The Heart Of It
The Heart Of It |
- The Heart Of It
- This Week in the Press: Stories of interest to Shambhala Sun readers
- The Non-profit Related Posts
- China plans £3bn theme park in Tibet
- Ensure freedom of religion without deceit
- Sri Lanka Buddhist monks' organization objects moves to restrict monks only to teaching
- Buddhist gives all for monks’ ritual
- Illegal digs threaten Pakistan’s Buddhist past
- The Non-profit Related Posts
- The Shimano saga: Selling off to pay the rent?
- Review: The Healing Power of the Breath, by Brown & Gerbarg
| Posted: 22 Jul 2012 09:00 AM PDT
This seems to be true. It might be due to the utter relief of making some kind of move, any kind of move, in ones life. A move large and far reaching or small and still far reaching. But the awareness of the long term consequences of small or large decisions are hidden to us. For the most part. Who knows what twists and turns will influence our decisions as we continue on our way. It is not as if there is one final decision and then everything follows from there. Although one good decision, made for the right reasons, has the power to carry forward into future good decisions. The key lies in the ability to keep listening to those inner prompting, or the internal bell I mentioned recently, and steer by them. As best one can. I'm particularly, acutely perhaps, aware of this need to keep listening and keep flexible because I, and another female monastic of our order, are standing on the brink of launching a project. The public face of it will be a website which I will tell you about when the moment comes to open it to the world. The subtle face, the spiritual dimension if you like, is one you will connect with because the heart and expression of our project are identical to the heart of Jade. The merit of this post is offered to a young woman who has gone missing. And for all others in similar circumstances - anywhere in the world. Read More @ Source
|
| This Week in the Press: Stories of interest to Shambhala Sun readers Posted: 22 Jul 2012 07:00 AM PDT If you're following the Shambhala Sun on Facebook, you know that we share interesting stories from around the web there all week long. But not everyone's on Facebook, so here's what we posted in the past week.
And, in case you missed them, these were some of our most popular Shambhala SunSpace posts from this week.
If you're not already following us on Facebook, like the Shambhala Sun and Buddhadharma pages so you don't miss anything else. You can follow us on Twitter, too. Read More @ Source
|
| Posted: 22 Jul 2012 03:00 AM PDT I have been doing a lot of research on non-profits, rights work, journalism and so on over the past few months for a project unrelated to this blog. But I discovered a lot of stuff that may be in the … Continue reading →  Read More @ Source 
|
| China plans £3bn theme park in Tibet Posted: 21 Jul 2012 08:00 PM PDT by Tania Branigan, 6 July 2012
Authorities want to attract 15 million tourists to Tibet per year but local groups worry about damage to traditional culture Lhasa, Tibet (China) -- Chinese officials have announced plans to build a £3bn Tibetan culture theme park outside Lhasa in three to five years.
Authorities see developing tourism as crucial to the economic future of Tibet and have set a goal of attracting 15 million tourists a year by 2015, generating up to 18bn yuan (£1.8bn), in a region with a population of just 3 million. But Tibetan groups have expressed concern that the surge in tourism has also eroded traditional culture and that the income has economically benefited Han Chinese more than Tibetans.
