Larung Gar Buddhist Academy

A view shows the settlements of Larung Gar Buddhist Academy in Sertar County of Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province, China. The academy, founded in the 1980s among the mountains of the remote prefecture, is one of the largest Tibetan Buddhism institutes of the world, housing tens of thousands of monks and nuns, say local media. – Reuters pic, July 31, 2015.

 

Buddhism in China

With growing pressure in their rapidly changing society, people in China are increasingly turning to Buddhism. But while a lot of money has been poured into rebuilding temples destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, and the temples have collected a vast amount in entrance fees or donations, they don't have the practice of giving back to society, said Fu Xinyi, a Nanjing University academic who specialises in Buddhism.

"They build temples for tourism, for money, but they don't know how to spread Buddhism's ideology," Mr Fu said. "This is regrettable. Society has so many problems, Buddhism should play its role in helping people and giving them spiritual guidance."

How western Buddhism has changed in 50 years

Vishvapani Blomfield Friday 16 March 2012

It's 50 years since Buddhist teachers started arriving in the west in the early 60s and Buddhism crash-landed into the counter culture. So what have we learned about western Buddhism?

Meeting Taiwan's new-age Buddhists

By Cindy SuiBBC News, Taipei 29 January 2014

Sorting through a large pile of used clothes and household items, Hsiao Hsiu-chu is the picture of a new-age Buddhist.

The 63-year-old retiree used to practice her religion by praying at temples, but now she volunteers seven days a week at a recycling centre to raise funds for Taiwan's Buddhist association Tzu Chi.

"I have no time to go to temples. Praying is not important. Coming here every day is like praying," said Ms Hsiao.

This is not how most people practice Buddhism in Chinese-speaking or even non-Chinese Buddhist societies. Their faith is usually self-focused: praying for protection in their current life and to be born into a better life after they die.

But Taiwan is leading a quiet, yet powerful movement that has turned traditional Buddhism on its head, converting many Buddhists such as Ms Hsiao into doers, not just believers.

Dāna in Burmese Society

Published on Jun 23, 2015

A ppt presentation which gives a very detailed and insightful practice of dana. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=23&v=c34BCK8RzRw

A little moment of insight

"Luckily as is so often the case in our lives, we have a moment, you could call it a little moment of insight, or a shift, takes place.

Suddenly I became very keen to really study this truth. And thinking back at my life as a lay person, as a teenager, back in England, and then coming to Malaysia and Thailand on my family holidays, seeking pleasure, enjoying things, all very nice, nothing too blameworthy about that, but realising
that essentially there was a deception going on. The constant message, was of course that the external world, the material world, the sensual world is where we will find our happiness. And when the material world, the sensual world, goes wrong then we'll suffer.

Ajahn Chah's message through his life and through his presence to me, was no thing, no person, no event, no situation, has the power to make you suffer, or even should be seen as negative, should be judged in any way. We're actually free to make our own decision." ~ Ajahn Siripanno

Nature Is Speaking – Robert Redford is The Redwood

Published on Oct 5, 2014 
Conservation International (CI)

Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Kevin Spacey, Edward Norton, Penélope Cruz, Robert Redford and Ian Somerhalder all join forces to give nature a voice. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e66bnuxV2A

Meditation may help with anxiety, depression and pain

January 7, 2014 - Reuters

Many people have the idea that meditation means just sitting quietly and doing nothing, that is not true. It is an active training of the mind to increase awareness, and different meditation programs approach this in different ways.
NEW YORK: Mindfulness meditation may be useful in battles against anxiety, depression and pain, according to a fresh look at past research.

Using data from 47 earlier studies, researchers found moderate evidence to support the use of mindfulness meditation to treat those conditions. Meditation didn’t seem to affect mood, sleep or substance use.

“Many people have the idea that meditation means just sitting quietly and doing nothing,” wrote Dr. Madhav Goyal in an email to Reuters Health. “That is not true. It is an active training of the mind to increase awareness, and different meditation programs approach this in different ways.”

Nature Is Speaking – Lupita Nyong'o is Flower

Published on Oct 5, 2014 
Conservation International (CI)

Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Kevin Spacey, Edward Norton, Penélope Cruz, Robert Redford and Ian Somerhalder all join forces to give nature a voice. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_OxI2JZex4

I sincerely thank you