By The Associated Press (CP) – 4 hours ago
NEW YORK, N.Y. — Anne Rice has had a religious conversion: She's no longer a Christian.
The 68-year-old author wrote Wednesday on her Facebook page that she refuses to be "anti-gay ... anti-feminist," and "anti-artificial birth birth control."
She adds that "In the name of ... Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen."
Her publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, confirmed Thursday that the posting was by Rice.
Rice is best known for "Interview With a Vampire" and other gothic novels.
Raised as a Catholic, she had rejected the church early in her life, but renewed her faith in recent years and in 2008 released the memoir "Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession."
Copyright © 2010 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Hindu Prayer in California City Hall
City Council of Vacaville (California, USA), one of the fastest growing areas of the nation, reverberated with Sanskrit mantras from ancient Hindu scriptures on July 27, reportedly for the first time since it was incorporated in 1892.
Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed delivered invocation from Sanskrit scriptures before Vacaville City Council on this day. After Sanskrit delivery, he read the English translation of the prayer. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and root language of Indo-European languages.
Zed, who is the president of Universal Society of Hinduism, recited from Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use, besides lines from Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures. He started and ended the prayer with "Om", the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work.
City Councilors, city employees and public stood quietly in prayer mode during the prayer. Wearing saffron colored attire, a ruddraksh mala (rosary), and traditional sandalpaste tilak (religious mark) on the forehead, Rajan Zed sprinkled few drops of sacred water from river Ganga in India around the podium before the prayer. He also presented a copy of Bhagavad-Gita to Mayor Len Augustine.
Reciting from Brahadaranyakopanishad, Zed said, "Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrtyor mamrtam gamaya", which he then translated as "Lead me from the unreal to the Real, Lead me from darkness to Light, and Lead me from death to Immortality." Reciting from Bhagavad-Gita, he urged Councilors to keep the welfare of others always in mind.
Rajan Zed is one of the panelists for "On Faith", a prestigious interactive conversation on religion produced jointly by Newsweek and washingtonpost.com. He has been awarded "World Interfaith Leader Award" by National Association of Interchurch and Interfaith Families.
Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal. Established in 1850, Vacaville houses California's legendary road stop "Nut Tree". (ANI)
All About: Nevada
Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed delivered invocation from Sanskrit scriptures before Vacaville City Council on this day. After Sanskrit delivery, he read the English translation of the prayer. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and root language of Indo-European languages.
Zed, who is the president of Universal Society of Hinduism, recited from Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use, besides lines from Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures. He started and ended the prayer with "Om", the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work.
City Councilors, city employees and public stood quietly in prayer mode during the prayer. Wearing saffron colored attire, a ruddraksh mala (rosary), and traditional sandalpaste tilak (religious mark) on the forehead, Rajan Zed sprinkled few drops of sacred water from river Ganga in India around the podium before the prayer. He also presented a copy of Bhagavad-Gita to Mayor Len Augustine.
Reciting from Brahadaranyakopanishad, Zed said, "Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrtyor mamrtam gamaya", which he then translated as "Lead me from the unreal to the Real, Lead me from darkness to Light, and Lead me from death to Immortality." Reciting from Bhagavad-Gita, he urged Councilors to keep the welfare of others always in mind.
Rajan Zed is one of the panelists for "On Faith", a prestigious interactive conversation on religion produced jointly by Newsweek and washingtonpost.com. He has been awarded "World Interfaith Leader Award" by National Association of Interchurch and Interfaith Families.
Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal. Established in 1850, Vacaville houses California's legendary road stop "Nut Tree". (ANI)
All About: Nevada
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
One Week in Jail for Parading Cow's Head
(UKPA) – 19 hours ago
A Malaysian court has fined 12 Muslim men and sentenced one of them to a week in prison for illegally protesting against the construction of a Hindu temple and parading a severed cow's head.
The men were among scores of Muslims who marched with a cow head to the central Selangor state chief minister's office last August. The cow is Hinduism's most sacred animal.
Defence lawyer Afifuddin Hafifi said the 12 men pleaded guilty in court to a charge of illegal assembly and were fined 1,000 ringgit (£202) each.
He said two of the men, who stepped on the cow's head, also pleaded guilty to sedition. Both were fined an additional 3,000 ringgit (£606) and one was sentenced to a week in prison.
Copyright © 2010 The Press Association. All rights reserved.
A Malaysian court has fined 12 Muslim men and sentenced one of them to a week in prison for illegally protesting against the construction of a Hindu temple and parading a severed cow's head.
The men were among scores of Muslims who marched with a cow head to the central Selangor state chief minister's office last August. The cow is Hinduism's most sacred animal.
Defence lawyer Afifuddin Hafifi said the 12 men pleaded guilty in court to a charge of illegal assembly and were fined 1,000 ringgit (£202) each.
He said two of the men, who stepped on the cow's head, also pleaded guilty to sedition. Both were fined an additional 3,000 ringgit (£606) and one was sentenced to a week in prison.
Copyright © 2010 The Press Association. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Religion and Politics Together in India
2010-07-26 17:50:00
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed has sent greetings to one billion Hindus worldwide on the occasion of Guru Purnima.
In a statement in Nevada (USA) today, Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged Hindus to pay due respects and express gratitude on this auspicious day to the guru/gurus to honor this sacred relationship.
Rajan Zed further says that guru is a highly revered spiritual teacher/master/preceptor in Hinduism who helps remove the ignorance of the seeker and who leads one from darkness to light. The guru-sishya (teacher-disciple) relationship lies at the heart of traditional Hinduism. Guru is often allied with the divine. Even Arjuna formally asked Lord Krishna to be his guru in ancient Hindu scripture Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord).
This day is also held sacred to the memory of celebrated rishi Vyasa, arranger of Vedas, and the compiler of Puranas and Mahabharata.
Hinduism is oldest and third largest religion of the world and moksha (liberation) is its ultimate goal. (ANI)
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed has sent greetings to one billion Hindus worldwide on the occasion of Guru Purnima.
In a statement in Nevada (USA) today, Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged Hindus to pay due respects and express gratitude on this auspicious day to the guru/gurus to honor this sacred relationship.
Rajan Zed further says that guru is a highly revered spiritual teacher/master/preceptor in Hinduism who helps remove the ignorance of the seeker and who leads one from darkness to light. The guru-sishya (teacher-disciple) relationship lies at the heart of traditional Hinduism. Guru is often allied with the divine. Even Arjuna formally asked Lord Krishna to be his guru in ancient Hindu scripture Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord).
This day is also held sacred to the memory of celebrated rishi Vyasa, arranger of Vedas, and the compiler of Puranas and Mahabharata.
Hinduism is oldest and third largest religion of the world and moksha (liberation) is its ultimate goal. (ANI)
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Bollywood Loves a Pretty Woman
Another South Indian screen-queen Trisha Krishnan is all set to invade Bollywood. And this Tamilian follows the trend of making her debut with a leading man far older than her.
However, after 43-year old Akshay Kumar, 27-year-old Trisha’s co-star will be the 24-year-old Pratik Babbar.
Says Trisha, “My second Hindi film is a love story with just me and the guy in central roles. It’s a subject that can’t go wrong. I’ve already done the Tamil version of this film (Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya) and now, the same director (Gautham Menon) is remaking it in Hindi with Pratik Babbar and me. I think we should be kick-starting it in August. I am excited because unlike Khatta Meetha, where I don’t have a central part, this one has a central role for me.”
Trisha sounds wiser than her years when she says, “It was important for me to line up a second Hindi film before the first was released.”
Trisha actually confesses she had her lines in Hindi dubbed for her first film. When you tell her that Akshay Kumar said that she spoke Hindi well, Trisha laughs it off. “Did he say that? I must thank him. The truth is, I was a bit nervous about doing my own lines in Hindi. I’ve done so many Telugu films. But I don’t know the language at all. I know the grammar in Hindi but I can barely manage to speak it.”
She continues, “In Chennai, no one talks in Hindi. I was a little worried about my Hindi since my character in Khatta Meetha is from a fluent Hindi-speaking belt. So both Priyan and I decided I wouldn’t dub my own lines. But, I know I’ll soon master it. It’s simpler than the south Indian languages.”
She adds, “I was busy doing Tamil and Telugu films that I didn’t get time to consider Hindi films although offers did come. Also, I wanted to do something that would give me a wide audience. I chose Priyadarshan and Akshay Kumar. It can’t get any more mass than that. Their combination always works.”
Trisha is candid enough to admit she doesn’t have that much to do in the film. “It isn’t a heroine-centric role. But I felt it would give me visibility. Look, I may be known in the South. But in Bollywood, no one knows me ... . not yet. I just wanted to be seen. When I started in the South, I did smaller parts with big heroes. That always worked for me. One needs to be a part of hit films, specially at the start.”
Priyadarshan is Trisha’s Christopher Columbus. “He launched me in the south seven years ago. Now, he’s launching me in Hindi. He had promised that he’d launch me in the right vehicle. I want to first make sure I establish myself in Hindi before I do more experimental roles. This is the trend I followed in the South as well.”
She’s pretty cool about the age difference.
After all, she was recently shooting for Manmadhan Ambu in Europe in which her co-star is the 55-plus Kamal Haasan. She says, “Shooting with Kamal sir and Maddy was great fun.” Trisha is also ready to settle down in Mumbai. “It would depend on the offers. Though my family won’t move out of Chennai, I’m hardly in one city anyway.”
However, after 43-year old Akshay Kumar, 27-year-old Trisha’s co-star will be the 24-year-old Pratik Babbar.
Says Trisha, “My second Hindi film is a love story with just me and the guy in central roles. It’s a subject that can’t go wrong. I’ve already done the Tamil version of this film (Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya) and now, the same director (Gautham Menon) is remaking it in Hindi with Pratik Babbar and me. I think we should be kick-starting it in August. I am excited because unlike Khatta Meetha, where I don’t have a central part, this one has a central role for me.”
Trisha sounds wiser than her years when she says, “It was important for me to line up a second Hindi film before the first was released.”
Trisha actually confesses she had her lines in Hindi dubbed for her first film. When you tell her that Akshay Kumar said that she spoke Hindi well, Trisha laughs it off. “Did he say that? I must thank him. The truth is, I was a bit nervous about doing my own lines in Hindi. I’ve done so many Telugu films. But I don’t know the language at all. I know the grammar in Hindi but I can barely manage to speak it.”
She continues, “In Chennai, no one talks in Hindi. I was a little worried about my Hindi since my character in Khatta Meetha is from a fluent Hindi-speaking belt. So both Priyan and I decided I wouldn’t dub my own lines. But, I know I’ll soon master it. It’s simpler than the south Indian languages.”
She adds, “I was busy doing Tamil and Telugu films that I didn’t get time to consider Hindi films although offers did come. Also, I wanted to do something that would give me a wide audience. I chose Priyadarshan and Akshay Kumar. It can’t get any more mass than that. Their combination always works.”
Trisha is candid enough to admit she doesn’t have that much to do in the film. “It isn’t a heroine-centric role. But I felt it would give me visibility. Look, I may be known in the South. But in Bollywood, no one knows me ... . not yet. I just wanted to be seen. When I started in the South, I did smaller parts with big heroes. That always worked for me. One needs to be a part of hit films, specially at the start.”
Priyadarshan is Trisha’s Christopher Columbus. “He launched me in the south seven years ago. Now, he’s launching me in Hindi. He had promised that he’d launch me in the right vehicle. I want to first make sure I establish myself in Hindi before I do more experimental roles. This is the trend I followed in the South as well.”
She’s pretty cool about the age difference.
After all, she was recently shooting for Manmadhan Ambu in Europe in which her co-star is the 55-plus Kamal Haasan. She says, “Shooting with Kamal sir and Maddy was great fun.” Trisha is also ready to settle down in Mumbai. “It would depend on the offers. Though my family won’t move out of Chennai, I’m hardly in one city anyway.”
Lady Gaga Meditates Before Concert
American cultural icon Lady Gaga reportedly had a private yoga session in Cleveland (Ohio, USA) before she performed at a sold-out Quicken Loans Arena recently.
She reportedly had this session barefoot in an area studio of “Om Yoga”, which is described as a practice of flowing yoga asanas informed by precise attention to alignment and supported by the relaxed wakefulness.
Yoga teacher, who lead this session, reportedly remarked later about Lady Gaga: she’s a yogi at heart. In her recent Tweet, Lady Gaga talked about “rocknroll power yoga”.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, urged Lady Gaga to explore the spiritual dimension of yoga also besides its physical benefits. Yoga, referred as “a living fossil”, was a mental and physical discipline by means of which the human-soul (jivatman) united with universal-soul (parmatman).
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, quoted Patanjali, author of the basic text Yoga Sutra, according to whom yoga was a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical. Yoga was one of the six systems of orthodox Hindu philosophy, take a look at the rest of the five schools also, Rajan Zed suggested Lady Gaga.
American recording artist Lady Gaga, 24, has been listed in Time and Forbes lists of 100 most influential people in the world this year. Her single “Poker Face” reportedly topped nearly all the charts worldwide and won her a Grammy. She has reportedly received about 82 awards in all.
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She reportedly had this session barefoot in an area studio of “Om Yoga”, which is described as a practice of flowing yoga asanas informed by precise attention to alignment and supported by the relaxed wakefulness.
Yoga teacher, who lead this session, reportedly remarked later about Lady Gaga: she’s a yogi at heart. In her recent Tweet, Lady Gaga talked about “rocknroll power yoga”.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, urged Lady Gaga to explore the spiritual dimension of yoga also besides its physical benefits. Yoga, referred as “a living fossil”, was a mental and physical discipline by means of which the human-soul (jivatman) united with universal-soul (parmatman).