The mayor said it would include attractions themed around Princess Wencheng – the seventh-century niece of a Tang-dynasty emperor who married a king from Tibet's Yarlung dynasty – whose tale has been embraced by Chinese authorities as a parable of ethnic harmony. The park will include outdoor shows about the princess, along with other educational and entertainment facilities. Business and residential districts would also be included. Ma said the park would also reduce tourist pressure on the Jokhang Temple and the Barkhor in the heart of old Lhasa, helping to protect the city's heritage. According to state media, the number of visitors to the region rose by 25.7% year-on-year in the first five months of 2012. The tourism bureau has said Tibet expects 10 million tourists this year – up one million from last year – with tourism revenues growing to 12bn yuan. But foreigners were last month indefinitely banned from visiting, amid growing tension. The announcement came after two Tibetan men set fire to themselves in Lhasa. Tibetan areas across western China have seen a spate of self-immolations, with those involved protesting against Chinese policies. Officials in China often see theme parks as a way to develop tourism, though many have failed to attract the investment and visitors they anticipated. Whether the Lhasa government ends up building the project on the massive scale envisaged remains to be seen. Professor Robert Barnett, an expert on Tibetan culture at Columbia University, said that while some officials had talked about environmentally and culturally appropriate tourism in Tibet, "this represents a nail in the coffin – symbolically and perhaps practically – of attempts by Tibetans and Chinese to promote that." He added: "To recoup that cost, you have to have tourism on an unimaginable scale." Barnett said Tibetans might well go to the theme park themselves, but would also be likely to question whether it was good for their culture and worth the huge investment. "They are very acutely aware of these issues ... but I am not sure they have any form to ask them publicly," he said. Xinhua reported last month that officials have also earmarked more than 400m yuan to develop tourism in Nyingchi prefecture in southeastern Tibet, renowned for its scenic beauty. In addition to creating an international "Swiss-style" tourism town, the schemes will involve building 22 "model villages", where tourists will be able to enjoy homestays. Critics have warned the plan could damage the fragile environment. Read More @ Source
|
| Ensure freedom of religion without deceit Posted: 21 Jul 2012 07:00 PM PDT by Janaka Perera, The Nation (Sri Lanka), July 15, 2012Colombo, Sri Lanka -- "The accepted theory of freedom of religion is the freedom to believe in any particular religion of one's own choice, changing one's religion should be a personal decision taken independent of any coercion, influence, terror, deceit or secrecy."
The commission has recommended that the Bill to prevent unethical conversions grafted after prolonged discussions between Buddhist and Hindu organizations be forthwith placed before parliament as a government bill instead of reintroducing the private member's bill that lapsed at the end of the last parliamentary sessions. The commission notes that the Christian religious community was conspicuous in its united and outright opposition to the Bill to prohibit religious conversions by unethical means. The commission wants Buddhist organizations meet this challenge at national and regional levels by bringing pressure upon their respective MPs to get the Bill passed in parliament. "To make this legislation meaningful, the State shall give assurance to the Buddhist public to undertake the issue and directives and regulations needed to implement it. If the government hesitates to take such steps, a sustained pressure shall be brought on it at a national level unabated. The All Ceylon Buddhist Congress should give leadership to this movement mustering the active participation of all other Buddhist organizations in the country." The commission has also called for banning non-governmental organizations from implementing any projects that directly or indirectly provide facilities to lure people into unethical conversions. This includes incorporating strict conditions to ensure the transparency of the activities of foreign companies who arrive in Sri Lanka on investment agreements with the Board of Investment. Among the other recommendations is the need for enforcing stricter laws when issuing visas to foreigners visiting Sri Lanka. The commission wants the visas issued to those arrived in this country under the pretext of engaging in social service projects, but are found engaged in missionary activities to be cancelled. The commission observes the main reason for the success of unethical conversions has been the ability to entice poverty-stricken people by providing them with financial and material assistance. It has been revealed that a very high percentage of such funding is provided by foreign sources. The Buddhist community and Buddhist organizations do not possess such economic resources to counter this threat, states the report. It cites an extract from the Sri Lanka Telecom Directory 2008, showing 261 different Christian churches and organizations in the Western Province alone. The report also warns that unethical conversion to other religions would lead to conflict situations, which are then reported by some local newspapers particularly in the English media "casting malicious, wrathful, partisan false aspersions against Buddhists." According to the commissioners "The reporting of these falsified news are intended for dissemination by the foreign media, which highlight these as atrocities committed against minor religious groups". Speaking at the launching ceremony Ven Prof Induragarey Dhammarathana, Sanskrit Studies Faculty, Kelaniya University said Sri Lanka's Buddhist population had dropped to 61 percent according to the latest census whereas when he was young the percentage was 79 percent. He did not rule out the possibility that the next census would show the percentage coming down to 51 indicating that Sri Lanka was gradually losing her Buddhist identity. Dr. Ananda Guruge, delivering the keynote address said that he, having been associated with the Buddhist Committee of Inquiry of 1956, was sad to see Buddhists continued to face the same problems. No proper steps had been taken to deal with them for the past 60 years. According to him, it is the very reason for the current crisis. The biggest problem was the flow of unlimited foreign funds to evangelists and proselytizers for converting the poor and to mislead the young. He assured, he would draw the attention of the world Buddhist community to unethical conversions in Sri Lanka. ACBC President Jagath Sumathipala appointed the commission on June 11, 2006 at the historical Mihintale sacred site with retired Supreme Court Judge Sarath Gunatilleke as its Chairman. The Commission first issued its report in Sinhala in 2009 after touring the country for almost four years collecting evidence on unethical conversions from the Buddhist clergy and the laity. A total of 348 witnesses had given evidence before the commission. Read More @ Source
|
| Sri Lanka Buddhist monks' organization objects moves to restrict monks only to teaching Posted: 21 Jul 2012 06:00 PM PDT ColomboPage News Desk, Jul 21, 2012Colombo, Sri Lanka -- The National Buddhist Monks' Federation (Jathika Sangha Sammelanaya) of Sri Lanka has launched a campaign against moves to restrict Buddhist monks to teaching in government schools and temple schools for clergy. Chief Prelates of the three main Buddhist Chapters of Sri Lanka on July 17 handed in a letter to the President Mahinda Rajapaksa requesting to suspend granting appointments of Development Assistants to the Buddhist monks. The Buddhist clergy leaders demanded the monks given appointments only for teaching in schools and temple schools. 
