Hi all,

Here's wishing you a happy solstice, holiday season, and New Year. This will be my final newsletter for 2009, and I have two new articles up on the site:

Buddhist Views of Jesus
As Buddhism's popularity in the West has grown, many scholars and religious leaders have drawn parallels between the lives and teachings of Buddha and Jesus. This article covers a few, including similar sayings.
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art46942.asp

Jataka Tales: Ethical Folk Tales for Children
The Jataka Tales are a set of folk stories that originated in India, and are often used in Buddhist cultures to relay ethical teachings. This article reviews a set available from Dharma Publishing, targeted to 3-8 year olds.
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art46941.asp

To tie into this second article, I've created a thread in the forum for parents and teachers to share their ideas on how to foster ethics in children:
http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=351

I look forward to writing more articles in 2010, and hope to hear some ideas from you on future topics. You can send them to me by email, or post them in the forum.

In peace,
Lisa Erickson
Buddhism Editor
http://buddhism.bellaonline.com

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