Seven Day Zen Sesshin
Seven Day Zen Sesshin |
- Seven Day Zen Sesshin
- Seven Day Zen Sesshin
- Chant for peace to commemorate Hiroshima
- International Festival of Buddhist Heritage of Ladakh 2012
- International Conference on Ganhwa Seon
- Kim Jang-Mi credits Buddhist mindfulness training for Olympic gold
- First Buddhist funeral in Swaziland
- It’s Just Meditation All Over Again!
- Fourth Day of His Holiness’s Teachings in Leh
- Two new self-immolations in Tibet, one confirmed dead
| Posted: 08 Aug 2012 08:00 AM PDT
Prerequisite: an established meditation practice Cost: $ 525, $ 420 for ZLMC Members Register online by clicking here or by calling the ZLMC Office at 708.689.1220. Read More @ Source 
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| Posted: 08 Aug 2012 08:00 AM PDT
Prerequisite: an established meditation practice Cost: $ 525, $ 420 for ZLMC Members Register online by clicking here or by calling the ZLMC Office at 708.689.1220. Read More @ Source 
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| Chant for peace to commemorate Hiroshima Posted: 08 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT The Buddhist Channel, Aug 6, 2012Vernon, BC (Canada) -- Aug. 6 marks the 66th anniversary of the Atomic Bombing in Hiroshima. He will chant for peace, honouring the theme, "may peace prevail in our world" from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. that day at the Vernon Japanese Cultural Centre. There will be about 15,000 paper origami cranes decorating the temple. The origami cranes are a symbol of peace and reference a popular story called Sadako and the 1000 paper cranes, the true story of a 14-year-old survivor of the bombing with terminal leukemia who tried to make 1,000 paper cranes to have her wish granted. As Buddhists, the temple's members wish to pay tribute to the more than 140,000 innocent civilians who instantly perished, and the countless thousands of people who subsequently died due to their exposure to radiation. Even today, people continue to suffer the aftermath of this tragedy. The hope is that by remembering, the world will never again repeat such a tragedy. The memorial honours all victims of war throughout the world, with the 12-hour chanting marathon continuing until the commemorative bell sounds at 6 p.m. The hall at the Japanese Cultural Centre (4895 Bella Vista Rd.) will be open to the public during the 12 hours, and all are welcome to attend and chant with the Sensei, strike the bell, offer incense and fold a paper crane. As Buddhists, the temple's members are committed to the principles of non-violence, peace, and compassion towards all living beings on the planet. 
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| International Festival of Buddhist Heritage of Ladakh 2012 Posted: 07 Aug 2012 11:00 PM PDT The Buddhist Channel, Aug 8, 2012Leh, Ladakh (India) -- Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre, Leh, Ladakh, along with Nav Nalanda Maha Vihar, a University based in Nalanda, Bihar come together to bring an International Festival of Yoga, Meditation, Heritage, Culture, Talks, Art and Cinema to Leh, Ladakh from 3-9 September 2012.
India is the land of origins of Buddhism and has been blessed as repository of Buddhist heritage and knowledge from ancient times besides being cradle of democratic and human values. In this 2600 years since the Sambodhiprapti "the enlightened awakening" of the Buddha, the festival is an endeavour aimed to foster and promote these values and knowledge and enhance global understanding of peace and compassion which are core tenets of Buddhism.
