Its telling that author Shyam Selvadurai initially had trouble finding the appropriate material for the irreverent Way Back When event at the University of Calgary, which will have Selvaduraiand fellow writersIan Williams, Aritha van Herk and Larissa Laireading embarrassing material they wrote as teenagers.

Its not that the Giller-shortlisted author wasnt game, but when he went into his parents basement in suburban Toronto to search for some of theturgid prose he wrote in his salad days, he discovered he had thrown most of itout.

I had something I had written my first year in Canada, explainsSelvadurai. Its an embarrassing play. Itsso embarrassing. I wont say anything else about it.

Itsnot surprising that Selvaduraithrew out most of the literature that didnt meet his exacting standards. The Sri Lankan-born writeris known for fussing over his writing until it is just right. It took him 13 years to write his fourth novel, 2013s ambitious Hungry Ghosts, which tells the story of a gay man of mixed Tamil and Sinhalese lineage who travels from Toronto back to Sri Lanka to visit his ailing grandmother.

He is an authorwhose art leaves him in a constant state of anxiety that requires him to think long and hard about the writing process. Which makes him a perfect candidate for U of Cs Distinguished Visiting Writer, a week-long engagement where the author will do variousevents.

He took some time to chat with the Calgary Herald.

Q: Obviously, Thursdays Way Back When at U of C is supposed to be fun, but do you hope that youngwriters in the audience might also be encouraged by the fact thatevenaward-winningauthors had to start somewhere andthat they often beganwith more ambition than skill?

A: (laughs) I hope so, but I dont really know. I think if you are meant to write you just go ahead and do it no matter what. Its something that burns in you, a burning passion. Those who are meant to keep writing will write. Thats my feeling about it.

Q: On Friday, you will be at the Esker Foundation in Inglewood to talk about Write to Reconcile project, which you founded in your native Sri Lanka as a way to help the country heal after decades of civil war. Why did you think creative writing would help heal?

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Shyam Selvadurai uses Buddhism as cultural link

Its telling that author Shyam Selvadurai initially had trouble finding the appropriate material for the irreverent Way Back When event at the University of Calgary, which will have Selvaduraiand fellow writersIan Williams, Aritha van Herk and Larissa Laireading embarrassing material they wrote as teenagers.

Its not that the Giller-shortlisted author wasnt game, but when he went into his parents basement in suburban Toronto to search for some of theturgid prose he wrote in his salad days, he discovered he had thrown most of itout.

I had something I had written my first year in Canada, explainsSelvadurai. Its an embarrassing play. Itsso embarrassing. I wont say anything else about it.

Itsnot surprising that Selvaduraithrew out most of the literature that didnt meet his exacting standards. The Sri Lankan-born writeris known for fussing over his writing until it is just right. It took him 13 years to write his fourth novel, 2013s ambitious Hungry Ghosts, which tells the story of a gay man of mixed Tamil and Sinhalese lineage who travels from Toronto back to Sri Lanka to visit his ailing grandmother.

He is an authorwhose art leaves him in a constant state of anxiety that requires him to think long and hard about the writing process. Which makes him a perfect candidate for U of Cs Distinguished Visiting Writer, a week-long engagement where the author will do variousevents.

He took some time to chat with the Calgary Herald.

Q: Obviously, Thursdays Way Back When at U of C is supposed to be fun, but do you hope that youngwriters in the audience might also be encouraged by the fact thatevenaward-winningauthors had to start somewhere andthat they often beganwith more ambition than skill?

A: (laughs) I hope so, but I dont really know. I think if you are meant to write you just go ahead and do it no matter what. Its something that burns in you, a burning passion. Those who are meant to keep writing will write. Thats my feeling about it.

Q: On Friday, you will be at the Esker Foundation in Inglewood to talk about Write to Reconcile project, which you founded in your native Sri Lanka as a way to help the country heal after decades of civil war. Why did you think creative writing would help heal?

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Author uses Buddhism as cultural link between two cultures

Readers picked the Faroe Islands as their top place to visit next year 'Best of the world' list includes Sark in the Channel Islands Other places to see includeHyderabad, India and Oklahoma City

By Chris Kitching for MailOnline

Published: 03:41 EST, 26 November 2014 | Updated: 06:20 EST, 26 November 2014

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If you're looking for inspiration for next year's holiday, this list could point you in the right direction.

National Geographic Travelerhas picked 20 destinations that holidaymakers must visit in 2015 as part of its annual 'best of the world' feature.

Readers chose the Faroe Islands as their top destination, while the magazine's editors picked a cross-section of 'must-see' places, including India's literary hub, the soulful island of Corsica, and the heart of Japanese Buddhism.

Here, MailOnline Travel picks its favourite seven.

