Ledi Sayadaw on Kamma

"Kamma is determined to be good or evil according to whether it leads to the cultivation and growth of one’s own mind and the benefit of others, or to the deterioration and defilement of one’s own mind and the harm of others. Thus by doing the following ten types of deeds one makes evil or unwholesome kamma which will bear the fruits of suffering, but by abstaining from these ten and cultivating their opposites one makes good kamma which will bear the fruits of happiness. These ten are as follows:

Tibet after the Dalai Lama

An exiled Tibetan government official paying his respects to the Dalai Lama, as Tibetans gathered to celebrate his 80th birthday in Dharmsala, India, yesterday. Photo: AP
BY BRAHMA CHELLANEY PUBLISHED: 4:16 AM, JULY 7, 2015

On the 80th birthday of the 14th Dalai Lama, who has been in exile in India since 1959, Tibet’s future looks more uncertain than ever. During his reign, the current Dalai Lama has seen his homeland — the world’s largest and highest plateau —lose its independence to China. Once he dies, China is likely to install a puppet as his successor, potentially eroding the institution.

China already appointed its pawn to the second-highest position in Tibetan Buddhism, the Panchen Lama, in 1995, after abducting the Tibetans’ six-year-old appointee, who had just been confirmed by the Dalai Lama. Twenty years later, the rightful Panchen Lama now ranks among the world’s longest-serving political prisoners. China also appointed the Tibetans’ third-highest religious figure, the Karmapa; but in 1999, at age 14, he fled to India.

This year marks one more meaningful anniversary for Tibet: The 50th anniversary of the founding of what China calls the Tibet Autonomous Region. The name is highly misleading.

The most important thing is to apply Dhamma in life.

If you merely take courses after courses—ten-day courses or long courses—and do not apply it in life, Dhamma will become a lifeless rite or ritual.

Different religions and sects have their own rites, rituals, and ceremonies. It would be very unfortunate if Vipassana courses also become a rite or ritual for a meditator.

Whenever you join a ten-day course or a longer course, you are eradicating your weaknesses and developing your strength. You have to use this strength in your day-to-day life.

In a course, you work at the deeper level of your mind, eradicating layer after layer of complexes. After the course, if you again start accumulating the same complexes, the same impurities, the same defilements, then the purpose is not served. One has not understood what one is doing. The entire life pattern must change.

Dhamma must manifest itself in day-to-day life. One has to keep trying to apply Dhamma in life.

“Whatever strength I have gained in a course like this, I will use it to ensure that my life becomes a Dhamma life. I will perfect my sīla, gain mastery over my mind and purify my mind. While facing different situations in life, I will practice Dhamma instead of generating unwholesome sankhāras (mental reactions).”

In this way, you must keep watch over yourself. You have a human life and have come in contact with the wonderful Dhamma. You have developed confidence in Vipassana. Now you must make best use of it.

Gaining a human life, coming in contact with Dhamma, and learning how to practise Dhamma—this is a rare opportunity indeed.

The goal is clear: to come out of all misery. This is possible only when one eradicates all the defilements.

The aim: at least to reach the goal to become an ariya, a sotāpanna. Then Dhamma will take care because one is liberated from the four lower fields. Before one becomes sotāpanna, one has to develop oneself to becomes a cūla-sotāpanna, a minor sotāpanna. A sotāpanna starts flowing in the stream of liberation, and is bound to reach the final goal of full liberation. A cūḷa-sotāpanna starts flowing in the stream of Dhamma and is bound to become a sotāpanna. ~ S N Goenka

This monk is on a mission to help those in need

Wimala hopes to make a difference in the lives of others through his humanitarian work. Photo: The Star/Faihan Ghani

NOVEMBER 27, 2015 PEOPLE, STAR2.COM VIDEOBY MAJORIE CHIEW

“Some disabled people crawled for miles to the distribution site. It was heartbreaking to see them crawling away empty-handed,” related Sri Lankan Buddhist monk Bhante Yatirawana Wimala. He was in several remote regions in Kenya to give away 50 wheelchairs in 2002.News of free wheelchairs spread like wildfire and drew a crowd.

“Some mothers had to carry their disabled children home without the wheelchairs. But they did not even complain. They just hoped for better luck the next time round,” noted Wimala, 57, who described his humanitarian work in East Africa as “most gratifying”.

Wimala organised eye screenings for the poor rural communities in East Africa. Hundreds often turned up for the free eye check-ups. Some trekked for miles across arid land. Wimala found sponsors for those who needed cataract operations. However, it was impossible to meet every need, and many had to be turned away.

Among the many lives that Wimala touched was that of a weaving mill worker from Kandy in Sri Lanka. The woman and her adopted handicapped daughter were left in dire straits when a relative cheated the former of her money. They were so poor they did not even have electricity in the house. Wimala visited the family, and made arrangements for electricity to be supplied to her house. He even paid for their electricity bills.

On his next visit, Wimala was overwhelmed by the gratitude shown by the two women.

“They could sleep through the night without any fears or worries. On rainy days, they could heat water and cook without having to gather firewood,” shared Wimala.

The Seventeen Pandits of Nalanda Monastery

by James Blumenthal, Info-Buddhism.com, Oct 8, 2015

Much controversy has been stirred with the establishment of the "new" Nalanda University in Bihar, India. Heavily criticized for neglecting Buddhism, just how much of it has been diverted from the original Nalanda U? Prof James Blumenthal gives a run down on the luminaries that made the original Nalanda one of the greatest learning center in the world.

Oregon, USA -- Nalanda Monastic University was the greatest center of Buddhist learning in India’s glorious past. With upwards of 30,000 monks and nuns including 2,000 teachers living, studying and practicing there during its heyday, Nalanda was unmatched.

Thangka image depicting Shakaymuni Buddha and 17 Nalanda Pandits.
Image courtesy of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Established during the Gupta Dynasty in the late 5th to early 6th century C.E. under the patronage of the Gupta king Shakraditra, the institution survived for six hundred years, through the Pala Dynasty, until ultimately being destroyed in 1203 by Turkish Muslim invaders. In 1204 the last throne-holder (abbot) of Nalanda, Shakyashribhadra, fled to Tibet. In the intervening centuries, however, many of India’s greatest Buddhist masters trained and taught at Nalanda.

Mind is the forerunner of states

Mind is the forerunner of states. Mind is chief; mind-

made are they. If one speaks or acts with wicked

mind, because of that, suffering follows one, even as

the wheel follows the hoof of the draught-ox. 

~ Dhp 1 (trl: Narada)

Buddhists call for strong Paris climate deal to limit warming

By Matt McGrath, BBC, 29 October 2015

The Dalai Lama is one of 15 leading Buddhists who are urging politicians towards a climate agreement

Paris, France -- Senior Buddhists have called on world leaders to agree a new climate change agreement at a conference in Paris next month.

The 15 signatories, including the Dalai Lama, are urging politicians to completely phase out fossil fuels.

They argue that the rise in global temperatures must be limited to 1.5C in the future.
Observers say it is the first time that so many leading Buddhists have joined together on a global issue.

The statement from the leaders of over a billion Buddhists worldwide says that the causes of this "environmental crisis" are the use of fossil fuels, unsustainable consumption patterns, lack of awareness and lack of concern about the consequences of our actions.

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"We must take action, not out of a sense of duty but out of love for our planet and for each other. The Buddha has shown us that we can all live simply and still be very happy."-  Sister Chan Khong, International Community of Engaged Buddhists

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The leaders urge negotiators to use "wisdom and compassion" to find an agreement at the Conference of the Parties in the French capital at the end of November.