Richard Gere receives Eastman Award
Richard Gere receives Eastman Award |
- Richard Gere receives Eastman Award
- Protests held in Des Moines during visit of China’s VP Xi Jinping
- Forest Haiku II
- Narrating the Previous Lives of the Buddha in 14th Century Tibetan Murals
- Walking Together: Relationship as Spiritual Practice
- Sunday: Meredith Monk talks Buddhist on Public Radio’s “On Being”
- Buddhist monks held in India for defamation
| Richard Gere receives Eastman Award Posted: 17 Feb 2012 09:00 AM PST
According to the Museum's Ron and Donna Fielding Director, Anthony Bannon, "Eastman House has a special interest in inviting Mr. Gere to receive this honor as he embodies the spirit of all three of the major awards this institution bestows, including the George Eastman Award; the George Eastman Honors, presented to those who excel in both motion picture and photography; and the Eastman Medal of Honor, awarded for exemplary public service." (Photo by spaceodissey via Flickr using a CC-BY license.) Read More @ Source
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| Protests held in Des Moines during visit of China’s VP Xi Jinping Posted: 17 Feb 2012 08:00 AM PST  via Tibet Post International Several hundred Tibetans and their supporters rallied at the Iowa Statehouse on Wednesday to protest the arrival of Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping for a dinner engagement, a man who will likely take over as President of China by next year. Security details kept the Chinese envoy from protesters, having closed off the Capital grounds to anyone but lawmakers, politicians, government officials and credentialed media personnel. Protesters were relegated to an area hundreds of yards away where they held a candleight vigil. According to the WCF Courrier, Xi Jinping was there to enjoy a "dinner of bacon-wrapped pork, butternut squash and sweet corn cheesecake." Xi Jinping's visit here to the United States comes at a time when China's relationship with Tibet is at an all-time low. Protests began in Washington upon Xi Jinping's arrival in the United States on Monday, which led to arrests in the nation's Capital. According to Tibet Post International's coverage, "Tibet supporters and five hundred Tibetans from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois traveled to Iowa today to continue the wave of protests targeting China's future President, Xi Jinping during his US visit." Read More @ SourceBELLS of MINDFULNESS 
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| Posted: 16 Feb 2012 06:00 PM PST  On a recent visit to Wat Pa Nanachat, Thailand... The forest is full Of chanting voices And yet still... He pours water Upon a tree Forest sings back  Golden Buddha Stares impassively Quieting this mind Light dances On dark foliage Catching the eye  Falling leaves Are messengers From the Buddha Cannot catch leaves With this camera Moment is lost Squirrels leap Through the forest Of this mind   
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| Narrating the Previous Lives of the Buddha in 14th Century Tibetan Murals Posted: 16 Feb 2012 05:00 PM PST Narrating the Previous Lives of the Buddha in 14th Century Tibetan Murals Asian Institute PhD Seminar Series Sarah Richardson PhD Candidate, Department of Art History University of Toronto Tuesday, February 28, 2012 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM Asian Institute, Munk School of Global Affairs 1 Devonshire Place, 208N, North House Register Online at: http://www.munk.utoronto.ca/EventDetails.aspx?eventid=11285 The 14th century mural paintings at Zhalu monastery in central Tibet are famed for their beauty and renowned for their fine state of preservation. These important mural paintings include a set of the largest and earliest surviving Tibetan depictions of the previous incarnations of the Buddha (Jataka) painted around the temple's circumambulatory passage. These paintings of 100 previous lives represent the earlier incarnations of the bodhisattva as kings, merchants, monkeys and elephants, over the many aeons that he accumulated the ample merit necessary to become Shakyamuni. But why paint these up high in a narrow passage? What did these paintings do for the temple and its users? What texts informed these paintings? What styles and artistic awareness did they reflect? This talk will examine my current research and offer some reflections on what we can learn about 14th century Tibet from these paintings, arguing that these mural paintings can help to explain the significant relationships between religious practice, textual canon formation, patronage and art in 14th century Tibet. Sarah Richardson is a PhD candidate in the Art History department. Her dissertation on Zhalu concerns the interface of visuality and textuality in 14th century Tibetan mural painting. Read More @ Source Dream Yoga 
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| Walking Together: Relationship as Spiritual Practice Posted: 16 Feb 2012 03:00 PM PST
Led by: Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi and Zen Teacher Hogen Bays Human relationships can be the source of our greatest happiness and also our most poignant suffering. How can we love without clinging? How can we keep intimacy and openness from turning into indifference or animosity? How can we appreciate our partner's uniqueness rather than trying to change them? This weekend workshop will explore tools for working with close relationships as spiritual practice and for working creatively with the partners we encounter in this life. Couples only, please. Chozen and Hogen Bays, co-abbots of Great Vow Zen Monastery, have been married for over 20 years and practicing Zen more than 40 years. $ 300 per-couple ($ 240 ZCO/DRZC members, $ 150 reduced rate) Great Vow Zen Monastery A Day in the Life of a Zen Monk - EmptyMind Films 
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| Sunday: Meredith Monk talks Buddhist on Public Radio’s “On Being” Posted: 16 Feb 2012 12:00 PM PST
