China 'trained female devotees to poison Dalai Lama'
China 'trained female devotees to poison Dalai Lama' |
- China 'trained female devotees to poison Dalai Lama'
- Nepal’s kung fu nuns practise karma with a kick
- South Korea Buddhist leaders resign over gambling scandal
- Buddhist monks who strayed
- Buddhist monks filmed smoking, drinking, playing poker
- Dalai Lama discusses possible poison plot in upcoming interview
| China 'trained female devotees to poison Dalai Lama' Posted: 13 May 2012 09:00 AM PDT Zeenews, May 13, 2012Dharmsala, India -- The Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, fears Chinese agents have given training to bogus female devotees to kill him with poison while seeking blessings.
Indian security officials have advised the Nobel laureate to live in a high security cordon in his temple palace grounds in Dharamsala, a hill station in Himachal Pradesh. "We received some sort of information from Tibet," he said. "Some Chinese agents training some Tibetans, especially women, you see, using poison – the hair poisoned, and the scarf poisoned – they were supposed to seek blessing from me, and my hand touch." The ties between China and the Tibetan government-in-exile in India remain murky. Read More @ Source
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| Nepal’s kung fu nuns practise karma with a kick Posted: 13 May 2012 08:00 AM PDT AFP, May 13, 2012KATHMANDU, Nepal -- It is a hot, cloudless morning on a hillside on the outskirts of Kathmandu and dozens of nuns arrange themselves into lines around a golden Buddhist shrine.
In unison, each slams a clenched fist into their opposite palm, breathes deeply and waits, motionless in the rising heat. But these devotees are not here to pray or to meditate, for they have gathered to undergo a rigorous and aggressive martial arts routine as the world's first order of kung fu nuns. The sisters of the Amitabha Drukpa Nunnery - aged from nine to 52 - come from across Nepal, India, Tibet and Bhutan to learn the ancient Chinese discipline of kung fu, which they believe will help them be better Buddhists.
"The main reason for practising kung fu is for fitness and for health, but it also helps with meditation and self-defence," 14-year-old Jigme Wangchuk Lhamo, who was sent to the nunnery from Bhutan four years ago, told AFP. "When we practise kung fu we are doing something which gives us not only strong bodies but also strong minds." Buddhist nuns in the Himalayas have traditionally been seen as inferior to monks, with the women kept away from physically demanding exercise and relegated to menial tasks like cooking and cleaning. But the 800-year-old Drukpa - or dragon - sect is changing all that by mixing meditation with martial arts as a means of empowering its women. The nuns, in contrast to most Buddhist groups, are also taught to lead prayers and given basic business skills, as well as running a guest house and coffee shop at the abbey and driving jeeps to Kathmandu to get supplies. Kung fu came to the nunnery only four years ago when its spiritual leader, His Holiness the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa, visited Vietnam, where he saw nuns receiving combat training that was previously used by Viet Cong guerrillas. He was so impressed that he brought four of the Vietnamese, all women in their 20s, to Nepal to add kung fu lessons to the nuns' yoga classes and lessons in the nuances of good and bad karma. "Our nuns... are very new to modernisation and are timid and lack self-confidence," the Gyalwang Drukpa wrote in a recent blog post. "I am not saying that I am a great teacher or a great leader but the path that I have decided to take in order to promote gender equality, so as to bring about the nuns' improvement, gives me great encouragement to work harder and live longer." Jigme Konchok Lhamo, 18, who came to the order from India, says kung fu has quickly made the nuns more assured and has begun to address the power balance between men and women in Buddhist. "His Holiness wants the nuns to be like the men, with the same rights in the world," she said. "That is why we get the chance to do everything, not just kung fu. "We also have the chance here to learn many things, like tennis and skating. And we have the chance also to learn English and Tibetan, and musical instruments. "In the past only men could do some of the dances. Now we have the chance to take part. Before nuns could not do anything and now we have the chance to do anything the monks can do." The nunnery is enjoying a surge in popularity since introducing the kung fu lessons and now has some 300 nuns practising martial arts techniques. They have given demonstrations of their skills to thousands of pilgrims in Nepal and have toured India and Britain. The nuns say the repetitive nature of Shaolin kung fu, which comes from the Buddhist temple of Shaolin in China's Henan province, helps them to learn control and focus. The benefits are obvious for young women who are expected to meditate in the same position for up to six hours at a time and sometimes undertake retreats during which they must remain silent for months. Jigme Migyur Palmo, a soft-spoken 21-year-old nun, who came to Kathmandu three years ago from her home in Ladakh, in northern India, said kung fu works in harmony with her spiritual life. She watched Jackie Chan kung fu movies when she was younger and now wants to be as good as the Hong Kong film star. "I came to Kathmandu to learn Buddhist philosophy and now I don't want to go home, I want to stay here my whole life," she said. Read More @ Source
