Diane Ackerman on getting back to nature
Diane Ackerman on getting back to nature |
- Diane Ackerman on getting back to nature
- Tibetan singer Dolma Tsering releases new album, ‘Flowers of the Grassland’
- Thijnk Tank website adopts "Buddhist Right Speech" as comment section guideline
- Zen & the Art of Sweeping
- “Buddhalicious”?
- Violence in Burma’s Rakhine state results in a state of emergency
- “Old Dog” wins “Best Narrative Feature” at Brooklyn Film Festival (With video trailer)
| Diane Ackerman on getting back to nature Posted: 12 Jun 2012 09:00 AM PDT
In a new editorial on the New York Times' website, Diane Ackerman — poet, essayist, naturalist and Shambhala Sun friend and contributor — suggests we take a few minutes a day to focus on something in nature, away from the myriad digital distractions of the modern world.
And for more from Diane Ackerman, see her previous contributions to the Shambhala Sun. Read More @ Source Thai Pali Paritta Chanting 泰国巴利文三宝保护经 
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| Tibetan singer Dolma Tsering releases new album, ‘Flowers of the Grassland’ Posted: 12 Jun 2012 08:00 AM PDT  Click here to check out the album Tibetan recording artist-in-exile Dolma Tsering released her first album of traditional music this week, Flowers of the Grassland. Featuring seven fresh renditions of Tibetan traditional songs and three extended chanting tracks infused with modern flavour, Flowers of the Grassland is a potent mix of new and old from one of Tibet's strongest young voices. On the album's A side — the traditional songs — Dolma sings of love, home, and happiness. On the B side — the mantras — she intones spiritual syllables rich with the centuries-old history of Buddhism, perfect for contemplative moments or simply relaxing. Flowers of the Grassland went live on iTunes June 8 and is now available in all major online music stores. Dolma's origins are in the Minyag region of Kham, Tibet's easternmost province. As a child she studied in the Tibetan Children's Village boarding school in the Himalayan town of Manali. Later she moved to the Tibetan settlement of Bylakuppe in South India before relocating to Delhi and continuing on to travel the world, performing in North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Dolma first shot to prominence as a performer in 2002 when she won the inaugural Miss Tibet pageant in Dharamsala. She is also an activist within the Tibetan community and is a member of the Culture and Peace Committee of Tibet and the Delhi Tibetan Women's Association. Her Tibetan-language writing has appeared in the magazine Thokang Nyizer (Sunshine), for which she has acted as creative consultant and managing advisor. The full album is available for listening via streaming audio here, or you can purchase it by clicking here. For more information, visit Dolma's website or her Musician Page on Facebook. If you enjoy the music, please spread the word about Dolma and her new album! Pay Respect to the Triple Gem 
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| Thijnk Tank website adopts "Buddhist Right Speech" as comment section guideline Posted: 12 Jun 2012 08:00 AM PDT  No more vicious exchanges in the comment section here - the moderators have adopted #3 on the Eightfold Path
ALAN WATTS MEANINGLESS LIFE 
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| Posted: 11 Jun 2012 03:00 PM PDT  My trusty friend Ajarn Broom, always at hand to advise on how best to clean up the mind. There's a lot to be said for sweeping. Perhaps on a site devoted to Meditation, it might surprise some that space is given up to this subject, but please suspend judgment for a moment or two, and then perhaps you'll understand. You see, Meditation and sweeping have a history. They're old flames that have been involved with each other for many years. In the two Buddhist traditions this author knows best, Theravada & Zen, sweeping is an established form of practice, as much as vipassana or zazen. It isn't as glamorous as the latter, and even good old mindful walking is better known in both traditions than sweeping. But, from Zen masters to novice Theravdin monks, sweeping has its place, much appreciated.  Even sweeping must wait sometimes. Easy there, fella! On a recent visit to the nearby International Forest Monastery here in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, I took up the broom as my practice. Not that it was my first choice, mind you. I'd looked in vain for a quiet place to do some mindful walking (also known as walking meditation), but to no avail. The monks & lay guests were busy around the temple grounds sweeping and cleaning and stuff. And, as the saying goes, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. I grabbed a broom and decided to brush all around the main hall, which the forest had covered in leaves, dirt and objects I couldn't begin to describe. So, with broom in hand, I looked down at the ground and mindfully swept away all before me (making sure not to deliberately harm any insects). Where did all this material get swept? Why, back to where it came from, of course - the forest. Full circle.  The back of the Buddha hall immaculately swept! Sweeping in this way can be a ! real ple asure, and a nice way to practice mindfulness, too. Of course, if your profession is a road sweep or housemaid, and you're expected to sweep under pressure & at super speed, it's understandable that it may not be the most relaxing & enjoyable of tasks for you. But, even when under pressure, if we apply some mindfulness to the situation, it can & will become a more pleasurable one. This I can vouch for with regards to my current profession as teacher in a secondary school, and it was also true in my former job in a psychiatric hospital in the UK. (Sometimes the whole world seems to be a 'loony bin,' but that's another topic altogether!)  