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Face of compassion that inspires billions
2008-05-31 12:24:00
Face of compassion that inspires billions By Upali Salgadohttp://www.sundaytimes.lk The central figure in the story of Buddhism is Sakyamuni Gotama Buddha (also known as Gauthama Buddha). Gotama Buddha was born 2,552 years ago at Lumbini, in Nepal. He belonged to the Sakya clan, and Gotama was the family name. He was a prince, having at birth 32 unusual signs on his body, which, according to the royal court seers, indicated he would be either a Chakravarthi (Universal Monarch) or a religious leader. The Buddha?s noble philosophy, or dharma, is followed by more than three billion people across Asia. The Buddha was an extraordinary man, a ?Maha Purisha?. As a human being, he had no connections with the creator God or any other supernatural being. An extraordinary man (?Accariya Manussa?), he was beyond the human state inwardly, though living an admira...
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Verse for Vesak that contains a hidden story
2008-05-31 12:21:00
Verse for Vesak that contains a hidden story The Buddha?s birth is revealed in a scholarly unlocking of a cryptic poem By Sandadas CoperahewaThe Sunday Times .LK ----------------- Riddle poems are an important part of the Sri Lankan literary tradition. These ingenious brain-teasers in poetic form constitute a centuries-old art form, going back as far as the 13th century. The participants would compose riddles on the spot, and these compositions would be analysed, word by word, and then explained. What is interesting is that a fair cross-section of the population took part in these intellectually challenging exercises, suggesting an unusually high level of literary sophistication among the common people of past times. The riddle poem was especially popular in the intellectually alert and active Kotte period. (Unfortunately most of the Kotte-period riddle poems have disappeared as a result of neglect and a gradual lack of ...
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Unravelling meaning of life through Buddhism
2008-05-31 12:19:00
Unravelling meaning of life through Buddhism Ajahn Brahmavamso is the Abbot of Bodhiyana Buddhist Monastery & Spiritual Director of the Buddhist Society of Western Australia, Perth. www.bswa.org By Ajahn Brahmavamso----------- The Sunday Times . LK Today, Buddhism continues to gain ever-wider acceptance in many lands far beyond its original home. The Buddhist Teaching of the Law of Kamma offers our society a just and incorruptible foundation and reason for the practice of a moral life. It is easy to see how a wider embracing of the Law of Kamma would lead any country towards a stronger, more caring and virtuous society. The Teaching of Rebirth places this present short lifetime of ours in a broader perspective, giving more meaning to the vital events of birth and death. The understanding of rebirth removes so much of the tragedy and grief surrounding death and turns one's attention to the quality of a lifetime, rather than its...
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Continuing a love for the written word of the Dhamma
2008-05-31 12:13:00
Continuing a love for the written word of the Dhamma Surrounded by the sounds of nature in a forest hermitage in Udawattakelle Kandy, a Bhikkhu from Holland carries on the work of the Buddhist Publication Society (BPS), that has gone from strength to strength since its humble beginnings 50 years ago By Kumudini Hettiarachchi, Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara A cloud of pretty butterflies hovers over a mix of brightly-coloured flowers. The absolute stillness is shattered only by the shriek of a rilawa or the sudden start of the orchestra of cicadas, first in one direction and then in another as if an invisible conductor is pointing his baton this way and that. Here deep inside Udawattakelle, away from the madding crowd of Kandy, ensconced in a small upstair workroom in his spartan abode, 40-year-old Bhikkhu Nyanatusita is engaged in a labour of love. Although conceding that it takes up precious time, ?sometimes as m...
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He who conquers himself is the greatest of conquerors?
2008-05-31 12:13:00
The thrice blessed Vesak Poya Day falls on 19 ,Monday in May: ?He who conquers himself is the greatest of conquerors? By Samangie Wettimuny samangie@sundayobserver.lk The birth of Prince Siddartha at the Lumbini Sal grove Through out history human beings have gone on yielding to their worldly passions undergoing immense suffering, not knowing a way out of it. Only a Buddha can explain to the world the truth related to the world phenomenon-the causes for suffering and the way to get out of it. A Buddha is born to dispel the darkness of ignorance and to show the world how to be free from suffering. It is only a Buddha who could give human beings the power to think for themselves and show that man can attain supreme enlightenment through his own efforts. ?Sukho Buddhanan Uppado? The birth of a Buddha is a bliss) The Gauthama Bodisatta dwelled in Thusitha heaven prior to his final birth u...
