His Holiness the Dalai Lama Visits the Northwest Tibetan Association in Portland

Portland, Oregon, USA, 12 May 2013 - Before leaving Portland, His Holiness the Dalai Lama paid a visit to the Northwest Tibetan Association (NWTCA) and spoke to about 1000 people, among them 70 Mongolians. The sky was overcast and a light drizzle was falling, which local people described as more typical of Portland than the bright weather of the past few days.
NWTCA - the Tibetan Community of Oregon and Southwest Washington - have built a new Bodkhang or Community Center. In His Holiness's honour they had put up a ceremonial gateway and he was given a traditional Tibetan welcome on arrival. He smiled and teased the children lined up to greet him. Tibetans were assembled in each of the rooms of the new building as he was escorted through. In the temple he paid his respects before the image of the Buddha and at the door of the assembly hall he unveiled a plaque to symbolically declare it open. Once he had taken his seat, he was presented with a written report of the Association's activities, a Tibetan song was sung, and students presented an exemplary debate about the characteristics of the Tibetan people and their culture.

His Holiness was then asked if he had any advice for the assembled members of the community:
"Today, I'm happy to spend a short time here with you," he began, "and I'm glad to see that you have been able to construct this new building and are using it for Sunday Tibetan School and other community functions."
Turning his attention to the Land of Snow, he said that archaeological findings suggest that there have been people in Tibet for the last 7000 years, although drawings in caves in Western Tibet may be 10,000 years old and tools and artefacts found in Amdo may be 30,000 year old. Clearly, human habitation of the Tibetan plateau dates back many thousands of years. His Holiness recounted a Chinese archaeologist he met in Harvard University many years ago secretly confiding that in his opinion, Tibetan civilisation had evolved on the Tibetan Pl! ateau itself, not anywhere else.
"Traditional accounts date Tibetan writing to the seventh century and the efforts of King Songtsen Gampo and his ministers, although there may have been some kind of writing prior to that. There are different dialects in different parts of the country, but all have in common the written language that was modelled on an Indian mode of writing. It was designed to capture the nuances of spoken Tibetan, while able to convey the sophistication of Indian, particularly Buddhist, thought. The Chinese had an existing complex culture and when they introduced new ideas from India, they adapted them to suit existing Chinese ways of thinking. In Tibet, on the other hand, the language had been specifically designed to be able to accurately express the ideas contained in the original Sanskrit.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking at the Northwest Tibetan Cultural Association in Portland, Oregon on May 12, 2013. Photo/Jeremy Russell/OHHDL

"When Shantarakshita came to Tibet, he insisted that if Tibetans were serious about their interest in Buddhism they should translate its books into Tibetan. Despite his age, he himself set about learning Tibetan so he could participate in the process and Tibetans followed his advice."
His Holiness explained that this is how Tibet came to be the custodian of the Nalanda Tradition. He stressed that anyone interested in Buddhist logic and epistemology today has to consult the sources only available in Tibetan. And because these texts are not easy to follow, they will also have to consult the Tibetan commentaries. At this point, His Holiness asked whether the volumes of Kangyur and Tengyur wouldn't be better kept in the classrooms than in cabinets in the shrine room.
"Buddhism is one of the world's great religions and Tibetan Buddhism is a significant part of it that has much to contribute even today. For example, in my conversations with neuroscientists it has become clear that Tibetan Buddhist literature and practice has much to contribute to an understanding of the nature of the mind. Meanwhile, there are other topics like the scriptural account of cosmology which modern science shows to be mistaken and which we can just let go. Scientists also tell me that they have a subtle understanding of matter that corresponds to what we find in the writings of masters like Nagarjuna.
"As far as history is concerned, Tibet was a powerful unified nation up to the 8-9th centuries, comparable to China, but after that it became fragmented. During the time of Chogyal Phagpa, Tibetan rule was re-established in Tibet in connection with the Mongols and the Yuan dynasty in China. When I grew up in Amdo, Central Tibetan authority did not extend there, but shared Tibetan language and Buddhist culture was unifying factor."
Nowadays, he said, there is growing interest in Buddhism in mainland China, one report suggesting that there are now 300 million Buddhists in China, while another says th! e number may be 400-500 million. Many mainland Chinese who come to visit His Holiness weep and beg him not to forget them.
"Buddhism is a source of wisdom not just a set of rituals to be performed in the temple. Use it to transform your mind. If you want to make its knowledge part of your life, you need to study. Keep up your studies of Tibetan language as you are doing, and try to read the scriptures. You don't need to call on a lama all the time you can set up study groups amongst yourselves.

