My sincerest apologies for missing the Chinese New Year on February 7. (I know, it’s February 18 now. But if this were 2007, it would have been today. You know how hard it is to remember it’s 2008 this early in the year!)

Just a day after Christians acknowledged Ash Wednesday, Chinese religions (Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism) and those Chinese of no particular religion celebrated the start of a new year. Check out a succinct rundown of the day and the celebrations here.

BBC also created a great photo feature containing pictures of various celebrations throughout the world.

Here’s wishing you a happy new year!

Filed under: Buddhism, Confucianism, Holidays, Taoism | 1 Comment »

Yesterday, I blogged about the latest question on On Faith. I also complained that On Faith did not include any voices from eastern religions.

I realize they weren’t responding to my blog. But perhaps a divine voice spoke to them and told them people like me were hoping for an eastern religion response. Today, they posted a response from Wendy Doniger, a professor of the History of Religion at the University of Chicago who teaches courses in Hinduism. She’s witty and to the point. And I love how she concludes that there is no conclusion.

Furthermore, I’m always dumbfounded at how eastern and western religions are thought to be so different…when really, they’re much more alike than they may seem at first glance. Doniger’s array of explanations seems to be a different take on common explanations given by western religions. After all, she herself admits that karma is really just another way of saying, “God (or god or gods or existence) is punishing me for something I did.”

Check out her post for more.

Filed under: Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Taoism | No Comments »