The widespread crisis in Japan is marked by ongoing relief efforts and acknowledgment of the impermanence of life.

When disaster strikes, the character of a culture is revealed, and in Japan, perceptions of disaster are deeply rooted in traditional religious culture.

"Deep down there is only one faith that all human beings have, and that is deep trust in life."

"I see the future going in this direction, that more and more people will realize how important interreligious dialogue is."

"As the mind becomes a little more quiet, the sacredness of everything, within and without, becomes clear," says Norman Fischer, a practicing Jew and a Zen Buddhist priest who has been teaching meditation for over 30 years.

"There's no such thing as a hermetically sealed religion or culture. We human beings have been talking to each other since the beginning, and every time we talk to each other we change each other."

Engaged Buddhism means "you must confront social suffering," says Thai scholar and activist Sulak Sivaraksa, "and people suffer now because of the environment."

The Dalai Lama leads one of the four schools, or denominations within Tibetan Buddhism. The 23-year-old Karmapa Lama leads another. His supporters believe he may one day succeed the older man as Buddhism's leading international voice.

They teach nonviolence, but their demonstrations against the Chinese have sometimes become violent.

In Myanmar in Southeast Asia, violent clashes between tens of thousands of protesting Buddhist monks and the Burmese military have drawn international attention.