Hillary Clinton makes historic visit to Laos

Hillary Clinton makes historic visit to Laos
Hillary Clinton meets with Laotian and Chinese officials on Asia trip
Pakistani police stop smuggling of Buddhist statues and relics worth millions
Notes from Tibet by Haven Tobias.
From the July 2012 magazine: “I Want to Be… Grounded”
Why Meditation Prospered in Asia but Died in India.
No Ajahn Sumedho
Seeing Fresh: Contemplative Photo(s) of the Week
Kenki Sato, a Japanese Zen monk, to compete in London 2012

Posted: 12 Jul 2012 08:01 AM PDT

Hillary Clinton is in Laos on an official visit, the first time a U.S. secretary of state has visited the country since 1955. Meeting with Laotian officials, Clinton is focusing on developing economic ties with the communist country and the legacy of the Vietnam War.

From the U.S. Embassy in Vientiane's Facebook page comes this great photo of Clinton offering lotus flowers to a Buddha statue at the Ho Phra Keo temple in Vientiane.

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Hillary Clinton meets with Laotian and Chinese officials on Asia trip

Posted: 12 Jul 2012 08:00 AM PDT

Hillary Clinton was in Laos this weekon an official visit, the first time a U.S. secretary of state has visited the country since 1955. Meeting with Laotian officials, Clinton is focusing on developing economic ties with the communist country and the legacy of the Vietnam War.

From the U.S. Embassy in Vientiane's Facebook page comes this great photo of Clinton offering lotus flowers to a Buddha statue at the Ho Phra Keo temple in Vientiane.

Clinton then traveled to Cambodia for a regional security meeting, where she encouraged Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi to engage in dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

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Pakistani police stop smuggling of Buddhist statues and relics worth millions

Posted: 12 Jul 2012 07:00 AM PDT

The Associated Press reports that Pakistani police have stopped smugglers for selling off a cache of Buddhist sculptures, some over 2,00o years old and worth millions of dollars. Their report quotes archaeologist Salimul Haq, who says it seems that the relics were illegally excavated from the area of the country that was once the Buddhist kingdom of Gandhara. You can find the whole story (and some striking photographs of the recovered antiquities) here.

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Notes from Tibet by Haven Tobias.

Posted: 12 Jul 2012 12:00 AM PDT

James: I'd like to introduce you all to my dear friend Haven Tobias who will be guest posting today. Haven has been a wonderful friend to myself, and The Buddhist Blog, so I was thrilled to read about her recent visit to Tibet. Especially given the recent turmoil. I believe that the best sources of history and news come from first person accounts. Her first hand experience of details on the ground in Tibet riveting. May you all find Haven's travel post as insightful as I did:

---

I arrived in Lhasa, after 44 hours on the train from Beijing, on May 2, 2012. I knew not many tour groups had been granted the special visa needed to travel to Tibet since the crack-down after what the Chinese had identified as "unrest," but still I was unprepared for our "welcome." Unbeknownst to us, the railroad station was cordoned off, and our guide was being kept a block away. So, there was no one to assist us when we were swarmed by several members of a SWAT team (so their helmets and jackets read), who seized not only our Tibet-entry papers, but also our passports.

Either none of them spoke English, or they preferred not to speak English. There were only six of us, and our average age was about 70, and it is hard for me to believe we posed any particular threat to warrant the gruff treatment. We seemed to be at an impasse as to what would happen next. Our leader was brave enough to just walk off to find our tour guide. He told her he could not accompany her back to us, but that she need not worry. Our passports would be returned to us and he had an extra copy of our entry papers. After a while, our passports were returned to us, and we were allowed to leave the railroad station and meet up with our guide.

Even that "welcoming" did not prepare me for what I was to see in Tibet. I gradually became aware that there were military everywhere. They were posted on the rooftops; they were at every intersection in several-man formations, looking in all directions. They were at the entrance to

monasteries, and they were handling the security at the Potala Palace, (the former Winter Palace of the Dalai Lama), including again taking possession of all passports. They were driving convoys of military vehicles on the roads, bearing bumper stickers that read: "Listen to what

your government says. Do what your government tells you."

