkable strides in advancing our understanding of the various ailments that afflict the human body, saving more lives and extending lifespans, death remains a certainty that we all must face. Yet what is sometimes overlooked or forgotten is that even in death we have the ability to improve or even save the lives of others by allowing our organs to be reused.

Venerable Jingwan, a Korean monk of the Jogye Order, expressed optimism recently regarding his hope of spreading the teachings of Buddhism in the Cuban capital, Havana. His remarks followed a weeklong visit during which the monk met with state administrators and officials of private organizations to share his vision for Korean Buddhism in Cuba.

In the decades since 1961 when Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space, astronauts returning to Earth have reported an unusual phenomenon—a cognitive, emotional, and spiritual shift in their internal worldview that leads to a sense of stewardship and awareness of the unity or oneness of our planet.

A team of seven archaeologists from the Bangladesh government’s Department of Archaeology has unearthed a 900-year-old Buddhist temple. Working with a team of 20 diggers, the archaeologists began the excavations in the Jaldhaka sub-district of Nilphamari District on 1 January as part of an annual state archaeological program, and have discovered several clay pot shards, white marble slabs with motifs, and a substantial wall, said team leader Mujibur Rahman, custodian of Mahasthangarh Museum in Bogra.