• A man in colorful attire prepares food outdoors surrounded by bowls and onlookers.

Tackling Global Hunger at Its Roots

By Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi • Tackling global hunger requires that we identity its fundamental causes and remove these at the roots. This requires not only the adoption of transformative policies, but a fundamental change in our own values and attitudes.

  • Young woman in a white lab coat smiling in a library setting.

Our Efforts Make a Real Difference

A guest post from BGR partner What If Foundation • Medical student Daymondy Dume was one of the thousands of students who have been served by the What If Foundation's educational and food assistance programs in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

  • Memorial Day weekend event at Brahma Vihara with meditation led by teachers.

2021 Spring Retreat: The Brahma Viharas

During Memorial Day Weekend 2021, Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, Ayya Dhammadipa, Rev. Jin Chuan, and the worldwide BGR community came together for our first online meditation retreat in support of our work to relieve the suffering of hunger and poverty around the world.

BGR Awards Grants to 51 Projects Worldwide

In late April, BGR's Board approved 51 projects with potential partners around the world. These grants for BGR's fiscal year 2021–22 amounted to $969,000. The Board provided $60,000 in additional emergency assistance to regions afflicted with the Covid pandemic, most in India, pushing BGR’s grant total to over $1,000,000.

  • Portrait of a calm, bald man with a gentle smile in warm indoor lighting.

Turning Back the Tide of Violence:​ A Vesak Message for 2021

If enough of us commit ourselves to a life of non-violence, to love and compassionate action, we might just succeed in setting in motion a counter-current to the tide of destructive violence that engulfs us and brings so much grief. We might transform old enmities into a celebration of our essential unity, join hands across boundaries, and take a few small steps toward the state of global peace for which we yearn.

  • A monk handing a bag to a woman holding a child, with another woman nearby.

BGR Offers Emergency Assistance During the Pandemic

In May 2021, BGR donated over $60,000 from our emergency funds to support communities, both globally and in the U.S., adversely impacted by the Covid pandemic. Most of our assistance has gone to organizations working in India, which has been hit especially hard by the pandemic

  • Two monks stand beside medical ventilators in a hospital setting.

Emergency COVID Assistance to India and Sri Lanka

BGR recently donated funds for two ventilators to the Mahabodhi Maitri Mandala hospital in Bengaluru, India. Additionally, BGR provided $16,000 in other kinds of financial assistance to organizations in India and Sri Lanka delivering aid to people afflicted by the virus.

  • Memorial Day weekend event at Brahma Vihara with meditation led by teachers.

BGR’s First Online Retreat

On Memorial Day weekend Buddhist Global Relief held its first ever online retreat, conducted to support BGR’s poverty relief and education work around the world. Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi guided the retreat along with new BGR Board members Ayyā Dhammadīpā of Āloka Vihāra in Placerville, California, and Rev. Jin-Chuan Shi of Berkeley Buddhist Monastery. The retreat was well attended, with 160–180 people from around the world joining live on Zoom and others catching up with the recordings of the sessions on the BGR YouTube Channel.

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