heritage among countries with strong Buddhist tradition mainly in Far East and South East Asia. The land of Ladakh is a land like no other both in geographical, social and spiritual terms, this is a young land, formed only a few million years ago uplifted against the immovable mass of Asia by unimaginable tectonic movement sculpted into the form we see today by wind and water. Likewise the social fabric of Ladakh has also been the result of churning it went through for being at the cross roads of great civilisations of India, Central Asia, Tibet, Mongolia and beyond. The ancient Buddhist rock engravings, Mani walls monasteries, hermitage, Chorten spread all over the region tells the story of being the cradle of Buddhism through which the learned masters treaded the journey carrying the precious cargo of wisdom of triple gem along its ancient path to Tibet and far reaches of Mongolia and Russia. As part of the festival a one day seminar on Tribal Communities of Ladakh and their Contribution in Preserving the Buddhist Cultural Heritage will be held at MIMC to be participated by eminent national and international scholars including those from Ladakh. Art and Culture have been the visual format of learning from the time immemorial and again our country's contribution is unparalleled in human history. Ladakh is blessed not only with being the cradle of Buddhism in India but also vibrant ethnic diversity that has shaped the land into an oasis of peace in the turbulent region all around. To bring forth this ethnic vibrancy as well as promote cultural exchange with other nations with shared Buddhist heritage cultural performances every evening showcasing different ethnic communities by cultural tropes from various parts of Ladakh and international troupes from Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore will be the highlight of this festival. Cinema is a very powerful medium that influence values and perceptions of the people either positively or negatively irrespective of age, race, religion and regions of the world. The educational value of cinema thus can never be underestimated and should be used to promote good values. Given so, this medium is being increasingly used to discuss and promote understanding of the concepts and philosophy of Buddhism. Buddhist Film Festivals are held world over and some of them have evolved as prestigious events in internationals calendar such as International Buddhist Film Festival, New York, London and Bangkok. The success of the recently organized Inner Path- Festival of Cinema, Heritage and Discourse by Asoka Mission, our partners in organising this festival, at Azad Bhawan, New Delhi from 27th April 2012, was a pointer to the reach of art, culture and cinema in promoting Buddhist values. Carrying forward the idea and beam the Light of Asia through this ancient land of Buddhist heritage a festival of Buddhist Cinema is being held as part of the event. Each day there shall be screening of different films that shall showcase Buddhism its philosophy and universal human values through the cinematic experience. After the film is screened, there shall be an interaction session of the audience with the film delegates like actors and director of the films. A bouquet of best of award winning feature films and documentaries by eminent masters of the craft will be screed during the 2 days of the festival and it is hoped that this will also evolve as an annual feature in the calendar of events in Ladakh attracting worldwide attention. To make this international festival a meaningful experience an exhibition of photographs by Shri Benoy Behl titled The Greatest Journey of Ideas: Spread of Buddhism will showcase a photographic journey of Buddhist art and heritage from 19 countries. Shri. Benoy Behl, is a renowned film maker, art-historian & photographer, known for his tireless and prolific output of work over past 35 years. Every year there is huge number of international tourist and members who come down from all across the globe at Mahabodhi international meditation, Ladakh to participate for yoga and meditation. It's normally five days workshop and mind training schedule that takes place under the guidance of able gurus and monks who have mastered in yoga, meditation and Buddhist practices. Last year's festival had attracted huge participation of international delegates and this year too Yoga and Meditation will be the main focus of the festival. Already a number of international delegations mainly from south East Asia including a delegation from Malaysia led by Chairman of the Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board have confirmed their participation in the event. As they say, knowledge is incomplete without a guru, so goes with the learning and practicing of spiritualism also. A deeper understanding and closer view to the insight can be only viewed through the guidance and direction of a guru and here in the festival will bring talks and interactive session with most learned and eminent spiritual masters both from Ladakh and other parts of the country and abroad. On each festival day, an invited Buddhist scholar / expert will deliver a talk on different aspects, traditions and practices of the Buddhist philosophy. Further to provide a holistic, wholesome and insight understanding of the Buddhist cultural heritage of Ladakh exposition of the traditional medicine system known as Sowa Rigpa. This traditional form of Astro- Medicine is practiced throughout trans-Himalayan region from Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Mongolia