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, quoted Patanjali, author of the basic text Yoga Sutra, according to whom yoga was a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical. Yoga was one of the six systems of orthodox Hindu philosophy, take a look at the rest of the five schools also, Rajan Zed suggested Lady Gaga.
American recording artist Lady Gaga, 24, has been listed in Time and Forbes lists of 100 most influential people in the world this year. Her single “Poker Face” reportedly topped nearly all the charts worldwide and won her a Grammy. She has reportedly received about 82 awards in all.
Olympic Automotive
13432 Mukilteo Speedway
Lynnwood, WA 98087-1665
(425) 742-1355
C&M Automotive and Transmissions of Simi Valley
4292 Valley Fair Street
Simi Valley, CA 93063
(805) 522-1759
Westcourte Luxury Apartments
7107 Ming Avenue
Bakersfield, CA 93309
(661) 834-7026
Manymutts Pet Care
1270 S Alfred
Los Angeles, CA 90035
(310) 889-0697
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Seek God While on Vacation
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, suggested that after freeing yourself from worldly bondages and distractions, spend at least part of your summer vacation by absorbing yourself in God, meditating on him, realizing him, seeking illumination and blissful union with him, discovering him, worshipping him, dedicating yourself to him, etc.
Free yourself from impure thoughts and fear and fill your hearts with peace, Rajan Zed pointed out.
Zed further said that ancient Hindu scriptures had described God as eternal reality, all-knowing, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, source of all power, supreme lord, master of the universe, eternal one, supreme guardian, supreme architect, who presides over all, supreme creator and destroyer, without beginning or end, pure consciousness, ruler of all, etc.
Rajan Zed mentioned: Shvetashvatara Upanishad says-World is the river of God, flowing from him and flowing back to him; while Lord Krishna indicates in Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord)-I am the beginning, the middle, and the end of creation.
Meanwhile, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has also reportedly asked people to spend time during summer vacation listening to the word of God, which was truly necessary in our lives. People needed to work and dedicate themselves to their homes and professions, but God must still come first, he reportedly said on July 18 in Castel Gandolfo (Italy). (ANI)
Free yourself from impure thoughts and fear and fill your hearts with peace, Rajan Zed pointed out.
Zed further said that ancient Hindu scriptures had described God as eternal reality, all-knowing, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, source of all power, supreme lord, master of the universe, eternal one, supreme guardian, supreme architect, who presides over all, supreme creator and destroyer, without beginning or end, pure consciousness, ruler of all, etc.
Rajan Zed mentioned: Shvetashvatara Upanishad says-World is the river of God, flowing from him and flowing back to him; while Lord Krishna indicates in Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord)-I am the beginning, the middle, and the end of creation.
Meanwhile, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has also reportedly asked people to spend time during summer vacation listening to the word of God, which was truly necessary in our lives. People needed to work and dedicate themselves to their homes and professions, but God must still come first, he reportedly said on July 18 in Castel Gandolfo (Italy). (ANI)
Friday, July 23, 2010
Spiritual Dance Frees the Spirit
IT’S an especially warm summer evening, but the weather is no match for the heat inside a spacious studio at Dance Theater Workshop in Chelsea. Nearly 20 men and women sing as they sway from side to side, swivel their hips, kick their legs up in the air and do fast semi-squats to the catchy beat of “Pretty Woman,” a Hindi song from the popular Bollywood movie “Kal Ho Naa Ho” (“Tomorrow May Never Come”). They repeat the sequence again and again until they’re dripping.
This high-energy group is taking part in BollyBasics, a dance class that grooves to songs from Bollywood, the Hindi film industry known for movies with splashy dance numbers. The routines can challenge even the most consistent gymgoers, and New Yorkers have their pick of several classes that teach the choreography and offer a cardio workout at the same time.
BollyBasics is one of several Bollywood-inspired choices offered by Dhoonya Dance, founded by Priya Pandya, a professional dancer, with Kajal Mehta. The classes started a year ago, and when they proved popular, Ms. Pandya said, more options were added, including advanced levels and DhoonyaFIT, which began this month. Instead of focusing on one song, DhoonyaFIT covers six at a rapid speed and intersperses the steps with push-ups, sit-ups and other moves for a more intense workout.
The classes at Bollywood Funk NYC Dance School, hourlong sessions at various levels, aim to show the more modern side of Bollywood. They combine elements from hip-hop, funk and jazz with shimmies, hip shakes, pivots, side-to-side glides and various muscle isolations.
Robyn Spielberg, a maternity-clothes designer for the Gap, started taking beginner class a year ago after seeing a Bollywood segment on “So You Think You Can Dance.” She said she was hooked by the liveliness.
“Unlike other dance forms where everyone seems so serious, Bollywood dancers always look happy,” she said. Ms. Spielberg, who has moved up to the intermediate level, said she had shed 10 pounds and was more toned as a result of twice-a-week sessions.
The moves may look complex, but instructors say that even the most coordination-challenged are welcome and that most students have never danced. “They’re actually moves that we all know or have seen before,” said Pooja Narang, the founder of Bollywood Axion, which offers nine classes a week at its Midtown West studio.
Most students initially sign up because of an interest in Indian culture. Sue Menon, a 30-year-old law school student from Brooklyn, has been a BollyBasics regular for a year. Though she was “pleasantly surprised” by the routine, which helped her lose four pounds, she said, “I was drawn in because of Bollywood.”
For those like her, the workouts come with a bonus, a mini-education in Bollywood films. Sunita Chaphalkar, the instructor teaching the “Pretty Woman” routine, translated the Hindi words for her students. “The movie is about a guy who is dying and in love with a woman,” she explained. “He spots her for the first time and is singing that she reminds him of a ray of sunlight and is the color of gold.” Having barely finished speaking, she started the music, and her students were kicking, shimmying and bouncing as they sang about romance.
This high-energy group is taking part in BollyBasics, a dance class that grooves to songs from Bollywood, the Hindi film industry known for movies with splashy dance numbers. The routines can challenge even the most consistent gymgoers, and New Yorkers have their pick of several classes that teach the choreography and offer a cardio workout at the same time.
BollyBasics is one of several Bollywood-inspired choices offered by Dhoonya Dance, founded by Priya Pandya, a professional dancer, with Kajal Mehta. The classes started a year ago, and when they proved popular, Ms. Pandya said, more options were added, including advanced levels and DhoonyaFIT, which began this month. Instead of focusing on one song, DhoonyaFIT covers six at a rapid speed and intersperses the steps with push-ups, sit-ups and other moves for a more intense workout.
The classes at Bollywood Funk NYC Dance School, hourlong sessions at various levels, aim to show the more modern side of Bollywood. They combine elements from hip-hop, funk and jazz with shimmies, hip shakes, pivots, side-to-side glides and various muscle isolations.
Robyn Spielberg, a maternity-clothes designer for the Gap, started taking beginner class a year ago after seeing a Bollywood segment on “So You Think You Can Dance.” She said she was hooked by the liveliness.
“Unlike other dance forms where everyone seems so serious, Bollywood dancers always look happy,” she said. Ms. Spielberg, who has moved up to the intermediate level, said she had shed 10 pounds and was more toned as a result of twice-a-week sessions.
The moves may look complex, but instructors say that even the most coordination-challenged are welcome and that most students have never danced. “They’re actually moves that we all know or have seen before,” said Pooja Narang, the founder of Bollywood Axion, which offers nine classes a week at its Midtown West studio.
Most students initially sign up because of an interest in Indian culture. Sue Menon, a 30-year-old law school student from Brooklyn, has been a BollyBasics regular for a year. Though she was “pleasantly surprised” by the routine, which helped her lose four pounds, she said, “I was drawn in because of Bollywood.”
For those like her, the workouts come with a bonus, a mini-education in Bollywood films. Sunita Chaphalkar, the instructor teaching the “Pretty Woman” routine, translated the Hindi words for her students. “The movie is about a guy who is dying and in love with a woman,” she explained. “He spots her for the first time and is singing that she reminds him of a ray of sunlight and is the color of gold.” Having barely finished speaking, she started the music, and her students were kicking, shimmying and bouncing as they sang about romance.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Swami in Chicago
A spiritual centre dedicated to Swami Vivekananda, who introduced the world to Indian spirituality and Hinduism, was inaugurated at a Hindu temple in Chicago.
Swami Vivekananda Spiritual Centre was inaugurated by spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at the temple at Greater Chicago on Saturday.
"We had a vision of developing the Vivekananda Centre," Chairman of the Vivekananda Committee Krishna Reddy told media.
The construction of the one million dollar-meditation centre started last August and it took 11 months to complete it.
Another USD 150,000 will go toward ornamental decoration or carving of 'gopurams' of the meditation centre which will be completed by April 2011," he added.
The 3300-square-feet centre will be used for meditation and yoga classes.
It will also provide books and other reading materials.
The mediation hall is 2,000 square feet.
The centre is next to a bronze Swami Vivekananda statue weighing one ton and standing 10 feet and 2 inches tall.
It is the only Swami Vivekananda statue outside India.
Originally meant for Grant Park in Chicago, the statue was installed at the temple in 1998 because the city council rejected to place it at the downtown park on account of religious reasons.
The statue was made by the Vedanta Society of Chicago.
Swami Vivekananda was the first Hindu monk ever to visit America.
He made his famous speech to the Parliament of World's Religions on 11th September, 1893 in Chicago and introduced the world to Indian spirituality and Hinduism.
His philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga are well known.
In May this year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced that India will be celebrating Swami Vivekananda's 150 birthday anniversary and he was looking for cooperation outside India.
"Swami Vivekananda Spiritual Centre will be a good resource for the government of India since it is celebrating 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda on 12th January, 2013," Reddy added.
Singh suggested a 12-point plan to commemorate the event and setting up of a National Implementation Committee under chairmanship of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
The high-level committee headed by Singh also discussed creation of Vivekananda chairs in universities, particularly at Chicago University, preservation of some important heritage sites, and encouraging student participation.It also decided to commemorate the Chicago address.
Swami Vivekananda Spiritual Centre was inaugurated by spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at the temple at Greater Chicago on Saturday.
"We had a vision of developing the Vivekananda Centre," Chairman of the Vivekananda Committee Krishna Reddy told media.
The construction of the one million dollar-meditation centre started last August and it took 11 months to complete it.
Another USD 150,000 will go toward ornamental decoration or carving of 'gopurams' of the meditation centre which will be completed by April 2011," he added.
The 3300-square-feet centre will be used for meditation and yoga classes.
It will also provide books and other reading materials.
The mediation hall is 2,000 square feet.
The centre is next to a bronze Swami Vivekananda statue weighing one ton and standing 10 feet and 2 inches tall.
It is the only Swami Vivekananda statue outside India.
Originally meant for Grant Park in Chicago, the statue was installed at the temple in 1998 because the city council rejected to place it at the downtown park on account of religious reasons.
The statue was made by the Vedanta Society of Chicago.
Swami Vivekananda was the first Hindu monk ever to visit America.
He made his famous speech to the Parliament of World's Religions on 11th September, 1893 in Chicago and introduced the world to Indian spirituality and Hinduism.
His philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga are well known.
In May this year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced that India will be celebrating Swami Vivekananda's 150 birthday anniversary and he was looking for cooperation outside India.
"Swami Vivekananda Spiritual Centre will be a good resource for the government of India since it is celebrating 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda on 12th January, 2013," Reddy added.
Singh suggested a 12-point plan to commemorate the event and setting up of a National Implementation Committee under chairmanship of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
The high-level committee headed by Singh also discussed creation of Vivekananda chairs in universities, particularly at Chicago University, preservation of some important heritage sites, and encouraging student participation.It also decided to commemorate the Chicago address.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Temple to be Demolished
By Faisal Kamal Pasha
RAWALPINDI: A pre-partition 87-year-old Hindu Mandir adjacent to ‘Shamshan Ghat’ in Rawalpindi is facing demolition despite strong protest by the Hindu-Sikh community of the city.
According to an official of the Auqaf Department, Rawalpindi, the building was not a Mandir and it was sealed back in 2005 and was later auctioned to a person for Rs25,000 per month. The said person could not deposit one-year advance amount of rent to Auqaf upon which the department had cancelled his agreement, he added. He said the said person then went to the court and the court decided in his favour and later he gave the building to another party (a media group) on rent, which is now demolishing the historical building. The head of the Hindu and Sikh community Jagmohan Kumar while rejecting theversion of the Auqaf Department told The News that the building is a Mandir and the Hindu community used it to perform last rituals before cremating their dead. He said that there was a Pundit of the Mandir who used to perform the rituals before cremation.
“The two kanals land for ‘Shamshan Ghat’ was allocated to the Hindu community during the first tenure of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto when Kishan Chand Parwani was the federal minister for minorities in her cabinet. The Mandir itself is built over two kanals, which is now being demolished while the open area is being maintained for the community, he said.
According to him the original area of the ‘Shamshan Ghat’ land was 277 kanals and there were several Mandirs along the Tipu Road and Nullah Leh. Some of these Mandirs were demolished before the partition while many were razed to ground after the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992 in India.
Most of these Mandirs are under the administrative control of Auqaf Department that has rented them out to different people. There were several Mandirs in the adjacent localities of Raja Bazaar where one could now see residential apartments.
Aneel Parshad, a member of the Hindu community, asked how the Muslims would feel if there were people living inside a mosque using it for residential purpose. According to the plaque fixed on the building, Lala Tansukh Rai, the Raees-e-Azam Rawalpindi, had constructed the Mandir in memory of his wife.
