Buddhism Is Growing in China, But Remains in Legal Limbo

by Yang Siqi, Time, March 16, 2016

There are an estimated 245 million Buddhists in officially atheist China, but the religion faces severe legal and political hurdles

Beijing, China -- Yan Lu studied Marxism-Leninism in college, majoring in ideological and political education. After graduating from the prestigious Southwest Jiaotong University in the Chinese city of Chengdu, she worked at a kindergarten and as a secretary. Neither job satisfied her. 

Today, the 27-year-old lives as a Buddhist nun at the tiny Changxing Temple in a village near Beijing. She eschews cellphones, T.V. and the Internet, preferring to spend her time in quiet meditation. “Now Chinese people are richer,” Yan says, “but they urgently need more spiritual life.”

China’s religious revival, born of the failings of both communism and capitalism to provide adequate meaning in Chinese lives, has been well-documented. While Chinese have flocked to Confucian temples and Christian churches, the biggest beneficiary is Buddhism. Official statistics don’t exist, but the Pew Research Center, which surveys religious belief worldwide, estimates some 245 million Buddhists in China, around 18% of the total national population. Another 21% of Chinese adhere to folk religions that often incorporate Buddhist beliefs, according to Pew.

Uposatha Sutta (Udana 5.5)

"Just as whatever great rivers there are... on reaching the great ocean lose their former names and identities and are just called 'the great ocean,' so also those of the four castes — nobles, brahmans, merchants, and workers — having gone forth from home to the homeless state in the Dhamma and Discipline made known by the Tathagata, abandon their former names and identities and are just called 'recluses, the followers of the Sakyan son." 

Dalai Lama urges Buddhist centres to be an academic centre

by Jane Cook, Tibet Post International, March 8, 2016

Madison, Wisconsin (USA) -- Explaining that more and more people are showing an interest in Buddhism, the spiritual leader of Tibet said it would be better if Buddhist centres were not only temples for worship, but academic centres of learning, somewhere that could be a focus for the study of Buddhist philosophy and science of the mind.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking at the Temple at Deer Park Buddhist Center in Madison, WI, USA on March 6, 2016. Photo/Sherab Lhatsang

About 300 people gathered in the temple at Deer Park Buddhist Center in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States to listen to the spiritual leader of Tibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, on March 6, 2016.

Dhajagga Sutta (SN 11.3 )

“In a forest, at the foot of a tree,
Or in an empty hut, O bhikkhus,
You should recollect the Buddha:
No fear will then arise in you.

But if you cannot recall the Buddha,
Best in the world, the bull of men,
Then you should recall the Dhamma,
Emancipating, well expounded.

But if you cannot recall the Dhamma,
Emancipating, well expounded,
Then you should recall the Saṅgha,
The unsurpassed field of merit.

For those who thus recall the Buddha,
The Dhamma, and the Saṅgha, bhikkhus,
No fear or trepidation will arise,
Nor any grisly terror.”

Eric Ripert: the Buddhist Michelin star chef who changed my life

by Joshua David Stein, The Guardian, 20 March 2016 As food writer Joshua David Stein prepares to convert by taking the Vow of Refuge, he checks back in with Eric Ripert, the man who inspired him New York, USA -- The back wall of Le Bernardin, one of the world’s top fine dining destinations, is occupied by a 24-foot-wide painting of a roiling ocean called Deep Water No 1. The painting was placed there by the restaurant’s co-owner and chef Eric Ripert five years ago when the restaurant was renovated. Ripert bought the painting in 2011, nearly 20 years after he took over as head chef. Eric Ripert: ‘Kindness does not mean I’m going to hug you. I’m going to observe where your weakness is and I’m going to reinforce you.’ Photograph: Nigel Parry One might imagine the four stars from the New York Times, the three from the Michelin Guide, the white linen tableclothes, the sommelier with his silver tastevin around his neck and the oligarchic patrons might occasion staid flower oil paintings. But that’s not Ripert’s style at all.

Cetana (Pali term for "volition" or "intention")

"Some donors offer alms-food, building, clothes, ritually or perfunctorily. If so, even though may be lavish and grand, their cetana is no match to it - they do not feel appreciative joy because the good deed was done with little volition. Therefore quantity or quality alone cannot determine the generosity of a donor. When King Dutthagamani Abaya was on his death-bed, he did not feel much joy in his merit of building the great Maha Cedi Pagoda, instead he felt great joy in recalling his small merit of offering one meal to a monk in the forest. Due to this great cetana he was reborn in the celestial abode of Tusita Devas. Therefore keep in mind that cetana only will determine your destiny, not the quantity or value of gifts you have offered. Cetana is more important than the lavishness of your charity." ~ Ashin Janakabhivamsa

Neuroscience backs up the Buddhist belief that “the self” isn’t constant, but ever-changing

by Olivia Goldhill, Asian Pacific Post, March 15, 2016

While you may not remember life as a toddler, you most likely believe that your selfhood then - your essential being - was intrinsically the same as it is today.

