Muddy Water Zen

Samsara: The movie

2012-01-26T20:37:00.000-05:00

Samsara is a word that describes the ever turning wheel of life. It is a concept both intimate and vast – the perfect subject for filmmakers Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson, whose previous collaborations include Chronos and Baraka, and who, in the last 20 years, have travelled to over 58 countries together in the pursuit of unique imagery.Samsara takes the form of a nonverbal, guided meditation that will transform viewers in countries around the world as they are swept along a journey of the soul. Through powerful images pristinely photographed in 70mm and a dynamic music score, the film illuminates the links between humanity and the rest of the nature, showing how our life cycle mirrors the rhythm of the planet.

Visit the website here.

Professor researching Buddhist legal systems

2012-01-26T16:55:00.001-05:00

University of Buffalo Professor Rebecca French, an expert in Tibetan law, is currently on a Fullbright scholarship in New Delhi, India, conducting research on Buddhist legal traditions. Hosted by Jawaharlal Nehru University, her project is titled “The Buddha’s Theory of Secular Law.”

In a piece from the UB Reporter, French explained, “The result of this project will be a book that will provide a more nuanced understanding of legal ideas during the Buddha’s life, his approach to monastic and secular legal problems, the central texts that present his legal theories and the legal policies of the first Buddhist empire in India.” She continued, “This will set a foundation for a new subdiscipline and add Buddhism to the world’s major legal traditions.”

From Buddhadharma

Dharma Talk - Superman and Suicide

2012-01-22T18:29:00.002-05:00

Talk Given By: Hae Doh Sunim
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Duration - 20:16

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Listen to other previous Dharma Talks here.

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan

2012-01-22T17:08:00.003-05:00

Somewhere between meditation and metal lies this artsy Canadian act.
By Jenn Pelly , January 10, 2012 for Pitchfork.

Queens by YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN

One man's trash is an art-rock band's treasure, or so goes the 2007 origin story behind psych-opera collective Yamantaka // Sonic Titan. The group's core duo of drummer Alaska B and singer Ruby Kato Attwood studied fine arts at Montreal's Concordia University, where the band sprung from attempts to transform street garbage into "approximations of Eastern instruments."

On their recent self-made, self-titled album the duo draw inspiration from their respective Asian-Canadian upbringings as they "negotiate clashes between dominant cultures and those who are oppressed" by fusing Western and Eastern sounds. Like stoner-rock imaginings of Chinese opera and flower-child psychedelia, the music blends philosophies of Buddhism, meditation, and mantra with the band's love of extreme sounds like black metal, industrial, and noise. Their name, for example, pins a reference to the Buddhist deity Yamantaka with a song title from doom metal band Sleep's Dopesmoker.

"We would perform all kinds of violent acts on-stage," says Alaska, talking about early Yamantaka shows, which blended their Zen inclinations with brutal, Gwar-like theatrics. Ruby and Alaska winkingly dubbed their sound "Noh-wave," referencing No Wave and Noh, the classical form of Japanese musical drama.

Read the interview and hear more sound clips from Pitchfork.

BUY the digital CD from iTunes or the band's website here. (I just bought it myself!)

YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN - COUNTING TRACK from LZKA on Vimeo.

Matchmaking service gives Buddhist monks a boost in dating market

2012-01-21T17:44:00.000-05:00

Buddhist monks and matchmaking services may sound like an unlikely combination, but many Buddhist sects in the country are now offering such services for their monks as their temples face a dearth of successors and possible integration with other temples.

One such sect is the Koyasan Shingon, headquartered on Mount Koya, Wakayama Prefecture.

Out of its 3,700 temples nationwide, some 800 currently have no managing monks and are being overseen by other temples.

In Japan, it is typical for relatives of monks — especially head monks — to inherit caretaker duties of their temples.

But because of a lack of successors, the monks have become desperate to find wives in order to preserve this tradition and save their temples from being closed or integrated.

According to Takua Kamei of Kongobuji, the head temple of the Shingon sect, one problem is that "the harder they pursue Buddhism, the fewer opportunities they can have to meet people of the opposite sex."

Kamei noted that families, known as "danka" in Japanese, which for generations have provided voluntary financial support to Buddhist temples, are also concerned about their temples if monks remain single and have no successors....

Continue reading on Buddhist Channel.

Officials warn of ‘fake monks’ targeting Phuket tourists

2012-01-21T17:34:00.000-05:00

The 'monk police’ of Phuket are warning everyone on the island of con men who are impersonating Buddhist monks and tricking locals and tourists into giving them money.

Chatpawit Jinapong, Director of the Phuket branch of the National Office of Buddhism, which operates directly under the Prime Minister's Office, spoke with the Phuket Gazette about these fraudulent “monks”.

“High season in Phuket attracts a lot of these con men who dress like Buddhist monks to get money, which really isn’t appropriate. We found that most are from Cambodia, here in Phuket on tourist visas, though there are Thai fake-monks too,” he said.

On casual observation the phony monks appear to be collecting alms as part of a merit making ceremony. However, their true objective is to collect money rather than other offerings such as food.

“Thai monks follow a very strict monastic code and they do not collect alms after 8am, whereas these fake monks are collecting alms all day long,” said Mr Chatpawit.

“However, we have caught more than 10 and Phuket Immigration have deported them,” he said...

Continue reading from Buddhist Channel.

China vs. India: the battle for Buddha

2012-01-21T17:31:00.000-05:00

With competing conferences, organizations, and cultural tours, both China and India have sought to leverage their historical ties with Buddhism for so-called soft power in the region.

India seeks to use its common cultural heritage to overcome China's ethnic ties to the overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, and China seeks to limit the damage from its repression of religious freedom in Tibet and its incessant sparring with the Dalai Lama.

“This is part of China's effort to use Buddhism to gain an entry into Nepal, [and] to show to their Buddhists that they're showing equal attention to Buddhism outside the country,” Jayaveda Ranade, formerly additional secretary for East Asia with the Indian government, said of a Chinese proposal for the development of Lumbini.

Yadav, Nepal's president, made no mention of China before the crowd gathered at Buddha's birthplace, though in Kathmandu Wen pledged more than $140 million in aid for the building of infrastructure and other projects. Wen also agreed to consider Nepal's request to extend the 1,200 mile Qinghai-Tibet railway onward to Kathmandu and Lumbini....

Continue reading at Global Post.

Teaching Michigan prisoners the art of meditation

2012-01-17T16:29:00.002-05:00

From Michigan Radio:

You might remember the "Three Things" series we aired in 2010… we asked people from all walks of life what we could all do to help the state. We wanted to air some positive stories in a time when many in the state were facing economic hardship. In 2011, the series morphed into “What’s Working.” We highlighted various initiatives and projects that were trying to have a positive effect on the state...

Well, for 2012, we’re going to talk with people who are standing apart from the crowd, being and making the kind of change they want to see in the state. Throughout the year you’ll hear from people making waves and going against the grain. We’ll ask them why they’re working so hard on their projects, and try to see things from their perspective. This morning we speak with Reverend Sokuzan Robert Brown. He teaches meditation in Michigan prisons.

Story can be listened to from their website here.

David Duchovny goes on Buddhist retreat, ends up cleaning tables

2012-01-16T17:40:00.002-05:00

David Duchovny recently paid a lot of money to go on a Buddhist meditation retreat at a monastery in New York, and while many would think that you spend all of your time there meditating and relaxing, Duchovny said that they put him to work as soon as he got there.

Duchovny revealed that he ended up spending more time busing tables, working in the gardens and shoveling horse manure more than meditating. He said;

"I just went on a retreat to a zen monastery in upstate New York. It's a type of Buddhism and meditation is a big part of it. I'm a beginner, I've only been meditating for a little while. You pay a fee to go for this weekend and what I didn't know is that even though you pay a fee they put you to work immediately.”

“You go there and first you bus some tables after you eat and they had me working in the garden everyday for an hour-and-a-half. It was fun, I was shoveling horse shit out there. You pay money and then you shovel horse [expletive]!"

David went on to talk about the actual meditation process which included being wacked with a stick, and finding ways to sit cross legged for 45 minutes without your legs going numb....

Continue reading from Buddhist Channel.

Dharma Talk - Holiness is Messy

2012-01-15T14:39:00.002-05:00

Talk Given By: Hae Doh Sunim
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Duration - 12:50

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Listen to other previous Dharma Talks here.

Army dad told prayer flags have to go

2012-01-13T12:45:00.003-05:00

A Hudson man is refusing to take down the Buddhist prayer flags he attached to the exterior of his rented townhouse the day his son left for basic training in the U.S. Army.

Don Chering got a phone call from his landlady last week telling him that she had received a letter from the Lighthouse Villas Homeowners Association ordering the prayer flags to be removed by the end of the month.

Chering put up the prayer flags and an American flag on Nov. 9, the day his son Aaron left for basic training in the U.S. Army at Fort Sill, Okla.

As a practicing Buddhist, the flags are his way of supporting the troops and his son’s military service, Chering says.

He told his landlady (who he said was apologetic about relating the association’s order) that he wouldn’t comply with the demand....

Read the full story at The Hudson Star-Observer here.

Are Any Christians Running for President?

2012-01-12T20:51:00.002-05:00

While not explicitly Buddhist, this is applicable to ALL religions, including Buddhism. Simply calling one's self 'Christian' or 'Buddhist' doesn't necessarily make it true. Real religious/spiritual values and virtues are manifested in one's actions and behavior.

From Huffington Post:

I hate to belabor the obvious, but in this time of crazy politics it might serve some purpose.
Are any of the Republican candidates -- for president -- Christian?

I know that all of them except Ron Paul have repeatedly said that they are. But is saying that one is Christian all it takes to be one?

By analogy, I can say (for example) that I am brave, that I believe in marital fidelity, or that I love animals. The test of whether or not those statements are true, however, is not just that I say them over and over. To see whether or not they reflect my personal reality, we would have to look at my behavior.....

Continue reading at Huffington Post.

Buddhism and human rights: The journey to the west

2012-01-11T15:51:00.002-05:00

The Chinese classic Journey to the West, based on the Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang's pilgrimage to India, is actually an allegory of a Buddhist spiritual journey. Also known as Adventures of the Monkey God, it is a fitting tool to compare Buddhism and Kantian philosophy.

