Ancient, near-pristine Buddha to make Kabul museum debut

By AFP PUBLISHED: 17 March 2017

The statue of Buddha, which is thought to date from somewhere between the third and the fifth century, was remarkably well-preserved by soil and silt

Having withstood time, the elements, looters and war, a spectacular Buddha restored and removed from one of Afghanistan's most dangerous regions is to make its public debut in the country's national museum.

What is an "empty" heart ?

The Sharing of Merits and Its Benefits 功德迴向與它的利益

問:在我的心中還是有些疑惑。在每次佛法開示後,我們都會做功德迴向。我們唸的最後兩行是:「願以此功德,與一切眾生分享;願一切眾生,平等獲得此功德。」它的意義很簡單,就是說:「我們把功德,平等的迴向給所有的眾生。」我的問題是,請問:「一切眾生」是說我們也迴向功德給非眾生嗎?我們的功德也迴向給墮入惡道的眾生嗎?它也包含我們的家人嗎?這些所有的眾生都能收到我們的功德嗎?
Question: In my mind there is still this doubt. At the end of each Dhamma talk, we always share merits. The last two lines we recite are: ‘Mama puññabhāgaṃ sabbasattānaṃ bhājemi. Te sabbe me samaṃ puññabhāgaṃ labhantu.’ The meaning is very simple, that is, we say that we share our merits equally with all beings. So my question is: Do the words ‘all beings’ here mean that we are sharing our merits with non-living beings too? Does our sharing of merits extend to those who are suffering in the woeful realms? Does it include our families? Are all of these also able to receive our sharing of merits?

The biggest Dhamma, the superior Dhamma is not paññā or samādhi, but mindfulness (sati)

Monk: In the current period, after 30 to 40 years, when Thailand has become different from the 70s, what would you say about the biggest obstacles and the danger for young monks? What is your advice?

Do your required duties

US Congress Recognizes the Gyalwang Drukpa for Social and Environmental Activism

By BD Dipananda Buddhistdoor Global 2017-03-10

The Gyalwang Drukpa holding the Congressional resolution with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. From Gyalwang Drukpa Facebook

On 5 March, Jigme Pema Wangchen, the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa of the 
Drukpa Order, was recognized in a US Congressional Record for 
empowering women in the Himalayas and supporting green initiatives.

Monk on a mission

Sohrab Hossain and Andrew Eagle The Daily Star March 14, 2017

Buddhist monk Utuchitta Mohathero from Amkholapara temple in Patuakhali's Kuakata helps 

a boy write Rakhine alphabets. He takes free classes on Rakhine language at his “Bijoyrama 

Buddho Bihar” education centre within the temple compound. Photo: Star

The importance of one's mother tongue is perhaps nowhere better understood 

than in Bangladesh. A mother tongue is an indispensible fundament of self-
identity. Armed with such understanding, Buddhist monk Utuchitta Mohathero 
from Amkholapara temple in Patuakhali's Kuakata is making efforts to ensure 
the next generation of his Rakhine community do not lose touch with the 
Rakhine language.

We need to be totally free

Real happiness cannot exist when we are not totally free. Burdened by so many ambitions, we are not able to be free. We are always grasping at something; there are so many things we want to do at the same time, and that is why we do not have the time to live. We think that the burdens we carry are necessary for our happiness, that if they are taken from us we will suffer. However, if we look more closely, we shall see that the things at which we grasp, the things that keep us constantly busy, are in fact obstacles to our being happy.

- Thich Nhat Hanh
(Photo: Gregory Colbert)

Death Contemplation

Interview Bhikkhu Anālayo 2017

Insight Journal: Bhante, what is contemplation of death, and how do we practice with it

Bhikkhu Anālayo: In the Anguttura-nikāya and the Ekottarika-āgama (the Chinese parallel), the Buddha checks to see how some monks are doing recollection of death, and he finds that they are doing it in a way that he does not consider to be sufficiently diligent. These monks say things like they might pass away in a couple of days, and before that they should really practice. The Buddha tells them that is not the way to do it. Instead they should bring the awareness of their own mortality right into the present moment.

In the Anguttura-nikāya, he recommends two modes: being aware that this breath might be your last breath, and being aware that each bite of food might be your last bite of food.

This practice relates to a finding in cognitive psychology that shows how we avoid facing our own mortality by pushing it off into the future: “Yes, I’m going to die, but sometime later on. (And at that time I’ll think about it and face it, but right now I don’t need to.)”

Death has to be brought right into the present moment. Because I am going to die, but I don’t know when. It could even be right now.

Govt Bans U Wirathu from Preaching Sermons

By HTUN HTUN Reporter at the Burmese edition of The Irrawaddy. 11 March 2017

Burma’s infamous nationalist Buddhist monk U Wirathu was banned from delivering sermons across the country for one year, starting from March 10, due to his religious hate speeches.

The decision was made at a special meeting of the country’s 47 senior Buddhist monks who run the the state Buddhist authority State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee in Naypyidaw on Thursday, according to U Myint Zaw Win, a director of the Ministry for Religious Affairs and Culture.

