A night as a Buddhist monk in Koyasan

by Richard Pennick, Yahoo News, February 1, 2016

Richard Pennick stays in an historic centre of Shingon Buddhism
Koyasan, Japan -- It is a place of tranquil beauty. Moss-covered tombs and headstones lean at odd angles, tilted by intruding roots. A forest of giant cedars has grown up over the centuries around the stone memorials. I am walking through the ancient Okunoin Cemetery.

A night as a Buddhist monk in Koyasan
Shojoshin-in Temple Inn is a serene place to stay. Picture: Richard Pennick

Earlier today, I left Kyoto by train and three hours later arrived at the foot of Mt Koya. I rode the funicular up the steep forested mountainside to this small, peaceful mountain-top town of Koyasan, the world headquarters of the Shingon School of Esoteric Buddhism and the home of this Okunoin Cemetery.

Song of Samsara ~ Milarepa

When you are young and vigorous
You never think of old age coming,
But it approaches slow and sure
Like a seed growing underground.

When you are strong and healthy
You never think of sickness coming,
But it descends with sudden force
Like a stroke of lightning.

When involved in worldly things
You never think of death’s approach.
Quick it comes like thunder
Crashing round your head.

Sickness, old age and death
Ever meet each other
As do hands and mouth.

Waiting for his prey in ambush,
Yama is ready for his victim,
When disaster catches him.

Sparrows fly in single file. Like them,
Life, Death and Bardo follow one another.

Never apart from you
Are these three ‘visitors’.

Thus thinking, fear you not
Your sinful deeds?

Like strong arrows in ambush waiting,
Rebirth in Hell, as Hungry Ghost, or Beast
Is (the destiny) waiting to catch you.

If once into their traps you fall,
Hard will you find it to escape.

Do you not fear the miseries
You experienced in the past?

Surely you will feel much pain
If misfortunes attack you?

The woes of life succeed one another
Like the sea’s incessant waves
One has barely passed, before
The next one takes its place.

Until you are liberated, pain
and pleasure come and go at random
Like passers-by encountered in the street.

Pleasures are precarious,
Like bathing in the sun;
Transient, too, as snowstorms
Which come without warning.

Remembering these things,
Why not practise the Dharma?

from the book The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa, Vol. 2
translated by Garma C. C. Chang

Superstition has no place in Buddhism

The Nation January 14, 2016 1:00 am

With more temples shunning belief in amulets and the like, hope grows for an end to wayward monks

A Buddhist temple in the province of Kamphaeng Phet has erected signs advising visitors to look elsewhere if they seek "superstitious" help from its monks - amulets for sale, the anointing of cars, even the distribution of holy water. The abbot has said the monks are there to discuss religious matters with the faithful, not offer voodoo guarantees of good fortune.

There is a welcome trend of late for Thai temples to shun practices that stray from the teachings of the Lord Buddha - or had nothing to do with his philosophy in the first place. The trend provides a glimmer of hope for Buddhists left dismayed by the commercialisation of the religion and the incessant imploring for donations.

This Buddhist Monk Is An Unsung Hero In The World's Climate Fight

The architect of the historic Paris climate negotiations credits the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh with helping broker the deal.

01/22/2016 Jo Confino Executive Editor, Impact & Innovation, The Huffington Post

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND -- One of the guiding forces behind the scenes of the Paris climate agreement is an 89-year-old Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk.

Christiana Figueres, who led the climate talks, has credited Thich Nhat Hanh with having played a pivotal role in helping her to develop the strength, wisdom and compassion needed to forge the unprecedented deal backed by 196 countries.

Figueres, the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, says the teachings of Thay, as he is known to his hundreds of thousands of followers around the world, “literally fell into my lap” when she was going through a deep personal crisis three years ago.

She says the Buddhist philosophy of Thay, who is currently recovering from a serious stroke, helped her to deal with the crisis while also allowing her to maintain her focus on the climate talks.CYRUS MCCRIMMON VIA GETTY IMAGES Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh.

