Month: May 2020

A conversation with scholar Evan Thompson about his new book Why I Am Not A Buddhist and why Western Buddhism could use more non-Buddhist friends. Sometimes, Buddhists think they have all the answers. Scholar Evan Thompson calls that attitude “Buddhist exceptionalism.” In his new book, Why I Am Not a Buddhist, Thompson offers a truly compelling critique of Buddhist exceptionalism and of modern Buddhism as a whole. But he doesn’t reject Buddhism outright. In fact, he identifies himself … Sam Littlefair- Why Evan Thompson Isn’t a BuddhistRead more

Enso as defined by John Stevens, author of Sacred Calligraphy of the East Enso, a Japanese word meaning “circular form” and usually translated into English as “Zen circle,” is the symbol supreme of Buddhist enlightenment. Right from the beginning of the Buddhist tradition, enlightenment was compared to the “bright full moon” and a “great round mirror.” In the biography of the Prajnaparamita master Nagarjuna, it states that whenever he taught in public, the master would appear as a … What is an Enso?Read more