The Kingdom of Bhutan has launched a progressive conservation initiative backed by a US$43 million fund, in cooperation with the the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and partners from around the world, and aimed at providing permanent protection for the Himalayan nation’s extensive network of protected conservation areas.

Dharamshala’s Government Degree College, His Holiness the Dalai Lama gave a talk on the need for moral principles to guide both science and religion. The speech built on secular morality, which he has been advocating in recent years as a form of global ethics.

A Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) shipwreck, discovered preserved in the silt and mud of a dried up riverbed in eastern China after more than 700 years, has revealed a trove of ancient treasures, including a Buddhist shrine and other Buddhist artifacts, a recently published report by archaeologists revealed.

The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives (LTWA) in Dharamsala, one of the most important collections of Tibetan Buddhist manuscripts and other works and artifacts in the world, plans to relocate around 80,000 ancient manuscripts and other rare documents to a new conservation center near the southern Indian city of Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore) to better ensure their preservation for future generations.

The Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) of Hong Kong has designated two Buddhist temples—Tung Lin Kok Yuen (TLKY) Temple on Hong Kong Island and Yeung Hau Temple on Lantau Island—as monuments under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance, along with a Christian landmark—Kowloon Union Church.

For the past three years, Buddhism has been the fastest-growing religion among prisoners in Scottish prisons. Data recently obtained via a Freedom of Information request, shows that 22 prisoners registered their religion as Buddhism in the past three years.

The first challenge I encountered during the first year of my monastic training as a postulant was overcoming the discomfort from the clothes we wore. We had a special uniform—a long-sleeved, loose grey midi robe with long pants. In the winter, we could put on more layers inside and a black coat while outside. But in the hot summer, even when it was over 35ºC (about 95ºF, but it felt like 100ºF due to the humidity), we still needed to wear our uniform day and night without air conditioning. This was really too much for me, especially after I had become so used to the comfortable weather in the Westwood/Santa Monica area of California. We were sweating all the time—it felt like our bodies were soaking in salty water. It was even worse during morning/evening services and chanting ceremonies because we were required to wear another black maxi robe with long sleeves. I could not imagine how I would tolerate the habit after ordination, which has the additional layer of a long-sleeved maxi robe and long grey tube socks. Because of this, I also felt sympathy for Roman Catholic nuns!

SEATTLE—In response to the growing communal violence in Myanmar, where the vast majority of the population identifies as Buddhists, a number of American Buddhist teachers have issued an open letter to members of the country’s government, including Myanmar’s de-facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. The letter bore the names of more than 70 teachers, as of 15 September. On 20 September, the letter’s author, Alan Senauke, vice-abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center said, “Over the weekend I will print and mail our joint letter in support of rights and aid for [Myanmar’s] Rohingya peoples. There is still time to send me your names as signatories.”

In a remote village in Hue, central Vietnam, Ha Len’s parents only wish was for their daughter to have surgery for her cleft palate so that she could look like the other children. But it is something they could never afford. And even if Ha Len received the surgery, they knew that she might not live long anyway—by some cruel twist of fate, in addition to a completely cleft lip and palate, Ha Len was born with a congenital malformation of the heart known as Tetralogy of Fallot that left her heart with four anatomical abnormalities that hindered the normal flow of blood to the lungs, resulting in a blue tint to the skin and lips. Although a palliative shunting procedure was performed when she was very young, Ha Len still had “blue lips,” but because of the severity of her conditions, even charity surgical teams from Europe and the United States had declined to attempt a permanent surgical correction of her heart.

While many people have expressed concerns about fighting addiction with medication and counseling, Noah Levine, “a tattooed, gold-toothed, punk-loving Buddhist from Santa Cruz” and counterculture Buddhist teacher, has introduced an alternative approach to combating addiction that draws on the Buddhist practices of mindfulness and meditation. His approach, called Refuge Recovery, is gaining ground in the United States (and in other countries), with centers across the nation, albeit in a strictly non-theistic form. (Valley News)