Meredith is also a very gifted writer; read her piece "The Art of Being Present," originally published in Buddhadharma, here, after the jump. The Art of Being Present I've always thought that making art is like jumping from the edge of a cliff. At the beginning of every new work—and every day of work—is the unknown. Being an artist is being unsure, asking questions, stumbling around with only an inkling of what will manifest and tolerating the fear of hanging out in the unknown. When curiosity and interest become more present than discomfort, the mystery becomes enjoyable and its exploration vivid and vibrant. Just as in meditation practice, the artist aspires to start fresh, free from past solutions, glories and failures. One begins with emptiness, without a conceptual framework that filters natural impulses, without striving to make a recognizable "product," simply engaging in a process and getting out of the way of the work. Each piece presents its own world. Part of making a piece is exploring its principles, listening to what it wants. The sense is that the piece already exists—it's just a matter of uncovering it. Naturally, this is easier said than done and some days go more smoothly than others. I remember being in an artists' colony with an Irish painter who cheerfully announced at dinner that it had been a bad day; nothing had come easily for her. "But," she said, "I'll try me hardest again tomorrow." I remember her statement as I work through my own resistance to sitting down and trying again. That attitude has inherent spaciousness: there is enough time and space for another effort. One could relate it to the willingness in meditation practice to come back again and again to the breath. The parallels between dharma and making art are many. As the years go on, I realize more and more that there is no separation between the two: making art is a bodhisattva activity. The inner transformation and growth that results from dharma practice flow into the work, and the work in turn becomes an offering. My artistic process includes three aspects: solitary creative work, work with others developing the piece, and performance. All three aspects involve the paramitas. Discipline, exertion and patience are invoked in the daily solitary work. In my case, this work might involve composing at the piano; producing ideas, images or structures at a desk; generating vocal or movement material in the studio, or editing video. The paramita of generosity begins by working with an "anything-is-possible" mind, allowing whatever arises to be, knowing that discovery comes when least expected. That generosity expands when the material is developed with other performers. Finally we share the vision with the people who experience the piece. Producing a work is like making soup. You begin with individual vegetables in the soup: carrots are carrots, onions are onions, potatoes are potatoes. Then you put your vegetables into the stock and simmer. For a while, the vegetables are still vegetables, but little by little they become part of the liquid. Finally they boil down to an essence. Nothing extraneous is left, only the inevitable and delicious mixture the soup has become. Similarly, I try to let the elements of a work exist on their own until it is time to put them into a form. Part of the artistic process is distinguishing between the mind of judgment, which anticipates results and cuts off impulses, and the mind of discriminating intelligence, which sees clearly and at the right time what needs letting go. After working alone for months, sometimes years, creating materials and making sketches of a piece, I begin rehearsing with my ensemble. My practice and study of dharma has helped me to appreciate and honor more than ever this aspect of the work. I begin by presenting the shards of material that I have been creating alone; then we explore its different components, expanding, inverting and transforming them in myriad ways. The rehearsals are lively, raw, and full of laughter and hard work. There is always a sense of sadness when it is time to weave all the elements together: the excitement of potential has now by necessity become a form. Live performance allows for vulnerability and immediacy. Everyone is in the same place at the same time. Energy moves from performer to audience and back again. During the performances that I remember most vividly, I have been aware of a simultaneous pinpointed focus and expansive openness—there has been no separation between me and what I perform. The other performers have been attuned to the subtlest changes of energy, and we have communicated without words, neither pushing nor pulling in any way. There is an element of renunciation in this way of working. A performer gives up instant gratification and habitual modes of seeking attention and love. Instead, there is an awareness of immersing oneself in the material and being part of a larger whole. The performers' honesty and willingness to remain genuine offer the possibility of an openhearted and unmanipulated situation during which the audience can experience transformation. In a sense, the performer becomes transparent, a conduit of fundamental energies and impulses that are beyond discursive thought. As in dharma practice, creativity means staying present throughout the process; when desperation and anxiety enter, one remembers to go back to the breath, the space, stillness. One moves through delusions of success and failure, fame and humiliation, to an intent to create a work that is of benefit. This process demands the skillfulness, courage, faith and clarity of a warrior. In my experience, meditation practice has only expanded my vision. Read More @ Source Tina Turner Beyond 
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| Buddhist monks held in India for defamation Posted: 16 Feb 2012 10:00 AM PST In Karnataka India a well known Buddhist monk and his associates has been arrested and charged with defamation and offending the religious sentiments of others. The Hindu newspaper, one of the largest in India reports that Bhante Bhodhidamma and four others are being detained without bail. These monks are associated with the Bijapur Indosan Sogenji [...]  Read More @ Source 
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Actor Richard Gere 
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