Members of the Tibetan community listening to His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking at the Northwest Tibetan Cultural Association in Portland, Oregon on May 12, 2013. Photo/Jeremy Russell/OHHDL

His Holiness then took some time to explain the circumstances and the careful thinking that had given rise to the Middle Way Approach. He said he was taking the opportunity to explain the background to it, which he considers it his moral responsibility to do, rather than appealing for support.
"In the 60s there were several resolutions on Tibet at the UN, but none led to any concrete resolution of the problem. Consequently, we decided to rethink our strategy. Whatever we do, we have to consider its ramifications for the people in Tibet. Yes, we 100,000 or so Tibetans in exile live in free countries where we are free to express ourselves, but we have to think of the repercussions of whatever we say for the 6 million Tibetans in Tibet.
"The Middle Way Approach has attracted a great deal of support and encouragement from governments, members of the international community and well-informed thinkers and intellectuals among the Chinese people. Look at the example of India, where people in the four directions preserve their language, culture and unique identity, while enjoying equal rights, protection and the benefits of development under the Indian constitution. This is what I wanted to say."
His Holiness then proceeded to give a brief Buddhist teaching based on the four line verse for taking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and generating the awakening mind of bodhichitta.
From Portland he flew to Rochester, Minnesota where he will undergo his annual medical check up. Arriving at the Mayo Clinic, hundreds of Tibetans young and old were gathered to greet him. Moved by their affection and the hours they had been waiting he expressed a wish to speak to them, which he did using the public address system of one of the attending police cars.
Tomorrow he will travel on to Madison, Wisconsin, where he is due to give a Buddhist teaching and participate in a program on Sustainable Health and Well-being.

By Monica Chen, The Durham News, May 7, 2013

Durham, NC (USA) -- In the Durham Shambhala Center, a dozen men and women sit in silence, with arms and legs balanced and in comfortable positions.

<< From left, David Uglow, Joy Mickle (foreground), Lindy Chicola, Wendy Farrell and Geoff Sutton meditate together at Durham Shambhala Center on Sunday (April 28). The center is eyeing expansion to accommodate the growing number of participants in recent years.
Courtesy of Monica Chen
A member of the center hits a brass bowl, and an hour-long meditation exercise begins. The object of the exercise is to "touch" each thought that comes to one's mind but not to dwell on it, to focus on breathing and just let go.
Every week, members of the center gather to meditate together inside a white house adorned with Buddhist flags in the front near the Old West Durham neighborhood. They also drink tea, socialize, read passages from Buddhist books and share the recent events of their lives – some joyful, some traumatic and sorrowful.

The atmosphere was calm and peaceful on a recent Thursday, and long-time members were ready with smiles for first-timers. Laura Silvestri, a pianist, began coming to the center seven years ago. She was raised Catholic, and had been a Unitarian Universalist before finally, during her mid-40s, realizing she needed new spiritual tools.
"Meditation is about not shutting down to fear. It's about staying open to the connectivity of life. It has given me tools to deal with adversity," Silvestri said.
Tom Edds, a software engineer, said meditation has led him to being more mindful with food.
"It creates more spaces in my mind as I make choices. Some patterns I have that are automatic don't have the same grip on me," he said.
As older generations are aging into mid-life crises and struggling with the loss of family members, and young people are trying to find paths through a prolonged recession, the center is drawing new members with an interest in Buddhist. Many are looking for ways to take the stress out of their lives.
At the Durham center, Silvestri said participation gathered momentum about a year and a half ago. There are currently about 60 members, and the center is talking with investors to raise money for an 800-square-foot addition.
Shambhala was founded in the 1970s in the U.S. by Chögyam Trungpa, a key teacher in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition who had fled Tibet when the Chinese Communist Party took over in 1959. There are now 170 Shambhala centers and groups around the world, according to the Shambhala website.
Shambhala Buddhist, which believes that all people are good, warm and intelligent, teaches meditation as the primary tool for shedding the egotism and fear that come with secular life in order to access this core self.
In Durham, free instruction is provided to first-timers at Thursday open house nights.
Phillip Hartzog, a long-time instructor at the center, gave first-timers a quick lesson.
You begin by sitting on a cushion and sitting with your back straight, in a balanced position. You keep your eyes open to stay engaged with the world, but don't focus on anything in particular. As you meditate, breathing in and breathing out, you become familiar with your thought processes.
No matter how traumatic or how wonderful the thought, don't follow it.
"Our goal is to be present, not to live in our heads," Hartzog said.
"It's the practice of learning to not let your thoughts take you away," he said. "For many of us, our thoughts are like that first bus you see when you get out of the airport. It's like we don't care where the bus is going, we just get on. It doesn't have to be like that."

