Hear two songs from Patti Smith’s new album “Banga”
Hear two songs from Patti Smith’s new album “Banga” |
- Hear two songs from Patti Smith’s new album “Banga”
- Group forms "Indo – Sri Lanka Buddhist Network"
- Theravada Nuns Centre established in Malaysia
- 26th World Fellowship of Buddhist Conference to discuss theme on “Solving Social Issues with Dharma”
- The Buddhist Revival in Burma
- Two Tibetan Buddhist monks set themselves on fire in protest of Chinese rule
- In Occupied Tibetan Monastery, a Reason for Fiery Deaths
- Our new all-teachings issue: What do you “want to be?”
| Hear two songs from Patti Smith’s new album “Banga” Posted: 05 Jun 2012 09:00 AM PDT
It's been eight years since legendary rocker Patti Smith released an album of new material, and her long-awaited album Banga, in stores today, has been getting great reviews. Rolling Stone has an exclusive stream of the title track, along with a new interview with Smith, here. In typical Smith style, the album is loaded with religious imagery and literary allusions. The song "Banga," she explains, is inspired by Mikhail Bulgakov's darkly comic novel The Master and Margarita. In the book, Banga is Pontius Pilate's loyal dog. NPR has another song from the album, "Fuji-San," which Smith wrote as a remembrance for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan last year. Click here to listen to "Banga" and here for "Fuji-San." And check out the Shambhala Sun's other coverage of Smith below. Read More @ Source BHIKKSHU MAGAR SPEAKS ON THE MAGAR WAPPAS OF NEPAL 
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| Group forms "Indo – Sri Lanka Buddhist Network" Posted: 05 Jun 2012 02:00 AM PDT The Buddhist Channel, June 4, 2012Bangkok, Thailand -- A group of pro-active Indian and Sri Lankan Buddhists drawn from leading Buddhist organizations had a series of discussions on the sidelines of the World Buddhist Assembly gathering in Bangkok, Thailand (May 21 – 25, 2012) and decided to establish an 'Indo – Sri Lanka Buddhist Network' to pursue a number of preliminary aims and objectives that are beneficial to the cause of consolidating and spreading Buddhism in both countries and other parts of the world. It is anticipated that a more substantial organization would emerge with the passage of time from these interactions. i) To develop and strengthen warm and friendly ties between Buddhists in India and Sri Lanka, ii) To collaborate in Projects leading to the promotion of peace and non – violence, friendly relations and understanding between peoples of India and Sri Lanka within a framework of Buddhist principles and shared past in a common Buddhist civilization that influenced both countries, and iii) To work together in propagating and spreading Buddhism worldwide. The first of many Projects that are intended to be launched both in India and Sri Lanka would be the convening of an International Conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka before the end of 2012 on the topic:
Instant Manifestation: How to Get Things Fast: Program Your Subconscious Mind 
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| Theravada Nuns Centre established in Malaysia Posted: 05 Jun 2012 01:00 AM PDT The Buddhist Channel, June 4, 2012Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- A group of Malaysians under the loose organisation "Support Network for Women Renunciants in Malaysia and Singapore" has established Malaysia's first dedicated Theravada Nuns Centre with the official opening of Gotami Vihara in a suburb of its capital city Kuala Lumpur.  Named after Ven Pajapati Gotami, the Buddha's aunt and the first bhikkhuni, the centre was officially opened by Ven Saranakara Thero. Also present at the event were several prominent Asian bhikkhunis including Ven Santini of Indonesia, Ven Lieu Phap of Vietnam and Ven Dhammananda of Thailand. Although the bhikshuni sangha in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition is well established in Malaysia, this is not the case for the Theravada tradition. Thus Gotami Vihara represents the first step to realise the vision of the birth of an indigenous Theravada bhikkhuni sangha. The Vihara offers accomodation and facilities for Malaysian as well as foreign nuns travelling in the region. Although many Malaysian women have taken ordination in a variety of 8 precept and 10 precept nuns orders in the Theravada tradition, few have taken the bhikkhuni ordination, citing lack of support as one of the factors. It is hoped that with support from the local Buddhist community, Gotami Vihara which is now housed in the 3rd floor of a shop-lot would eventually be able to move to more comfortable and spacious premises in the near future. Read More @ Source Life with Ajahn Chah (1 of 2) by Ajahn Nyanadhammo 