|
| Buddhist gives all for monks’ ritual Posted: 21 Jul 2012 05:00 PM PDT by SARAH MASLIN NIR, New York Times, July 21, 2012
Woman spends life savings on text ceremony NEW YORK, USA -- Dayangji Sherpa lives with her 25-year-old daughter, Nima, in a one-bedroom apartment in Queens, where they sleep in the same bed to save money. But Sunday, they stood on a dais before an altar of glittering gold Buddhas while some of the highest-ranked Buddhist monks from the region bowed their heads to the women and showered them with benedictions.
It was the culmination of a rare ceremony where every single text of their Buddhist canon is read from morning until night by monks, who are fed, housed and paid by a sponsor until all 108 books are read. It took more than a month. And it cost more than $ 50,000 - the elder Sherpa's life savings. Completing the Kangyur, the Tibetan-language version of the sacred Buddhist texts, is done as a form of prayer for peace for all sentient beings, several monks explained. For nearly 40 days, ending last week, about a dozen monks called from around the region read eight hours a day, aloud and simultaneously, seated cross-legged in a converted brick church.
Dayangji Sherpa, 54, a home health aide, estimates she paid about $ 111 per monk per day. It included twice-daily meals of Nepalese and Tibetan comfort food at a restaurant and an attendant to provide an endless supply of traditional salted butter tea. Other members of the community also made donations. "People can do this, but nobody does it," she said. "I'm not rich. I wanted a do a good thing." In a fur hat, her long braid laced with pink thread, Dayangji Sherpa doled out envelopes of money to each monk Sunday, her daughter following behind her. As trumpets sounded and cymbals clashed, she limped across the dais on her artificial leg: When she was eight, her leg was amputated after it was crushed by an avalanche while she tended yaks near Kunde, her village. At 22, her family disowned her when she eloped with a man from a lower caste. When she was five months pregnant with Nima, the couple split up; Dayangji Sherpa raised her daughter alone, eventually moving to the United States about a decade ago. Even in a religion that rejects materialism, her modest means made the ceremony noteworthy, said Sherry Ortner, an anthropology professor at the University of California Los Angeles and an author on Sherpa culture. Dayangji Sherpa's father and grandfather, who owned a successful teahouse near the Mount Everest base camp, each sponsored such a reading in the past. Ortner said that in Tibet and Nepal, such events are typically paid for by the wealthy. That a person of lesser means is sponsoring the Kangyur in the United States suggests that in the diaspora those old hierarchies are shifting. "The status system is changed," she said. Spending her savings was an act of faith, said Urgen Sherpa of the community association. Buddhism rejects materialism as one of the Three Poisons that lead to suffering. "She is giving away some materials," he said. "That means a destroying of one of the poisons: greed, attachment." Pema Sherpa, a nanny, makes $ 700 a week and has supported one of the monks for the past two years and will continue to do so indefinitely, providing him a room in her house and $ 600 a month. She explained Dayangji Sherpa's generosity: "What do you need in life? You have food, shelter, what else do you want? This is karma." As the final ceremony wrapped up, Nima wearily removed her hat. She had quit her job at a bus company to tend to the monks, brewing vats of butter tea in the basement and even cleaning the toilets. Her devotion was to her mother as much as the faith, she said, explaining that her Nepalese peers felt similar commitment to their parents: "We feel like we owe them our life, because they've done so much for us in our life." After nearly 40 days bound to the monks, the moment was bittersweet, she said. Not that there was time for nostalgia. "First thing I'm going to do tomorrow," she said, standing in her floor-length traditional gown, "is wake up and look for a job." Read More @ Source
|
| Illegal digs threaten Pakistan’s Buddhist past Posted: 21 Jul 2012 04:00 PM PDT by SAJJAD MALIK, SAPA-DPA, July 21 2012Islamabad, Pakistan -- When Taliban militants were expelled from Pakistan's north-west Swat region, many people thought it would be good for the area's ancient Buddhist heritage, which was under attack from the rebels.
