Have you been enjoying the bright beautiful full moon? Western people see a man’s face in the moon, while Eastern people see a hare pounding rice cake. Why? In the East we learn the story of the hare in the moon as children, and we associate it, in the form of bright round rice cakes, with celebrations such as new year’s day. The presence of the hare comes from an ancient Buddhist story from India.

In an early incarnation, the future Buddha was born as a hare, and he freely gave his life out of compassion for a stranger in need. This story was beautifully told in a poem by the 19th-century Zen monk and poet Ryokan. I read his poem to the morning meditation group at our center recently, on the day of the full moon, and I’d like to share my translation of it with you now.

“The Hare in…

I visited Costa Rica to attend the Fourth Global Alliance Summit for Ministries and Departments of Peace from September 17 through 23. It started with the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and second term president Oscar Arias’ address and ended with that of the Vice Minister of the new Ministry of Justice and Peace.

This country became the third to have a Ministry of Peace after the Solomon Islands and Nepal. The atmosphere and content of the conference with 102 delegates from 21 countries were warm and wonderful. The conference was held in open green space at Quinta del Sol (Call of the Sun).

Costa Rica (Rich Coast) has 5% of the world’s biodiversity in its 0.1% of the planet’s land, and it relinquished capital punishment in 1877 and its military force in 1949. Six percent of its budget goes to education, and its literacy rate is 97.5%. Its ecology and tradition of…