Jagmohan Kumar told The News that the building was not in use due to its dilapidated condition. “When the federal minister of the Benazir Bhutto cabinet gave the ‘Shamshan Ghat’ to the community, the Auqaf Department at that time had assured us that the Mandir would be handed over to us after renovation, which never happened.
The ‘Shamshan Ghat’ is not only used by the locals, but by the foreign missions of China and other Budhist community as well, Jagmohan Kumar said. Sardar Heera Lal, another member of the community, said that they are among the oldest residents of the city. He said that their generations contributed a lot to the development of the city and this part of the land.
The community has demanded of the president, the prime minister and the chief justice of Pakistan to protect their Mandir and ‘Shamshan Ghat’.
“We not only demand the 277 kanals of land that was allotted to the Hindu community before partition, but the two-kanal piece of land where we could cremate our dead according to our religious belief,” they urged.
RAWALPINDI: A pre-partition 87-year-old Hindu Mandir adjacent to ‘Shamshan Ghat’ in Rawalpindi is facing demolition despite strong protest by the Hindu-Sikh community of the city.
According to an official of the Auqaf Department, Rawalpindi, the building was not a Mandir and it was sealed back in 2005 and was later auctioned to a person for Rs25,000 per month. The said person could not deposit one-year advance amount of rent to Auqaf upon which the department had cancelled his agreement, he added. He said the said person then went to the court and the court decided in his favour and later he gave the building to another party (a media group) on rent, which is now demolishing the historical building. The head of the Hindu and Sikh community Jagmohan Kumar while rejecting theversion of the Auqaf Department told The News that the building is a Mandir and the Hindu community used it to perform last rituals before cremating their dead. He said that there was a Pundit of the Mandir who used to perform the rituals before cremation.
“The two kanals land for ‘Shamshan Ghat’ was allocated to the Hindu community during the first tenure of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto when Kishan Chand Parwani was the federal minister for minorities in her cabinet. The Mandir itself is built over two kanals, which is now being demolished while the open area is being maintained for the community, he said.
According to him the original area of the ‘Shamshan Ghat’ land was 277 kanals and there were several Mandirs along the Tipu Road and Nullah Leh. Some of these Mandirs were demolished before the partition while many were razed to ground after the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992 in India.
Most of these Mandirs are under the administrative control of Auqaf Department that has rented them out to different people. There were several Mandirs in the adjacent localities of Raja Bazaar where one could now see residential apartments.
Aneel Parshad, a member of the Hindu community, asked how the Muslims would feel if there were people living inside a mosque using it for residential purpose. According to the plaque fixed on the building, Lala Tansukh Rai, the Raees-e-Azam Rawalpindi, had constructed the Mandir in memory of his wife.
Jagmohan Kumar told The News that the building was not in use due to its dilapidated condition. “When the federal minister of the Benazir Bhutto cabinet gave the ‘Shamshan Ghat’ to the community, the Auqaf Department at that time had assured us that the Mandir would be handed over to us after renovation, which never happened.
The ‘Shamshan Ghat’ is not only used by the locals, but by the foreign missions of China and other Budhist community as well, Jagmohan Kumar said. Sardar Heera Lal, another member of the community, said that they are among the oldest residents of the city. He said that their generations contributed a lot to the development of the city and this part of the land.
The community has demanded of the president, the prime minister and the chief justice of Pakistan to protect their Mandir and ‘Shamshan Ghat’.
“We not only demand the 277 kanals of land that was allotted to the Hindu community before partition, but the two-kanal piece of land where we could cremate our dead according to our religious belief,” they urged.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Buddhist Shares Fellowship
The laws of cause and effect are underpinnings of Buddhist teachings, so said Arjia Rinpoche who heads The Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center in Southern Indiana.
Set within a 103-acre nature preserve, the TMBCC houses a teaching center, a Buddhist temple, spiritual art sculptures and lodgings. All faiths are welcome. If intent is indeed transformed into physical energy, then it is a place where peace is palpable.
Recently, I was there as part of The National Society of Newspaper Columnists, which was invited to a cultural afternoon of Tibetan song, food and Buddhist serenity. There we met Arjia Rinpoche.
In Tibetan tradition, he is recognized as the incarnation of the Tenth Panchem Lama who is considered the second ranking figure in Tibet after the Dalai Lama. “Rinpoche” is a title given to a reincarnated being of a previous holy person.
Appointed by the Dalai Lama, Arjia Rinpoche became the center’s leader in 2006, after the passing of Thubten Jigme Norbu (Takster Rinpoche), the eldest brother of the Dalai Lama who founded TMBCC in 1979.
It is said you begin with the face you are born with, and you end up with the one you deserve. Arjia Rinpoche’s face is unlined, long practiced in kindly calm. The small-statured monk is a twinkly Puck.
He explained how the selection of a Dalai Lama is based on a search for the reincarnation of the previous leader, who is a manifestation of the Buddha of Compassion. Tsamba balls with the names of candidates are swirled in water and drawn.
“It’s like a Lama lottery,” he chuckled.
His gentle humor and tranquility are not the products of ivory tower solitude. In fact, his absence of bitterness is remarkable. Arjia Rinpoche endured twenty years of indoctrination during Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution.
In 1958, he was only 8 years old in Tibet when threats and humiliations forced him to adopt Chinese Communist ways, but he secretly kept his Buddhist identity through the help of his father.
His “re-education” included long years of hard field labor. Under relaxed Chinese control in 1979, he was reinstated as the abbot of the 600-acre Kumbum Monastery, the oldest and largest in Tibet.
But in 1998, China again threatened spiritual strangulation and Arjia Rinpoche escaped to Guatemala, eventually seeking asylum in the United States with the help of the Dalai Lama. His experiences are detailed in ‘‘Surviving the Dragon: A Tibetan Lama’s Account of 40 Years Under Chinese Rule’’ ($24.99 April 2010, Rodale, Inc.). At TMBCC, all book proceeds fund a cancer care hospital in Mongolia and building a library at a Tibetan refugee camp in India.
“Buddhism is a philosophy. Buddha is enlightenment. Doing good things leads to enlightenment,” said Arjia Rinpoche.
The monk further explained that Buddha is not a god, but rather an enlightened being. Enlightenment is attained mainly through wisdom and compassion. Human love is limited, so one strives for unconditional love.
The laws of cause and effect, action and consequence come into play. Buddhism is a practice of daily mindfulness through meditation, which allows the release of negative thoughts and acts as a spiritual strengthener.
Later we strolled amid birdsongs through lush greenery toward the Kumbum Chamtse Ling Temple. On the way, the white, 35-foot high Jangchub Chorten is abstractly shaped like a sitting Buddha.
An open-air tunnel has 10, revolving bronze cylinders with symbols, which passersby can spin, the idea being to send prayers out into the universe. The Kalachakra is a large, exquisitely handcrafted sand mandala that was blessed by the Dalai Lama during one of his six visits, the most recent one in May.
The temple interior is infused with serenity. I love being in spiritual spaces. Whether they are churches, temples or sacred spots in nature, I can sense the infusion of prayerful peace created in layers over time.
My visit was a reminder about the direction of my own daily thoughts since they do create cause and effect. My brief Buddhist respite improved my Christianity.
It brought to mind Philippians 4:8: Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.”
Suzette Martinez Standring is the award-winning author of “The Art of Column Writing” and is syndicated with GateHouse News Service. She teaches writing workshops nationally. E-mail her at suzmar@comcast.net.
Copyright 2010 The Patriot Ledger. Some rights reserved
Set within a 103-acre nature preserve, the TMBCC houses a teaching center, a Buddhist temple, spiritual art sculptures and lodgings. All faiths are welcome. If intent is indeed transformed into physical energy, then it is a place where peace is palpable.
Recently, I was there as part of The National Society of Newspaper Columnists, which was invited to a cultural afternoon of Tibetan song, food and Buddhist serenity. There we met Arjia Rinpoche.
In Tibetan tradition, he is recognized as the incarnation of the Tenth Panchem Lama who is considered the second ranking figure in Tibet after the Dalai Lama. “Rinpoche” is a title given to a reincarnated being of a previous holy person.
Appointed by the Dalai Lama, Arjia Rinpoche became the center’s leader in 2006, after the passing of Thubten Jigme Norbu (Takster Rinpoche), the eldest brother of the Dalai Lama who founded TMBCC in 1979.
It is said you begin with the face you are born with, and you end up with the one you deserve. Arjia Rinpoche’s face is unlined, long practiced in kindly calm. The small-statured monk is a twinkly Puck.
He explained how the selection of a Dalai Lama is based on a search for the reincarnation of the previous leader, who is a manifestation of the Buddha of Compassion. Tsamba balls with the names of candidates are swirled in water and drawn.
“It’s like a Lama lottery,” he chuckled.
His gentle humor and tranquility are not the products of ivory tower solitude. In fact, his absence of bitterness is remarkable. Arjia Rinpoche endured twenty years of indoctrination during Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution.
In 1958, he was only 8 years old in Tibet when threats and humiliations forced him to adopt Chinese Communist ways, but he secretly kept his Buddhist identity through the help of his father.
His “re-education” included long years of hard field labor. Under relaxed Chinese control in 1979, he was reinstated as the abbot of the 600-acre Kumbum Monastery, the oldest and largest in Tibet.
But in 1998, China again threatened spiritual strangulation and Arjia Rinpoche escaped to Guatemala, eventually seeking asylum in the United States with the help of the Dalai Lama. His experiences are detailed in ‘‘Surviving the Dragon: A Tibetan Lama’s Account of 40 Years Under Chinese Rule’’ ($24.99 April 2010, Rodale, Inc.). At TMBCC, all book proceeds fund a cancer care hospital in Mongolia and building a library at a Tibetan refugee camp in India.
“Buddhism is a philosophy. Buddha is enlightenment. Doing good things leads to enlightenment,” said Arjia Rinpoche.
The monk further explained that Buddha is not a god, but rather an enlightened being. Enlightenment is attained mainly through wisdom and compassion. Human love is limited, so one strives for unconditional love.
The laws of cause and effect, action and consequence come into play. Buddhism is a practice of daily mindfulness through meditation, which allows the release of negative thoughts and acts as a spiritual strengthener.
Later we strolled amid birdsongs through lush greenery toward the Kumbum Chamtse Ling Temple. On the way, the white, 35-foot high Jangchub Chorten is abstractly shaped like a sitting Buddha.
An open-air tunnel has 10, revolving bronze cylinders with symbols, which passersby can spin, the idea being to send prayers out into the universe. The Kalachakra is a large, exquisitely handcrafted sand mandala that was blessed by the Dalai Lama during one of his six visits, the most recent one in May.
The temple interior is infused with serenity. I love being in spiritual spaces. Whether they are churches, temples or sacred spots in nature, I can sense the infusion of prayerful peace created in layers over time.
My visit was a reminder about the direction of my own daily thoughts since they do create cause and effect. My brief Buddhist respite improved my Christianity.
It brought to mind Philippians 4:8: Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.”
Suzette Martinez Standring is the award-winning author of “The Art of Column Writing” and is syndicated with GateHouse News Service. She teaches writing workshops nationally. E-mail her at suzmar@comcast.net.
Copyright 2010 The Patriot Ledger. Some rights reserved
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Ancient Scroll Found in Tibet
LANZHOU, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese specialists of Tibetan studies have discovered some well-preserved pre-Buddhist Tibetan religious scriptures in northwestern China's Gansu Province.
The Bon scriptures, handwritten in an ancient form of Tibetan script and bound into more than 500 books, were found in several Tibetan homes in Longnan City, said ethnic studies experts at Lanzhou University.
Judging from the characters, writing style and paper texture, the documents are about 1,000 years old and their content ranges from sutras to descriptions of ancient Tibetan rituals and customs.
Lanzhou University's ethnic studies center has established a special taskforce to study the documents. A university official said Saturday the results of the research were expected to be published before the end of the year.
The Bon religion prevailed in Tibet before the arrival of Buddhism. Its followers worshipped "natural spirits," like mountains and lakes.
In Tibetan, "Bon" means substance, implying Bon is a religion for all in the universe.
Editor: Wang Guanqun
The Bon scriptures, handwritten in an ancient form of Tibetan script and bound into more than 500 books, were found in several Tibetan homes in Longnan City, said ethnic studies experts at Lanzhou University.
Judging from the characters, writing style and paper texture, the documents are about 1,000 years old and their content ranges from sutras to descriptions of ancient Tibetan rituals and customs.
Lanzhou University's ethnic studies center has established a special taskforce to study the documents. A university official said Saturday the results of the research were expected to be published before the end of the year.
The Bon religion prevailed in Tibet before the arrival of Buddhism. Its followers worshipped "natural spirits," like mountains and lakes.
In Tibetan, "Bon" means substance, implying Bon is a religion for all in the universe.
Editor: Wang Guanqun
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Buddha Miracle
The idea of a miracle seems archaic in today's world. The Vatican is investigating a St. Louis Girl - Rachel Baumgartner Lozano's - survival of a rare and deadly cancer. What will not become an issue in the investigation is karma.
A fundamental principle in Buddhism is the concept of karma. A Buddhist could argue that Rachel's cure is due to karma. It was due to her karma that she developed the cancer and it is also due to her karma that she overcame it.
Can someone's karma change? Yes! Karma is like rocket fuel. It's the stuff that propels use through life. Once the rocket fuel is burned up it can no longer move you.
Our response to the things that happen to us in life has an effect on the rocket fuel that's propelling us. Understanding what karma is helps one work at a karmic level to affect one's world. The literal translation of the word karma is "action". Our ongoing actions can either refuel the rocket fuel propelling us or cut off the fuel supply.
