Tibet: So near yet so far

• Tibet: So near yet so far
• Help make “Digital Dharma” a reality
• The Buddhist Practice of Dana [Giving]
• Material and Spiritual Development Must Go Hand in Hand - Dalai Lama
• David Duchovny goes on Buddhist retreat, ends up cleaning tables
• Remembering the life of Thich Thanh Dam, local Buddhist leader
• Monk who is sold on ISB: Japanese creating management model to attract Gen Y to Buddhist temple
• Buddhist temple raises RM15,000 for charity
• Growing numbers join in prayers for the New Year
• China to expand oldest Buddhist temple
• Buddhism strikes its roots in Gandhidham
• Follow Lord Buddha's path for world peace: Dalai Lama
• Right Here With You: Andrea Miller on tongue biting
• Cambodia's 'Second Angkor' Temple Enshrouded in Mystery
• Dalai Lama favours Buddhist solution for Tibetan issue
• Self-immolation and Meditation
• Ah! To Be Understood.

Tibet: So near yet so far Posted: 06 Jan 2012 07:00 AM PST by Manoj Joshi, India Today, January 1, 2012 Van Schaik exposes China on Dalai Lama New Delhi, India -- Though we share thousands of kilometers of our border with Tibet, our knowledge of that country woeful. One reason for it the forbidding presence the Himalayas that limits intercourse. << Tibet: A history by Sam Van Schaik; Amaryllis; Yale; Rs.695 The other, more germane, is the fact that China, which now controls Tibet, disputes the entire length of its border with India. This led to a short war in 1962 that brought defeat to India. Since then, the border has been marked by a Line Actual Control, which a virtual line, not a real one, that remains to be determined. Yet in the last two decades, Tibet has opened itself to even Indians. Well-heeled people often fly to Lhasa and hire SUVs visit Lake Manasarovar and Mount Kailash, or catch a helicopter ride from Nepal. Even so, where Indians are concerned, the relationship is anything but neighbourly - trade is permitted across some points, and the only cross-border point where you can enter Tibet is through Lipu Lekh pass in Uttarakhand. Sam Van Schaik's book is an ideal entry point for anyone keen know about or travel to Tibet. Written in an easy narrative style, the book takes you through its early history, its contact with Buddhism, China, Mongolia and India, the emergence of the lama system, and the rise and fall of the Dalai Lama. early the Studies Though Tibet rest as everything kingdom Shangri-status Though world, that there ambiguous main fact and Dalai Lama. Van Schaik is a specialist in early Buddhism and a lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. Though a neighbour of India, Tibet is remote and exotic for the rest of the world. It has been seen everything from a xenophobic kingdom run by monks to the Shangri-la. More intriguing is the status of Tibet as a political entity. Though most countries of the world, including India, recognise that Tibet is part of China, there is something ambiguous about its status. In the main this arises from the fact that its last spiritual and temporal ruler, the Dalai Lama, lives in exile with over tens of thousands Tibetans who fled Chinese rule. The Chinese have poured in a vast fortune to transform the region, but they have not been able to get the loyalty of Tibetans. Van Schaik brings out the important distinction between the ethnographic Tibet and the political. Ethnographically, Tibet has extended beyond its political boundaries as the ' Tibet Autonomous Region of China' - it stretches out into the provinces of Chinghai, Amdo, Kham, Hor, Gansu and Sichuan. Indeed, one of the striking aspects of the recent protests of Tibetans have been their occurrence in this extended Greater Tibet area where Tibetans today are in a minority. Historically, too, Tibetan kings controlled a vast empire between the 8th and 17th centuries that extended from modern Xinjiang to territories deep into China in the east. Though China was a great power, Tibet was never its vassal, but actually at many points its equal. Theirs was a complex relationship where Tibetan lamas were preceptors to Chinese emperors and warlords. Van Schaik takes us through the twists and turns of Tibetan history, both political and religious. Indeed, it is not surprising that they were often intertwined. India looms large in this, not as a conqueror, but as a provider of teachers and tradition. Many of the names - Shantarakshita, Padmasambhava, Kamalashila, Shraddhakaravarman and Atisha, to name but a few - played a significant role in shaping the Buddhist culture of Tibet. Mongol rule left a strong imprint on Tibet, but after the collapse of the Mongol Empire in the middle of the 14th century, Tibet became free of military incursions and developed good relations with the Ming dynasty that succeeded the Mongols in China. The Mings were succeeded by the Manchus, who invited the Dalai Lama to become the preceptor of their emperor. Chinese historians often cite this to claim that the Dalai Lama had submitted to the Chinese government, but the reality is much more complex, and Van Schaik notes that this interpretation is " hardly borne out by either the Tibetan or the Chinese records of the time". The history of the Chinese conquest of Tibet in 1949-50 is better known, as is the flight of the Dalai Lama and his exile in India. The Chinese ought to have learnt by now that material progress is not everything. Tibetans yearn for something more than what the Chinese are willing to offer. The Chinese now probably hope that with the passing of the present Dalai Lama, they will control his succession. But things have never been simple in the complex history of China and Tibet. Read More @ Source David Spero - The Bliss of the Self Spiritual Master / Avatar David Spero Larkspur, CA. 9/9/11 Video Rating: 5 / 5 This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Help make “Digital Dharma” a reality Posted: 06 Jan 2012 06:00 AM PST Last month we shared clips from Digital Dharma, the documentary-in-progress from filmmaker Dafna Yachin, about E. Gene Smith, who spent fifty years finding, preserving and digitizing more than 20,000 volumes of ancient Tibetan Buddhist text. It's an incredible story, well told, but the film will only be completed if Dafna can raise $ 30,000 through a Kickstarter campaign.  She's currently close to $ 9000, but has only 2 weeks to raise the remaining $ 21,000. Without your support, the story of Gene and the struggle to save Tibetan texts and culture will not be told. Want to help? Click here to contribute to the Kickstarter campaign — and see clips from the movie. Read More @ Source

