Search

The article reports on the International Buddhist College, which is located in Songkhla Province in Thailand. The college instructs in English and combines secular academics with monastic life. Monks, nuns, and lay people can focus on Buddhist studies including the Mahayana, Theravada, and Tibetan traditions. Although there is violence and unstable conditions in the region, the college itself has not been the target of separatist insurgency. The instability is blamed on the Thai government's assimulation policy for making the ethnically Malay Muslims a minority group.

Relates the experience of a Buddhist-philosophy professor during a stint teaching at the Buddhist Institute in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Percentage of Khmer who can read and write; Comparison between Khmer and U.S. students; Lesson learned from the teaching experience.

The article presents information on a lecture series on the history of Buddhism, conducted by professor Malcom David Eckel at Boston University at Boston, Massachusetts. The course that covers 2500-year history of Buddhism, is a historical survey of this religion from its origin. The course introduces the vitality and adaptability of this religion and its tradition.

The article presents information on the plans of the Tung Lin Kok Yuen Canada Foundation to set up Buddhism-studies programs for the students. The foundation headed by Robert Hung-Ngai Ho has committed nearly $13-million in 2000, over a 10-year period, to develop a Buddhism-studies program at the University of Hong Kong. The University of Toronto, which has an undergraduate program in Buddhism and Asian religions, will set up a visiting professorship with links to the other universities to promote research into the religion.

Deals with the opening of the Pacific Buddhist Academy, the first Buddhist high school in Hawaii on August 20, 2003.