I think I mentioned previously that Antwerp is very humid. The rooms in which we are staying are thus very warm; lacking air conditioning or fans, most of us initially opted to open our windows for the night. What we did not count on were the mosquitoes.

A friend recently passed to me a question about prayer in Buddhism. The question seemed to stem from the following passage in Bahá'u'lláh's Kitáb-i-Íqán:

The traditions established the fact that in all Dispensations the law of prayer hath constituted a fundamental element of the Revelation of all the Prophets of God—a law the form and the manner of which hath been adapted to the varying requirements of every age. (p39)

There is a common perception that prayer does not exist in Buddhism, which is one of the accepted religious "dispensations" in the Baha'i teachings. So could this passage possibly be wrong?

I began typing this message while sitting in the business office at the Berkeley (California) Buddhist Monastery. I've been meeting today [Sat Feb 10] with the three trustees elected to represent North America on the United Religions Initiative (URI) Global Council (GC) as well as with other staff and volunteers. One of those trustees is Rev. Dr. Heng Sure, the head of the monastery. Every Saturday night he gives a "Dharma talk"; I missed most of it on the way back from a wonderful Turkish dinner. Perhaps 20-30 people where in attendance in person — Chinese, Vietnamese, and Caucasian Buddhists — as well as dozens more around the world through a webcast.

I am not an economic theorist. But sometimes I like to pretend that I "get" economics. And that I get political theory. So I'm going to talk about government regulations for a moment. If that sounds boring... well, yes it is, but these are things that make the world go round.