A butterfly's wing - impermanence ever on display. Therefore, whether in a temple, at home or work, mindful sweeping can be an excellent way to cultivate mindfulness. The mind becomes concentrated on its object - the broom - and hence both are more useful tools. For, if sweeping is done without heedfulness, we're always overlooking something, and leaving ourselves open to that most grating of criticisms, "You've missed a bit!" Moreover, a mind that can be concentrated easily is such a useful thing, even without a broom in the hand. Being able to concentrate - especially in a relaxed state of mind - enables a person to do whatever they're doing mo! re succe ssfully. It reduces mistakes and clumsiness - and again these author can claim this without fear of contradiction. So, why not take up the broom? Impress the parents, spouse, or boss by voluntarily - and mindfully - sweeping up the dirty stuff and leaving everything gleaming in the light of mindfulness!  The front of the hall after mindful sweeping - not bad, eh?  Life of the Buddha (Khmer) 2 
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| Posted: 11 Jun 2012 02:00 PM PDT There's no shortage of Buddhist-inspired marketing these days — and while some of it's playful, it often can come on a bit strong, too. Though it seems to depict Hotei, the "fat Buddha" so often mistaken for Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, this new canned drink does away with accuracy altogether, renaming him after the product and creating a new legend for him.
"Thirsty Buddha," reads the can, "believes that adequate hydration is essential to life, so much so that he has spent the better part of his in search of Mother Nature's ultimate hydrator. With his lifelong journey, comes the success of his quest: Thirsty Buddha 100% Pure Coconut Water." …And then, the kicker, at the top of the package: "It's Buddhalicious!" Thirsty Buddha is hardly the first beverage to try to siphon off a little of Buddhist's cultural cachet. Since I've started covering the many collisions between dharma and mass-culture, I've seen Bodhichitta Wines, Guru Energy drink, and Lucky Beer — which also features Hotei in its packaging, and uses flippant marketing language that makes reference to the Dalai Lama, enlightenment, and the Middle Way. And that's just for starts. By contrast, there's this Washington Post story, that our Associate Publisher / circulation chief Alan Brush notes today: "Former Coke executive slams 'share of stomach' marketing campaign." As Alan says, "Interesting that society has reached a point where a top exec at a major company can talk about 'karmic debt.'" Read More @ SourceMandalas 
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| Violence in Burma’s Rakhine state results in a state of emergency Posted: 11 Jun 2012 01:00 PM PDT  Monks in Rakhine during less violent times A state of emergency was declared in the northwestern Burmese state of Rakhine on Sunday after violence between Buddhists and Muslims left at least 17 dead. The clashes are between Rohingya Muslims, who are denied citizenship in Burma, and Rakhine Buddhists, the state's largest minority group. According to Voice of America, "The riots began after 10 ethnic-Rohingya Muslims were mobbed and murdered by ethnic Rakhines, in retaliation for the gang-rape of a Rakhine girl. " The violence has left many wounded with rioters setting fire to some 500 homes in the state on Friday and Saturday, according to The New York Times. President Thein Sein announced the state of emergency in Rakhine on national television on Sunday, where tension has been mounting in recent months. The Rohingya Muslims make up one of the largest groups of "stateless people" in all of Asia with living conditions akin to refugee camps. You can read more on this story in a piece by Thomas Fuller over at The New York Times. (Photo by DANIEL JULIE via Flickr using a CC-BY license.) Read More @ Source
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| “Old Dog” wins “Best Narrative Feature” at Brooklyn Film Festival (With video trailer) Posted: 11 Jun 2012 12:00 PM PDT
In another piece by Indiewire, Tseden says, "I tried to show people the traditional way of life and the social change taking place. For instance, in this film, there's a story inside a story — that young couple couldn't have a child. Through that kind of situation I'm trying to tell people what is current in Tibet. Things are changing." Tseden's next project will be titled "America," stating, "It's about a Western cow, not the traditional one found in Tibet. This time the story would take place in Central Tibet. One family purchased a very expensive cow from a foreign country because they were told that it would produce a lot of milk. They're unsure what to name it, and since they know there are a lot of these in America, that's what they name it. When they attempt to breed it, it inexplicably dies, leading to an investigation from the security department. Because of this chain of events, the relationships between people in this particular tight-knit village change, which is the main point I'm going for. It's structurally different from 'Old Dog,' and the movie will start when the cow is already dead, with people giving their individual stories to the security department." Read More @ Source
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