As fantastically explained by Venerable Khemananda in his commentary to Journey, the Buddhist way to enlightenment is allegorised by the arduous voyage to India which Xuanzang and his company must take while battling spiritual obstacles in the form of hostile demons and selfish humans. On the other hand, Kantian reasoning, which can achieve enlightened altruism, can be thought of as the spontaneous Monkey King, symbolising emerging wisdom (panna). Although he can fly to India and have an audience with the Buddha (enlightenment), Monkey can never remain there. His indispensable role is to guide the whole troupe.

Represents forming morality (sila), the gluttonous Pigsy often lapses into greed and lust and must be constantly kept in check. Both Kant and the Buddha, therefore, formulated principles for human ethics. As all humans are of equal dignity, Kant says that we must not put our needs above those of others. The Buddha also says, "On traversing all directions with the mind; one finds no one anywhere dearer than oneself; likewise everyone holds himself most dear."

Because an ethical principle is aimed as a law for all beings with equal dignity, it must be equally valid for all. To ensure this, Kant says it must pass the test of being universalised. That is, when adopted by everyone it can never be in conflict with itself....

Continue reading from The Nation

2012 Lecture Series Kicks Off Next Month

2012-01-10T08:16:00.001-05:00

Just announced. 2012 Muddy Water Zen Lecture Series. Opening lecture will be on Sunday, February 19 following morning service and will also be presented at Grand Rapids Zen Center and Buddhist Temple Saturday, February 25. First lecture will be "An Introduction to Korean Buddhist Temples." Check out the attached flyer for more info and other topics this series will explore throughout the year!

Lecture Promo Poster PDF

Dharma Talk - Just Chillin'

2012-01-09T17:10:00.001-05:00

Talk Given By: Rev. Hae Kyong Bup Sanim
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Duration - 15:50

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Listen to other previous Dharma Talks here.

Dharma Talk - The Artificiality of Time

2012-01-09T12:14:00.001-05:00

Talk Given By: Hae Doh Sunim
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Duration - 17:34

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Listen to other previous Dharma Talks here.

Dharma Talk - A Cat Named Ghost

2012-01-09T12:09:00.001-05:00

Talk Given By: Hae Doh Sunim
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Duration - 16:24

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Listen to other previous Dharma Talks here.

Two more monks set themselves alight in China

2012-01-09T12:03:00.002-05:00

A former Tibetan monk has died and another is seriously injured after setting themselves on fire in southwest China's Sichuan province on Friday -- the 13th and 14th acts of self-immolation in the country since March.

A 22-year-old man set himself ablaze at a crossroad in Aba county in the Aba Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture before police put the fire out and sent him to a local hospital, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.

Another man, believed to be 18 years old, died later that day after setting himself alight in a hotel nearby, Xinhua reported local officials as saying.

"These latest self-immolations confirm that what we are currently witnessing in Tibet is a sustained and profound rejection of the Chinese occupation," said Stephanie Brigden, director of London-based Free Tibet, which advocates Tibetan independence.
"It is a damning indictment of the international community that 14 people, in different parts of Tibet, have now chosen to set themselves on fire and the international community has failed to respond.
"We can only expect that such acts of protest will continue for as long as world leaders turn a blind eye to the desperate situation in Tibet."....

Source: CNN

S(e)oul Search: The Changing Religious Landscape in Seoul and Its Implications for Defining “Asia”

2012-01-09T09:53:00.000-05:00

Anex2010 Fall NamiKim

An Idiot Abroad 2 - Karl Meditates in Japan

2012-01-08T08:18:00.002-05:00

A clip from season 2 of An Idiot Abroad where Karl goes to Japan and happens to visit a Buddhist temple. Great show, if you're not familiar, check it out!

An Idiot Abroad is a travel documentary television series broadcast on Sky1, as well as a spin-off book published by Canongate Books,[1] created by and featuring Karl Pilkington and his former radio show colleagues Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.[2]

An Idiot Abroad charts Pilkington's reactions when visiting the New Seven Wonders of the World, as well as the situations he's placed in and cultural differences and idiosyncrasies in the countries he visits. It was stated by the show's producers that Pilkington has no prior warning about these situations.[3] Gervais commented: "This is a [more real] documentary than most others you'll ever see on television. We don't plan it, he doesn't know what's going to happen."

The second series premise shows Karl having to do "The Bucket List" (things to do before you die). Pilkington agreed to do a second series on the condition that he was to choose what he would do and that he got proper toilets. However to make sure the series stayed interesting, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant went behind Karl's back and have made surprises for him to make him hate it even more, so like the first series he had no idea about what was going to happen.
In series 2, he visits more places than he did in the first series after making several detours through the course of the series.
The ongoing theme of both the television series and the book is that Karl Pilkington indicates he has no interest in global travel and so Merchant and Gervais make him travel, for the purposes of the documentary, while they themselves stay in London and monitor his progress....

Korea's isolated Buddhism opening doors

2012-01-07T22:57:00.002-05:00

In the last decade or so, a rise in the popularity of Buddhism-related practices has brought the formerly isolated Korean Buddhism much closer to everyday life, even for non-Buddhists and non-Koreans.

Meditation retreats, recreational yoga or templestay programs are now a familiar routine in the lives of many people within and outside Korea.

In this backdrop, the Jogye Order, the largest Buddhist sect under the leadership of Ven. Jaseung, has placed domestic and overseas missionary work as one of its main goals. One of the key policies of the Jogye Order, running many of Korea’s oldest and most prominent Buddhist temples, is to globalize the nation’s Buddhism which was first introduced here through China.

A U.S. chapter of the Jogye Order was established in New York in September for the first time, overseeing the administration of 30 Korean temples in the New York and New Jersey areas.

Compared to other Asian countries like Tibet, Japan or China, Korean Buddhism has largely remained inside the country.
“If Korean Buddhism was known to the world, the national brand and status could be spontaneously uplifted together,” Ven. Jaseung said during a press conference held during his Paris visit.

Ven. Jaseung said that the order will support students majoring in Korean studies at the University of Columbia in the United States every year with grants totaling $100,000 and strengthen overseas campaigns by increasing assistance to foreign monks practicing Korean Buddhism....

Continue reading from The Korea Times here.

Bridging Korean Buddhism and the West

2012-01-07T22:53:00.002-05:00

Musang Temple has a unique history and status among the some 2,000 Buddhist temples in the nation.

Currently led by non-Korean monks, it was founded with the purpose to serve as a bridge between Korean Buddhism and the West. It is the only Buddhist temple in the nation where both the positions of the spiritual leader and the abbot are filled by foreign monks.

In just over a decade, the temple has firmly established itself as one of the most prominent international Zen centers in the country, hosting a community of foreign monks, nuns and laypeople who practice Zen following the teachings of the late Great Zen Master Seung Sahn (1927-2004).....

Continue reading from The Korea Times here.

For more information, visit www.musangsa.org.

Upcoming Buddhist Books - Early 2012

2012-01-04T12:21:00.003-05:00

Here is a short list of upcoming Buddhist books to be published or released in early 2012.

Some notable picks are:

Discipline and Debate: The Language of Violence in a Tibetan Buddhist Monastery

Nothing and Everything - The Influence of Buddhism on the American Avant Garde: 1942 - 1962

Faces of Compassion: Classic Bodhisattva Archetypes and Their Modern Expression

Preview and Pre-Order all 23 books at Amazon.

Japanese creating management model to attract Gen Y to Buddhist temple

2012-01-04T11:05:00.002-05:00

Keisuke Matsumoto is creating a management model to help Buddhist temples in Japan attract Gen Y based on his learnings from the Hyderabad B-school, reports Kala Vijayraghavan

A year ago, a 32-year-old Buddhist monk completed a post-graduate programme from the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, the B-school that's known to have everyone from dancers to scuba divers as students. Keisuke Matsumoto from the Komyoji temple in Japan is now busy putting to practice his learnings by creating a new management model for modern Buddhist temples in Japan. His focus is to attract more members of the millennial generation to these places of worship.

Matsumoto is working on updating Buddhist temples to meet the modern needs of people without disturbing their religious traditions.

He is also recommending the MBA programme of ISB to other monks so that they can pick up basic lessons in management that can help in running temples and coping with issues better through analytical and strategic thinking.

"As a Buddhist monk, being an MBA graduate doesn't make any difference to my position or rank in the temple. But it makes a difference to the quality of my work," says Matsumoto. "While Buddhism is my life, I am not satisfied with its current situation. To promote Buddhism among modern people, we have to make it more relevant," he adds.....

Continue reading at The Economic Times.

In the Footsteps of Wonhyo -- A 21st Century Korean Pilgrimage

2012-01-04T10:56:00.004-05:00

When the idea struck Tony MacGregor in 2007 to start a more than 400-kilometer-long modern-day pilgrimage in the footsteps of Wonhyo (617-686), Korea's most beloved monk, he wanted it to be more than just paying homage to the respected Buddhist figure.

So he gathered other expats who agreed with his cause, and on the morning of Sunday, Dec. 4, a five-member group set out on the journey that started in the southeastern city of Gyeongju, capital of Korea's Silla Kingdom, and ended in Dangjin, a short distance west of Seoul, last week.

"For the three years I had lived in Korea I was always touched by the kindness and generosity of Koreans," says the 66-year-old Canadian journalist. "Paying homage to one of Korea's most beloved monks was my way of giving something back to the country."

The pilgrimage itself is the first of its kind ever undertaken in honor of the revered monk, who found enlightenment in Dangjin in the 7th century while attempting to travel to China for more intense study of Buddhism. The story goes that he and a close friend took shelter from heavy rains one night while traveling. Wonhyo stumbled on what he thought was a gourd and quenched his thirst with cool drink from it. The next morning, he discovered that the gourd was a human skull and that the drink he found so refreshing was stale water....

Continue reading at Yonhap

In the Footsteps of Wonhyo

Bad Buddhist Vibes

2012-01-04T10:41:00.003-05:00

Buddhism is America’s fastest-growing religion, and it’s making some people uncomfortable

At least 2 million Buddhists currently practice their religion in the United States, and many of their fellow citizens disapprove. A survey conducted by political scientists Robert Putnam and David Campbell, coauthors of American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us (2010), endeavored to determine how Americans perceive the nation’s major religions and found that Buddhists rank second to last, above only Muslims, writes James Coleman in Buddhadharma (Fall 2011). The same survey reports that whereas a large Christian church coming to their neighborhood would be acceptable, a large Buddhist temple would raise objections from one in five Americans.

