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MANDALAY, Myanmar (AP) -- Shunned by Myanmar's new government and its Buddhist hierarchy, a nationalist monk blamed for whipping up at times bloody anti-Muslim fervor said he feels vindicated by U.S. voters who elected Donald Trump to be president. Ashin Wirathu, a high-profile leader of the Myanmar Buddhist organization known as Ma Ba Tha, drew parallels between his views on Islam and those of the Republican president-elect. Trump's campaign was rife with anti-Muslim rhetoric and proposals that included banning Muslims from entering the country and heightening surveillance of mosques. The form his actual policies will take remains unclear.

IMAGE: Activists dressed as Chinese soldiers and a Tibetan monk perform a street drama depicting the Tibetan uprising 52 years ago against Chinese rule. Photograph: Pichi Chuang/Reuters Tibet continues to be an enigma to all visitors. My two visits have been no different. One sees massive Chinese investment in road and railway infrastructure. Modern skyscrapers are coming up at a frenetic pace to house migrants from the mainland. Yet, Tibet presents a sight of a state under foreign siege. A deceptive calm hides the underlying tension. There is no cheer in the air. The story of Tibet is a saga...

For centuries, Buddhist nuns have been banned from practicing the deadly martial art of kung fu, but a few years ago the Druk Amitabha Mountain nunnery in Nepal became the home of the world’s first first order of kung fu nuns. Traditionally, the inherently patriarchal Buddhist monastic system has nuns performing only the most meanial of domestic tasks, while the monks can lead prayers and occupy powerful positions. Nuns are perceived as inferior to monks and usually spend their time working in the kitchens and gardens of Buddhist monasteries. Learning ancient martial arts is definitely off limits for them, so...

A local Citgo gas station recently changed into a "Mukti" gas station. I tried to do some research on Google to find out who Mukti is, but could not find out who really is behind that company. I suspect it is some Muzzie enterprise, and therefore I wouldn't touch it with a 10 ft. pole. Does any FReeper know anything about this company? Apparently it's quite local for the time being, hasn't gone national or even regional.

“Allahu Akbar”! The tinny P.A. system tore asunder the pre-dawn peace and quiet. I was jolted in my mind, almost like experiencing a car wreck, suddenly and without any warning. This totally incongruous sound intruded upon and encompassed everything, causing even the birds to rustle in the darkness. It was just after 4 a.m. I was seated underneath the holy Maha Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya, in the state of Bihar in India. It was a few days past the full moon of May 2004, a few days past Veesak. This was my second visit to this unparalleled location, the...

Long-lost paintings have been discovered on the walls of Cambodia's ancient Angkor Wat temple, thanks to the keen observations of an Australian National University (ANU) researcher. The ancient paintings date back almost 500 years and depict deities, animals, boats and the temple itself, giving historians a new understanding of life in a relatively unknown period of Cambodia's history. Rock art researcher Noel Hidalgo Tan discovered the hidden images while working as a volunteer at an archaeological excavation in Angkor Wat during a university break in 2010... It was only when Tan enhanced the images on his computer that the paintings...

Buried relics uncovered at Angkor Wat. Japanese archaeologists have made a rare underground find of relics at the temples of the Angkor Wat complex in Cambodia. The archaeology team comes from from Sophia University, a Jesuit school in Tokyo. It dug up 103 pieces of Buddhist statues in mid-March, at Banteay Kdei temple, one of the dozens of temples built near the northern Cambodian town of Siem Reap between the 9th and 14th centuries. The pieces likely date back to the Angkorian period from the reign of Jayavarman VII, who ruled at the end of the 12th century. Cambodian...

For archaeologists and historians interested in the ancient politics, religion and language of the Indian subcontinent, two UCLA professors and their student researchers have creatively pinpointed sites that are likely to yield valuable transcriptions of the proclamations of Ashoka, the Buddhist king of northern India's Mauryan Dynasty who ruled from 304 B.C. to 232 B.C. In a study published this week in Current Science, archaeologist Monica Smith and geographer Thomas Gillespie identified 121 possible locations of what are known as Ashoka's "edicts." First they isolated shared features of 29 known locations of Ashokan edicts, which were found carved into natural...

..I was having a panic attack.What I wanted to know was: why now – my life was going uncharacteristically well – and what could I do about it? “You need to think about death for five minutes every day,” Ura replied. “It will cure you.” “How?” I said, dumbfounded. “It is this thing, this fear of death, this fear of dying before we have accomplished what we want or seen our children grow. This is what is troubling you.” “But why would I want to think about something so depressing?” “Rich people in the West, they have not touched dead...

In the southeastern Chinese city of Quanzhou, a well-known Buddhist monk named Fu Hou has been mummified and encased in gold leaf. According to The Associated Press, it's "a practice reserved for holy men in some areas with strong Buddhist traditions" and was done to honor Fu Hou's dedication to the religion. Li Ren, the Chongfu Temple's abbot, said that after the 94-year-old's death in 2012, "the monk's body was washed, treated by two mummification experts, and sealed inside a large pottery jar in a sitting position," according to the wire service. Video published by The Daily Telegraph showed the...