Rachel lived every day as it if were her last. She also prayed to the Blessed Chaminade, a founder of the Marianist Order, to intervene on her behalf. These positive responses to the deadly direction her karma was propelling her effectively cut off the fuel supply for her cancer to continue to exist. Once the karmic fuel is expended - the result it was brining into one's life is over. Just like that! Just like the football sized tumor that was removed from Rachel turned out to be nothing more than scar tissue.
This is a simple yet poignant explanation of karma. One that everyone can benefit from. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking Rachel's example and acting positively in the face of any negativity in your life.
Does the explanation of karma mean that this was not a miracle? Not at all! Buddhists believe in miracles. Understanding karma helps one consciously and and continuously bring them into one's life
A fundamental principle in Buddhism is the concept of karma. A Buddhist could argue that Rachel's cure is due to karma. It was due to her karma that she developed the cancer and it is also due to her karma that she overcame it.
Can someone's karma change? Yes! Karma is like rocket fuel. It's the stuff that propels use through life. Once the rocket fuel is burned up it can no longer move you.
Our response to the things that happen to us in life has an effect on the rocket fuel that's propelling us. Understanding what karma is helps one work at a karmic level to affect one's world. The literal translation of the word karma is "action". Our ongoing actions can either refuel the rocket fuel propelling us or cut off the fuel supply.
Rachel lived every day as it if were her last. She also prayed to the Blessed Chaminade, a founder of the Marianist Order, to intervene on her behalf. These positive responses to the deadly direction her karma was propelling her effectively cut off the fuel supply for her cancer to continue to exist. Once the karmic fuel is expended - the result it was brining into one's life is over. Just like that! Just like the football sized tumor that was removed from Rachel turned out to be nothing more than scar tissue.
This is a simple yet poignant explanation of karma. One that everyone can benefit from. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking Rachel's example and acting positively in the face of any negativity in your life.
Does the explanation of karma mean that this was not a miracle? Not at all! Buddhists believe in miracles. Understanding karma helps one consciously and and continuously bring them into one's life
Friday, July 16, 2010
Meditation is Good for Attention Spans
Daily meditation not only gives us a peaceful life, it also boosts attention spans, says a new study.
Katherine MacLean at the University of California Davis and her co-advisor, Clifford Saron conducted a study, wherein thirty people went on a Buddhist meditation retreat with B. Alan Wallace, another researcher and Buddhist scholar.
Participants took a test on a computer to measure how well they could make fine visual distinctions and sustain visual attention.
They got better at discriminating the short lines as the training went on. Sustaining attention became easier with meditation so they also improved their task performance over a long period of time.
"Because this task is so boring and yet is also very neutral, it’s kind of a perfect index of meditation training," says MacLean.
“You realize how challenging it is to just sit and observe something without being distracted," she added.
The results are published in Psychological Science.
Follow us on Twitter for more stories
Katherine MacLean at the University of California Davis and her co-advisor, Clifford Saron conducted a study, wherein thirty people went on a Buddhist meditation retreat with B. Alan Wallace, another researcher and Buddhist scholar.
Participants took a test on a computer to measure how well they could make fine visual distinctions and sustain visual attention.
They got better at discriminating the short lines as the training went on. Sustaining attention became easier with meditation so they also improved their task performance over a long period of time.
"Because this task is so boring and yet is also very neutral, it’s kind of a perfect index of meditation training," says MacLean.
“You realize how challenging it is to just sit and observe something without being distracted," she added.
The results are published in Psychological Science.
Follow us on Twitter for more stories
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Beloved Monk Moves to England
A much beloved monk departs Mendocino County
By Tony Anthony
Updated: 07/14/2010 12:00:14 AM PDT
Click photo to enlarge
Ajahn Amaro leaves Abhayagiri Monastery for England
Special to the Daily Journal
Ajahn Amaro, the founding abbot of Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in Redwood Valley, will be moving to England this month to fill the role as abbot of Amaravati Monastery near London. Since moving to Redwood Valley in 1996, Amaro has been generous in sharing the teachings of the Buddha with our local community. He has offered many classes, guided meditations, and daylong mini-retreats at the monastery as well as at Yoga Mendocino in town.
Larry Restel, an investment adviser from Ukiah, first met Amaro in 1990 in England.
"I've seen him grow up as a monk. He feels like a brother to me," Restel said. "He's always been amazing. When he gives one of his well-known talks, if he has to finish by ten o'clock, he'll be finished at ten. He weaves his stories so intricately, with so many different branches, but when there's only a minute to go he ties up all the knots. The tradition with Theravada Buddhist monastics is that people keep coming and going. So to me it seems natural that he's heading to England."
Amaro, who was born in England and just two years ago gained American citizenship, enjoys talking about the environment. He notes that the weather seems to be reversing between these two countries.
"This year, Mendocino County, cold and rainy, experienced what we once thought of as being English weather," Amaro said. "My sister, a gardener back in England, recently reported that once-green fields are already parched from too much sun, certainly what we in Mendocino County consider to be our weather."
Although he is looking forward to seeing the seasons change, Amaro has mixed feelings about leaving Abhayagiri.
"I had been thinking I'd be getting older here, with the hills feeling steeper and longer on my walks to my cabin in the forest," he said. "But when the invitation came to move back to Amaravati Monastery in England, I couldn't refuse. My teacher Ajahn Sumedho has been abbot there for 25 years, and I'm happy to be supporting him now that he is ready to retire." He goes on to say, "The standard for our community is one of homelessness." So, it appears for Amaro, his move back to England will be "business as usual."
Amaro's time at Abhayagiri
When Amaro says, "I'm glad the place has grown - I've enjoyed being here," there is a sweet sadness in his eyes that reveals what is in his heart. Abhayagiri was born of humble beginnings in 1996 when a small group of two Theravada Buddhist monks and one layman arrived on their newly acquired property on Tomki Road ready to begin building a monastery. Master Hua, abbot of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, had donated the land when he heard about the desire of these Theravadans to found a monastic community. His generous gift was a bit unusual, since Master Hua's community is part of a completely different Buddhist sect.
So it was from the good intentions of a few with the desire to create a place of refuge that a piece of mountainous raw land is now a thriving spiritual community. Beginning with the ordination of its first new American monk in 1996, Abhayagiri has grown to a resident community typically numbering over a dozen monks and a handful of aspiring novices. Abhayagiri has also spawned a new monastery just forming this summer in Northern Oregon. Ajahn Sudanto, also a longtime resident of Abhayagiri, has already left to foster the efforts to build a satellite community near Portland. Another new monastery in Massachusetts is also being planned as a refuge for the New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut area. Amaro gets a sparkle in his eye when he describes these communities that are springing up from the seed planted by the founding of Abhayagiri in California.
Many in Ukiah may be familiar with the sight of the monks from Abhayagiri walking through town each week with their begging bowls. The traditional practice of pindapat, or alms rounds, was instigated by the Buddha so the monks would not remain isolated, that there would be a shared life with the community.
Amaro says, "The monks are a spiritual presence. So that when townspeople see them dressed in the traditional robes it immediately brings spirituality to mind. Once in England, in a train station, a man stopped me and asked about my religion. Even though I told him I was Buddhist, he didn't seem to understand and asked again, So what kind of Catholic are you?' I repeated, I am a Buddhist; the Buddha lived hundreds of years before Jesus, so we are not Christian.' But it really didn't matter that he didn't understand. The point was that the man knew I was a spiritual person, and he could relate to that."
The feelings of the community
The many locals who have delighted in Amaro's message know the special unspoken qualities he embodies. For certain, he has a way with the English language. He is glib and insightful, but his message goes deeper. Sometimes his words are put together in such an extraordinary fashion they can cause a shift in consciousness. This is his extraordinary gift: to be able to give words such a subtle sense of meaning that they allow the mind to find the space between them where consciousness lies.
Janejira Sutanonpaiboon, a young Thai woman from Santa Rosa, sums up the feelings of many of Amaro's students from around the Bay Area. "My impression of Ajahn Amaro is that he's really kind. He smiles, he shines from within. He exemplifies loving-kindness. When I heard he was leaving I felt very sad. I'm attached to my teachers. I trust him completely. I can talk about everything with him - family issues, personal problems. Going to England will be a great experience for him. I wish him well, but behind my wishing, I'll be crying."
Mary Paffard, founder of Yoga Mendocino in Ukiah, has a long-standing connection to Amaro.
"After the first series at the Sun House before we had moved to the Yomo building in 2000, a student commented on how amazing it was to have a teacher, a monk to boot, who both makes you laugh at the same time as illuminating the finer points of Dhamma teachings," Paffard said. "One of his great gifts that we will sorely miss is his ability to make Buddhist practice accessible to everyone even some of our community who had hardly heard the word Buddha before, and were a little scared and averse to spiritual lingo."
Dennis Crean of Redwood Valley, a longtime student and monastery supporter, typifies the general emotion about Amaro's departure when he says, "Sad." He also adds, "I'm happy for the opportunities. It will be a loss for the community because he's such an accessible teacher; the local community has benefited from that. But his departure makes space for the younger generation of monks who will now have to step up."
Farewell to Ajahn Amaro
On the Fourth of July, as the monastery inaugurated a beautiful new building for the monks, Amaro remarked, "There's a slightly bittersweet quality to seeing the new Bhikkhu Commons' building. Just like an architect or builder who puts his soul into creating such a wonderful structure and then leaves it behind to allow it to live the life it was built for, so it is with me in departing Abhayagiri."
He went on to explain, "In Buddhism, there is a quality we call mudita,' which means finding joy in the happiness and good fortune of others." This, without any doubt, is how Amaro lives his life. He will be missed, but his good works will live on. Perhaps it can be looked at this way: California is giving England the gift of a new ray of sunshine. We will keep what he has left with us and look forward with mudita to the good fortune of others.
A farewell gathering for Ajahn Amaro will take place on Sunday at Abhayagiri Monastery, 16201 Tomki Road, Redwood Valley, www.abhayagiri.org. The daily "potluck" meal begins at 11 a.m., followed by a talk and closing ceremony beginning around 1 p.m. All are invited.
By Tony Anthony
Updated: 07/14/2010 12:00:14 AM PDT
Click photo to enlarge
Ajahn Amaro leaves Abhayagiri Monastery for England
Special to the Daily Journal
Ajahn Amaro, the founding abbot of Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in Redwood Valley, will be moving to England this month to fill the role as abbot of Amaravati Monastery near London. Since moving to Redwood Valley in 1996, Amaro has been generous in sharing the teachings of the Buddha with our local community. He has offered many classes, guided meditations, and daylong mini-retreats at the monastery as well as at Yoga Mendocino in town.
Larry Restel, an investment adviser from Ukiah, first met Amaro in 1990 in England.
"I've seen him grow up as a monk. He feels like a brother to me," Restel said. "He's always been amazing. When he gives one of his well-known talks, if he has to finish by ten o'clock, he'll be finished at ten. He weaves his stories so intricately, with so many different branches, but when there's only a minute to go he ties up all the knots. The tradition with Theravada Buddhist monastics is that people keep coming and going. So to me it seems natural that he's heading to England."
Amaro, who was born in England and just two years ago gained American citizenship, enjoys talking about the environment. He notes that the weather seems to be reversing between these two countries.
"This year, Mendocino County, cold and rainy, experienced what we once thought of as being English weather," Amaro said. "My sister, a gardener back in England, recently reported that once-green fields are already parched from too much sun, certainly what we in Mendocino County consider to be our weather."
Although he is looking forward to seeing the seasons change, Amaro has mixed feelings about leaving Abhayagiri.
"I had been thinking I'd be getting older here, with the hills feeling steeper and longer on my walks to my cabin in the forest," he said. "But when the invitation came to move back to Amaravati Monastery in England, I couldn't refuse. My teacher Ajahn Sumedho has been abbot there for 25 years, and I'm happy to be supporting him now that he is ready to retire." He goes on to say, "The standard for our community is one of homelessness." So, it appears for Amaro, his move back to England will be "business as usual."
Amaro's time at Abhayagiri
When Amaro says, "I'm glad the place has grown - I've enjoyed being here," there is a sweet sadness in his eyes that reveals what is in his heart. Abhayagiri was born of humble beginnings in 1996 when a small group of two Theravada Buddhist monks and one layman arrived on their newly acquired property on Tomki Road ready to begin building a monastery. Master Hua, abbot of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, had donated the land when he heard about the desire of these Theravadans to found a monastic community. His generous gift was a bit unusual, since Master Hua's community is part of a completely different Buddhist sect.
So it was from the good intentions of a few with the desire to create a place of refuge that a piece of mountainous raw land is now a thriving spiritual community. Beginning with the ordination of its first new American monk in 1996, Abhayagiri has grown to a resident community typically numbering over a dozen monks and a handful of aspiring novices. Abhayagiri has also spawned a new monastery just forming this summer in Northern Oregon. Ajahn Sudanto, also a longtime resident of Abhayagiri, has already left to foster the efforts to build a satellite community near Portland. Another new monastery in Massachusetts is also being planned as a refuge for the New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut area. Amaro gets a sparkle in his eye when he describes these communities that are springing up from the seed planted by the founding of Abhayagiri in California.
Many in Ukiah may be familiar with the sight of the monks from Abhayagiri walking through town each week with their begging bowls. The traditional practice of pindapat, or alms rounds, was instigated by the Buddha so the monks would not remain isolated, that there would be a shared life with the community.
Amaro says, "The monks are a spiritual presence. So that when townspeople see them dressed in the traditional robes it immediately brings spirituality to mind. Once in England, in a train station, a man stopped me and asked about my religion. Even though I told him I was Buddhist, he didn't seem to understand and asked again, So what kind of Catholic are you?' I repeated, I am a Buddhist; the Buddha lived hundreds of years before Jesus, so we are not Christian.' But it really didn't matter that he didn't understand. The point was that the man knew I was a spiritual person, and he could relate to that."