The negative image seems to stem from a lack of publicity, which has contributed to the sort of ignorance that fuels fear. “Buddhism has remained something of a stealth religion, virtually invisible to most people outside our cosmopolitan coastal enclaves,” explains Coleman, who entreats practitioners to enter the public discourse, especially since the faith has become America’s fastest-growing religion with numbers rivaling those of Mormons, Muslims, Anglicans/Episcopalians, and practicing Jews. Coleman points to His Holiness the Dalai Lama for inspiration, not only because of his peace-loving message, but also because of his carefully crafted public image.

From UTne

Venerable Ji-kwan Passes Away At the Age of 79

2012-01-04T10:38:00.003-05:00

A revered Buddhist monk here in Korea, the Venerable Ji-kwan, has passed away at the age of 79 after battling chronic asthma for many years.

A former chief executive of the largest Buddhist sect in the country, the Jogye Order, Venerable Ji-kwan died late Monday evening at Gyeongguk temple in Seoul.

The Buddhist monk had been under medical treatment since September as his health rapidly deteriorated with age.

Venerable Ji-kwan was known as a studying monk in Korean Buddhism who founded the Kasan Institute of Buddhist Culture, a research institute dedicated to the study of Buddhism and devoting most of his life to publishing Buddhist books.

A memorial altar will be set up at the Haeinsa temple in South Gyeongsang province later this morning and a cremation rite will be held on the 8th of this month.

About Ven Ji Kwan

Ven. Ji-Kwan was born Dec. 9, 1932 and entered into the priesthood at Haein-sa Temple in South Gyeongsang Province in 1947. He served as head monk at the temple from 1970 to 1972 and has worked as a professor of Dongguk University. He was also president of the university for four years from 1986.

Ven. Ji Kwan became the 32nd top administrator of the Jogye Order, Korea's biggest Buddhist order in 2005, winning a majority 165 votes out of the order's 320 representatives.

Ven. Ji Kwan led the Jogye Order for the next four years, following his predecessor Ven. Bub Jang, who died of heart attack in September 2005.

The nation's largest religious sect runs 2,000 temples, with 15,000 Buddhist monks and nuns and around 8 million followers, making it the nation's largest religious sect. Buddhism is the biggest religion in Korea.

Read more at The Korean Herald

The Buddhist Channel.

Buddhist Leader Stressed Simpler Lifestyle, Mind

Monk's crusade helps Korean history go home

2012-01-04T10:36:00.002-05:00

A pledge by Japan to hand over cultural artefacts from the Korean peninsula's last dynasty has been welcomed in South Korea -- particularly by a monk who spent four years trying to make it happen.

Shocked to discover that valuable items -- including royal records of the Chosun Dynasty (1392-1910) -- were still held by Japan after its 1910 annexation of the peninsula, Hye Moon, now 37, began a campaign for their return in 2006.

"I wondered why such precious cultural properties had yet to be returned to our country," Hye, who lives in Seoul, told AFP.

Then on Tuesday, after more than 40 trips to Japan intended to persuade politicians and lawmakers, Hye finally got the news he had long sought ahead of the August 29 centenary of the annexation.

Japan's government issued a fresh apology for the 1910 - 1945 colonial rule and said it would hand over the items South Korea had been demanding "in the near future"...

Continue reading from The Buddhist Channel.

The Real Buddha Bar, Tended By Tokyo Monks

2012-01-04T10:34:00.001-05:00

By Lucy Craft for NPR:

2011 Blog Statistics

2011-12-27T22:43:00.004-05:00

As I'll be leaving for Japan tomorrow to celebrate New Year's, here are the statistics for the MWZ Blog for 2011. Blog posting in 2012 will resume on 1/4/12 with highlights and reviews of the top stories of 2011 plus, a preview of upcoming books to be published in 2012. Until then, everyone have a safe and enjoyable holiday season.

Hapjang,

Bup Mee Sunim

2011 Blog Statistics:

Total Posts: 375
Average Posts/Month: 31.25
60% increase over 2010!

Total Visits: 25,468
81% increase over 2010!
Total Visits to Date: 31,362

Visits By Country:

USA - 20,060
Canada - 1,290
India - 718
UK - 638
-------------
South Korea - 154

Top Referring Sites:

1. Google - 3,954
2. MWZ - 1,065
3. Google India - 530
------------------
6. Facebook - 384

Top Search Terms:

1. Starving Buddha - 840
2. Gandhara (Art) - 253
3. Bodhidharma - 45

Top Posts:

1. Gandhara Art Exhibition in Seoul - 2,629

2. Bodhidharma Portrayal Wrong in Film - 269

3. Buddhism: The Most Accurate World Religion - 102

Christmas Dharma

2011-12-24T22:07:00.002-05:00

When we see each other again on Christmas Eve for the celebration of Holy Jesus' birth, let us do so in peace and with a good vibration and a happy mind. I think it would be wonderful. To attend the celebration with an angry disposition would be so sad. Come instead with a beautiful motivation and much love. Have no discrimination, but see everything as a golden flower, even your worst enemy. Then Christmas, which so often produces an agitated mind, will become so beautiful.

When you change your mental attitude, the external vision also changes. This is a true turning of the mind. There is no doubt about this. I am not special, but I have had experience of doing this, and it works. You people are so intelligent, so you can understand how the mind has this ability to change itself and its environment. There is no reason why this change cannot be for the better.

Some of you might think, "Oh, I want to have nothing to do with Jesus, nothing to do with the Bible." This is a very angry, emotional attitude to have towards Christianity. If you really understood, you would recognize that what Jesus taught was, "Love!" It is as simple and as profound as that. If you had true love within you, I am sure you would feel much more peaceful than you do now....

Continue reading from Christmas Dharma
by Lama Thubten Yeshe
in Silent Mind, Holy Mind

Dharma Talk - Impermanence and the Existential Crisis

2011-12-19T15:35:00.001-05:00

Talk Given By: Hae Doh Sunim
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Duration - 18:28

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Listen to other previous Dharma Talks here.

BREAKING NEWS: KIM JONG-IL HAS DIED

2011-12-19T12:05:00.001-05:00

Kim Jong-il, the leader of North Korea, has died at the age of 69 after suffering a heart attack, North Korean state media has announced.

Kim, known in the communist country as the "Dear Leader", died on Saturday aboard a train during a trip out of Pyongyang, a tearful presenter for the official KCNA news agency said on Monday.

May we all keep the people of the Korean Peninsula (North and South) in our hearts and thoughts as they face uncertainty in this time of change and hope that this transition does not bring any more suffering.

BBC Coverage here.

ABC Video here.

Wikipedia Entry on Death of Kim Jong-Il

CNN Coverage here.

USA Today Coverage

NYTimes Coverage here.

Dharma Talk - Words and Language

2011-12-12T12:51:00.001-05:00

Talk Given By: Bup Mee Sunim
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Duration - 16:11

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Listen to other previous Dharma Talks here.

Self-Immolation in Tibet

2011-12-12T11:50:00.004-05:00

From PRI's The World (12/9):

A former Buddhist monk in Tibet has reportedly died from his burns after setting himself on fire earlier this month.

The announcement came Friday from a Tibetan rights group based in India.

The Chinese government hasn’t confirmed the news.

Activists say the man who died last week was the latest of at least 12 Tibetans who have set themselves on fire this year to protest China’s treatment of Tibet.

Anchor Marco Werman talks to Charlene Makley, a professor of anthropology specializing on Tibet at Reed College in Portland, Oregon.

Restored scroll painting exhibited at Yeongsanjae Buddhist Ceremony in LA

2011-12-12T11:43:00.001-05:00

Korean monks of Kuyangsa Temple in Incheon, South Korea, performed a ceremony combining chants, dance, and music. Also included was an exhibition of a recently restored important Korean Buddhist painting, Buddha Seokamoni (Shakyamuni) Preaching to the Assembly on Vulture Peak.

Watch a fascinating video about the painting and its restoration, and read more about this weekend’s ceremony, below.

video platform video management video solutions video player

According to Unesco, the ceremony is largely maintained today by the Korean Buddhist Taego Order. Unesco also reports that “Yeongsanjae is held in temples throughout the Republic of Korea to help all beings enter the world of truth by worshiping and admiring the Buddha and his laws and monks. The ceremony serves as an important space for transmission of values and art forms and for meditation, training and enlightenment.”

Source: Shambhala Sun News

Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World - Free Audiobook

2011-12-10T22:29:00.002-05:00

"Download His Holiness the Dalai Lama's new book (read by Martin Sheen) ABSOLUTELY FREE!! Limited time offer from Amazon/Audible. Even if you don't have the Audible player, you can download that for free too!" -Rev. Danny Fisher

Emmy Award-winning actor Martin Sheen (The West Wing) lends his distinguished voice to this stirring call to move beyond religion for the guidance to improve human life on individual, community, and global levels, including a guided meditation practice for cultivating key human values.
Ten years ago, in his best-selling Ethics for a New Millennium, His Holiness the Dalai Lama first proposed an approach to ethics based on universal rather than religious principles. Now, in Beyond Religion, the Dalai Lama, at his most compassionate and outspoken, elaborates and deepens his vision for the nonreligious way.
Transcending the mere "religion wars", he outlines a system of secular ethics that gives tolerant respect to religion, but, with the highest level of spiritual and intellectual authority, makes a claim for what the Dalai Lama calls a third way. This is a universal code of ethics that transcends religion boundaries, that recognizes our common humanity and advocates for a global human community based on understanding and mutual respect.
Beyond Religion is an essential statement from the Dalai Lama, a blueprint for all those who yearn for a life fulfilled and a better world.
Audible’s production of Beyond Religion is available free through December 20.

Download for free from Audible here.

“Religious Hate Crime” Suspect Arrested

2011-12-09T09:40:00.001-05:00

“Religious Hate Crime” Suspect Arrested
Suspect states, “Buddha chases me in my dream”

The suspect that vandalized four temples near Haeundae (Busan city) was arrested near Haeundae Bansong region. Haeundae Police Department made a statement on November 26 that Mr. Lee (44 yrs) has been caught as a suspect of vandalism/religious hate crime in Haeundae. On 27th, he was charged for spraying paints and damaging Buddha statues and pagodas.

