Buddhist monks embracing the spirit of Christmas

by Dave Stewart, The Guardian.pe, December 17, 2016 While Buddhists do not observe Christmas, they share many similar values with people who do LITTLE SANDS, P.E.I. (Canada) -- P.E.I. Buddhist monks and nuns don’t observe Christmas, but they are still making plans to don their Santa hats. The Great Enlightenment Buddhist Institute Society (GEBIS) and the Great Wisdom Buddhist Institute (GWBI) both plan on embracing the spirit of giving as a way to thank Islanders for all their generosity. The GEBIS monks have been on the Island for the past seven years while the GWBI nuns have been here for the past four years.

Once upon a time, 2500 years ago...

Bridging Buddhism & Science, Emory Tibet Symposium, Day One

EIN News, Dec 18, 2016 Mundgod, Karnataka (India) -- Today, His Holiness the Dalai Lama elected to walk the relatively short distance between Drepung Lachi and Drepung Loseling. He greeted well-wishers along the way, as well as offering comfort to beggars who also vied for his attention. In the spacious Loseling assembly hall approximately 3000 monks, 260 nuns - including the 20 new Geshe-mas - local Tibetan school-children, and people from abroad were gathered to attend the first international Emory Tibet Symposium.

The Alms-bowl of a Theravada monk

The monk’s alms-bowl is only used to receive cooked food & fruits offered by willing donors. The monk strictly does not accept money with his bowl or on his Pindacāra (alms-round).

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Importance of Calm Abiding ~ 17th Karmapa

We cannot immediately grasp the more advanced practices, such as the Great Seal (mahamudra) or the Great Completion (mahasandhi), both of which lead to the result of primordial wisdom. For all of these higher-level practices, we need a steady basis, which is none other than the correct practice of calm abiding. If the untamed mind is filled with concepts and afflictions, these higher practices are not possible. In the beginning, a tree needs strong roots. Similarly, what is most important for meditation is calm abiding. – 17th Karmapa

from the book "Music In The Sky: The Life, Art, And Teachings Of The 17Th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje"

translated by Michele Martin

Buddhist Monk Wins Wildlife Service Award

By Jnan Nanda  Buddhistdoor Global  2016-12-15 Lama Lobsang Gyatso. From indiatoday.intoday.in

Lama Lobsang Gyatso, a Tibetan Buddhist monk who has been a vocal opponent of hydropower projects in Tawang District of the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, has received the Sanctuary Wildlife Service Award from Sanctuary Asia magazine in recognition of his untiring campaign to save the region’s population of black-necked cranes.

At Home in the World, by Thich Nhat Hanh

Posted on 16 December 2016 by Buddhism Now

The tradition of Zen teaching stories goes back at least to the time of the Buddha. Like the Buddha, Thich Nhat Hanh uses story–telling to engage people’s interest so he can share important teachings, insights and life lessons.

Drawing of the Buddha

When I was a small boy of seven or eight I happened to see a drawing of the Buddha on the cover of a Buddhist magazine. The Buddha was sitting on the grass, very peacefully, and I was impressed. I thought the artist must have had a lot of peace and calm within himself at the time to be able to draw such a special image. Just looking at the drawing made me happy, because so many people around me at the time were not very calm or happy at all.

Cloister Walk

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Metta— Ajahn Sundara, Walking the World

When it becomes clear that grasping is the cause of dukkha, you just let go. Instead of clinging, you just release it. The peace that comes from releasing is nirodha, the experience of cessation, the Third Noble Truth which is often hardly even noticed.

Nobody Likes Being Disturbed, by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

Posted on 16 November 2016 by Buddhism Now

We must first be aware of these two categories, ’empty of I’ and ‘not empty of I’. The former is called ’empty’ and the latter is called ‘disturbed’ and to save time that is how they will be referred to from now on.

Here your common sense may say straight away that nobody likes being disturbed. If I were to ask those people who like being disturbed to raise their hands, if anyone did so it would have to be a joke. Everyone likes to be empty in one way or another. Some people like the lazy emptiness of not having to work. Everyone likes to be empty of annoyance, not having the kids coming to bother you. But that emptiness is an external thing, it is not yet true emptiness.

The Story of Li Ka Shing

Very inspiring. He said that Buddhism has a role in bringing happiness to his life. He also applied Confucian thinking in his business management while adopting a Western Business Management Model.

The interview was in Cantonese Language with English subtitle.

https://www.facebook.com/GentlemanMY/videos/1093075634073356/

-20:01

The taste of Dhamma is the most excellent

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The Art of Big Hearted Living

Posted on July 12, 2016 by ayyayeshe
I never grew up thinking that I would one day run a temple in the slums of Central India, or a charity for that matter. But I suppose I should have known better when my favorite movie was ‘The Sound of Music’ and my vision was of being a nun was running over hills, climbing trees, and occasionally helping people!

TWO KINDS OF SUFFERING

“There are two kinds of suffering: the suffering that leads to more suffering and the suffering that leads to the end of suffering. If you are not willing to face the second kind of suffering, you will surely continue to experience the first.” – Ajahn Chah; Excerpt from ‘A Still Forest Pool’.

Train yourself in Acts of Puññā

'The doer of good delights here and hereafter; 

he delights in both the worlds.
The thought, "Good have I done," delights him, and
he delights even more when gone to realms of bliss.' - Dhammapada 18

You're blind and deaf without meditation

NO AJAHN CHAH 65

You're blind and deaf without meditation.
Dhamma isn't easily seen.
You must meditate to see what you've not seen.
Were you born a teacher ?
No. You must study first.
A lemon is sour only when you have tasted it.