The feelings of the community
The many locals who have delighted in Amaro's message know the special unspoken qualities he embodies. For certain, he has a way with the English language. He is glib and insightful, but his message goes deeper. Sometimes his words are put together in such an extraordinary fashion they can cause a shift in consciousness. This is his extraordinary gift: to be able to give words such a subtle sense of meaning that they allow the mind to find the space between them where consciousness lies.
Janejira Sutanonpaiboon, a young Thai woman from Santa Rosa, sums up the feelings of many of Amaro's students from around the Bay Area. "My impression of Ajahn Amaro is that he's really kind. He smiles, he shines from within. He exemplifies loving-kindness. When I heard he was leaving I felt very sad. I'm attached to my teachers. I trust him completely. I can talk about everything with him - family issues, personal problems. Going to England will be a great experience for him. I wish him well, but behind my wishing, I'll be crying."
Mary Paffard, founder of Yoga Mendocino in Ukiah, has a long-standing connection to Amaro.
"After the first series at the Sun House before we had moved to the Yomo building in 2000, a student commented on how amazing it was to have a teacher, a monk to boot, who both makes you laugh at the same time as illuminating the finer points of Dhamma teachings," Paffard said. "One of his great gifts that we will sorely miss is his ability to make Buddhist practice accessible to everyone even some of our community who had hardly heard the word Buddha before, and were a little scared and averse to spiritual lingo."
Dennis Crean of Redwood Valley, a longtime student and monastery supporter, typifies the general emotion about Amaro's departure when he says, "Sad." He also adds, "I'm happy for the opportunities. It will be a loss for the community because he's such an accessible teacher; the local community has benefited from that. But his departure makes space for the younger generation of monks who will now have to step up."
Farewell to Ajahn Amaro
On the Fourth of July, as the monastery inaugurated a beautiful new building for the monks, Amaro remarked, "There's a slightly bittersweet quality to seeing the new Bhikkhu Commons' building. Just like an architect or builder who puts his soul into creating such a wonderful structure and then leaves it behind to allow it to live the life it was built for, so it is with me in departing Abhayagiri."
He went on to explain, "In Buddhism, there is a quality we call mudita,' which means finding joy in the happiness and good fortune of others." This, without any doubt, is how Amaro lives his life. He will be missed, but his good works will live on. Perhaps it can be looked at this way: California is giving England the gift of a new ray of sunshine. We will keep what he has left with us and look forward with mudita to the good fortune of others.
A farewell gathering for Ajahn Amaro will take place on Sunday at Abhayagiri Monastery, 16201 Tomki Road, Redwood Valley, www.abhayagiri.org. The daily "potluck" meal begins at 11 a.m., followed by a talk and closing ceremony beginning around 1 p.m. All are invited.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Charity Returns Dirty Money
Paul Waldie
Globe and Mail Update
Published on Tuesday, Jul. 13, 2010 6:16PM EDT
A Buddhist organization is giving back more than $300,000 in donations it received from a Toronto businessman who was accused of running an elaborate Ponzi scheme.
“In the circumstances, it was clear to us that it’s our moral duty to return these donations,” said Tony Meers, director-general of the Canadian chapter of Soka Gakkai International, or SGI, a Buddhist charitable organization founded in Japan. “We don’t want to keep this money. Our members wouldn’t want us to, it’s pretty obvious.”
Robert Mander died at his home in Flamborough, Ont., in March leaving investors scrambling to find out what happened to the $43-million they had entrusted to him. Investors won a court order putting Mr. Mander’s financial company, E.M.B Asset Group Inc., into receivership, and the receiver, RSM Richter Inc., has been trying to track down money ever since.
“It is evident to the receiver that Mander was operating a Ponzi scheme,” the receiver said in a recent report filed in court.
The report outlined how Mr. Mander used investor cash to make donations to SGI starting in 2005. According to the report, Mr. Mander donated $500 a month to SGI, as well as a number of gifts of $100,000. In total, Mr. Mander donated $320,500 to the organization.
Mr. Meers said SGI has co-operated fully with the receiver and is eager to return the money to investors. “We concluded that the funds that were used for donations to SGI Canada had actually been obtained by Mander on a fraudulent basis,” Mr. Meers said. “We received these donations in good faith. We would never have accepted them had there been any questions about their origin.”
Mr. Mander, who was 52 when he died, had been a follower of Buddhism for years, having joined SGI when he was a teenager. “He was reasonably active,” Mr. Meers said.
Around 2005, Mr. Mander told people at SGI that he had “inherited a tremendous amount of money,” Mr. Meers recalled. “He was investing it. He was doing very well with his investments and he wanted to share that and make donations. So we had no reason to disbelieve it.”
Mr. Meers said the only time the organization became concerned was many years ago when a Vancouver woman, Sandy Moore, met Mr. Mander through an SGI event and invested about $20,000 with him. When the money vanished, Ms. Moore complained to SGI, Mr. Meers said. “We immediately asked him to rectify the situation and make good, which he did.”
Mr. Mander returned the money and an additional $5,000. “We figured he was in the early days of his investing career and made some, maybe poor judgments. But he did make good and so we figured that was it and we didn’t hold it against him.”
Mr. Meers said the organization was stunned when revelations about Mr. Mander’s business activities surfaced after his death. Aside from the donations, Mr. Mander spent much of the investor money on homes, fancy cars, jewellery and artwork, according to the receiver.
“This whole thing blew up in everybody’s face with equal surprise and shock,” Mr. Meers said. “If this money [for the donations] had been gotten through this kind of illegal activity then there is no way that we should be hanging on to it.”
Globe and Mail Update
Published on Tuesday, Jul. 13, 2010 6:16PM EDT
A Buddhist organization is giving back more than $300,000 in donations it received from a Toronto businessman who was accused of running an elaborate Ponzi scheme.
“In the circumstances, it was clear to us that it’s our moral duty to return these donations,” said Tony Meers, director-general of the Canadian chapter of Soka Gakkai International, or SGI, a Buddhist charitable organization founded in Japan. “We don’t want to keep this money. Our members wouldn’t want us to, it’s pretty obvious.”
Robert Mander died at his home in Flamborough, Ont., in March leaving investors scrambling to find out what happened to the $43-million they had entrusted to him. Investors won a court order putting Mr. Mander’s financial company, E.M.B Asset Group Inc., into receivership, and the receiver, RSM Richter Inc., has been trying to track down money ever since.
“It is evident to the receiver that Mander was operating a Ponzi scheme,” the receiver said in a recent report filed in court.
The report outlined how Mr. Mander used investor cash to make donations to SGI starting in 2005. According to the report, Mr. Mander donated $500 a month to SGI, as well as a number of gifts of $100,000. In total, Mr. Mander donated $320,500 to the organization.
Mr. Meers said SGI has co-operated fully with the receiver and is eager to return the money to investors. “We concluded that the funds that were used for donations to SGI Canada had actually been obtained by Mander on a fraudulent basis,” Mr. Meers said. “We received these donations in good faith. We would never have accepted them had there been any questions about their origin.”
Mr. Mander, who was 52 when he died, had been a follower of Buddhism for years, having joined SGI when he was a teenager. “He was reasonably active,” Mr. Meers said.
Around 2005, Mr. Mander told people at SGI that he had “inherited a tremendous amount of money,” Mr. Meers recalled. “He was investing it. He was doing very well with his investments and he wanted to share that and make donations. So we had no reason to disbelieve it.”
Mr. Meers said the only time the organization became concerned was many years ago when a Vancouver woman, Sandy Moore, met Mr. Mander through an SGI event and invested about $20,000 with him. When the money vanished, Ms. Moore complained to SGI, Mr. Meers said. “We immediately asked him to rectify the situation and make good, which he did.”
Mr. Mander returned the money and an additional $5,000. “We figured he was in the early days of his investing career and made some, maybe poor judgments. But he did make good and so we figured that was it and we didn’t hold it against him.”
Mr. Meers said the organization was stunned when revelations about Mr. Mander’s business activities surfaced after his death. Aside from the donations, Mr. Mander spent much of the investor money on homes, fancy cars, jewellery and artwork, according to the receiver.
“This whole thing blew up in everybody’s face with equal surprise and shock,” Mr. Meers said. “If this money [for the donations] had been gotten through this kind of illegal activity then there is no way that we should be hanging on to it.”
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Japanese Obon Festival to New Jersey
UPPER DEERFIELD TWP. — Traditional Japanese folk dancing and taiko drumming will be featured during the Seabrook Buddhist Temple's 65th Annual Obon Memorial Folk Dance Festival on Saturday.
The event begins at 5 p.m. and admission and parking are free.
Each year, since 1945, the Seabrook Buddhist Temple has celebrated Obon. Temple members are proud to honor their heritage and share their history. The Obon Odori (dance) is a “Dance of Joy,” honoring all those who have passed before us and the sacrifices they have made to make our lives better.
Seabrook Buddhist Temple is located on Northville Road, off State Highway 77 in Seabrook. Folding or lawn chairs are recommended for your comfort.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS:
* 5 p.m. to close: Ethnic food booths and craft tables will be open.
* 5:30 - 6 p.m. & 8 - 8:45 p.m.: Japanese taiko drumming will be performed by the Seabrook Buddhist Temple's Dharma School Taiko group and Hoh Daiko Drummers. There will be a special guest performance by the Soh Daiko Drummers of New York. Members of Nen Daiko Drummers of Washington, D.C., will also join in the performances.
* 5 - 6:00 p.m.: Temple Meditation Garden available for viewing.
* 6 - 6:45 p.m.: Mini lecture and Q&A on Buddhism in the temple with the Rev. T.K. Nakagaki of the New York Buddhist Church, supervising minister of the Seabrook Buddhist Temple.
* 7 - 8 p.m. & 8:45 to close: Japanese folk dancing with dancers from the greater Delaware Valley region, New York, and Washington, D.C., as well as our local dancers. Audience participation is encouraged.
The Seabrook Educational and Cultural Center, located in the Upper Deerfield Municipal Building on State Highway 77 in Seabrook, will be open from noon to 4 p.m.
Approximately 500 families of Japanese descent relocated to Seabrook after the end of World War II. Seabrook is considered to be the largest resettlement of Japanese after the War. The SECC was established in 1994 and serves to preserve and present the rich multicultural heritage of the community. The SECC will open specially to coincide with the Obon Festival.
On Sunday, July 25, the Seabrook Buddhist Temple will observe Obon Memorial Service at 10 a.m. The public is invited.
For more information, please contact the Seabrook Buddhist Temple (856) 451-3422, www.sbtnj.org or the Seabrook Educational and Cultural Center (856) 451-8393, www.seabrookeducation.org.
Funding has been made possible in part by the New Jersey Council on the Arts/Department of State, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Cumberland County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Cumberland County Cultural and Heritage Commission.
The event begins at 5 p.m. and admission and parking are free.
Each year, since 1945, the Seabrook Buddhist Temple has celebrated Obon. Temple members are proud to honor their heritage and share their history. The Obon Odori (dance) is a “Dance of Joy,” honoring all those who have passed before us and the sacrifices they have made to make our lives better.
Seabrook Buddhist Temple is located on Northville Road, off State Highway 77 in Seabrook. Folding or lawn chairs are recommended for your comfort.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS:
* 5 p.m. to close: Ethnic food booths and craft tables will be open.
* 5:30 - 6 p.m. & 8 - 8:45 p.m.: Japanese taiko drumming will be performed by the Seabrook Buddhist Temple's Dharma School Taiko group and Hoh Daiko Drummers. There will be a special guest performance by the Soh Daiko Drummers of New York. Members of Nen Daiko Drummers of Washington, D.C., will also join in the performances.
* 5 - 6:00 p.m.: Temple Meditation Garden available for viewing.
* 6 - 6:45 p.m.: Mini lecture and Q&A on Buddhism in the temple with the Rev. T.K. Nakagaki of the New York Buddhist Church, supervising minister of the Seabrook Buddhist Temple.
* 7 - 8 p.m. & 8:45 to close: Japanese folk dancing with dancers from the greater Delaware Valley region, New York, and Washington, D.C., as well as our local dancers. Audience participation is encouraged.
The Seabrook Educational and Cultural Center, located in the Upper Deerfield Municipal Building on State Highway 77 in Seabrook, will be open from noon to 4 p.m.
Approximately 500 families of Japanese descent relocated to Seabrook after the end of World War II. Seabrook is considered to be the largest resettlement of Japanese after the War. The SECC was established in 1994 and serves to preserve and present the rich multicultural heritage of the community. The SECC will open specially to coincide with the Obon Festival.
On Sunday, July 25, the Seabrook Buddhist Temple will observe Obon Memorial Service at 10 a.m. The public is invited.
For more information, please contact the Seabrook Buddhist Temple (856) 451-3422, www.sbtnj.org or the Seabrook Educational and Cultural Center (856) 451-8393, www.seabrookeducation.org.
Funding has been made possible in part by the New Jersey Council on the Arts/Department of State, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Cumberland County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Cumberland County Cultural and Heritage Commission.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Author Gets People Talking About 1 God Many Religions
Christianity, Islam and Judaism all insist that God is One. So prospective readers might think that Stephen Prothero, a professor of religion at Boston University, must be proclaiming polytheism in a book titled “God Is Not One.”
He does that, in a way, describing many different gods objectively and with touches of irony that the devout might find irreverent.
A subtitle outlines the large territory covered: “The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World — and Why Their Differences Matter.” He ends his account with a quiet agnosticism: “If there really is a god or goddess worthy of the name, He or She or It must surely know more than we do about the things that matter most.”
