Dalai Lama to teach via live webcasts June 7–9
Dalai Lama to teach via live webcasts June 7–9 |
- Dalai Lama to teach via live webcasts June 7–9
- Treeleaf Zendo conducts “Shukke Tokudo” via the internet
- Surviving cancer and living well: Elana Rosenbaum
- Buddha Day 2012
- Fields Of Views
| Dalai Lama to teach via live webcasts June 7–9 Posted: 04 Jun 2012 09:00 AM PDT  Photo by Tenzin Choejor (OHHDL) His Holiness the Dalai Lama, at the request of Indian Buddhist practitioners in Dharamsala, will deliver a series of Introductory Buddhist Teachings via live webcast this June 7 to 9. The webcasts, to be delivered in Tibetan, will be available with English, Russian and Hindi translations. Click through to see the schedule, taken from His Holiness' website.
Click here for the English webcast, here for Tibetan and Hindi, and here for Russian. For reference, 9:30am IST on June 7th in Dharamsala is the same as 9:00pm PDT, June 6th in Los Angeles, California, and 5:00am BST on June 7th in London, England. Read More @ Source
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| Treeleaf Zendo conducts “Shukke Tokudo” via the internet Posted: 04 Jun 2012 08:00 AM PDT
Online ordinations have been the subject of debate in recent years. The Soto Zen Buddhist Association (SZBA) has recently decided to not recognize ordinations that are not conducted face-to-face, stating that face-to-face encounters are "the basis for evaluating a student's readiness for ordination and eventually membership in the SZBA." By "face-to-face," the SZBA board means "in the same physical room." In a piece he wrote over at the Treeleaf forum, titled "Ordination Tribulation," Rev. Jundo believes this decision was in large part a reaction to Treeleaf's ordinations, despite the findings and recommendations of an SZBA committee that looked at the use of electronic media in ordinations. The committee found that "individual teachers [should] be given the freedom to pursue the use of EM (Electronic Media) for enhanced teaching as they see fit including jukai and ordination ceremonies." The committee further stated in their report that a significant minority (25%) "do endorse EM use for jukai or priest ordination as being in line with Soto practices," concluding that "Dharma successors of SZBA members who received jukai or tokudo using EM would be welcome to join SZBA with the same encouragement and evaluation as other candidates who received tokudo or jukai by traditional methods." As society continues to embrace new forms of technology, and as more and more people spend more of their time in front of a computer, the debate over the use of electronic media is not likely to go away anytime soon. As for Treeleaf and Rev. Jundo, the findings will not change how they choose to conduct such ordinations, stating, "The approval and sanction of the SZBA is not sought or required for our priests, who will each stand on their own merit as priests and prospective Teachers of the Way." Watch the video of the recent Shukke Tokudo ordinations (approx. 16 minutes.) Khyentse Foundation 
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| Surviving cancer and living well: Elana Rosenbaum Posted: 04 Jun 2012 07:00 AM PDT
One such survivor is Elana Rosenbaum, a psychotherapist and teacher of mindfulness-based stress reduction, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1995. Rosenbaum used her experiences as a teacher and a cancer patient to write Here for Now: Living Well with Cancer through Mindfulness, and to lead workshops on using mindfulness to cope with the physical and emotional stresses of cancer. The Shambhala Sun's Barry Boyce interviewed Rosenbaum for a Mindful Society column, in which Rosenbaum shared her personal story and some of the mindfulness teachings she uses. As Rosenbaum told Boyce:
Read the rest of Rosenbaum's story here. And in this Shambhala Sun audio piece, Boyce shares the backstory that led him to interview her. Read More @ SourceTsoknyi Rinpoche speaks about Mingyur Rinpoche's Retreat 
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| Posted: 03 Jun 2012 07:00 PM PDT  The 4th June this year is Visakha Puja or 'Buddha Day,' when Thai Buddhists commemorate the birth, enlightenment and passing away of the historical Buddha. It is the most special day in the Buddhist calendar, and is usually marked with big celebrations all over the kingdom. This year has been declared the 2,600th anniversary of the Buddha's birth, and the festival will be especially exuberant across Thailand. Thais are renowned party animals, and are also keen on 'making merit' by visiting temples and giving lots of stuff to monks, so combine this with the 26 century tag and it's gonna be a 'mega-puja' this year! Visakha Puja is not marked on the same day in different countries, however, so in Taiwan it occurred on 28th April, Sri Lanka 5th May, India 6th May, Korea 28th May. For once, Thailand is late for the party! In Sri Lanka, part of the celebrations involve the use of bright lights, illuminating Buddha statues and temples across the island. In an interesting article on the Buddhist Channel website, Daya Dissanayake of the Sri Lankan newspaper The Nation questions this practice. He writes that it is a damaging burden on the environment to use so much electricity on Buddha Day. He argues that Buddhists would do well to illuminate the inner self rather than the outer surroundings. The original article can be read here: Should we 'celebrate' Vesak? Now, Daya Dissanayake may have a good point or two here. Should Buddhists damage the environment in ecologically damaging behavior when marking the life of the Buddha? Surely, visiting a temple during the day and reducing the use of electricity is a good idea, if possible? And, his suggestion that Buddhists meditate rather than celebrate is another fine idea, isn't it? Not appreciating crowds, and the crowds will be enormous today, this Buddhist is not going to frequent a temple or city park on Buddha Day. Rather, a simple ceremony at home affront a Buddha image with the family will suffice. And a spot of mediating, of course. Now, it's not being suggested here that people shouldn't go the temple today, and everyone has the right to mark Buddha Day how they like, as long as it's at least halfway legal! But, Daya Dissanayake's ideas are certainly worth considering. So, if you're celebrating Buddha Day today, I hope you have a good time, and that you do so with mindfulness. As a follow-up to this reflection, it would be interesting to read of how you celebrate Visakha Puja this year, whether in Thailand or elsewhere, so please leave a comment below…and may you be happy! Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammasambuddha Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammasambuddha Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammasambuddha  Golden Horse Monastry - thailand 
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| Posted: 03 Jun 2012 03:00 PM PDT Perception, visual perception, is interesting. Our eyes zoom in and out effortlessly. Now near, now far away. Now mid distance. The whole of the scene is taken in while particulars take their place. Walking around the fields these past couple of days, dim and cloudy as it has been, these scenes called to me drawing out a field of view where one can become large of mind. Ah! The hills, the flower, the fields.    Recently an elderly friend signed off her email with, Happy Jubilations! When I allow myself to mentally expand my field of view I can echo her sentiment. Read More @ Source Tibetan Book of The Dead - The Great Liberation - NFB 
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In late May, the primarily online-based 
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