Report: Christians in Burma forced to convert to Buddhist
Report: Christians in Burma forced to convert to Buddhist |
- Report: Christians in Burma forced to convert to Buddhist
- Mindfulness Day is Sept 12. So: what’s mindfulness? (An excerpt from Mindfulness in Plain English)
- Help Buddhist Global Relief earn a grant from Chase Community Giving
- Help Kickstart “Seeking Heartwood,” a film about Buddhism in America
- From the September 2012 magazine: “Pure Fiction”
- Help Kickstart “Seeking Heartwood,” a film about Buddhism in America
| Report: Christians in Burma forced to convert to Buddhist Posted: 11 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT  The Chin state. Photo courtesy CHRO. According to the Chin Human Rights Organisation (CHRO), Christians from the Chin ethnic minority group are being forced to convert to Buddhist in Burma. Stating that the coerced conversions are the result of state policies, the CHRO has released a 160-page report titled " 'Threats to Our Existence': Persecution of Ethnic Chin Christians in Burma." The report is based on more than 100 interviews conducted over the last two years. In the CHRO press release, the group states: "The report reveals ongoing violations of religious freedom in Burma's Chin State under the new government led by President Thein Sein, including violations of the right to freedom of religious assembly; coercion to convert to Buddhist, the religion of the majority ethnic Burman population; and the destruction of Christian crosses in Chin State." For more on this story, you can also read a report by Stoyan Zaimov, a reporter for the Christian Post. Read More @ Source
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| Mindfulness Day is Sept 12. So: what’s mindfulness? (An excerpt from Mindfulness in Plain English) Posted: 11 Sep 2012 07:00 AM PDT
For some twenty years now, Bhante Gunaratana's classic book Mindfulness in Plain English has been an entry-point into mindfulness practice. So what is mindfulness? This section from Mindfulness in Plain English should, well, help make it plain. The Characteristics of Mindfulness Mindfulness is mirror-thought. It reflects only what is presently happening and in exactly the way it is happening. There are no biases. Mindfulness is nonjudgmental observation. It is that ability of the mind to observe without criticism. With this ability, one sees things without condemnation or judgment. One is surprised by nothing. One simply takes a balanced interest in things exactly as they are in their natural states. One does not decide and does not judge. One just observes. Please note that when we say, "One does not decide and does not judge," what we mean is that the meditator observes experiences very much like a scientist observing an object under a microscope without any preconceived notions, only to see the object exactly as it is. In the same way the meditator notices impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and selflessness. It is psychologically impossible for us to objectively observe what is going on within us if we do not at the same time accept the occurrence of our various states of mind. This is especially true with unpleasant states of mind. In order to observe our own fear, we must accept the fact that we are afraid.We can't examine our own depression without accepting it fully. The same is true for irritation and agitation, frustration, and all those other uncomfortable emotional states. You can't examine something fully if you are busy rejecting its existence.Whatever experience we may be having, mindfulness just accepts it. It is simply another of life's occurrences, just another thing to be aware of. No pride, no shame, nothing personal at stake—what is there is there. Mindfulness is an impartial watchfulness. It does not take sides. It does not get hung up in what is perceived. It just perceives. Mindfulness does not get infatuated with the good mental states. It does not try to sidestep the bad mental states. There is no clinging to the pleasant, no fleeing from the unpleasant. Mindfulness treats all experiences equally, all thoughts equally, all feelings equally. Nothing is suppressed. Nothing is repressed. Mindfulness does not play favorites. Mindfulness is nonconceptual awareness. Another English term for sati is "bare attention." It is not thinking. It does not get involved with thought or concepts. It does not get hung up on ideas or opinions or memories. It just looks. Mindfulness registers experiences, but it does not compare them. It does not label them or categorize them. It just observes everything as if it was occurring for the first time. It is not analysis that is based on reflection and memory. It is, rather, the direct and immediate experiencing of whatever is happening, without the medium of thought. It comes before thought in the perceptual process. Mindfulness is present-moment awareness. It takes place in the here and now. It is the observance of what is happening right now, in the present. It stays forever in the present, perpetually on the crest of the ongoing wave of passing time. If you are remembering your second-grade teacher, that is memory.When you then become aware that you are remembering your second-grade teacher, that is mindfulness. If you then conceptualize the process and say to yourself, "Oh, I am remembering," that is thinking. Mindfulness is nonegotistic alertness. It takes place without reference to self. With mindfulness one sees all phenomena without references to concepts like "me," "my," or "mine." For example, suppose there is pain in your left leg. Ordinary consciousness would say, "I have a pain." Using mindfulness, one would simply note the sensation as a sensation. One would not tack on that extra concept "I." Mindfulness stops one from adding anything to perception or subtracting anything from it. One does not enhance anything. One does not emphasize anything. One just observes exactly what is there— without distortion. Mindfulness is awareness of change. It is observing the passing flow of experience. It is watching things as they are changing. It is seeing the birth, growth, and maturity of all phenomena. It is watching phenomena decay and die. Mindfulness is watching things moment by moment, continuously. It is observing all phenomena— physical, mental, or emotional—whatever is presently taking place in the mind. One