The Suspected stated that he committed the crime because “The Buddha was chasing him in his dream.
Police suspects that Mr. Lee suffers from severe psychological disturbance according to Mr. Lee’s past psychological assessment. Police mentioned, “Mr. Lee stated that Buddha appeared in his dream and stabbed him repeatedly. Thus he suffered from insomnia, and ended up committing such crime.” Mr. Lee received treatment for the past 1 month, and ‘S’ symbols sprayed on temples are from the shape drawn from a book he saw at the hospital.
The police will investigate further the possibility of deliberate religious hate crime and need to confirm specific facts.

Mr. Lee sprayed red paints on Buddha statues in Gaeun-sa Temple, and broke in to the main Buddha Hall in Jirim-sa Temple by breaking a large window glass. He also sprayed ‘s’ and ‘x’ mark on Buddha statues, Buddhist paintings, and Stupas in November. Approximate amount of damage done through his crime is ~$180,000 US.

From Korean Buddhism.net

Muppet Meditation

2011-12-09T09:35:00.002-05:00

Right click on the video to watch on Youtube to see the full size video.

Linked from The Worst Horse

TIME'S Top 10 Underreported Stories of 2011: #1 - The Self-Immolation of Tibetan Monks

2011-12-08T21:25:00.003-05:00

It usually takes a U.S. President tweaking Beijing by meeting with the Dalai Lama, or a celebrity-studded Richard Gere fundraiser, to get Tibet into the news these days. Even then, the attention is fleeting. Not so the despair of many Tibetans at their plight under Chinese rule, now in its seventh decade. TIME's Hannah Beech sneaked into Twu in eastern Tibet earlier this year to report one of the most gripping stories out of the region in years: At least eight Tibetan monks, two of them teenagers, have torched themselves this year to protest Chinese rule. Self-immolation is an old and horrifying form of protest that Americans first saw on television during the Vietnam War, and which touched off Tunisia's democratic uprising and the wider 'Arab Spring' earlier this year. Its emergence among Buddhist monks in Tibet illustrates what Beech called a "new, nihilistic desperation [that] has descended on the Tibetan plateau." Despite the efforts of the Chinese authorities to quickly dispose of the bodies in the hope of heading off further protest, Beech wrote, "Monks on fire grab headlines." Hopefully, more attention will be paid.

Read more at TIME.com

Buddhist Books of 2011

2011-12-07T19:19:00.003-05:00

I have complied a list over at Amazon that highlights some of the Buddhist books that were published in 2011. Check out the list and pick one up today. Some personal favorites and books of interest include;

Bonds of the Dead: Temples, Burial, and the Transformation of Contemporary Japanese Buddhism

Korean Buddhist Nuns and Laywomen: Hidden Histories, Enduring Vitality

Women Under Primitive Buddhism: Laywomen and Almswomen

Race and Religion in American Buddhism: White Supremacy and Immigrant Adaptation

View all 39 books in the list here at Amazon!

Dharma Talk - The Speed of Change

2011-12-06T18:55:00.004-05:00

Talk Given By: Bup Chon Sunim
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Duration - 15:55

Subscribe in iTunes!

Listen to other previous Dharma Talks here.

Nahan Jesus

2011-12-06T18:46:00.002-05:00

From our friend Dale over at Dale's Korean Temple Adventures Blog:

Seonjisa Temple - 선지사 (Gimhae, Gyeongsangnam-do)

...the real reason Seonjisa Temple has earned such notoriety throughout Korea is for what resides inside the main hall. Uniquely, there are 500 statues of the Nahan seated and standing on the altar inside the hall. Some of the Nahan are Jangyugwansang, Wonhyo-daesa, Dharma-daesa, and Uisang-daesa. This temple is one of the few temples in all of Korea where they worship the 500 Nahan disciples that attained Nirvana (The only other one, at least that I know of, being Geojoam Hermitage in Daegu). What makes these statues so unique is that one of them is a statue of Jesus (Hyansang-jonja). According to the head-monk, Woncheon Sunim, Jesus is the 109th Nahan. This statue of Jesus is to the left of the four Buddhas and Bodhisattvas on the main altar...

Read Dale's whole review here and see all the pictures.

How to be a good Buddhist during Christmas

2011-12-06T18:24:00.002-05:00

via John Pappas on Dec 19, 2010 for Elephant Journal:

There is a complex love/hate relationship with Buddhists during the Christmas season. On one hand many of us grew up in Christian families and attach many emotions and memories to the Holiday season (both positive and negative). On the other hand, some practitioners just want to fit in culturally during the holiday season so they either meld traditions or superficially celebrate.

Many, as children, waited anxiously to open presents under the tree or traveled to visit rarely seen relatives that lived a distance away. Some loved (and still do) the opportunity to find gifts for others that helped express their joy and thankfulness for those in their lives, sometimes but all too briefly. Others just see the time as a moment to celebrate and reflect or to celebrate and reflect the following morning.

Then, of course, there is the rampant consumerism, the thinly-veiled capitalism and blaring commercialism of the holidays. There is a deep and crusty strata of greed, envy and ignorance that builds a fairly strong wall against the usual Buddhist foci of metta (good will), karuna (compassion), mudita (joy for others) and upekkha (equanimity). The Buddha expressed the importance of these elements (the four immeasurables) in the Kalama Sutta....

Continue reading at Elephant Journal here.

Bodhi Day (Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011)

2011-12-06T18:21:00.002-05:00

Bodhi Day is a Buddhist holiday that commemorates the day that the Buddha achieved enlightenment, translated as bodhi in Sanskrit or Pali. Bodhi Day is celebrated on the eighth day of the 12th lunar month. In 2011, Bodhi day is observed on Thursday, Dec. 8.

The Buddha was born as Siddhartha Gautama into a noble, privileged Hindu household. When he was close to 30 years old, he abandoned his material lifestyle and retreated to the forest seeking answers to the problem of suffering, specifically old age, sickness and death. According to tradition, he initially sought bodhi (enlightenment) through meditation, self-mortification and practicing other austerities.

After several years of intense practice, he realized that bodhi was to be found through meditation, but through a Middle Way, away from the extremes of self-mortification and self-indulgence. The story goes that he meditated in Bodh Gaya under a peepal tree (a species of Banyan fig), now famously known as the Bodhi tree, and resolved to continue meditating until he achieved bodhi (enlightenment). It is believed that after 49 days of continuous meditation, Gautama achieved bodhi (enlightenment) at the age of 35. Since then he was known as the Buddha ('enlightened one').

Bodhi Day is celebrated in many mainstream Mahayana traditions including Zen and in Pureland Buddhist schools in China, Japan and Korea. Buddhists commemorate this day by meditation, studying the Dharma, chanting sutras (Buddhist texts) and performing kind acts towards other beings. Some celebrate by a traditional meal of tea, cakes and readings.

84000 “Reading Room” presents words of the Buddha via interactive technology

2011-12-06T18:17:00.002-05:00

“84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha,” the Tibetan canonical translation project headed up by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, has announced the 84000 Reading Room — a project of the organization, in collaboration with the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center (TBRC).

As 84000 explains on its website, “Based on state of the art interactive web technologies, the Reading Room will present translations of the Words of the Buddha in a clear, beautiful, and easy to read format. Users who want to read offline can download the translation in PDF format, or share the translation with friends, colleagues or others. Whatever the format, the translation will maintain the beauty it has in the Reading Room, thereby preserving the intent and meaning of the translation.” The Reading Room will also feature Tibetan, Sanskrit, and English glossaries and a subject classification system for the convenience of readers.

You can find out more at http://84000.co/translations/reading-room/.

Buddhist temple destroyed in early-morning fire

2011-12-06T17:56:00.003-05:00

- A raging fire destroyed a Buddhist temple in a Denver suburb on Monday, CNN affiliate KCNC reports.

One monk was injured in the blaze.

KCNC reported that firefighters tore down walls at the Lao Buddhist Temple of Colorado in an effort to save statues of the Buddha and other religious artifacts.

“I’m glad that everybody was still alive and got out in time. That was my main concern this morning,” Temple secretary Fy Khanthathixay told KCNC. “I don’t care — the rest of it. We can rebuild later.”

The temple released a statement on their website saying, "The Lao Buddhist Temple of Colorado exists on the generosity of the small Lao community, who will now have to rally together to show that a fire will not put a strain on the community's bond and likewise, will not impact their beliefs - if anything, their bond and beliefs will be stronger."

The fire is under investigation by local and national officials since the blaze took place at a religious institution KCNC reported.

Read the story from Denver Post.

2011 Bhikkhu Ordination

2011-12-05T11:53:00.001-05:00

Taego order's Bhikkhu ordination that conducted by supreme patriarch of Taego order. Ven. Hae In (Virginia) and Ven. Myong Ahn (New Jersey) from overseas parish were participated 2011 Bhikkhu ordination

The Lady (2011) Trailer

2011-12-02T20:30:00.001-05:00

The story of pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi and the academic and writer Michael Aris; a true story of love set against political turmoil.

Still Burning: Thirteenth Tibetan Self-Immolates in Eastern Tibet

2011-12-02T20:29:00.002-05:00

Thirteen Tibetans since 2009, most of them monks or former monks, and most recently (Thursday, 1st December, 2011) a former Buddhist monk, have self-immolated as a form of protest against Chinese rule. Several have died as a result of injuries sustained by the flames, or by subsequent beatings by Chinese police trying to stop these protests.

A former monk from the Karma monastery has set himself on fire in Chamdho in eastern Tibet on Thursday, 1st December and his condition is unknown, reports coming out of Tibet say. Tenzin Phuntsok, who is in his 40s, set himself on fire in Chamdo. He was taken away by the Chinese police and his whereabouts is not known. He and his wife Dolma have two sons and a daughter.

12 Tibetans who self immolated earlier this year have called for religious freedom, Human Rights and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet to his people.

Reports say that monks from Karma monastery in Chamdho were not allowed to leave the monastery at the time.

The Chinese government has enforced intense security restrictions in Chamdho since the widespread peaceful protests shook Tibet in 2008, a US-based human rights organization said.

In response, Tibetans and supporters around the world have created a series of events to increase awareness and pressure international governments to take action....

Read more from The Tibet Post.

Part 2: Buddhism and Modern Life in Bhutan

2011-12-02T20:25:00.002-05:00

The guys in the band are in black, with shaggy hair, and attitudes. They do a sound check in their rehearsal room, and then let it rip.

