May–June 2003, Volume 30
Religionists United in Prayer for Peace
Reflections
The Difficulty of Real Compassion
by Nikkyo Niwano
Counting Our Blessings
by Nichiko Niwano
We can only realize true happiness and be filled with the joy of life when we give thanks for all our blessings. Such gratitude is the key to being able to accept as precious everything that comes to us.
The Stories of the Lotus Sutra
Shariputra
by Gene Reeves
Although we often encounter the name of the monk called Shariputra, we do not know much about him. Sometimes portrayed as a dunce, it is to him that Shakyamuni expounded the second and third chapters of the Lotus Sutra. Just who was Shariputra, and what can we learn from his story?
Essays
The Other Side of Time
by Donald S. Harrington
Globalization for the Common Good
by Kamran Mofid
The Oneness of Religions
by Harold Rosen
All the major world religions teach the same broad set of moral and spiritual guidelines, this writer points out, and their view of the good person is essentially the same.
Interviews
To Look into the Face of Death Is to Ponder Life
An interview with Alfons Deeken
From even before the moment of our birth, human beings are inexorably moving toward death. To help us deal with the problem of life and death, Dr. Deeken advocates what he terms “death education,” through which he hopes others will gain a deeper respect for life.
Raising Questions Is Our Responsibility
An interview with UUA President William G. Sinkford
Last March 8, as a preemptive strike against Iraq by U.S. and U.K. forces was looming, many citizens and religionists in the United States and all across the world were apprehensive about the Bush administration’s determined choice of war and were calling for a peaceful resolution of the crisis. Against such a backdrop, Dharma World asked Rev. Sinkford, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association in North America, about how his organization was involved in efforts to prevent war.
Always Moving Towards Nirvana
An interview with British composer Adam Gorb
Buddhist Living
Peace of Mind Through Faith
by Yumiko Yokoyama
In this speech, which she delivered in Los Angeles on November 10, 2002, a grateful woman relates how the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha and the Lotus Sutra not only carried her safely through life’s vicissitudes, but also blessed her with the precious gift of life.
Buddhist Sculpture
Elegant Yakushi Nyorai from the Seventeenth Century
by Takeshi Kuno
In the main hall of Toji in Kyoto sits the Medicine Buddha, known in Japanese as Yakushi Nyorai. Although he carved it in the seventeenth century, the Buddhist sculptor Kosho brilliantly succeeded in expressing the delicate eighth-century style in which the original sculptures it replaced are thought to have been made.
Gotama Buddha (60)
The Four Great Instructions Taught at Bhoganagara
by Hajime Nakamura
We all need to decide for ourselves whether or not what we are told is an authentic teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha, by comparing it to the teachings found in the sutras and the Vinaya. By so doing, we will naturally become grateful for the Dharma.
