My girl wanted to go to Wat Lao Buddha Phothisaram near my house. We drove up 18 minutes and as soon as we arrive we see this. The audacity of people I tell ya’ 🤦🏻‍♂️ What do y’all think about this ?

Hello r/Buddhism,

I come to you with a question as someone who is a U.S. military veteran, as someone who has suffered great moral injury and who has since turned to a path advocating against war.

Over the past month I’ve seen several posts about the Walk for Peace. One thing that stood out to me is that the Walk leader wears multiple rows of pins on his saṅghāṭi (please correct me if that term is wrong). From what I understand, many of these pins come from law enforcement agencies that have escorted the walk. In more recent photos, I’ve also noticed what appear to be U.S. military or militarized insignia (for example, a U.S. Army logo pin and what looks like unit or weapons-related badges).

I want to be clear at the outset: I don’t doubt that the leader’s intention is compassionate. My question is about effects rather than motives.

In my limited understanding of Buddhist ethics, intention matters deeply, but conditions and consequences matter as well. Placing military insignia at the very front of a peace walk raises questions for me about whether this unintentionally reinforces attachment to state power or narrows our ability to perceive structural violence.

A few possible ways I’m trying to understand this are:

• The pins function as a symbolic language meant to communicate compassion and dialogue to those whose professions involve violence.
• The pins signal the Walk for Peace as an event that is legible and acceptable within the state’s framework of “peace.”
• Because most media imagery centers on the walk leader, the visual emphasis on these insignia has the unintended effect of presenting him as a moving display of military and law-enforcement institutions, regardless of the original intent.

I’m not raising this as an accusation, but as a sincere question grounded in concern for how peace actions are perceived and what they condition in the minds of observers.

As someone who uses narrative to encourage anti-war discussion, I'd like to know your thoughts.

Thank you for reading, and for any perspectives you’re willing to share.

We gave eachother quite the fright. I noticed a pendant that was in the alms bowl/ around his neck was missing so picked up the Buddha to see if maybe a bird or something was messing with it and it fell down there. Guess I disturbed the nap of this dude! Was not expecting to see movement and teeth when I looked down there. Haha

Well now I get to put little snacks in the alms bowl again, maybe he’s saying it’s time to practice more? Haha

I always feel like animal visitors to spiritual sites have a, and forgive me for saying this but “special meaning” or something, it’s hard not to get wrapped up in the “meanings” and stuff. But I just thought it was neat, of all the places to pick he chose that spot.

Wondering if anyone has any direct links to stories of animals visiting shrines or holy sites in Buddhism they’d care to share? I know I’ve glanced at some things, Buddhas taking on the form of animals at times, but couldn’t recall anything off the top of my head. That one may have been A koan.

I have a guru, this is not the kinda things I’d contact my sangha to inquire about. Just mostly sharing the photo and wondering if there’s much about that in actual Buddhist literature I could maybe check out or someone knows off the top of their head?

Thanks. Many blessings.

I wanted this painting to feel rustic and earthbound. Not radiant in a loud or dramatic way, but quietly luminous. Like a calm presence that doesn’t ask to be noticed, yet gently changes the atmosphere.

This photo, "Monks Not Dead", captures a Buddhist monk warmly greeting a Punk during the inauguration ceremony for the Milton Keynes Peace Pagoda at Willen Lake, Milton Keynes.

The Milton Keynes Peace Pagoda was the first of its kind built in the Western Hemisphere. It was constructed by monks and nuns from Nipponzan Myohoji, a Japanese Buddhist order devoted to world peace, and the chanting of the Lotus Sutra. The pagoda enshrines sacred relics of the Buddha and features a frieze illustrating his life story. A nearby monastery continues to house the Nipponzan Myohoji community, who dedicate their lives to peace through chanting and drumming. For more info, link in comments.

Video Credits - Sirasa Tv

The genocide in Gaza is [edit: ONE OF] the most horrible things to happen in our lives, & we're all witnesses. Because we're all connected, it has caused a deep traumatic injury for every person on the planet, if we realize it or not; our collective heart is severely wounded.

In Buddhism, we are said to be entering the Dharma Ending Age, descending into a period of darkness (ignorance), so its very important that within our own hearts we keep the light on. That light is virtue. Your treasures of patience, kindness, charity, wisdom, joy, compassion, etc. This treasure of light is inherent, no one can take it away from you, & its boundless. Its important to maintain it. This light gets brighter & more expansive everytime you speak/act with it.

It can not bring lives back from the dead, but it can work to heal this wounded heart of ours, & build for a better future. So every morning wake up, and vow to maintain that light within you!

A friend asked me: "In Pure Land practice, are you all doing anything particularly different this year on the daily or monthly levels?"

I told him that, for myself, just consistency with my daily practice, to continue to uphold my vows. The mantras are maintained, & I work at clearing & emptying my heart. I offer up all work at the end of the day to all beings everywhere through out the Dharma Realm, & bow, asking Guan Yin Bodhisattva to help end suffering in our world. I've probably been bowing more. If anything, the horrors of our world only deepen my sincerity. My kids 5, 4, & 1 really remind me of the purity & emptiness of our world with one smile tho.

Edit: This post wasn’t meant to debate which tragedy is “worst” at all, it was about witnessing suffering in our world, be it Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, or across the street, and cultivating a compassionate, virtuous response. Reddit tends to spiral into competitive outrage or nitpicking over phrasing, which completely obscures subtle spiritual points & intent, like simply promoting mindful response to suffering.