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| South Korea Buddhist leaders resign over gambling scandal Posted: 13 May 2012 08:00 AM PDT Agence France-Presse, May 10, 2012Seoul, South Korea -- The leadership of the South Korea's largest Buddhist order resigned en masse after video footage of junior monks playing poker with thousands of dollars at stake emerged.
Gambling is illegal in South Korea, except for in special areas such as casinos for foreign tourists, and is also a breach of the Buddhist order's code of discipline. The gambling, which took place last month, was filmed by another monk and the video footage was given as evidence to the police. The eight monks were also allegedly drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes in breach of Buddhist rules. "All the six members of the executive committee of the Jogye Order have tendered their resignations, holding themselves responsible for the incident," a Jogye Order spokesman told Agence France Presse (AFP). Jaseung, head of the order, said that the monks would face tough punishment and would be required to make an apology to the nation as early as on Friday, Yonhap news agency said. The gambling controversy is the latest incident in a long-running feud between supporters of the Jogye Order's current administration and its opponents, as the footage was secretly recorded by an opponent and then made public. One of the opponents, known by his Buddhist name Seongho, sued his eight fellow monks for gambling and betting "hundreds of millions of won." The Jogye Order, which claims 10 million followers among South Korea's 50 million population, has been plagued by factional feuds. Dozens of monks were injured when rival factions clashed in 1999. Read More @ Source
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| Posted: 13 May 2012 07:00 AM PDT Donga.com, May 11, 2012Seoul, South Korea -- Ven. Tojin, a high-ranking member of Korea`s largest Buddhist order Jogye and active in the National Assembly, has tendered his resignation on Saturday. The order`s main temple in Seoul, which is the center of Jogye, is directly operated by Jogye`s general affairs center.
The main slogan of the Jogye Order last year was "self-purification and reform." Saying self-purification and reform should be conducted first for the Buddhist circle to take an independent path free from the influence of politicians, Jogye made the practice of asceticism its top priority. Despite this, the offices of the chief executive of the Jogye order and his deputy were involved in gambling. Apparently fearing social ramifications, six high-ranking figures at the general affairs department tendered their resignations. Voices in Korean Meditation, however, criticize those who installed the hidden camera in the hotel room and filmed for more than 13 hours. The Ven. Seungho, who provided the video to prosecutors and accused Tojin and others of gambling, is known to have been at odds with those at Jogye Temple. A power struggle is suspected, but focusing on the conflict will blur the nature of the incident. Gambling with hundreds of thousands of dollars is an immoral act that cannot be tolerated. Worse, this transgression was conducted by Buddhist monks, who are supposed to lead a more righteous life than ordinary people. "Self-styled Zen philosophy" refers to a fox that deceives humans by pretending to have found enlightenment without sincerely practicing Zen meditation. Jogye stresses meditation, so outsiders cannot notice if monks have achieved spiritual enlightenment. Certain monks claim that they have achieved spiritual enlightenment yet consume meat and alcohol as if they have entered the stage of freedom from all obstacles. Discipline, precepts and meditation go together. If discipline and precepts are not followed, meditation cannot work. Read More @ Source
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| Buddhist monks filmed smoking, drinking, playing poker Posted: 13 May 2012 06:00 AM PDT By John Thomas Didymus, Digital Journal, May 12, 2012Seoul, South Korea -- Eight monks of the Korean Buddhist Jogye sect were secretly filmed drinking, smoking and gambling in their hotel suite. The hidden surveillance camera recorded them playing a game of high stakes poker in which $ 875,000 was won.
