Happy Wesak Day

Ganakamoggallana Sutta (MN 107)

What do you think about this, brahman? Are you skilled in the way leading

to Rajagaha?"

"Yes, sir, skilled am I in the way leading to Rajagaha."

Advice on Meditation and Sleep

"Right before you go to sleep is not the best time to meditate, for the mind will keep telling itself, "As soon as this is over, I’m going to bed." You’ll start associating meditation with sleep, and, as the Thais say, your head will start looking for the pillow as soon as you close your eyes.

If you have trouble sleeping, then by all means meditate when you’re lying in bed, for meditation is a useful substitute for sleep. Often it can be more refreshing than sleep, for it can dissolve bodily and mental tensions better than sleeping can. It can also calm you down enough so that worries don’t sap your energy or keep you awake. But make sure that you also set aside another time of the day to meditate too, so that you don’t always associate meditation with sleep. You want to develop it as an exercise in staying alert."

From: With Each & Every Breath: A Guide to Meditation by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

Buddhist school moving into digital age

BY ADRIAN CHAN Published: April 16, 2015 The Star online

KUALA LUMPUR: Under the shade of a bodhi tree in Brickfields, five young children sat listening intently to a teacher, whose sole purpose was to teach them how to read and write.

That was how the religious school at the Buddhist Maha Vihara started in 1929. Eighty-six years later, it has flourished from its humble beginnings. Now in a three-storey building, the Buddhist Institute Sunday Dhamma School is attended by 500 students every week to learn Buddha’s teachings. Its principal, the Ven K. Siri Dhamma, who leads 120 volunteer-teachers, said the school would undergo more changes in the digital era. He explained that the textbooks used in the school were more than 10 years old and no longer as relevant to students today.

Forest abbot warns Sangha reform 'urgent'

by INTARACHAI PANICHAKUL, The Bangkok Post, 12 Mar 2015

Bangkok, Thailand -- Thai Buddhism is in crisis. Public faith is constantly eroded by wayward monks, their blatant abuse of the saffron robes, widespread laxity in monks' discipline, fierce competition for monastic ranks, and distortions of Buddhist teachings. 

<< Novice monks walk in a procession around Buddha statues representing the enlightened disciples of the Buddha in Nakhon Nayok. Widespread laxity in monks' monastic discipline has prompted public calls for Sangha reform. (Photo by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill) 

Phra Paisal Visalo, abbot of Sukhato Forest Monastery in Chaiyaphum's Kaeng Kroh district, is author of "Thai Buddhism in the Future: Trends and Ways Out of the Crisis". To overcome the crisis, he believes we need to understand the complexity surrounding Thai Buddhism. Short of urgent reform, he fears we might see the collapse of Thai Buddhism within the current generations.

Metta For Nepal

Meditation for Beginners - Featuring Dan Harris and Sharon Salzberg

Published on Mar 27, 2015

Are you interested in meditation, but unsure of how to start a practice on your own? ABC anchor Dan Harris teams up with meditation expert Sharon Salzberg to walk you through the basics. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtsdz_jhB7c&feature=youtu.be

Seeing your life in a broader perspective.

"Suppose you’re dealing with people who say nasty things. One of the 

things the Buddha has you tell yourself if you’re hearing someone really 

lashing out at you, is, “An unpleasant sound has made contact at the 

ear.” We don’t usually think in those terms. We usually think, “Why is that 

person being so nasty to me?” And in doing that, we put ourselves right 

in the line of fire. Whereas if you can step back and think, “An unpleasant 

sound is making contact at the ear,” you’ve raised the level of your mind. 

You can look at the nasty words going right beneath you or right past you. 

You realize that what that person is saying is his or her own kamma, not 

yours. It doesn’t have to touch you.

Love Religion, but Hate Intolerance? Try Buddhism

by Tom Jacobs, Pacific Standard, Feb 19, 2015 New research finds that, unlike those of monotheistic faiths, Buddhist concepts do not inspire prejudice toward outsiders. San Francisco, CA (USA) -- Does religion do more harm than good? Considerable research suggests the answer depends upon the type of “good” you are considering. Many studies have linked religiosity with mental and physical health, as well as a stronger tendency to help those around you. Others have found it inspires prejudice against perceived outsiders. A newly published paper reports this trade-off may not be universal. It finds calling to mind concepts of one major world religion—Buddhism—boosts both selfless behavior and tolerance of people we perceive as unlike ourselves. Reminders of Buddhist beliefs “activate both universal pro-sociality and, to some extent (given the role of individual differences), tolerance of people holding other religious beliefs or belonging to other ethnic groups,” writes a research team led by psychologist Magali Clobert, a visiting postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University.

Kamma is volitional action

"It is true that very often we have to reap the results of our past kamma. But the important point to understand is that kamma is volitional action, and volitional action always takes place in the present, only in the present. This means at present it is possible for us to change the entire direction of our life. 

If we closely examine our lives we'll see that our experience is of two types: first, experience that comes to us passively, which we receive independently of our choice; and second, experience which we create for ourselves through our choices and attitudes. The passive side of experience is largely the effect of past kamma. We generally have to face this and learn to accept it. But within those limitations there is a space, the tremendous space of the present moment, in which we can reconstruct our world with our own minds." ~ Bhikkhu Bodhi.