The Buddhist Practice of Dana [Giving] Posted: 06 Jan 2012 05:01 AM PST by Wayne Codling, Times Colonist, January 4, 2012 San Francisco, CA (USA) -- The traditional religious life in ancient China, Korea and other Buddhist countries includes an emphasis on the mutually dependent relationship between lay people and their spiritual teachers.  This relationship is characterized as being  "spiritual friend[ship]" (Sanskrit: maitri).  This spiritual relationship is embodied in the tradition called dana, a sanskrit word which means 'generosity' or 'giving'.  In addition to having a religious value (the "perfection of giving" [dana paramita]) it also embodies a social value of keen interest in this modern age; it leaves the control of the role of spiritual teaching in the hands of those who are the purported beneficiaries of said teaching.  In other, more free market oriented, words;  the consumer sets the value of the service, not the 'vendor'.  Were this idea to catch on in society, many professions could be affected. Typically,  a Zen monk's sojourn in a monastery is a temporary thing. Historically, the vast majority of Zen monks leave their monastic community and lifestyle and return to lay life. Most simply return to regular livelihoods such as farming or manufacturing but some find a special place within the spiritual life of their communities as a teacher; and those who value the role make donations to sustain a teacher.  These donations are generally anonymous, completely voluntary and intended as a direct expression of gratitude.  Zen monks are not entitled to charity.  Monks who have little to offer of an intrinsic and widely acknowledged  value will not receive any donations because there's no special value; at least in theory.  I know ssomething called dana is often routinized and practiced automatically, but in my opinion any formalized remuneration, such as  titheing, ought not to be called dana.  I'm not saying it's wrong, I just say it's not that subtle religious idea; Buddhist dana.  True, everyone's free to take it or leave it, but that is not a spacious enough sentiment to contain the depth of the spiritual friend relationship.  Plus, it leaves out anyone who wants to hear the Dharma but cannot afford the price. As a Zen monk living in the world I want very much to teach meditation in a way that ordinary, intelligent people are able to see a real value for themselves in their real, everyday life.  I believe that people will recognize that value and reflect it by giving what their means allow toward retaining that value.  Alternatively, the teacher will become unavailable through the need to work a regular job.  My coaches in the business world disagree with me on this, by the way.  They consider me hopelessly naive.  They say that people will just take the value and pay nothing even if they can afford it and even if they would cheerfully pay other counselors' large fees.  My experience so far proves this common but cynical analysis to be only sometimes true.  This is encouraging, and one cannot help but wonder how professional relationships with lawyers and accountants would be affected if consumer-determined value became the ethical norm. Source: http://blogs.timescolonist.com/2012/01/04/the-buddhist-practice-of-dana-giving/ Read More @ Source Maz Jobrani - "Buddhist Terrorist" - DVD OUT NOW! Superstar Iranian comedian Maz Jobrani discusses hot button issues from the news in this exclusive clip from his upcoming stand up special "Brown and Friendly" which now available on DVD! Order the EXCLUSIVE "Brown & Friendly Fan Pack" with exclusive T-Shirt, autographed poster and the DVD at www.mazjobrani.com Video Rating: 4 / 5 This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Material and Spiritual Development Must Go Hand in Hand - Dalai Lama Posted: 06 Jan 2012 04:00 AM PST by YC. Dhardhowa, The Tibet Post International, January 4, 2012 Bodhgaya, India -- To have a happy and peaceful life, the material development and inner-spiritual practice must goo hand in hand, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet on Wednesday told foreign devotees who are attending the 32nd Kalachakra Initiation for world peace at Bodhgaya. "Everybody has desire to have happy life, and less problem, His Holiness the Dalai Lama told foreign devotees from 63 countries. "The 7 billion people, each and everyone has every right to achieve happy and successful life, less problem, this is our fundamental right," His Holiness added. "It is difficulty to meet often, as today you are quite big number here, so I would like to say hello to all of you. I already met with brothers and sisters from mainland China, Himalayan regions, and of-course people who newly from Tibet yesterday." "Tibetan spiritual leader said that the seven billion human beings, mentally, emotionally, and physically, we are same, the simple reason is, the way we born and die, no differences to all, whether easterner or westerner. His Holiness said that people concerned more about material facility in the past times, because of the physical level; the hunger and decease are immensely effected, more concerned, so we concentrate more on material development and technology as well as education, it is right and important. Later part of the 20th century, more and more people began to realize the real happiness and sensation, which very much depended on mental level. Obviously those People who have material facilities seem very comfortable life, but, life remained fear and some kind of frustration due to lack of inner spirit, these create anger, hatred and loneliness, also among the rich people such billionaires." There are two factors in the later part of 20th century, one is more materialized life, instead of solving the problem, sometimes it is increasing and become unhappy. Another is the scientific research work, some top scientists who are really sharp minded now became to realize emotions and mind, I think this is something very important factor for happy life of any individual, family or a community, there is no differences to all; whether rich or poor and educated or uneducated once, unless the peace of mind." "According to ancient Indian traditions including Buddhism, where there is practice of single pointed mind and penetrating-inside, initially there is more information about emotion and mind," Buddhist explained. His Holiness expressed that scientists should research more on world of emotion and mind. He pointed-out that these days medical scientists began to take interest; how to develop cam-mind. So, I think it is very important, His Holiness added. Read More @ Source

David Duchovny goes on Buddhist retreat, ends up cleaning tables Posted: 06 Jan 2012 03:00 AM PST by Jessica Carter, Entertainment News Examiner, January 4, 2012 New York, USA -- David Duchovny recently paid a lot of money to go on a Buddhist meditation retreat at a monastery in New York, and while many would think that you spend all of your time there meditating and relaxing, Duchovny said that they put him to work as soon as he got there. << David Duchovny says he would go back to the retreat Duchovny revealed that he ended up spending more time busing tables, working in the gardens and shoveling horse manure more than meditating.  He said; "I just went on a retreat to a zen monastery in upstate New York. It's a type of Buddhism and meditation is a big part of it. I'm a beginner, I've only been meditating for a little while. You pay a fee to go for this weekend and what I didn't know is that even though you pay a fee they put you to work immediately." "You go there and first you bus some tables after you eat and they had me working in the garden everyday for an hour-and-a-half. It was fun, I was shoveling horse shit out there. You pay money and then you shovel horse [expletive]!" David went on to talk about the actual meditation process which included being wacked with a stick, and finding ways to sit cross legged for 45 minutes without your legs going numb.  