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Exterior work nearly complete on Raynham Buddhist temple

Posted: 12 May 2013 11:00 PM PDT

by Mike Gay, Taunton Gazette, May 9, 2013

The 185-foot tall Buddhist temple being built in Raynham is nearing completion of major construction.
Raynham, Massachusetts (USA) -- Paul Chapple, project leader for the $ 60 million Wat Nawamintararachutis Thai Temple and Meditation Center, said that construction at the South Street East site will wrap up in the fall. Chapple said the general contractor for the project, Milford-based Consigli Construction, is nearing the end of its work in the next few months, before artisans from Thailand come to town for interior and exterior finishing work with a September target for completion.
<< Exterior work on the Wat Nawamintararachutis temple on South Street East in Raynham is nearing completion. Standing in front of the temple on Wednesday are, from left, Ven. Mongkol Kuakool, Phra Wanlop Ketpromma, Montri Prasroetsook, Dheerawongsa Wantha, Phra Pramuan Buddee and Pramaha Chinawatchara Nilnatr. By Marc Larocque, Taunton Gazette Staff Reporter
"It was the project of a lifetime," Chapple said. "It really is. It's completely unique. I'm not a Buddhist, but it certainly is an honor to be working on this project."
Construction for the project, which is primarily funded by private donations and is a top priority for the Thai government, started with a groundbreaking in September 2011. But building a temple in Massachusetts has been a long been a goal for Thai Buddhists, including a group of monks who moved to Raynham from the Boston area in 2005.
"It's one of the highest national priorities for Thailand right now," Chapple said. "We've invested a lot of money in quality materials to last for generations. It's something that we on the project execution side, me, Consigli, the Thai contractors and the design team should be a proud of."

The construction of the Wat Nawamintararachutis was commissioned to honor Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, also known as King Rama IX in English, who was born in 1929 in Cambridge. The temple complex will also include a museum to the king, which will be open to the public, Chapple said. Much of the interior features of the temple are prefabricated in Thailand, and doing design work in the U.S. for the project is architect Been Z. Wang and his team at Architectural Resources Cambridge. The temple will include a solid brass grand stair, seven large Buddha statues (the largest standing 15 feet high) and a golden spire that tops off the building.
Chapple said that there has been a bit of a delay to the finishing phase of the project because of the work visa process for Thai artisans who are coming to Raynham.
The local Buddhist monks are set to obtain a partial occupancy permit and move into part of the 110,000-square-foot complex building in June, Chapple said, as finishing work is completed.
Ven. Mongkol Kuakoo, the head monk of the Raynham group now based in a small house soon to be demolished in front of the temple complex, said he and others look forward to sharing Theravada Buddhist with the world.
"The temple is being brought here as a spiritual home for meditation, simple joy and the community of Buddhist," said the head monk, whose full name is Phrakhruwinaithorn Mongkol. "It's a religion of friendship, peace and kindness. The Buddha is not property of the Buddhist. He is for mankind, for everybody to enjoy."
With 240 parking spaces on site, the temple center will be the home for two major annual events in spring and fall that draw more than 500 people, along with 10 other smaller celebrations throughout the year. The dormitory will have room for 100, to accommodate visiting monks along with about 20 monks who will live there.
Once completed, the Wat Nawamintararachutis will be the largest Thai Buddhist temple outside of Bangkok and it will be the tallest structure in Raynham.
The Thai Buddhist order plans to hold a "Marking Stone Ceremony" in June 2014, with hopes of attracting top dignitaries from Thailand for the event, along with an international conference planned for next May.
It's safe to say that local Thai Buddhists are very excited about seeing a fully functional Wat Nawamintararachutis come to fruition.
"I can't wait for the grand opening," said Suprani Japphimai, who moved from Thailand and started a family in America 13 years ago. "It's really amazing how the building is coming out to be. It's a big building showing Buddhist culture to the world, and the people of this country can appreciate. It's amazing to be out of Thailand and to see a building like this."
Chapple said he hopes the Wat Nawamintararachutis will have a positive impact not just for Thai Buddhists, but for the local community as a whole.
"I certainly hope that this facility, this institution integrates itself fully with the local community and is something the town of Raynham can also be proud of," Chapple said. "I believe it'll be a state landmark. It's really a striking building."
Contact Marc Larocque at mlarocque@tauntongazette.com.
Read more:
http://www.wickedlocal.com/raynham/news/x2062765507/Exterior-work-nearly-complete-on-Raynham-Buddhist-temple#ixzz2T5pGZNYx