I am not a China expert, and I am not a Tibet expert. I am commenting only on what I saw, but not interpreting the policy implications. (I am not a fool, however, and I am very aware of the environmental and geographical reasons why China would assert control over Tibet at whatever cost.)

The reason why I think my experience is an appropriate topic for The Buddhist Blog is different from the political and social ramifications. There is a tender and delicate balance between Thay's call to Engaged Buddhism and Thay's exhortation: "Don't just do something, sit there!"

I practiced law for 4 decades. I tend to want to solve problems. I ask: ok, what can I do about this problem? I ran through the whole list of practical solutions. Organize a debate over whether to boycott tourism in Tibet or to encourage tourism in Tibet. (This, by the way, is no longer up for discussion. After two more people immolated themselves in early June, China closed the doors to Tibet again.) Petition our government to impose economic sanctions on China. (Ok, I'm waiting for the laughter to subside…) Flood China with social media comments about what's going

on in Tibet. (Perhaps they couldn't all be blocked.)

But it wasn't because I couldn't come up with a practical plan that I had a lightening change of focus. I just suddenly realized how very right Gandhi was when he said "Be the change you want to see" and how very right Thay is when he says "Peace in oneself, peace in the world."

I didn't suddenly realize this as an intellectual premise, or as a last resort. I realized in a visceral manner to my very core that what I could do for the Tibetans was to hold them in the heart of my meditation, and what I had also to do was to hold the Chinese soldiers, so young, and probably so

scared, in the heart of my mediation. Both "sides" are held hostage to greed and hate and delusion.

I am not saying that there are no situations, in Tibet, or elsewhere in the world, where there aren't real victims. But I am saying what Thay said a long time ago in his brilliant poem "Please Call Me By My True Names":

-- if we look deeply we see that the "victimizers" are also victims, and
that we ourselves are both victims and victimizers. We have no more
worthy deed to do for this world, no greater gift to give, than to cultivate a
heart that is open to peace and understanding and compassion, without
exceptions.

May all beings find refuge in a heart that has grown big enough to hold all

who suffer.

Haven Tobias

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From the July 2012 magazine: “I Want to Be… Grounded”

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 05:00 PM PDT

Our July 2012 Shambhala Sun magazine is our annual All-Teachings Issue, celebrating the qualities of awakened mind and the Buddhist meditations that cultivate them. It features teachings and meditation exercises from seven great teachers, including Thich Nhat Hanh's piece about walking meditation. Now available online is this exercise from his piece.

"Walk slowly, in a relaxed way. When you practice this way, your steps are those of the most secure person on earth. Feel the gravity that makes every step attach to the earth. With each step, you are grounded on the earth.

"One way to practice walking meditation is to breathe in and take one step, and focus all your attention on the sole of your foot. If you have not arrived fully, 100 percent in the here and the now, don't take the next step. I'm sure you can take a step like that because there is buddhanature in you."

You can read the rest of the exercise here, and you'll find the full article—and a lot more great teachings—inside our July 2012 magazine. Click here to order a copy of this issue, and click here to subscribe.

For more from Thich Nhat Hanh, including teachings and interviews, see the Shambhala Sun's Thich Nhat Hanh spotlight page.

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Why Meditation Prospered in Asia but Died in India.

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 04:00 PM PDT

There is a fascinating article on "The Buddhist Channel" about Meditation in India (or lack thereof). I have often wondered why Meditation failed to survive in the very country where it originated.

The story that unfolds describes a perfect storm that developed against Indian Meditation. It's an epic history of Moghul invasion, Hindu persecution and a split within Meditation itself. A saga that is captivating, insightful and perfect for a film adaptation. Click on this sentence to read the full article at "The Buddhist Channel."

~I bow to the Buddha within all beings~

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No Ajahn Sumedho

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 01:00 PM PDT

Ajahn Sumedho...now you see him, now you don't!