According to the Daily Mail, six of the monks, leaders of the Korean Jogye Order, have quit. Korea Bang reports the incident was allegedly filmed April 23. The eight monks spent the night gambling, smoking and drinking at a hotel suite in Yaksu-ri Buka-myeon Jangseong District in South Jeolla Province, close to the Baegyang Temple. South Korean television showed footage of the monks who were at the luxury lakeside hotel for a colleague's memorial service. According to Herald Sun, the dead colleague was the Zen Master at Baekyang Temple.
Seoul District Public Prosecutor's Office said that Seong-ho, a former member of the order, lodged a complaint and accused eight monks of gambling $ 875,0000 from 8 p.m. on April 23 to 9 a.m. the next day. The monk wrote: "They have violated good customs and social order, and I therefore request them to be punished severely." The monk handed over the videos showing the monks gambling to the authorities. According to Daily Mail, Seongho said he obtained a USB drive containing a video clip taken by a camera hidden in the hotel room, but did not give information about the source of the clip. The Daily Mail reports that gambling outside of licensed casinos and horse racing tracks is illegal in South Korea and is a social taboo even for those who are not of the religious order. According to Daily Mail, Seongho said: "Basically, Buddhist rules say don't steal. Look at what they did, they abused money from Buddhists for gambling." Korea Bang reports Monk Jin-je, the highest ranking monk of the Jogye Order, said, "any monk who gambles does not deserve to eat the offering meal or wear Indian ink clothes [the grey clothes that Korean Buddhist monks wear]. Someone who has left home and joined the Buddhist priesthood should not commit an unscrupulous act." Herald Sun reports that Jin-je made a public apology vowing "self-repentance." He said "Basically, Buddhist rules say don't steal... they abused money from Buddhists for gambling." Jin-je also announced an investigation into the installation of the camera, which he said violated the law. Daily Mail reports the episode has led to speculation of a power split within the order with observers saying the camera was installed by opponents to bring down the monks. Reuters reports the civic group, Buddhist Solidarity for Reform, said:" A group of monks who gamble, drink and smoke in a hotel room is tainted in the eyes of all people in the nation." There are about 25 Buddhist orders in South Korea, and the Jogye Order is the largest with about ten million followers, about a fifth of South Korea's population. VIDEO 
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| Dalai Lama discusses possible poison plot in upcoming interview Posted: 12 May 2012 08:00 PM PDT
"Oh yes. In their hair, poisoned, and scarf, poisoned. So you see, they are sick; supposed to receive blessing from me, and my hand touch. That kind of sort of thing–information we received. I don't know whether it's 100% correct or not. There is no possibility to crosscheck like that." To see a video clip of His Holiness discussing this (and also his relationship with Desmond Tutu), follow this link to the Telegraph: Dalai Lama reveals Chinese plot to poison him. Read More @ Source
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<< The sisters of the Amitabha Drukpa Nunnery are the world's first order of kung fu nuns.
According to Reuters, the scandal erupted a few days before Korea's national holiday to celebrate the birth of Buddha, the holiest day of the religious calender.
In an interview that will be published in full tomorrow at the Sunday Telegraph, His Holiness the Dalai Lama | You are subscribed to email updates from BuddhaRocks ☸ Buddhist To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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