R. Gere 'Wisdom of Happiness' (Lion's Roar)

Richard Gere on “The Wisdom of Happiness” and the Dalai Lama’s message for our time

Magazine Nov. 2025 (lionsroar.com)

(Lion’s Roar) In the new film The Wisdom of Happiness, HH the Dalai Lama shares his timeless message of compassion and interconnection on the big screen.

In conversation with Lion’s Roar magazine Editor Andrea Miller, Richard Gere -- American Zen and Vajrayana Buddhist, actor, humanitarian, and one of the executive producers of the film -- reflects on the nature of true happiness, the roots of suffering, and how meeting the Dalai Lama transformed his life.

The Wisdom of Happiness premieres in theaters Oct. 2025 and, while best viewed on the big screen, it is also available for streaming. To find a screening at a nearby theater, visit: wisdomofhappinessfilm.com.

• The Roots of Good and Evil: Buddhist Texts translated from the Pali (Buddhist Publication Society)

ABOUT: Lion’s Roar is an independent non-profit foundation whose mission is to communicate Buddhist wisdom and practices in order to benefit people’s lives and our society and to support the development of Buddhism in the modern world. Through its print and digital publications, it aims to bring Dharma to people right where they are, knowing what a difference it can make in their lives.

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• The Simpsons; Actor Richard Gere, editor Andrea Miller (lionsroar.com), Oct. 15, 2025; CC Liu, Crystal Quintero, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Halloween Buddhist monk

The majority of Buddhist monastics opt for cremation, not sitting up. Some may be in meditating.

This skeleton will do best for contemplation.

(Lion's Roar) It was this Burmese Buddhist monk’s first visit to America, and it was my first real visit with a monk. He was staying at a house in the Chicago suburbs, teaching anapanasati meditation — “watching the breath” — to anyone interested enough to stop by.

I was eager to learn how to meditate (without bursting out laughing, like the first time I tried it), so he invited me to come and hang out for a few days.

The Dharma of Star Wars

Those five days in late October were a cultural exchange. The monk taught me how to watch my breath: in-out, in-out, breathing in, breathing out. And if I remember correctly, I got him to watch Star Wars.

On the morning of October 31st, somewhat disconnected from the world, I suddenly remembered it was Halloween. I explained that children might be coming by that night trick-or-treating and that we should be ready. He’d never heard of Halloween and asked me to tell him about it. So I did.

I gave him the lowdown on the holiday: ghosts, goblins, costumes, skeletons…

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Bag of Bones (Ven. Khantipalo)

“Skeletons!” he exclaimed suddenly. “That is wonderful, wonderful! In Burma we do skeleton meditation [charnel ground contemplations on repulsiveness]. Very good, very good. We must get a skeleton! Continue.”

Then I explained trick-or-treating.

“Oh, that is wonderful. So much opportunity for giving. We must have lots of candy for the children and tell them all to come here. Wonderful, wonderful!”

• VIDEO: Day of the Dead: Buddhist Hungry Ghost Stories
• Can a Buddhist celebrate Halloween? – (Bodhi-Bowi) Hell no! Who the f do u think u r? Stick 2 ur own rice bowl and don't touch our candy! But Samhain is OK, u can celebrate that

"Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose" is wise advice either way.

.

Why are you always so cheerful, R2D2?

So we hopped in the car, and I drove him to a big discount store. Or at least tried to — it was raining hard, and my windshield wipers were stuck, so I couldn’t see anything. We got lost, ending up on a highway I never meant to take.

“No matter,” he said, reassuring me with a serene smile. “This is wonderful. Now I am seeing more of this city. Very good.”

Behold the repulsive aspects of this body

When we finally found the store, I took him to the Halloween aisle, where he carefully scrutinized the skeletons to find one that would serve our purpose best. And what would that purpose be, exactly? I wasn’t sure whether we were going to hang the skeleton on the outside of the front door or sit facing it with legs crossed, contemplating our mortality.

In the end he settled on the biggest one he could find, a four-foot hanging skeleton made of black-and-white cardboard bones strung together that glowed in the dark. I grabbed as many bags of candy as I could afford with the cash I had on hand (my favorite brands, of course).