His rebuttal of the idea that all gods are basically alike starts with “All Religions Are One,” written by English poet William Blake. Prothero sees Gandhi, the Dalai Lama and Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” as embracing the mistake.
“The Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century popularized the idea of religious tolerance, and we are doubtless better for it,” he writes. “But the idea of religious unity is wishful thinking nonetheless, and it has not made the world a safer place. In fact, this naive theological groupthink — call it Godthink — has made the world more dangerous by blinding us to the clashes of religions that threaten us worldwide.”
He cites the religious element in wars, clashes, murders and atrocities from a morning in Manhattan to civil conflict in Sri Lanka.
The book summarizes the problems Prothero considers as preoccupying five of the eight religions: Islam deals with pride, Christianity with sin, Confucianism with chaos, Buddhism with suffering and Judaism with exile. The book also covers Hinduism, Daoism — sometimes called Taoism — and the Yoruba religion of West Africa.
But first place in this book goes to Islam because of its impact on today’s world. “Islam is the greatest of the great religions. In terms of adherents, this tradition of justice and mercy and forgiveness and submission is growing far faster than Christianity,” Prothero writes. “To presume that the conversation about the great religions starts with Christianity is to show your parochialism, and your age. The 19th and 20th centuries may have belonged to Christianity. The 21st belongs to Islam.”
He does that, in a way, describing many different gods objectively and with touches of irony that the devout might find irreverent.
A subtitle outlines the large territory covered: “The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World — and Why Their Differences Matter.” He ends his account with a quiet agnosticism: “If there really is a god or goddess worthy of the name, He or She or It must surely know more than we do about the things that matter most.”
His rebuttal of the idea that all gods are basically alike starts with “All Religions Are One,” written by English poet William Blake. Prothero sees Gandhi, the Dalai Lama and Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” as embracing the mistake.
“The Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century popularized the idea of religious tolerance, and we are doubtless better for it,” he writes. “But the idea of religious unity is wishful thinking nonetheless, and it has not made the world a safer place. In fact, this naive theological groupthink — call it Godthink — has made the world more dangerous by blinding us to the clashes of religions that threaten us worldwide.”
He cites the religious element in wars, clashes, murders and atrocities from a morning in Manhattan to civil conflict in Sri Lanka.
The book summarizes the problems Prothero considers as preoccupying five of the eight religions: Islam deals with pride, Christianity with sin, Confucianism with chaos, Buddhism with suffering and Judaism with exile. The book also covers Hinduism, Daoism — sometimes called Taoism — and the Yoruba religion of West Africa.
But first place in this book goes to Islam because of its impact on today’s world. “Islam is the greatest of the great religions. In terms of adherents, this tradition of justice and mercy and forgiveness and submission is growing far faster than Christianity,” Prothero writes. “To presume that the conversation about the great religions starts with Christianity is to show your parochialism, and your age. The 19th and 20th centuries may have belonged to Christianity. The 21st belongs to Islam.”
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Budda As a Philosopher in School
As faith schooling from various traditions continues to grab headlines, the prospect of a specifically Buddhist education hasn't been much mooted. School-based practices inspired by Buddhism, on the other hand, are starting to gain momentum. Last weekend, Goldie Hawn was enthusing about the British launch of her meditation in schools programme, while, on a slightly lower key note, mindfulness teaching has already been introduced in several private institutions – Wellington College and Tonbridge School among them. There are also initiatives to introduce meditation in the state sector, under the guidance of psychologists such as Mark Williams in Oxford.
It's been said that Buddhism will establish itself in the west as a psychology rather than a religion, and that seems to be the case here - many of those introducing meditation to schools wouldn't identify as Buddhists. And the rationale has been mostly scientific – among other benefits, meditation has been shown to foster attention skills, reduce aggression, and increase pro-social behaviour and relational abilities (among children and adults), as well as protecting against anxiety and depression.
That the practices have been presented in this positivist way is skilful – the prospect of teaching kids to pay attention is far more likely to spark educators' interest than suggesting, hippie-style, that meditation will connect them to a deeper understanding of experience. But are the two claims really that different? A deeper understanding of experience doesn't have to mean contacting an other-worldly state that reveals the secrets of the universe – in the context of meditation, it's more likely to involve developing a here-and-now investigation of thoughts, feelings and events, and recognising how they interconnect to create our perception of the world.
The risk of presenting meditation purely in "here's what you get out of it" terms is that it can come to seem like a technique for self-improvement, or self-control, when actually it is about self-letting-go, a deep dissembling from which a new understanding can come. Rather than offering a promise of betterment, or a false confidence based on faith, meditation can be a way of teaching doubt – the kind of creative uncertainty that can be a useful container for learning. By taking a different perspective on experience – watching it mindfully for a while, rather than getting so caught up in it, we can become more attuned to how our attitudes colour our world, and how the way we see things aren't the way they necessarily are.
This isn't quite the kind of scepticism that Richard Dawkins has suggested might be the kernel of an atheist schooling – as Andrew Brown has pointed out, the unspoken premise there is that doubt is taught according to a set of given rules, with an implicit discrediting of ideas which can't – at least for now – be demonstrated. Instead, it's more radical – a method for becoming more alive to our ever-changing experience (intellect, emotion, body sensation, event perception), and developing an understanding that to treat one element (or one moment,) as the arbiter of truth is to fixate and judge in a way that limits our view.
It's the kind of wisdom that Socrates spoke of when he said that while he knew nothing, he knew something from not-knowing. Similarly, by investigating in a meditative way, we might get a little closer to recognising how our preconceptions afflict us. It's an approach that might not just mean fewer fights in the playground, but the spread of a humility that underpins our continued search for answers – we can accept that it's a struggle even to formulate good questions.
There wouldn't be anything explicitly or exclusively Buddhist about such an education, and nor should there be (as Ajan Amaro says: "If you think you really are a Buddhist, you are totally lost!"). But it would honour the spirit of open-minded, fully-embodied inquiry that the Buddhist tradition at its best can offer.
It's been said that Buddhism will establish itself in the west as a psychology rather than a religion, and that seems to be the case here - many of those introducing meditation to schools wouldn't identify as Buddhists. And the rationale has been mostly scientific – among other benefits, meditation has been shown to foster attention skills, reduce aggression, and increase pro-social behaviour and relational abilities (among children and adults), as well as protecting against anxiety and depression.
That the practices have been presented in this positivist way is skilful – the prospect of teaching kids to pay attention is far more likely to spark educators' interest than suggesting, hippie-style, that meditation will connect them to a deeper understanding of experience. But are the two claims really that different? A deeper understanding of experience doesn't have to mean contacting an other-worldly state that reveals the secrets of the universe – in the context of meditation, it's more likely to involve developing a here-and-now investigation of thoughts, feelings and events, and recognising how they interconnect to create our perception of the world.
The risk of presenting meditation purely in "here's what you get out of it" terms is that it can come to seem like a technique for self-improvement, or self-control, when actually it is about self-letting-go, a deep dissembling from which a new understanding can come. Rather than offering a promise of betterment, or a false confidence based on faith, meditation can be a way of teaching doubt – the kind of creative uncertainty that can be a useful container for learning. By taking a different perspective on experience – watching it mindfully for a while, rather than getting so caught up in it, we can become more attuned to how our attitudes colour our world, and how the way we see things aren't the way they necessarily are.
This isn't quite the kind of scepticism that Richard Dawkins has suggested might be the kernel of an atheist schooling – as Andrew Brown has pointed out, the unspoken premise there is that doubt is taught according to a set of given rules, with an implicit discrediting of ideas which can't – at least for now – be demonstrated. Instead, it's more radical – a method for becoming more alive to our ever-changing experience (intellect, emotion, body sensation, event perception), and developing an understanding that to treat one element (or one moment,) as the arbiter of truth is to fixate and judge in a way that limits our view.
It's the kind of wisdom that Socrates spoke of when he said that while he knew nothing, he knew something from not-knowing. Similarly, by investigating in a meditative way, we might get a little closer to recognising how our preconceptions afflict us. It's an approach that might not just mean fewer fights in the playground, but the spread of a humility that underpins our continued search for answers – we can accept that it's a struggle even to formulate good questions.
There wouldn't be anything explicitly or exclusively Buddhist about such an education, and nor should there be (as Ajan Amaro says: "If you think you really are a Buddhist, you are totally lost!"). But it would honour the spirit of open-minded, fully-embodied inquiry that the Buddhist tradition at its best can offer.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Budda Meditation in Florida
Submitted by outandaboutinjax on July 8, 2010 - 1:07pm
outandaboutinjax's Blog
Tuesday night I went to a Buddhist Meditation class held in a small building behind the Granary, a whole foods store on Kingsley Road. (This was originally posted in www.outandaboutinjax.com a blog all about events and places to go in Jacksonville! Check it out for listings of events, pictures and links to everything there is to do in Jax!) I know what you're thinking -- you can't really picture me in a Buddhist Meditation class. If you know me pretty well you're thinking a meditation class? Don't you have to be quiet in a meditation class? First of all, let me explain how I ended up in a Buddhist Meditation class. One major factor is that I just finished reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert for the fourth time. I bought the book when it originally came out in 2004 and it changed my life. I've read it several times since then and each time, her story inspires me in a different way. Essentially, Eat, Pray, Love is the story of Liz dealing with a crushing depression in the midst of her divorce, by taking a year off to travel to Italy to study pleasure, India to study spiritual devotion, and Indonesia to find a balance in her life between the two extremes of pleasure and spiritual discipline. There is no way for me to overstate how awesome this book is, or how much it has totally inspired me. Her writing style is quirky, energetic, full of self-revelation, and lots of humor. When you're reading it, you feel as if Gilbert herself is sitting across from you with a cup of coffee telling you the whole story. Each time I sit down to write a piece for the blog, that's what I try to accomplish, and my style of writing is very much modeled after the writing in Eat, Pray, Love.
It's not just the writing style of course that inspires me. It's also the bravery. The adventurous spirit Liz embodies in the stories in her book (ie: making friends in Italy when she barely knows Italian, going to Bali without a map or plan) is part of what inspires me each time I have to take a deep breath and muster up the confidence to walk into a totally new event for my blog, introduce myself and start asking questions. If you have never read this book, just trust me on this -- drop whatever you are doing right now and go get it. There's a movie coming out based on the book and starting Julia Roberts. The movie is coming out in August (just in time for my birthday) and believe me, I will be one of the first people in line to see it.
outandaboutinjax's Blog
Tuesday night I went to a Buddhist Meditation class held in a small building behind the Granary, a whole foods store on Kingsley Road. (This was originally posted in www.outandaboutinjax.com a blog all about events and places to go in Jacksonville! Check it out for listings of events, pictures and links to everything there is to do in Jax!) I know what you're thinking -- you can't really picture me in a Buddhist Meditation class. If you know me pretty well you're thinking a meditation class? Don't you have to be quiet in a meditation class? First of all, let me explain how I ended up in a Buddhist Meditation class. One major factor is that I just finished reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert for the fourth time. I bought the book when it originally came out in 2004 and it changed my life. I've read it several times since then and each time, her story inspires me in a different way. Essentially, Eat, Pray, Love is the story of Liz dealing with a crushing depression in the midst of her divorce, by taking a year off to travel to Italy to study pleasure, India to study spiritual devotion, and Indonesia to find a balance in her life between the two extremes of pleasure and spiritual discipline. There is no way for me to overstate how awesome this book is, or how much it has totally inspired me. Her writing style is quirky, energetic, full of self-revelation, and lots of humor. When you're reading it, you feel as if Gilbert herself is sitting across from you with a cup of coffee telling you the whole story. Each time I sit down to write a piece for the blog, that's what I try to accomplish, and my style of writing is very much modeled after the writing in Eat, Pray, Love.
It's not just the writing style of course that inspires me. It's also the bravery. The adventurous spirit Liz embodies in the stories in her book (ie: making friends in Italy when she barely knows Italian, going to Bali without a map or plan) is part of what inspires me each time I have to take a deep breath and muster up the confidence to walk into a totally new event for my blog, introduce myself and start asking questions. If you have never read this book, just trust me on this -- drop whatever you are doing right now and go get it. There's a movie coming out based on the book and starting Julia Roberts. The movie is coming out in August (just in time for my birthday) and believe me, I will be one of the first people in line to see it.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Nancy Pelosi Wishes Dalai Lama Happy Birthday
(AFP) – 1 day ago
WASHINGTON — US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hailed the Dalai Lama on his 75th birthday Tuesday as "a man of peace and wisdom" and urged China to hold serious talks with him on his homeland of Tibet.
"His Holiness has expressed a willingness to visit China and engage directly with high level officials. It is my sincere hope that Beijing will send a confident message by inviting His Holiness to China for substantive discussions," she said in a statement.
The Democratic lawmaker, a frequent critic of China's human rights record, said the exiled spiritual leader "has made the human rights situation in Tibet an issue of international concern, and it is long past time to resolve it."
"A negotiated agreement would ensure internal stability in Tibet and bolster China?s reputation in the world," said Pelosi.
"On the 75th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, I offer my continued appreciation of his life?s work promoting compassion, peace, and human rights for all of the people of the world," she said.
China views the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959, as a dangerous separatist.
The Dalai Lama favors meaningful autonomy for Tibet under Chinese rule, but Beijing accuses him of inciting unrest with a hidden pro-independence agenda. Decades of on-off negotiations with China have made no tangible progress.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
WASHINGTON — US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hailed the Dalai Lama on his 75th birthday Tuesday as "a man of peace and wisdom" and urged China to hold serious talks with him on his homeland of Tibet.
"His Holiness has expressed a willingness to visit China and engage directly with high level officials. It is my sincere hope that Beijing will send a confident message by inviting His Holiness to China for substantive discussions," she said in a statement.
