This page explores the epistemological claims (provability) of the karmic belief systems of both Hinduism and Buddhism, their dialogue with each other, their attempts at providing an ethical framework, and their historical development.

Stories and Spirituality: How the God Engages Human Evil

A one page chart comparing views of God and human evil. God could role model inner peace, or change human nature as one of us, or give us better laws. The chart compares how the deity in each category interacts with concepts of good and evil, whether the deity can touch humanity, how the deity helps us deal with human evil, and whether the deity will heal the world.

Stories and Social Consequences: Jesus’ Resurrection and Comparison with Atheism and Hinduism

A one page chart comparing stories. Classical Indian and Greek stories reflect a circular, reincarnation paradigm. Christianity tells a story of a good God who heals human evil by becoming one of us, then one with us. Atheism tells a story using the Second Law of Thermodynamics where the universe will eventually become cold and dead.

Is There Meaning in Suffering? A Comparison of Karmic, Christian, and Atheist Views

A short comparison of how suffering is interpreted in the Karmic view (caused by individual, redemption by individual), Christian view (caused by humanity, divine-human partnership in redemption), and Atheist view (caused by nature, redemption is questionable).

The Jesus Story vs. Other Messianic Stories: Circular, Christian, Western, Muslim, Secular, Individual

Text of a message which delves into the biblical story as the original happy ending story, and other happy ending stories as parodies that change the plot arc, villain, and hero.  The message is accompanied by this chart. Another message like this is The Happy Ending — Will It Happen to Me? To Us? This message focuses on our experience of happy ending vs. non happy ending stories, and not on other religious traditions per se. This video clip highlights the importance of story and the question of the integrity of stories.

Beauty's Transformation of the Ugly in Gregory of Nyssa's Life of Moses

An essay for Dr. Maximos Constas and Dr. Evie Holmberg, for their respective classes at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Seminary, Fall 2018; examines Gregory's work (c.390 AD) as a critical engagement with the Platonic tradition, especially Origen and Plotinus, who have elements of reincarnation in their thought.  Gregory's work serves as an example of engagement with and differentiation from a Platonic cyclical cosmology which, in this case, can serve as a proxy for Hinduism.  For reference, see David Bentley Hart, Mind Over Matter: 'The Enneads' (Commonweal, Jan 16, 2019)

Wikipedia, The Problem of Evil in Hinduism (wikipedia)

Sexwork Cyber Center, The Influence on Thai Buddhism on Prostitution (Sexwork Cyber Center, 1999)

Hieromonk Damascene, Christ the Eternal Tao. St. Herman of Alaska Press | Amazon page, 2004.

Vinod Shah, What Motivated the Early Christian Health Missions? Anatomy of Transformation in India. presentation, May 29, 2005.

Keith E. McNeal, Trance and Modernity in the Southern Caribbean: African and Hindu Popular Religions in Trinidad and Tobago. University Press of Florida | Amazon page, 2005.

Dionysios Farasiotis, The Gurus, the Young Man, and Elder Paisios. St. Herman of Alaska Press | Amazon page, 2008.

Christopher Hitchens, The Real Mahatma Gandhi. The Atlantic, Jul/Aug 2011.

Letitia Barbier, Morbid Monday: The Buddhist Hell Gardens of Thailand. Atlas Obscura, Jun 3, 2013.  raises intriguing questions about Theravada vs. Mahayana Buddhism, as well as understandings of karmic-retributive justice.

David B. Marshall, Hindu Texts on Women: The Rig Veda. Christ the Tao blog, Nov 23, 2013.

I.A. Murzaku, Monastic Tradition in Eastern Christianity and the Outside World: A Call for Dialogue. Peeters Publishers | Amazon page, Dec 31, 2013.

Bono, The Difference Between Grace and Karma. Resistance and Renewal blog, Jan 26, 2014.

John Polkinghorne interview. note 28:20min mark about comparative belief systems.

Deacon Giorgi Maximov, St. Nicholas of Japan on Buddhism. Pravoslavie, Aug 15, 2014.

Meg Wagner, Caitlin Nolan, Nicole Lyn Pesce, Microsoft CEO apologizes after telling women not to ask for raises, trust 'good karma' will lead to better pay. Daily News, Oct 10, 2014.

Still Drops, The Man Who Spit in Buddha's Face: A Fable of Fury. Still Drops blog, Oct 19, 2014.

Virginia Heffernan, The Muddied Meaning of ‘Mindfulness’. New York Times Magazine, Apr 14, 2015.

Paul Chiariello, Why the Buddha is a Better Modern Role Model Than Jesus. Applied Sentience, Apr 17, 2015.

Heather Sutfin, History's Most Blood Thirsty Cult. Sword and Scale, Aug 11, 2015.  re: the Hindu Thuggees of India, who believed they were rebalancing the world

Diane Cole, You'll Never Guess The Most Charitable Nation In The World. NPR, Nov 28, 2015.

Susmita Barua, A Buddhist and Interfaith Response to Debt Capitalism. Tikkun, Winter 2015.

Giles Fraser, What Star Wars: The Force Awakens Can Teach Us About Modern Evil. The Guardian UK, Jan 5, 2016.

Robbie Swinnerton, A Phone Booth for Contacting the Dead; Renewal After the Tsunami. The Japan Times, Mar 4, 2016.  See also Miki Meek, One Last Thing Before I Go. This American Life, Sep 23, 2016.  See also Jessica Leigh Hester, The Phone Booth for Japanese Mourners. CityLab, Jan 10, 2017.  Japanese are emotionally reserved for the sake of the dead, because in Buddhist thought, the soul still needs to traverse its path away from earthly ties.

Helen Hardacre, Political Realignment Among Japan’s Religions. Foreign Affairs, May 15, 2017.

Christine Mangala Frost, The Human Icon: A Comparative Study of Hindu and Orthodox Christian Beliefs. James Clarke & Co. | Amazon page, Jun 7, 2017.  a very intriguing exploration

BBC, ‘Racist' Gandhi Statue Removed from University of Ghana. BBC, Dec 13, 2018.  and Soutik Biswas, Was Mahatma Gandhi a Racist? BBC, Sep 17, 2015.

Hannah Beech, Buddhists Go to Battle: When Nationalism Overrides Pacifism. New York Times, Jul 8, 2019.  “A call to arms for Sri Lankan monks. Ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya in Myanmar. A Buddhist faith known for pacifism is taking its place in a new age of nationalism.”

Godfrey Kesari, How Do Hindus Understand the Atonement? Church Times, Apr 9, 2020.  That is, the penal substitutionary atonement.

Ann Gleig, Why Are White Buddhists So Angry? White Rage And Buddhist Studies Scholarship. The Shiloh Project: Rape Culture, Religion, and the Bible, May 2, 2021.  raises the question of what intellectual and spiritual-emotional resources Buddhism provides when confronting white supremacy.

Sunita Viswanath, My Fellow Hindus Sued Me for Raising Alarms About Hindu Supremacy. Religion News Service, May 20, 2021.  

Secret Journal, They Lied To You About Mahatma Gandhi & Winston Churchill (Black Culture). Secret Journal, Jun 22, 2023.

Religion for Breakfast, The Ancient Greeks Who Converted to Buddhism. Religion for Breakfast, May 10, 2024. “Greece is very far away from the heartland of early Buddhism in India and parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. But thanks to Alexander the Great, Hellenistic and Buddhist cultures came into contact in the 4th century BCE, creating a cultural synthesis known as Greco-Buddhism.”