Tibetans pray for Dalai Lama at 80th birthday celebration

Agence France-Presse, 22 Jun 2015

Dharamsala, India -- The Dalai Lama marked his official 80th birthday on Sunday, with prayers and celebrations at his hometown in exile but little to show for decades of lobbying seeking greater Tibetan autonomy.

The Dalai Lama said he hoped to live another 20 years as he turned 80 (AFP Photo/Lobsang Wangyal)

The Nobel laureate will be in the United States when he turns 80 on July 6, but Sunday is his official birthday according to the Tibetan lunar calendar, and he celebrated with his family, fans and followers in Dharamsala. The jovial Tibetan spiritual leader told fellow exiles and Indian and foreign dignitaries that he expected to live another 20 years and would continue to work for the promotion of compassion and religious harmony.

On overcoming addiction

We keep advising people who are addicted even to tobacco: if an urge arises, do not take a cigarette. Instead, wait a little. Accept the fact that an urge to smoke has arisen in the mind. When this urge arises, along with it there is a sensation in the body. Start observing that sensation, whatever it may be. Do not look for a particular sensation. Anything you feel at that time is related to the urge to smoke. And by observing the sensation as impermanent, anicca, you will find that this urge passes away. This is not a philosophy, but experiential truth.

The same advice applies to those who are addicted to alcohol or drugs: when an urge arises, do not succumb immediately. Instead, wait ten or fifteen minutes. Accept the fact that an urge has arisen, and observe whatever sensation is present at that time.

Those who follow this advice find that they are coming out of their addictions. They may be successful only one time out of ten at first, but they have made a very good beginning. They are striking at the root of their problem. ~ S N Goenka

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Politics needs wisdom of Buddhist voices

by BHIKKHU SUJATO, The Bangkok Post, 5 Jun 2015

Bangkok, Thailand -- The Buddha's path is a path of renunciation, letting go of all worldly desires and interests. So it's often seen as strange when devout Buddhists, especially Buddhist monastics, take a stand on political issues.

On May 14, a number of Buddhist leaders in the US, including the respected senior monk Bhikkhu Bodhi, held a meeting at the White House, where they discussed matters of urgent contemporary importance, including climate change.

This sparked a deal of outrage on the internet; which, admittedly, is not hard to do. Some people argued that Buddhist monastics should just stay completely away from the political arena.

But involvement of monks with politics is nothing unusual. In Thailand, the Sangha is governed by an act of parliament. Monks have participated in street rallies, protesting to ensure that the monks keep their privileges; I haven't heard of Thai monks protesting on behalf of anyone else's interests.

In Myanmar, too, there is a Sangha Act, and the monks have lived inside one of the world's most brutal regimes for decades; obviously there have been political ramifications that the monks have to deal with, one way or another.

Just recently, three Myanmar monks received World Harmony Awards from the Parliament of the World's Religions for standing against the persecution of the Rohingya. One of the monks, Rev Seindita, said that if anyone wants to hurt the Rohingya, "they will have to kill me first". In Sri Lanka some monks formed their own party and won seats in parliament. In Vietnam similar things have happened. In Tibet, of course, the Sangha was the government. So whatever country you are in, you'll find monastics involved in politics.

To argue that Sangha should not be involved in politics is naive: everyone is involved in politics, whether you like it or not. Staying in a forest monastery in the middle of the wilderness is an act of deep political consequences. I've lived in such places, and I have seen what monks must do to manage monasteries in such places. You have to deal with developers, loggers, tourists, visas, building, protected species, drug smugglers, weapons dealers, illegal immigrants, crime, and on and on it goes. This is just the world we live in, and the world has a political dimension.

The question is not whether you are political, but how.

Dalai Lama to appear at Glastonbury

June 26, 2015. The Dalai Lama will be make a special appearance 
at British summer music festival Glastonbury on Sunday, as part of 
his four-day UK tour. Festival organizers confirmed that the Tibetan 
spiritual leader will deliver a speech in the Green Fields and explore 
the farm grounds during his visit on Sunday.

Key themes throughout the visit will be the Dalai Lama’s message 
of compassion, non-violence and the ‘oneness of humanity.’

His visit to the UK comes a week before His Holiness turns 80.

Glastonbury kicked off Wednesday and runs until Sunday.

-AFP Relaxnews

The Mexican Fisherman.

This story has been around for awhile but was recently re-popularised by Ajahn Brahm.

"A vacationing American businessman standing on the pier of a quaint coastal fishing village in southern Mexico watched as a small boat with just one young Mexican fisherman pulled into the dock. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. Enjoying the warmth of the early afternoon sun, the American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish.

Gently is

by Sylvia Bay, The Buddhist Channel, June 2, 2015 For one who seeks the meditative state, Much work is needed to prepare the mind, To break it out of bad habits, To want, to own, to search and hunt. Learn to have no expectations, no wants, No going somewhere, Or being someone. No past, no future, No mental constructs, Let go of planning, And rest in the breathing.

Choosing charity over her fat salary

https://www.facebook.com/TheRakyatPost/videos/vb.638312386187552/1006842692667851/?type=2&theater

UP until last year, Kate Tan was earning a fat paycheck and enjoying a smooth climb up her corporate ladder and was listed as ‘Top 40 Young Business Leaders’by CPA Australia.

But, Tan left everything to join the Tzu Chi Foundation, a non-governmental non-profit organisation aimed at helping and giving to the unfortunate and the needy.

For Tan, dedicating her life to serve mankind is a privilege.

Constant obsession with looking healthy can be psychologically unhealthy

Everyday, we see postings on the latest health foods. Ven Thanissaro says that our constant obsession with looking healthy can be psychologically unhealthy.

"During my first year as a monk, when I was staying at a monastery near Bangkok, we received an invitation from the children of a man in the last stages of liver cancer, asking for some monks to visit their father in the hospital, as he wanted to make merit and hear the dhamma one last time before he died. Five of us went the next morning, and the senior monk in the group chatted with the man for quite a while to put his mind at ease and help him prepare for his coming death. Now was the time, the monk said, for him to put aside all concern for his body and to focus instead on the state of his mind so that it wouldn’t be overcome by pain as his body fell apart.

One world, one race

Burmese Monks Recognized for Interfaith Peace Efforts

 NOBEL ZAW / THE IRRAWADDY, June 3, 2015 

RANGOON — The century-old organization known as the Parliament of the World’s Religions gave the World Harmony Award to three Buddhist monks from Burma on May 27 in recognition of their efforts to save Muslim lives during the riots of 2013.

The recipients of the interfaith peace award were U Withudda, an abbot at Meiktila’s Yadanar Oo Monastery, U Seindita, founder of the Asia Light Foundation in Pyin Oo Lwin, and U Zawtikka, of Rangoon’s Oo Yin Priyati Monastery.