"This is our history because we were also Buddhist at that time. This is cultural heritage and the future of a nation is based on cultural legacy," said Abdul Azeem, deputy director of Pakistan's Archaeological Department in Islamabad. Remnants of Buddhist art and culture can be found at dozens of sites in north-western Pakistan which, in marked contrast to its tolerant past, is in the clutches of radical Islamic fundamentalism.
Islamists are hostile the pre-Islamic heritage and want to erase it. In Afghanistan, they destroyed two giant Buddha carvings in 2001. The act was repeated in Pakistan in 2007, when militants blew up the face of a 1,500-year-old rock carving of Buddha in the Jahanabad area of Swat, bringing condemnation at home and from abroad. "The destruction of Buddha was a great loss to our heritage by Taliban, who also later sent suicide bombers to attack Swat Museum during the military operation of 2009," Azeem said. The attack forced the authorities to move the rare archaeological treasures from Swat to Islamabad. They were returned this year to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province to be put back in the museum. The vandalism also hit the region's once booming tourist industry. The 6-metre tall Buddha image was one of the main attractions for local and foreign visitors from China, South Korea and Thailand before the rebels took control of the area in 2007. Apart from the systematic destruction of monuments, the Taliban also stopped digging at sites in Swat to keep the non-Islamic past buried. An army offensive in 2009 cleared out militants, and steps were taken to rehabilitate the damaged sites and the Jahanabad carving is being restored by an Italian team of archaeologists. But nothing was done to check the illegal excavations that restarted. "I think the illegal digging of the historical structures has increased after the fall of the Taliban. They banned it and strictly punished those involved in it," said Nasir Khan, a senior official at Taxila Museum, one of the main repositories of Gandhara-period items. Official apathy, corruption and the mountainous terrain make it easy for small, clandestine digs. Azeem says post-Taliban local administrations do not share the militants' hatred for the pre-Islamic historical sites. "The elements of corruption cannot be ruled out but there is no official complicity in the illegal excavations," he said. "Officials know that it is against law and they take action against people involved in it." It is believed that local residents and expert outside looters are involved in unauthorised excavations. Stolen artifacts are sold to various dealers who send them to the southern port of Karachi. International dealers involved with smugglers then ship the rare relics to Europe or the United Arab Emirates. Police in Karachi intercepted a truck on July 8, recovered more than 300 iterms and arrested two people. Agents then raided a building in the city's Korangi district and seized a quantity of small artifacts and two crates containing giant sculptures that each weighed more than 5 tons. Qasim Ali Qasim, director of Sindh province's archaeology department, said they belonged to the Gandhara era but their exact age would be determined after analysis. "The recovered articles are truly priceless, but for the sake of an estimate we can say that their value is more than 10 million dollars," he said. Shabir said initial police investigation showed links with people living in Islamabad and nearby areas of lawless Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, where the majority of Gandhara-period sites, including the ruins of Swat, are located. Improved security since the militants were driven out has increased the number of people coming to see the pine-clad valleys and snow-covered mountains of Swat. The ouster of the Taliban may have saved the objects from religious vandalism, but it has also led to a rise in fortune seekers coming to find the rare objects. "Now everyone can go there unchecked," said Nasir Khan of Taxila Museum. Read More @ Source
|
| Posted: 21 Jul 2012 03:00 PM PDT I have been doing a lot of research on non-profits, rights work, journalism and so on over the past few months for a project unrelated to this blog. But I discovered a lot of stuff that may be in the public interest to write about here. The rest of the posts for July and August [...] Read More @ Source 
|
| The Shimano saga: Selling off to pay the rent? Posted: 21 Jul 2012 02:00 PM PDT The Buddhist Channel, July 22, 2012
Zen Studies Society's controversial land deal with Nature Conservancy New York, USA -- This week, Gallup, Inc., a US, research-based performance-management consulting company issued a report entitled "U.S. Confidence in Organized Religion at Low Point." It appears that confidence in "Organized Religion" in America has been is steady decline since the early 1970's.