Vancouver, BC (Canada) -- Buddhists, though, suggest that this is just an illusion - a philosophy that’s increasingly supported by scientific research.

“Buddhists argue that nothing is constant, everything changes through time, you have a constantly changing stream of consciousness,” Evan Thompson, a philosophy of mind professor at the University of British Columbia, tells Quartz. “And from a neuroscience perspective, the brain and body is constantly in flux. There’s nothing that corresponds to the sense that there’s an unchanging self.”

Ven. Webu Sayadaw

Ven. Webu Sayadaw was born in 1896 in British Burma in modern day Sagaing Division. He underwent the usual monk's training in the Pāli scriptures from the age of nine, when he became a novice, until he was twenty-seven. His given title as a monk was Kumara Kassapa.

In 1923 (seven years after his ordination), he left the monastery and spent four years in solitude. He practiced (and later taught) the technique of Ānāpānasati (awareness of the in-breath and out-breath). He said that by working with this practice to a very deep level of concentration, one is able to develop Vipassanā (insight) into the essential characteristics of all experience: anicca (impermanence), anatta (egolessness) and dukkha (unsatisfactoriness). 

Why Are Christians Turning To Buddhism?

12 November 2015  

Six Examples by Jay McDaniel

A small but growing number Christians in the West are turning to Buddhism for spiritual guidance. Many are reading books about Buddhism, and some are also meditating, participating in Buddhist retreats, and studying under Buddhist teachers. They are drawn to Buddhism’s emphasis on “being present” in the present moment; to its recognition of the interconnectedness of all things; to its emphasis on non-violence; to its appreciation of a world beyond words, and to its provision of practical means — namely meditation — for growing in one’s capacities for wise and compassionate living in daily life. As they learn from Buddhism, they do not abandon Christianity. Their hope is that Buddhism can help them become better Christians. They are Christians influenced by Buddhism.

The purpose of focusing

Question: …when I sit, I watch my breathing. After a while, the mind does not want to focus on the breathing anymore, and at that time, I allow awareness to flow. When it opens up, it becomes very peaceful. Sometimes, I try to maintain it, but when I start to see more thoughts arising or start to get drowsy, I go back to the breathing. So, is this okay?

Tan Ajahn: That is the correct way. As long as your mind does not think, you do not need to focus. But when your mind starts thinking, you have to refocus again.

The purpose of focusing is to prevent your mind from thinking. When your mind does not think, your mind becomes empty and peaceful, and you do not need to focus. Actually, if your mind becomes really peaceful then this focusing will disappear automatically. It is like eating: When you are full, you stop eating automatically.

You do not have to force yourself to eat. You might not get to that point yet, to the point when the focusing and your thoughts disappear completely and your mind becomes still, peaceful, and at ease.

11 Proven Health Benefits of Meditation

Margie King, Health Coach February 24th 2016

The ancient practice of meditation is enjoying a resurgence. Its proven health benefits have been discovered by such unlikely advocates as military programs and corporations.

Meditation used to be confined to the mysterious and ascetic world of Buddhist monks.  But now meditation is going mainstream.

Military programs incorporate meditation to treat soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse.  Corporations offer meditation as part of their wellness programs.

Part of the reason for this new popularity of meditation is a wealth of scientific research attesting to its amazing range of healing properties. Here are just 11 proven health benefits of a regular meditation practice.

Dry the paddy while the sun is shining!

"Ne pu done, saba hlan" means “Dry the paddy while the sun is shining!” When used in a Buddhist connotation, this proverb urges the devout that when there is an opportunity for spiritual development, one must not let it slip away. Sun Lun Sayadaw often used this expression as an exhortation for yogis to meditate and to strive to reach nibbana in this very life, instead of merely doing good deeds and hoping to come back when the next Buddha arrived, as some Buddhists of his day were wont to do.

Sun Lun Sayadaw explained that just as people had lost their chances to become liberated during previous Buddha Sasanas, one should not waste the opportunities in the present Sasana. A similar proverb is "Ne win hma, saba hlan", or “at sunset one dries the paddy,” which refers to someone acting even after a precious opportunity has been lost.

Wat Boston Buddha Vararam (Thai) di Bedford, Massachusetts

Mindfulness is not dependent on any emotional or mental state

"One of the most difficult things to learn is that mindfulness is not dependent on any emotional or mental state. We have certain images of meditation. Meditation is something done in quiet caves by tranquil people who move slowly. Those are training conditions. They are set up to foster concentration and to learn the skill of mindfulness. Once you have learned that skill, however, you can dispense with the training restrictions, and you should. You don't need to move at a snail's pace to be mindful. You don't even need to be calm. You can be mindful while solving problems in intensive calculus. You can be mindful in the middle of a football scrimmage. You can even be mindful in the midst of a raging fury. Mental and physical activities are no bar to mindfulness. If you find your mind extremely active, then simply observe the nature and degree of that activity. It is just a part of the passing show within." ~ Bhante Gunaratana, Mindfulness Versus Concentration.