Today we’re kicking off a monthly series of profiles about socially engaged Buddhists.
I couldn’t be more delighted to feature Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi in this first profile. I first met Bhikkhu Bodhi when he came to the 2007 Buddhist Peace Delegation in Washington, DC. He gave a stirring speech the night before we marched, as he linked the teachings of the Buddha with the imperative to work for peace in the world and to end the war in Iraq.
Dear friends of the Jizo Chronicles,
Happy almost-end-of-summer! (Or end-of-winter, for friends who are in the southern hemisphere.)
I hope the season has been a time of relaxation and nourishment for you. As I mentioned in my last post at the end of July, August has turned out to be quite a busy month for me, particularly with coordinating the Upaya Buddhist Chaplaincy summer intensive.
Dear friends,
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been struggling mightily to post something here on a regular basis… and I haven’t been very successful. Usually I post twice a week, but as you may have noted, there has only been one post the entire month of July. Maybe that’s just the way summer is — conducive to mush brain.
August promises to be just as challenging, and in fact I’ve already taken steps to create some brief sabbatical time on The Liberated Life Project (my stealth dharma blog).
Margarita Loinaz/Photo by Kathrin Miller
In a previous “Quote of the Week,” I mentioned the under-representation of Latino/a teachers at the recent Buddhist Teachers’ Conference, and I highlighted the work of Rev. Ryumon HG Baldoquin. Today I want to share the words of another gifted Latina dharma practitioner, Margarita Loinaz.
Photo: Paul Davis
One of the nice things about writing a blog for a while is that you can start “re-purposing” yourself, as they say, when it’s summer and you start feeling lazy. So as we enter into the Fourth of July weekend here in the U.S., here’s a post from last July. Still relevant, I think. May you all have a happy and safe weekend. ~Maia
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As the Fourth of July approaches, I’d like to offer an alternative way to think about and celebrate the day. How about a day of remembering how interdependent we all are?
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891 – 1956) is a unique figure in the annals of socially engaged Buddhism. Born to a family of the Untouchable (Dalit) Caste in India, Ambedkar went on to become a beacon of liberation to the Indian people and helped to revive Buddhism in that country.
I just want to take a moment to thank my readers who responded to the Jizo Chronicles donation letter from the beginning of this month. I am very moved by your generosity, and am so deeply grateful for your support of the vision of this blog.
As things currently stand, I’ll be making a $30 contribution to the Cambodia AIDS Project, as promised. My plan is to contribute 10% of the total donations received by June 30 to this wonderful organization — so you still have a few days if you’d like to contribute to this effort. The donation button is included below, and thank you again!
~Maia
"Walking the Kora" by epidemiks (Flickr Creative Commons)
You might remember that back in April I wrote a post on the 3 Things That Really Bother Me (about myself). In that post, I shared three behaviors I engage in that are out of alignment with my professed values as a human being and socially engaged Buddhist:
1) I pay taxes.
2) I drive a car.
3) Many of my purchases support huge corporations rather than people right in my community.
And I vowed to make some changes.
The Jizo Chronicles 