Our first new piece this week is a reflection on Lent by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, explaining how “contrary to what many think or feel, Lent is a time of joy”

It is a time when we come back to life… Unless we understand this quality of joy in Lent, we will make of it a monstrous caricature, a time when in God’s own name we make our life a misery.

• Prof. Hans-Rudolf Kantor discusses the basic concepts of lesser known Tiantai Buddhism in his article “Contemplation: Practice, Doctrine and Wisdom in the Teaching of Zhiyi”

The teaching aims at the unobstructed and pure comprehension of the absolute value of salvation within each concrete moment of existence, perceived by sentient beings. This perception is combined with the immediately proper acting and wholesome transformation caused through this comprehension.

• Finally an audio recording of Harry Oldmeadow’s recent talk on the teaching of religion, with a view in particular to the teaching of religious studies in secondary schools, and the puzzles and conundrums it poses.

One of the problems is that religion is thought of by an awful lot of people as just another form of ideology… just a kind of cultural construct.