Saturday, July 23, 2016

A Buddhist cop’s approach to justice

BY CHERI MAPLES| JULY 7, 2016

Cheri Maples, a student of Thich Nhat Hanh and former police officer, addresses the U.S.’s crisis in policing and how a Buddhist outlook could help foster more positive relations between citizens and police.

A cop meets Thich Nhat Hanh

I became serious about developing a consistent mindfulness practice when I attended my first retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh (known affectionately as “Thay”), in 1991, seven years into my twenty-year police career.

Dhammapada 146

"What is this laughter, what is this delight, forever burning (with desires) as you are? Enveloped in darkness as you are, will you not seek the light? "

Letter from Lama Surya Das - July 2016

Attachment to things which don't help us very much is a Buddhist definition of the cause of suffering and distress. We say "Let go or be dragged down," but what does it really mean? How can we re-condition ourselves to really "let go" and accept things when there's so much wrong with the world as we know it? And moreover: Let go of what, exactly- our possessions, family, emotions, thoughts and opinions, and our hatred and prejudices? Easier said than done.

Visiting the Four Sacred Sites

Or how to be reborn in a realm of heavenly happiness By Asoka Bandarage, Tricycle SUMMER 2016

Prior to the Buddha’s passing away into final nirvana (pari-nirvana), his beloved attendant, Venerable Ananda, expressed concern as to how the Buddha’s disciples would pay respect to him following his death. The Buddha responded:

There are four places, Ananda, that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence. What are the four? ‘Here the Tathagata [the one who has gone beyond all transitory phenomena] was born.’ ‘Here the Tathagata became fully enlightened.’ ‘Here the Tathagata set in motion the wheel of the dhamma.’ ‘Here the Tathagata passed away into the state of nibbana in which no element of clinging remains!’ And the monk, the nun, the layman or laywoman who has faith should visit these places. And whoever, Ananda, should die on such a pilgrimage with his heart established in faith, at the breaking up of the body after death will be reborn in a realm of heavenly happiness. (Digha Nikaya 16.5)

Master Jinghui memorial

by Peter K, The Buddhist Channel, June 20, 2016

Beijing, China -- Master Jinghui may have passed on three years ago, but his legacy still lives on. He will forever be remembered as the man who tirelessly broke down the walls between devotion to Buddhist ideology and modern living. The man who developed Zen for daily life more than two decades ago. He was solely responsible for the revival of Buddhism and restoration of numerous key temples in China. Through his actions and teachings, he indisputably carved himself a niche in Buddhist history.

His recent memorial was as legendary as Jinghui himself. In a video footage highlighting the event, we find out that the event was graced by highly revered and famous Chinese Buddhist and monks. The video footage starts off with an interview with a renowned German pianist Torsten Reitz, who traveled across the globe to attend the memorial ceremony. Torsten played two piano pieces by Johan Sebastian Bach. The event that was held People’s Hall of Shijiazhuang in Hebei, China, was attended by prolific Buddhist scholars and Jinghui’s disciples from far and wide.

" It easy to see the faults of others, but difficult to see one's own. A man broadcasts the fault; of others like winnowing chaff in the wind, but hides his own faults as a crafty flower covers himself. "

- The Buddha

Spaces in the Sky

Questioning conventional Buddhist practices, Stephen Batchelor grapples with the sometimes troubling virtue of nonviolence.
By Stephen Batchelor WINTER 2001

In July 1972, I climbed a narrow passageway in a sandstone cliffside and emerged to stand on the head of a 180-foot-tall Buddha in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. Twenty-nine years later, in July 2001, I stayed on the fourteenth floor of the Marriott Hotel between the twin towers of Manhattan’s World Trade Center as a participant in Tricycle’s tenth-anniversary conference, “Buddhism: Does It Make a Difference?” In March Taliban forces had shelled the Bamiyan statue and reduced it to rubble; in September, suicide bombers brought down the twin towers and in so doing reduced the Marriott to rubble. Places where I and others had once stood, whether admiring the gentle Afghan countryside or the urban grandeur of New York, were now just spaces in the sky.

Thich Nhat Hanh, speaking after the attacks on September 11, 2001.

