China plans to help Nepal develop Buddha's birthplace

(REUTERS LIFE!) - A CHINESE-BACKED FOUNDATION AND NEPAL'S GOVERNMENT PLAN TO TRANSFORM LORD BUDDHA'S BIRTHPLACE IN SOUTHERN NEPAL INTO A MAGNET FOR BUDDHISTS IN THE SAME WAY AS MECCA IS TO MUSLIMS AND THE VATICAN FOR CATHOLICS.
REUTERS/NAVESH CHITRAKAR/FILES A girl sells lamps filled with clarified butter or ghee in front of a statue of Buddha at Swyambhu during celebrations of the birth anniversary of Buddha in Kathmandu May 17, 2011.

The Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation plans to raise $3 billion at home and abroad to build temples, an airport, a highway, hotels, convention centres and a Buddhist university in the town of Lumbini, about 171 km (107 miles) southwest of Nepal's capital Kathmandu.

Bagan builders ‘destroying Bhuddists’ medieval pagodas

by Richard Lloyd Parry, The Times, June 28, 2016

Bagan, Myanmar -- Experts report that more than 600 pagodas at the 10,300ha Bagan complex have been damaged by unqualified builders.

It is one of the great historic sites, a medieval city in the jungles of Myanmar, an archeological treasure to rank with Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, but the Buddhist site of Bagan is being deliberately destroyed in inept efforts at restoration.

Experts report that more than 600 pagodas at the site, a city that flourished between the 9th and 13th centuries, have been damaged by unqualified builders hired by the government. In some cases monuments due to be renovated have been completely rebuilt, leaving none of their original structure intact.

Adittapariyaya Sutta, SN35.28 (popularly called The Fire Sermon)

"The mind is burning, ideas are burning, mind-consciousness is burning, mind-contact is burning, also whatever is felt as pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant that arises with mind-contact for its indispensable condition, that too is burning. Burning with what? Burning with the fire of lust, with the fire of hate, with the fire of delusion. I say it is burning with birth, aging and death, with sorrows, with lamentations, with pains, with griefs, with despairs."

Stop and Breathe

Bells do more than just tell time—they can serve as a reminder to return to the present  By Gary Gach JUL 05, 2016

Bells break in on our cares in order to remind us that all things pass away and that our preoccupations are not important. They speak to us of our freedom.—Thomas Merton

If you visit a practice center in the Plum Village tradition of Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, you’ll likely notice special signs along the road, in the parking lot, at a trailhead, or around a bend.

A speed bump may be marked with the words “mindful bump” or “stop and breathe.”

A plank on a tree may be engraved with calligraphy that reads, “breathe, you are alive.”

How is one contented? - Digha Nikaya. I,71

Concerning this, one is satisfied with a robe to protect the body and food to satisfy the stomach. 

Having accepted enough, he goes on his way as a bird with wings flies here and there taking nothing with it but its wings.

Developing a Daily Practice

Jack Kornfield on how to add meditation and awareness to your daily routine—a topic discussed at the Creating a Mindful Society conference.

By Jack Kornfield | August 23, 2010Awareness of your breath can serve as a steady basis for awareness in all you do

First select a suitable place for your regular meditation. It can be wherever you can sit easily with minimal disturbance: a corner of your bedroom or any other quiet spot in your home. Place a meditation cushion or chair there for your use. Arrange what is around so that you are reminded of your meditative purpose, so that it feels like a sacred and peaceful space. You may wish to make a simple altar with a flower or a sacred image, or place your favorite spiritual books there for a few moments of inspired reading. Let yourself enjoy creating this space for yourself.

Dhammapada 52

"Like a beautiful flower full of color and also fragrant, even so, fruitful are the fair words of one who practices them. "

Letting Go of ‘Fangsheng’

Chinese Buddhists are rejecting the tradition of buying live animals to release them into the ‘wild.’Fan Yiying Jul 07, 2016 Sixth Tone

Liu Yidan holds a hatchling at her home in Tianjin, June 30, 2016. Fan Yiying/Sixth Tone

On a sunny morning in late June, 50-year-old Liu Yidan prayed to Buddha as usual at Dabei Temple in Tianjin, a coastal municipality near Beijing. But this time she was pleased to see that there were no bird sellers crowding the alley surrounding the temple.

“Other Buddhists and I spent over a million yuan ($150,000) buying and releasing birds from these sellers from 2008 to 2014,” Liu told Sixth Tone.

“Transcendence"

Actually, in truth there isn't anything to human beings. Whatever we may be it's only in the realm of appearances. If we take away the apparent and see the transcendent we see that there isn't anything there. There are simply the universal characteristics - birth in the beginning, change in the middle and cessation in the end. This is all there is. If we see that all things are like this then no problems arise. If we understand this we will have contentment and peace.

