As Thailand’s economy develops and grows, maintaining the delicate ecological balance remains a major challenge. As a consequence of extensive deforestation and widespread dam projects, the country is regularly affected by both flooding and droughts, but some Buddhist monks are actively working to protect the environment by integrating Buddhist principals with environmental awareness, consulting with government officials about environmental problems, and implementing sustainability projects, such as installing solar panels at Buddhist temples and helping villagers fashion environmentally friendly cottages out of mud and other naturally available materials. 

Hundreds of Buddhist temples in Japan are donating used ceremonial candles to provide much needed sources of light for underprivileged children across the world. In June alone some 7,800 partially used candles still with hours of use in them were packed into cardboard boxes and loaded on board a ship in Yokohama port to begin a three-month journey over sea and land to children in need in Afghanistan.

The presiding executive of the Jogye Order of South Korea has issued a public apology for the series of scandals that has enveloped the order and his leadership of the organization. Venerable Seoljeong, who heads South Korea’s largest Buddhist order, stated that he would not step down from his position immediately, however, insisting that the allegations against him are untrue.

Ani Choying Drolma, sometimes dubbed Nepal’s rock star nun in the media as a result of her successful career singing Buddhist chants and songs, has donated 10 million Nepalese rupees (more than US$90,000) to the government of Nepal to help fund the construction of suspension bridges in remote parts of the Himalayan nation that are currently only accessible by dangerous pulley crossings.

A new curriculum devised by the New Delhi government’s education department was launched by His Holiness the Dalai Lama on 2 July. Dubbed the “Happiness Curriculum,” it focuses on the concept of holistic education based on personal wellbeing through meditation, moral teachings, and mental exercises. The core idea is to produce sarvagun sampann (versatile) professionals and human beings who can serve society as happy individuals, and enhance the experiences and personalities of future generations, influencing positive national development. The curriculum is intended for 800,000 schoolchildren from nursery to class VIII at some 1,000 schools in New Delhi.

In 1996, Venerable Dr. Kusuma became the first Buddhist nun in 10 centuries to ordain in Sri Lanka. She later established a meditation center, wrote several books, and has given Dharma talks all over the world. An advocate of women’s ordination, Ven. Dr. Kusuma is credited with helping to revive the Theravada monastic tradition for Sri Lankan women.

Buddhist women—lay and monastic alike—make up half of the Fourfold Sangha. Naturally, they too should benefit from equal access to all Buddhist institutions, but the painful truth is that this ideal has not always been realized throughout history, and even today women continue to be underrepresented and denied rights and respect.

With a new law coming into effect later this month, Buddhist Temples across Japan will be able to rent out their spare rooms to tourists, opening up opportunities for temple stays across the country and allowing them to tap into Japan’s tourism boom.

As the United Nations marked the international Day of Vesak under the theme “Buddhist Contribution for Human Development,” in Thailand this month, the prime minister of Bhutan, Lyonchhen Dasho Tshering Tobgay, was invited to provide the keynote address for the Buddhist celebration, in which he spoke in detail on the growing need for global change founded in Buddhist values and based on a sustainable, holistic approach to development for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Buddhists in South Korea gathered on Tuesday to celebrate the Buddha’s 2,562nd birthday, an occasion marked by colorful lanterns, boy monks, and a joint inter-Korean prayer for peace.