The statement from the meeting released on Friday warned U Wirathu that any breach of the order will lead to legal action. The ban will be in effect until March 9 next year.

The State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee said in the statement that the nationalist monk was repeatedly delivering hate speeches against religions to cause communal strife, hinder rule of law, and that he took sides with political parties to inflame tensions.

Until only the body remains

Buddhism’s Diamond Sutra: The Extraordinary Discovery Of The World’s Oldest Book

Nov 12, 2012  By Joyce Morgan The Huffington Post

Ask people to name the world’s oldest printed book and the common reply is Gutenberg’s Bible. Few venture that the answer is a revered Buddhist text called the Diamond Sutra, printed in 868 A.D. Or that by the time Gutenberg got ink on his fingers nearly 600 years later — and his revolutionary technology helped usher in the Enlightenment — this copy of the Diamond Sutra had been hidden for several centuries in a sacred cave on the edge of the Gobi Desert and would remain there for several more.

Drops of Compassion: a letter from Sister Chan Khong

Posted on March 9, 2017 by Plum Village 

Sister Chan Khong, the eldest monastic in the Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhists, and Thay’s long-time collaborator, has written an open letter to Aung Sang Suu Kyi of Myanmar, to ask for compassionate action to prevent the violent oppression of Rohingya muslims in her country.

Do not be anything at all

Making Sense of the Kālāma Sutta 理解《咖拉瑪經》

Question: In connection with ‘who knows knows who knows’ and the rest, there is the famous discussion in the Kālāma Sutta between the Buddha and the Kālāmas. They were asking how they could know for sure what was true. The Buddha said you should not believe something just because it’s tradition or because a teacher said it and so forth. From this advice, many derived the popular conclusion that the Buddha taught that you should only accept what makes sense to you. On this point, I am reminded of your German student who said, ‘It is wholesome because I like it.’ Likewise, for many people, only what they like, or what appeals to their emotions, makes sense to them, instead of what appeals to their reasoning. So who is actually in a position to know what makes sense to begin with? If I say that it makes sense because I like it, then it does not make sense. 問:與剛才所引述的經文有關─知者知知者等,在《咖拉瑪經》裡,佛陀和咖拉瑪氏族人,有一段著名的對話。他們請教佛陀,如何確知哪些是真實的。佛陀說:「你不應該,因為是傳統而相信,或者,因為導師如是說,而相信等等⋯⋯。」很多人從這教導中普遍得出的結論是:「佛陀教導我們,只接受我們覺得有道理的事。」在這個觀點上,我記得您的一位德國學生說:「因為我喜歡,所以是善的。」同樣的,很多人根據他們的喜好,或者符合情緒的事情,就認為是有道理,而不是根據邏輯上的合理性去判斷。所以,誰才有資格知道什麼事情合理呢?假設我說:「這事情有道理,因為是我喜歡。」那其實是沒有道理啊!

Be relaxed and at ease

Sometimes we get too serious about everything - totally lacking in joy and happiness, no sense of humour; we just repress everything. So gladden the mind, be relaxed and at ease, taking all the time in the world, without the pressure of having to achieve anything important: nothing special, nothing to attain, no big deal. It's just a little thing; even when you have only one mindful inhalation during the morning - surely it is better than being heedless the whole time. 
- Ajahn Sumedho

I am perfect?

Voltaire and the Buddha

By Dr. Donald S. Lopez, Jr. / 03.09.2017

Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies
University of Michigan

Bronze statue depicting the “Ayuthia Crowned Buddha”, ca. 16th century, featured in The Antiques of Siam (1909) by J. W. Margrett / archive.org

Voltaire’s early reflections on Buddhism and how, in his desire to separate the Buddha’s teachings from the trappings of religion, the French Enlightenment thinker prefigured an approach now familiar in the West.

Kids find inner calm through mindful breathing

PUBLISHED MAR 14, 2017, The Straits Times  Toh Wen Li                                                  

More than 10 schools here have introduced this practice and say children are more focused, calm and alert

It was five minutes before the end of recess at Westwood Primary School on Thursday.

A hush descended over the canteen as pupils seated on benches began a "mindful breathing" session.

"Sit quietly, close your eyes... Keep breathing in and out, slowly," said a woman's voice on the speaker system, guiding them through the two-minute exercise.

Time is our present breath

SN 35.155

Then a certain bhikkhu approached the Blessed One … and said to him: “Venerable sir, it is said, ‘a speaker on the Dhamma, a speaker on the Dhamma.’ In what way, venerable sir, is one a speaker on the Dhamma?”

“Bhikkhu, 

If one teaches the Dhamma for the purpose of revulsion towards the eye, for its fading away and cessation, one can be called a bhikkhu who is a speaker on the Dhamma. 

If one is practising for the purpose of revulsion towards the eye, for its fading away and cessation, one can be called a bhikkhu who is practising in accordance with the Dhamma. 

If, through revulsion towards the eye, through its fading away and cessation, one is liberated by nonclinging, one can be called a bhikkhu who has attained Nibbāna in this very life."