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Editor's note:
Millions of viewers watched the just-concluded Season 3 of "The White Lotus," which was set at a luxury resort on the Thai island of Koh Samui and depicted foreigners seeking to engage with Buddhist traditions as part of its plotline.
However, many of the scenes were not an accurate portrayal of Thai Buddhist traditions, according to Brooke Schedneck, a scholar of Thai Buddhism. For example, foreigners staying in a temple without being dressed in typical clothing is unusual; the show also inaccurately described the Buddhist view of the afterlife.
Schedneck explains some of the Buddhist beliefs and how to engage with them in a more “authentic” way. These could include offering donations, considering ordination, or going on short meditation retreats. Meditation is not a secular practice, unlike its popular perception in the West, but a way to earn merit. Buddhists believe that, as a meritorious activity, it can help them earn good karma − in this life and the next.
Religion News
Catholic bishops end refugee aid partnerships with US government, citing funding cuts
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is ending a half-century of partnerships with the federal government to serve refugees and children. The move follows the Trump administration’s abrupt halt to funding for refugee resettlement. By Peter Smith/The Associated Press
Deborah Lipstadt welcomes Trump taking on antisemitism, but she has some concerns
‘I will not paint these people as victims, or as heroes,’ Lipstadt said of international students detained by ICE, ‘but they deserve due process.’ By Yonat Shimron/Religion News Service
Preparations for widely popular Lent and Holy Week processions are underway across Latin American towns – but not in Nicaragua. They’ve been largely banned for a second year in the Central American country. By Giovanna Dell’Orto/The Associated Press
A Greak monk joyously pursues his five-decade mission in a cliffside monastery
For more than 50 years, Father Spyridon has prayed, worked and welcomed the faithful in a monastery carved into a cliffside high above the Aegean Sea. Even as Greece rapidly secularizes, a few Orthodox Christian monks like Spyridon remain icons of local life. By Giovanna Dell’Orto/The Associated Press
A bishop of the Arctic says goodbye
As Canada’s Anglican church dwindles, its most remote (and most expansive) diocese has shown growth. One bishop responsible for that trend is retiring, leaving his successor to find clergy willing to take on the Arctic’s challenges. By Julia Duin/Religion News Service
Commentary and Analysis
German philosopher Paul Tillich’s writings about affirming oneself in the face of anxiety, repression and meaninglessness ring as true today as in the 1950s. By Mordechai Gordon for The Conversation
The Seder is a powerful example of how trauma can be reframed through ritual, turning horror into a story of hope and renewal. By Talya Gordon/Religion News Service
‘Pañcatantra,’ a striking collection of animal fables in which birds, lions and others speak and reason as humans do, guides leaders through 3 ethical positions. By John Nemec for The Conversation
The pope’s embrace of literature and history is a sharp contrast to some of his predecessors, a medievalist explains. By Joëlle Rollo-Koster for The Conversation
Orthodox priest Father Igor, center, with children and their parents, releases birds celebrating the Annunciation preceding the celebration of Orthodox Easter, in front of the St. Tatiana Church near the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, on Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
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