For Pride Month: Our 2015 Interview with La Sarmiento on Intersections of Gender, Identity, and Buddhism
American Buddhist Perspective Blog
by Justin Whitaker
3y ago
This year we mark Pride Month with a re-run of an article first published in 2015. Enjoy. Along the way, a wonderful collection of works by trans, genderqueer, and nonbinary practitioners of Buddhism has been published: Transcending: Trans Buddhist Voices (North Atlantic Books 2019). Today I am delighted to introduce readers to La Sarmiento, a long ..read more
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Standing up to Lies: Can America Emerge from Trump’s Abuse and Gaslighting?
American Buddhist Perspective Blog
by Justin Whitaker
3y ago
Four years ago, just after the inauguration of Donald Trump, I noticed a peculiar thing: the press had become unable to report his lies as lies. At the risk of mistakenly psychologizing an organization such as NPR, or a sector such as the entire US media, or a nation, I saw then that all of these ..read more
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Progressive responses to the 2020 election of Biden over Trump
American Buddhist Perspective Blog
by Justin Whitaker
3y ago
2020 has been an incredible year in more ways than many of us can begin to describe. I began the year with a newborn daughter living in a village house on an island 30 minutes from central Hong Kong. Then COVID came along. Then, just to keep it interesting, my wife got a great job ..read more
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In strife and uncertainty: let us remember loving-kindness
American Buddhist Perspective Blog
by Justin Whitaker
3y ago
For some twenty years now, the metta sutta and metta-bhavana (cultivation of loving-kindness) have been at or near the heart of my practice. Competing practices, such as seeking the very particular truth of matters near and far, large and small; as well as seeking out social justice, rights, and recognition for those ignored and diminished in ..read more
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In the rush to return to normal, can we pause instead?
American Buddhist Perspective Blog
by Justin Whitaker
4y ago
It’s mid-July, nearly 6 months since the coronavirus outbreak began taking over front-page news around the world. And we’re a month or so from a major shift in human populations as schools and universities (possibly) reopen with in-person classes: with K-12 schools drawing kids out of homes to mix with other kids and colleges and ..read more
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A Festival of Radical Awakening: Socially Engaged Buddhism Today
American Buddhist Perspective Blog
by Justin Whitaker
4y ago
I am thrilled to be taking part in this online conference, taking place from July 24-26. I will be drawing from research I have done over the last year and a half on Buddhist economics, drawing from my backgrounds both as a comparative scholar of Buddhist and Western ethics and as an engaged community member ..read more
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The Coronavirus is coming – Some thoughts from Hong Kong
American Buddhist Perspective Blog
by Justin Whitaker
4y ago
I shared this briefly on a friend’s social media and it was suggested I make it more widely available. So, here goes (with edits and footnotes). I’m in Hong Kong. Here, the medical establishment demanded swift action from the government. It was amazing to watch. They even went on strike when the gov’t dragged their feet ..read more
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Shambhala Buddhist Community Faces New Allegations in Chapman Student Investigation
American Buddhist Perspective Blog
by Justin Whitaker
4y ago
In a video that should be seen by university students and professors across the country, Chapman University students shed light on the continuing allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct within the Shambhala Buddhist community. For over two years, allegations of abuse have been made, several coming from individuals intimately familiar with the organization’s leadership. As ..read more
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In Hong Kong, the Bodhisattvas wear Crosses
American Buddhist Perspective Blog
by Justin Whitaker
4y ago
As I’ve watched the Hong Kong protests from my home on peaceful Lamma Island over the past four months, I’ve looked for the religious undertones and motivations driving and uniting the region’s protesters. Early on, “Sing Hallelujah to the Lord” became an unofficial anthem of protesters, in part because adding a religious reason for a ..read more
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Hong Kong: Democracy, Protest, and Violence. A Primer (Videos)
American Buddhist Perspective Blog
by Justin Whitaker
4y ago
Hong Kong, once a bustling financial hub and port city on the southern coast of China, has become a global hotspot for 2019s battles for democracy, freedom, and equality. I first came here just over one year ago, then as a visiting instructor in Buddhist Studies for the region’s flagship university, the University of Hong ..read more
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