PEACE is the acronym for great attitudes in universal wellness of one and all

Equanimity-tranquility

- Placidity leads to composure
- Empathy leads to understanding
- Amity leads to friendliness
- Compassion leads to benevolence
- Equanimity leads to tranquility

What a wonderful world that would be!

Can Burma Save Buddhism From the Politicians?

By Christian Caryl, Foreign Policy, October 30, 2015 An unholy alliance between the government and extremist Buddhist monks is threatening to derail the transition to democracy. Yangon, Myanmar - There’s a specter haunting Burma. It’s the specter of politicized religion. On Nov 8, Burmese voters will head to the polls to choose members of a new parliament. It will be the country’s first national election since it started opening up four years ago, and the first relatively democratic one in 25 years. Preparations for the poll have been rocky. Election monitors are already warning about cases of intimidation, sporadic violence, flawed voter lists, and a whole host of other concerns. And even if the authorities get those kinks straightened out, there’s a broader problem: the entire process is taking place in an environment that has been skewed against the opposition.

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China at a Tipping Point: Ecological and Spiritual Awakening

Zilong Wang, a pilgrim

Posted: 11/23/2015 

There is the China we hear about in the news: largest economy 

in the world; lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty and into 

urban areas; largest CO2 emitter; entrenched corruption; toxic 

air; poisoned food and water; growing disparity; political uncertainties; global expansion and entanglement...

Yes, that's perhaps all true. But, on my recent 4-week trip across
the country, I saw a different China - different from my impression just a year ago, and different from what I thought I knew. Yet 
deep down, it felt strangely familiar.

I sensed an ecological and spiritual awakening in the country, at 
a tipping point. I saw countless people and groups doing their 
small and inspiring parts. Many of them do not know each other. 
But they are essentially doing the "same work": being the change they want to see in the world.

Below are some snapshots of the emerging landscape of change.

Mindful Nation UK.

I am deeply honoured to have been invited to contribute to this All-Party Parliamentary Report. I extend my personal thanks and that of the wider mindfulness community to the Parliamentarians and all those whose hard work has brought it to this stage in an ongoing process that carries so much vision and promise for the United Kingdom and for the world.

Mindfulness is a way of being in wise and purposeful relationship with one’s experience, both inwardly and outwardly. It is cultivated by systematically exercising one’s capacity for paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally, and by learning to inhabit and make use of the clarity, discernment, ethical understanding, and awareness that arise from tapping into one’s own deep and innate interior resources for learning, growing, healing, and transformation, available to us across the lifespan by virtue of being human. It usually involves cultivating familiarity and intimacy with aspects of everyday experience that we often are unaware of, take for granted, or discount in terms of importance. These would include our experience of the present moment, our own bodies, our thoughts and emotions, and above all, our tacit and constraining assumptions and our highly conditioned habits of mind and behaviour. Mindfulness practices in various forms can be found in all the meditative wisdom traditions of humanity. In essence, mindfulness - being about attention, awareness, relationality, and caring - is a universal human capacity, akin to our capacity for language acquisition. While the most systematic and comprehensive articulation of mindfulness and its related attributes stems from the Buddhist tradition, mindfulness is not a catechism, an ideology, a belief system, a technique or set of techniques, a religion, or a philosophy. It is best described as “a way of being”. There are many different ways to cultivate it wisely and effectively through practice.

Indonesia Tipitaka Chanting & Asalha Mahapuja 2559 / 2015

Indonesia Tipitaka Chanting & Asalha Mahapuja,

25-26 July 2015,Borobudur Temple, Indonesia

Background & Music copyright of:

Ratana Sutta (Pali) in Gamelan Instrumental by Tanah Putih Monastery, Semarang - Indonesia

Forbidden Friendship by John Powell

https://vimeo.com/144326185

Just seven minutes of meditation can cut racial prejudice

Deccan Herald Friday 20 November 2015

Not just making you calm and creating a feeling of kindness, a mere seven-minute of meditation daily can help reduce racial bias too, a new study shows.

The researchers found that just seven minutes of a meditation technique called Loving-kindness meditation (LKM) directed to a member of a specific racial group (in this case, a black person) was sufficient to reduce racial bias towards that group. 

The Loving-kindness meditation (LKM) is a Buddhist practise that promotes unconditional kindness towards oneself and others.