Rebirth: Indian Buddhism under Modi (video)

Crystal Quintero and Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; BuddhistChannel.tv (buddhistnews.tv); "India Jones and the Election of Doom" (Daily Show with Jon Stewart)

The Daily Show's Jason Jones chases down look-alikes of India's new PM Narendra Modi in an attempt to interview him about a bloody piece of his past. (thedailyshow.cc.com)

 

Rebirth of Indian Buddhism under PM Modi

Senaka Weeraratna, Lankaweb, May 21, 2014

Newly elected prime minister will promote India’s rich Buddhist heritage to attract tourists and scholars and enhance India’s standing in the world.
 
NEW DELHI, India - The world’s first global Buddhist missionary, Anagarika Dharmapala, and the most talked about man in India today and perhaps in the entire policy and decision making world, Prime Minister designate Narendra Modi, share something in common. More

Bangladesh makes amends after anti-Buddhist rampage

Nicholas Farrelly, Myanmar Times, May 22, 2014

In contrast to Burma, the government moved quickly to rebuild and restore Buddhist buildings.

DHAKA, Bangladesh - “Who did this?” I asked a monk [in formerly Buddhist now Muslim "Bangla" or "West Bengal"] on a recent afternoon in Ramu, southeastern Bangladesh. “It was the Islamists,” he replied. He pointed to the marks beneath the glistening new paint where a Buddha’s head had been cleaved off and rented asunder. When asked about the culprits -- “miscreants” in the local application of English – he gave me a glimpse of monastic resignation. “I don’t know. They are people who don’t understand.” More

Lonesome Japanese Buddhist temple comes alive with cute anime characters
Yusuke Kato, Asahi Shimbun, May 19, 2014
TOKYO, Japan - Shoeizan Ryohoji Temple, tucked away in a residential area in western Tokyo, has a 400+ year history. But until just a few years ago, many locals didn’t even know the Nichiren Shu [devotional] sect Buddhist building was there. More

More from BCTV

• India: Buddhist sites' poor upkeep irks Intach
• A train trip in Buddhist India on the "Mahaparinirvana Express" explores the ancient Buddhist trail
• Ancient Buddhist temple found
• Vesak Greetings around the World
• Play explores Buddhist enlightenment 
• Buddhist Art of the Himalayas Show in Pasadena
• A Buddhist priest seeks enlightenment on the silver screen
• Can Buddhists be activists?
• Author Yalith Wijesurendra uncovers the truth behind Buddhism

Pacifica Radio on TV (coming soon)

Seven, Amber Larson, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Sonali Kohlhatkar (UprisingRadio.org)

Watts was transformed by Asia

Uprising may be coming to a TV near all of us. Today host Sonali Kohlhatkar announced that a cable station wants to carry the show turning a radio program into an audio-visual odyssey. 

 

The best part is that this would mean the entire Los Angeles branch of Pacifica, second only to the flagship station in Berkeley (KPFA FM), would be televised. And here all this time we were told THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED. Of course, it may not be. A crowd funding campaign is being launched to make it a reality:

• LISTEN: PLAY NOW (or download)

Who cares? What's so special about Pacifica?

Buddhist TV?

1. Suffering, 2. Thirsting, 3. Cooling

Zen philosopher/entertainer Alan Watts -- who is still played weekly only in L.A. (in what we call "Buddhist Radio," thanks to Roy of Hollywood Tuckman's Thursday-midnight and Sunday-morning broadcasts) -- called Pacifica "the only truly free radio station" anywhere.

 

It's radical, it sticks it to The Man, and even though it could be bolder and more forceful, it touches on topics no one in mainstream media dares to touch.

Buddhism has already come to television but has never been quite what it could be -- although we can't find the BuddhistChannel.TV on our sets yet.