Modern-day enthusiasm for the centuries-old Buddhist practice of making merit by releasing captive animals back into the wild has raised concern among Hong Kong’s conservation community over the threat to the territory’s dwindling population of horseshoe crabs. Although the practice is aimed at saving lives, conservationists say the good intentions of some religious groups are actually endangering horseshoe crabs, an ancient species of marine arthropod.

As perhaps the most primal of all musical instruments, the drum has been central to many religious and cultures throughout human history—from shamanism, where documented use of the drum dates back more than 25,000 years, to medieval Catholic rituals, to the various traditions of Buddhism. For the last 2,500 years, from the time of the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, to the present, drums have been an important component of Buddhist practice in temples and monasteries, where they are still used to this day, from the most mundane time-keeping and time-marking tasks to deep meditative practice.

The Jnanasukha Foundation is now accepting applications for scholarships to help individuals further their study and practice in the Nyingma tradition, especially the Dudjom New Treasures (Tersar) and The Dakini Heart Essence (Khandro Thuk Thik).

With the support of The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation and the American Council of Learned Societies, from 31 July to 6 August this year, Arizona State University (ASU) will be offering a week-long workshop to discuss teaching on Buddhism at the post-secondary level. Intended to facilitate new scholarly networks in the field, the workshop will focus on recent developments in the study and teaching of Theravada Buddhism in South and Southeast Asia.

Ann Arbor, MI (USA) -- Nestled between a defunct bike shop and a vacuum store, the Ann Arbor Zen Buddhist Temple is easy to notice and just as easy to miss.

On Sunday morning, the Columbus KTC Center, a Buddhist center in Columbus, Ohio, was destroyed by fire. The Center’s missions is “to provide, for all levels of practitioners, a respectful and open community for the study, practice, and activities of Buddhism of the Karma Kagyu tradition under the guidance of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra and His Holiness the Seventeeth Gyalwa Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje.”

Three 3rd century Buddhist rock inscriptions located by the hamlet of Jahanabad in a small valley near Shakhorai Village, within the Swat Valley administrative district of Pakistan, have made headlines recently, although local residents remain largely in the dark as to their significance and meaning.

The protean life and career of David Bowie, who died at his New York home on 10 January after an 18-month battle with liver cancer, have been the subject of an almost endless stream of tributes, studies, and analyses in the days and weeks following his passing just two days after his 69th birthday—an occasion that he marked with the release of his 28th album, Black Star. The most recent reports of his final wishes hint at a lifelong interest in Buddhism that remained with him until his final days.

Buddhism in the West is sometimes represented as a “white” phenomenon, as increasing numbers of ethnic Europeans on both sides of the Atlantic embrace the Buddhist way of life. But this portrayal ignores over half the story; the majority of Buddhists in the West are Asian immigrants and refugees who have transplanted their Buddhist faith into Western soil. These temples often fly under the radar of popular media, and remain a quiet, even hidden, presence in the Western Buddhist landscape.

Daisaku Ikeda, 88, is a Buddhist philosopher, educator, author, and anti-nuclear activist. He was the third president of the Soka Gakkai Buddhist movement, from 1960–79, and is the founding president of SGI.