Malay language vs Sanskrit

Is it sinful to be rich. by Ven. Dr Khammai Dhammasami

Published on Apr 19, 2012

Ven. Ajarn Dr Khammai Dhammasami, the abbot of the Oxford Buddha Vihara, the Buddhist philosopher preaching at the Thai Stock Exchange in Bangkok.

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

Losar - the biggest Tibetan Buddhist Festival - begins in Ladakh

by Shravan Nune, Jagrandosh, 14 Dec, 2015

Ladakh, India -- Losar, the biggest Tibetan Buddhist Festival began on 12 December 2015 in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir. The festival marks the beginning of New Year for Buddhists.

The annual festival is celebrated by people of the area with traditional and religion fervor. The festival begins with illumination of religious and residential places.

Buddhists of Ladakh celebrate Losar as their new year.

 Before the rule of Jamiang Namgyal (1555 to 1610) this day was celebrated on the first day of Ladakhi Buddhist Year which is based in the moon and sun (quite similar to Hindus).

However, the day was advanced by two days after Jamiang Namgyal decided to invade Skardu before the New Year.

Since then, Losar is celebrated on the last two days of the 10th Bodhi month that coincides with December of Christian calendar.

During this, people of Ladakh specially remember ancestors of their family. On this day, people visit graveyards of their family members and pray for peace of the departed soul. Apart from this, people also visit each other houses for exchange of Losar greetings.

Respect in Buddhist Thought & Practice ~ Ajahn Thanissaro

If you’re born into an Asian Buddhist family, the first thing your parents will teach you about Buddhism is not a philosophical tenet but a gesture of respect: how to place your hands in añjali, palm‐to‐palm over your heart, when you encounter a Buddha image, a monk, or a nun.

Obviously, the gesture will be mechanical at first. Over time, though, you’ll learn the respectful attitude that goes with it. If you’re quick to pick it up, your parents will consider it a sign of intelligence, for respect is basic to any ability to learn.

As you get older, they may teach you the symbolism of the gesture: that your hands form a lotus bud, representing your heart, which you are holding out to be trained in how to become wise. Ultimately, as you grow more familiar with the fruits of Buddhist practice, your parents hope that your respect will turn into reverence and veneration.

Early Buddhist Paths that Lead to Liberation

by Josh Korda, The Huffington Post, Oct 20, 2015

San Francisco, CA (USA) -- In the Buddhist practice awakening, or sambodhi (in pali), is the achievement of inner peace that sustains itself regardless of conditions beyond our control. In verse 154 of the great dhammapada, when the Buddha announces his awakening, he refers to lasting happiness as 'the unconditioned.'

Transcendence is a a state of witnessing as experiences unfold in a state of constant flux and upheaval without taking the universal events of life personally; we are all subject to the ravages of aging and sickness, the grief of separation from loved ones, financial instability, frustrations, loss.

Additionally, our peace of mind is sabotaged by our default settings: remaining constantly vigilant for threats even while we are perfectly safe, dwelling obsessively on negative experiences while overlooking the positive,, our predilection for addictive, short-term sensual pleasures (consumerism, escapist entertainment, meaningless hook ups and on). Alas, no matter how much we accumulate, we feel that underlying awareness that the sugary sweetness of sensory pleasures will end and we'll once again realize how exposed we are to inevitable losses and separation.

Advice for someone who is dying

BY AJAHN CHAH JANUARY 1, 1994

Ajahn Chah’s simple, profound advice to an aging student approaching her 
death.

Today I have brought nothing material of any substance to offer you, only
Dhamma, the teachings of the Buddha. Listen well. You should understand 
that even the Buddha himself, with his great store of accumulated virtue, 
could not avoid physical death. When he reached old age, he relinquished his 
body and let go of its heavy burden. Now you too must learn to be satisfied 
with the many years you’ve already depended on your body. You should feel 
that it’s enough.

You can compare it to household utensils that you’ve had for a long time—
your cups, saucers, plates and so on. When you first had them they were 
clean and shining, but now after using them for so long, they’re starting to 
wear out. Some are already broken, some have disappeared, and those 
that are left are deteriorating: they have no stable form, and it’s their nature 
to be like that. Your body is the same way. It has been continually changing 
right from the day you were born, through childhood and youth, until now it 
has reached old age. You must accept that. The Buddha said that conditions 
(sankharas), whether they are internal conditions, bodily conditions, or external conditions, are not-self—their nature is to change. Contemplate 
this truth until you see it clearly.

Verses on Aspiration - Uddisanadhitthana gatha

Bhutan's dark secret to happiness

By Eric Weiner, BBC, 8 April 2015 Citizens of one of the happiest countries on Earth are surprisingly comfortable contemplating a topic many prefer to avoid. Is that the key to joy? Thimphu, Bhutan -- On a visit to Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, I found myself sitting across from a man named Karma Ura, spilling my guts. Maybe it was the fact that he was named Karma, or the thin air, or the way travel melts my defences, but I decided to confess something very personal. Not that long before, seemingly out of the blue, I had experienced some disturbing symptoms: shortness of breath, dizziness, numbness in my hands and feet. At first, I feared I was having a heart attack, or going crazy. Maybe both. So I went to the doctor, who ran a series of tests and found... “Nothing,” said Ura. Even before I could complete my sentence, he knew that my fears were unfounded. I was not dying, at least not as quickly as I feared. I was having a panic attack.

Video featuring Ajahn Brahm on Korean TV

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/k7xBMLeWV6CcRCbikKs?start=966

How Mindfulness Changes the Brain

The Harvard Business Review outlines key research on the neural 

mechanisms underlying meditation. [01/15/15]

There's some research behind all that mindfulness hype. Sara Lazar, an associate researcher in the psychiatry department at Massachusetts General Hospital and an assistant professor in psychology at Harvard Medical School, along with her colleagues, outlines key neural mechanisms underlying meditation.