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In-depth Stories
Please enjoy this collection of longer stories that cover a wide range of topics—from pilgrimage to student milestones, from interviews with teachers to explanations of aspects of Buddhist practice. For our most recent published content, including video, audio, blog posts, and more, see What’s New!
His Holiness the Dalai Lama Gives His 34th Kalachakra Initiation
Mandala is pleased to present two reports on the January 2-14, 2017, Kalachakra initiation in Bodhgaya, India, the 34th such initiation His Holiness has granted and the fifth one in Bodhgaya. The first report is by free-lance reporter Cynthia Karena, ... Read more »
Dieter Kratzer on Becoming a Teacher
Dieter Kratzer is an FPMT registered in-depth teacher who has been teaching the Dharma for forty years. He spoke with Mandala associate editor Donna Lynn Brown about his development as a teacher from the early 1970s to the present day. ... Read more »
Dhi! Ven. Tenzin Namjong on Debate, Study, and Life at Sera Je
Ven. Tenzin Namjong (Matthew Pasion) was born in 1977 in Hawai’i, USA. He ordained in 2007 and is currently in the tenth year of the geshe studies program at Sera Je Monastery in South India. This interview brings together a ... Read more »
Teaching Buddhism, Spreading Dharma
When did Tibetan Buddhism come to the West? In 1958 Geshe Wangyal established a monastery in New Jersey where several of the first Americans to learn Tibetan studied in the 1960s. Sakya lama Dezhung Rinpoche arrived in the USA in ... Read more »
Strasbourg, France Hosts His Holiness the Dalai Lama
By Cynthia Karena; Photos by Olivier Adam Strasbourg, France hosted His Holiness the Dalai Lama on September 17 and 18, 2016. His Holiness taught from Nagarjuna’s Commentary on Bodhichitta, conferred an Avalokiteshvara initiation, and gave a public talk entitled “Ethics ... Read more »
Human Spirit: Bridging Buddhism and Psychoanalysis in Israel
By Ven. Sangye Khadro The news about Israel in the international media is usually gloomy, but, as is the case everywhere, there are bright stories that don’t make the headlines. One such story is a new project, the Human Spirit ... Read more »
Cultivating Compassion: Geshe Thupten Jinpa Brings Dharma into the Secular World
In May 2015, Geshe Thupten Jinpa, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s principal English-language interpreter, came to Maitripa College in the United States to talk about his newest book A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to Be Compassionate Can Transform Our ... Read more »
Animal Welfare in the Aftermath of the 2015 Nepal Earthquake
The massive April 25, 2015, earthquake in Nepal brought devastation to the country’s people, economy and culture. Many in the international FPMT community responded to the crisis by offering prayers and making donations to FPMT’s Nepal Earthquake Support Fund . ... Read more »
Finding Freshness: Ven. Losang Drimay Attends the Interfaith Gethsemani Encounter IV
In May 2015, Ven. Losang Drimay, teacher and resident at Land of Medicine Buddha in Soquel, California, was one of 12 Buddhists to meet with 17 Catholics at Gethsemani Encounter IV. The first Encounter took place nearly 20 years earlier ... Read more »
How Do Holy Objects Work?
By Ven. Tenzin Legtsok Recently, a Dharma friend asked me a question which comes up often in relation to holy objects such as stupas, sutras, and mantras. “So, there’s a story in the lam-rim about a fly unintentionally going around ... Read more »
The Inside Story: Microfilm, Holy Objects, and the Passion of Tai Vautier
By Donna Lynn Brown Who hasn’t spun a prayer wheel? Whether a massive work of art that we propel with our whole bodies, a desktop ornament we twist with our fingertips, a decorated paint can on a spoke or a ... Read more »