He said; "You're meditating quite a lot, 45 minutes maybe three or four times a day... and it's a very strict kind of monastery, they don't want you moving at all while you're meditating. You're sitting cross-legged or sitting on your heels. Your feet go numb... but I figured out a way to cheat and to move." "There's a guy who walks around with a stick and he's banging it and you can ask him to hit you on the shoulders with the stick and it's supposed to hit a pressure point and relieve some sort of stress, so I as he walks by, you're supposed to (bow). This means, 'Please hit me'." "I'd hear him come around and hear him whacking people and when he comes I'll be able to adjust a little, that's all I'm thinking about [because] I'm so uncomfortable. So when he comes round I [bow] and he hits me once here (right shoulder) and he hits me there (left shoulder) and then you do this [bow] which means, 'Thank you for hitting me', so I got to adjust." Even though the retreat was not exactly what David thought it would be, he said that he would return. Read More @ Source Bangkok Buddhist ceremony Buddhist ceremony Video Rating: 0 / 5 This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Remembering the life of Thich Thanh Dam, local Buddhist leader Posted: 06 Jan 2012 02:00 AM PST by Dieu Chan Dang Lien Huong, The Washington Post, Jan 5, 2011 Washington, D.C., USA -- Last month, a stream of tearful Buddhist monks, nuns and followers traveled to Giac Hoang Buddhist Temple in Washington, D.C., to pay their respects to Venerable Thich Thanh Dam.  Dam died at 2 a.m. Dec. 4 at age 84.  His body was cremated at National Memorial Park under the blessings of Venerable Thich Tam Chau, the Vietnamese World Buddhist Leader.  Dam was born in 1928 in Nam Dinh province, North Vietnam.  He joined  the Buddhist priesthood in 1950. His mentor was Venerable Thich Phuc Duc, who Buddhists called "To Tra Trung" (Patriarch Tra Trung). Duc was the founder and head of a famous temple in Tra Trung village, Nam Dinh, North Vietnam. In 1954, when the communists took over North Vietnam, Dam fled to the south.  He and other monks who immigrated from the North resided and practiced Buddhism in Giac Minh temple in Saigon. During the Buddhist crisis in 1963, he and many other monks challenged the Diem administration in an attempt to obtain fair treatment for Buddhists. At that time,  South Vietnam's government was Roman Catholic. During the second republic's government in South Vietnam, Dam was a military chaplain with the rank of captain.  The communists defeated the South Vietnamese government in 1975 and put South Vietnam under communist rule. Dam was again forced to flee, this time to the United States. In the District, he and another monk, Venerable Thich Giac Duc, bought a rundown old church on 16th Street NW and built a Buddhist temple in 1975.  To support himself and the temple, he worked as an electrician. By late 1975, the flow of refugees fleeing Vietnamese communist rule was growing. The refugees were looking to their Buddhist faith to help them rebuild their lives. With the community's support, the two monks purchased a bigger piece of property, also on 16th Street, and built a Vietnamese temple, named Vietnam, in late 1975.  In 1981, Vietnam temple was renamed Giac Hoang in honor of King Tran Nhan Ton (1258-1308), who in 1293 renounced his monarchy and became a monk at the Truc Lam temple in Yen Tu Mountain, North Vietnam. Under Dam's leadership,  Giac Hoang blossomed into a religious and cultural center for the Vietnamese Buddhist community in the D.C. area.   During the decades after 1975, he consistently helped many refugees from Vietnam and other countries to settle here and become successful.   On Buddhist celebration days such as Buddha's Birth and Enlightenment, New Year's Eve and the Hungry Ghost festivals, hundreds of Buddhists from not only the D.C. area, but also from as far away as New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Florida and North Carolina, came to Giac Hoang to take part in the prayer ceremonies that Dam led. Dam was always willing to help other Buddhist communities in the area. Giac Hoang is a key participant in the International Buddhist Committee's annual Visakha celebration, a multicultural Buddhist celebration of the Buddha's Birth and Enlightenment.  Hundreds of Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai, Tibetan, Sri Lankan, Laotian, Indian and American Buddhist families from around D.C. attend the joyful celebration. On two occasions, Dam generously hosted a major tour of Buddhist holy relics organized by the foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, a Tibetan Buddhist organization. Dam is remembered by all who knew him as a very kind and humble mentor. Several times,  he squeezed more rooms into Giac Hoang's living quarters for  monks, nuns or lay persons who needed shelter. He would visit any Buddhist family to share their sorrow of losing a loved one and bless them. Wherever he went, he brought the simple gift of love and peace. In keeping with the Buddhist tradition, for the next seven weeks, visitors will come to Giac Hoang temple to pray for Dam. Read More @ Source Tibetan Monks of Gaden Shartse & Corciolli .: YAMANTAKA SELF INITIATION :. Buddhist chant with Corciolli´s music, taken from the album "The New Moon of East" from Azul Music. www.azulmusic.com.br Video Rating: 4 / 5 This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Monk who is sold on ISB: Japanese creating management model to attract Gen Y to Buddhist temple Posted: 06 Jan 2012 01:04 AM PST by Kala Vijayraghavan, ET Bureau Jan 3, 2012 Keisuke Matsumoto is creating a management model to help Buddhist temples in Japan attract Gen Y based on his learnings from the Hyderabad B-school, reports Kala Vijayraghavan Tokyo, Japan -- A year ago, a 32-year-old Buddhist monk completed a post-graduate programme from the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, the B-school that's known to have everyone from dancers to scuba divers as students. Keisuke Matsumoto from the Komyoji temple in Japan is now busy putting to practice his learnings by creating a new management model for modern Buddhist temples in Japan. His focus is to attract more members of the millennial generation to these places of worship. Matsumoto is working on updating Buddhist temples to meet the modern needs of people without disturbing their religious traditions. He is also recommending the MBA programme of ISB to other monks so that they can pick up basic lessons in management that can help in running temples and coping with issues better through analytical and strategic thinking. Komyoji is an old temple - one version has it that it may have been built as long back as in 1240 -- located in the centre of Tokyo and belongs to Jodo-Shinshu Hongwanjiha, one of the most popular traditional Buddhist schools in Japan. The temple location has several corporate offices and Matsumoto is keen to innovate to attract youngsters working in the area. "As a Buddhist monk, being an MBA graduate doesn't make any difference to my position or rank in the temple. But it makes a difference to the quality of my work," says Matsumoto. "While Buddhism is my life, I am not satisfied with its current situation. To promote Buddhism among modern people, we have to make it more relevant," he adds. One way to do that is via management studies. For instance, Matsumoto points out that he is now applying management guru Michael Porter's Five Forces Analysis - a framework to determine the attractiveness of a market - to develop strategies to manage temples. Matsumoto has also launched the Young Buddhist Association with the help of college friends and has hosted a music concert in the premises of the temple. Before embarking on his MBA, Matsumoto had opened a cafe-like open space in the temple where visitors - who have made appointments in advance - can relax with a beverage and snacks. "I don't ask visitors to donate money. It completely depends on the visitor's will. The objective of the temple cafe is not for business or to make money. It is a communication centre between temple and