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Winning the world through: Extreme compassion
2008-05-31 12:01:00
Winning the world through: Extreme compassion Agga Maha Panditha Most Venerable Kotugoda Dhammavasa Thera Pic : Iresha Waduge All of life?s most difficult problems could be better understood if we genuinely put the Buddha?s teachings into practice as his noble doctrine lay great stress on the development of the moral and spiritual character for a happy peaceful and contented society. As Buddhists around the world celebrate Vesak Full Moon poya day commemorating the birth, Enlightenment and Parinirvana of the Buddha tomorrow, the Sunday Observer had a Dhamma discussion with the President of the Amarapura Maha Sangha Sabha , Agga Maha Panditha Most Venerable Kotugoda Dhammavasa Thera to enlighten our readers on the teachings of the Buddha.. By Samangie Wettimuny samangie@sundayobserver.lk Q1: The modern society gives an undue importance to outward appearance. The youth of today resort to various int...
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The Supreme Buddha
2008-05-31 11:58:00
The Supreme Buddha www.sundayobserver.lkSiddartha Gautama is the founder of Buddhism . He is generally recognized by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddha -Sambuddha of our age. The exact time of his birth and death are uncertain. Most early 20th-century historians date his lifetime from 563 BCE to 483 BCE. More recently at a specialist symposium on this question, the majority of those scholars who presented definite opinions gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha?s death, with others supporting earlier or later dates. Gautama, also known as Sakyamuni -?sage of the Shakyas?, is the key figure in Buddhism, and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules were said to have been summarized after his demise and memorized by the Sangha. Passed down by oral tradition, the Tripitaka, the collection of teachings attributed to Gautama by the Theravada, was committed to writing about 400 years later. ?Scholars are i...

Inter-personal relationships in Buddhist perspective
2008-05-31 11:34:00
Inter-personal relationships in Buddhist perspective By Professor Chandima Wijebandara,www.sundayobserver.lk (The writer is BRS Graduate of School of Buddhist Studies, Singapore ) As Aristotle has rightly stated that man is a social animal. Men wish to live in society, enjoy companionship, and happy to be crowded by fellow beings. Brahmajalasutta maintains that the initial feeling the first being to reappear in the present age of world reformation fell was loneliness. He wanted company. So, according to the Buddhist story also, the need of company and consequential necessity of interpersonal relations is ingrained in living beings. The Buddha?s practised (and, of course, made the followers also practise) seclusion only till they attained spiritual heights. After the attainments, they return to society to be in service for the benefit of many (bahujana). The Buddha once said ?I, Udayi, sometimes, stay crowded by monks and nuns, lay di...
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?Indian Untouchables?(Daliths) accept Buddhism
2008-05-31 11:29:00
?Indian Untouchables?(Daliths) accept Buddhism The NationOn October 16, 1956, the world and India in particular, witnessed at Nagpur, a religious and social revolution taking place, when on a Poya day at a mass gathering, over 500,000 ?secluded caste? Indians (i.e. low caste people shunned by Hindu Society) embraced Theravada Buddhism. They were led by Dr. Babasaheb Ramj Ambedkar, an architect of the Indian Constitution in 1947 and a much respected Minister of Law in the Nehru government. Dr. Ambedkar PhD, was born in 1891 and was a member of the Mahar Community, one of the Hindu untouchable castes in India. India?s population today has over a billion people. Although the Buddha was born in present day Nepal and preached his Dharma in India, the Buddhist population in India until 1956 was only about 6.5 million. The state of Maharashtra had 6.39% Buddhists, Nagaland 5% Buddhists, Himachal Pradesh 1.5% B...
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Origin of the universe and the life process
2008-05-31 11:24:00
Origin of the universe and the life process A Buddhist?s point of viewBy Daya Sirisena---The Nation.LK Today human beings, particularly Buddhists, can be happy that the knowledge they have acquired provides beyond doubt that life arises as the consequence of certain natural process with the properties inherent in the cosmos. To prove it, scientists are trying to reproduce the right conditions by which these processes are brought into operation. Let me tell you, scientists are not creating life, they are mostly bringing about artificially the situations in which all the factors being present, living organism inevitably come into being. They are not created out of nothing. They are the results of nature?s chemistry. They grow and develop in accordance with nature?s laws and tsunami itself is one proof of causality. Here it may seem that there is a loophole for the omnipotent God. If God did not create lif...