In America, everybody's got to pay the rent, and the Zen Studies Society , a Zen Buddhist organization based in New York, with its two multi-million dollar centers, is no different. Upkeep is required if the two centers -- Dai BosatsuZen monastery set on a 1,400-acre tract in the town of Hardenburgh, N.Y., and New York Zendo Sho Bo Ji, a converted carriage house on East 67th Street in Manhattan -- are to survive. In 2008, a series of revelations began to etch Shimano's role not just as a 'revered Zen teacher,' but also as a serial sexual predator, one who used his position as a teacher to advance his sometimes unwanted advances (alleged date rape ), as a liar who had no compunction to tell the truth and constant engagement in self aggrandizing machinations and hagiographic hyperbole. Large numbers of people were left mentally scarred in ways reminiscent of the child sex-abuse victims of the Vatican: A trust and a body betrayed. Year after year, decade after decade… Denial after denial – after denial… It is clear that everyone has to pay the rent. 
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Review: The Healing Power of the Breath, by Brown & Gerbarg Posted: 21 Jul 2012 11:00 AM PDT  Scientific & medical experts are really starting to examine & utilize meditation & mindfulness techniques. Usually taken or adapted from time-honored practices found in Buddhism and other similar traditions, these techniques are now being incorporated into modern medicine. A fine example of this is the work being done by Richard P. Brown, MD & Patricia L. Gerbarg, MD, the authors of The Healing Power of the Breath. In this ground-breaking book, the two professors of psychiatry (who are married to each other) present practical breath-based techniques for calming the mind & body. They also document research backing up ancient claims that such techniques are solutions to everyday stress and mood problems. Indeed, they argue that the exercises upon which this work is based can relieve stress-related anxiety, depression, insomnia, and trauma-induced psychiatric problems. "Breathing can alleviate negative feelings, such as fear, anxiety, frustration, anger, depression, self-blame, confusion, restlessness, and physical discomforts. With regular practice over time breathwork can bring improvements in physical health, physical endurance, and resilience. But breathing is not just a treatment for life's ills,; it can also enhance pleasurable and creative activities such as musical performance, writing, team sports, or just b! eing wit h nature. Breath practices nurture positive emotions, loving feelings, compassion, our sense of connection with what is meaningful in life, and our sense of bonding with others." (The Healing Power of the Breath, pp.58-59) Whilst not a Buddhist book as such, The Healing Power of the Breath should be of interest to any modern-minded Buddhist interested in the areas of mindfulness application and medicinal meditation. To more tradition-orientated Buddhists, however, it may seem somewhat superfluous to requirements in that it doesn't address the central Buddhist objective of nirvana. For the latter, then, this work is probably not worth the cover price, whereas for the former, it could prove an extremely worthwhile purchase. Moreover, for all those who are not interested in Buddhism (or any other 'ism,' for that matter), Brown & Gerbarg have written a potentially life-changing book. This is a big claim, but for those of us suffering from anxiety, depression, ADD (attention deficit disorder), PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), or other psychiatric problems, The Healing Power of the Breath contains the means to radically improve our lives. In it, the two authors introduce several breath-based exercises that can calm down those using them and help them find a peaceful space within themselves. The main practices are called 'Coherent Breathing,' 'Breath Moving,' 'Resistance Breathing' & a combination of the three called 'the Complete Practice.' Due to lack of space & time, this review cannot go into great detail of all the techniques presented in the book, so it will suffice! to desc ribe the first, basic practice called Coherent Breathing,' as the other exercises are built upon this one. "Coherent Breathing is a simple way to increase heart-rate variability and balance the stress-response systems. When scientists tested people at all possible breathing rates, they found that there is an ideal breath rate fir each person, somewhere between three and a half and six breaths per minute fir adults using equal time for breathing in