• Favorite Halloween Candies (pretty-poison for metabolic diseases):
• (1) Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, (2) M&Ms, (3) Snickers, (4) Peanut M&M's, (5) Twix, (6) Kit Kat, (7) Hershey's Milk Chocolate, (8) Milky Way, (9) Sour Patch Kids, (10) Skittles.

The Zen of R2-D2 (Bortolin)

There were already a few people in costume out and about, buying last-minute supplies. My monk friend was wearing the same [Buddhist saffron, purplish, ochre, pumpkin-colored] rusty-brown robe he wore every day, wrapped around him like a pleated toga and rubber flip-flops totally unsuited to the fall weather.

In the checkout line, we received lots of puzzled looks and raised eyebrows as people tried to figure out what exactly this guy was supposed to be dressed up as.

When we got back to the house, my monk friend started shoving the one-pound bags of bite-size candy bars, unopened, up against the windows.

Being bald, he could be Uncle Fester

“What are you doing?” I asked, surprised.

“This is so the children will know we have candy for them,” he said, beaming with pride.

“They will see the candy and they will come here.”

I explained that having the lights on would probably be a good enough sign and that hanging the skeleton on the door would also be, um, a dead giveaway. I suggested we put the candy on a tray, but he insisted we leave at least one bag where the kids would be most likely to see it [and know where to put the rock to grab it]. He put the rest into a big salad bowl.

Finally, shortly after dark, the first kids arrived.

I'm U Fester, Buddhist monk, this year!

“TRICK OR TREAT!” the little voices shouted as the monk opened the door, then their eyes went wide. “What are you supposed to be?” they asked, looking up, amazed and befuddled by his costume.

“I am Buddhist monk!” he said, grinning. That didn’t quite register with the kids, who quickly shifted their attention to the candy on offer.

“Take more, take more!” he insisted. “We must give if we want to receive.”

Dharma Punx' Noah Levine (Against the Stream)

After closing the door, he turned to me with a radiant smile.

“All my life I have begging bowl. But this is not begging bowl. Today I have giving bowl! Wonderful, wonderful. I like Halloween!”

The next day, my monk friend sat and stared serenely at the glow-in-the-dark skeleton, contemplating [the repulsive aspects of this body and] his own mortality, while I munched on leftover bite-size candy bars, contemplating my unusual Buddhist Halloween.

AUTHOR: Peter Aronson is a freelance journalist and former NPR contributor currently living in Dharamsala, India. In addition to his writing, he is attending courses in Buddhism at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives.

• Peter Aronson (lionsroar.com); edited and expanded by Team Halloween and Sayalay Scary, Wisdom Quarterly

Stargate found in Buddhist island jungle

Physicists discovered the last intact stargate in the jungle and it defies all logic

(LifesBiggestQuestions) Oct. 21, 2024: Hidden within the ruins of Lion's Rock (Sigiriya), deep in the jungles of the Buddhist island of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon and Serendib and often just called Lanka), exists a groundbreaking discovery: an ancient high energy "Stargate."

Let's explore the enigmatic Sakwala Chakraya, a stone carving believed to be a portal to other worlds, etched with unexplained symbols. Unravel the secrets of this marvel and delve into legends of extraterrestrial (ET) connections and advanced ancient alien technology.

#SakwalaChakraya #Stargate #Sigiriya #SriLanka. Subscribe to Life's Biggest Questions: bit.ly/2evqECe Most recent uploads: • Scientists Discover an Ancient City...

(Praveen Mohan) Ranmasu Uyana: stargate of the gods (devas) found?

Lion's Rock can be key to ancient alien technology: The Ramayana

Witness the breathtaking beauty of Lion's Rock (Sigiriya), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with its majestic reservoir (tank) and captivating frescoes. This ancient royal fortress city holds clues to a forgotten past, inviting us on an unforgettable adventure exploring the intersection of science, history, and the unexplained.

• Wellness program – Origins Lodge (originslodges.com)

#SakwalaChakraya #Stargate #Sigiriya #SriLanka #AncientMysteries #Archaeology #LostCivilizations #history #lifesbiggestquestions #lbq. For business inquiries, please contact lifesbiggestquestion@gmail.com.

Transcending "The World" (sutra)

John Ireland (trans.), Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly, §112. "The World" {Iti 4.13; Iti 121}

Thus have I heard. This was said by the Bhagava (Blessed One), said by the Arahant (the fully enlightened):

"Meditators, the world [saṃsāra] has been fully understood by the Tathagata [the Buddha referring to himself, the Wayfarer, the Well Come One/Well Gone One]; the Tathagata is released from the world.