Film “The Song Collector” shows a lost Buddhist culture’s revival in India

by Danish Mehboob, The Seattle Globalist, Jun 4, 2016

Seattle, WA (USA) -- Seattle filmmaker Erik Koto, devoted six years to directing and producing “The Song Collector”: a story about the fight to preserve a singular Buddhist culture in Ladakh, India.

Not Just A Monk in the Philippines....

Published on Jul 7, 2016

Bhante Ven Rakkhita Samanera a Buddhist monk who currently resides in the Philippines is not just an ordinary monk, he helps look after the welfare or the local people in his village. On his daily arms round with his begging bowl, he takes photos of the sick, uploads to Facebook, finds diagnosis and donations and then helps the poor and needy. How simple.....he's hoping to spread this model world wide. Please help him in any way you can.


Filmed in June 2016 by Serena Aurora in Philippines 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dst4jGGqiiI

Vaccha sutta, AN 3.57

"I say that one acquires merit even if one throws away dishwashing water in a refuse dump or cesspit with the thought: ‘May the living beings here sustain themselves with this!’ How much more, then, does one acquire merit when one gives to human beings! However, I say that what is given to one of virtuous behavior is more fruitful than what is given to an immoral person."

How do you delete the bad memories of the past?

Returning from the morning almsround in Thailand many years ago, Ajahn Chah picked up a stick by the side of the path and asked, “How heavy is this stick?” Before anyone answered, Ajahn Chah threw the stick into the bushes and said, “A stick is only heavy when you hold it. When you throw it away, the heaviness is gone.”

Misunderstanding, by Trevor Leggett

Posted on 12 June 2016 by Buddhism Now

A teenage disciple asked the advice of a senior in the Yoga group he had joined. ‘My parents don’t understand me at all – we are always having rows. Why shouldn’t I have pictures of nudes on the walls of my room, like my friends do? I wanted to put one up in the hall too, but they raised hell over that. Why should I have to listen to them? I think I’m a natural rebel, and I won’t just meekly conform.’

"Without and Within" by Ajahn Jayasaro

What happens when panna gow stronger?

"As our paññā (wisdom) grows stronger and stronger through the practice of Vipassana, this wisdom eradicates all delusions, illusions, false impressions, and ignorance. Reality becomes clear because false impressions are unable to stick in the mind. When paññā becomes strong, sīla becomes pure; the mind is purified of all defilements. And progressing on this beneficial path, we achieve the pure state of the ariyas (noble ones). We experience the joy of nibbana.

"The happiness gained through Vipassana is superior to any other happiness. Neither the enjoyment of gross sensual pleasures, nor that of subtle extra-sensual pleasures, leads to lasting happiness. When pleasure of any kind comes to an end, the result is sorrow. And because every situation is impermanent, it is bound to change, to come to an end. When a pleasurable experience comes to an end, the mind struggles to regain it. This craving brings misery. True happiness comes only from that which remains stable." ~ S N Goenka

The sad state of Thai Buddhism

The Nation, June 9, 2016

Even abbots must obey the secular law of the land, and certainly the faithful must report wrongdoing

Bangkok, Thailand -- It would be going too far to say that predominantly Buddhist Thailand is suffering a crisis of faith, but the litany of "sins" being committed against the spirit of the Lord Buddha's teachings continues to grow, with several alarming instances recently making headlines and involving legal prosecution.

<< Phra Dhammachayo, founder of Dhammakaya, has an warrant of arrest issued by Department of Special Investigations, Thailand's equivalent of the FBI.

We have seen cases involving senior monks whose alleged offences were committed within their temples. More and more, it seems, greed, lust and other sins are defiling such sanctified places of worship. Those committing the sins are the very people who are supposed to be providing guidance to lay people in avoiding them.

Germans wedding ceremony in Buddhist monastery

A GERMANY COUPLE HAVING BLESSING ON THEIR WEDDING CEREMONY FROM THE BUDDHIST MONK AJAHN JAYASARO IN A BUDDHIST MONASTERY OF GERMAN.

MAY THE COUPLE LIVES LONG LIFE PEACEFULLY....!

3 Mindfulness Exercises You Can Try with Your Kids

If you build a game around it, kids will be drawn to mindfulness.
By Carsten Knox | April 21, 2016

If it feels like a lesson, children won’t be interested. If it’s a game, they’ll love it.That’s what Alfred James says about mindfulness for kids. The author of Pocket Mindfulness and its accompanying blog suggests that parents come up with mindfulness exercises they and their children can do together. It’s about finding ways to be truly present with your children, rather than mutually distracted.Here are a few of his ideas:

Cūḷagosinga Sutta:, MN 31

‘It is a gain for me, it is a great gain for me, that I am living with such companions in the holy life.’ 

