Buddhist monk, photographer, and author Venerable Matthieu Ricard, occasionally known as “the happiest person in the world,” said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week that while recent talk of a “fourth industrial revolution” based on technological advances in computer-controlled technology may not pose a threat to humanity, the focus on such matters ignored some fundamental underlying issues that still need to be addressed.

Bangkok, Thailand -- A Buddhist temple in the province of Kamphaeng Phet has erected signs advising visitors to look elsewhere if they seek "superstitious" help from its monks - amulets for sale, the anointing of cars, even the distribution of holy water. The abbot has said the monks are there to discuss religious matters with the faithful, not offer voodoo guarantees of good fortune.

The heartwarming story of a random act of compassion has gone viral on social media and online news outlets after a kind stranger decided reach out to Lauren Nordberg, the mother of a young boy with autism who was having a dramatic meltdown in the middle of a busy restaurant.

Perhaps overshadowed by the higher-profile site at nearby Amaravati, the 2,400-year old Buddhist center of Adurru, in the southeastern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, has lain neglected for several decades due to an apparent lack of interest from the state government in maintaining this potential tourist destination.

Since 2004, Bodhi House, a transitional living community in rural Adams County in the US state of Pennsylvania, has been offering men exiting the state prison system an opportunity to develop their post-release life skills within a supportive spiritual environment where they can study and practice Buddhism.

The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies and the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) have announced that they are now accepting grant applications for new professorships in Buddhist Studies.

Data from the 2011 Census of India shows a marked drop of 75 per cent in the Buddhist population of the southwestern Indian state of Karnataka, despite overall growth in India’s Buddhist population, which accounted for about 0.7 per cent of the country’s population of more than 1.2 billion people.

A three-day conference on the theme of India’s Buddhist heritage, the “International Seminar on India’s North Eastern Region and Buddhist Heritage - Bridge between SAARC and ASEAN,” kicked off today in the city of Agartala, capital of the northeastern state of Tripura. Organized by the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) in collaboration with the Asian Confluence and the Dhamma Dipa Foundation, the seminar is aimed at discussing, debating, and reviving the roles that heritage and cultural ties could play in encouraging economic growth and development in the region.

At a meeting with faith leaders at the Elysée Palace on 10 December, French president François Hollande received the Buddhist Climate Change Statement, signed by 26 leading Buddhist figures on 29 October, from Venerable Rathana Thera of Sri Lanka. The meeting took place during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21), which began on 30 November and is scheduled to conclude on 11 December.

As the world reels from a growing number of violent attacks on civilian populations aimed at inciting fear and division, His Holiness the Dalai Lama warned on Sunday of the dangers posed by religious faith combined with attachment, leading to hatred and intolerance and a rejection of the necessary reality of a pluralistic society. “Attachment to faith makes you believe in one truth, one religion,” he said. “The belief in one truth makes you biased, leading to one belief trying to kill another. You want to impose your beliefs on others, rejecting the reality of many religions.” (Deccan Chronicle)