Guitars shriek through a familiar opening, and then move into a hyper-paced riff on the Pachelbel Canon. This might not be the usual punk rock fare – but then, not all self-proclaimed punk rockers are polite, well-spoken Bhutanese college students.

“Most of our audience is not into hard music, like what we like to play,” says 19-year-old guitarist Ughyen Phuntso, a communications major. “So mostly, we end up playing in my garage.”

Or they play here, at the Youth Development Fund’s youth center in Thimpu, where rehearsal space and instruments are offered free, as an attempt to keep young people off the streets and out of trouble.

“We had noticed there were very few places where the youths could engage productively,” says Dorji Ohm, the center’s program director. “They’d go to the movies or to the bars. In fact, we did a survey and found 500 bars and one library, which was shocking.”

Perhaps it wouldn’t be so shocking in many places, but Bhutan is experiencing growing pains. It has long been a mostly rural, deeply Buddhist, largely isolated mountain kingdom. But in the dozen years since it decided to modernize, and opened up to television, internet and other outside influences, cities have grown and, some Bhutanese fear, mores have changed...

Read the full story from PRI

Do Plants Have Minds?

2011-12-02T20:20:00.002-05:00

The guiding idea of this literature seems to be, first, that plants do in fact act, and they act in ways which, when animals act that way, we are disposed to think of as signs of intelligence. Some examples: plants orient and react appropriately not only in response to light, but also wind, water, predators, quality of soil and the volume of available soil, among many other factors.

Granted, by human and animal measures, plants are very slow. But surely it is prejudice to think that only movements and responsiveness that occurs on time scales that seem natural to us count as legitimately expressive of intelligence and mind.

Wittgenstein once remarked that it is only of what looks and acts like a human being that we say that it thinks, it sees, it wants. Wittgenstein was not advocating chauvinism; he was calling attention to the ways in which our conception of intelligence — of mind — is bound up with ways of acting, coping and responding. Indeed, we see this idea at work in discussions of plant intelligence. Scientists are assembling cases that bring out clearly the ways in which plants do look and act like human beings. You just need to look carefully....

Read the full article from NPR blog 13.7

Mumbai attacks survivors preach forgiveness

2011-12-02T20:17:00.002-05:00

On the third anniversary of the start of the deadly attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai that left 165 people dead, the BBC's Rajini Vaidyanathan reports on some of the survivors who are preaching forgiveness in a newly published book.

The Mumbai 25 - as they were known - were in Mumbai on 26 November 2008 as part of a meditation retreat.

Two members of the group were killed in the attacks, but the survivors hope that showing compassion will bring something good from a terrible tragedy.

It was a last-minute cancellation that led Linda Ragsdale to travel from the US to Mumbai in November 2008.

She was part of the meditation retreat with 24 others from the US, Canada and Australia - on a programme organised by the Virginia-based Synchronicity Foundation for modern spirituality....

Continue reading from the BBC

Forgiving The Unforgivable: The True Story of How Survivor s of the Mumbai Terrorist Attack Answered Hatred with Compassion [Amazon]

Fears for ancient Thai temples as floods recede

2011-12-02T20:14:00.002-05:00

The ruined temples of Ayutthaya have survived centuries of tropical heat and rain, but experts fear some have been weakened by Thailand's devastating floods and may be at risk of collapse.

Unusually heavy monsoon rains caused a deluge that swept across much of central and northern Thailand from July, leaving more than 600 people dead and damaging millions of homes and livelihoods.

Ayutthaya, around 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Bangkok, was in one of the worst-hit parts of the country and dramatic aerial images last month showed its temples as islands in a vast lake of floodwater.

The structures spent weeks swamped by the murky waters and now fresh cracks have appeared in some of the pagodas that dominate the historic capital, a major tourist attraction and UNESCO World Heritage site.

As the waters retreat, visitors have been warned not to climb onto the structures in case they collapse.
Chaiyanand Busayarat, director of Ayutthaya Historical Park, estimated at least 650 million baht ($20 million) worth of damage had been done, but said the full consequences of the floods were not yet known....

Continue reading here.

Finding Balance: Buddhism And Modern Life In China

2011-12-02T20:02:00.002-05:00

Wutaishan, in the mountains of China’s northern Shanxi province, has long been a sacred site for Buddhists. They hike mountain paths, and visit temples dating back to the 8th century.
On one mountain path, a group of middle-aged guys hang a rainbow of prayer flags between two trees, and watch, satisfied, as they flutter in the breeze.

One declines to be interviewed. He’s a government official, and wants to keep his practice of Buddhism private. The other, former pharmaceuticals salesman Zhang Jiankun, 42, is downright loquacious.

“I used to smoke, drink, gamble, fight and chase women. I used to like to do all this all day,” he says. “And then, by the time I was 30, I had money – but I also had hypertension, and liver damage from all the drinking. I’d take clients out, so I’d drink every day. And I was fat.”....

Continue reading from PRI

A Victim Treats His Mugger Right

2011-12-02T19:54:00.002-05:00

A old story from 2008 that recently appeared on my Facebook news feed:

Julio Diaz has a daily routine. Every night, the 31-year-old social worker ends his hour-long subway commute to the Bronx one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner.

But one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform, his evening took an unexpected turn.

He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife.

"He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, 'Here you go,'" Diaz says....

Read the whole story here.

2011-12-02T08:47:00.001-05:00

Art as a Weapon

2011-12-01T09:25:00.000-05:00

An upcoming documentary, ‘Art as a Weapon,’ will allow viewers access into the closed country of Burma, and illuminate the intersection of street art, Buddhism and democracy. The project, spearheaded by director Jeff Durkin, began when he witnessed Shepard Fairey painting a 30 ft. mural of a Buddhist monk in his hometown of San Diego. The mural intimately enmeshed three distinct notions: religion, human rights and art. From there, Durkin embarked on his journey to explore the overlap of these three staples of human existence, using Burma as a case study.

More info here at Kickstarter.

Crazy Wisdom - A film by Johanna Demetrakas

2011-11-30T17:38:00.000-05:00

“Any perception can connect us to reality properly and fully. What we see doesn’t have to be pretty, particularly; we can appreciate anything that exists. There is some principle of magic in everything, some living quality. Something living, something real, is taking place in everything.”

The Website for Crazy Wisdom here.

New Translation of Lankavatara Sutra

2011-11-30T17:35:00.000-05:00

The Lankavatara Sutra played an important role in the development of Zen Buddhism and, according to legend, Bodhidharma passed on his personal copy to his dharma heir, Hui-k'o. As I understand it, this sutra is important for teaching that consciousness is reality itself. Further, it provides a detailed analysis of consciousness, heady reading for an unconscious fellow like myself.

Red Pine is known for his translations of the Diamond, Heart and Platform Sutras. This new translation looks fully annotated with notes and references, making it especially valuable for those of us who might not grasp its teaching....

From the Lankavatara Sutra:

Mahamati, words are not ultimate truth, nor is what they express ultimate truth. And how so? Ultimate truth is what buddhas delight in. And what words lead to is ultimate truth. But words are not ultimate truth. Ultimate truth is what is attained by the personal realization of buddha knowledge.

Pre-Order at Amazon here.

Tibet's Next Incarnation

2011-11-30T17:05:00.001-05:00

He has never been to Tibet, never breathed the thin air of the high plateau, nor spun a prayer wheel in the shadow of the great Buddhist monasteries. Yet on Aug. 8, 43-year-old Lobsang Sangay was sworn in as the head of the Tibetan government-in-exile. Born in a refugee camp in India and educated in the U.S., Sangay holds no passport or nationality, only a travel certificate. He expresses homesickness for a place that exists in the foreign mind as an otherworldly haven, and in the Tibetan one as an occupied homeland. "Like all of us in exile, I will never be completely at peace until I go to Tibet," he says when we meet in Dharamsala, a scruffy settlement in the Himalayan foothills of India where the Tibetan refugee community coalesced five decades ago. "The question is: How do we get there?"

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2095608,00.html#ixzz1fEFrPauE

Monks Help Teens in Brooklyn Detention Center

2011-11-30T14:50:00.000-05:00

View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.

News 4 Government Affairs Reporter Melissa Russo takes us inside a Brooklyn juvenile detention center for this exclusive report on how monks are helping troubled teens.

Link here.

What Would Gandhi Occupy?

2011-11-30T14:40:00.000-05:00

GANDHI has been all over New York lately. First he appeared at Occupy Wall Street as a patron saint of sorts, inspiring the protest’s nonviolent tactics. (The demonstrators even named a lane for him.) Then he emerged at the Metropolitan Opera as the star of Philip Glass’s opera “Satyagraha.”

But with the Zuccotti Park encampment removed, and the opera closing on Dec. 1, is that it for Gandhi in New York? Or is it worth asking, what would Gandhi do in the world today?

First, Gandhi would reject the division between the 99 percent and the 1 percent. Gandhi did not believe in enemies: he worked on the premise that solutions emerged only from cooperation. This truth is often lost in discussions of his political tactics of noncooperation and civil disobedience. Noncooperation is best understood as an invitation to cooperate. “We are the 100 percent” may not make for a dramatic slogan, but from Gandhi’s perspective, it is the only way to achieve true and lasting change in society....

Continue reading at NYTimes here.

Also read, Occupy Buddha: Reflections on Occupy Wall Street

Dharma Talk - Mind Filled With Dukkha

2011-11-28T10:11:00.001-05:00

Talk Given By: Bup Chon Sunim
Sunday, November 20, 2011 (Evening)
Duration - 16:31

Subscribe in iTunes!

Thai Monks Struggle to Keep a Flooded Temple Open

2011-11-28T09:25:00.000-05:00

At the Glass Lotus Temple in northeast Bangkok, the Buddhist monks know how the flood inundating their country affects everything in daily life—even death.

Central Bangkok is mostly dry, but in some pockets of the city, floodwaters are still making life difficult for locals, including monks at the Glass Lotus Temple. WSJ's James Hookway reports.

The waters have disrupted all sorts of ceremonies at the temple. The monks' main hall is under water, so they meditate or perform ritual chants in small groups elsewhere instead. Many potential novices—all Thai Buddhist men are ordained at some point in their lives - have postponed their initiation service, leaving a skeleton crew running the temple while they help out their families. Eight monks have left the temple to seek drier accommodations.