Thich Nhat Hanh

In this moment we invoke all our spiritual teachers to be with us, helping to embrace our suffering, to embrace the world, and to embrace humanity as a family. There are those of us trying to save, heal and support, and we are grateful to them. There are those of us who are crying, who are suffering terribly in this very moment. Let us breathe for all of them and embrace them tenderly with our compassion, our understanding, and our peace. We know that responding to hatred and violence with compassion is the only path for all of us."

Thursday, July 21, 2016

A yesterday message from Ajahn Jayasāro

In monasteries throughout Thailand, today marks the beginning of the annual three-month Rains Retreat. During this period, forest monks put special emphasis on meditation practice. In order to investigate the four noble truths more deeply many take on ascetic practices that go against the grain, deliberately bringing up craving in order to investigate how it creates suffering. They may, for example, eat only the food offered to them on almsround, refusing food offered in the monastery or cooked in the monastery kitchen. Some monks make a determination to refrain from lying down for a week or a month or perhaps the whole retreat. It is a time for monastics to make a special effort to push against old habits and limitations.

After violence, Myanmar moves to curb Buddhist extremism

PUBLISHED The Strait Times JUL 15, 2016, 7:33 PM SGT

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar is cracking down on Buddhist extremism, aiming to curb ethnic and religious tension that saw two mosques destroyed and scores of Muslim residents fleeing their villages in recent weeks.

An Australian Dhamma singer

UNIVERSAL LOVE หลอมโลกด้วยรัก Metta Sutta

https://www.facebook.com/460826477447348/videos/485318188331510/

The Buddha’s mindfulness has one purpose—the end of suffering. Do secular
programs do the same thing? By Phillip Moffitt MAY 24, 2016

As secular mindfulness continues to expand into many layers of our society,
from psychotherapy offices and schools to corporations and the military,
I welcome its spread. Regardless of the context in which it is learned,
mindfulness reduces suffering when practiced diligently and ethically.

Moreover, applying mindfulness to daily life situations is a fundamental
dharma teaching. So I experience mudita [sympathetic joy] when I see that
mindfulness has become available to many more people.

"It seems that certain religionists try to keep their followers in the dark; some of them are not even allowed to touch other religious objects or books. They are instructed not to listen to the preachings of other religions. They are enjoined not to doubt the teachings of their own religion, however unconvincing their teachings may appear to be. They believe that the more they keep their followers on a one-track mind, the more easily they can keep them under control. If anyone of them exercises freedom of thought and realises that he or she had been in the dark all the time, then it is alleged that the devil has possessed their mind. People are given no opportunity to use their common sense and education. Those who wish to change their views on religion are taught to believe that they are not worthy to be allowed to use free will in judging anything for themselves.

According to the Buddha, religion should be left to one’s own free choice.......

Armed with an MBA, a Buddhist monk sets out to transform the future of the temple

by Mai Yoshikawa, Japan Times, Jun 29, 2016

Tokyo, Japan -- Setting aside time for solitude can be a healthy habit, and doing it in a spiritual atmosphere can be even healthier.

<< On the job: Buddhist monk Shoukei Matsumoto is seen after a full day's work at Komyoji Temple in Tokyo. Matsumoto, 36, has initiated various projects in order to rebuild the lost temple community in Japan.

Many office workers in Tokyo’s Kamiyacho area, a business district between Roppongi and Toranomon, have benefited from the quiet space in Komyoji Temple that Buddhist monk Shoukei Matsumoto has made available for public use on weekdays.

As the director of a nonprofit organization called Otera no Mirai (Japan Fellowship of Buddhists), Matsumoto has initiated various projects in order to rebuild the lost temple community in Japan and attract more visitors to the religious site.

Thailand’s top female monk hacked the system to bring women into the fold

GlobalPost July 05, 2016 By Patrick Winn

Dhammananda is a self-described “rare species.” She’s a monk. She’s also a mom. And in the eyes of her homeland’s Buddhist establishment, she’s a feminist insurgent.

All religions are like different cars all moving in the same direction. People who don't see it have no light in their hearts.

