Dhammapada 260-261

Humanity First, A Call For Action: Joint Statement:

 May 30, 2015 at 6:09pm

We appreciates the Government’s efforts to undertake a search and rescue operation in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal aimed at saving the lives of thousands of stranded Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants. It is essential that humanitarian action and the value of life come first.

We acknowledge that the Malaysian government has taken in over a hundred thousand refugees from Myanmar. We share the concerns of many that the current situation, if unplanned, may not bring benefit to the Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants in the long term. We also urge the Malaysian government to do it ensure the wellbeing of the immigrants in our country.

In a latest discovery, we are horrified by the discovery of mass graves "believed to contain nearly 100 Rohingya migrants".

We urge the Malaysian Government, as Chair of ASEAN to take a leadership role to address this particular issue at its source, especially in Myanmar. We hope that Malaysia would play a leadership role in the review of the ASEAN nonintervention policy in the context of human rights crisis that have implications on regional peace and stability. The current crisis of the Rohingyas and Bangladeshi stranded at sea is testimony that intervention is necessary.

We look forward to more effective and proactive measures by the Governments of ASEAN countries to stop the inhumane human trafficking which greatly exacerbate the plight of the Rohingyas and Bangladeshis.

We also call upon the Myanmar and Bangladesh governments to take measures to protect their citizens and ensure their well-being are taken care of and to participate in international efforts to resolve this crisis.

We also call upon Malaysian continue working together regardless religious groups to bring peace and harmony together in line with our principles of loving kindness, compassion, altruistic joy and peace from our hearts.

May peace prevail in ASEAN and the rest of the world.

Endorsement by:
Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia (YBAM)
Theravada Buddhist Council of Malaysia (TBCM)
Malaysia Christian Youth Association (MCYA)
Soul Works Foundation
Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM)
Malaysia Network Of Engaged Buddhists (MNEB)

Princeton degree, dating brought no joy

Growing up, Ms Ruby Pan wanted to be a writer. In her teens, she fell in love with the theatre and dreamt of being a playwright.

She won a Public Service Commission teaching scholarship to study English literature at Princeton University in the United States, where she bagged prizes for a play and a collection of short stories she wrote.

She even got to perform a monologue she wrote at a show produced by the famous Royal Shakespeare Company in England.

She thought she had done everything that was artistically fulfilling, but when she graduated in 2006, she felt no joy.

She says: "Instead, I felt burnt out, like I had run a very long race for no reason."

Ms Pan, 31, who now goes by her ordained name, Thubten Damcho, was speaking over the telephone from Sravasti Abbey, a Tibetan Buddhist monastry in a forested area in Washington in the United States, where she now lives.

In 2007, after returning to Singapore, she started teaching English language and literature at a secondary school here and was in charge of its drama club.

She dated, partied and ran arts workshops for volunteer welfare organisations. And yet, she still felt dissatisfied with life in general. At a friend's suggestion, she signed up for Buddhism classes at Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery.

The teacher, Venerable Chuan Guan, 42, "exploded" her notion of what a monastic should be.

She recalls: "He was well-educated, humorous and explained Buddhist concepts in a logical and practical manner."

One day in class, she learnt what "true happiness" was.

The venerable drew a picture of the six realms of existence in Buddhist cosmology, and showed how the Buddha had gotten out of the cycle of rebirth.

She says: "By transforming his mind through moral conduct and meditation, he was no longer subject to an uncontrolled cycle of mental and physical suffering, and was able to benefit others.

"And I thought, 'That's what I want to do with my life! I wanted to follow in the Buddha's footsteps.'"

Dhammapada 281

The Origin & Spread of Vipassana

Published on May 24, 2012

The Great Buddha's Noble Teaching

The traditional life story of the Buddha, told by S N Goenka. This video is the source of the many beautiful paintings, free from Asian cultural influences, depicting scenes of the Buddha's life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=13&v=qga3KytYRig

See how it arises, see how it ceases.

Buddhism and the World Crisis

by Prof Dr Damien Keown, The Buddhist Channel, May 29, 2015

In his keynote address at the opening of the United Nations Day of Vesak 2015, Prof Dr Damien Keown presents his view on how global crises can be turned into opportunities in the context of the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) region

Bangkok, Thailand -- While reflecting on the word ‘crisis’ I was reminded of a remark made by US President John F. Kennedy in a speech he gave in Indianapolis in 1959. The President said ‘The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word “crisis.” One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger - but recognize the opportunity.’ I don’t know if the President’s understanding of Chinese was accurate, but I would like to take those words as the inspiration for my comments.