Worst of all, perhaps, is the impact on their day-to-day handling of the dead. Persistent floodwaters makes cremating the bodies - the local custom - almost impossible....

Continue reading on Buddhist Channel.

Dharma Talk - Serenity in Samsara

2011-11-27T22:01:00.000-05:00

Talk Given By: Hae Doh Sunim
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Duration - 21:43

Subscribe in iTunes!

Continued Vandalism in Buddhist Temples

2011-11-26T09:34:00.000-05:00

Four temples near Haeundae (Busan city) have been vandalized in the early morning of November 21st, enraging many Buddhist communities throughout Korea.

Vandalism was reportedly to have taken place on the 21st, between 12am and 4 am. The suspected culprit is assumed to have entered Busan Gaeun-sa Temple and Jirim-sa Temple and sprayed red paint on important Buddha and Bodhisattva statues enshrined within the temple.

The vandal sprayed red paints on Buddha statues in Gaeun-sa Temple, and broke in to the main Buddha Hall in Jirim-sa Temple by breaking a large window glass. The culprit sprayed ‘s’ and ‘x’ mark on Buddha statues, Buddhist paintings, and Stupas. Moreover, they even sprayed on Moktak (Wooden Fish) and Buddhist Scriptures before they fled.

The Abbot of Jirim-sa Temple, who first discovered the problem when he entered the main Buddha hall for the Morning Prayer, stated that the culprit must have entered the temple after he fell asleep after midnight.
The Haeundae police investigating the case stated that the similar case which took place on November 16 and 17 matches the crime of Jeokjo-am Temple and Wono-sa Temple, thus it is most likely that the temples were vandalized by the same person.

Haeundae Police Department stated, “The culprit is deliberately trying to undermine Buddha statues, and the crime have been planned intentionally,” and added “scientific investigation and CCTV analysis will narrow down the investigation. To prevent further damage to the nearby temples, more guards will safeguard the temples.” However, vandalism taken place on the later date occurred despite the strengthened police patrols, therefore concern for safety is growing among Korean Buddhist community.

On November 22nd, Ven. Mokjong (Chairman of Buddhist Monastery, Haeundae Police department), Ven. Boun (Director, Department of Regulation in Beomeo-sa Temple), and Ven. Gwangjin (President, Haeundae Temple Alliance) met with the Chief of Police, Mr. Jeongjingyu (Haeundae Police Station) to state their position, “We hope that the police department will come up with definite crime prevention measures to avoid such indiscriminating vandalism in the future.”

From Korean Buddhism.net

Why Is American Buddhism So White?

2011-11-26T09:31:00.000-05:00

Our panel looks at the problem of “whiteness’ in American Buddhism and what can be done—and in some cases is being done—to make it more diverse.

Introduction by Charles Johnson

I would wager that every Buddhist enjoys the story about Hui-neng, the sixth patriarch of Zen, who presented himself as a poor “commoner from Hsin-chou of Kwangtung” to the abbot of Tung-shan monastery in the Huang-mei district of Ch’i-chou in hopes of study, and was rebuked by the abbot with these words: “You are a native of Kwangtung, a barbarian? How can you expect to be a buddha?” Hui-neng replied, “Although there are northern men and southern men, north and south make no difference to their buddhanature. A barbarian is different from Your Holiness physically, but there is no difference in our buddhanature.”...

Continue reading at The Buddha Dharma.com

What to give your favorite Buddhist blog editor this holiday season? The ASUS Zenbook!

2011-11-24T10:48:00.000-05:00

For that special Buddhist monk in your life, no better gift than the ASUS Zenbook!

Social Networking Encourages Generosity

2011-11-24T10:46:00.000-05:00

Researchers at Harvard University have created a computer game that mimics online social networks. Using a standard measure of generosity, they found that selfish behavior quickly spreads throughout a group and that, if given a choice, generous people will choose to dissociate themselves with the mean ones. The more often selfish individuals were shunned from the social group by generous ones, the more likely they were to change their behavior and be more giving.

What's the Big Idea?

Social research demonstrates that humans initiate relationships by being generous until the other person shows a mean streak. Then both individuals begin to hoard their resources. This is called the tit-for-tat phenomenon, known all too well to anyone who has cohabitated. But unlike tit-for-tat, social retaliation can influence the behavior of selfish people who do not want to be excluded from a larger network of friends and associates and who are willing to share a little more to have more friends....

Read more here at The Economist.

HBO has been 'Enlightened'

2011-11-24T10:21:00.000-05:00

From the Huffington Post:

Laura Dern is one of the most respected and versatile film actresses in America. Her roles have included portrayals of "the every woman" to "the woman on the very edge." In her new character, Dern portrays an every woman named Amy who, very publicly, swerves all the way off the edge.

“Enlightened,” the tragically and comically misnamed series on HBO, is the story of Amy’s long and bumpy road toward self-realization and spiritual awareness –- and her determination to drag everyone up with her.

I first became aware of the series by seeing what is becoming an iconic poster for Enlightened that juxtaposes Dern’s face -- mascara streaked and contorted with rage -- with the show’s title promising the ultimate spiritual goal. The tension inherent between pain and salvation struck me as deeply funny, tragic and true, which are good ways to describe the series that Dern envisioned and in which she now stars.

I spoke to Laura Dern over the phone about Amy’s determined desire for enlightenment (especially for everyone around her), the danger of dogma and the importance of holy anger.....

Read the full interview here.

Dalai Lama questions wisdom of self-immolations (VIDEO)

2011-11-24T10:14:00.000-05:00

The Dalai Lama speaks exclusively to the BBC about his worries for Tibetan monks and nuns

The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, says he is very worried about the growing number of monks and nuns setting themselves on fire to protest against Chinese rule in Tibet.

He told the BBC he was not encouraging such actions - saying there was no doubt they required courage, but questioning how effective they were.

There have been 11 cases of self-immolation so far this year.

Most have resulted in death - the latest a 35-year-old nun two weeks ago.

"The question is how much effect" the self-immolations have, the Dalai Lama said.

"That's the question. There is courage - very strong courage. But how much effect?

"Courage alone is no substitute. You must utilise your wisdom.".....

Watch the video interview and piece here at BBC.

The No New Gifts Holiday Challenge

2011-11-24T10:02:00.000-05:00

Post written by Leo Babauta for ZenHabits

Are you ready to participate in the mad shopping frenzy that we partake in every year, not only on Black Friday but all holiday season long?

Are you ready for an incredible burst of spending, for racking up credit card debt, for the stress of buying things for everyone on your list?

Are you ready to consume an insane amount of resources, to have a huge impact on the environment, to work long hours to pay for all that?

Yep, it’s the holiday season again, and with it comes the worst season for consumerism ever.

I say, let’s opt out.

My family and I are issuing a challenge to all my wonderful readers, to the world: The No New Gifts Holiday Challenge....

Continue reading here and find out some strategies on how to participate in the NO GIFTS CHALLENGE.

Report tracks explosion of religious lobbying in Washington

2011-11-22T17:04:00.000-05:00

Lobbying and advocacy by religious groups in Washington have exploded in recent decades, increasing fivefold since 1970 to become a nearly $400 million industry, a new Pew report finds.

More than 200 groups are doing faith-related lobbying and advocacy in the nation’s capital, compared to fewer than 40 in 1970, according to the report. Put together, the groups employ at least 1,000 people.

The report, released Monday by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life, found that religious groups spend $390 million a year to influence U.S. domestic and foreign policy.

...many smaller U.S. religious groups, including Baha’is, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, also have established advocacy organizations in the Washington area,” the report said.

From CNN Belief Blog.

Buddhism and the Internet, Friends or Foes?

2011-11-22T16:50:00.000-05:00

The Internet is a many-headed beast. A many-headed beast that sometimes seems like it's eating everything, my free time being the first item on the menu. Websites like YouTube, StumbleUpon, Facebook and Twitter are so addictive—and some of the time, so mindless—that they can suck even the most seasoned Buddhist practitioner into a vortex of websites, blogs, and profiles, where the most profound of insights lose out to...are those pictures of baby animals?

But the many-headed beast isn't many-headed for no reason. Since Buddhism and the Internet combined almost two decades ago, overall their relationship has proved to be one of harmony, allowing for easier access to the dharma and a widening community of Buddhist practitioners and teachers who can interact from thousands of miles away....

Read the full article from Tricycle here.

Holy Monk Kung Fu Firefighters

2011-11-21T17:29:00.000-05:00

It would seem that Shaolin monks wear many holy hats in their quest for physical, psychological and spiritual harmony.

Shaolin monks are renowned throughout the world for their kung fu skills. They have also been highly regarded in popular culture via television and other media, which have helped to keep their age-old traditions alive and very much kicking.

Recently, they have been put to a new sort of test, involving challenges with other Buddhist sects from Hangzhou and Zhejiang provinces in eastern China for the role of best firefighters.

Garbed in their traditional orange robes, which ironically match the color of the flames they are in haste to extinguish, the monks were very serious about achieving the honor of being the fastest at putting out the blaze.

These tests of speed were meant as an unveiled challenge to the slow, unreliable governmental response to fires. The monks are determined to protect the sacred Buddhist temples lit by thousands of candles.

“By the time they get there, it would be too late, so we have to take the Buddha’s will into our own hands,” said one firefighter.

Since their regimen demands that they keep physically fit, and these holy warriors perform brutal daily training to develop strength and resilience, they easily conquer the fires.

Shaolin monks are dedicated and powerful in their resolve to keep their rituals and beliefs alive and “burning” in the hearts of all those who embrace them.

Source: Weird Asia News

Your Brain Is Severely Delusional

2011-11-21T17:23:00.000-05:00

LET there be no mistake: nothing that you remember, think or feel is as it seems. Your memories are mere figments of your imagination and your decisions are swayed by irrational biases. Your emotions reflect the feelings of those around you as much as your own circumstances.

In What Makes Your Brain Happy, author David DiSalvo takes us on a tour of all the mind's delusions. In fact, nothing we remember, feel or think is as it seems. "Your memories are mere figments of your imagination and your decisions are swayed by irrational biases. Your emotions reflect the feelings of those around you as much as your own circumstances." But DiSalvo's discussion of happy brains has nothing to do with joy and well being. Instead, he discusses what are the brain's natural tendencies.

