Noa Jones

Oct 30, 2024 | buddhistdoor.net | Noa Jones

As a young girl, I spent many dark nights reading The Juniper Tree and Other Tales from Grimm (Farrar, Straus & Giroux 1974), a double set of Grimm’s fairy tales illustrated by Maurice Sendak. I don’t believe my father read them before he gave them to me. If he had, he might have thought twice before setting me free into those violent stories of kidnapping, neglect, cannibalism, and other darknesses that had never before occurred to me.

Aug 15, 2024 | buddhistdoor.net | Noa Jones

Have you ever been to a Buddhist temple and seen small children—even infants in diapers—do prostrations? It’s very cute. They put their dimpled little hands in the anjali mudra and then drop to the floor, lying flat, then scramble back up. Sometimes it’s habit that propels them down that short distance, and sometimes they are encouraged by the adults around them. Sometimes they try out the refuge vow in languages that they may or may not understand.

Jun 28, 2024 | buddhistdoor.net | Noa Jones

“But what about the Dharma, Your Majesty?” I asked the king. I was standing in a circle a few feet away from King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the Druk Gyalpo, monarch of the Kingdom of Bhutan. The circle included about 150 people from 25 countries who had all come to Bhutan’s Paro College of Education for the Reimagining Education Symposium (1–5 June 2024). We were surprised and delighted by this royal visit.

Apr 16, 2024 | buddhistdoor.net | Noa Jones

Winter break was approaching at the school where I was teaching the Dharma to elementary students, and parents were kindly prepping gifts for teachers and staff. When one of these gifts—a 200-gram hunk of chocolate (almost half a pound!) in the shape of a “laughing buddha”—was presented to me, I had some thoughts and feelings. Was this meant to be the Buddha? And if so, are we teachers expected to eat his head? The fifth-grade students were the oldest at the school, the vanguards.

Feb 21, 2024 | buddhistdoor.net | Noa Jones

A young family scheduled a tour of the Middle Way School of the Hudson Valley because they had heard that it would be an ideal place for their six-year-old. The school had a good reputation, some of their friends sent their children, and it was voted “best independent school” in the region by the local arts magazine. They were advised to apply early because there was a waiting list.