just sits back and watches the show. Mindfulness is the observance of the basic nature of each passing phenomenon. It is watching the thing arising and passing away. It is seeing how that thing makes us feel and how we react to it. It is observing how it affects others. In mindfulness, one is an unbiased observer whose sole job is to keep track of the constantly passing show of the universe within. Please note that last point. In mindfulness, one watches the universe within. The meditator who is developing mindfulness is not concerned with the external universe. It is there, but in meditation, one's field of study is one's own experience, one's thoughts, one's feelings, and one's perceptions. In meditation, one is one's own laboratory. The universe within has an enormous fund of information containing the reflection of the external world and much more. An examination of this material leads to total freedom. Mindfulness is participatory observation. The meditator is both participant and observer at one and the same time. If one watches one's emotions or physical sensations, one is feeling them at that very same moment. Mindfulness is not an intellectual awareness. It is just awareness. The mirror-thought metaphor breaks down here. Mindfulness is objective, but it is not cold or unfeeling. It is the wakeful experience of life, an alert participation in the ongoing process of living. Mindfulness is extremely difficult to define in words—not because it is complex, but because it is too simple and open. The same problem crops up in every area of human experience. The most basic concept is always the most difficult to pin down. Look at a dictionary and you will see a clear example. Long words generally have concise definitions, but short basic words like "the" and "be," can have definitions a page long. And in physics, the most difficult functions to describe are the most basic—those that deal with the most fundamental realities of quantum mechanics. Mindfulness is a presymbolic function. You can play with word symbols all day long and you will never pin it down completely.We can never fully express what it is. However, we can say what it does. Read More @ Source 
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| Help Buddhist Global Relief earn a grant from Chase Community Giving Posted: 11 Sep 2012 06:00 AM PDT
Voting is easy — Facebook users can click here. You'll get two standard votes, one of which can go to BGR and one that can go to another charity. If you share the Chase Community Giving program with your friends on Facebook, you'll get one extra vote, which can go to BGR. If you're a Chase customer, you have two additional votes, which you can cast by logging in with your Chase account here. More detailed instructions about voting are available here. Founded by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, BGR aims to combat chronic hunger, malnutrition, and poverty around the world by raising funds for food relief and helping communities develop better methods of food production. In October, BGR is hosting a series of fundraising walks around the United States — click here for dates and locations. Read More @ Source
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| Help Kickstart “Seeking Heartwood,” a film about Buddhism in America Posted: 11 Sep 2012 05:00 AM PDT Adam Eurich is a young filmmaker with a goal: to make a film surveying and sharing the best of what Buddhism in America has to offer. "I quit my job," he says in the new Kickstarter trailer for his film-in-progress, Seeking Heartwood, "sold all my useless stuff, and hit the road… But this film is not about me. It's about the Buddha's message…" Watch the trailer here, and then visit the Seeking Heartwood Kickstarter page if you'd like to pitch in to help Adam make his film. Read More @ Source
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| From the September 2012 magazine: “Pure Fiction” Posted: 10 Sep 2012 06:00 PM PDT
Buddhist fiction, Miller explains, "is a slippery fish to define. Some would say it's composed solely of stories written by Buddhists and/or stories that feature Buddhist characters. Others would expand the definition to include stories written by non-Buddhist authors about non-Buddhist characters, as long as the writing reflects a Buddhist sensibility in addressing themes such as suffering, compassion, and emptiness. The Buddhist canon becomes very large indeed, however, if we go with the more liberal definition. Novelists—Buddhist and otherwise—are interested in the human condition. And since Buddhist rests on a foundation of universal human truths, it's common for writers of all faiths and traditions to express some Buddhist ideas in their work, even if they are unschooled in Buddhist. As Charles Johnson wrote in his foreword to Nixon Under the Bodhi Tree and Other Works of Buddhist Fiction, 'The Buddhist experience is simply the human experience.' Nonetheless, novelists who have studied or practiced Buddhist tend to offer a refreshing perspective by consciously weaving the dharma into their stories." You can read the rest of "Pure Fiction" online here. And to see what else is in the September magazine, click here. Read More @ Source
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| Help Kickstart “Seeking Heartwood,” a film about Buddhism in America Posted: 10 Sep 2012 10:00 AM PDT Adam Eurich is a young filmmaker with a goal: to make a film surveying and sharing the best of what Buddhism in America has to offer. "I quit my job," he says in the new Kickstarter trailer for his film-in-progress, Seeking Heartwood, "sold all my useless stuff, and hit the road… But this film is not about me. It's about the Buddha's message…" Watch the trailer here, and then visit the Seeking Heartwood Kickstarter page if you'd like to pitch in to help Adam make his film. Read More @ Source
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Mystery, suspense, science fiction — Susan Dunlap, Cary Groner, and Kim Stanley Robinson are three Buddhist-inspired novelists who make up stories to tell the truth about our world. Andrea Miller profiles them in "Pure Fiction," from the September 2012 magazine, and the entire article is now online | You are subscribed to email updates from BuddhaRocks ☸ Buddhist To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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