I maintain bodily acts of loving-kindness towards those venerable ones both openly and privately; 
I maintain verbal acts of loving-kindness towards them both openly and privately; 
I maintain mental acts of loving-kindness towards them both openly and privately. 
I consider: ‘Why should I not set aside what I wish to do and do what these venerable ones wish to do?’ Then I set aside what I wish to do and do what these venerable ones wish to do. We are different in body, venerable sir, but one in mind.”

The venerable Nandiya and the venerable Kimbila each spoke likewise, adding: “That is how, venerable sir, we are living in concord, with mutual appreciation, without disputing, blending like milk and water, viewing each other with kindly eyes.”

Einstein's Views On Buddhism And Science

“Religion of the Future”-Albert Einstein”

Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany on March 14, 1879. As a child, Einstein revealed an extraordinary curiosity for understanding the mysteries of science. A typical child, Einstein took music lessons, playing both the violin and piano — a passion that followed him into adulthood. Moving first to Italy and then to Switzerland, the young prodigy graduated from high-school in 1896.

In 1905, while working as a patent clerk in Bern, Switzerland, Einstein had what came to be known as his “Annus Mirabilis” — or “miracle year”. It was during this time that the young physicist obtained his Doctorate degree and published four of his most influential research papers, including the Special Theory of Relativity. In that, the now world famous equation “e = mc2″ unlocked mysteries of the Universe theretofore unknown.

Obhasa sutta, AN4.144

“There are these four types of brightness. Which four? The brightness of the sun, the brightness of the moon, the brightness of fire, and the brightness of discernment. These are the four types of brightness. And of these four types of brightness, the foremost is the brightness of discernment.”

Nibbana sutta, Udana 8.3

"Verily, bhikkhus, there is an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed.

If, bhikkhus, there were not this Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed, escape from the world of the born, the originated, the created, the formed, would not be possible.

But bhikkhus, since there is an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed, therefore an escape is discerned from what is born, originated, created, formed."

There are two kinds of suffering

“There are two kinds of suffering. There is the suffering you run away from, which follows you everywhere. And there is the suffering you face directly, and in doing so become free.”

~ Ajahn Chah

The Buddha on Marriage

Having been both a husband and a father, the Buddha was able to speak of marriage and parenthood from personal experience. A husband, he said, should honour and respect his wife, never disparage her, be faithful to her, give her authority and provide for her financially. A wife should do her work properly, manage the servants, be faithful to her husband, protect the family income and be skilled and diligent (D.III,190).

AN 2.41 (A I 69)

“Bhikkhus, I do not praise the wrong practice of two [kinds of people]: a layperson and one gone forth [into homelessness]. Whether it is a layperson or one gone forth who is practicing wrongly, because of wrong practice, they do not attain the true way, the Dhamma that is wholesome.

“Bhikkhus, I praise the right practice of two [kinds of people]: a layperson and one gone forth. Whether it is a layperson or one gone forth who is practicing rightly, because of right practice, they attain the true way, the Dhamma that is wholesome.” 

Simsapa Sutta, SN 56.31

The Buddha teaches only what is relevant and useful.

'I am buried over there... I was shot in my knees': Mail readers reveal their children's haunting stories of past lives... so why DO so many kids insist they have lived before?

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

UPDATED: 09:04 GMT, 4 January 2016

We recently reported on the phenomenon of young children believing they had former lives. Many as young as two or three give vivid details of past experiences, startling parents with their articulate accounts. A number of stories have been collected in a book, Memories Of Heaven, by the motivational speaker Dr Wayne Dyer. Since then, scores of you have written in to tell us how your own young children have come out with perplexing and sometimes painful ‘revelations’ about their past selves. Some readers will believe these ‘memories’ of being ancient Egyptians, soldiers or reborn family members are merely the product of fertile imaginations. Others will find the extraordinary details coming from the mouths of those so young harder to explain.

 One thing is for certain: they make compelling reading.

Children as young as two or three have given vivid details of former lives, startling parents with their articulate accounts (file photo)

Maha-parinibbana Sutta, DN 16

Ariyas are found only in the Sasana; not in any other religious systems.

"In whatsoever Dhamma and Discipline, Subhadda, there is not found the Noble Eightfold Path, neither is there found a true ascetic of the first, second, third, or fourth degree of saintliness. 

But in whatsoever Dhamma and Discipline there is found the Noble Eightfold Path, there is found a true ascetic of the first, second, third, and fourth degrees of saintliness. 

Now in this Dhamma and Discipline, Subhadda, is found the Noble Eightfold Path; and in it alone are also found true ascetics of the first, second, third, and fourth degrees of saintliness. 

Devoid of true ascetics are the systems of other teachers. But if, Subhadda, the bhikkhus live righteously, the world will not be destitute of arahats."