BACKGROUND The influence of religion on demographic behaviors has been extensively studied mainly for Abrahamic religions. Although Buddhism is the world ́s fourth largest religion and is dominant in several Asian nations experiencing very low fertility, the impact of Buddhism on childbearing has received comparatively little research attention. OBJECTIVE This paper draws upon a variety of data ...

In this article, I defend Buddhism from Paul Waldau’s charge of speciesism. I argue that Waldau attributes to Buddhism various notions that it does not necessarily have, such as the ideas that beings are morally considerable if they possess certain traits, and that humans, as morally considerable beings, ought never to be treated as means. These ideas may not belong in Buddhism, and for Waldau’...

“What a wonderful book! Jeremy Safran has assembled an absolutely stellar group of writers and has himself contributed an illuminating introduction. The essays are riveting and the book is the rare edited collection with real thematic unity. If you think you might have an interest in the intersection of psychoanalysis and Buddhism, this is the place to start. If you already know you’re interest...

Contemporary Buddhists have in recent decades given the world outstanding examples of nonviolent activism. Although these movements have demonstrated great courage and have generated massive popular support, sadly, none of them has, as yet, prevailed. In this paper I will explore how nonviolent power was exercised in these cases. I will draw upon the work of nonviolent theorist Gene Sharp to he...

SINCE ancient times, human beings have always pondered philosophical questions relating to living organisms, the planet Earth and the universe itself. What is life? Are human beings special living organisms? What is that twinkling star in the night sky? What is the universe? How big is the universe and where does it begin and end? These are just a few questions. However, these questions can har...

The objectives of this research project were to observe and to interpret the shared experiences and common practices of the people who were practicing Tibetan Buddhism in Germany and how these experiences and practices changed their view of reality and the way they interpret the world. The methodology that I used was based on the methods developed by Nancy Diekelmann, with reference to interpre...

Damien and John Keown claim that there is important common ground between Buddhism and Christianity on the issue of euthanasia and that both traditions oppose it for similar reasons in order to espouse a "sanctity of life" position. I argue that the appearance of consensus is partly created by their failure to specify clearly enough certain key notions in the argument: particularly Buddhism, eu...