1st victim of suffering and 2nd victim of suffering

Someone who is angry is someone who doesn't know how to handle their suffering. They are the first victim of their suffering, and you are actually the second victim. Once we can see this, compassion is born in our heart and anger evaporates. We don't want to punish them any more, but instead we want to say something or do something to help them suffer less.

10 steps to Mindfulness Meditation

Buddhist Women As Agents of Change: Case Studies from Thailand and Indonesia

Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia. Issue 16 (September 2014)Banner image: Ven. Dhammananda and the Female Monastic at Songdhammakalyani Monastery.

While in Thailand the majority of its population adherents of the Theravada Buddhist ‘tradition’, in Indonesia, Buddhism is a minority religion with the Theravada Buddhist ‘tradition’ embraced by the majority of Buddhists. However, the development of the Theravada tradition in Indonesia is much influenced by its counterparts in Thailand.

Consisting only of men, the Theravada Buddhist ecclesiastical authorities in both Thailand and Indonesia do not recognize bhikkhunis (a fully ordained female monastic). In this context, the aspiration and determination of Buddhist women to be female monastics in the Theravada Buddhist tradition in the 21st century reflect their role as agents of change to bring renewal to their faith. Their convictions and actions affirm women’s spirituality and gender inclusiveness as envisioned by the Buddha in establishing the female monastic order. They are able to survive and even grow due to their ability to attract their own supporters and followers. Furthermore, those who aspired to be female monastic are able to travel outside of their countries to be ordained due to the transnational dimension of Buddhism. These Buddhist women thus reclaim their identities and roles from only being supporters of Buddhism to that of spiritual leaders, religious innovators and ritual specialists. The Theravada Buddhist ‘tradition’ is a changing one as the female adherents stake their claim to their rightful heritage as female monastic. Similarly, the identity and roles of Buddhist women are fluid.

Mummy in lotus position found inside 1000 year old Buddha statue

February 26, 2015 Agencies

Scientists made a bizarre discovery when they took a CT scan of 
an ancient Buddha statue from China. Inside was a mummy sitting 
in the same lotus position. Further investigation revealed that the 
organs had been removed and replaced by scraps of paper with 
Chinese writing on them. The Buddha statue, dating back to 1100 
CE, belongs to the Drents Museum in the Netherlands and is 
currently on loan to a museum in Budapest.