No one can pinpoint the exact date that Buddhist doctrines came from China to Japan, but the best guess is that the historic transfer took place in the year 538 A.D. The written record of… Read More
Buddhism’s Mysterious Journey from China to Japan
The Detox Myth: Teas and Diets
There are hundreds of versions of so-called detoxification diets available these days, but what are the facts behind their effectiveness and safety? Authoritative medical sources have weighed in on several of the more popular regimens… Read More
Kintsugi: A Japanese Art of Brokenness and Beauty
Kintsugi is a Japanese art of pottery which emphasizes brokenness and the worn nature of objects as being beautiful. For those of you coming here to learn how to say “beautiful in Japanese, this is it: Utsukushi-sa or 美しさ.… Read More
14 Films for an Eight-fold Path: Buddhist Cinema at its Timeless Best
Buddhism is an outsider among religious traditions when it comes to cinema. Indeed, given the tradition’s 2,500-year history and millions of followers, only a handful of overtly Buddhist films have been made and fewer have… Read More
The Hidden World of Vipassana Meditation
Vipassana meditation, or insight meditation, is now one of the most widely known Buddhist practices. There are meditation centers on every continent and in most major cities. Yet, this form of mindfulness contemplation is at… Read More
Taking Refuge: How Retreats Change Lives
The term “taking refuge” has different meanings to different people, but to the world’s Buddhists those words have a special, powerful definition. For most of the 540 million adherents of the second-oldest religious practice, there… Read More
Tea in History: Sri Lanka, Japan, China and India
Perhaps more than any other single crop, any individual person, indeed any social or political movement, tea has been at the forefront of human history for the past 1,000 years. In India, China, Japan and… Read More
The Way of Breathing
Breath is life. It sounds almost comical to say that there is a correct and incorrect way to breathe, but medical science agrees with that assertion. There are indeed “efficient” as well as counterproductive ways… Read More
Top Trends: Sommeliers, Tea Bars Popping Up Everywhere
There is no doubt that this era will be called, among other things, the decade of tea. The drink that plays second fiddle only to water is showing its social muscle in Europe, the U.S.… Read More
Where It All Came from: Steve Jobs and Japanese Aesthetics
Japan has a fascinating relationship to the question of technology, and it is an interest which sits comfortably next to Japanese appreciations of art and aesthetics. Part of the society is very old, and another… Read More