Saturday, December 10, 2016

Thousands of monks attend 10-day global Buddhist ritual in Bodh Gaya

Thousands of monks and devotees visited the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, over the weekend to attend the International Tripitaka Chanting (a Buddhist ritual).

By:  | Bodh Gaya | Published: December 5, 2016
During the ceremony, Buddhist monks chant teachings of Lord Buddha under the sacred Bodhi Tree. (Reuters)During the ceremony, Buddhist monks chant teachings of Lord Buddha under the sacred Bodhi Tree. (Reuters)
Thousands of monks and devotees visited the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, over the weekend to attend the International Tripitaka Chanting (a Buddhist ritual).

Dalai Lama tops Feedspot’s 50 Best Buddhist Blogs on the Planet

December 3, 2016 by  


Feedspot, a web organizing tool described by lifehacker.com as “a Google Reader Replacement with Tons of Sharing Features,” has posted its 50 (51, actually) best Buddhist Blogs on the Planet.

According to their site, the data is based on:
  • Google reputation and Google search ranking
  • Influence and popularity on Facebook, twitter and other social media sites
  • Quality and consistency of posts.
  • Feedspot’s editorial team and expert review

Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu The Karma of Mindfulness (pg11-17) GUIDED MEDITATION

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Get in a comfortable position. Sit up comfortably straight, place your hands in your lap, face forward, and close your eyes.

Shine like the sun.

'This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

Story of Buddhism (36)

Friday, December 9, 2016

THE NOBLE TRUTH OF THE PRACTICE LEADING TO THE CESSATION OF SUFFERING NEEDS TO BE DEVELOPED 导至苦灭之道圣谛应修习

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The Noble Truth of the Practice Leading to the Cessation of Suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path (Ariya Aṭṭh∙Aṅgika Magga ) :

Taste it first

Reviving the Bhikkhuni Sangha in Indonesia: an Interview with Ayya Santini

By Caitlin Dwyer Buddhistdoor Global 2016-11-25
Sisters of Wisma Kusalayani. Image courtesy of the authorSisters of Wisma Kusalayani. Image courtesy of the author
In 2000, Ven. Bhikkhuni Santini Theri, better known as Ayya Santini, became the first modern woman to be ordained in the Theravada Buddhist tradition in Indonesia. Now the abbess of Wisma Kusalayani, a women’s hermitage in Bandung, West Java, Ayya Santini represents a new wave of female Theravada monastics ordained in Asia, and has devoted much of her life to reviving the bhikkhuni sangha in her home country.

SN 1.10

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Standing there the devataa said:

Story of Buddhism (35)

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Theragatha X.6


A sermon by Phra Dhammadharo Bhikku in Sri Lanka

Peaceful Uplifting Monasteries
When one comes to learn more about realities of this moment, one does not discover something new and different, but there comes to be some understanding of what one has been familiar with: of what one has always taken for “self”, for people, places and things.

The Stick in the Stream

All of us who have come here to practice: 

SN 9.9

On one occasion a certain monk, a Vajjian princeling, was dwelling near Vesali in a forest thicket. And on that occasion an all-night festival was being held in Vesali. The monk — lamenting as he heard the resounding din of wind music, string music, & gongs coming from Vesali, on that occasion recited this verse:
I live in the wilderness
all alone
like a log cast away in the forest.
On a night like this,
who could there be
more miserable
than me?
Then the devata inhabiting the forest thicket, feeling sympathy for the monk, desiring his benefit, desiring to bring him to his senses, approached him and addressed him with this verse:
As you live in the wilderness all alone
like a log cast away in the forest,
many are those who envy you,
as hell-beings do,
those headed for heaven.
The monk, chastened by the devata, came to his senses.

Story of Buddhism (34)

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

He is a model of religious harmony

November 30, 2016 By Majorie Chiew The Star
He is a model of religious harmony
'My travel schedule is booked one year ahead. I travel 300 out of 360 days a year,' says Bhante Sujatha. 
Photo: The Star/Majorie Chiew
When a Buddhist monk took over a former church in Chicago in the United States, he made minimal changes. He was respectful of the building’s heritage.
“It’s the only temple in the world which has a statute of Buddha and two images of Jesus and Mother Mary. We practise loving-kindness, compassion and mindfulness under one roof,” says Bhante Sujatha, 49. A monk for over 30 years, he is also known as “the loving-kindness monk” in the United States.

To Deploy the Soft Power of Buddhism, India Needs to Embrace the Sangha

BY  ON One-off events and ‘competing’ with Chinese Buddhism isn’t the answer. India needs to embrace the spiritual traditions and depth of Buddhism.

The Thiksey monastry in Ladakh. Credit: Michael Day/Flickr CC BY 2.0The Thiksey monastry in Ladakh. Credit: Michael Day/Flickr CC BY 2.0
Soon after coming to power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi prudently decided to emphasise India’s rich tradition of Buddhism in a soft-power approach to Asian geopolitics.

Be Devoted to Wakefulness


The Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering needs to be Abandoned 苦集圣谛应断除


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Beings crave for and cling to the five aggregates. That is the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering: it needs to be abandoned. The Buddha says there are three types of craving that lead to renewed five clinging-aggregates life after life: sensual craving (kāma∙taṇhā ) , existence craving (bhava∙taṇhā ) , and non-existence craving (vi∙bhava∙taṇhā ). As one progresses towards the complete end of suffering, one gradually puts an end to these three types of craving: the last one to be abandoned is existence craving. It is abandoned only with Arahantship, when one has made a complete end of ignorance. That is why, in the ‘Mahā∙Saḷ∙Āyatanika Sutta’ that we just quoted from, The Buddha explains that ignorance and existence craving need to be abandoned by direct knowledge.