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| 26th World Fellowship of Buddhist Conference to discuss theme on “Solving Social Issues with Dharma” Posted: 05 Jun 2012 12:00 AM PDT The Buddhist Channel, June 4, 2012 General Conference to be held at Yeosu International Expo from the 11 to 16 June B.E. 2012 (B.E. 2556) in Yeosu City, Korea Jogye Order plans to make strong efforts in seeing the conference to be successful. In this way, the success can be carried over to the 2013 World Religious Leaders Conference, also hosted by the Jogye Order. Director of Social Affairs Ven. Hyegyeong said, "The reason for coinciding the conference with the expo and the Lotus Lantern Festival is that it would be a good way to show the world the beauty and richness of Korean Buddhist tradition and to promote Korean Buddhism. We will have a tentative six-day visit plan with half the time spent in Yeosu City and the conference, and the other days to see the Lotus Lantern Festival". Korea hosted the 17th World Fellowship of Buddhist Conference in 1990 in Seoul. Now the conference returns after 22 years. The opportunity to host the WFB conference will be a chance to showcase the excellence of Korean Buddhism and share with the world Korean Buddhist cultural treasures such as templestay, temple food, and the Lotus Lantern Festival. The World Fellowship of Buddhist Conference first began in May of 1950 in Sri Lanka as Buddhist representatives from 27 countries met to transcend sectarian barriers. This year marks the 60 year anniversary. Now, 153 WFB branches in 40 countries exist to unify Buddhists from all traditions and uphold the Buddha's teachings. The conference is held every two years. There are seven WFB branches in Korea including the! Jogye O rder and the Jogye Order Central Council of the Laity. For more information about attending the 2012 World Fellowship of Buddhist Conference please address your queries to the Jogye Order: http://www.koreanbuddhism.net/ Read More @ Source 
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| Posted: 04 Jun 2012 11:00 PM PDT by Arjanyai, insnare.com, Published on the Buddhist Channel, June 4, 2012Rangoon, Burma -- Burma under British rule was not so much subject to religious suppression as Ceylon. Europeanization was not so great there as to affect much the cultural life of the Burmese, since the British administered Burma only as a part of India and the British colonial period there was much shorter than in Ceylon.  There was little to be called a Buddhist revival directly resulting froth the reaction to the colonial rule. Still there was an identification between Buddhism and nationalism. This was caused by an attachment to and pride in the historical religion as the national heritage on the one hand, and by political advantages on the other. There were cultural conflicts with Europeans, especially the "no footwear controversy," which led Buddhist monks to more violent political actions. However, there was a division between the monks. It was the younger monks, not the older Sayadaws, who involved themselves in politics. These monks joined in the uprisings against British rule. These minorities made up twenty-five percent of the population, while the Burmans who lived in the other fifty percent formed seventy-five percent. Political leaders had to find ways of telling the people that they were a nation. As 85 percent of the people were Buddhists, they found in Buddhism this unifying element. In contrast to Ceylon, Christian missionary work in Burma not directly supported by the colonial power made considerable progress among animistic tribal peoples, especially among the Karens. The conversion of these peoples even more alienated them from the Burmese majority. Postwar political events convinced the Burmese Buddhists that Christianity was a religion hostile to the Burmese state. They believed the religion brought with it foreign intervention and caused political and economic oppression. Marxism or Communism was also condemned as state capitalism which was far worse than ordinary capitalism. This led the leaders of the Burmese revolution to advance a form of Burmese state socialism based on the principles of Buddhism. Though monks played a prominent part in the early days of the independence movement, later they faded into the background. On achieving independence in 2489/1946, the revolution leader even declared a policy of not mixing religion and politics. But in post-independence years the pongyis (monks) appeared again on the political scene as political leaders tried to win their support. By promising to amend the constitution to make Buddhism the state religion and with his programme of Buddhist socialism, U Nu saw a number of pongyis actively campaigning for him a! nd he wo n a landslide victory in the election of 2503/1960. U Nu's great contribution to the Buddhist revival in Burma was the holding of the Sixth Buddhist Council in Rangoon in 2497-2499/1954-61. The World Peace Pagoda called Kaba-Aye and the Great Cave called Mahaguha (as a reproduction of the Maha Pasanฺa Guha where the First Council met), capable of seating 10,000 people, were built along with the International Institute for Advanced Buddhist Studies2. a new