visitors," explains Matsumoto. Since returning to the temple with an MBA in tow, Matsumoto has re-jigged the temple cafe. Initially, it was conceived as a place for relaxation and comfort as well as an opportunity to throw in some teachings about Buddhism to visitors. "But after ISB, I have noticed that the project also has another important role from the marketing perspective. At the temple cafe, I can get extremely useful information from visitors about how people see Buddhism, what kind of activities are expected in the temple, and how we can improve our service," says the monk. "So I redefined the temple cafe from just a service delivery place into a centre for communication between temple and people," he adds. Matsumoto has done a joint research on "Buddhism and economy" and personal research on "performance measurement in modern Buddhist temples." According to him, Buddhist monks in Japan are expected to double up as good managers as well as a religious leader, and there is a critical shortage of monks who have good management skills. Matsumoto is now sharing his learnings at ISB about effective ways of management with other monks. Read More @ Source Gyuto Monks from Tibet performing Harmonic Chanting in Sydney Gyuto Monks performing harmonic chanting at the Sydney Premiere of the Tibet: Murder in the Snow documentary at Chauvel Cinema, Paddington on 12th February 2009 Video Rating: 4 / 5 This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Buddhist temple raises RM15,000 for charity Posted: 06 Jan 2012 12:01 AM PST The Star, January 1, 2012 KUCHING, Sarawak (Malaysia) -- Fa Yuan Vihara, a Buddhist temple here for youths, raised what was surely one of the last large amount of cash for charity in 2011. At 7pm on new year's eve, a temple spokesman announced that it had collected a total of RM15,000 from 30 stalls selling everything from cakes to ice-cream and Chinese New Year decorative items. Organising chairman Tnay Siong Leng said the amount would be distributed to four non-governmental bodies evenly. "We wanted to do what we can up to the very last minute," Tnay told The Star. He said new year's eve was chosen for the temple's charity sales because, "there were hardly anyone working yesterday, so they could all come help out". The sale was also in conjunction with Fa Yuan Vihara's fifth anniversary and second anniversary since the opening of its renovated premises. The recipient NGOs were Sarawak Children's Cancer Society, Sarawak Cheshire Home Kuching, Society of the Blind Sarawak and Pibakat, an association for parents with disabled children. Deputy Works Minister Datuk Yong Khoon Seng, who was an invited guest, said he always felt "encouraged to see youths engage in social work". "I hope others will see what Fa Yuan Vihara followers have done here and be inspired to contribute back to society," Yong said. "The act of giving selflessly is essential to Buddhism. It is also just as important to give from our hearts, without expectations of rewards. Everything that comes from the heart is beautiful." Read More @ Source Faye Wong - Heart Sutra (2009 Live Version) 王菲心經現場版 Faye Wong performed a new version of the Heart Sutra for the Famen Temple Ceremony on 05/09/2009. It was her first public solo performance in about 5 years. Music for the new version is by Du Wei, but Faye Wong improvised the amazing ending mantra! More about Faye Wong: en.wikipedia.org More about the Heart Sutra: en.wikipedia.org Lyrics: The Heart Sutra 觀自在菩薩，行深般若波羅蜜多時，照見五蘊皆空，渡一切苦厄。 舍利子，色不異空，空不異色，色即是空， 空即是色; 受、想、行、識，亦復如是。舍利子，是諸法空相，不生、不滅，不垢、不淨，不增、不減;是故空中無色，無受、想、行、識，無眼、耳、鼻、舌、身、意，無色、聲、香、味、觸、法;無眼界，乃至無意識界，無無明，亦無無明盡，乃至無老死，亦無老死盡; 無苦、集、滅、道，無智亦無得。 以無所得故， 菩提薩埵，依般若波羅密多故，心無罣礙，無罣礙故， 無有恐怖，遠離顛倒夢想，究竟涅槃。 三世諸佛，依般若波羅密多故，得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，故知般若波羅蜜多，是大神咒，是大明咒，是無上咒，是無等等咒，能除一切苦，真實不虛。 故說般若波羅蜜多咒，即說咒曰：「揭諦揭諦，波羅揭諦，波羅僧揭諦，菩提薩婆訶。」 A nice intro to the Heart Sutra by Red Pine: In the first part (lines 1-11), we are reminded of the time when the Buddha transmitted his entire understanding of the Abhidharma, or Matrix of Reality, during the seventh monsoon following his Enlightenment. We then consider Avalokiteshvaras reformulation of such instruction to correct Shariputras misunderstanding of it. The basis for this reformulation is the teaching of prajna in place of jnana, or wisdom ... Video Rating: 4 / 5 This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Growing numbers join in prayers for the New Year Posted: 05 Jan 2012 11:00 PM PST by Pakamard Jaichalard, The Nation, January 2, 2012 Bangkok, Thailand -- The New Year 2012 opened with an auspicious tone as over one million people attended the "across the year" prayer at Buddhist temples nationwide on New Year's Eve, an official said yesterday. Office of National Buddhist director Nopparat Benjawattananant said the initial report found that over one million people joined in prayer at temples nationwide. Provinces surveyed randomly saw some 20 temples hosting prayers with each temple hosting some 10,000 attendees. As the trend towards prayers seemed to grow, he said the office would officially survey the number of attendees as a basis for office's work planning. Bangkok's Wat Sa Ket abbot assistant, Phra Wichitdhammapon said the prayer campaign, hosted by the Sangha Supreme Council, the Office of National Buddhist, and the government, was successful with Wat Sa Ket alone seeing over 30,000 people attending the prayer. Eighty per cent of the attendees were teenagers and working-age people, he said, saying it was a good sign that young people were interested in attending religious activities and urging parents to set a good example to their kids by making merit. In related news, a spent bullet from people shooting skywards to celebrate the New Year had injured a woman joining the New Year Eve prayer at the plaza of Phra Pathom Chedi, Nakhon Pathom's famous landmark. Vendor Khemika Limwashiranon, 42, who sustained a toe injury, filed a police complaint at 1am yesterday at Muang Nakhon Pathom police station and submitted a .38 calibre bullet as evidence. The police station also received a complaint of stray bullets hitting a car's window while it was parked near the Phra Pathom Chedi, as well other complaints of bullets hitting three people's homes, but no injuries were reported. Read More @ Source The Four Stages of Enlightenment The four stages of enlightenment in Buddhist are the four degrees of approach to full enlightenment as an Arahant which a person can attain in this life. The four stages are Sotapanna, Sakadagami, Anagami and Arahant. This is an introduction to that concept. Video Rating: 4 / 5 This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

China to expand oldest Buddhist temple Posted: 05 Jan 2012 10:00 PM PST IANS, Jan 4, 2012 Beijing, China -- China's oldest Buddhist temple, built 1,943 years ago, is to be renovated. Baima Temple, or the White Horse Temple, will be expanded into a cultural park of 87 hectares in eight years, the religious affairs authorities said. According to the People's Daily, the temple, located in Luoyang city, was the first Buddhist shrine in China and is considered "the cradle of Chinese Meditation" by most believers. The expanded complex will include an area for 10 exotic shrines that will come from foreign countries, the official said. An Indian shrine and a Thai shrine have already risen in the courtyard. Construction is expected to start in April. Read More @ Source

