The whole world belongs to you

Meditation sweeps corporate America, but it's for their health. Not yours

Oliver Burkeman 7 April, The Guardian

Companies from Goldman Sachs to Target are discovering that zen employees are more productive. Get your yoga mats out and take a long, deep breath...

As a fairly regular meditator, I naturally responded with only a slight smile and a deep sense of imperturbable inner peace to the latest crop of articles asserting that mindfulness has conquered the highest levels of American corporate life.

This most recent coverage has been triggered by Mindful Work, a new book by the New York Times reporter David Gelles, which documents – and largely celebrates – the discovery of meditation by hedge fund managers, health insurers, Ford, Target, Goldman Sachs and the Bank of America as a way to reduce stress and boost employee productivity. Arianna Huffington is thrilled by the news; the Wall Street Journal is excited; even the Marine Corps is interested. Now, obviously, I wouldn’t want to suggest that Goldman Sachs, Bank of America or the US military don’t always have humanity’s best interests at heart in everything they do. But we should probably pause – mindfully, of course – to ask if the corporate mindfulness revolution is something to be entirely happy about.

George Takei: Buddhism ‘Made A Lot Of Sense For Me'

By Carol Kuruvilla, The Huffington Post, Jan 24, 2015

San Francisco, CA (USA) -- George Takei is an actor, a social media star, and a gay rights activist. He’s also a longtime Buddhist whose faith has helped him get through the rough patches in his life -- like coming to terms with his sexual orientation and making sense of his Japanese family’s internment during World War II.

Takei, best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu on “Star Trek,” remembers studying Buddhism at a local temple under his Sunday School teachers Roy and Terry Nakawatase. He shared his life story on the Buddhist blog Lion’s Roar.

"I remember Roy using the metaphor of the vastness of the ocean: we are all part of it, we belong to this vast oneness, and that made a lot of sense for me—that I am really one with everybody, with the whole, and that we can play a part in making that whole healthier and more understanding."

With Guggenheim, Strong to study Western views of Buddhist relics

By Doug Hubley, Bates Univ, June 11, 2015 Lewiston, Maine (USA) -- With the Shroud of Turin perhaps the most widely known example, religious relics are a familiar aspect of Christian worship. But relics play important roles in many faiths, and understanding those roles can afford insight into how a faith is regarded by both adherents and observers. John Strong, Charles A. Dana Professor of Religious Studies at Bates and 2015 recipient of a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College) Buddhism is such a religion. And a Bates professor of religious studies has received a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship to support research into ways in which Westerners, Buddhist and otherwise, have responded to relics — objects venerated as physical remains of the Buddha and of enlightened Buddhist teachers. John Strong, Charles A. Dana Professor of Religious Studies and chair of the Asian studies program at Bates, is one of the 175 scholars, artists, and scientists to receive John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowships in 2015. (Two joint fellowships were awarded, making the total number of grants 173.) There were more than 3,100 Guggenheim applicants. “Guggenheim Fellowships are reserved for scholars with exceptional creative ability,” says Matt Auer, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at Bates. “John Strong checks that box with a bold penstroke.” Strong, Auer says, “has long been an intellectual leader in the field of Buddhist studies, and the project that he’ll undertake is a logical sequel to his pathbreaking 2004 book, Relics of the Buddha, which considers Buddhist attitudes towards Buddhism’s own relics. The timing for the new project is perfect considering a surge of Western interest in Asian religions generally, and Buddhism specifically.”

METTA is the Buddhist word for universal benevolence

M-Magnanimous
E-Empathetic
T-Thoughtful
T-Tender
A-Altruistic

May suffering ones be suffering free, the fear-struck fearless be;
May grieving ones shed all grief, may all beings find peace & relief.

Push to make Buddhism state religion

by Nanchanok Wongsamuth, The Bangkok Post, Oct 25, 2015

Several Buddhist groups are again hoping the constitution drafters will include Buddhism as the official state religion.