Ajahn Chah

‘WANDERING’ INTO THE WOODS, DIRECTOR CAPTURES BUDDHISM ON FILM

By Kaewta Ketbungkan, Staff Reporter -July 7, 2016

From left to right: Yasaka Chaisorn (actor), Uruphong Raksasat (cinematographer) and Boonsong Nakphoo (director). Photo: Boonsong Nakphoo / Courtesy

BANGKOK — Having captured the everyday lives of Thais through his three previous films, director Boonsong Nakphoo is releasing his latest effort “The Wandering” Thursday to explore the real essence of Buddhism, reflecting the tranquil journey of a man who decided later in life to become a monk, something rarely seen in films nowadays.

With six new films coming to theatres this week, “The Wandering” is the only Thai film that dares to open against Spielberg’s “The BFG” and Blake Lively struggling to survive a shark attack in “The Shallows.”

Today is Asarnha Bucha Day: The Birth of Buddhism

19 July, 2016

Buddha's First Sermon

Why all of Thailand’s bars are closed today.

The Buddha’s first sermon after his enlightenment is preserved in the Pali Sutta-pitaka(Samyutta Nikaya 56.11) as the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, which means ‘The Setting in Motion of the Wheel of Dharma.’ In Sanskrit the title is Dharmacakra Pravartana Sutra.

In this sermon, the Buddha gave the first presentation of the Four Noble Truths, which are the foundational teaching, or primary conceptual framework, of Buddhism. Everything he taught after that ties back to the Four Truths.

By Sajitha Prematunge, The Nation, June 18, 2016

Colombo, Sri Lanka -- Sri Lanka signed the Paris Agreement in April, the culmination of negotiations held among member states who agreed on the landmark climate deal during COP21 held in Paris in December 2015. According to United Nations Framework on Climate Change, as May 20, 2016, there are 177 signatories to the Paris Agreement.

<< Ven. Bhaddiya Thera

The Agreement intends to prevent increase in global temperature of more than 2 degrees Celsius, requiring countries to set their own national targets beginning in 2020. Another key objective of the agreement is for rich countries to help poorer nations by providing ‘climate finance’ to adapt to climate change and switch to renewable energy.

Despite so many years debating about poverty eradication through equality and equity and combating climate change through women empowerment, poverty is still very much a real pressing problem and women are still subjugated in some states.

Samannaphala sutta, DN 2

"A householder or householder's son, hearing the Dhamma, gains conviction in the Tathagata and reflects: 'Household life is confining, a dusty path. The life gone forth is like the open air. It is not easy living at home to practice the holy life totally perfect, totally pure, like a polished shell. What if I were to shave off my hair and beard, put on the ochre robes, and go forth from the household life into homelessness?'

"So after some time he abandons his mass of wealth, large or small; leaves his circle of relatives, large or small; shaves off his hair and beard, puts on the ochre robes, and goes forth from the household life into homelessness.

"When he has thus gone forth, he lives restrained by the rules of the monastic code, seeing danger in the slightest faults. Consummate in his virtue, he guards the doors of his senses, is possessed of mindfulness and alertness, and is content."

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Buddhism Could Now Be the 2nd Largest Spiritual Path with 1.6 Billion or 22% of the World’s Population According to Some Recent Studies

Buddhism has never been a “propagation” spirituality. Actively seeking out “converts” is discouraged for the most part. Individual spirituality is

emphasized more than group activities. Some people don’t even think of Buddhism as a “religion”—certainly not an organized religion with dogma.

So, it is with sense of optimism—without pride or attachment?—that we

report the latest estimates of Buddhist population worldwide at over 1.6

billion, now closing in on a quarter of the population.

Why optimism? Because, it’s remarkable that a spirituality and philosophy
with no central authority, no rigid dogma and no mission to proselytize, can
never-the-less quietly grow. It’s not a matter of pride, but one of inspiration
and hope.

This may be an optimistic number, given 2010 estimates around 500 million,
and I’m the first to doubt this number. I believe the real number is somewhere between the low estimates of 500 million or so (in 2010), and the 1.6 Billion
being floated today. Nevertheless, with China’s sudden re-embracing of
Buddhism, and considering their population, the number is feasible.

The Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai.

Saturday, July 23, 2016

BY CHERI MAPLES| JULY 7, 2016 Cheri Maples, a student of Thich Nhat Hanh and former police officer, addresses the U.S.’s crisis in policing and how a Buddhist outlook could help foster more positive relations between citizens and police.