"The origin of the world has been fully understood by the Tathagata; the origin of the world has been abandoned by the Tathagata.

"The cessation of the world has been fully understood by the Tathagata; the cessation of the world has been realized by the Tathagata.

"The way [course of conduct] leading to the cessation of the world has been fully understood by the Tathagata; the way leading to the cessation of the world has been developed by the Tathagata.

"Meditators, in the world with its angels, devils, and gods [devas, maras, and brahmas], with its wandering ascetics and temple priests (Brahmins), among [this generation of] humankind with its princes and people, whatever is seen, heard, sensed, cognized, attained, sought, and reflected upon by the mind — that is fully understood by the Tathagata: therefore, he is called 'the Tathagata.'

"Meditators, from the night when the Tathagata awakened to unsurpassed supreme enlightenment until the night when he passes into the nirvana-element without remainder [aka "the unconditioned element"] whatever he speaks, utters, and explains — all that is just so and not otherwise: therefore, he is called 'the Tathagata.'

"As the Tathagata says, so he does; as the Tathagata does, so he says: therefore [due to this integrity], he is called 'the Tathagata.'

"In the world with its angels, devils, and gods, with its wandering ascetics and temple priests, among humankind with its princes and people, the Tathagata is the conqueror, unvanquished, all-seer, wielding power: therefore, he is called 'the Tathagata'."

By knowledge of the world,

The entire world as it truly is,

He is released from all the world;

In all the world, he clings to nothing.

The all-conquering heroic sage,

Freed from every bond he is;

He has reached a perfect peace,

Nirvana, which is free from fear.

Rid of taints, he is enlightened,

Trouble-free, with doubt destroyed,

Reached the final end of karma,

Released by the destruction of clinging.

The Enlightened One, the Sage,

A lion he is, unsurpassed;

For in the world together with its devas

He set the supreme-wheel in motion.

Thus those shining ones and human beings,

Gone for guidance to the Buddha,

On meeting him pay him respect,

The Great One free from diffidence.

Tamed, among the tamed he is the best;

Calmed, among the calmed he is the seer;

Freed, among the freed he is the foremost;

Crossed, among the crossed he is the chief.

Thus do they pay him due respect,

The Great One free from diffidence:

"In the world together with its devas

There is no person to equal you."

This, too, is the meaning of what was said by the Buddha, thus I heard.

Lion's Roar mag: Heart Sutra, Halloween...

Lionsroar.com, Top Stories, 10/31/23; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Unlocking the Wisdom of the Heart Sutra

The Heart Sutra is a pithy, powerful text. If one understands it, says Ven. Guan Cheng, one understands the Buddha’s teachings. From the November 2023 issue of Lion’s Roar.

The Great Lessons of Halloween

What do we want to be for Halloween? Who do we want to be in life? Ira Sukrungruang on the costumes we wear.

How to Set Better Boundaries

Guided by Buddhist teachings on the brahmaviharas ("Diving Abidings"), Elizabeth Hernandez-Stomp helps us learn when to say yes and how to say no. [To read this article in Spanish] Para leer este articulo en español: “Cómo establecer mejor nuestros límites”

Share Your Wisdom: Do you practice loving-kindness meditation?
If so, how has it changed your life or practice? Send your answer, location, and a photo of yourself to themoment@lionsroar.com for possible inclusion in Lion’s Roar magazine.

Joseph Goldstein: It’s Not Either-Or

In this conversation with Buddhadharma (the Teachings of the Buddha), the Insight Meditation Society co-founder applies the “harmonized understanding” approach championed in his book One Dharma to the idea of buddhanature. In the end, it’s not about who’s right or wrong about it. It’s about what leads us to less clinging. From the Fall 2023 “Buddhanature” issue of Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Guide.

The 17th Annual Lion’s Roar Online Auction begins November 13, 2023

It’s that time of year again! The 17th annual Lion’s Roar Online Auction, the biggest fundraising event of the year, is starting soon.

Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche completes US tour in New York, Montana, and Colorado

Through September and October, Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, the spiritual heir and grandson of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, visited the US to offer teachings in New York, Montana, and Colorado.