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The Great Image ? Lord Buddha
2008-05-31 11:22:00
The Great Image ? Lord Buddha Extraordinary unique being, the sage of Sakyan clan Born on Vesak Full Moon Day, a day filled with élan 2,552 years ago Prince Siddhartha was born Countless aeons you strove so hard alone To gain goal the path of deliverance, the destination Unwavering effort, inimitable powerful determination With abounding compassion for suffering human ignorance so blind Epoch making event in annals of history for mankind The great image, the healer, the peerless physician Reached pinnacles of wisdom, great lucid vision Prince Siddhartha?s 35th year significantly clear Stupendous struggle for six strenuous continuous years Shattering vicious Mara?s cruel attempts in vain By own inherent natural powers won amidst heavy pain Torturing, destroying, killing wasn?t His refrain He yearned to rid man from woes, His noble only aim Greatest of all The Buddha, the great serene image...
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The ?true? religion
2008-05-31 11:04:00
The ?true? religion By Prof. K.N. JayatillekeNation.lk Elsewhere, in the Sankada Sutta there is a clear-cut answer? to this question. There, Ananda says that in the opinion of the Buddha there are four false religions in the world; and four religions which are unsatisfactory, though not necessarily totally false, while Buddhism is distinguished from all of them. The word for religion here is used in a wide sense as in modern usage, to denote theistic and non-theistic religions, as well as pseudo-religions or religions-surrogate, i.e. substitutes for religion such as, say, Marxism, Existentialism, Humanism, etc. The four false religions or philosophies inculcating a way of life are first, Materialism which denies survival, secondly, Amoralism which denies good and evil, thirdly any religion which asserts that man is miraculously saved or doomed, and lastly theistic evolutionism which h...
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Bak Poya: The day Buddha set foot in Lanka for the second time
2008-04-20 00:22:00
Bak Poya: The day Buddha set foot in Lanka for the second time Sachitra MAHENDRADaily News The significance of Bak poya is historical, since it marks Buddha?s second visit to Sri Lanka. This is noteworthy, as Bak is a month of national importance as well. According to Mahavamsa, Buddha could foresee an imminent war between two Naga Kings Culodara and Mahodara, uncle and nephew, over a jewel-studded throne that made Him think of visiting Lanka for the second time. Professor Wilhelm Geiger explains the conflict in the translation of Mahavamsa: Mahavamsa ?That same Naga Mahodara was then a King, gifted with miraculous power in a Naga Kingdom in the ocean, that covered half a thousand Yojanas. His younger sister had been given (in marriage) to the Naga-King on the Kannavaddhamana mountain; her son was Culodara. His mother?s father had given to his mother a splendid throne of jewels, then the Naga had died and therefore this war of nephew with uncle was threatening and als...
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Pilgrimage to Sri Pada in Siam
2008-04-20 00:20:00
Pilgrimage to Sri Pada in Siam Gamage Karunasiri The envoys from Kandy were on a noble mission seeking assistance from Siamese King His Majesty Borommacot Dharmaraja II (1733-1759) for revival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka which was at a pathetic, declining phase and was in the verge of disappearing from the island due to lack of properly ordained monks to carry on the Buddhist order and doctrine for the benefit of future generations. The Buddhist institutions were deteriorated and discipline among the clergy was degenerated. Phra Buddhapada temple The Sri Lankan ambassadors were carrying an urgent message (Royal Sannasa) written in Pali language probably using the Cambodian script, sent by King Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe appealing for help from the fellow Buddhist ruler for revival of the esteemed common religion sacred to them. Both countries have past records of mutual help in perpetuation of Buddhism in their hours of need. There were five Sinhalese ambassadors in the d...
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Dhamma in the age of Globalisation
2008-04-19 22:48:00
Dhamma in the age of globalisation Can the ancient teachings of the Buddha, which date back more than 2,500 years, cure the modern angst of globalisation? Ask Seksan Prasertkul, and the answer from the former Thai Marxist revolutionary is a firm ?yes?. ?The problems arising from globalisation are essentially spiritual,? said Seksan, a former leader of the 1973 students? uprising and a one-time guerrilla who once chose violence as a path towards change. Buddha Dharma, or Buddhist teachings, as the spiritual medicine for human suffering is therefore needed more than ever in the age of globalisation, he said. In his view, globalisation is not all bad. Its fierce forces of greed and competition may have spurred more intensive individual pursuits of material gains that destroy human connections. The great disparity it creates may have triggered deep resentment among the oppressed who often turn to tribal violence to stave off globalisation threats. ?But globalisation has...