Bangkok, Thailand -- Supporters have declared that this time proposals to the drafters would be made peacefully, after a previous attempt failed during the coup-installed Gen Surayud Chulanont government in 2007.

At that time the Constitution Drafting Assembly rejected a proposal to make Buddhism the state religion in the draft charter, drawing an angry response from monks and laymen who demonstrated outside parliament.

“No government has ever taken an interest in Buddhism, resulting in a decline in the religion,” said Korn Meedee, the secretary of a committee to promote Buddhism as the state religion.

Myanmar Buddhist radicalism fuels Thai push for state religion

The Bangkok Post, 4 Nov 2015

Bangkok, Thailand -- A campaign to enshrine Buddhism as Thailand's state religion has been galvanised by a radical Buddhist movement in neighbouring Myanmar that is accused of stoking religious tension, the leader of the Thai bid said.

A monk prays at a Nov 1 ceremony to move Lord Buddha’s relics from Mahiyangana Raja Maha Viharaya in Sri Lanka to Buddha Monthon monastery in Nakhon Pathom. A campaign to enshrine Buddhism as Thailand's state religion has been galvanised by a radical Buddhist movement in neighbouring Myanmar that is accused of stoking religious tension. (Photo by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)

Experts say the campaign could appeal to Thailand's military junta, which is struggling for popularity 18 months after staging a coup, and tap into growing anti-Muslim sentiment in a country that prides itself on religious tolerance.
While Buddhists form an overwhelming majority in both countries, Thailand has avoided the nationwide religious violence that has killed hundreds of people in Myanmar, most of them Muslims.


Now, Thai campaigners want Buddhism to be made the country's official religion in a new constitution.

They draw inspiration from Ma Ba Tha, a powerful monk-led group that pushed Myanmar's government to pass a raft of pro-Buddhist legislation.

UW-Madison helps students learn through well-being exercises

Mindfulness in an elementary classroom, brought 

to you by the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds

and...hip-hop?

https://www.facebook.com/UWMadison/videos/10153555518128114/?fref=nf

You are your only salvation

BUDDHIST EDUCATION IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN AUSTRALIA.

Video by The Path of the Gautama Buddha

Victorian Government policy allows for 30 minutes per week of voluntary religious instruction in primary school council and parents agree to this.

https://www.facebook.com/1408782586008140/videos/1718457208374008/?fref=nf

“In the Dead of Night..."Ajahn Chah -

Don't follow your moods. Train yourself. The practice involves putting your very life at stake. You must have cried at least two or three times. That's right, that's the practice. If you're sleepy and want to lie down then don't let it sleep. Make the sleepiness go away before you lie down. But look at you all, you don't know how to practice.

The building of California Vipassana Centre

To: California, From: Myanmar on Jack Creek

http://www.jackcreekproductions.com/pagodafilm

PEACE is the acronym for great attitudes in universal wellness of one and all

Equanimity-tranquility

- Placidity leads to composure
- Empathy leads to understanding
- Amity leads to friendliness
- Compassion leads to benevolence
- Equanimity leads to tranquility

What a wonderful world that would be!

Can Burma Save Buddhism From the Politicians?

By Christian Caryl, Foreign Policy, October 30, 2015 An unholy alliance between the government and extremist Buddhist monks is threatening to derail the transition to democracy. Yangon, Myanmar - There’s a specter haunting Burma. It’s the specter of politicized religion. On Nov 8, Burmese voters will head to the polls to choose members of a new parliament. It will be the country’s first national election since it started opening up four years ago, and the first relatively democratic one in 25 years. Preparations for the poll have been rocky. Election monitors are already warning about cases of intimidation, sporadic violence, flawed voter lists, and a whole host of other concerns. And even if the authorities get those kinks straightened out, there’s a broader problem: the entire process is taking place in an environment that has been skewed against the opposition.