library, a publishing house and other large buildings providing lodging for pilgrims and living quarters for researchers. Among the chief purposes of the Council were to provide for the recension of the Pali texts, to have them printed and put in worldwide distribution, and to encourage missionary work by establishing a worldwide Buddhist mission and directing the work particularly to Europe and America. After opening on May 17, 1954, the Council concluded on May 24, 1956, the full moon day of the 2500th anniversary of the Buddha's Great Decease. About 2,000 monks from various Buddhist countries came to attend this Council. The Council roused in Burmese Buddhists a new zeal for the restoration of religious glory and has achieved the publication in Burmese (Maramma) script of a complete set of the Pali Canon and the Commentaries, and a large number of other post-canonical works. The voluminous Pali-Burmese Dictionary, the biggest of the existing Pali dictionaries, is also a great achievement of the Burmese Sangha and it, too, is published by the Buddha Sasana Council at Kaba-Aye in Rangoon. Induced by the Council, some Burmese monks went to Thailand to preach the Abhidhamma and to teach some methods of meditation as practised in Burma, while a number of Thai monks and novices, mostly from Wat Mahadhatu, came to Burma to study and practise the same. It should be noted that Burma has been famous for the study of the Abhidhamma. The tradition of Abhidhamma study still continues and all are encouraged to sit for go! vernment examinations in the Abhidhamma. Great emphasis has also been placed on the practice of meditation and many meditation centres for laymen have been set up, especially in Rangoon and Mandalay. Among the learned monks of Burma who have specialized in the Abhidhamma and meditation practice, the name of Ledi Sayadaw stands foremost. After him, Mahasi sayadaw (U Sobhana Mahathera) is an international figure, well known in the meditation circle, through whose efforts the Burmese method of insight meditation (Vipassana) has spread to Thailand (with a centre at Neat Mahadhatu) and Sri Lanka. Read More @ Source 
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| Two Tibetan Buddhist monks set themselves on fire in protest of Chinese rule Posted: 04 Jun 2012 10:00 PM PDT By Claire Cozens, AFP May 28, 2012Beijing, China -- Two Tibetan Buddhist monks have set themselves on fire in Lhasa, US-based broadcaster Radio Free Asia said, in the first-ever reported self-immolations in the capital of China's Tibet Autonomous Region. Radio Free Asia said the two were believed to be among a few Tibetan youths who gathered to protest against Chinese rule outside the temple, and that they appeared to have died in the blaze. "The security forces arrived immediately and put out the fire and all the tourists in the area were cordoned off from the site," a witness told the broadcaster. "Within 15 minutes, the area was cleaned and not a trace of the incident was left." Radio Free Asia quoted a source as saying the situation in Lhasa was now "very tense" and the city was filled with police and paramilitary forces. One Lhasa resident contacted by AFP on Monday also reported an increased police presence in the city, adding officers were carrying out identity checks in the street and the mobile signal was blocked. However, security authorities in Lhasa contacted by telephone refused to comment on the incident. "We are not clear about the situation yet. Wait until the media makes an announcement," said an official who declined to give his name. More than 30 people have set themselves on fire in China's Tibetan-inhabited regions since the start of March 2011 in protest at what they say is religious and cultural repression by the Chinese authorities. Robbie Barnett, a Tibet expert at Columbia University in New York, said Sunday's incident marked the first protest in Lhasa since anti-Chinese government riots broke out 2008, before spreading to other Tibetan areas. "This is the first incident of any significance in four years. It's a big setback for the authorities," he told AFP by telephone from New York. "These self-immolations are very troubling for the Chinese because it is a new method of protest that it very hard to prevent." Tibetans have long chafed under China's rule over the vast Tibetan plateau, accusing Beijing of curbing religious freedoms and eroding their culture and language. The tensions have intensified over the past year, but Beijing insists that Tibetans enjoy religious freedom and have benefited from improved living standards brought on by China's economic expansion. Most of the suicide attempts have taken place around the Kirti monastery in China's southwestern province of Sichuan, which has become a flashpoint for the mounting anger at Chinese domination over Tibet. The only previous case in Tibet itself was in December, when a former Buddhist monk set himself alight in Changu prefecture shouting anti-Chinese slogans. He was taken to hospital and later died of his injuries. Chinese media made no mention of the latest immolations. Internet searches for the Chinese name of the temple where they reportedly occurred, Dazhaosi, were blocked in China on Monday. Master Yoga Meditation Music "Anjanaya Asana", Deep Bass Therapy Music 