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Why ? Sri Lanka ....
2008-01-09 21:13:00
WHY SRI LANKA ?Extracted from,sujata.wordpress.comWhy does anybody want to live in Sri Lanka , if there are other choices? Why deal with corruption, stupidity, headless bodies and bodiless heads, if you have a choice. These are questions that seem to come up more often than I like. What did the great sage of India have to say about location? I turn to the Mangala Sutra, A discourse on blessings, in Buddha?s own words, and translated to English by Henepola Gunaratana Thera. To reside in a suitable location To have past good deeds doneTo set oneself in the right direction This is a blessing supreme (Patirupadesavaso ca; Pubbe ca katapunnata; Attasammapanidhi ca; etam mangalam uttamam) There it is. The second verse in the Mangala Sutra. Buddha did not go as far as realtors to say location, location, location, but he did say to get your location right. First decide what is suitable for you. For me what makes Sri Lanka unsuitable as a location is not the usual list of corruption? etc....
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Meditation and Ultimate Happiness 1
2008-01-09 19:50:00
Calming the MindMeditation can have several functions. It is about calming the mind but it is also about freeing oneself from habitual states of greed, hatred and delusion. Each of these is a source of suffering and therefore unhappiness. Although the Buddha's teaching starts with suffering or dukkha, the first noble truth, it ends in freedom from suffering - nibbana or nirvana (the third noble truth). The Buddha's teaching therefore is about achieving this freedom from suffering - ultimate happiness (though beyond what we might ordinarily conceive as happiness).Though nibbana is the ultimate goal, how is it that Buddhists might find happiness in a world that they know is full of change, uncertainty, unsatisfactoriness? Even when happiness is possible, there is no escape from old age, sickness and death. What Buddhism does teach is that there are skilful ways of living. These include, following certain moral precepts and working on various meditation techniques that are conducive...
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Earth is going to vanish in 2029 ???Huge Asteroid to hit earth in 2029 May
2007-09-26 22:29:00
The space rock, dubbed 2006 VV2, came within 2.1million miles of hitting us ? which is a near miss in space terms, even though that's about ninetimes farther away than the moon.The asteroid was flying past Earth on Friday night, at 11 p.m. (PDT), and on Saturday 7 a.m. GMT for Europe.There was no danger of collision. And that's a really good thing. This space rock, named 2006 VV2, is more than a mile wide (about 2 kilometers), according to the Web site.If one that big hit Earth, it would blow a crater the size of London and wipe out a whole country; it would derail global commerce and create a climate change unlike anything seen in modern history.Jay Tate, who runs Space guard UK, said: "Asteroid s are a very real danger. We need to find and track them. Dinosaurs are extinct because they couldn?t do anything about the asteroid hazard. We face precisely the same risk."The best viewing locations were in the Americas, as the rock passed directly over Southern California, and though it ...
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Chiselling Lanka?s own Bamiyan wonder
2007-09-26 21:26:00
Chiselling Lanka ?s own Bamiyan wonderBy Upali SalgadoIn 2001, the world witnessed clouds of dynamited dust rising from the destroyed 55 metre tall, 6th century AD Bamiyan statues located on the ancient Silk route linking China and ancient Persia.These silent icons reminded travellers who passed through the great green valley of the Buddha?s compassionate ways. Today, at Rambodagalla, 12 miles north of Kurunegala, there is being created out of granite another Buddha statue in the Samadhi Mudra, 67.5 feet tall which will be the world's largest statue in this mudra (posture).The tragic events of 2001 AD which took place in the picturesque Bamiyan Valley, close to the Hindukush and Kohi-baba ranges, about 250 km northwest of Kabul, Afghanistan, saw the Taliban turn a deaf ear to strong international appeals to halt the destruction of the Bamiyan statues, an act of reprehensible religous bigotry.In Sri Lanka this created sadness and strong resentment amongst Buddhists, who firmly resolv...