Certainly, there is a world crisis, and this presents itself in many shapes and forms. While the world has faced many crises in the past, the threat seems greater today due to modern developments such as globalization, advanced technology, mass migration, and the accelerated speed of transport and communications.

The pace of change has never been faster, allowing less time to pause in the face of the challenges that arise on every side, and less time to develop wise solutions.

In the face of these challenges there is a pervasive feeling, both among individual citizens and their political leaders, of being caught off-balance and wrongfooted by events; of being swept along by a tsunami of powerful forces which are beyond the power even of governments and world leaders to control. In this context, there is a greater need than ever for Buddhist teachings to be heard, and not just heard but implemented with commitment and decisiveness.

The panels in this conference will explore the role of Buddhism in the current world crisis under four different headings:

1.    Buddhist Response to Social Conflict
2.    Buddhist Response to Environmental Degradation
3.    Buddhism and the ASEAN Community
4.    Buddhist Response to Educational Crisis

These are interrelated themes, but let's start with the third, Buddhism and the ASEAN Community. I begin with ASEAN for two reasons. First, because 2015 marks the year in which the ASEAN Community comes into being; and second, because questions like social conflict, the environment and education will increasingly demand regional as opposed to national or local solutions. 

How meditation might ward off the effects of ageing

A study at a US Buddhist retreat suggests eastern relaxation techniques can protect our chromosomes from degenerating Jo Marchant The Observer, Sunday 24 April 2011

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The Shamatha project took place at Shambhala Mountain Centre in Colorado, USA. Photograph: Blaine Harrington III/Corbis

High in the mountains of northern Colorado, a 100-foot tall tower reaches up through the pinetops. Brightly coloured and strung with garlands, its ornate gold leaf glints in the sun. With a shape that symbolises a giant seated Buddha, this lofty stupa is intended to inspire those on the path to enlightenment.

Visitors here to the Shambhala Mountain Centre meditate in silence for up to 10 hours every day, emulating the lifestyle that monks have chosen for centuries in mountain refuges from India to Japan. But is it doing them any good? For two three-month retreats held in 2007, this haven for the eastern spiritual tradition opened its doors to western science. As attendees pondered the "four immeasurables" of love, compassion, joy and equanimity, a laboratory squeezed into the basement bristled with scientific equipment from brain and heart monitors to video cameras and centrifuges. The aim: to find out exactly what happens to people who meditate.

After several years of number-crunching, data from the so-called Shamatha project is finally starting to be published. So far the research has shown some not hugely surprising psychological and cognitive changes – improvements in perception and wellbeing, for example. But one result in particular has potentially stunning implications: that by protecting caps called telomeres on the ends of our chromosomes, meditation might help to delay the process of ageing.

Chronicle of Buddhist pilgrimage

BY STORY AND PHOTOS BY ADRIAN CHAN, The STar Online

IN THE outskirts of Varanasi, India, a peculiar edifice stood 44 metres tall, jutting above a sea of trees. That was what archaeologist Alexander Cunningham saw in 1833, which led him to one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 19th century — the ancient city of Sarnath.

Buddhist scriptures described the city as having a park filled with free roaming deer, a place in which the historical Buddha was recorded to have delivered his first sermon.

Framed in flight: Bodh Gaya marks the spot where the Buddha attained enlightenment. The Maha Bodhi temple was built to commemorate this momentous event.

Deemed as one of the four sites worthy of pilgrimage by the Siddhartha Gautama himself, no one — not even Buddhists — stepped into the place for more than 1,000 years. Abandoned in time, the city gradually became a myth, turning into a place heard only in Buddhist stories, until Cunningham’s discovery. In modern times, hundreds of thousands of Buddhist pilgrims visit Sarnath each year to pay homage to the birthplace of the religion.

Changing from Inside

A video from the Goenka tradition - 'Changing from Inside' about the introduction of Vipassana into the Seattle prison system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9sRWtA89CI

Published on May 5, 2014

The technique shown in this video is Vipassana meditation, as taught by S. N. Goenka of Igatpuri, India, and his assistant teachers.

The meditation program is taught in ten-day, residential, silent retreats, where students practice rigorous introspection and a code of moral conduct.

All such Vipassana courses worldwide are offered free of charge.