The Democratic lawmaker, a frequent critic of China's human rights record, said the exiled spiritual leader "has made the human rights situation in Tibet an issue of international concern, and it is long past time to resolve it."
"A negotiated agreement would ensure internal stability in Tibet and bolster China?s reputation in the world," said Pelosi.
"On the 75th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, I offer my continued appreciation of his life?s work promoting compassion, peace, and human rights for all of the people of the world," she said.
China views the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959, as a dangerous separatist.
The Dalai Lama favors meaningful autonomy for Tibet under Chinese rule, but Beijing accuses him of inciting unrest with a hidden pro-independence agenda. Decades of on-off negotiations with China have made no tangible progress.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Vietnam Celebrates 1000 Years of Buddhism
The Thang Long Citadel, which has witnessed Hanoi’s 1,000 year history, will host a series of Buddhist celebrations from July 27 to August 2 to acknowledge the capital city’s millennial anniversary.
Most Venerable Thich Gia Quang, Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha’s Executive Board, said that the activities are to pay tribute to the founders of Thang Long-Hanoi and Vietnamese Buddhism, as well as those who sacrificed their lives for national liberation.
The celebrations will begin on July 27 with a procession carrying tablets that belonged to King Ly Thai To, the founder of Hanoi and Van Hanh, a Buddhist monk who raised the King after his mother had died giving birth, to the Thang Long Citadel.
Later the same day, a procession carrying Buddha’s sari from Quan Su pagoda, the headquarters of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, to the Citadel, where a talk on the history of Buddhism and Thang Long-Hanoi will be held.
The official opening ceremony will be held on July 28, followed by an exhibition showcasing Buddhist ancient artifacts and works of fine art.
A ceremony will also be held at the citadel on July 29 to pray for peace and the people as well as a requiem for fallen combatants on July 31.
The closing ceremony will be on the evening of August 2.
VOVNews/VNA
Most Venerable Thich Gia Quang, Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha’s Executive Board, said that the activities are to pay tribute to the founders of Thang Long-Hanoi and Vietnamese Buddhism, as well as those who sacrificed their lives for national liberation.
The celebrations will begin on July 27 with a procession carrying tablets that belonged to King Ly Thai To, the founder of Hanoi and Van Hanh, a Buddhist monk who raised the King after his mother had died giving birth, to the Thang Long Citadel.
Later the same day, a procession carrying Buddha’s sari from Quan Su pagoda, the headquarters of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, to the Citadel, where a talk on the history of Buddhism and Thang Long-Hanoi will be held.
The official opening ceremony will be held on July 28, followed by an exhibition showcasing Buddhist ancient artifacts and works of fine art.
A ceremony will also be held at the citadel on July 29 to pray for peace and the people as well as a requiem for fallen combatants on July 31.
The closing ceremony will be on the evening of August 2.
VOVNews/VNA
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
4 Year Old Boy Chosen by Lama in Tibet
The 11th Panchen Lama, who is being projected by China as the successor to the exiled Dalai Lama, led the tonsuring ceremony of a 4-year-old Tibetan boy chosen as the sixth 'Living Buddha', officials said on Monday.
The Lama, Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu, tonsured Losang Doje, the reincarnation of the fifth Living Buddha Dezhub, in the Tibetan capital Lhasa yesterday according to Buddhist rituals, officials in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region said.
The tonsure ceremony was held at the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa following a lot-drawing ceremony that selected the boy with the secular name as the sixth Living Buddha Dezhub.
Before the tonsure ceremony, Losang Jigme, Tibet's top official in-charge of religious affairs, read out the regional government's approval of the reincarnation, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported from Lhasa.
Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu, the Chinese Government-appointed 11th Panchen Lama, who is also vice president of the Buddhist Association of China, then cut a lock of the boy's hair and gave him the religious name Dezhub Jamyang Sherab Palden.
The 20-year-old Panchen Lama himself was chosen in a similar fashion 15 years ago. The Panchen Lama is regarded as second-in-command in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama, who is the political and spiritual head.
Tibetan officials in the past have defended the appointment of 11th Panchen Lama, who is now being projected by China as a successor to the 14th Dalai Lama to take over as the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism.
The Panchen Lama, who lives mostly in Beijing, had made his political "debut" by addressing for the first time a congregation recently at Tashilhunpo Monastery in Tibet.
The Lama, Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu, tonsured Losang Doje, the reincarnation of the fifth Living Buddha Dezhub, in the Tibetan capital Lhasa yesterday according to Buddhist rituals, officials in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region said.
The tonsure ceremony was held at the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa following a lot-drawing ceremony that selected the boy with the secular name as the sixth Living Buddha Dezhub.
Before the tonsure ceremony, Losang Jigme, Tibet's top official in-charge of religious affairs, read out the regional government's approval of the reincarnation, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported from Lhasa.
Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu, the Chinese Government-appointed 11th Panchen Lama, who is also vice president of the Buddhist Association of China, then cut a lock of the boy's hair and gave him the religious name Dezhub Jamyang Sherab Palden.
The 20-year-old Panchen Lama himself was chosen in a similar fashion 15 years ago. The Panchen Lama is regarded as second-in-command in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama, who is the political and spiritual head.
Tibetan officials in the past have defended the appointment of 11th Panchen Lama, who is now being projected by China as a successor to the 14th Dalai Lama to take over as the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism.
The Panchen Lama, who lives mostly in Beijing, had made his political "debut" by addressing for the first time a congregation recently at Tashilhunpo Monastery in Tibet.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Spiritual Journey versus Ethics is the Question Sometimes
Mark Vernon
The perennial philosophy is an appealing doctrine, what with its combo-promise of universal brotherhood and ultimate truth. But it is actually a dehumanising doctrine, and one that does the pursuit of truth a disservice.
To get a feel for why, it's worth asking where much of the impetus to identify a perennial philosophy comes from today.
First, there is the consumerist agenda, which seeks to sell anything from cars to spirituality itself by appealing to the mystical. The telltale sign is the juxtaposition of product against oriental image, be that a Buddha or an incense stick. "Modern culture is defined by this extraordinary freedom to ransack the world storehouse and to engorge any and every style it comes upon", observes Daniel Bell in The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism. This looting works best when backed up by a vague, perennial philosophy.
Or there's evolutionary psychology, and its attempts to understand religion. Richard Dawkins, for one, puts religious belief down to an evolutionary misfiring, "an unfortunate by-product of an underlying psychological propensity". Quite what causes that misfiring is, as yet, unclear. He has his own favourite thesis. But, he continues, "I am much more wedded to the general principle that the question should be properly put, and if necessary rewritten, than I am to any particular answer." Note the form: a variety of phenomena, but one underlying principle. It's a philosophia perennis in anti-religious guise, and that's an a priori requirement for those who want to explain religion, and thereby explain it away – and another reason to be suspicious of the notion.
Then there's the quintessential experience associated with the perennial philosophy, of supposed "pure conscious events". They are much associated with Aldous Huxley and his experiments with drugs, as well as the identification of peak experiences with religious insight, by the psychologist Ivan Maslow. But as Jeremy Carrette and Richard King reveal in their book, Selling Spirituality, " ... sampling disillusioned college graduates, Maslow would ask his interviewees about their ecstatic and rapturous moments in life." He associated the search for the meaningful with a kind of super-feel-good experience. It's an approach that finds it hard to tell the difference between a bungee-jump and the ecstasy of Saint Theresa. (And for not dissimilar reasons, medieval mystics, like Meister Eckhart, were precisely against experientialist perennialism. "If thou lovest God as God, as spirit, as person or as image, that must all go", he preached – challenging religious experience.)
Now, all that said, I suspect there is a common human characteristic that lies behind the appeal of the perennial philosophy. We are the creature who is blessed, or cursed, with the desire for more. We are the animal for whom our own existence is too small for us. We crave understanding and purpose. Philosophy, science and religions alike are some of the diverse manifestations of this need. (Conversely, those philosophies that seek to contain and curtain the desire for more only achieve what Jonathan Swift recognised when he noted: "The stoical scheme of supplying our wants, by lopping off our desires, is like cutting off our feet when we want shoes.")
However, the mistake is to collapse the diversity which springs from that desire into one undifferentiated whole. And there's at least two reasons for that. One is that human experiences are inevitably particular. My experiences are conditioned by my context. Yours by yours. The differences should not be minimised – consumed, say, by some high expression of benevolence. Rather, they should be maximised – sorted and sifted. This is because our growth as individuals lies in discerning our experiences, and that means keeping them sharp, not dissolving them in some soggy universal.
Second, our ethics needs the same treatment. Immanuel Kant noticed this in relation to the golden rule, often cited as a feature of the perennial philosophy. He called it "trite", arguing that a criminal could refuse their sentence on the grounds of doing to others as you would have done to you. With that, though, goes justice. Rather, we need the grit of particularity for our ethics to gain a grip on us. Without it, ethics ceases to make serious demands.
And there's a final reason to resist the pull of perennial philosophy. It forgets that truth, ultimately, lies beyond us. To be human is to see through a glass darkly. The only way to pursue truth is, therefore, to deploy a dialectical approach. One "insight" must be challenged by another. My experience undermined by yours. Critique is of the essence. But we need to keep talking. We need to find ways of engaging conflicting differences in an open spirit. Journeying is all for we humans, the creature that seeks more. But we must keep journeying. For the perennial philosophy, treated as an arrival, is deadening to us.
The perennial philosophy is an appealing doctrine, what with its combo-promise of universal brotherhood and ultimate truth. But it is actually a dehumanising doctrine, and one that does the pursuit of truth a disservice.
To get a feel for why, it's worth asking where much of the impetus to identify a perennial philosophy comes from today.
First, there is the consumerist agenda, which seeks to sell anything from cars to spirituality itself by appealing to the mystical. The telltale sign is the juxtaposition of product against oriental image, be that a Buddha or an incense stick. "Modern culture is defined by this extraordinary freedom to ransack the world storehouse and to engorge any and every style it comes upon", observes Daniel Bell in The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism. This looting works best when backed up by a vague, perennial philosophy.
Or there's evolutionary psychology, and its attempts to understand religion. Richard Dawkins, for one, puts religious belief down to an evolutionary misfiring, "an unfortunate by-product of an underlying psychological propensity". Quite what causes that misfiring is, as yet, unclear. He has his own favourite thesis. But, he continues, "I am much more wedded to the general principle that the question should be properly put, and if necessary rewritten, than I am to any particular answer." Note the form: a variety of phenomena, but one underlying principle. It's a philosophia perennis in anti-religious guise, and that's an a priori requirement for those who want to explain religion, and thereby explain it away – and another reason to be suspicious of the notion.
Then there's the quintessential experience associated with the perennial philosophy, of supposed "pure conscious events". They are much associated with Aldous Huxley and his experiments with drugs, as well as the identification of peak experiences with religious insight, by the psychologist Ivan Maslow. But as Jeremy Carrette and Richard King reveal in their book, Selling Spirituality, " ... sampling disillusioned college graduates, Maslow would ask his interviewees about their ecstatic and rapturous moments in life." He associated the search for the meaningful with a kind of super-feel-good experience. It's an approach that finds it hard to tell the difference between a bungee-jump and the ecstasy of Saint Theresa. (And for not dissimilar reasons, medieval mystics, like Meister Eckhart, were precisely against experientialist perennialism. "If thou lovest God as God, as spirit, as person or as image, that must all go", he preached – challenging religious experience.)
Now, all that said, I suspect there is a common human characteristic that lies behind the appeal of the perennial philosophy. We are the creature who is blessed, or cursed, with the desire for more. We are the animal for whom our own existence is too small for us. We crave understanding and purpose. Philosophy, science and religions alike are some of the diverse manifestations of this need. (Conversely, those philosophies that seek to contain and curtain the desire for more only achieve what Jonathan Swift recognised when he noted: "The stoical scheme of supplying our wants, by lopping off our desires, is like cutting off our feet when we want shoes.")
However, the mistake is to collapse the diversity which springs from that desire into one undifferentiated whole. And there's at least two reasons for that. One is that human experiences are inevitably particular. My experiences are conditioned by my context. Yours by yours. The differences should not be minimised – consumed, say, by some high expression of benevolence. Rather, they should be maximised – sorted and sifted. This is because our growth as individuals lies in discerning our experiences, and that means keeping them sharp, not dissolving them in some soggy universal.
Second, our ethics needs the same treatment. Immanuel Kant noticed this in relation to the golden rule, often cited as a feature of the perennial philosophy. He called it "trite", arguing that a criminal could refuse their sentence on the grounds of doing to others as you would have done to you. With that, though, goes justice. Rather, we need the grit of particularity for our ethics to gain a grip on us. Without it, ethics ceases to make serious demands.
And there's a final reason to resist the pull of perennial philosophy. It forgets that truth, ultimately, lies beyond us. To be human is to see through a glass darkly. The only way to pursue truth is, therefore, to deploy a dialectical approach. One "insight" must be challenged by another. My experience undermined by yours. Critique is of the essence. But we need to keep talking. We need to find ways of engaging conflicting differences in an open spirit. Journeying is all for we humans, the creature that seeks more. But we must keep journeying. For the perennial philosophy, treated as an arrival, is deadening to us.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Reincarnation of Living Budda Dezhub Named
LHASA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Reincarnation of the 5th Living Buddha Dezhub was selected following a lot-drawing ceremony held early Sunday morning in Lhasa, capital city of Tibet Autonomous Region in southwest China.
A candidate with the secular name Losang Doje was selected as the reincarnation in accordance with a regulation on reincarnation of living Buddha of Tibetan Buddhism, issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, and historical conventions and religious rituals.
The ceremony was held in the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa.
