The Five Mental Powers (Bala) 五力

The mental powers (balāni) are thus called because “they overpower opposing mental states”. Or, as the commentaries explain: they are powerful in the sense of being unshaken (akampanaṭṭhena) by opposition.
Parallel to the five faculties, there are five powers (bala):
五力稱為心力（balāni）是因為「它們克服了對立的心所」，或者根據註釋的解釋：「它們強而有力是由於不受對立的因素動搖（akampanaṭṭhena）。」
五力的名稱跟五根類似，即：

1.Saddhā: faith 信
2. Viriya: energy 精進
3. Sati: mindfulness 念
4. Samādhi: concentration 定
5. Paññā: wisdom 慧

Where is our home?

Ajahn Chah 40

The Chicken in the Cage

'A place for anyone and everyone': Buddhist monks expand to Charlottetown

By Jessica Doria-Brown, CBC News, Nov 16, 2016 New centre offering classes to the public Charlottetown, P.E.I (Canada) -- The Island's Buddhist Monks have  opened a new facility in downtown Charlottetown.The Great Enlightenment  Buddhist Institute Society has run a private monastery out of Little Sands,  near Montague, since 2008, but this is the group's first permanent, public  building on the Island. Interest in Buddhism growing. GEBIS Charlottetown: A Buddhist Centre, opened Nov. 1. (Jessica Doria- Brown/CBC)

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The Four Tasks that need to be done

Buddhists pray for peace, tolerance in Indonesia

by Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, November 19, 2016

Sumatra, Indonesia -- Hundreds of Buddhists in Medan, North Sumatra, held a joint prayer for peace and tolerance in Indonesia, amid rising religious tensions across the country.

Around 15,000 followers of all Buddhist sects participated in the joint prayer held at Soewondo Air Force Base in Medan on Saturday. Dozens of Buddhist monks, House of Representatives members and local officials also participated in the event, which will continue on Sunday.

Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin opened the joint prayer on Friday, which was marked by the release of hundreds of doves, which symbolize peace and harmony.

What makes a peaceful world

“Great compassion makes a peaceful heart. A peaceful heart makes a peaceful person. A peaceful person makes a peaceful family. A peaceful family makes a peaceful community. A peaceful community makes a peaceful nation. A peaceful nation makes a peaceful world.” ― Maha Ghosananda

IFFI features a lesser-known chapter of Buddhist history

by Prakash Kamat, The Hindu, November 24

Sinhala film screened at IFFI explores the preserving of heritage for the future

PANAJI, India -- The Sri Lankan film industry is small and so are the budgets due to the small viewership, said Chathra Weeraman, director of the Sinhala film Aloko Udapadi (Light Arose), on Tuesday while interacting with the media at the 47th International Film festival of India (IFFI).

The director said his film on Buddhism was being dubbed in several languages as there are 41 countries where Buddhism is practised and the crew felt committed to deliver this significant yet lesser-known chapter of Buddhist history to them in their native language.

He said the film, his first, was completed under a budget of Rs.6 crore.

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THE NOBLE TRUTH OF SUFFERING NEEDS TO BE FULLY KNOWN 苦圣谛应遍知

The Buddha says the Noble Truth of Suffering needs to be fully known, which means the five clinging-aggregates (pañc∙upādāna∙kkhandha ) need to be fully known by direct knowledge. The five clinging-aggregates Buddha explains in, for example, the ‘Khandha Sutta ’ of the ‘Khandha∙Saṃyutta’ :

佛陀教导苦圣谛应遍知，意即需要通过亲证之智来完全了知五取蕴。 佛陀在《蕴相应·蕴经》(Khandha sutta)等经中解释五取蕴说：

What then, bhikkhus, are the five clinging-aggregates (pañc∙upādāna∙kkhandhā) ?
“诸比库，什么是五取蕴呢？

Dalai Lama attends International Buddhism and Science conference

by Molly Lortie, Tibet Post International, 23 November 2016

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia -- Addressing a conference on Buddhism and Science in Mongolia on November 21st, His Holiness remarked that having attended such meetings in the West, in India and Japan, he was now happy and honored to participate in such a conference in Mongolia.

The International Conference on Buddhism and Science was held in Ulaanbaatar and organized by the Tritiya Dharma Chakra Foundation and the Jetsun Dhampa Centre.

"I sometimes describe myself as half-Buddhist and half-scientist, for more than 30 years I have held discussions with scientists focused mainly on neuro-biology, cosmology, physics---especially quantum physics---and psychology. Buddhist literature also has a contribution to make to understanding of these four fields, so our discussions have been immensely beneficial. Buddhist scholars and practitioners have benefited from learning about physics while modern scientists have shown a keen interest in learning more about what Buddhism has to say about the workings of the mind and emotions."

Happiness

Ghantasala ASI museum gets Buddhist umbrella

The Hindu, November 22, 2016 GHANTASALA, India -- A group of amateur historians on Monday handed over a Buddhist Chaitya Chaitram (Umbrella) dated back to the 2nd Century A.D to the Archaeological Survey of India’s Buddhist museum at Ghantasala village in Krishna district. Repalle-based epigraphist B. Ramesh Chandra and Silar Mohammed on Monday visited Siddhantam village in Gudivada mandal, where a family had expressed its willingness to return the Buddhist artefact to the ASI. The family of Ch. Rama Deekshitulu of Siddhantam village possessed the umbrella since six decades, and had recently decided to hand it over to the government for conservation.