Theravada Buddhism in ancient and medieval Sri Lanka
2007-09-26 21:19:00
Theravada Buddhism in ancient and medieval Sri Lanka - Daily NewsKamalika PierisTHERAVADA BUDDHISM: Ven. Walpola Rahula Thera in his History of Buddhism (1956) took the view that Sri Lanka would have known about Buddhism during the time of the Buddha Himself, since there was regular contact between India and Sri Lanka during that period.This view has been strengthened by the recent discovery that Anuradhapura has settlements from 10th century BC. Archaeologist Siran Deraniyagala has stated that Buddhism would have come into Sri Lanka early.If so, then Buddhism was known in Sri Lanka long before the reign of King Dharmasoka and the arrival of Arhant Mahinda Thera in 3rd century BC.State religionE.W. Adikaram in his Early History of Buddhism (1946) had also concluded that Buddhism existed in Ceylon before the arrival of Arhant Mahinda Thera. He took the view that Arhant Mahinda Thera came to set up the monastic order.He said that it was only after the conversion of King Devanampiyatiss...
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Anagarika Dharmapala: His Last few hours as of Venerable Siri Devamitta Dh
2007-09-26 21:13:00
Last few hours of Venerable Siri Devamitta DhammapalaAs accounted by Brahamachariya Devapriya Walisinghe in 1933Anagarika Dharmapala spent the last years of his life as a Bhikkhu. He was known as venerable Siri Devamitta Dharmapala.This is an account of his last few hours on earth. Anagarika Dharmapala's 143rd birth anniversary fell on September 17.DHARMAPALA: "Let me die soon. Let me be re-born twenty-five times to spread the Buddha's Dhamma." This was the last wish of the late Venerable Siri Devamitta Dharmapala, as he lay sick in the bed at Holy Isipatana with a fever to which he eventually succumbed on 29th April last.It was not the wish of the coward or the imbecile but the earnest yearning of the undaunted spirit seeking fresh opportunities for greater service to humanity. Every minute of his remarkable life had been spent for the good of humanity and it was impossible for him to lie ideal in bed.He was now compelled to a life of inactivity which was against his very nature ...
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Anagarika Dharmapala: His contribution towards the expansion of the teachin
2007-09-26 21:05:00
Anagarika Dharmapala:His contribution towards the expansion of the teachings of the Buddha---Daily NewsJustice Dr. Shirani BandaranayakeHERO: "Ceylon, with her twenty-five centuries of recorded history," said Dr. Ananda Guruge, "is endowed with a generous quota of national heroes who are gratefully remembered by the people for the wars they fought, for national independence, the movements they sponsored, for the welfare of the masses, the books they wrote, the monuments they erected and the contributions they made to the individuality and richness of the national culture.Anagarika DharmapalaOut of the many heroes who are remembered in numerous ways and who still live in the hearts and minds of a grateful nation, Anagarika Dharmapala shines as the brightest star among many other distinguished stars of the galaxy of heroes.National heroes of any country, as stated earlier, belong to different categories not only due to the work they have carried out, but also due to the methods they h...
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Search for the beauty, the truth and the good
2007-09-26 21:00:00
Search for the beauty, the truth and the good---Daily NewsThich Nhat HanhCompassion: We all known what love is and suffered because of it. May be we haven't had the time to be able to look deeply into the nature of our love, to sum up what our love was about, to be able to understand what we did when we loved, and to understand why suffering arose from it.In Buddhism , the meaning of love is very deep, but also very clear, and it is necessary to have time to look deeply into the nature of our love, in order to be able to cultivate the elements which make true love.All of us need to love. We need something beautiful, true and good, and we are looking for the beauty, the true, and the good. We feel that these things don't exist in us, that what is really beautiful, what is really truth, and what is really good, is not in us.Therefore, we look for it, and sometimes we feel that we have found the object of our love. The person before us is a symbol of what is beautiful, of what is true...
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Dukka and investigation of suffering
2007-09-26 20:44:00
Dukka and investigation of suffering-Daily MirrorBy Ajahn BrahmavansoChief Prelate of the Bodhinyana Monastery in Perth, AustraliaWe seek for happiness in so many areas and in so many ways, always seeking in the wrong place. Eventually we realise that not finding happiness in these places doesn't mean there is something wrong with us. It doesn't mean we are incompetent or hopeless. Insight will show us that there is no way anyone can find happiness in the place we were looking. The mind realises that the world can only be dukkha (suffering). The wise person, instead of being distressed by that suffering and wallowing in it, contemplates what The Lord Buddha says about suffering, the Four Noble Truths. That means, they seek to understand this whole process of suffering.Sometimes the suffering can be raw, going deep into the bones, even deeper than the bones, right to the very source of what we think we are. It goes so deep and can cause so many problems. It's such a relief to find...