Losang Doje would become the sixth Living Buddha Dezhub after the approval of the People's Government of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
A candidate with the secular name Losang Doje was selected as the reincarnation in accordance with a regulation on reincarnation of living Buddha of Tibetan Buddhism, issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, and historical conventions and religious rituals.
The ceremony was held in the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa.
Losang Doje would become the sixth Living Buddha Dezhub after the approval of the People's Government of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Zen Master Plays BasketBall
The story of Phil Jackson is already the stuff of legends, but after leading the Los Angeles Lakers to yet another championship victory this year, the so-called "Zen Master" isn't ready to close the book on his sports career just yet.
Today, 65-year-old Jackson -- whose health has reportedly been ailing in recent years -- reversed course on earlier statements indicating he would retire and announced that he will, in fact, be returning to coach the Lakers for a record-setting 11th tenured season.
Besides the possibility of achieving a flabbergasting 12th NBA championship -- and a fourth "three-peat" at that (that's four sets of three years of consecutive championships, for all those non-NBA fans out there) (trademark Pat Riley) -- why else would the winningest coach in NBA history elect to put himself into the stressful, demanding situation of attempting to steer a larger-than-life team to victory yet again?
One distinct possibility: his personal philosophy -- heavily influenced by Zen philosophy, as espoused in several books, interviews past and his own recent words on his decision to return. Here, Surge Desk attempts an explanation of the Zen Master's recent statement in light of that philosophy:
After a couple weeks of deliberation1, it is time to get back to the challenge2 of putting together3 a team that can defend4 its title in the 2010-11 season. It'll be the last stand5 for me, and I hope a grand one6.
1. Deliberation, i.e. Meditation, "Zazen." Meditation is one of the most fundamental of all Zen Buddhist practices, and Jackson is said to have taught the Chicago Bulls "dream team" of the 1990s the practice to allow them to relax and think more clearly before making split-second on-the-court decisions, a practice he carried over to the Lakers and implemented as recently as the 2010 championship, according to some sources. No doubt the old sage practiced extensive meditation to arrive at his own peaceful inner conclusion to return as coach.
2. Challenge, i.e. "Koan." Another cardinal Zen Buddhist tradition, koan refers to a vexing, pithy, often personalized thought-problem posed as a question or statement by a Zen Master to one of his initiates. The initiate must then meditate on the koan and attempt to arrive at a meaning. More than a mere Buddhist riddle, the koan is designed to get the problem-solver to think beyond the preconceived notions and limitations of the rational mind. Broadly speaking, Zen is often concerned with a series of escalating personal challenges.
One of the most famous Koans goes, "If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him," which advocates a seemingly a bizarre piece of aggression founder of the philosophy. Yet it actually reinforces the Buddhist notion that thinking about, i.e. "encountering," the master is inherently delusional, that one should concentrate on bettering oneself rather than embodying or living up to an outward ideal. Interestingly, Jackson himself has even riffed off this parable, writing: "If you meet the Buddha in the lane, feed him the ball."
3. Together, i.e. "Sesshin" and "Dharma Transmission." Many Zen teachings have been imparted during gatherings of students and Zen Masters. Gatherings that involve intensive meditation are called "sesshin." In fact, the ideal form of Zen knowledge transmission is a mental unification, a "one-to-one" transmission, where a teacher imparts wisdom to a student during a gathering without words or explicit physical expressions of any kinds. The most famous example is of course the first, conveyed a parable called the "Flower Sermon." It goes something like this:
Gathering together in an orchard of blooming sweet lime trees, the students waited for their esteemed teacher, Kasyapa. Slowly walking down the dirt path, relying on his danda walking staff for balance, Kasyapa joined his students. He sat quietly for a long time, enjoying the fragrance of the lime blossoms. Finally, he raised his danda staff. Everyone stared at Kasyapa -- serious, intent, focused and silent. Only Shifu Miao Zhang [a student] smiled, and then lifted his cane and pointed at a lime blossom. Kasyapa pointed his danda at Shifu Zhang. Another transmission was completed. The sacred thread remained unbroken.
Jackson himself has described the kind of unity he seeks to achieve on the court in a 2004 interview with EnlightenNext magazine. As he put it: "It's interesting -- the other players are consciously aware of the fact that they're anticipating their teammate's behavior. Somehow, mysteriously, they just know the timing is right. They simply feel something out ahead of themselves and make their move."
4. Defense, i.e. Zen Warriors. Jackson and the Lakers are certainly ready to defend their position at the top of pro basketball's hierarchy, but does that not not betray a sort of worldly affectation not in keeping with Buddhism? Not according to scholar Thich Thien-An, who notes:
The first supporters of Zen when it was introduced from China to Japan were the samurai, the warrior class, who found in Zen's emphasis on self-control and equanimity of mind a method of discipline conducive to their own ends. Zen has also influenced the development of techniques of self-defense like judo and karate. The principle underlying these different applications of Zen is that any field of activity can serve as a means for realizing the truth of Zen.
5. Last Stand, i.e. "Enso." On the surface, this type of Zen calligraphy appears to be the opposite of a last stand, as it is repeated over and over and over again until it is mastered. The object is to draw a perfectly round circle, symbolizing many things: the artist's connection with the moment, the universe, enlightenment. And yet, as the artist continues to draw circles, he or she transcends through different levels of awareness, just as Jackson has transcended through playoff after playoff and emerged victorious. As one Buddhist who had achieved enlightenment wrote:
At the right time, you will be able to break through to the state of nothingness. You will attain this realization because of some thing and you will know with your entire being that you are at the center of absolute nothingness, at the center of an infinite circle. To be at the center of an infinite circle in this human form is to be Buddha himself. You have been saved from the beginning. You will know all these things with certainty.
6. Grand One, i.e. "Roshi." Although he was describing the upcoming season itself, it's hard not to interpret Jackson's words as a bit of self-reflection. Of course, the old Zen practitioner would toss in a reference to himself as a "Grand One," or the "venerable master of a great school."
Filed under: Sports, Surge Desk
Today, 65-year-old Jackson -- whose health has reportedly been ailing in recent years -- reversed course on earlier statements indicating he would retire and announced that he will, in fact, be returning to coach the Lakers for a record-setting 11th tenured season.
Besides the possibility of achieving a flabbergasting 12th NBA championship -- and a fourth "three-peat" at that (that's four sets of three years of consecutive championships, for all those non-NBA fans out there) (trademark Pat Riley) -- why else would the winningest coach in NBA history elect to put himself into the stressful, demanding situation of attempting to steer a larger-than-life team to victory yet again?
One distinct possibility: his personal philosophy -- heavily influenced by Zen philosophy, as espoused in several books, interviews past and his own recent words on his decision to return. Here, Surge Desk attempts an explanation of the Zen Master's recent statement in light of that philosophy:
After a couple weeks of deliberation1, it is time to get back to the challenge2 of putting together3 a team that can defend4 its title in the 2010-11 season. It'll be the last stand5 for me, and I hope a grand one6.
1. Deliberation, i.e. Meditation, "Zazen." Meditation is one of the most fundamental of all Zen Buddhist practices, and Jackson is said to have taught the Chicago Bulls "dream team" of the 1990s the practice to allow them to relax and think more clearly before making split-second on-the-court decisions, a practice he carried over to the Lakers and implemented as recently as the 2010 championship, according to some sources. No doubt the old sage practiced extensive meditation to arrive at his own peaceful inner conclusion to return as coach.
2. Challenge, i.e. "Koan." Another cardinal Zen Buddhist tradition, koan refers to a vexing, pithy, often personalized thought-problem posed as a question or statement by a Zen Master to one of his initiates. The initiate must then meditate on the koan and attempt to arrive at a meaning. More than a mere Buddhist riddle, the koan is designed to get the problem-solver to think beyond the preconceived notions and limitations of the rational mind. Broadly speaking, Zen is often concerned with a series of escalating personal challenges.
One of the most famous Koans goes, "If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him," which advocates a seemingly a bizarre piece of aggression founder of the philosophy. Yet it actually reinforces the Buddhist notion that thinking about, i.e. "encountering," the master is inherently delusional, that one should concentrate on bettering oneself rather than embodying or living up to an outward ideal. Interestingly, Jackson himself has even riffed off this parable, writing: "If you meet the Buddha in the lane, feed him the ball."
3. Together, i.e. "Sesshin" and "Dharma Transmission." Many Zen teachings have been imparted during gatherings of students and Zen Masters. Gatherings that involve intensive meditation are called "sesshin." In fact, the ideal form of Zen knowledge transmission is a mental unification, a "one-to-one" transmission, where a teacher imparts wisdom to a student during a gathering without words or explicit physical expressions of any kinds. The most famous example is of course the first, conveyed a parable called the "Flower Sermon." It goes something like this:
Gathering together in an orchard of blooming sweet lime trees, the students waited for their esteemed teacher, Kasyapa. Slowly walking down the dirt path, relying on his danda walking staff for balance, Kasyapa joined his students. He sat quietly for a long time, enjoying the fragrance of the lime blossoms. Finally, he raised his danda staff. Everyone stared at Kasyapa -- serious, intent, focused and silent. Only Shifu Miao Zhang [a student] smiled, and then lifted his cane and pointed at a lime blossom. Kasyapa pointed his danda at Shifu Zhang. Another transmission was completed. The sacred thread remained unbroken.
Jackson himself has described the kind of unity he seeks to achieve on the court in a 2004 interview with EnlightenNext magazine. As he put it: "It's interesting -- the other players are consciously aware of the fact that they're anticipating their teammate's behavior. Somehow, mysteriously, they just know the timing is right. They simply feel something out ahead of themselves and make their move."
4. Defense, i.e. Zen Warriors. Jackson and the Lakers are certainly ready to defend their position at the top of pro basketball's hierarchy, but does that not not betray a sort of worldly affectation not in keeping with Buddhism? Not according to scholar Thich Thien-An, who notes:
The first supporters of Zen when it was introduced from China to Japan were the samurai, the warrior class, who found in Zen's emphasis on self-control and equanimity of mind a method of discipline conducive to their own ends. Zen has also influenced the development of techniques of self-defense like judo and karate. The principle underlying these different applications of Zen is that any field of activity can serve as a means for realizing the truth of Zen.
5. Last Stand, i.e. "Enso." On the surface, this type of Zen calligraphy appears to be the opposite of a last stand, as it is repeated over and over and over again until it is mastered. The object is to draw a perfectly round circle, symbolizing many things: the artist's connection with the moment, the universe, enlightenment. And yet, as the artist continues to draw circles, he or she transcends through different levels of awareness, just as Jackson has transcended through playoff after playoff and emerged victorious. As one Buddhist who had achieved enlightenment wrote:
At the right time, you will be able to break through to the state of nothingness. You will attain this realization because of some thing and you will know with your entire being that you are at the center of absolute nothingness, at the center of an infinite circle. To be at the center of an infinite circle in this human form is to be Buddha himself. You have been saved from the beginning. You will know all these things with certainty.
6. Grand One, i.e. "Roshi." Although he was describing the upcoming season itself, it's hard not to interpret Jackson's words as a bit of self-reflection. Of course, the old Zen practitioner would toss in a reference to himself as a "Grand One," or the "venerable master of a great school."
Filed under: Sports, Surge Desk
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Coal Plant Adds Solar Panels
Jeremy Alm
Cameo, CO -- The Cameo power plant is doing something that no other coal power plant in the country has done before. It's going green by implementing solar panels.
"It's the technology of the future and it's a great way to prove it out," says David Eves, President and CEO of Public Service Company of Colorado, an Xcel Energy Company.
Earlier today Ccel reps at the Cameo power plant unveiled it's completed project and gave themselves a pat on the back.
"It's the first time the technology has been developed and deployed like this in the world," says Eves.
Ccel says the solar panels heat the water before it goes into the plant's boiler, saving power and making the plant greener.
"We'll continue to get integrate more and more renewable energy in our mix, cleaner energy. We're looking at all our coal plants around our system now. And looking to see if we can improve on our emissions and our environmental performance," says Eves.
The 4. 5 million dollar project started in August of 2009. Depending on the results, the technology might be used across the country.
"Solar has a lot of potential to be a major source of energy for this country. And so we're kind of on the beginning cusp of integrating solar power into our existing power structures," says Hank Price, Abengoa Vice President.
For now, Price says Xcel is looking to use the technology at it's larger coal plants in Colorado.
"It offers a low cost opportunity for integrating solar into our existing power grid," says Price.
There's no word when other Xcel power plants will use this technology.
Cameo, CO -- The Cameo power plant is doing something that no other coal power plant in the country has done before. It's going green by implementing solar panels.
"It's the technology of the future and it's a great way to prove it out," says David Eves, President and CEO of Public Service Company of Colorado, an Xcel Energy Company.
Earlier today Ccel reps at the Cameo power plant unveiled it's completed project and gave themselves a pat on the back.
"It's the first time the technology has been developed and deployed like this in the world," says Eves.
Ccel says the solar panels heat the water before it goes into the plant's boiler, saving power and making the plant greener.
"We'll continue to get integrate more and more renewable energy in our mix, cleaner energy. We're looking at all our coal plants around our system now. And looking to see if we can improve on our emissions and our environmental performance," says Eves.
The 4. 5 million dollar project started in August of 2009. Depending on the results, the technology might be used across the country.
"Solar has a lot of potential to be a major source of energy for this country. And so we're kind of on the beginning cusp of integrating solar power into our existing power structures," says Hank Price, Abengoa Vice President.
For now, Price says Xcel is looking to use the technology at it's larger coal plants in Colorado.
"It offers a low cost opportunity for integrating solar into our existing power grid," says Price.
There's no word when other Xcel power plants will use this technology.
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