The art of developing a healthy relationship with our own mortality lies in neither avoiding the reality of suffering nor obsessing over it Over the last year, I have spent a lot of time eating pre-packaged sandwiches in hospital cafeterias. I often joke that those of us who are lucky enough to hit 35 will have at least one, if not multiple, serious health scares every year. At some point, however, we will face much more than a simple scare – serious illness can impact anyone, any time, with little notice. As well as being a source of stress, pain and discomfort, unwanted health diagnoses have ..read more

Part film, part guided meditation, Lois Patiño’s tale of a Lao woman’s death and rebirth is partly designed to watch with your eyes closed All great cinema is a journey of sorts, but there comes a point when it feels as though film-makers are treading the same well-worn paths. Not so with Spanish director Lois Patiño’s remarkable immersive voyage Samsara (the title refers to the Buddhist cycle of deaths and rebirths): part film, part guided meditation, it’s unlike anything else you can experience in the cinema. The film starts in Laos, where a Buddhist boy is reading to an elderly woman, Mon ..read more

Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s influence can be traced in Spanish film-maker Lois Patiño’s whimsical meditation on the Buddhist cycle of life Lois Patiño’s film is a delicate, exotic contrivance, a docu-realist diptych spectacle using nonprofessional actors, about the Buddhist concept of “Samsara”, the cycle of birth, death and life, and the transmigration of souls. Set in Laos and Zanzibar, it is mysterious and quietist, but flavoured with something whimsical and even playful; it is one of those ostensibly serious films best appreciated with the sense of humour, which Graham Greene said was the ..read more

Hundreds follow route to Parliament Square in solidarity with people affected by Israel-Gaza conflict Without flags, placards or chants, hundreds of people joined a silent multi-faith peace walk in London on Sunday in response to the Israel-Gaza war. Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus and Buddhists walked side-by-side from Trafalgar Square to Parliament Square and back in solidarity with people affected by the conflict in the Middle East ..read more

Saltwater damage could see precious historical Buddhist artworks dating back hundreds of years slowly fade entirely from view If you look closely, you can just about see the characters and scenes that once stretched across the walls of Wat Prasat, a temple in Nonthaburi. There’s the dark shape of an elephant’s head, a figure slouching on its back; outlines of swords pointing upwards to the centre of the display; patches of curved roofs. “The mural used to be more vivid,” says Phra Maha Natee, the abbot of Wat Prasat. Even when he was a novice monk, 20 years ago, the image – which shows one of ..read more

The 350 women of the Drukpa dragon order are highly skilled in martial arts, which they practise six days a week. They also help the sick, rescue animals, pick up litter and can rewire a temple Photographs and text by Skanda Gautam ..read more

Exclusive: James Norbury says he is fulfilling pledge made after his debut book landed him a six-figure deal The self-taught artist and writer James Norbury was living below the poverty line and volunteering with a cat charity when his self-published book was snapped up by a leading publisher in 2021. After repeated rejection by literary agents, the six-figure deal was all the more astonishing for him being a debut author and he vowed to invest money he earned in creating a sanctuary for animals ..read more

The musician on a dark version of Oklahoma!, amazing art from Palestine, and why jiujitsu works wonders for his state of mind Born Angus Fairbairn, Alabaster DePlume is a spoken word poet and saxophonist based in London and Manchester. In 2015 he began doing an improv jazz series called Peach at London’s Total Refreshment Centre, putting out an album of the same name. In 2020 he released To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1, named after two men he assisted as a mental health support worker, followed in 2022 by the critically acclaimed Gold. DePlume’s new album, Come With Fierce Grace, is rele ..read more

Buddhists across Indonesia commemorate the birth, enlightenment and passing of the religion’s founder with light, prayer and lanterns Getxophoto festival – in pictures ..read more

Nestled in Arkansas, the Buddhist center is remote and summers are sweltering. I spent a week shadowing practitioners to learn whether it changed them in the ways they had hoped Ani Wangmo and I are being tailgated. We’re in a white pickup truck, and the man behind us is driving a mid-size silver Pontiac. There’s real risk: deer and armadillo are splattered all over the narrow, cliffside Ozark road. If we need to stop suddenly, there’s nowhere for the Pontiac to swerve. The car will drive into us, the oncoming lane, or off the cliff. We’re on the six-hour grocery run that Wangmo makes twice a ..read more