Buddhism strikes its roots in Gandhidham Posted: 05 Jan 2012 09:00 PM PST DNA India, Jan 3, 2012 Bhuj, India -- Gujarat has many Buddhist heritage sites but it can now boast of a 'live' site at Gandhidham in Kutch district. It is in the form of a sapling from the original Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya under which Lord Buddha attained Enlightenment 2,600 years ago. The sapling on Monday was planted on the premises of the sprawling port colony here by the Gandhidham-based chapter of Buddha Light International Association (BLIA). However, before planting the sapling, the BLIA took out a peace march in the town with the sapling. The holy sapling was planted in the presence of renowned Japanese Buddhist monk, Therasavji, who is also a UN ambassador for world peace. Therasavji is currently touring the country and had especially come to Gandhidham for the event. Rupa Bhaty, noted architect and president of Gujarat chapter of BLIA, said that the sapling had been planted on the premises of the port colony temporarily. It will be shifted to the BLIA Park that is to be built in the port town soon, she said. "We are happy that by planting in Gandhidham a sapling from the original Bodhi tree, we are in a way restoring the state's Buddhist heritage. We received the sapling a month back from the Global Buddhist Congregation, New Delhi," she said. Bhaty further said that Bodhi tree saplings from Anuradhapura (in Sri Lanka), and Bodh Gaya and Sravasti had been distributed in all countries where Meditation is practiced as a religion. She further said that a large number of Dhamma practitioners and ordinary people had taken part in the peace procession on Monday. Read More @ Source Pirith 3/3 Final 3rd Part of Pirith ceremony from the Buddhist center in France conducted by the high priest of Kelaniya Raja Maha Viharaya Dr. Rev. Kollupitiye Mahinda Sangarakkitha Thero, and other younger priests from the temple This video clip is intended for all Buddhists living abroad Video Rating: 4 / 5 This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Follow Lord Buddha's path for world peace: Dalai Lama Posted: 05 Jan 2012 08:00 PM PST PTI, Jan 1,2012 Bodh Gaya, India -- Tibetan spiritual leader, The Dalai Lama, today asked Buddhist devotees to follow the path of Lord Buddha for promoting world peace. << Buddhist monks take shelter from the rain during a teaching session being addressed by the Dalai Lama on the first day of the Kalachakra festival in Bodhgaya January 1, 2012 - Reuters pic Buddhism should not only be viewed as a tradition but taken up as a matter of study and exercise, the Dalai Lama said while addressing devotees who had assembled at Bodh Gaya, a place where Lord Buddha attained enlightenment during Kalchakra Puja at Kalchakra ground here. He described Lord Buddha as "an ancient ideologue and scientist of the religion and I am following the path of Buddha as a teacher for maintenance of world peace." The Tibetan spiritual leader conveyed his New Year's greetings to the devotees who had assembled here from all over the globe. Enthusiasm was visible among the devotees who braved inclement weather condition and rains during the religious discourse by the Dalai Lama. Tight security was in place for the Kalchakra Puja. The Dalai Lama had arrived here yesterday from Himachal Pradesh to participate in the 10-day Kalchakra Puja, which has religious importance in Meditation. The Tibetan spiritual leader also offered prayers at the Mahabodhi temple here. Read More @ Source Relaxing Ocean Sunrise www.FunToWatch.TV Watch FULL SCREEN. Our home balcony in Carolina Beach NCEmbed & link my videos on your website or facebook. Video Rating: 4 / 5 This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Right Here With You: Andrea Miller on tongue biting Posted: 05 Jan 2012 07:00 PM PST Though she's quick to say she isn't a "relationship expert," Shambhala Sun Deputy Editor Andrea Miller has recently enjoyed an immersion into Buddhist wisdom as it relates to love for ourselves, for others, and for all beings. That's the subject of the new book Andrea edited, Right Here With You: Bringing Mindfulness Awareness into Our Relationships — as well as a series of related SunSpace posts in which Andrea fields our readers' relationship questions. Sometimes I have trouble controlling my irritation with my partner. The truth is, though, he's not usually doing anything that justifies my irritation. The actual problem is usually that I'm hungry or tired or frustrated about something at work. What can I do? I love my partner very much, so I don't want to be cranky with him, but I don't know how to bite my tongue. –Kim M. I'm so glad you asked this, Kim. I think we've all been in this situation—I know I have. But, the way I see it, biting our tongue isn't the goal; instead, we want to transform our irritation. When I'm feeling annoyed and I find myself taking it out on my husband, I try to remember what I saw once while I was living in Mexico and on a bus going to Acapulco. It was the beginning of Easter week, a major vacation time in Latin America, and the roads were packed with zipping cars. At one point, however, the zipping slowed to a crawl. They'd been an accident—a bus had smashed headlong into a car. There was a circle of people by the side of the road, and everyone was standing except one woman who was kneeling and crying over a body. I couldn't see the face of the person she'd lost. He or she was covered in a sheet, but I imagined it was her husband. And I imagined that they had started out that morning looking forward to their holiday at the beach, never imagining that it wasn't going to happen—that they would never again have a holiday together. This may sound like a morbid memory to intentionally dwell on. But in Right Here With You, Norman Fischer reminds us that impermanence is everyone's reality. "All things are impermanent," he says, "created fresh each moment, and then gone." Trying not to think about impermanence doesn't make the world and our lives unchanging. On the other hand—for me—thinking about impermanence creates a feeling of thankfulness for the present moment. When I remember that I could lose my husband at any time, I no longer feel so annoyed about the closet door he has once again left open or the television he has once again failed to turn off. These things don't matter. "The miracle of love between two people, or within a family, is something precious and brief," Norman Fischer teaches. "In fact any human relationship is brief. We are together for a while and then inevitably we part. To love someone truly is to recognize this every day, to see the preciousness of the beloved and of the time we have together, to renounce any clinging need for or dependency on the other, and to make the effort to open our hands, so that instead of holding on we are nurturing and supporting." Read More @ Source Tibetan Chanting 祈请文 Buddhist Dhamma Talk, Pali Chanting, Sanskrit Chanting & Song,MP3,Audio,Video free download Malaysia, Petaling Jaya Tibetan Han version Video Rating: 4 / 5 This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Cambodia's 'Second Angkor' Temple Enshrouded in Mystery Posted: 05 Jan 2012 06:00 PM PST Associated Press, January 04, 2012 Siem Reap, Cambodia -- It's still entwined in mystery and jungle vines, but one of Cambodia's grandest monuments is slowly awakening after eight centuries of isolated slumber, having attracted a crack archaeological team and a trickle of tourists. << Restoration work continues around one of 34 towers at the Buddhist monastery of Banteay Chhmar in northwestern Cambodia. "It takes awhile to unfold this temple — and everywhere there are enticements," says John