For subscribers: “Short, Simple, Lovely Meditations” Audio Pack

This audio series available exclusively to Lion’s Roar subscribers is designed to help even the busiest of us find a few brief moments to practice through short but powerful meditations. We can all spare a few minutes to come back to the present moment, and these short, simple, lovely meditations do just that.

AD: Online course, Nectar of the Path: Teachings on the Path of Awakening (tergar.org)

10.31.2023

May issue "Lion's Roar" Buddhist magazine

May issue of Lion's Roar (mailchi.mp); Ananda (DMB), Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

WELCOME TO THE MAY ISSUE

The Buddha's Eightfold Guide to Life His Step-by-Step Teachings for Less Suffering and More Joy Subscribe today to read the May issue online.

Over 20 years ago, I took an Abhidhamma ("Higher Teaching") course at my Sri Lankan temple in Los Angeles. After the first class, I thought, “Man, Buddhists really love lists!”

As the weeks went by, my teenage mind was inundated by the Five Aggregates (khandhas), the four types of consciousness (citta), the different mental factors (cetasikas) -- ranging from 42 to 52 depending on tradition -- the 12 causal links (nidanas) of Dependent Origination, and more, including subdivisions involving even more lists.

This issue of Lion’s Roar explores one of Buddhism’s most essential lists, that of the Ennobling Eightfold Path (part of the 37 Requisites of Enlightenment), right:

1. view,
2. thought,
3. speech,
4. action,
5. livelihood,
6. effort,
7. mindfulness,
8. concentration.

As Sister True Dedication explains, the great thing about the Eightfold Path is that “each element of the Path contains the other seven within it, and they work together to create a complete path to liberation.”

Throughout this issue, Lion's Roar authors reveal the intertwined nature of different elements of the Path. They stress the importance of the Eightfold Path in our lives off the meditation cushion, through compassionate interaction with our world.

We don’t need Buddhism to explain these concepts: Koun Franz argues in his examination of how "right view" is rooted in a realization of suffering, impermanence, and non-self [the unfulfilling, unstable, and impersonal nature of all phenomena and states of rebirth].

“What Buddhism does is to say, these things matter.” These days, when I teach the Eightfold Path to the tweens and teens at my temple’s Sunday School, I emphasize its nonlinear and circular nature.

I tell them, “If you’re doing one, you’re doing them all.” I tell them, “Try to embody just one element of the Eightfold Path every day. The rest will fall into place.”

- Associate Editor Mihiri Tillakaratne

TAKE A SNEAK PEEK INSIDE THE ISSUE

What Really Makes Us Happy

As a Buddhist teacher, psychiatrist, and leading researcher, Dr. Robert Waldinger studies life from three very different perspectives.

But he says they all come to the same basic conclusion about what really makes our lives happy and meaningful and what doesn’t. More

The Path of Joy and Liberation

The Buddha’s Four Noble [Ennobling] Truths include the truth that the Eightfold Path is a way out of suffering. It’s not just the path to happiness, says Sister True Dedication, it’s happiness itself. [After all, there is no way to happiness because happiness is the way.] More

Realize Your True Nature

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche presents practices for recognizing the true nature of mind — empty [impersonal] and open, luminous and aware. More

Subscribe to Lion's Roar to read the May issue online.

Free Dalai Lama Global Vision Summit (3/16)

Lion's Roar; Ananda (Dharma B Meditation), Dhr. Seven, Jen Bradford (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

They help me fight China (LA Times)

Join Lion's Roar for The Dalai Lama Global Vision Summit a FREE online event, March 16-20, 2023.

How do we navigate the increasingly uncertain world we live in with compassion, goodness, and virtue?

The Dalai Lama’s kindness, humility, and wisdom lead the way and set an example for us all, and Lion's Roar is pleased to invite everyone to explore his vision and key messages to the world in The Dalai Lama Global Vision Summit 2023.

• Register today to join this free online event

This could be it before my 15th reincarnation.

With the personal endorsement and support of the 14th Dalai Lama, Lion’s Roar and Robert Thurman's Tibet House US are pleased to build upon the phenomenal successes of the 2020 and 2021 Global Vision Summits.

Join in for this incredible opportunity to hear from an esteemed panel of Buddhist teachers, experts, spiritual leaders, and activists to celebrate and reflect upon what it means to be human in our modern world.