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Buddhist Monastery Planned for South Savage

By Clare Kennedy, Shakopee Patch, May 7, 2013

Savage, Minnesota (USA) -- This week Savage Planning Commission will consider an application from Tay Phuong, an organization which hopes to convert a single family home into a Buddhist worship space and monastery.

Savage may soon be home to a Buddhist monastic community.
The city has received a request from an applicant to turn a single family home into the Tay Phuong Monastery. The house sits on a 29-acre site at the southwest corner of 150th Street and Scott County Road 27.
Once complete, the newly-revamped building would include a worship space for 70 people and permanent living accommodations for two monks. Officials with Savage city planning say that the monastery is a compatible use for the area, which is zoned for mixed development. The spot sits between single family homes to the west, townhouses to the north and a large swath of undeveloped property to the east.

According to the website, the organization was attracted to the property because of the "beautiful, natural and pure environment" surrounding it. "This will be a place for people to learn and practice Meditation, as well as a place for monks and nuns to spread the dharma," wrote the Venerable Thich Hanh Duc on the organization's website.
Eventually, plans may include construction of a completely new facility, though no specific timeline has been set for future development of the site, city panners say. Thich Hanh Duc's note indicated that the organization hoped to build a Four-Gratitude tower as well, which would house relics of the Buddha and ancestors' ashes.

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Corvallis groups hope for Buddhist temple

Posted: 12 May 2013 09:00 PM PDT

by Kyle Odegard, Albany Democrat-Herald, May 11, 2013

Corvallis, Oregon (USA) -- Corvallis has about five or six Buddhist groups that meet for meditation and study, but they're somewhat hidden and scattered throughout town.

That might be changing soon. The Corvallis Zen Circle is leading an effort to create a local temple, and has formed a religious nonprofit to raise funds for the new facility, said its founder, Abby Terris.
Two other Corvallis Buddhist groups will use the temple regularly, added Terris, who is known as Mushin in the Buddhist community.
"We really do need a place that's larger and more versatile," Terris said.
Len Coop belongs to Drolma Samten Chuling, which will be part of the new temple, and he was excited by the possibilities.
"There's a lot going on nowadays, but most of the groups are very small, and they're not very institutionalized. They're very informal," said Coop, an Oregon State University associate professor of entomology.
Terris said a centralized location with more space would make it easier for people to get involved.
"When you have a place, then more people come," she said.
Terris said interest in Buddhist has increased greatly since she moved to Corvallis 20 years ago.
According to census records, Buddhist is the fastest growing religion in the United States, said James Blumenthal, an associate professor at OSU who specializes in Buddhist philosophy.
Blumenthal added that his OSU classes on Buddhist always fill up and students are enthusiastic.
"People in their late teens, early twenties, they are exploring different ideas, different cultures," Blumenthal said.
According to Terris, the temple would need about an acre of land, and would include a meditation hall and a memorial garden, where people can come and spread ashes of their loved ones.
"We'd like it to be centrally located, but accessible easily and safely by bus and bicycle. There are a lot of people in the community who want to use this that aren't car dependent," Terris said.
The facility also could draw people in from Linn County and the coast, and serve as a venue for visiting Buddhist teachers.
Anytime a Buddhist speaker or expert talks in Corvallis, the event is well attended, Coop said.
The facility's name will be the Sangha Jewel Temple. Sangha refers to the community of practitioners, as well as the community of all beings.
And the Buddhist community in Corvallis feels welcomed by the greater community, Terris said.
"Even people who aren't Buddhist express a lot of support for us creating a meditation hall here," she added.