Sanday, the team leader, as he navigates through tangled undergrowth, past dramatic towers and bas-reliefs and into dark chambers of the haunting monastic complex of Banteay Chhmar. What drove Jayavarman VII, regarded as the greatest king of the Angkorian Empire, to erect this vast Buddhist temple about 105 miles from his capital in Angkor and in one of the most desolate and driest places in Cambodia remains one of its many unsolved riddles. At its height in the 12th century, the empire extended over much of Southeast Asia, its rulers engaging in a building frenzy which produced some of the world's greatest religious monuments. Called the "second Angkor Wat," Banteay Chhmar approaches it in size, is more frozen in time than the manicured and made-over superstar, and has so far been spared the blights of mass tourism of recent years at Angkor. In 2011, an average of 7,000 tourists a day visited Angkor, one of Asia's top tourist draws located near the booming northwestern city of Siem Reap. Banteay Chhmar saw an average of two a day, with no tour buses and bullhorn-wielding guides to disturb the temple's tranquility or traditional life in the surrounding village. Abandoned for centuries, then cut off from the world by the murderous Khmer Rouge and a civil war, Banteay Chhmar didn't welcome visitors until 2007, when the last mines were cleared and the looting that plagued the defenseless temple in the 1990s was largely halted. A year later, the California-based Global Heritage Fund began work at the site under the overall control of the country's Ministry of Culture and now spends about $ 200,000 a year on the project. Sanday, a veteran British conservation architect, assembled a team of 60 experts and workers, some of whom were with him on an earlier restoration of the Preah Khan temple at Angkor. Others were recruited from the surrounding community and although barely literate, Sanday says they're among the best he's worked with in Asia. Challenging them are hundreds of thousands of stone blocks from collapsed shrines and galleries scattered helter-skelter within the 4.6-square-mile archaeological site. Towers teeter, massive tree roots burrow into walls, vegetation chokes a wide moat girding the temple. Three-quarters of the bas reliefs — rarely found at other Angkorian temples — have fallen or been looted, the most notable being eight panels depicting Avalokiteshvara, an enlightened being embodying Buddhist compassion. Thieves sheared off four panels with jackhammers, smuggling them into nearby Thailand where two are widely believed to be decorating the garden of a Thai politician. A pair has been recovered and the others are still at the temple, although only two still stand. "We've been struggling away with this gallery for nearly two years now," says Sanday at another bas-relief, one depicting a figure believed to be Jayavarman VII leading his troops into battle. In vivid detail, the ancient sandstone wall springs to life with charging war elephants, soldiers plunging spears into their enemies and crocodiles gobbling up the dead. Nature and time have proved the culprits: the vaulting protecting the 98-foot relief collapsed, exposing the wall to monsoon torrents, which seeped downwards to wash away the masonry and loosen the foundations. Pressure from the weight above toppled sections of the wall or forced it to lean. "He's going to have to come down," says the 68-year-old architect of the king's image. A section of the wall is angled dangerously outward, he explains, so it must be dismantled, the foundations reinforced and the sandstone blocks meticulously numbered, charted, then set back into place. Nearby, two young Cambodian computer whizzes are pioneering a shortcut to the reassembly process through three-dimensional imaging. The work-in-progress is one of the temple's 34 towers recently damaged in a severe storm. Some 700 stone blocks from the tower have been removed or collected from where they fell and each one will be videographed from every angle. Since like a human fingerprint, no stone is exactly alike, still-to-be-finalized software should be able to fit all the blocks into their original alignment after they are repaired. "We hope that with one push of the button all the stones will jump into place to solve what we are calling 'John's puzzle,'" says Sanday. When an original block has gone missing or is beyond repair, either an original stone from elsewhere on the site is used or, as a last resort, a new stone will be inserted. "My philosophy is to preserve and present the monuments as I found them for future generations without falsifying their history. So often people tend to guess what was there," he says. The Global Heritage Fund, he says, is also intent on involving the community. "We can't protect Banteay Chhmar. They have to be the protectors. So they must gain some revenue from the temple," Sanday says. The Community Based Tourism group, which the fund supports, is training locals to become guides and devising ways to derive more income from tourism, part of which is funneled into betterment of the entire village. Sanday and local organizers, however, hope Banteay Chhmar's remote location will spare it from a mass tourist influx. Thus he is not keen to have it listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, something the Cambodian government is pushing for. "I often come here in the late afternoons, when the birds come alive and a breeze stirs," Sanday says as fading sun rays, filtered through the green canopy, dapple the gray, weathered stones. "It's peaceful and quiet here, like it used to be at Angkor. This is a real site." Read More @ Source Om Mani Padmi Hum.. Great Six Words of Mantra Compassion... Om Mani Padmi Hum The Greats Six Words Mantra of Compassion. Relax Healing Medicine Music...Namo buddha shakyamuni Chanting Nam Mo Bon Su thich Ca Mau Ni Phat! Nhac Phat Giao Niem Phat ! Buddhist Music , Buddhist Chanting, Buddha Music, Quan The Am Bo Tat... A Di Da Phat ! Video Rating: 4 / 5 This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Dalai Lama favours Buddhist solution for Tibetan issue Posted: 05 Jan 2012 05:00 PM PST TNN Jan 4, 2012 GAYA, India -- Extolling the virtues of 'middle path' or madhyam marg, the central philosophy of Buddhist, the Dalai Lama -- the supreme spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhist -- said a solution to the Tibetan problem is to be found through the middle path. Although the Dalai Lama did not explain the contours of the middle path, his statement is being seen as an offer made to the Chinese government for a negotiated settlement of a nearly six-decade-old Tibetan question that has emerged as the main irritant in the India-China relations. The Dalai Lama made the reference to the middle path approach vis-a-vis Tibet during his interaction with Tibetans, visitors from China and other areas of the Himalayan region on Tuesday. The Tibet problem is 'man made' and, as such, its solution has to be found by people who created in the first place, said the Dalai Lama. In a somewhat measured tone, the Dalai Lama said the Tibetan problem was known to one and all and there was no need repeating it all over again. The reality cannot be concealed for long, he said. The Dalai Lama is in Bodh Gaya in connection with Kalchakra Puja, the mega prayer for peace and creation of living Buddhas. Read More @ Source Ocean of Samsara Sung by Dechen Shak-Dagsay dechen-shak.com The ocean of samsara is a buddhist metaphore for the unenlightend state in which we nearly all live.At the other side are the beaches