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National Geographic Traveler reveals its top destinations for 2015

Dhammananda. Picture by Gakuro via Wikimedia commons

Many in the Thai state, clergy, and mainstream population are in a tizzy over one woman named Dhammananda. As a Bhikkuni, a Theravada Buddhist nun, shes raised hackles for much of the past decade by attempting to reestablish the Bhikkuni lineage in Thailand. Although these nuns exist elsewhere in the world, Thai Buddhists have denied womens ability to take the same monastic vows as men for ages. This spiritual embargo is just one egregious example of the ways in which Buddhism, theoretically an egalitarian faith, gets bogged down in a mire of misogyny and cultural mores from region to region, failing to live up to its noblest values. But Dhammananda, who was ordained in Sri Lanka by more woman-positive Theravada monks in 2003, now operates an all-nun temple a couple of hours outside of Bangkok and helps to ordain other women. She is, in Thailand, the avatar of an emergent Buddhist feminism, using the logic and tools of her faith to push for equal spiritual rights and access for women in her nation and beyond.

While Buddhist history is full of Bhikkunis and other prominent women, and Buddhist theology can even be used to break down gender as a construct, its worth acknowledging that theres plenty in the faiths scriptures that can be weaponized in the name of patriarchal control. Stories abound of the Buddha urging women to be doting wives and Buddhist nuns exist separate from and under very different rules than monks. Apologists explain away these disturbing blips as pragmatic artifacts of the Buddhas eraa radical religious ideology making accommodations for its own existence within a rigid social structure. Some just see these old stories as irrelevant. They say Buddhism is a means by which women and other marginalized peoples can potentially construct a new identity or gain a new status defined by faith and spiritual merit rather than gender or birth. But regardless of the theoretical potential of abstract Buddhism, the fact remains that its pretty easy to use the faith as a tool in the perpetuation of a misogynistic society.

Bhikkuni in Korea, Chikchi Monastery. Photo by nyana_ponika via Flickr.

Thai society is a particularly egregious example of hijacking religion in the name of a pro-male status quo. Becoming a Bhikku (a male monk) brings great social status and material rewards for men, but in Thai Buddhism, women are limited to the role of Mae Chiessentially the spiritually, socially, and materially inferior handmaidens of monks. The Thai Buddhist clergy have gone so far as to suggest that Bhikkunis never truly existed, that women cannot attain equal spiritual status as men, and that, as good Buddhists, women in abusive relationships should accept their fate as karma. And variations on this unfortunate dynamic play out all over the world, as in Western Buddhist circles where a trickle of sex scandals continually reminds people of the potential abuse and coercion male spiritual leaders of any faith can wield over devotees.

But rather than turn away from Buddhism, many women have embraced the egalitarian ideals of the faith as tools to undermine patriarchic societies. Thai Bhikkunis write beautifully about taking their vows because they saw faith as a source of progress rather than traditionalism. This kind of Buddhist feminism has taken root far beyond Thailand as well, especially in places like America and Europe where many of the early disciples of Buddhist teachers and leaders were women. Unsettled by misogynistic undertones and passages in Buddhist history, society, and literature, these young Buddhist communities have sought to gender-neutralize liturgies, recover female Buddhist history and icons from the mists of time, and set up collaborative organizations, helping other women across the world gain religious access and education traditionally denied to them.

Bhikkunis like Dhammananda and their allies have inspired a flowering of female leadership and engagement in Buddhism the world over. These Buddhist feminists, whether by bucking norms or by engaging in meaningful theological dialogue with their male peers, are opening up ever more space for women to participate in and enjoy the social and spiritual fruits of Buddhism. Hopefully, if they continue on their current track, they may be able to finally align Buddhisms rough reality with its idealistic egalitarian promise.

Excerpt from:
Female Monks Challenge Buddhisms Misogynistic Tendencies

Nov 20, 2014, DHNS:

The film festival 'Inner Path' promotes Asian cinema themed around Buddhist culture, history and art

Entering its third year, Inner Path, organised by the Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) presents Buddhist philosophy and aesthetics through various creative forms feature films, exhibitions, an art camp, painting demonstrations, and musical performances. The objective of the four-day festival, an annual event from November 21 to 24, is to promote an understanding and appreciation of the art and philosophy of Buddhism along with interactions and participation by the audiences with the scholars and filmmakers.

The festival will open with a recital by the internationally-renowned singer Nun, Ani Choying Drolma from Nepal, and will close with a performance by the celebrated Kung-fu Nuns from Ladakh.

The festival comprises discourses by Geshe Jangcup Choeden, who has been appointed by the Dalai Lama as the abbot of the prestigious and historic Gaden Shartse Monastery and Dato Ananda Kumaraseri, career-ambassador, who is well known for espousing the concept of Living by Buddhism and applying the tenets in daily life.

Around 16 feature and documentary films will be screened and there will be an art and photography exhibition by 20 artists whose work is related to Buddhism.

A Thangka painting demonstration by the well known artist Sidharth, an exhibition presented by Chokyi Palmo on the Magic Life of the Tibetan Yogi Milarepa, and a panel discussion by artists and filmmakers are the other highlights of the event.

The films which will be shown includes three films from the US by John Bush Dharma River, Prajna Earth and Vajra Sky over Tibet and two films by Royston Tan from Singapore Little Note and Popiah. Indian filmmakers Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam too will screen their films.

Inner Path, festival of Buddhism will be held over four days from November 21 to 24 at the Alliance Francaise de Delhi.

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Lighting lives of millions through Buddhism