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Life of Zen: Shaolin Buddhist monk passes down ancient teachings

by Esther Kang, Easy Reader News, May 9, 2013

Torrance, CA (USA) -- Sitting with square shoulders inside the cozy tea garden in his Rolling Hills Estates martial arts studio, Shifu Wang Bo pauses to pour jasmine green tea into two cups, about two inches in diameter.

<< Shifu Wang Bo, 24, practices Shaolin-style Kung Fu at his martial arts studio. Photos by Esther Kang
"If you see here," explains the 24-year-old Shaolin Buddhist monk, dressed in a grayish-blue monastic robe, "this first cup of tea that I drink, I only have that cup of tea one time in my life, in that moment."
This, he says, is called impermanence, or wuchang in Mandarin - one of the three marks of existence in Buddhist.
"Everything we do every day is changing and passing, getting old," Wang explains.
By taking life moment by moment, he is able to relish each experience - old or new - with the same unfailing sense of novelty. And to fully realize and learn this concept of impermanence, one needs to master the art of discipline, a principle he became familiar with at the early age of three.

Nearly two years ago, Wang, whose students call shifu or master, opened something of an embassy to China's monumental Shaolin Monastery here in the South Bay. Tucked between an animal clinic and a small Japanese steakhouse, Wang's Shaolin Temple is currently home to more than 90 martial arts students, ranging in age from 4 to 78, learning traditional Shaolin-style Kung Fu, Tai Chi and Zen meditation. Born in a rural village in Shandong Province, China, he recalls his earliest memory, at age 3: practicing Kung Fu with his older brother Wang Hui and his father, who was his first teacher. For five hours a day before and after school, young Wang trained with dedication.
"In the winter it'd be very cold, but we still trained outside," Wang remembers. "Sometimes my father cried because he didn't want to train us that hard."
When Wang turned 8, his father sent him and his brother to the Shaolin village on Mount Song in central Henan Province, a six-hour car ride from home. The Shaolin village is home to many martial arts schools. At the heart sits the historic Shaolin Temple, a world-famous Buddhist martial arts monastery built in 495 A.D.
Wang and his brother continued to train, and about a year and a half later, they were accepted into the Shaolin Temple. Wang was handpicked as a disciple by Shifu Shi Yongxin, who now is the abbot, or head, of the Shaolin Temple.
"You have to have certain skills and you have to pass certain tests," Wang says, describing the extremely selective nature of the temple, "and most importantly, you have to have a special connection with Buddha."
Thereafter began his 11-year residency in the monastery. "Life at the Shaolin Temple is very different from where we are today," he begins, letting out his signature, close-lipped chuckle. "No matter what happens, what day, there is no special day because today is the most important day. Whatever's the past is the past."
For 11 years, he followed the same daily routine with several hundred other monks at the temple: wake up at 5:30 a.m., attend chanting for two hours, eat breakfast at 7:30 a.m., study break for 20 minutes, followed by a two-hour Kung Fu training session. Post lunch at 11 a.m. came an hour-long break, followed by a study session of the Diamond Sutra and another two-hour Kung Fu training session. Then after dinner at 5:30 p.m., Heart Sutra chanting for an hour, meditation and bedtime at 10 p.m.
"Discipline first," he says, "then learn Buddhist. Then you understand what life is. Then you understand what impermanence is. If a person doesn't have discipline they cannot do anything."
Those five to six hours of daily Kung Fu training turned into 10 or more hours when Wang began training for competitions. Wang, who holds several first place and world champion titles, unexpectedly becomes sullen in tone when this topic comes up.
"I've been to many competitions. I won many times and lost many times," he says matter-of-factly. He explains that competition was just a part of his experience in Kung Fu, a mere activity and nothing more. "It was not something that encouraged my life. Being in competition gave me a lot of ego at the time. I was not happy and was struggling."
What did enrich his life was partaking in the world tour of "The Wheel of Life," a series of Kung Fu, drama and Tai Chi performed by the Shaolin monks. For three years, Wang performed throughout Europe, Australia, Canada and the United States.
Serving as a spiritual ambassador for both China and the Shaolin Temple, Wang has met his share of prominent political figures, including Queen Elizabeth, for whom he performed in 2011, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he shared lunch in 2007.
"It's not really political - it's a cultural exchange," Wang explains. "Culture has no boundaries, especially if it's something positive. No one will refuse love. You bring something positive; whether they take it or not, that's their choice."
It's the same reason why he is here today. In 2008, Wang moved to Huntington Beach, where some friends lived, and began teaching classes in community centers, parks and schools. A dedicated following emerged, which prompted Wang to open his Shaolin Temple in the summer of 2011. In addition to teaching five hour-long classes a day, Wang trains his three instructors and manages the studio as its sole owner.
Damon Webber, a longtime Kung Fu practitioner who teaches beginning Tai Chi classes, explains that Wang's wealth of knowledge and wisdom, in addition to his jaw-dropping prowess in Kung Fu, makes him invaluable. "He's what we've been waiting for, in a sense," he says, "for a teacher to come down from Shaolin."
Wang has yet to visit the temple grounds back in China since opening his studio. He adds with a chuckle that he'll return as soon as he's not too busy.
"The temple is a place of purity, a pure land," Wang explains. "What we learn in the temple is the heart. You move the heart to another place. You come to a busy place and still keep a peaceful heart. That's what Buddhist is. You learn, then you pass that knowledge to more people."