While we have historically thought of our brain as the rational organ, opposed to the heart's emotional pull, today we understand that our gray matter is not automatically suited to a thoughtful dissection of the facts. Instead, it tends to choose the path of least resistance. "When explaining confirmation bias, for instance, DiSalvo cites brain scans showing that we treat conflicting information as if it is a physical threat. As a result, we choose the 'happier' option of ignoring details that don't fit our views."

What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite @ Amazon.

Famed Buddhist temple shows no love to yakuza group

2011-11-21T17:19:00.000-05:00

A prestigious Buddhist temple has informed Japan's largest yakuza crime syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi, that it will no longer accept visits by its members, a temple official said Saturday.

Enryakuji temple in western Shiga prefecture -- a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a 1,200-year history -- houses Buddhist tablets carrying names of the dead, including those of late yakuza bosses, the official said.

"The temple has accepted pilgrimages from direct family members as long as it is a small group," said the unnamed official.

"But we have seen visits by people who are obviously not family members. We concluded that it would not be preferable if their group's visits became a regular practice."

In April 2006, Enryakuji held a major memorial service for the late bosses.

A total of 90 gang members from across the country reportedly gathered, sparking calls from police to cancel such events, which funnel funds to the group.

The temple had continued accepting visits by small groups of family members but came to the latest decision, backed by the increasing trend in Japanese society to reject the influence of the yakuza, the official said...

Continue reading at Asahi Shimbun

Buddhism plays role in China's battle against AIDS

2011-11-21T17:08:00.000-05:00

"Chen Fen," a 43-year-old woman who has been fighting HIV for 16 years, projects an image of energy and vitality, despite being weakened by her affliction. The source of her strength isn't a new pill or medication, but an ancient religious belief.

"I simply practice what the Buddhist monks suggest: to keep a peaceful mentality and never make futile efforts to worry about the future," she says.

Chen lives in the Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture in southwest China's Yunnan province. The province registered 83,925 HIV carriers and AIDS patients as of the end of last year, the most of any Chinese province or region.

In Xishuangbanna, more than 300,000 residents, most of whom belong to the Dai and Blang ethnic groups, believe in Theravada, a prevalent school of Buddhism. The prefecture has a total of 1,784 HIV/AIDS patients, and the number is expected to rise in coming years.

Chen and other HIV/AIDS patients in the region have benefited from a local program in which Buddhist monks have been mobilized to provide care for patients and promote knowledge of the disease in order to curb new infections.

The "Home of Buddha Glory" program was launched in 2003 with funding from the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund and the assistance of the prefecture's Buddhist association.

Through the program, hundreds of HIV/AIDS patients, including both Buddhist believers and non-believers, regularly gather to listen to the preaching of monks and chat with each other at Zongfo Monastery, located in Xishuangbanna....

Read more at Want China Times.

Buddhist organizations thrive during the debt crisis

2011-11-21T17:00:00.000-05:00

Here we are stuck in an economic downturn, with the threat of a financial tsunami gathering momentum in the eurozone and with pundits telling us it can only get worse. You might expect people to be careful about their budget priorities – and that nonessential expenditure like spiritual teachings would be put on hold.

Evidence suggests, however, that the opposite is true – especially if you happen to be Buddhist. It seems that in this period of acute financial stress, Buddhists are still willing to part with their pounds, dollars, roubles and rupees in order to sustain their meditation practice. Because meditation calms the mind and generates insight, this is a predictable response – but what does come as a surprise is the amounts of money involved.

Take the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, for example. A young, high-profile Tibetan Buddhist lama with a romantic history of escape from Tibet after dodging Chinese security. Confined for several years under conditions resembling house arrest in India, he eventually managed to visit the United States for the first time in 2008. About 2,000 people gathered at a monastery in Woodstock to catch a glimpse of him. They paid $200 each. Roughly $400,000 (£250,000) hit the coffers and after expenses, the monastery had enough left over to embark on an extensive building project....

Read more at The Guardian.

Dharma Talk - A World of Gray

2011-11-20T21:48:00.000-05:00

Talk Given By: Hae Doh Sunim
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Duration - 26:05

Subscribe in iTunes!

Dharma Talk - An Empty Journal

2011-11-19T17:36:00.000-05:00

Talk Given By: Dae Yong (Candace Palopoli) - IBS USA/MWZ Dharma Student

Sunday, November 13, 2011 (Evening)

Duration - 16:29

Subscribe in iTunes!

What Would the Buddha Buy? : 2011 Holiday Shopping Guide

2011-11-17T08:20:00.000-05:00

From The Jizo Chronicles:

There are all kinds of ways to deal with the upcoming holiday shopping season. One is to buy nothing on the day known as “Black Friday,” an action pioneered by Adbusters. Gary Gach gives a dharma perspective on “What Would Buddha Buy?” (the answer: not too much, not too little).

Another approach is to take part in the cycle of giving and receiving, but to do it in a way that may be of benefit to others. Generosity is, after all, one of the basic Buddhist virtues. (Find descriptions of each link at Jizo Chronicles)

• Adopt a Monk or Nun from Burma’s Saffron Revolution

• Sponsor a Tibetan Nun

• The Fifth Annual Shambhala Sun Auction

• Seva Foundation’s Gifts of Service

• Changing the Present

• Equal Exchange

If living beings knew the fruit and final reward of generosity and the distribution of gifts, as I know them, then they would not eat their food without giving to others and sharing with others, even if it were their last morsel and mouthful.
~ Avadana Jataka

Adbusters: What Would Buddha Buy?

Also, from the NYTimes last year, “The Gifts of Hope,” by Nicholas Kristof

Werner Herzog Goes 'Into The Abyss' of Capital Punishment

2011-11-17T07:55:00.000-05:00

Werner Herzog’s new film, Into The Abyss, opens with a shot of the Reverend Fred Lopez, chaplain of the “death house,” in Huntsville, Texas, standing in front of a field of crosses in a cemetery. There are no names on the concrete crosses, just numbers, signifying those who have been executed by the state of Texas. Herzog interviews Lopez an hour before he’s set to preside over yet another execution. “Why does god allow capital punishment?” Herzog asks Lopez. “I don’t know the answer,” Lopez responds.

How did you get interested in this particular story?

I was always fascinated. In particular, of course, death row inmates differ from us in one aspect: We do not know when we will die and we do not know how we will die, but they know. And it’s very fascinating to talk to these people about life, about time, about the passage of time, dreams, or all sorts of things.

Read the full synopsis and interview from The Nation.

UPDATE: Premieres Friday, November 18 at the Maple Art Theatre!

Meditators arrested in Occupy Oakland protest

2011-11-15T20:35:00.000-05:00

OAKLAND, CA - NOVEMBER 14: A protestor meditates as police move in to arrest him at the Occupy Oakland encampment on November 14, 2011, in Oakland, California. In the wake of violent confrontations with police, vandalism and the recent shooting near the encampment, Oakland mayor Jean Quan and city administrators issued eviction notices to protesters at the Occupy Oakland encampment.

Read more at Wildmind.

Bodhidharma portrayal wrong in film

2011-11-15T20:31:00.000-05:00

Who is Bodhidharma? The question, popularised by the Telugu movie ‘7th Sense' is shrouded in mystery, and director A. R. Murugadoss has attempted to bring back the forgotten chapter into public gaze after a ‘thorough' background research.

But, the founder of Sailum Zen Monastery in Bangalore, Babu T. Raghu disputes the ‘historical' account on ‘Bodhidharma' in the movie and terms it as ‘completely erroneous'.

“The life and legend of the 28th Zen Patriarch Bodhidharma was distorted to suit the requirement of the movie script, and hence, the character of the monk suffered extensively. None of the ‘historical' aspects as shown in the movie are correct,” he argues....

Continue reading here at The Hindu

Buddhist Humor

2011-11-14T16:29:00.001-05:00

Dharma Talk - The 4 Great Vows

2011-11-13T21:21:00.000-05:00

Talk Given By: Bup Chon Sunim
Sunday, November 13, 2011 (Morning)
Duration - 17:03

Subscribe in iTunes!

The Perpetual Today

2011-11-13T13:04:00.000-05:00

Difference and Harmony: An interview with Zenju Earthlyn Manuel

2011-11-11T22:54:00.000-05:00

Rev. Zenju Earthlyn Manuel's new book, Tell Me Something about Buddhism: Questions and Answers for the Curious Beginner, is a simple yet uncommon introduction to the Buddha's teachings. Manuel, an African-American Zen priest, takes a direct and personal approach to the dharma. "What does Buddhism have to do with black people?" she recalls her younger sister once asking her. In Tell Me Something about Buddhism, Manuel reflects on the ways in which being black has informed and enriched her understanding of Buddhism. "The practice is to make companions of difference and harmony, see them both as oneness itself," she writes. "We cannot take the teaching of harmony to serve the desire for sameness and comfort."...

Read the full interview at Tricycle.

Religion and Obesity

2011-11-10T22:14:00.000-05:00

The nation's churches and synagogues have a weight problem.

The multiple health benefits of an active faith life tend to stop at four-course Shabbat meals and church supper tables groaning with fried meat, biscuits and gravy, new research shows.

In one study of some 5,500 women and men ages 45 to 84, participants were more likely to be obese the more religiously active they were. Each step of the way, from those never attending worship to those attending weekly, greater religious activity was associated with significantly higher rates of obesity....

Continue reading the full story at Huff Post: Religion

Study links regular religious service attendance, outlook on life

2011-11-10T22:00:00.000-05:00

A new study shows that attending religious services regularly can mean a more optimistic, less depressed, and less cynical outlook on life.

In a follow-up to its 2008 report that found that attending services increases life expectancy, the Women's Health Initiative observational study based this report on a survey of 92,539 post-menopausal women over 50. The participants made up an ethnically, religiously, and socioeconomically diverse group.

According to the report, to be published this week in the Journal of Religion and Health, those who attend services frequently were 56% more likely to have an optimistic life outlook than those who don't and were 27% less likely to be depressed. Those who attended weekly were less likely to be characterized by cynical hostility, compared with those who did not report any religious service attendance....

Continue reading here at CNN Belief Blog

Senior exiled Tibetan urges end to immolations

2011-11-10T10:40:00.000-05:00

(Reuters) - One of Tibet's most senior exiled Buddhist leaders, the Karmapa Lama, appealed on Wednesday for Tibetans in China not to set themselves on fire, saying he hoped they found more constructive ways to advance their cause.

