clear heart, competition, craftsmen, inner calm, monks, refuge, soul, temple

A Temple Renovation: Monks’ Simplicity Vs. Craftsmens’ Ornateness

A magistrate once planned to rebuild two neighboring temples within the county. He aimed to educate and enlighten the people. A public notice was issued to inform the people about the temple’s renovation challenge. This notice attracted many bidders. After a thorough screening, two groups were selected: artisans and monks. The county magistrate outlined the ...

Emma Lu

Roof of Shitennoji Temple, Osaka, Japan.

Famen Temple: When Monks Encountered the Red Guards

In the north of Fufeng County, Baoji City in Shaanxi Province, exists the Famen Temple, built by the emperors of the Eastern Han Dynasty (A.D. 25-220). The underground palace pagoda in the temple enshrines a section of the authentic relic of Buddha Shakyamuni’s middle finger bone. Red Guards attack the Famen Temple In 1966, a ...

Michael Segarty

The Famen Temple.

The Warmth of Kindness: Two Monks’ Nighttime Conversation

One cold winter’s night, as a crescent moon hung high in the sky with stars twinkling all around, the white of the snow reflected the moonlight. The wind rustled through the trees next to an old temple with two monks. Inside the temple, under the faint candlelight, a young monk lamented to the abbot in ...

Tatiana Denning

AI-generated illustration of a Buddhist temple under the full moon.

Study Finds Medieval Monks Were ‘Riddled With Worms’

Research examining traces of parasites in the remains of medieval Cambridge residents suggests that local monks were almost twice as likely as ordinary working townspeople to have intestinal worms — despite monasteries of the period having far more sanitary facilities. A new analysis of remains from medieval Cambridge shows that local Augustinian friars were almost ...

Troy Oakes

A monk leaning on his staff.

Official Experiences Miracles After Helping a Framed Monk Obtain Justice

The framing of Monk Jingman In ancient China, under the reign of Queen Wu Zetian during the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 624-715), there lived a monk named Jingman who resided in Luquan Temple, Heng County. Monk Jingman was very upright, strictly followed the precepts of Buddhism, and conducted himself well.  However, other monks in the temple ...

Tatiana Denning

A monk sitting by a waterfall in meditation.

Marketing Combs to Monks in a Startling Way

A large company was looking to expand, so they hired a marketing director. Many people responded to the job posting. The hiring manager thought he would hold a competition instead of selecting one of the candidates by holding interviews. He decided the marketing task for the applicants would be to sell as many combs as ...

David Jirard

A large gathering of monks wearing orange robes.

Cambodian Monks Protest Against Chinese Casino

A group of Buddhist monks in Cambodia conducted a 10-day pilgrimage from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville this month together with a few environmentalists to protest against a Chinese casino. Located in the Koh Rong commune, the casino apparently violated coastal land laws. Stop the Chinese casino In May, local authorities forced the casino to shut ...

Max Lu

Cambodian monks.