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Banned Vietnamese Buddhist Group's Pagoda Blockaded

Radio Free Asia, May 7, 2013

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam -- Security forces in southern Vietnam surrounded the pagoda of a banned Buddhist group over the weekend and barred monks from leaving the monastery, in the latest crackdown on the group in the one-party communist state.

<< A file photo of Thich Quang Do at the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery in Ho Chi Minh City.
The blockade of the Giac Hoa Pagoda belonging to the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) in Ho Chi Minh City came as activists gathered in parks in cities across the country to stage "picnic" demonstrations calling for protection of human rights.
Some 50 security personnel including police and plainclothes agents surrounded the pagoda on Sunday, the Paris-based UBCV-affiliated International Buddhist Information Bureau rights group said in a statement Tuesday.
That morning, the head of the pagoda Thich Vien Hy and UBCV deputy leader Thich Vien Dinh were pushed back inside by a "gang" of plainclothes agents who surrounded their car when they tried to leave the monastery, IBIB said.

The two were going to another monastery to visit UBCV patriarch Thich Quang Do, who has called on followers to support public protests in Vietnam's cities in recent years. Security agents refused to provide a police warrant or explanation for why the monks were not allowed to leave, except to say they had "orders from above."
Other monks were also barred from leaving the monastery to conduct prayers or funeral services for local Buddhists.
The IBIB did not say whether the siege of the pagoda has ended.
According to the IBIB, police have regularly "systematically blockaded" various UBCV pagodas around on weekends since July last year, when Thich Quang Do called on followers to support a series of weekend anti-China rallies led by activists across the country.
Public protests are rarely allowed in Vietnam, and the recurring rallies calling for Hanoi to take a stronger stance against Beijing over territorial disputes in the South China Sea were at first allowed to go ahead but eventually faced stricter controls.
Unsanctioned religious groups face strict controls in Vietnam, religious activity is monitored and groups must be supervised by government-controlled management boards.
'Picnic for human rights'
This past weekend, in an ingenious move, activists organized protest "picnics" in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Nha Trang in the hope that the gatherings will not be shut down like the anti-China rallies.
But police dispersed the gatherings.
In Ho Chi Minh City, three activists were briefly arrested after they handed out copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Blogger Nguyen Hoang Vi, who had helped organize the Ho Chi Minh City gathering in the April 30th park, said she was held until late Monday and suffered beatings by police.
"When I went to the picnic spot, police arrested me and sent me to Phu Thanh police station," she told RFA's Vietnamese Service.
When she went back to the police station with her mother after her release to get her belongings, police beat her and puller her mother's hair violently, she said.
"When my mom told them off, they started to beat me. They grabbed my mom's head and dragged her out," she said.
Fellow blogger Vu Quoc Anh was beaten after he confronted people in the park who were using hoses to douse picnickers with water to disperse the gathering and was taken to the police station until Sunday night.
"When I did not cooperate with them, they slapped me, on my head and neck," he told RFA.
Activist Hanh Nhan was also briefly detained.
An announcement about the May 5 picnic protests circulated online on April 30, the anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, calling for people to gather in the parks to discuss human rights with the aim of "contributing to a beautiful society."
"What needs to be done to improve the human rights situation in Vietnam so that Vietnam will become a strong country with a prosperous people and a just, democratic, and civilized society?" it said.
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Reported by RFA's Vietnamese Service. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.