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The need of the hour is unity within the Sasana - Ven. Kirama Wimalajothi Thera

2016-05-19 Daily Mirror Randima Attygalle

A true Buddha puthra with an iron will is Ven. Kirama Wimalajothi Thera. He is an epitome of Lord Buddha’s teaching that the greatest daana ever is Dharma daana. The Buddhist Cultural Centre he initiated in Nedimala as a facilitator to Buddhist literature at a time when publications were scarce in the country personifies this. Setting up the iconic Sri Sambuddhathwa Jayanthi Mandiraya in Thummulla -- against all odds -- commemorated the 2600 years of Sri Sambuddhathwa Jayanthi in 2011, he further proved his mettle by gifting an oasis of Dhamma to all Buddhists in the country and worldwide. In a candid interview with the Daily Mirror, this globally exposed Buddhist scholar who walked the talk elucidates on what ails sasana and urges for a collective will, putting aside political biases.

Confidence in the Dhamma

Buddhist Influences on Indian and SL Tamils- Past and Present

2016-11-25 Daily Mirror Dr. Susantha Goonatilake

In a  article a few days ago, Dr. Nirmala Chandrahasan, a Consultant for the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR), had written on early Buddhist links between Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu. She, I believe, is the wife of Chandrahasan, a son of Chelvanayakam, founder of the Federal Party and like Chelvanayagam lives in Colombo. Colombo today is a very multicultural city, although the predominant language of discourse on the street is Sinhala in which Dr. Nirmala must be able to converse to some extent. I do not know whether she has religious beliefs but the fact that Chelvanayakam was a Christian and that she writes on Buddhist links points perhaps to a genuine interest in “reconciliation”.  

You can control how you hear

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Buddhism in Estonia: a brief history

By Kadri Metsma, Estonianworld.com, November 9, 2016

Estonia -- While the first Estonian who was declared a saint was a Buddhist, this religion also provided a way of resistance for some Estonian intellectuals during the Soviet occupation.

Although pretty impressive, a history of Buddhism in Estonia, and in the Western world in general, is only a fraction in the history of it. The origins of the religion date back to the 6th to 5th century BC, to India, where Prince Siddharta Gautama was thinking about the meaning of life under a Bodhi tree – and realised it’s to remove suffering from human life.

Four Radiances

“Bhikkhus, there are these four radiances. What four? The radiance of the moon, the radiance of the sun, the radiance of fire, and the radiance of wisdom. These are the four radiances. Of these four radiances, the radiance of wisdom is foremost.”
~ AN 4.142

Inset: Swayambhunath Stupa

Metta

When people are selfish, they aren’t happy. Selfishness leads to a sense of discontent, and yet people tend to be very selfish without realizing how it affects them.

Buddhism at a glance

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SN5.4

At Savatthi. Then, early in the morning, Vijaya the nun put on her robes and, taking her bowl & outer robe, went into Savatthi for alms. When she had gone for alms in Savatthi and had returned from her alms round, after her meal she went to the Grove of the Blind to spend the day. Having gone deep into the Grove of the Blind, she sat down at the foot of a tree for the day's abiding.

Ratana Sutta 寶 經
Verse Two 偈二

Tasmā hi bhūtā nisāmetha sabbe,
Mettaṁ karotha mānusiyā pajāya; 
Divā ca ratto ca haranti ye baliṁ,
Tasmā hi ne rakkhatha appamattā.

Accoringly to give heed, all being; show your loving kindness to humans who day and night bring offerings to you. Thereforeguard them diligently.

因此一切眾生請諦聽，應向眾人類散播慈愛，
他們日夜來供養你們，故應精勤地保護他們。

Who is your teacher?

A Buddhist monk explains mindfulness for times of conflict

“Compassion is not sitting in your room; it’s actually very active and engaging,” a senior disciple of Thich Nhat Hanh says.

Updated by Eliza Barclay@elizabarclayeliza.barclay@vox.com  Nov 22, 2016

Brother Phap Dung grew up in Vietnam and Los Angeles and was ordained as a monk in 1998.

 UBC

Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the world’s most renowned Buddhist leaders, second only to the Dalai Lama in fame and influence.

With his 100+ books, he’s been an advocate for mindfulness at some of the most fractious moments of the past 50 years. He cut his teeth doing human rights and reconciliation work during the Vietnam War, and then was nominated for a Nobel Prize by Martin Luther King Jr. These days, he’s considered the father of “engaged Buddhism.”

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That's not my business

When sitting in meditation, say, "That's not my business!" with every thought that comes by ~ Ajahn Chah ~

Thich Nhat Hanh disciple offers Buddhist Wisdom for a World Gripped by Fear

November 23, 2016 by Justin Whitaker 

The Vietnamese Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh has been a source of deep wisdom in times of global political stress for over 50 years. In 1967 he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King Jr. In his nomination Dr. King said, “I do not personally know of anyone more worthy of [this prize] than this gentle monk from Vietnam. His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity.”

How to strengthen the mind

AT THE TIP OF YOUR NOSE

August 26, 1957
When feelings of pain or discomfort arise while you’re sitting in meditation, examine them to see what they come from. Don’t let yourself be pained or upset by them. If there are parts of the body that won’t go as you’d like them to, don’t worry about them. Let them be—because your body is the same as every other body, human or animal, throughout the world: It’s inconstant, stressful, and can’t be forced. So stay with whatever part does go as you’d like it to, and keep it comfortable.

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