“Pour la Vie” (1901): Alexandra David-Néel‘s Forgotten Anarchist Philosophy of Life

Alexandra David-Néel’s importance as an early explorer, student and translator of Sanskrit and Tibetan Buddhism cannot be overstated. Her books remain today some of the clearest and most intimate expositions of Tibetan Buddhism as it was practiced in Tibet at the start of the 20th Century. She was perhaps the first European to write about […]

“Forgetting Self That Man Alone May Gain”

The Dharma of Dyer D. Lum, the First American Buddhist-Anarchist Tonight, on my bike ride home from work, I was visited by the spirit of the forgotten Abolitionist, Anarchist, and Buddhist, Dyer Daniel Lum. According to Tricycle, he was the first American to publicly claim to be a Buddhist, in 1875, which might make him […]

Buddhist Anarchism and Divination Beliefs in Shin Chae-ho’s The Fierce Strife Between Two Dragons

English machine translation of Kim Yong-Ha’s article Buddhist Anarchism in Shin Chae-ho’s “A Tale of Strife Between Two Dragons”

The Aspects of Buddhist Anarchism Reflected in Shin Chae-ho’s “Declaration of the Korean Revolution”

Translation of Kim Yong-Ha’s article about the Buddhist and Anarchist thought of revolutionary Shin Chae-Ho

Reinventing the Wheel

Archives of the buddhist peace fellowship The Buddhist Peace Fellowship was, at least in the West, the most influential organization of the “Engaged Buddhism” tendency in the late 20th Century. It is still active today but has declined in membership and influence since its heyday. To understand the politics of the BPF it is especially […]

White lotus, red turbans, black flags: revolutionary buddhist heretics

“The bodhisattva practices emptiness, but he does not realize emptiness…He considers peacefulness but does not seek extreme peace.” – Vimalakirti Sutra By way of (re)introduction Hello, my patient readers. Believe it or not, the work continues behind the scenes. It took me some time to come back around, but I am back on this project […]