and breathing out, a sweet spot where the HRV is maximized and the electronic rhythms of the heart, lungs, and brain become synchronized. Modern researchers have called this the resonant rate,but this phenomenon has been known fir centuries by religious adepts in many cultures. For example, when Zen Buddhist monks enter deep meditation, called zazen, they breathe at six breaths per minute." (Ibid. p.12) Along with the other breath practices in the book, this technique is found in a guided exercise on the accompanying CD. Narrated by Richard P. Brown, this five minute exercise takes the listener through the development of Coherent Breathing by slowly slowing down the speed of in and out breaths. This is down by Brown as he calmly instructs his listener to breath in time to his counting, and is very effective, as this reviewer can attest to, having gone through the exercise himself. One small gripe is the reference to related resources found on a website on the internet. When researched into, it was found that they are not free, and that someone that cannot get going with Coherent Breathing is encouraged to go to this website and order a CD or download to complement this book. As this book i! s not ov erly long, could not the exercises referred to as being on this other CD (which is by a different person, by the way) be included in the present work and its CD? (At roughly 70 minutes, the CD could have had a few extra exercises on it.) Nevertheless, Brown & Gerbarg have put together a good book. And, if the reader were to doubt their word alone for the efficacy of the breath practices that they promote, plenty of evidence is given to back them up. Much of it is from people that have actually used breathing to improve their lives, either as therapists or patients. An example of the latter is given in Chapter 4 where a education consultant that attended a workshop conducted by the authors. Working in a big inner-city school, she used the breath to deal with stress, both for herself and a "shocked" colleague (pp.59-60). Elsewhere in the book, much fieldwork is presented in relation to disasters where breath exercises have been used to deal with trauma afterwards, including 9/11 victims, survivors of the 2004 Asian tsunami, and the Haiti earthquake of 2010. Writing of genocide survivors in Rwanda, the authors state the following: "Global Grassroots' Academy for Conscious Change in Rwanda has incorporated breathwork, yoga, meditation, mindfulness, and other conscious exercises into its eighteen-month social entrepreneurship program for women in Rwanda since the program's founding there in 2006….even now, seventeen years after the genocide, mind-body techniques, especially the core Breath~Body~Mind practice, can provide psychological healing that is essential for personal transformation as well as social change. Years after their initial training, the women continue to utilize these practices to s! upport t heir recovery and to manage stress from their life of poverty." (Ibid. p.78) Books like The Healing Power of the Breath are important. They are helping people to deal with everyday stress and even serious medical disorders. Besides this, they also stack up the evidence that meditation & mindfulness exercises can be beneficial to us on many levels. Brown & Gerbarg reveal to their reader both of the above with clarity & warmth. The breath exercises described in the book, along with the CD, enable people to take some level of control over their lives, giving them the tools to deal with stress, anxiety, and many other psychiatric difficulties. Therefore, The Healing Power of the Breath gets the thumbs up from this reviewer, and it is hoped that anyone reading the book takes the time to actually do the exercises it contains, using them to let go of the suffering that we all create in our lives. Title & Author : The Healing Power of the Breath, by Richard Brown, MD & Patricia L. Gerbarg, MD Publishers : Shambhala Publications Page Count : 176 Price : $ 17.95 ISBN : 9781590309025 ! 
|
<< Jokhang temple in Lhasa, Tibet
<< Nima Sherpa, right, bows with Buddhist monk Sangay Tenzin after a ceremonial reading of the Kangyur, the Tibetan language version of the sacred Buddhists texts, in a monastery in New York, last week. (BRIAN HARKIN / The New York Times)
But new threats have emerged to centuries-old sites from illegal excavations by amateur archaeologists and criminal gangs who compete to unearth relics worth millions of dollars abroad.
While the | You are subscribed to email updates from BuddhaRocks ☸ Buddhist To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
