David on Formosa

Democracy's Dharma: Religious Renaissance and Political Development in Taiwan is a new book by Richard Madsen. Madsen was formerly ordained in the Maryknoll Order which brought him to Taiwan in the late 1960s. He later left the order for an academic career. He is currently Professor of Sociology at the University of California.
Democracy's Dharma [...]

A candlelight vigil for Tibet was held at Freedom Square (自由廣場) in Taipei tonight. The event was organised by the Taiwan Friends of Tibet and the Tibet Religious Foundation of HH the Dalai Lama (representative office of the Tibetan Government-in-exile in Taipei). 

I only found out about the event in the afternoon, but was able to [...]

A march to commemorate the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising was held in Taipei today. The march was organised by the Taiwan Friends of Tibet. Several hundred people including members of the local Tibetan community and supporters of Tibet gathered at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. From there they marched through the streets of Taipei [...]

The 2007 International Conference on Religious Culture and Gender Ethics (宗教文化與性別倫理國際學術會議) was held over the weekend at Hsuan Chuang University (玄裝大學) in Xinzhu. 

I was one of the MCs at the conference. I made all the announcements in English, while Doris made the announcements in Mandarin. 

On the first day of the conference the keynote speech [...]

An article I wrote about the INEB Conference for Hongshi magazine (弘誓雙月刊) has now been published. I will post the article below in Chinese with English translation. I also wrote several posts about the conference and study tour in September. 
Also on 24-25 November there will be an International Conference on Religious Culture and Gender Ethics at [...]

Ling Jiou Mountain Monastery (靈鷲山) was established by Master Hsin Tao (心道法師) after he came to the mountain to practice meditation in 1983. It is located on the mountainside high above Fulong (福龍) on Taiwan's northeast coast. 

Buddha Eye Gate （天眼門） welcomes visitors to the monastery. It is built in a Tibetan style and the [...]

A while back I wrote about The Drummer (戰鼓), a Hong Kong - Taiwan co-production featuring Taiwan's U-Theatre (優人神鼓) Zen drumming group. It was released in Taiwan yesterday and I went to see it today.
The first part of the film is set in Hong Kong. It is here that Sid, played by Jaycee [...]

6 October was declared Global Day of Action in support of the democracy movement in Burma.  Despite the strong winds and rain bought by Typhoon Krosa the protest went ahead in Taipei this afternoon. More than 100 people braved the inclement weather to show their support for democracy and human rights in Burma.  

Most of [...]