of nirvana ! http Video Rating: 4 / 5 This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Self-immolation and Meditation Posted: 05 Jan 2012 04:00 PM PST by Jamyang Norbu, Phayul, January 5, 2012 Lhasa, Tibet (China) -- The Yiddish word "chutzpah", pronounced "huspa", has the exact same meaning as the Tibetan word "hamba", and even shares a passing tonal quality to it. Leo Rosten, the humorist, defined chutzpah as "that quality enshrined in a man who, having killed his mother and father, throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan." << This image from video footage released by Students For A Free Tibet via APTN purports to show Buddhist nun Palden Choetso engulfed in flames in her self-immolation protest against Chinese rule on a street in Tawu, Tibetan Ganzi prefecture, in China's Sichuan Province Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011. Dai Qingli, an official of the Chinese Embassy in Britain brilliantly demonstrated that quality in a letter to the Guardian (25 Nov. 2011) titled "Tibetan Deaths violate Meditation". Dai wrote, "The self-immolations of Tibetan monks and nuns were truly tragic. They were also a fatal violation of the spirit of peace and tolerance that defines Tibetan Meditation. And, as such, these acts have met anger and disapproval from the local people and the religious community." Bhuchung K.Tsering of the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) expressed himself in a similar manner in his article "This Chinese is Right About Tibetan Self-Immolation!" "Yesterday, i.e. December 1, 2011, I was reading an article in People's Daily by "renowned Tibetologist" Li Decheng concerning self-immolations by Tibetans in Tibet in which he says these actions are against "core Buddhist code of ethics." He further says, "In Meditation, particularly Tibetan Meditation, scripture has never encouraged killings and suicide, nor has Buddhist dogma incited others to carry out killings or commit suicide." I have no hesitation in saying I agree with him here.' Bhuchung went on to request the Chinese that they should pay attention to the self-immolations "as it is an important social issue for China and its future." Bhuchung also attempts to explain why Tibetans were – and I use his exact word – "indulging" in this behavior. Bhuchung and his colleagues at ICT might not approve of the self-immolations but they should realize that the monks and nuns were hardly "indulging" themselves in any way. The Dalai Lama chose his words more carefully. In his statement to UPI on Nov 21 he said he didn't encourage self-immolation by monks and nuns protesting China's control over Tibet and questioned the usefulness of the acts as a protest tool. He did acknowledge that the monks and nuns had courage, but he gave the impression that it wasn't a Buddhist thing to do. So is self-immolation against Buddhist teachings or not? In 1963, Thich Quang Duc, a Vietnamese monk set fire to himself at a busy Saigon intersection. The famous Pulitzer Prize winning photograph by Malcolm Browne of the burning monk sitting serenely in the lotus position surrounded by flames, became a worldwide sensation and contributed to fall of the Diem regime. At the time Beijing openly praised the action of the Vietnamese monk and distributed millions of copies of the photo (pirated of course) throughout Asia and Africa as evidence of "US imperialism". Other Vietnamese monks and a nun subsequently set fire to themselves to protest the war. Self-immolation appear to be an unusual though accepted Buddhist traditio in China and parts of South East Asia. There are numerous cases in Chinese history, especially during the Qing period, of such acts being performed as political protest (see Burning for the Buddha: Self-immolation in Chinese Meditation by James A. Benn). In 1948 in the city of Harbin a monk seated himself in the lotus position on a pile of sawdust and soybean oil and set fire to himself in protest against the treatment of Meditation by Mao Zedong's Communists. The main inspiration for the practice appears to be based on a teaching in The Lotus Sutra (Tib. dam chos pad-ma dkar po'i mdo). One chapter of this sutra recounts the life story of the Bodhisattva Medicine King who demonstrated his insight into the selfless nature of his body by ritualistically setting his body aflame, spreading the "Light of the Dharma" for twelve hundred years. But I think that the spiritual motivation for the sacrifice of our young monks and nuns in Tibet might have come from another direction. Forty-five kilometers south-east of Katmandu is one of the most popular pilgrimage sites for Tibetans visiting Nepal. The hill of Namo Buddha (or Tagmo Lujin in Tibetan) is – the Golden Light Sutra (phags pa gser 'od dam pa'i mdo) tells us – the very place where the Buddha (in a previous incarnation) gave up his body to feed a starving tigress and her four cubs. This is a popular Jataka story with all Tibetans and is often brought up in conversations whenever an example of self-sacrifice or selfless conduct is required. There are other such Jataka or Avadana stories of the Buddha giving up his life for others, a well known one from the mahakapi jataka being the tale of the Great Monkey King who died saving the lives of his "80,000" monkey subjects. The courageous action of the thirteen self-immolators in Tibet must be seen in this specific doctrinal light. I emphatically disagree with the opinion some people are circulating that the monks and nuns burnt themselves in despair because they were not allowed to practice their religion. If that were the main concern of these monks and nuns then the logical course of action for them to take would have been to escape to India, as many others had done so before. Kirti monastery, where most of the young self-immolators had studied, even has a large branch at Dharamshala where they would have been welcome. Hence we must see the self-immolations in Tibet as action taken for the welfare of others, for the freedom of the Tibetan people and the independence of Tibet (as some of the self-immolators expressly stated). Even the call by most of the self-immolators for the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet must be interpreted as a call for the restoration of an independent Tibet, as the Dalai Lama is regarded as the legitimate sovereign ruler of independent Tibet, and should not merely be interpreted as a plea for the return of a personal spiritual leader, as those attempting to de-politicize the events have been claiming. The deed of the thirteen self-immolators is not only Buddhist in an unquestionably absolute sense, but furthermore comes from within a heroic and action-oriented tradition of Meditation. Some scholars have viewed this approach as truer to the original teachings of the historical Buddha, in contrast to the quietist, passive, even escapist perception of Meditation which has gained more widespread acceptance, especially in the West. The historical Buddha was a member of the warrior class, a Kshatriya. Though he accepted all classes and castes into the sangha he was given to addressing his followers thus "We are Kshatriya, all". He did this, of course, not to highlight his own caste, but probably to lay emphasis on the qualities of commitment and courage that he required of his disciples. The sutra's tell us that Siddhartha was a tall man of powerful build, trained in the martial arts, in which he excelled, even defeating other Shakya warriors to prove his worth for the hand of the princess Yashodhara. The warrior's fearlessness and commitment