What happens at every moment?

When the Aggregates arise, decay and die, O bhikkhu, every moment you are born, decay, and die. ~Gautama Buddha~

Nepal’s most popular Buddhist nun is a musical rock star

The Hindu, October 14, 2016  Ani Choying Drolma is famous as one of the Himalayan  country’s biggest pop icons. Kathmandu, Nepal. In this October 7, 2016 photo, Buddhist nun and musician Ani Choying Drolma performs during a concert in Mumbai. She is one Buddhist nun everyone in Nepal knows by name, not because she is a religious icon and a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, nor for her work running a girl’s school and a hospital for kidney patients but because she is one of the country’s biggest pop stars. With more than 12 albums of melodious Nepali tunes and Tibetan hymns that highlight themes of peace and harmony, the songstress in saffron robes has won hearts across the Himalayan nation and abroad.  Nepali tunes, Tibetan hymns With more than 12 albums of melodious Nepali tunes and Tibetan hymns that highlight themes of peace and harmony, the songstress in saffron robes has won hearts across the Himalayan nation and abroad. “I am totally against the conservative, conventional idea of a Buddhist nun,” the 45-year-old nun said. Some people “think a Buddhist nun should be someone who does not come out in the media so much, who is isolated ... always in a monastery, always shy. But I don’t believe in that.” Neither do her fans, who greet her with a roar of applause whenever she walks out on stage, and fall silent as she closes her eyes to sing.

Dhammapada 360

Cakkhunā saṃvaro sādhu
sādhu sotena saṃvaro
Ghāṇena saṃvaro sādhu
sādhu jivhāya saṃvaro.

Restraint of the eye is good.
Good is restraint of the ear.
Restraint of the nose is good.
Good is restraint of the tongue.
~ translated by Gil Fronsdal

Malaysian Buddhists to sponsor 1,900 student monks in Sri Lanka

The Buddhist Channel, Oct 18, 2016

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Maha Karuna Buddhist Society will be organizing the annual “Student Monks Education Dana” this year on 20th November, 2016. The event will be held at the village of Kirinda, in the district of Mathara, Sri Lanka. The venue was selected as it coincides with the 10th anniversary memorial of the late Ven. Dr K Sri Dhammananda, who hails from Kirinda.

Organiser of the event, Ven. Sri Saranankara Nayaka Maha Thera, Adhikarana Sangha Nayaka (Chief Judiciary) of Malaysia said that the annual event provide academic assistance in the form of books and educational materials to junior monks. This year, about 1,900 monks from the Mathara area are expected to receive the assistance.

“Every year, Maha Karuna (Buddhist Society) organizes the “Student Monks Education Dana” to provide assistance to student monks in Sri Lanka,” says Ven. Saranankara, who is also the Chief Abbot of Sri Jayanti Buddhist Temple in Kuala Lumpur. “This year, we chose the village of Kirinda to honour the 10th anniversary memorial of our late Chief Venerable Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda, who incidentally hails from Kirinda,” he adds.

10 Misconceptions about Buddhism (#6)

This article is the sixth in the Tricycle blog series 10 Misconceptions about Buddhism with scholars Robert E. Buswell Jr. and Donald S. Lopez Jr. 

Was Buddha God or Human?
While Buddhism has a place for gods, the Buddha wasn’t exactly one of them. JUN 05, 2014

Buddhism is famous in the West as an “atheistic religion,” in the sense that, unlike the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, it does not recognize a single creator deity. However, one should not assume from this that Buddhism has no gods. It has not one, but many.

Ancient Buddhist celebration Kathina to take place in former church

(left to right) Para Ar Garn Anocha, Para Ar Garn Parnchanok and Para Ar Garn Thada in the Meditation room. Picture by FRANK REID 

LISA NIGHTINGALE 18 October 2016

An ancient celebration at a Buddhist temple in South Tyneside aims to give people the chance to find out more about the religion.

Members of the Buddhist meditation centre – at the former St Andrew’s Church, off Ellison Street, Hebburn – are preparing to stage one of the most important celebrations on the calendar.

Bhumibol mourned in Swiss Buddhist temples

Swissinfo.ch, Oct 16, 2016 Lausanne, Switzerland -- Two Buddhist temples in Switzerland conducted special religious ceremonies to mourn the death of Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Bhumibol in Switzerland. Snapshots of Bhumibol Adulyadej's Swiss stay as well as his official visit as King of Thailand in 1960. (Images: Keystone)  Around 250 people attended the special ceremony held at the Buddhist temple in Echallens in the canton of Vaud on Sunday to pay their respects to the former ruler of Thailand who died on October 13 at the age of 88.