Those of you that read Buddha Space regularly will know that Ajahn Sumedho is one of the main influences on this writer's Buddhist practice. For those of you that don't know this already, take a look at the link here: Ajahn Sumedho. Suffice to say, he has been a tremendous source of wisdom & practices for people the world over, let alone the central driving force behind the spread of Ajahn Chah's brand of Thai Forest Buddhist in the West. So, when the opportunity to meet him in person arises, it's something that's so precious & pregnant with possibilities. Which brings us to the hub of all this preamble.

On a recent visit to the International Forest Monastery here in Ubon Ratchathani, I was delighted to learn that Ajahn Sumedho was staying there. So, while most of the monks were eating their breakfast, I asked the fasting attendant monk to Ajahn Sumedho if I could talk with the latter. To my surprise, he said, "No." This was rationalized by explaining that laypeople were denied access to the aging Ajahn Sumedho, presumably because otherwise he'd be bothered all day by people with no deep interes! t in the Dharma just wanting a good photo opportunity. The feeling of deflation & disappointment was intense, but I smiled to the monk and told him, "Never mind." He was red in the face himself, which didn't go well with his ochre-coloured robes, but now I'm being facetious!

After this refusal, I took my usual walk through the forest. The trees & wind did their best to distract the mind from its despondency, and after sitting in the sala (pavilion) that stands in the middle of the forest, all negativity had floated away. After all, I'd met Ajahn Sumedho previously in England a couple of times, and as for the friendly monk (who shall remain anonymous here), he was merely following orders, no doubt. All he was guilty of was (over?) protection of a revered & elderly monk. The trees flapped as if to attempt to further calm me down, and the Buddha statue in the sala serenely gazed upon me, as he ever did. Awareness met the personification of itself, and all was well. Ajahn Sumedho had all but been forgotten!

The sala (pavilion) in the International Forest Monastery

Then, two sets of monks' robes could be seen slowly drifting! along t he small track between the trees. One was the unmistakably large frame of Ajahn Sumedho, and the other turned out to be his attendant monk. As they moved past the sala, thoughts battled for supremacy: go over and say, "Hello"; no, don't disturb him. The latter was accompanied by a sense of duty, an obedience to rules, and thus proved the stronger impulse. I watched as the two men walked around the sala and away into the forest towards Ajahn Sumedho's quarters. Chance gone!

But, as Ajahn Sumedho slowly traversed the dirt path, crouching somewhat over his walking stick and intermittently coughing loudly, disappointment was replaced with compassion. He clearly wasn't that well, at least not on that morning, and to engage him in conversation when he probably just wanted to get back to his quarters and rest seemed somewhat selfish. Even without saying a word, or to my knowledge seeing me, he was teaching me! True enough, anyone old & sick could teach the same lessons, but it seemed to have more impact coming from someone of Ajahn Sumedho's Buddhist credentials. Just like the old man, the sick man, and the dying man that inspired the Buddha-to-be Siddhartha Gautama, here was Ajahn Sumedho naturally revealing the Dharma.

Alongside the above insights, after Ajahn Sumedho's disappearance into the foliage, another thing rose up in the mind: Now, there is no Ajahn Sumedho. Only the sala, the forest, and this body. There is the thought of him, but only this. On present evidence, he is an idea in the mind, nothing more. And, this, of course, is true of anything that is not presently here, or that the mind & senses are not aware of: it is all mind stuff, without actual physical! substan ce. Writing this now (or in your case, reading it!), not only Ajahn Sumedho but also the forest & the sala are ideas, nothing more. Now, there is a computer, a room, these hands…and a bunch of thoughts. This is reality. In the Bahiya Sutta, the Buddha taught the following:

"In the seen, there is merely the seen; in the heard, there is merely the heard; in the sensed, there is merely the sensed; in the cognized, there is merely the cognized."

