Dead Buddhists Society?

Still touring the karmic side of the Web, we sharpen our knives for . . .

Killing the Buddha

"If you meet the Buddha on the road," the medieval master Lin Chi reportedly said, "kill him." For him, enlightenment was farther down the road.

In that spirit, the creators of this challenging Webzine favor the quest over the quick answers. The site died early this year when its three creators dropped it. But three others brought it back in June.

Their work leads largely with stories interwoven with their thoughts and feelings. One contributor shares a disturbing, crystalline memory of a boyhood meeting with his friend, the friend's dad, and dad's one-night stand. Like the other pieces, it's heartfelt and written so smoothly that you almost lose yourself in it.

Gone are the blogs and message boards where readers took casual swipes at Christianity; maybe that's why the editors call it "99 percent fatwa-free." The site does, however, retain its sneers about conventional religion.

Co-editor Ashley Makar disses "Holy-Ghost stories from sweaty preachers telling everyone how to live," although she herself is Coptic Orthodox. And contributor Andrew Boyd mentions the "corruption and backwardness of present-day institutionalized Buddhism in Thailand."

The new design is open and easy on the eyes, with large text on light gray background. But it still has rough edges. When I logged in for this review, the homepage had a big, blank box meant for a picture.

If you're nostalgic for the old KtB, a generous archive goes back to 2000.