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Buddhist sites from Bodh Gaya to Sarnath to be documented

Posted: 12 May 2013 06:01 PM PDT

PTI, May 9, 2013

Gaya, India -- All Buddhist sites between Bodh Gaya and Sarnath in Bihar would be documented, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Thursday.

Kumar, who visited historical sites at Bhurha and Dubbha during his 'sewa yatra', ordered excavation at Dubbha and establishing of a museum to house antiques.

The Chief Minister visited Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya earlier in the day and offered prayers.

As part of efforts to promote Buddhism, the Bihar government had co-hosted an international Buddhist Sangha Conference in Patna. The meet had been inaugurated by the Dalai Lama.

by Lee Chack-fan, Sout6h China Morning Post, Friday, 10 May, 2013

In today's high-pressure world, some young people turn to philosophical input to cope
Hong Kong, China -- It is a known fact that teaching and research constitute the prime tasks of a university. Teaching is, of course, the dissemination of knowledge. Research, on the other hand, is the creation of new knowledge.
<< Professor Lee Chack-fan
But does knowledge make one wiser or happier? The answer is yes, most of the time, but not always.
It is not difficult to find people with ample knowledge, professional or otherwise, who are often unhappy. This feeling of unhappiness may come from pressure in life, or from the mismatch between expectations and results. Most of us feel happy some of the time, but this is not always sustainable.
Universities are beefing up their humanities programmes, under the name of general or liberal education, in order to broaden the horizons and enhance the emotional intelligence quotient (EQ) of our students. It is hoped that a higher EQ would help them deal with life's pressures, and hence to lead a happier life.
Some people turn to courses on Buddhist to help them to fulfil the same goal. They are generally more interested in the philosophical, rather than the religious, aspects of Buddhist. In other words, they are trying to seek wisdom, rather than just knowledge.

A little over a decade ago, the University of Hong Kong established a Centre of Buddhist Studies and launched a Master of Buddhist Studies programme. The programme proved popular and has always been oversubscribed. Its alumni include many of the city's high achievers, including senior civil servants, barristers, doctors and business leaders. It also attracted numerous overseas applicants.
The surge in interest in Buddhist studies is, of course, not confined to Hong Kong.
I attended an inaugural reception at Stanford University in the United States last month for the establishment of an endowed chair professorship in Chinese Buddhist.
Paul Harrison, head of the university's Centre of Buddhist Studies, said student interest in Buddhist studies had never been keener. Not that they all want to become monks or nuns, but they are really interested in enhancing their EQ in a highly competitive world.
The same is true at other top international universities such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Oxford and Cambridge.
In this connection, one can also see a rising interest in applied Buddhist as compared to purely theoretical studies. For example, at HKU, research studies (including doctoral research) entail such topics of applied Buddhist studies as the impact of meditation on neuroscience, obstetrics, treatment of drug addicts and mental patients, counselling and mediation. Such topics foster collaboration among various faculties and academic units.
Hong Kong has always been a place where East meets West. Today, it is also a meeting point of the three main schools of Buddhist - Theravada, Chinese and Tibetan. Our city has also set a pretty good example for promoting interfaith dialogues and peaceful co-existence among Christianity, Islam, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhist for many years.
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Professor Lee Chack-fan is director of the University of Hong Kong's school of professional and continuing education

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Opera about Richard Wagner to be performed in Pali

The Welsh National Opera is set to perform Wagner Dream, an opera composed by the late Jonathan Harvey, partly in the ancient Indian language Pali.
Wagner Dream explores Richard Wagner's interest in Buddhism, showing Wagner on his deathbed lamenting his unfinished Buddhist opera, and having a dream in which he's visited by the Buddha and other Buddhist figures. Harvey, who died last year, wrote the opera in English, but this new production has Wagner and his contemporaries speaking in German, while the Buddhist characters in his dream speak Pali.

Though there's no surviving record of the actual language the Buddha spoke, Pali is thought to be very similar.
Richard Gombrich, president of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, did the Pali translations. He said there were some challenges, since he had to remove references to things like guns, pubs, and tea — none of which existed in ancient India — from the Buddhist characters' dialogue. He said he also added a small amount of Buddhist doctrine to the Buddha's part.
Wagner Dream premieres at the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff on June 12. BBC News and the Wagnerian both have more information. And for much more coverage on the intersection of Buddhism and music from the Shambhala Sun, click here.
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