“Allahu Akbar”! The tinny P.A. system tore asunder the pre-dawn peace and quiet. I was jolted in my mind, almost like experiencing a car wreck, suddenly and without any warning. This totally incongruous sound intruded upon and encompassed everything, causing even the birds to rustle in the darkness.

China recently made global headlines when many of its restaurants sacked robot waiters. Apparently, the machines did not ‘handle’ customers well. The owners had to wake up to the reality that the robots lacked human touch and cannot replace human staff. Despite this setback, China continues to dream big in the robotics space. For the past two days, Chinese social media sites Weibo and WeChat were filled with images of Xian’er, a chubby monk who lives in Longquan Temple in Beijing. What’s interesting is that Xian’er is a robot. Like any other monk, he adorns a yellow robe. Interestingly, he...

According to Dr. Joel Mathews, the phrase "In God We Trust" was first printed on our coins in 1864 and on paper bills in 1957. It had been proposed that "Our Country, Our God, Our Trust" be used, but that was shortened to be able to stamp the motto onto coins. Kansas State University Polytechnic's March Civic Luncheon began with Kansas Weslyan University's Dr. Philip Meckley asking: o How can we look at comparative religious traditions? o How can we live with differences for the sake of our human community? Matthews, a K-State Polytechnic instructor, began the lecture by saying...

Kozen Sampson, a Buddhist monk and co-founder of the Trout Lake Abbey retreat, said he was attacked Monday during a visit to Hood River. He doesn't remember much, but says a man, who seemingly thought he was Muslim based on his clothing, attacked him for no reason. "I pulled over, someone ran up and yelled. I turned around, they kicked the door, hit me in the side of the face and knocked my head into the frame of the car," Sampson said. "I do remember [him yelling] an F bomb [about] Muslims, and that was it." But instead of anger...

Bangkok-based Buddhist monk Maha Aphichat is among a growing group of Thai monks who feel their religion is under threat from Islam.Anti-Islamic sentiment is brewing in Thailand, spurred-on by Buddhist monks who feel that their religion is under threat from Islam. This fear mongering has been exacerbated by the ongoing political conflict within Thai Buddhism, the 12-year-old armed-insurgency in Thailand’s deep south, and the growing influence of Buddhist radicals in neighboring Myanmar. Bangkok-based Buddhist monk Maha Aphichat is unafraid of speaking his mind. The 30-year-old gained notoriety last October, after he urged Thai Buddhists on social media to burn down...

The friend who allegedly supplied the Southern California jihadist couple with the guns used in last week's terror attack and who sources said could soon be charged in connection with the case presented himself to friends as "laid back" but seemed to be in constant personal conflict. Enrique Marquez was married, but didn't live with his wife. He had converted to Islam but confided in a mosque worker that he wanted to become a Buddhist. He could be witty and laugh at himself, but often posted dejected missives on Facebook. And he was reportedly not a particularly pious Muslim and...

Dalai Lama says God will not help us in the wake of ISIS Paris attack because 'humans have created this problem and we cannot solve it through prayers' Spiritual leader said there was 'no basis or justification for killing others' Said rise of suicide bombings could not be countered 'only through prayer' 80-year-old spoke out after terrorists murdered 129 people in Paris attacks The Tibetan spiritual leader said the rise of suicide bombings could not be countered 'only through prayers' and described the terrorists as 'short-sighted'. He spoke out after extremists went on the rampage through Paris in an attack...

An atheist professor said Tuesday that it's acceptable to criticize Christians but not Muslims, because he does not "fear" retaliation from Christians. "I know what keeps me from critiquing Islam on my blog is just fear," Phil Zuckerman said at a discussion on religious liberty at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. "I've got three kids. "So I know I can say anything about Christianity or Mormonism, and I'm not living in fear, which is a testament to Christianity and Mormonism, and that's wonderful. Thank you," said Zuckerman, who is a self-described atheist and professor of secular studies at Pitzer College...

A Buddhist monk successfully finished the "doiri" (entrance into the hall), a ritual of fasting and prayer that is part of the "sennichi kaihogyo" (1,000-day walk) monk training, on Oct. 21 -- becoming the 13th person since the end of World War II to complete the grueling procedure. Kogen Kamahori, 41, chief monk of Zenju-in at Enryaku-ji temple in Otsu, became the first person to successfully complete the doiri since the monk Endo Mitsunaga did so eight years ago. Sennichi kaihogyo refers to the 1,000 days of training that take place over a period of seven years for Buddhist monks...

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders Tuesday night during the first round of Democratic debates said the mentally ill in this country need more support. The comment came in response to a question asked about mass shootings like the one that claimed 10 lives – including the shooter – and injured nine others earlier this month at a community college in Oregon.While Sanders didn’t lay out any specific plans, he did say that health insurance should be provided to all Americans regardless of income.One Yale researcher, who himself struggled with the urge to kill, created a resource for would-be killers going through...