• Save a spot for FREE

Join tens of thousands of participants from all over the world and host Dr. Jan Willis to unpack the essential teachings and priorities of "His Holiness" the Dalai Lama, as we explore how to:

• Cultivate goodness in ourselves and others
• Use the power of the fundamental human quality of compassion to experience inner happiness and create a more harmonious and just society
• Embrace the Dalai Lama’s call for "a new global ethics of universal responsibility"
• Use the personal insights gained through meditation to see the world more clearly and unlock a path toward societal change
• Apply key Buddhist teachings on wisdom to the challenges we face today.

Host Dr. Jan Willis leads twenty Buddhist leaders and teachers in the Global Summit 2023.

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Sign up now to join this momentous summit and gain FREE access to 20 inspiring sessions and experience 18 exclusive meditations from leading Buddhist scholars, including:

• Spring Washam, Buddhist shaman and healer
• Dr. Vandana Shiva, physicist
• Prof. Philippe Goldin, Ph.D., UC Davis, leader of Clinically Applied Affective Neuroscience Lab
• Tenzin Geyche Tethong, teacher and author
• Butterfly (Tony Pham), meditation and compassion teacher, Tibet House US
• Rev. Matthew Fox, Ph.D., author, theologian, and activist priest
• Prof. Emerita of Religious Studies Dr. Jan Willis, Wesleyan University
• Tenzin Priyadarsha, president and CEO of The Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at MIT
• Venerable Thubten Chodron, founding abbess of Sravasti Abbey
• Dr. Lisa Miller, Ph.D., author of The Awakened Brain, founder of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute
• Cyndi Lee, founder OM yoga, author of May I Be Happy
• Dr. Joe Loizzo, founder and academic director, Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science
• Dr. Daniel Goleman, Ph.D., psychologist and bestselling author
• Dan Zigmond, Zen teacher and technologist
• Pema Khandro Rinpoche, founder of the Buddhist Studies Institute
• Prof. Emeritus Robert A.F. Thurman (Uma Thurman's dad), translator, president, Tibet House US
• Pamela Ayo Yetunde, co-founder of Buddhist Justice Reporter
• Brother Phap Luu, Zen monk and Plum Village Dharma teacher
• Melvin McLeod, editor in chief of Lion's Roar
• Dr. Joe Loizzo, founder and academic director of the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science
• Thupten Jinpa, president for the Compassion Institute
• Dr. Lisa Miller, Ph.D., New York Times bestselling author of The Awakened Brain and founder of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute

Welcome | The Dalai Lama Global Vision Summit 2023 | Lion’s Roar (lionsroar.com)

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Sign up to see this welcome page with video.

Save a spot now for FREE!

With loving-kindness, Lion's Roar

P.S. Reserve a spot and join online from March 16-20, 2023. Sign up today and get a special gift: a downloadable collection of teachings from Lion's Roar's exclusive publication Vision of the Dalai Lama: Wisdom for a Compassionate World.

Remembering Los Angeles' own lion, P-22

Xochitl, Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; LAist 89.3 FM (scpr.org), 2/4/23

Why did you have to kill me on purpose, why?

Los Angeles lost its lion, Puma 22, to its favorite sport -- driving too fast on the freeway. P-22 could cross on his own, but 200 ponies were too much for him to absorb. His injuries led to erratic behavior and misguided veterinarians euthanized him. They give their reasons, couched in compassionate terms, but he could have lived. And this past weekend, he was eulogized at his former home, Griffith Park. The Greek Theater is on the other entrance to the park, behind the hill where the Hollywood sign shines. It was full of well-wishers and many beautiful speeches in memento mori, simulcast live by the local NPR affiliate (scpr.org).

• More: P-22 Memorial: Thousands gathered to remember LA’s famous mountain lion (LAist)
• What the death of P-22 means for Los Angeles, and how its life can teach us to better care for our big cats
• We rename P-22 the mountain lion on Off-Ramp for 2015 (AUDIO: "Puma Thurman," "Felix," "Pounce de Leon"?)
• The hunt for killer mountain lion P-45, what to do with CA's 102 million dead trees... (KPCC/SoCal NPR)

The Hollywood sign and Griffith Observatory by day, with the Valley (SFV) behind the hill.

LA's "Central Park" connects to the Santa Monica mountain range, home to wild cats.

Maybe we're taking this too far? Suddenly everyone loves a killer in the city? Save our wildlife!