Monk who self-immolated reported alive

Monk who self-immolated reported alive
From the new Shambhala Sun magazine: Thich Nhat Hanh on what to do in the face of suffering
Street Photographer - Vivian Maier
American tulku in Minnesota profiled by the Star Tribune

Posted: 20 Dec 2011 10:01 AM PST

Tabey's self-immolation, Feb 27, 2009.

According to recent reports from a Beijing-based blogger, Tsering Woeser, the monk Tabey – who self-immolated in February of 2009 – is now believed to be alive but in detention at a Chinese army hospital in the Barkham area. Tabey self-immolated on February 27, 2009 in protest of Chinese repression.

Initial reports had suggested that Tabey had died shortly after his self-immolation protest, as witnesses reported Chinese authorities opening fire on the monk's feet and taking him away in a police van. According to Woeser, however, the monk survived but sustained significant injuries to his feet during the shooting, leaving him crippled. Tabey's mother is believed to be in the hospital with her son, though she's forbidden from leaving the hospital and cannot talk to outsiders. The boy's uncle is believed to be the only person from the outside allowed in to visit him.

(Photo by SFT HQ via Flickr using a CC-BY license.)

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Interview with Burmese monk about buddhism ( Part 1)

I spoke with a Buddhist monk from Burma ( also known as Myanmar) about Buddhism and meditation. We spoke strictly about religion; no questions on Burma or its politics were allowed to be asked during the interview. The venerable monk, Kyaikalat Sayadaw, is a Professor of religious studies at the University of Myanmar.

Video Rating: 4 / 5

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From the new Shambhala Sun magazine: Thich Nhat Hanh on what to do in the face of suffering

Posted: 20 Dec 2011 08:00 AM PST

Fans of Thich Nhat Hanh: Have you seen our January 2012 magazine yet? In addition to Andrea Miller's exclusive interview with the Zen teacher, there's her account of a retreat with him and his community and "Imagine a Pine Tree" — a new teaching about what to do in the face of suffering. You'll find it on page 44 of the magazine, but you can also now read "Imagine a Pine Tree" online, in its entirety. May it be helpful to you — and if so: pass it on!

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Street Photographer - Vivian Maier

Posted: 19 Dec 2011 02:00 PM PST

A good street photographer must possess many talents: an eye for detail, light, and composition; impeccable timing; a populist or humanitarian outlook; and a tireless ability to constantly shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot and never miss a moment. It is hard enough to find these qualities in trained photographers with the benefit of schooling and mentors and a community of fellow artists and aficionados supporting and rewarding their efforts. It is incredibly rare to find it in someone with no formal training and no network of peers.

Yet Vivian Maier is all of these things, a professional nanny, who from the 1950s until the 1990s took over 100,000 photographs worldwide—from France to New York City, to Chicago and dozens of other countries—and yet showed the results to no one. The photos are amazing both for the breadth of the work and for the high quality of the humorous, moving, beautiful, and raw images of all facets of city life in America's post-war golden age.

Thanks for the link Michael, much appreciated. I'd posted about Vivian Maier before however now there is so much more information on the website dedicated to Vivian Maier and her amazing work.

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nam myoho renge kyo

Buddhists chanting the diamoku (mantra) of Nichiren Meditation. If you look close, the images tell a story.

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American tulku in Minnesota profiled by the Star Tribune

Posted: 19 Dec 2011 11:07 AM PST

In Columbia Heights, Minnesota, a young boy, Jalue Dorjee (Tenzin Gyurme Trinley Dorjee), is believed to be the reincarnation of Taksham Nueden Dorjee, a Tibetan lama born in 1655. Jalue joins a small group of Americans tulkus, or reincarnated lamas. Discovered as his reincarnation in 2009 at age three, the honor comes while some Tibetan scholars have been questioning the ways in which tulkus are being identified, with the number of discoveries increasing worldwide. Jalue will leave his parent's home at age ten to study at a Tibetan monastery in India. This piece in the Star Tribune talks about how his mother, Dechen Wangmo, and father, Dorje Tsegyal, are adapting to the idea of their son leaving home to study in a monastery overseas.