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The Work of Diversity: A Deeper Engagement

Interview Sebene Selassie 2016 Insight Journal BCBS

IJ: What’s most essential for a deeper engagement with the work of diversity and inclusivity?

Buddhism scripture teachers struggling to keep up with demand from state schools

Updated 15 December 2016, Samantha Turnbull

Meditation is the main focus of Buddhism classes at Byron Bay Public School. (Credit: ABC) 

New South Wales public schools are struggling to keep up with demand for Buddhism scripture teachers.

Buddhist Council of New South Wales chairman Brian White said there were more than 3,000 public school students across the state studying Buddhism, and the number was growing rapidly.

"It's driven by a few things — general raising of awareness in meditation right across society and how beneficial that can be, and the realisation that even six and seven-year-olds can meditate for a few minutes and benefit from that," Mr White said.

Generosity First 布施先行

Several years ago, when Ajaan Suwat was teaching a retreat at IMS, I was his interpreter. After the second or third day of the retreat he turned to me and said, “I notice that when these people meditate they’re awfully grim.” You’d look out across the room and all the people were sitting there very seriously, their faces tense, their eyes closed tight. It was almost as if they had Nirvana or Bust written across their fore heads. 
几年前，阿姜苏瓦特在内观禅定协会指导密集禅修，我为他翻译。两三天过后，他转过来对我说:“我注意到这些人坐禅时及其生硬。”放眼望过去，满屋人坐着，无比严肃，板着脸，双目紧闭，好似前额写着“不涅盘勿宁死。”

I am so afraid to touch money

Peaceful Uplifting Monasteries

Ajahn Jayasaro: "I am so afraid to touch money. I stay away from it. I am afraid to go to hell." อาตมากลัวที่สุดเรื่องการจับเงิน ขออยู่ให้ห่าง เพราะกลัวตกนรก"

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An Afternoon with Ajahn Sujato: Personal Courage and Restoring the Sangha’s Moral Purpose

By Raymond Lam Buddhistdoor Global | 2016-12-09 Ajahn Bhante Sujato. Image courtesy of the author

The tall and robust teacher of Ajahn Chah’s forest tradition speaks with a typically blokeish Aussie accent, however the words of wisdom and compassion he voices do not sound like those of a typical bloke at all. While I have deep traditionalist loyalties and instincts, I have long admired Ajahn Bhante Sujato, who ordained in 1994 and left behind his identity of Anthony Best to live the monastic life. He is one of the most incisive and courageous progressive thinkers in contemporary Western Buddhism. He has not updated his famous blog, which remains an engaging and passionate source of Buddhist social critique, in a while however, having lived in seclusion in Taiwan over the past year to work on his main project, SuttaCentral, a website hosting texts from Buddhism’s most ancient period (the so-called pre-sectarian era) in more than 30 languages. 

Maha Bodhi Vihara in Bodhgaya

Evidence of Supernatural Power 《神通的證明》

As I have told all of you, if we differ from one another in the knowledge we have acquired through learning, then our points of view and our standpoints will differ as well. If our points of view are different, the expectations derived from our points of view will be different too. I have explained to all of you how the bodhisatta practised near the Nerañjara River, in the sāla forest, when he had given up practising austerities after six years. Do you remember what he practised in the sāla forest? He practised the eight attainments and five kinds of supernatural powers. Based on the eight attainments, he practised in fourteen ways to train the mind, to make the mind pliable, and to proceed to the supernatural powers. 
就像我告訴你們的，如果我們學習得來的知識不同，我們的觀點與立足點也會有所不同。我們的觀點不同，我們的期待也會不同。我已經解釋過，菩薩在放棄六年的苦行後， 在沙喇樹林裡的尼蘭迦拉河附近如何修行。你們記得他在沙喇樹林裡修什麼？他修八定及五神通。以八定做基礎，他修十四禦心法來訓練他的心智，讓心柔軟後，轉入五神通。

Ven. Adicca's visit to Kooki Kingdom in Uganda

 

On 27th October, Ven. Adicca was invited by the King of Kooki Kingdom where he joined other religious leaders in a discussion on the role of religious and spiritual leaders in building a harmonious and peaceful society. Ven. Adicca was later given a tour around the kingdom by the King H.R.H Apollo Sansa (Obwakamuswaga bwe Kooki); launched the new office complex of the Kingdom and planted a tree to mark his visit to the Kingdom.

The visit strengthened the relationship between Uganda Buddhist Centre (UBC) and Kooki Kingdom.

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Five rewards in listening to the Dhamma

The Power of Anicca

There is no cause without an effect and there is no effect without a cause. The Law of Kamma is supreme and inevitable. What you have now is the result of what you have done in the past. Until we get rid of the forces of Kamma which belong to us once and for all and enter the Supreme Nibbana, there is bound to be some trouble or the other, here and there, during the remainder of our existence which we must put up with using the strength of Anicca. Anicca will surely prevail upon them and you will keep yourself in good stead in spite of these. Anicca is power. Thorns in the way are inevitable. Make use of the power of Anicca with diligence and there will be Peace with you - Sayagyi U Ba Khin

Archaeologists' discovery puts Buddha's birth 300 years earlier

 1 December 2013 

Different oral traditions have different dates for the Buddha's birth. Photograph: Narendra Shrestha/EPA 

British archaeologist Robin Coningham talks about a three-year expedition to Nepal, which could rewrite history

When Professor Robin Coningham's youngest son Gus was five, he was asked at school what his father did. "He works for the Buddha," said the boy. Which led to a bit of confusion, recalls Coningham.

The Dhammapada

Cease to do evil
To cultivate good
To purify one's mind
This is the teaching of all Buddhas.

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