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| In Occupied Tibetan Monastery, a Reason for Fiery Deaths Posted: 04 Jun 2012 09:00 PM PDT By EDWARD WONG, The New York Times, June 3, 2012DHARAMSALA, India -- One young Tibetan monk walked down a street kicking Chinese military vehicles, then left a suicide note condemning an official ban on a religious ceremony. Another smiled often, and preferred to talk about Buddhist rather than politics. A third man, a former monk, liked herding animals with nomads.  All had worn the crimson robes of Kirti Monastery, a venerable institution of learning ringed by mountains on the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau. All set themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule. Two died.At least 38 Tibetans have set fire to themselves since 2009, and 29 have died, according to the International Campaign for Tibet, an advocacy group in Washington. The 2,000 or so monks of Kirti Monastery in Sichuan Province have been at the center of the movement, one of the biggest waves of self-immolations in modern history. The acts evoke the self-immolations in the early 1960s by Buddhist monks in South Vietnam to protest the corrupt government in Saigon. Twenty-five of the self-immolators came from Ngaba, the county that includes Kirti; 15 were young monks or former monks from Kirti, and two were nuns from Mame Dechen Chokorling Nunnery. But monks and laypeople from Ngaba who have fled across the Himalayas to this Indian hill town said that Kirti had been radicalized in the last four years by an occupation of the monastery that amounted to one of the harshest crackdowns in Tibet. Chinese security measures have converted the white-walled monastery, with its temples and dormitories and rows of prayer wheels, into a de facto prison, which has fueled the anger that the measures are aimed at containing. After a five-week lull, the self-immolations picked up again last week. On May 27, two men in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, set fire to themselves outside the Jokhang Temple, the holiest in Tibetan Buddhist. It was the first notable act of protest in Lhasa in four years. One of the men was a former Kirti monk. On Wednesday, a mother of three burned herself to death in Ngaba, known as Aba in Chinese. The Ngaba exiles here say the security measures imposed on the town and the monastery have been extreme, even by the standards of Chinese control in Tibet. In 2008, during a Tibet-wide uprising, security forces shot protesters in Ngaba with live ammunition, killing at least 10 civilians, including one monk, according to reports by advocacy groups and photographs of corpses that had been brought to Kirti. It was one of the most violent events of the uprising, and anger and alienation set in among local Tibetans. Officials tightened security. In February 2009, in the town's market area, a young man from Kirti self-immolated, the first monk to do so in modern Tibetan history. The monk, named Tapey, survived, and officials stepped up surveillance of Kirti. In March 2011, the next self-immolation occurred: Phuntsog, 20, set fire to himsel! f on the same street in the market, which locals now call Hero's Road. Local Tibetans say the heavy-handed reaction of the authorities in the six months after that event backfired, encouraging the self-immolations to continue. Chinese officials ordered the People's Armed Police to surround the monastery; built a wall to cut off a rear entrance; banned all religious activities; smashed photographs of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader; forced monks to attend patriotic re-education sessions; cut off Internet access; and barred pilgrims from entering. They also took away 300 monks in a nighttime raid; many of them have not returned. Kanyag Tsering, a Kirti monk in exile who keeps in touch with colleagues in Ngaba, said about 300 officials now lived inside the monastery to keep watch. Last summer, at the height of the patriotic re-education campaign, there were perhaps twice that many. Another Kirti monk, Lobsang, said the paramilitary police had set up four camps around the monastery. "The most uncomfortable thing was seeing soldiers pointing guns at you but not shooting at you," said Lobsang, who recently arrived here and agreed to speak on the condition that only his first name be used. "This has been daily life since 2008. For myself, I'd rather get shot than to have them pointing the guns at me every day, 24 hours a day." He said there did not appear to be any coordination or organized plan for self-immolation. "I think those who self-immolated didn't have an official agreement, but there was spiritual solidarity between people," he