(Udana 1.10, Tipitika)

We humans have a tendency to male too much of things, don't we? Rather than just seeing what is seen, we must interpret it, judge it, like or dislike it. In our reactions, we screw it all up and create suffering (dukkha). If loud noise comes from outside, rather than merely hearing what is heard, we will tend to object to its presence. Ajahn Chah, Ajahn Sumedho's teacher, used to say that when this happens, it is really the mind disturbing the sound and not the other way round. Genius! Sound is just sound, hearing is just hearing, but it is the mind that likes or dislikes the experience, causing itself to suffer when the disliked is present and when the liked is absent. Incidentally, there's a wonderful little book called No Ajahn Chah that's worth reading. (Click on its name to download it.)

Further on in the above-quoted Bahiya Sutta, the Buddha reveals that to recognize that "In the seen, there is mer! ely the seen" (etc.) is to realize that there's nobody here seeing (etc.). Only seeing, hearing, sensing, and cognizing. Then, there can be no suffering, for there's no one here to suffer! Actually seeing this, or hearing it, sensing it, or cognizing it, is what Buddhists call enlightenment. Unfortunately, not many Buddhists actually know what enlightenment really is. For them, it's something far off in the distance, to be experienced in some far-flung future life, if at all. This couldn't be further from the truth, as the Buddha's words reveal.

So, whether there is Ajahn Sumedho or no Ajahn Sumedho, there is the Dharma, naturally revealing itself to those 'with little dust in their eyes' (a saying from the Pali Canon). Similarly, even when such a teacher as Ajahn Sumedho is present but doesn't overtly teach, teaching is taking place…if we really wish to learn. (Of course, there is the possibility that Ajahn Sumedho was acting or exaggerating his ailments so as to teach me - but that seems rather far-fetched, even for a great teacher like him!) This isn't to say that this writer will now dispense with Ajahn Sumedho's teachings - they have their importance too! For one of his books, please click here: Intuitive Awareness.

Wishing for the liked to remain or for the disliked to go away is to give birth to suffering. Not to make too much of things and just see what is seen, hear what is heard, sense what is sensed, and cognize what is cognized, is to know true nature. And it is nothing like we might imagine it to be, for it is not a thought o! r feelin g; it is the naked truth unadulterated with notions of teacher, teaching, enlightened, unenlightened, etc. Such ideas may arise, but then they are solely 'cognized' as they are, and not too much is made of them. Then, it doesn't matter whether we see Ajahn Sumedho or no Ajahn Sumedho. Either way, everything is okay.

Ajahn Sumedho

Coughs loudly

In the distance

A walking stick

Supports him

The old bhikkhu

Trackless

He is a memory

WIndy trees

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Seeing Fresh: Contemplative Photo(s) of the Week

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 12:00 PM PDT

Every week, we've been showing some of the great photos submitted to Seeing Fresh, Andy Karr's contemplative photography website. Andy is teaching a photography workshop at the Omega Institute this week, and he shared these photos shot by his students for a texture assignment.

Peter Friedman

Kate Mellena

Dave Christopher

Jodie Fronheiser

Adelaide Lagnese

Elaine Markfield

Helen Mayers

One of the great things about contemplative photography is that anyone can do it. Maybe you've a got all the latest equipment, or maybe you've just got a camera in your mobile phone. Either way, you can take part in the creation of real art.

To learn more about the practice, and to submit your own photos, visit the Seeing Fresh website and The Practice of Contemplative Photography's Facebook page. You can view all of our "Seeing Fresh" posts on Shambhala SunSpace here.

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Kenki Sato, a Japanese Zen monk, to compete in London 2012

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 11:00 AM PDT

Kenki Sato, a Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and equestrian who previously won gold at the 2010 Asian Games, will be going to London to compete in the 2012 Olympics. He'll be competing in eventing, which combines showjumping, dressage, and cross-country.

Sato comes from a family of priests and horse riders—his father is abbot of Myoshoji in Ogawa, Nagano Prefecture and also a former Olympic rider himself (a member of Japan's 1980 Olympic team). His brother is a priest who competed at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, and his sister is a five-time Japanese showjumping champion. Sato is currently on temple leave to train for his appearance in London. Click through for a video of Sato competing in a dressage event earlier this year.