Author: SERENA MARIA DANIELS

Source: Orange County Register

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/article_1653747.php

ANAHEIM – Inside a second-story classroom at the Orange County Buddhist Church on Sunday, Kyuka Kanesaka, 60, worked quietly next to her son, Gankyo Nakamuri, 26, making small dogs out of willow tree wood.

The room full of Kimekoni figurines, ranging from the one-inch pups to 18-inch boys and...

Author: Kristen Holland

Source: The Dallas Morning News

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/DN-relbuddhists_14met.ART.South.Edition1.433dcc9.html

A member of Cambodia's royal family has spent more than a year painstakingly creating a three-story replica of a mausoleum at Angkor Wat, a temple complex northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

And he's been...

Source: The Buddhist Channel

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=52,3957,0,0,1,0

Bangkok, Thailand -- Hundreds of monks are expected to lead Buddhist disciples to march to Parliament on Monday to insist on a clause in the new Constitution declaring Buddhism as the national religion for the first time in history.

The monks will come from 500 temples in Bangkok and several other provinces. They will be joined by Buddhist lay people from across the...

Author: RACHEL COURTLAND

Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2007/April/16/local/stories/01local.htm

WATSONVILLE — The Watsonville Buddhist Temple opened its doors Sunday to celebrate spring with food, demonstrations and a display of history. Known as Hanamatsuri, the event also commemorates the birth of Buddha, which falls on April 8.

The temple's minister, the Rev....

Source: The Guardian

http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/mostpopular.var.1326142.mostviewed.everyone_enjoyed_the_thai_new_year.php

GLORIOUS sunshine soaked Thai New Year celebrations at Wanstead Flats on Sunday.

The Wat Buddharam Thai Buddhist event brought the community together to enjoy traditional festivities and raise £16,485 for their new religious centre which was destroyed in a fire last month.

...

Author: BARBARA KARKABI

Source: Houston Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/4712843.html

Tuklu Thondup's serene life in a secluded Tibetan monastery ended when he was 18.

It was 1958 and China had invaded Tibet. Thondup and his fellow monks crossed 1,000 miles of mountains and rugged country to reach India — a grueling trip that caused the death of his beloved teacher.

"He was like my...

Author: Babita Persaud

Source: Orlando Sentinel

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-temple1007apr10,0,5935767.story

Chueh Yang arrived in Orlando in 2001, her two suitcases packed with Buddhist prayer books, robes and a rice bowl.

When her monastery called her home to Taiwan just a few weeks ago, she went as she came, suitcases in tow.

Yang left behind a new temple and a congregation with a new youth group who hold...

Source: Radio Australia

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/asiapac/programs/s1893868.htm

Thailand is in the middle of drafting a new constitution. Many lobby groups have been voicing their opinions since the drafting process began last September. But one of the most controversial lobbyists is the Thai Buddhist clergy, who are again calling for the religion to be part of the new constitution.

HILL: Buddhism's influence on Thai culture is obvious to even a...

Author: Carol Reeves

Source: The Buddhist Channel/Corvallis Gazette-Times

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=65,3932,0,0,1,0

Corvallis, OR (USA) -- Tsering Gyaltsen has come a long way to settle in Corvallis as the teacher of a small but devoted group of students interested in learning the ancient practices of Tibetan Buddhism.

Born in western Tibet in 1945, Gyaltsen went into exile to India with his family at the age of 16....

Author: Dennis Fujimoto

Source: The Buddhist Channel/The Garden

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=65,3934,0,0,1,0

Kaua'i, Hawaii (USA) -- For youngsters, the pouring of the sweet tea over the figure of the Buddha was the highlight Sunday, when more than 300 Buddhists from around the island celebrated Hanamatsuri.

“It’s not very often that Hanamatsuri and Easter fall on the same day,” said Brian Yamamoto of...

Author: ALICIA DUPLESSIS

Source: The Daily Iberian

http://www.iberianet.com/articles/2007/04/07/news/news/news12.txt

If the Lao belief that the purity of water brings good luck is true, then the Laotian community in Broussard will reap a prosperous year.

Pouring rain and chilly temperatures Saturday did not stop the annual Laotian New Year celebration at the Wat Thammarattanaram Buddhist Temple, where hundreds of community...

Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin

http://starbulletin.com/2007/04/07/features/story03.html

Some island Buddhists will celebrate the birth of the religion's founder tomorrow in a Buddha Day celebration at Kapiolani Park.

After a 9 a.m. service at the Kapiolani Bandstand, the Hanamatsuri festival will continue with a bon dance, a puppet show of the birth of Buddha by Pacific Buddhist Academy students and bouncing castles for children. Snacks will be sold at food...

Author: S. Derrickson Moore

Source: The Buddhist Channel/Alamogordo Daily News

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=64,3928,0,0,1,0

TULAROSA, New Mexico (USA) -- It's the kind of rustic, hand-lettered sign you often see in the rural West, giving notice of a cattle crossing or the name of an isolated ranch. This sign offers directions "To the Buddhafield of Infinite Appearance."

It's just one indication of a growing presence of...

Source: The New York Times

Wire Service: Reuters

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/05/world/asia/05thai.html?ex=1176436800&en=45b07c8c87731468&ei=5070&emc=eta1

BANGKOK, Thursday, April 5 (Reuters) — A bomb was thrown into a mosque in Thailand’s rebellious south on Thursday, wounding at least 14 worshipers, a police official said.

About 100 people had gathered for morning...

Source: The Buddhist Channel/L.A. Times

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=65,3910,0,0,1,0

SAN JOSE, Calif. (USA) -- A federal judge in San Jose has taken the unusual step of ordering the Marine Corps to grant a reservist's request for a discharge as a conscientious objector.

Lance Cpl. Robert Zabala, 23, said he joined the Marines as part of a family tradition of military service. But he said he was shocked during boot camp here to find such a strong...