In Buddhism, compassion is the wish for others to be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. It is based on appreciating other people’s feelings, especially when we’ve gone through the same ordeal. Even if we’ve never experienced what they’re going through, we can put ourselves in their shoes and feel how awful it must be. Imagining how much we'd want to be free of it, we strongly yearn for others to be free as well.

 “Then again, a certain person makes a gift to an ascetic or a brahmin, offering him food … or lighting. He now hears of the long life, the beauty, and the great happiness of the devas of Brahmā’s company, and he wishes to be reborn among them. He sets his mind on that thought, keeps to it firmly, and fosters it. This thought of his aims at what is low, and if not developed to what is higher, it will lead him to just such a rebirth. After his death, when his body breaks up, he will be reborn among the devas of Brahmā’s company. This, however, I declare only for the morally pure, not for the immoral; only for one free of lust, not for one who is lustful. Because he is without lust, monks, the heart’s desire of the morally pure succeeds.

 “Thus, student, the way that leads to short life makes people short-lived, the way that leads to long life makes people long-lived; the way that leads to sickliness makes people sickly, the way that leads to health makes people healthy; the way that leads to ugliness makes people ugly, the way that leads to beauty makes people beautiful; the way that leads to being uninfluential makes people uninfluential, the way that leads to being influential makes people influential; the way that leads to poverty makes people poor, the way that leads to wealth makes people wealthy; the way that leads to low birth makes people low born, the way that leads to high birth makes people high born; the way that leads to stupidity makes people stupid, the way that leads to wisdom makes people wise. “Beings are owners of their actions, heirs of their actions; they originate from their actions, are bound to their actions, have their actions as their refuge. It is action that distinguishes beings as inferior and superior.”

"Inconceivable is the beginning,  disciples, of this faring on. The earliest point is not revealed of the running on, the faring on, of beings, cloaked in ignorance, tied by cravingSAṀYUTTA NIKĀYA

Korean Buddhist nun Venerable Seon Jae, best known for popularizing the cuisine of Korean Buddhist temples, has released a new book titled What Do You Eat for Living? During a press briefing about the book in Seoul, in late December, Ven. Seon Jae spoke about temple food and the Buddhist culinary culture.

The Instruction to the Kalamas which is translated from the Pali by Soma Thera.

A great Tibetan teacher of mind training once remarked that one of the mind’s most marvellous qualities is that it can be transformed. I have no doubt that those who attempt to transform their minds, overcome their disturbing emotions and achieve a sense of inner peace, will, over a period of time, notice a change in their mental attitudes and responses to people and events. Their minds will become more disciplined and positive. And I am sure they will find their own sense of happiness grow as they contribute to the greater happiness of others.

Buffeted by the whims of larger, more powerful nations and isolated from the international community, Laos, at least until only a few years ago, remained more rumour than reality. Its capital, Vientiane, an anomaly on the world map. With the completion in 1994 of the Australian-funded Mittaphab, or 'Friendship bridge', connecting Vientiane with neighbouring Thailand, and the increasing economic interest in the development of the lower Mekong basin, Vientiane's days of charming obscurity could well be numbered.

San Francisco, CA (USA) -- This has become a daily ritual. In Mr Ryan's world, it's a stretch for people to get this relaxed. He's a member of Congress.

Compassion is an emotion that occupies a central position in Mahayana Buddhist philosophy while it is often a neglected subject in contemporary western philosophy. This essay is a comparison between an Eastern view of compassion based upon Mahayana Buddhist perspectives and a western view of the same emotion.