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Buddhism

Cool Finds

Five Things to Know About the Diamond Sutra, the World’s Oldest Dated Printed Book

Printed over 1,100 years ago, a Chinese copy of the Diamond Sutra at the British Library is one of the most intriguing documents in the world

Xian'er, the robot monk, with its creator, Buddhist monk Master Xianfan.

Cool Finds

A Robot Monk Is Spreading Buddhist Teachings in China

An adorable robot serves up automated mantras

The hidden significance of the illustrations found on "The Cosmic Buddha," an iconic masterpiece from the collections of the Freer Gallery, is now being revealed thanks to 3D technology.

Curators Discover New Details in the Etchings on a 6th-Century Chinese Sculpture

A headless figure, cloaked in a robe covered with complex illustrations, is now better understood thanks to 3D technology

How many curls can you count?

Cool Finds

A Buddha in Japan Is Missing Half of Its Curls

What happened to the Buddha of Nara’s famous ‘do?

One of the colossal Buddha statues, before it was destroyed.

Planned Afghan Cultural Center Will Honor Ancient Statues Destroyed by the Taliban

The winning design will memorialize two ancient Buddha statues demolished in 2001

A Buddhist monk prays in a temple. Scientists recently discovered the mummified body of a Buddhist monk some say is in a long-term trance.

Cool Finds

Is This Mummy Dead…Or Meditating?

Some Buddhists claim this well-preserved monk is in a deep meditative state

Cool Finds

The “Tibetan Book of Buddhist Proportions” Show Exactly How to Draw the Buddha

Representations of the Buddha are highly particular

Monks celebrating Full Moon Day light thousands of small oil lamps around a pagoda in Pindaya, a small town near Inle Lake.

Photos: Burma’s Sacred Sites

Take a trip through this emerging destination with beautiful photos submitted to our annual photo contest

Lumbini in Nepal, identified as the Buddha’s birthplace

Archeologists Think They’ve Unearthed the Buddha’s Nativity Site

Legend has it that the Buddha’s mother, Queen Maya Devi, birthed her son at Lumbini while clutching the branch of a tree at that temple’s garden

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Opening Saturday: “Echoes of the Past: The Buddhist Cave Temples of Xiangtangshan”

International conservators have been concerned about Pagan's restorations since 1996, when Burma's ruling junta began cutting corners by whitewashing interior walls , using concrete as mortar and constructing temples, some from the ground up, with new pink brick .

Sacred and Profaned

Misguided restorations of the exquisite Buddhist shrines of Pagan in Burma may do more harm than good

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Kung Fu U.

At schools near Shaolin, the famous Buddhist temple, students from all over china vie to be the next Jet Li or Jackie Chan

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Minding the “Milkstone”

When works of art are pollen and rice, and even milk, the Hirshhorn Museum gives them extra-special care

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