Tag: arts

No Toast, No Marmalade: Srimala in conversation with Maitreyabandhu

Srimala has played a crucial part in the life of the Triratna Buddhist Order – as Public and Private Preceptor, as College Member, and as beloved friend to so many. What many people may not know about her is that for years now she has been writing poems about her life, about living at Maes Gwyn in Wales, about her family and friends, about her partner Subhuti, and about hedgehogs, toast and the lack of marmalade.

So we’re celebrating...

Buddhist Film Nights in Hastings

Chris McKenna is a mitra practicing with the Hastings sangha on the south coast of England. Five years ago, after discussion with friends, Chris approached the local independent cinema - The Electric Palace - about the possibility of showing regular screenings of films that would be of interest to the local Buddhist community.
 
Initially the cinema was reluctant and asked if he could guarantee that twenty five of the fifty seats would be filled. Obviously he couldn’t...

Harold Bloom: the Embattled Canon and the Experiential Critic

This is a guest post by Vishvapani, re-published here from an early issue of The Western Buddhist Review. 


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The Western Canon
By Harold Bloom
Macmillan, London 1994, pp. 567

1. Introduction: contemporary criticism’s questions and answers
What should be our central question in approaching literature? The celebrated American literary critic Harold Bloom proposes one: What is literature for? This question may sound obvious, but it is not one with...

Culture's Peak: An Interview with Harold Bloom by Vishvapani

This interview with the literary critic Harold Bloom was first published in Dharma Life, 5, Summer 1997. Harold Bloom died on October 14th 2019.

Vishvapani is a writer, broadcaster and Buddhist mindfulness teacher. His writing can be found at Wise Attention.

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When I first encountered Harold Bloom’s work, I discovered a remarkable mixture. Bloom is Professor of Humanities at Yale University, and is widely considered America’s leading literary critic. His many books combine an enormous breadth of reading...