and Russia. During the festival free medical check up by Amchi, the traditional doctors, preparation of astro- charts, sale of medicines etc will held to promote understanding of this ancient art of holistic healing and cure. Book exhibition is another prominent feature of this festival and Motilal Benarsidas, world's foremost publishers of books and journals on Indology, spirituality, religion and philosophy has agreed to participate. Local publishers, libraries and writers will also be invited to participate. However to make it more meaningful, informative and wholesome experience for the visitors exhibition and display of ancient scriptures, books and most importantly Thankga paintings and butter sculpture will add tremendous value and experience to the festival and surely lead to make it an event that people both local and worldwide wait every year with eagerness. A tour to various monasteries and cultural destinations in Ladakh has been arranged as part of the festival for visiting international and national delegates and participants to provide an insight in the rich living cultural heritage of the region. The visiting international delegation also comprise of a delegation from Malaysia led by Datuk Dr Victor Wee, Chairman Tourism Promotion Board of Malaysia and also Dy Secy General of UN World Tourism Organisation. He has been credited with promoting Malaysia among the top ten tourist destination of the world. Besides he is also actively involved in promoting Nepal as tourist destination besides developing Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha as world peace city. Definitely this is an opportunity not to be missed in promoting Ladakh as value added branded quality tourist destination in South East Asia both for its geographic and natural beauty but also its rich ancient cultural heritage and diversity as well as Buddhist pilgrimage and knowledge destination. Thus an interactive session between the visiting dignitary, the Hon'ble Tourism Minister of J&K and representatives of local tourism industry has been planned. India is the land of origins of Buddhism besides being an ancient land of origins of human civilization itself with rich cultural and ethnic diversity and we wish to share in presenting our rich repository of knowledge and traditions to promote an international understanding of India as land of Dharma and custodian of Buddhist heritage. Read More @ Source
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| International Conference on Ganhwa Seon Posted: 07 Aug 2012 10:00 PM PDT by Emi Hailey Hayakawa, BTN, Aug 7, 2012Seoul, South Korea -- The 3rd International Conference on Ganhwa Seon was held on June 23rd, 2012 and many academics and practictioners across the globe gathered at Dong guk University. BTN showcased a documentary, "Reflecting the World through Ganhwa Seon" which portrayed the real life experiences of practitioners practicing the Ganhwa Seon method during the retreats with Ven. Subul. Although reiterating that such a pratice is adaptable whether to devout students or the general public, Ven. Subul said that Ganhwa Seon requires weeks for the achievement of a clear, cleansing outcome. The practice of Ganhwa Seon is not entirely divided into sessions, but involves constantly focusing on one's doubts and questions. "Each practice doesn't take 30 to 50 minutes, or one to two hours, but is a constant phase within a person's conscience," said Ven. Subul. "In order for this meditation to be achievable, people have to embrace their doubts and problems to reach eventual enlightenment." "The good thing about Ganhwa Seon is that it can be interpreted more easily than other practices," said Ven Subul. "Although I cannot teach newcomers to become devout practitioners of Ganhwa Seon, the meditation is simple enough to follow for those who have 9-5 work schedules and live under the influence of culture and media. As you confront doubt and inner conflicts, you will soon find yourself in a national place." 
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| Kim Jang-Mi credits Buddhist mindfulness training for Olympic gold Posted: 07 Aug 2012 09:00 PM PDT by Emi Hailey Hayakawa, BTN, Aug 7, 2012London, UK -- In Buddhism it is said that athletic activities pull you into a natural state of mindfulness. Sport becomes a form of meditation when you engage it with your full attention.
Therefore, most Buddhists who participate in shooting sport tend to focus on the pistol events. Born in 1992, Kim Jang-mi of South Korea won the gold medal in the women's 25-meter pistol Wednesday after setting an Olympic record for the best qualification score. In an interview with Reuters, Kim stated that "The men are really good but the last time the women won a gold was 20 years ago so before I came to London I wanted to show that the Korean men and women were equally competitive," Kim finished with 792.4 points, beating defending champion Chen Ying of China by one point. Read More @ Source