How to control your feelings?

Happiness is in your hands

"Back in the 19th century when Westerners were beginning to read some of the Buddhist texts, and all saw was suffering, death, aging, illness, As a result, they wrote Buddhism off as a very pessimistic religion. But when they went to Asia, they saw that Buddhists in general were very happy people. The temple fairs, the various observances in the course of the year, were always very happy gatherings. And the Westerners came to the conclusion that Buddhists didn’t understand their own religion. If they really understood what the Buddha taught, they would be morose and horribly depressed. But instead they were happy.

So Westerners came up with a theory of what they called the great tradition versus the little tradition, i.e. the great tradition being what was in the texts and the little tradition being Buddhism on the ground. But what they really missed was the central message in the texts, which is that your happiness is in your hands. And that true happiness comes from behaving in a way that’s totally harmless. And not just harmless in the sense that you’re not going to hurt other people, but also that you’re going to positively do good by practicing generosity as an important part of the path. This is how the Buddha’s message is empowering. You can create a happy life by acting in ways that are noble and good." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu

A BUDDHIST NUN BECOMES A ROLE MODEL FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

 IDN ­InDepth News Feature 12 July 2014 By Kalinga Seneviratne

SINGAPORE (IDN) ­ By ordaining women into the Sangha (order of Buddha’s disciples), Gautama Buddha 2500 years ago has placed women on an equal footing with men in India. But today in most Asian Buddhist countries nuns are fighting an uphill battle to be recognized as credible teachers of the Dhamma (Buddha’s teachings). One Nepali woman may be unwittingly changing this perception by virtually singing the Dhamma.

“I never label myself into anything I just do what my heart wishes to do, with all the understanding and respect towards Buddha’s teachings and his principles,” said Nepali Buddhist nun Ani Choying Drolma, when I interviewed her just before she performed to a sellout audience at Singapore’s premier concert hall, The Esplanade in April.

Do you know why we meditate?

“…It is to make you feel good. It is a different way of feeling good. We normally feel good by doing something or having something. But this is the opposite. We feel good by not doing anything, and it is better. Why is that so? Because you don’t have to rely on anything to make you feel good.

Normally we need something to make us feel good, right? We need to do something or be somewhere, see something, hear something, or eat something in order to make us feel good. That kind of pleasant feeling is temporary and can also cause you to be depressed or stressed when you cannot get what you want. Then when you want to do something but cannot do it, you don’t feel good. Instead of feeling good, you feel bad.

Past Vows of Sakka (Seven Habits of a Truly Superior Person)

Sunday Dhamma Talk 01-02-04 By Ven Kumara Venue: TIMS 

Just last Thursday, many Chinese here celebrated the birthday of “Thyi Kong” (YuWangDaTi or Jade Emperor) by honouring him and asking for his blessings. In the Buddhist scriptures, this powerful deity is known as Sakka Devaraja. He has many names, but Sakka is the most commonly used name in the Pali scriptures, while devaraja means “king of the devas (deities)”.

In the Samyutta Nikaya (1:11) it is said that when Sakka was a human being, he made and put into practice seven vows. As a result, he was reborn as Sakka. These are his vows: 

Dialogue Heats Up On Theravada Bhikku Bill

By Ashanthi Warunasuriya, The Sunday Leader, Jan 24, 2016 Colombo, Sri Lanka -- The proposed Theravada Bhikku Dialogue Act which will enable every Bhikku to act in compliance with the provisions of the registered Chapter or Kathikawatha, was presented to parliament recently. According to the Bill presented by Mass Media and Parliamentary Reforms Minister and Chief Government Whip Gayantha Karunathilake, it provides provisions for the formulation and registration of the Kathikawatha (Dialogue) in relation to Nikaya (chapters) of the Theravadi Bhikkus in Sri Lanka.