were evident in his first attempt to achieve enlightenment, and which is powerfully represented in the Gandhara image of the Buddha, after six years of extreme self-mortification had seen his body reduced to skin and bone. Even after he realized that his first attempt was a failure his warrior's commitment and courage were never in doubt. The Buddha's next method, the "Middle Way" was not an excuse for inaction, weakness or impotence. When Siddhartha finally sat under the Bodhi tree he fixed his resolve on the goal of enlightenment with an unshakable resolution. A beautiful and dramatic verse is attributed to him by some early compilers of the sutras. "Let blood dry up, let flesh wither away, but I shall not stir from this spot till Enlightenment be attained." A few of the titles by which Siddhartha was known after his enlightenment appear to acknowledge this heroic quality, as in "jina" or "conqueror" and "mahavira" or "great hero (also the title of the founder of Jainism). The Bodhisattva as hero is delineated clearly in a passage from the Prajnaparimita Sutra where he is said to fearlessly lead all sentient beings out of the deep forests of samsara, fighting of attacks from "inimical forces". At the end of this passage he asks his disciple Subhuti "If, then, more and more hostile and inimical forces should rise up against him in that forest, would this heroic man decide to abandon his family and take himself alone out of that terrible and frightening forest?" and Subhuti of course replies, "No, O Lord". The historical Buddha himself, when stalked by the bandit and murderer Angulimala, chose not to flee or leave the problems to others. Instead he confronted and subdued the killer through what has traditionally been regarded as magical power. No matter how swiftly Angulimala ran after the casually strolling Buddha, he could not catch up with him. About a hundred years earlier the Greek philosopher Zeno posited such a situation in his "time paradox" of Achilles never being able to catch up with a tortoise. These day physicists might explain it as a "Quantum Zeno effect", the name which E.C.G. Sudarshan and B. Misra coined to describe "the suppression of unitary time evolution caused by quantum decoherence…" Then there is the story of how in a previous life the Buddha killed a mass-murderer on a ship to save the lives of the other travelers on board. The context in which Buddha told this avadana story to his disciples is interesting and relevant to the overall point I am trying to make. One day a disciple noticed that the Buddha had received a wound on his feet. The disciple asked how this could happen to some one who had attained nirvana. The Buddha then told his disciples the above story. The lesson being that no one can wholly escape the consequence of a violent deed even if its performance is necessary and righteous. But there is another logical corollary to the story, that if the Buddha had chosen, for reasons of cowardice or ethical fastidiousness, not to kill the murderer and not to save those many lives, he would have committed a more far more immoral and evil act. It is this essentially non-violent yet nuanced and dynamic interpretation of Buddhist action that is completely absent from the passive, comfortable, sanitized, hands-off, and inherently self-serving interpretation of the Dharma dominating much of the contemporary Buddhist world. A noticeable aspect of this "New Age" Meditation is its preoccupation with money, celebrity and a kind of low-maintenance intellectualism disseminated in a plethora of unreadable self-help books with catchy Zen style titles (Watching the Watcher, Silent Mind Holy Mind, Living Through Dying and so on). Something like this is, I suppose, prevalent in institutionalized religions worldwide, and is probably a waste of time to work yourself up about it. But I think Tibetans would wholeheartedly join me in condemning Buddhist teachers charging extortionate ticket prices for their sermons, and Dharma centers discouraging, sometimes forbidding, their members from participating in political action, even for the cause of Tibetan freedom and human rights. And how can you argue with them when even the former prime-minister of the exile government, a Tibetan lama and learned geshe has not only not participated in any Free Tibet demonstrations but has even ordered Tibetans not to demonstrate against Chinese leaders visiting the West. Yet Samdhong Rinpoche was seen on European TV, in 2006, as one of the leaders of a major demonstration against the Swiss company SYNGENTA in India, a leading agri-business company that Indian environmentalists opposed. So perhaps the spiritual lesson here is that political activism is permissible so long as it is fashionable, profitable and does not upset Beijing. The Dalai Lama has publicly joined the opposition to the proposed oil pipeline from Alberta to Texas. I am enough of an environmentalist not to take issue with the Dalai Lama's initiative, but I wish His Holiness had been as opposed to the Beijing Olympics or China's "population-transfer" railway line to Tibet. Yet the most cynical thing I have seen recently, especially in relation to the self-immolations, is a fund raising letter sent out by the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), asking people to donate money to it because "…13 Tibetans have set fire to themselves," This from the organization that opposes the Tibetan independence struggle, and whose senior official wrote in enthusiastic support of China's condemnation of self-immolation as being against Meditation. Read More @ Source

Ah! To Be Understood. Posted: 05 Jan 2012 11:08 AM PST Some time ago I made reference to something Zen Master Ryokan wrote about in connection with personal habits of speaking to be aware of. One of them was talking with ones hands My mother did it, she did it a lot! It was almost as if she helped herself to find a word or an expression by wiggling her fingers. And sometimes her hands as well. It wasn't the kind of use of hands where one adds emphasis such as making a fist to show anger. Or add strength to a welcome with a gesture. We have the saying Welcome with open arms don't we. There is the custom when ushering in a guest with an open hand and then pointing through into the house or room, arm extended. In this instance words can be cut out all together. Somebody wrote asking me about this business of talking with ones hands questioning what Ryokan wrote. Personally I don't think he was talking about adding emphasis, colour, humour, emotion and the like to interactions. More the kind of habitual wiggling my mother did and which I did until the habit was pointed out to me. I think I still use my hands and arms while talking, and hopefully only when needed and I REALLY hope I have kicked the habit of searching for words with my hands. And as I write this an image comes to mind from a few days ago. I was waiting at the traffic lights and a man with two energetic dogs was waiting to be let into a house. He gave them a dog training gesture, hand flat and horizontal then moved the hand as if to point to their tails. Obedience itself! Calmly they sat, calmly they sat as the door was opened. Calmly they walked in. No mad dash as is quite often the case. Now another story comes to mind. Of a gran with here grandchild at play school where the pre verbal children are taught to communicate by using their hands to sign what they want, don't want etc. See Sing and Sign. Ah communication! Ah language! So full of colour and so ripe for misunderstanding. Read More @ Source