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| First Buddhist funeral in Swaziland Posted: 07 Aug 2012 08:00 PM PDT by Welcome Dlamini, Times of Swaziland, July 30,2012MANZINI, Swaziland -- Her husband and close relatives kissed her motionless body as it lay in a casket; sweet perfume was sprayed on her corpse; red roses were sprinkled atop her and one of her sons-in-law together with a friend went around the casket three times while carrying burning torches that finally initiated the funeral pyre. All these unusual scenes were witnessed when, for the first time in Swaziland's history, a Buddhist funeral took place in the kingdom last Wednesday. The funeral was for the late naturalised Swazi citizen Chand-rakanthi de Silva, who is a former Text Book Manager at the prestigious Waterford Kamhlaba United World Colleges and Assistant Librarian at the Pathways World School in Delhi. Conducting the ceremony was Reverend Ilukpitiye Pannasekara who is the only Buddhist monk in Africa and is stationed in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and he confirmed that this was a first funeral of its kind in Swaziland. Though predominantly a Christian country, Swaziland legally opened its doors to other religious practices through its July 2005 constitution which guarantees the 'protection of freedom of conscience or religion'. Before she died of a brain tumour at dawn on Tuesday, Chandi, as the deceased was fondly known, celebrated the first ever Buddhist religious chanting to take place in Swaziland on July 6 and 7. The religious chanting, which she celebrated in a semi-conscious condition, was also conducted by Reverend Pannasekara. Her family said the chanting, also known as the Pansakula, was 'yet another rarity and a blessing she was born with'. On Wednesday, before she was laid to rest, her body was first laid in an open casket at her home until noon when the monk (also known as Bhikku) conducted another Pansakula until 12:30pm after which she was driven in a hearse to the Dups funeral parlour. At Dups, a service was held and Reverend Pannasekara first conducted the delivering of five precepts and Dhamma Talk. Many tears were shed by the observers as the life of Chandi was celebrated and Master of Ceremonies, Isaac Simelane, read a tribute to the deceased's life. The Buddhist monk then ordered the casket to be opened and for all those who wanted to view Chandi for the last time to do so. First it was husband Neville de Silva who passionately caressed her forehead and silently whispered his love for her before bending to kiss her and he then sprayed her with perfume which he later said was her favourite. Children, grandchildren as well as other relatives then took turns viewing her body, which they also kissed and sprinkled with special water. After the viewing, the casket was closed and taken to the crematorium where, before it was put into the pyre, the son-in-law Vishay Singh and his friend performed a Buddhist ritual of going around it thrice, thereafter, fire was lit on top of the casket and then it was put inside the crematorium to burn. That marked the end of the ceremony for the day. Yesterday, which marked the sixth day since her death, Chandi's life was celebrated at her home and an alms giving is to be held today to celebrate her 'seventh day of her peaceful walk to her next life in Sansara'. 
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| It’s Just Meditation All Over Again! Posted: 07 Aug 2012 05:00 PM PDT  Mindfulness Tip o'The Day Adversity Teaches Letting Go of Attachment to Outcome
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| Fourth Day of His Holiness’s Teachings in Leh Posted: 07 Aug 2012 01:00 PM PDT Leh, Ladakh, J&K, India, 7 August 2012 - On the fourth day of his teachings in Leh, Ladakh, His Holiness began, "I am going to give the long life empowerment associated with White Tara today to make an auspicious end to this series of teachings. If you live long, but do no good in your life, there's no benefit. As the Kadampa masters used to say 'May the sinful live only a short time'. We have this precious human life, which affords the opportunity of attaining enlightenment in this very life if we make the effort. And even if we can't do that, we can at least aim to embark on the path to enlightenment." His Holiness advised that we should examine how destructive emotions harm us and others, even bringing us physical health problems. They cause discord in families and in society at large. Whether you are a national leader or a beggar on the street, destructive emotions disturb your peace of mind. Within ancient Indian thought, and especially the Buddha's teachings, we find a rich array of methods to combat these destructive emotions; once you have fully overcome the destructive emotions and their imprints you become a Buddha. His Holiness mentioned that 2600 years ago, the Buddha taught in India and we have in the Kangyur translations into Tibetan of what he taught. We also have what disciples like Kashyapa, his successors, and other great masters such as the 17 Pandits of Nalanda and adepts like Saraha and Indrabhuti taught in the Tengyur. In due course, the great Abbot Shantarakshita came to Tibet and ordained the first seven monks in the 8th century CE. There was a temporary lapse as a result of Langdarma's persecution, followed by a revival, but in general, since that time, the monastics have been mainly responsible for upholding the Dharma. "Now, when literacy is much more widespread, we should regard the 300 or so volumes of the Kangyur and Tengyur as text books we can read and study. We shouldn't think of them only as objects to pay respect to. I read the! se texts myself, they are important and profound. I urge all of you to do the same, read them and study them. You don't need to learn Sanskrit or any other language because we have excellent translations into Tibetan. "Since we came into exile, I have asked the monasteries and nunneries to study not just pray. Consequently, we have now reached a point when there are nuns about to be awarded Geshe-ma degrees."
