When former Microsoft executive John Wood discovered the world’s need for books, he was trekking in Nepal and says he recalled what he had read in the Dalai Lama’s book “The Art of Happiness” about the importance of giving something to someone in need.

A Journey Through NYC Religions, says editor and publisher Tony Carnes, “has made me more free to listen to people. And that may sound like a small thing, but it’s actually pretty big.”

Protestants still make up most of Congress, but this week a Hindu and a Buddhist were also among those sworn in.

"We often think of meditation as being primarily a solo activity, but there is a communal aspect even though you're in silence... I think that communal aspect is part of what helps build that habit of heart over time," says Pastor Cathy Abbott of Arlington Temple United Methodist Church. The church hosts daily silent group meditation for people of all faiths.

We ask attendees at the opening night of the BuddhaFest film festival to talk about their attraction to Buddhism. Watch an audio slideshow of the interviews and listen to a Buddhist chant performed during the opening ceremony.

"I am a human being, I'm a Buddhist monk, I am a Westerner," says Nicholas Vreeland, who is also a successful and sophisticated photographer. Recently, the Dalai Lama asked him to lead one of Tibetan Buddhism's most important monasteries.

In a video inspired by the Buddhafest Short Films Showcase, watch everyday people saying what they believe it means to be “awake.”

“The message is that the Buddha is within and moving about in very mysterious ways,” says James Ulak, senior curator of Japanese art at the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer and Sackler Galleries.

Monks from the Dalai Lama's private monastery in India spent five days building a sand mandala at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City. The mandala is a symbolic structure that represents a Buddha's dwelling. It is said to bring peace and harmony to the area where it is being made. Karen Humphries Sallick, who organized the monks' tour, explains.

“It’s a spectacular opportunity for cross-cultural associations that are peace-based, that are based in the holiness of this land,” says Steve Lozar, a council leader of the Salish Tribe in Montana.