The Karmapa Lama fled Tibet in 2000 and lives in exile along with the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala in northern India, the centre of the self-proclaimed Tibetan government-in-exile.

The Karmapa Lama said the 11 Tibetans who have set themselves alight so far this year in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan were "brave," acting in desperation "against the injustice and repression under which they live."

"The situation is unbearably difficult, but in difficult situations we need greater courage and determination," he said in an emailed statement.

"Each report of self-immolation from Tibet has filled my heart with pain," the Karmapa Lama said....

Continue reading here.

Connecting Korea, Germany through art

2011-11-10T10:38:00.000-05:00

Maya Stiller, a visiting German researcher on Korean art, praised the natural elegance and practicality of Korean design, saying it is gaining more interest in Germany, as interest in Koreanology heightens.

“Chinese art strives for perfection, while Japanese tends to be decorative. However, Korean art has a balance between practicality and refinement,” the researcher said.

Stiller said Koreanology is booming in Germany, but there are few people who can teach it. “Korean studies, which has some 50-year history in Germany, was very exotic. After the 2002 World Cup, the interest in Korea soared combined with K-pop and Korean soap operas. There is high demand for Korean studies in German universities, but for instance, only one professor teaches some 120 students at Freie Universitat Berlin,” she said....

Continue reading from Buddhist Art News

Gwaneum-jeon: Hall of Avalokitesvara (Dale's Korean Temple Adventures)

2011-11-08T18:17:00.000-05:00

From my friend Dale over at Dale's Korean Temple Adventures:

One of the most popular halls you’ll find at a Korean temple is the Hall of Avalokitesvara (or Gwaneum-jeon, in Korean). This hall is dedicated to Gwanseeum-bosal, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. So who is Gwanseeum-bosal, and why is she so important to Korean Buddhism, and where does she appear in Korean temples?...

Continue reading here.

Check out all of Dale's special entries on Temple Architecture and Artwork here.

From Bup Mee Sunim;

Dale has done an amazing job of profiling, reviewing, and artistically capturing the beauty of a diverse range of Korean Buddhist temples. His photography is done with great skill and gives us a window into the magnificence of the rich history and culture of Korean Buddhism. Dale also offers an abundant amount of information on the different aspects of Korean Buddhism and helps demystify a lot of the symbolism. I had the great pleasure to chat with Dale online about a week or so ago and I hope all of you visit his blog and find it to be as much of a captivating resource that I have. Definitely one of the top blogs under my radar and with his generous permission, you can find short excerpts of some of his postings here as well as links taking you directly to his blog to find his full write ups and explore all of his eye popping photos. Enjoy!

Is Time An Illusion? From The Buddha To Brian Greene

2011-11-08T18:13:00.000-05:00

From NPR blog 13.7 - Cosmos and Culture by Adam Frank:

Can time be stopped, captured or even known? Does it exist, or is it all just an illusion?

Is time real, or is change just a kind of optical illusion resting on a deeper unchanging reality?

As finite creatures, with death hovering just out of our sight, the true nature of time haunts all our endeavors. Tomorrow, physicist Brian Greene tackles time's illusion in his Fabric of Reality PBS series. Science, however, is just one way we ask about the reality of time.

In the domains of spirituality, humans have also asked if there is more, or less, to time than ticking clocks or the march from birth to death. It is often the "now" which takes precedence in spiritual endeavor.

Buddhists, with their emphasis on meditation, have long seen the unspooling of time as an artifact of the mind. In Zen Mind, Beginners Mind, Shunryu Suzuki tells us:

"You may say, 'I must do something this afternoon' but actually there is no 'this afternoon' ... At one o'clock you will eat your lunch. To eat your lunch is, itself, one o'clock."...

Continue reading here.

This Is What Compassion Looks Like: A Buddhist View of Occupy Wall Street

2011-11-07T20:53:00.000-05:00

Original Post from Roshi Joan Halifax, from The Huffington Post, on 10/14/11:

It started 28 days ago, with a ragtag group of people who called themselves "Occupy Wall Street" planting themselves at Liberty Square Plaza (aka Zuccotti Park) in New York City, under the shadows of skyscrapers.

They gathered together to call attention to the disproportionate influence that the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans have over our political and economic system. Using the phrase "We are the 99 percent," they drew a circle of inclusion around the myriad forms of structural violence and suffering that so many of us are experiencing these days.

The Buddha would probably agree with their analysis. Numerous Buddhist texts point out that poverty is not any individual's fate or karma, but rather exists in a web of causes and conditions. The Buddha also noted that the way to build a peaceful society is to ensure equitable distribution of resources.

In a more contemporary rendering of Buddhist teachings, Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh offers this precept: "Do not accumulate wealth whilst millions are hungry. Do not take as the aim of your life, fame, profit, wealth or sensual pleasure. Live simply and share time, energy and material resources with those who are in need." Bernie Glassman Roshi says: Do not foster a mind of poverty in yourself or others. ...

Read the full story here.

2011 Lotus Lantern Autumn Vol 47

2011-11-07T20:47:00.001-05:00

2011 Lotus Lantern Autumn Vol 47

Street Dharma: Teaching Meditation to the Homeless

2011-11-07T20:42:00.000-05:00

..."Our main aim of working with the homeless is just being with them. It is about everyday interactions. And those who ask for meditation instruction will gladly get it.

"Like most of us, the homeless have been listening to the same negative thoughts in their heads for years. 'I'm so stupid.' 'I'm such a mess.' 'I can't do this anymore.' 'I wish I were dead.' Everyone has this negative mental chatter going on all the time and we don't even recognize it.

But once the 'monkey mind' is revealed through meditation -- once we start being present with our thoughts as the observer of them -- old thought patterns get broken and things begin to change in our lives.

This is as true for the homeless as it is for anyone else. Whether or not you have a roof over your head has nothing to do with quieting your mind, getting to know yourself and being fully awake."....

Read the full article at Huffington Post.

Learn more about HMP Street Dharma here.

Western Buddhism: The 50 Year Lessons

2011-11-07T20:39:00.000-05:00

By Lewis Richmond:

It's been about 50 years since the bulk of the Asian meditation masters arrived here -- Japanese, Korean, Tibetan, Vietnamese and so on. Many of us have spent our whole adult lives trying to practice and absorb what they taught us. I've been thinking recently about the "50 year lessons" that we have gleaned during this time.

Some of the lessons have been transformative, others disappointing. Many of the lessons we learned the hard way -- by making mistake after mistake (which is what my teacher Suzuki Roshi characterized as the basic quality of Buddhist practice, even for teachers). In this and the next post I want to present my 50 year lessons, at least those I have thought of so far....

Read the full article at Huffington Post.

Muddy Water Zen

Samsara: The movie

Professor researching Buddhist legal systems

Dharma Talk - Superman and Suicide

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan

Matchmaking service gives Buddhist monks a boost in dating market

Officials warn of ‘fake monks’ targeting Phuket tourists

China vs. India: the battle for Buddha

Teaching Michigan prisoners the art of meditation

David Duchovny goes on Buddhist retreat, ends up cleaning tables

Dharma Talk - Holiness is Messy

Army dad told prayer flags have to go

Are Any Christians Running for President?

Buddhism and human rights: The journey to the west

2012 Lecture Series Kicks Off Next Month

Dharma Talk - Just Chillin'

Dharma Talk - The Artificiality of Time

Dharma Talk - A Cat Named Ghost

Two more monks set themselves alight in China

S(e)oul Search: The Changing Religious Landscape in Seoul and Its Implications for Defining “Asia”

An Idiot Abroad 2 - Karl Meditates in Japan

Korea's isolated Buddhism opening doors

Bridging Korean Buddhism and the West

Upcoming Buddhist Books - Early 2012

Japanese creating management model to attract Gen Y to Buddhist temple

In the Footsteps of Wonhyo -- A 21st Century Korean Pilgrimage

Bad Buddhist Vibes

Venerable Ji-kwan Passes Away At the Age of 79

Monk's crusade helps Korean history go home

The Real Buddha Bar, Tended By Tokyo Monks

2011 Blog Statistics

Christmas Dharma

Dharma Talk - Impermanence and the Existential Crisis

BREAKING NEWS: KIM JONG-IL HAS DIED

Dharma Talk - Words and Language

Self-Immolation in Tibet

Restored scroll painting exhibited at Yeongsanjae Buddhist Ceremony in LA

Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World - Free Audiobook

“Religious Hate Crime” Suspect Arrested

Muppet Meditation

TIME'S Top 10 Underreported Stories of 2011: #1 - The Self-Immolation of Tibetan Monks

Buddhist Books of 2011

Dharma Talk - The Speed of Change

Nahan Jesus

How to be a *good* Buddhist during Christmas

Bodhi Day (Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011)

84000 “Reading Room” presents words of the Buddha via interactive technology

Buddhist temple destroyed in early-morning fire

2011 Bhikkhu Ordination

The Lady (2011) Trailer

Still Burning: Thirteenth Tibetan Self-Immolates in Eastern Tibet

Part 2: Buddhism and Modern Life in Bhutan

Do Plants Have Minds?

Mumbai attacks survivors preach forgiveness

Fears for ancient Thai temples as floods recede

Finding Balance: Buddhism And Modern Life In China

A Victim Treats His Mugger Right

Art as a Weapon

Crazy Wisdom - A film by Johanna Demetrakas

New Translation of Lankavatara Sutra

Tibet's Next Incarnation

Monks Help Teens in Brooklyn Detention Center

What Would Gandhi Occupy?

Dharma Talk - Mind Filled With Dukkha

Thai Monks Struggle to Keep a Flooded Temple Open

Dharma Talk - Serenity in Samsara

Continued Vandalism in Buddhist Temples

Why Is American Buddhism So White?

What to give your favorite Buddhist blog editor this holiday season? The ASUS Zenbook!

Social Networking Encourages Generosity

HBO has been 'Enlightened'

Dalai Lama questions wisdom of self-immolations (VIDEO)

The No New Gifts Holiday Challenge

Report tracks explosion of religious lobbying in Washington

Buddhism and the Internet, Friends or Foes?

Holy Monk Kung Fu Firefighters

Your Brain Is Severely Delusional

Famed Buddhist temple shows no love to yakuza group

Buddhism plays role in China's battle against AIDS

Buddhist organizations thrive during the debt crisis

How to be a good Buddhist during Christmas