His Holiness recalled that in the 1960s a meeting of religious heads and leaders was convened in Dharamsala, attended by such eminent Lamas as Karmapa Rinpoche, Sakya Trizin and Dudjom Rinpoche. Afterwards, Dudjom Rinpoche told His Holiness that when he got back to Kalimpong where he lived, some of his disciples came to see him. They told him they had heard about the meeting and that plans had been made for all the traditions to merge together into one, so that effectively everyone would become a Gelugpa. They anxiously asked if it was true. Dudjom Rinpoche replied that he had been at the meeting, that there had been no such plans, but there had been open discussions about preserving the Dharma in general and upholding the vaious traditions. His Holiness said, "We all study the same classic texts, so we don't need to make such a fuss about minor differences between us. When we look at the original sources in the Indian texts we don't find any of these differences there. On the other hand, we do find that explanations Je Rinpoche gave in the earlier part of his life differ from the way he explained things in t! he later part of his life. This applies to his view of philosophical issues and the tantras, but we find similar differences in the works of the Karmapa Rinpoches and Mipham Rinpoche of the Nyingma too. What we need to do is understand why they emphasised one thing in the early part of their lives and another in the later part."
Although it is good not to speak harshly, that doesn't mean we have to speak only of good things. There are, after all, many unfortunate events taking place in the world, The situation in Tibet these days, for example, is particularly distressing. There are also reports of Tibetan lamas who misbehave in the West, which is a disgrace. His Holiness reported that this was discussed some years ago during a conference with Western Buddhist teachers, who told him about Tibetan and Zen teachers misbehaving. He advised them first to remonstrate with such people and, if that wasn't effective in shaming them into changing their ways, to publicise their misdemeanours. Regarding the White Tara long life empowerment he was about to give, His Holiness explained that disciples should only have eaten vegetarian food beforehand, pointing out that taking the lives of others is a cause to have a shorter life. He said that when he was in Tibet he observed that a great deal of meat was served at official functions and festivals and that he put a stop to it, beause it is a contradiction if the lives of others are taken as part of celebrations. With his encouragement the common kitchens in most of the monastic institutions now only serve vegetarian food.  Ladakhi women carry volumes of the Kangyur offered to His Holiness the Dalai Lama during prayers for his long life during the teachings in Leh, Ladakh, J&K, India, on August 7, 2012. Photo/Jeremy Russell/OHHDL | |
The objective of the festival is to promote an understanding and appreciation of the diverse ethnic culture of different parts and tribal communities of Ladakh, its ancient and vibrant Buddhist heritage, art and philosophy of Buddhism with the help of talks by eminent masters and scholars, seminar, ethnic exposition, films, cultural performances, photo exhibition, books, handicraft and culinary festival.
For those Buddhists who do participate in the Zen Way of Shooting Sport, most tend to prefer the pistol / handgun target shooting events and competitions due to the fact that the barrel lengths are shorter, typically there is a greater emphasis on body control, for which meditation is a great aid for better performances.
His Holiness then bestowed the White Tara long life empowerment and prayers were conducted in relation to White Tara for his long life. At one point in proceedings, after the sun had come out, he stopped to remark,
"The 13th Dalai Lama was once giving a teaching at Norbulingka on a very hot day and there are reports that you could tell who had attended them by their sunburnt faces. It looks like it'll be the same today."
Read More @ Source 
Two new self-immolations in Tibet, one confirmed dead
Posted: 07 Aug 2012 10:00 AM PDT
Two more Tibetans have self-immolated in protest of Chinese occupation in the last two days. On Monday, 18-year-old Lobsang Trinlay, a monk at Kirti Monastery in Ngaba, self-immolated, according to Radio Free Asia. Before setting himself afire, witnesses say, he shouted for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other exiled Tibetans. At this time, Trinlay's condition is unknown, though reports say he was taken away by security forces badly burned, but alive.
Also, 27-year-old Dolkar Tso of Tasar Village self-immolated Tuesday afternoon. She set fire to herself in front of Tsoe Monastery in Tsoe City in Amdo region, shouting, "Free Tibet! Return His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet!" Though the flames were extinguished by locals, Tso died from her injuries. The Tibet Post has the full story, including a photograph.
For all past coverage by Buddhadharma News of the self-immolation phenomenon in Tibet, please click here.
Read More @ Source
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