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Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Trip to International Buddhist College at Songkhla, Thailand


(5/11/2016) Dhamma Stupa Chronicle

A trip to IBC (International Buddhist College) at Songkhla, Thailand to meet Phra Ajahn
Anandajoti who has been giving kind and invaluable advices for Dhamma Stupa project since
the very beginning. He is a learned Pali Scholar ordained in Sri Lanka in 1996 and has deep
and long experience of disseminating Pali and Tipitaka knowledge via the internet. He is also
able to do programming on web.

Hell-ward or heaven-ward

A Buddhist Gratitude Prayer


Real Peace, the Calming of Defilements

"You must contemplate in order to find peace. What people usually mean whenever they say peace is only the calming down of the mind and not the calming down of the defilements. The defilements are simply being temporarily subdued, just like grass being covered by a stone. If you take the stone away, the grass will grow back again in a short time. The grass hadn't really died; it was just being suppressed. It's the same when sitting in meditation. The mind is calm, but the defilements are not really calm. Therefore samadhi is not a sure thing. To find real peace you must develop wisdom. Samadhi is one kind of peace, like the stone covering the grass. This is only a temporary peace. The peace of wisdom is like putting the stone down and just leaving it there. In this way the grass can't possibly grow back again. This is real peace, the calming of the defilements, the sure peace that results from wisdom." - Ven. Ajahn Chah

Story of Buddhism (32)

Monday, December 5, 2016

Anti-Buddhist Media and Myanmar: Complex Regional and Historical Dynamics

by Michiyo Tanabe and Lee Jay Walker, Modern Tokyo Times, Nov 25, 2016


Buddhism is illegal in Muslim nations like Saudi Arabia (however the same Sunni Islamist nation is intent on spreading Salafi Islam into the heart of Buddhism with the connivance of local 'Buddhist' politicians who act oblivious to the rapidly declining plight of Buddhism in traditional Buddhist countries) 

Yangon, Myanma
r -- The mass media in both the West and Islamic world needs to find space in order to simplify hatred. It matters not if turning a blind eye to Sunni Takfiri massacres in Syria and the nations that are endorsing this, nor that in Myanmar’s recent history more Christians than any other non-Buddhist faith group have been killed based on ethnic and religious tensions. Instead, the simple version – while negating the Christian angle – is that Muslims are killed and targeted by radical Buddhists.

Ironically, the latest chain of events began after Muslims killed nine police officers in Rakhine state. International Crisis Group reports, “The attacks were carried out by Muslims, according to both government statements and local sources. An unverified video of the attackers, filmed in the wake of the attacks, has been circulating on social networks and seems legitimate. In it, one of the group calls on “all Rohingya around the world to prepare for jihad and join them”. This, the need for local knowledge to carry out the assaults, and the difficulty of moving large numbers of people around this area are all suggestive of local Muslim involvement – possibly organized with some outside support. However, many details of who exactly organized this and how remain unclear.”

Interfaith


Buddhist nuns 'learning to fit in' on P.E.I.

By Shane Ross, CBC News, Nov 21, 2016

P.E.I. now home to 134 Buddhist nuns — and the number is growing

Prince Edward Island, Canada
 -- Prince Edward Island is becoming home to a growing number of Buddhist nuns, who say the Island is a comfortable place for them to practise their spirituality.

The nunnery resembles an old farm house, but the nuns plan to move to 

a building in Brudenell styled after a 
more traditional Chinese temple. 
(Laura Meader/CBC)








Looking for a Teacher

When you go looking for teachings on how to meditate, 
you have to look for people who are pure, 
monks who are pure, 
who really act in line with what they say: 

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Sunday, December 4, 2016

Recognizing Fire

When we see the truth, we’ll admit the truth. When we see the cause that gives rise to stress, then wherever stress would arise, we don’t do that. We don’t say that. We practice so that our practice becomes correct, and stress won’t arise.

Where does the past and future meet?

Malaysian Buddhist Monk Empowers Education of Muslim Children

  •  Kalinga Senevirate
KUALA LUMPUR (IDN | Lotus News Features) - A grand Chinese temple on the hills of central Kuala Lumpur overlooking the Malaysian capital was the site of a unique event on November 27 where a Sri Lankan born Buddhist monk’s vision to empower the education of poor Malaysian children, most of them Muslims, was taking place without the glare of any television cameras or the national media.

Only One Hole Open


Focus your heart in your heart. Make mindfulness continuous. Get the mind to calm down its preoccupations, leaving just awareness.
Like Tuccho Potthila: He went to learn the Dhamma from a novice. The novice taught him that there’s a termite nest with six openings. You want to catch the lizard hiding in the hollow inside the termite nest, so what do you do? You close off five of the holes and leave open only one hole, so that you can catch the lizard when it comes out.
In other words, leave your eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body alone, and be aware right at the heart. That’s what it means to focus your heart in your heart.
The same today: To catch all your awareness and gather it in together, you have to practice restraint of the senses. You restrain your eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. Let go of the entire body, and simply be aware at the heart. This is called focusing your heart in your heart.
Source:
It’s Like This
Venerable Ajahn Chah
Translated from the Thai by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

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