said. "The energy of the Tibetan people is totally linked like a bracelet of prayer beads. You cannot find the end and the beginning because it's a circle." Chinese officials have condemned some of the self-immolators as "terrorists" and blamed the Dalai Lama for inciting the acts, a charge he has denied. Researchers for Human Rights Watch attribute much of! the fru stration in Ngaba to the smothering security and "provocative policing techniques." The group found that per capita government spending on security in Ngaba from 2002 to 2006 was three times the average for non-Tibetan parts of Sichuan. There was a rapid increase after 2006, and by 2009 it was five times that of non-Tibetan areas. Top officials have signaled their approval of the security clampdown. In February, the party chief of Ngaba, Shi Jun, was promoted to lead Sichuan's public security bureau. A former monk with whom Lobsang had close ties, Rinzen Dorje, was one of those who felt suffocated by the security. He left Kirti Monastery in 2010 to herd animals and do manual labor. He set fire to himself at a primary school one evening in February. Lobsang last saw him in July. "He told me he felt very uncomfortable and had headaches when he saw the atmosphere in Ngaba town," Lobsang said. That was also the case with Tapey, the first monk to self-immolate, Lobsang said. Two days before his self-immolation in 2009, Tapey was walking among military trucks and kicking them. "He was intentionally trying to provoke the soldiers," Lobsang said. "I asked myself, 'What happened? What's wrong with him?' That day he was really different, and in his eyes I could see how he hated the military." On Feb. 27, 2009, a high lama told a gathering of monks that Kirti had to comply with official orders to cancel an important prayer ceremony scheduled for that day. Tapey set himself on fire in the marketplace half an hour later, having left a note saying he would kill himself if the government banned the ceremony, Lobsang said. "The people very much respected his motivation and the price he paid for freedom," Lobsang said. The next monk to self-immolate, Phuntsog, never appeared to be in a dark mood, said Lobsang, who had studied with him. Phunstog liked to joke and play around with friends, often showing off his bic! eps by f lexing. "I never heard any political agenda expressed by Phuntsog," Lobsang said. "The action he took is unimaginable to me. But, of course, we can now understand how many things he must have hid inside." After that self-immolation, the authorities started an intense re-education campaign and locked down the monastery for half a year. That led to the radicalization of more monks. One of the tensest moments came in April 2011, when officials sought to detain monks who were not from Ngaba. Residents of the town tried to block the police, and two elderly Tibetans were beaten to death, according to the International Campaign for Tibet. Officers took away 300 monks. In August, a court sentenced three monks to more than a decade in prison, two of them for being involved in Phuntsog's self-immolation and one, an uncle of Phuntsog's, for refusing to turn his body over to the police at the time. One day in September, after officials had eased some restrictions on Kirti, two monks raced through the marketplace at noon, their robes aflame. One held up the banned Tibetan snow lion flag. Before collapsing, one of the monks, Lobsang Kelsang, a younger brother of Phuntsog's, shouted, "We are the accused." The event was described by a witness who arrived in Dharamsala this spring. "Because of unfair judgments, oppressive policies and discrimination, because of all those things, the Tibetan people feel isolated," he said. "The self-immolations are not the end. This is only the beginning." Read More @ Source Papilio Buddha Official Trailer 
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| Our new all-teachings issue: What do you “want to be?” Posted: 04 Jun 2012 12:00 PM PDT
Plus: Natalie Goldberg on "Waking Up to Happiness"; Chögyam Trungpa's previously unpublished teaching, "Glimpses of Mahayana"; Congressman Tim Ryan talks mindfulness; and much more. Click here now to sample it all online now. Or, to subscribe, click here. Read More @ SourceAmaradeva- Gilem obeguna moodhe...ගිලෙම් ඔබේ ගුණ මූදේ... 
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The new, July 2012 Shambhala Sun magazine is our annual all-teachings issue, featuring seven teachers explaining key benefits of meditation, with easy-to-try instructions. There's James Ishmael Ford on being peaceful; Sylvia Boorstein on how practice helps us develop insight; Thanissaro Bhikkhu on being friendlier and more loving; Thich Nhat Hanh on being grounded and connected to our world; Judy Lief on lojong teachings and skillfulness; Dzogchen Ponlop on the development of wisdom; and Carolyn Rose Gimian on making it all real.| 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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