The Hall of Still Thoughts
Buddhism is a very old belief system that has brought comfort and strength to untold generations. Some of its ideas (as practised) are an affront to modern thinking. In that respect, it is sort of like Christianity, once the fundamentalists are done with twisting it. Sister Nancy is a high level nun, ordained by a sister, but the ordination was not official until a man conducted the ceremony. With each new grade, the nun gets a burn on her arm from a lit incense stick. Sister Nancy has six. I'd be incensed if someone did that to me.
In 1895, military defeat forced China to cede Taiwan to Japan. Taiwan reverted to Chinese control after World War II. Following the Communist victory on the mainland in 1949, 2 million Nationalists fled to Taiwan and established a government using th... ... read more 
