May–June 2002, Volume 29
National Treasure Tapestry Illustrating Shakymuni Sermon to the Faithful
Reflections
Doing What Is Appropriate
by Nikkyo Niwano
Tips for Honing Selflessness
by Nichiko Niwano
In our daily lives, we usually exchange greetings with others without giving them any thought; but in making the effort to communicate directly from the heart, we can strip away the trappings of the ego and develop pure selflessness.
Essays
We Must Be Prepared to Share
by Robert Edward Green
A retired American minister reminds us that governments will often claim a religious basis for their conflicts, but the roots of the problem lie in the poverty affecting much of the world’s population.
Religion and the State
by I. Loganathan
In all human history the name of India’s great Emperor Ashoka, who reigned ca. 265–238 b.c.e., stands almost alone as a monarch who was so greatly influenced by the Buddha’s teachings that he adopted them not only in his own life but also in the benevolent way he ruled his people.
The Mandate of Dialogue: Practical Proposals
by Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki
Interview
A Pioneer in Reducing Prejudice
As if in response to what many see as the most basic need for world peace in our lifetimes, Eva Ruth Palmieri interviewed a multicultural teacher of intercultural relations who practices what he preaches: “Only by overcoming one’s own prejudices can a person live successfully.”
The Stories of the Lotus Sutra
The Enchanting World of the Lotus Sutra (1)
by Gene Reeves
This article represents the first installment in a new series of essays devoted to stories in the Lotus Sutra. Written by an American researcher on Buddhism and the Lotus Sutra, it offers fresh insights into how we can incorporate the teachings found in the sutra’s dramatic stories in our daily lives.
Buddhist Living
Warm Spring Sunlight at the End of the Tunnel
by Katsue Ishii
The story of a mother’s struggle to understand why her son refuses to go to school and why she has so much trouble dealing with it, through which she also learns how she can be a better mother, and how she can give others their freedom by giving them love.
Buddhist Sculpture
A Powerful Pair of Benevolent Kings
by Takeshi Kuno
These masterworks of the Kamakura period (1185–1333), believed carved by the sculptor Jokei, still serve as guardians of the deities on the altar of the Saikondo at the temple Kofuku-ji in Nara.
Gotama Buddha (54)
Gotama Goes to Vesali
by Hajime Nakamura
At the age of 80, Sakyamuni Buddha set forth on his final journey, during which he visited the prosperous city of Vesali, where he and his disciples stayed in the mango grove of the courtesan Ambapali. After hearing his teachings on mindfulness, she invited him and his entourage to a meal at her home, and later donated her grove to the Buddhist Sangha.