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Buddhism : Ayan Vassana Kalo ? this is the Rainy Season ? Binara ? Moratori
2007-09-26 20:41:00
Ayan Vassana Kalo ? this is the Rainy Season ? Binara ? Mora torium month ---------Daily MirrorBy Gamini Jayasinghe.Wassana Kala or the rainy season from Esala (July/August) to Vap ? (October/November) can be regarded as a four-month moratorium for Buddhist priests who observe methods of meditation to gain merit.After his enlightenment, Buddha set apart this period for the monks to observe methods of meditation. Monks learnt the methods of mediation from the Buddha and observed the law of qualities, efficacy and moral philosophy at places where they sojourned during the Wassana Kala - the rainy seasonThese practices were observed by the community of monks and even today this is the opportune period for the monks to complete performances of religious duties and observances as prerequisites to Buddhaship, including the endurance of the suffering and privation of every kind and the loss of life itself in the discharge of those duties. Thus, during this period the aspirants of Buddahood ...
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143rd Anagarika Dharmapala anniversary
2007-09-18 22:26:00
Anagarika DharmapalaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaAnagarika Dharmapala (1864 - 1933) was a leading figure in initiating two outstanding features of Buddhism in the twentieth century. He was a pioneer in the revival of Buddhism in India after it had been virtually extinct there for several centuries, and he was the first Buddhist in modern times to preach the Dharma in three continents: Asia, North America, and Europe.Dharmapala was the first anagarika - that is, a celibate, full-time worker for Buddhism - in modern times. It seems that he took a vow of celibacy at the age of eight and remained faithful to it all his life. Although he wore a yellow robe, it was not of the traditional bhikkhu pattern, and he did not shave his head. He felt that the observance of all the vinaya rules would have got in the way of his work, especially as he flew around the world.Born David Hewavitarne in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka was then a British colony known as Ceylon, so Hewavitarne's sta...
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THE SIX PATHS and THE FOUR NOBLE WORLDS
2007-09-07 23:41:00
How To Live as Humans:THE SIX PATHS and THE FOUR NOBLE WORLDSWhat separates humans from animals is less distinct than we might expect. The examination of human nature not only holds interest for philosophers, but concerns all of us directly. How should humans live? If we trace our lineage in the context of life?s evolution on the Earth, we find that our species is a comparatively recent phenomenon. The Earth is about four and a half billion years old. The origin of the ancestral stock of the African apes and humans, although uncertain, seems to be no earlier than thirteen million years ago. The Neanderthals, an early relative of modern human beings, are believed to have lived about 100,000 to 30,000 years ago. Although scientific investigation has not yet pinned down the moment of divergence between humans and apes, it is clear that we have a far longer history as animals than as humans.In the course of evolution, Homo Sapiens have developed the ability to reason as this name "man t...
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The Roots of Today's Buddhism
2007-09-07 23:33:00
The Roots of Today's Buddhism By PETER STEINFELSEven though the historic Buddha, Prince Siddhartha Gautama, is said to have lived approximately 2,500 years ago, Buddhism is often viewed as the most modern of world religions.Nontheistic, nondogmatic, nonviolent, emphasizing individual practice rather than institutional membership or obligations, the Buddhism expounded by, say, the Dalai Lama fits nicely with a modern, largely Western world view based on science and respect for the individual. Maybe that explains why it seems to attract so many physicists and psychotherapists.Is this modernity surprising? Not really, because this Buddhism is itself a modern creation, a late-19th-century development deeply influenced by Western ideas even while emerging as a counterweight to Western colonial domination.That, at any rate, is the intriguing point made by Donald S. Lopez Jr., a leading scholar of Buddhism, in his introduction to "A Modern Buddhist Bible: Essential Readings from East and W...
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Buddhism and the Blues
2007-09-07 23:30:00
Buddhism and the Blues Buddhist psychology's core techniques of meditation and awareness may have much to offer ordinary Westerners. By:Hara Estroff MaranoTo most people Buddhism is an ancient Eastern religion, although a very special one. It has no god, it has no central creed or dogma and its primary goal is the expansion of consciousness, or awareness.But to the Dalai Lama, it's a highly refined tradition, perfected over the course of 2,500 years, of analyzing and investigating the inner world of the mind in order to transform mental states and promote happiness. "Whether you are a believer or not in the faith," the Dalai Lama recently told a conference of Buddhists and scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, you can use its time-honored techniques to voluntarily control your emotional state.Yes, the Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of over 300 million Buddhists worldwide. Yes, he is the head of the Tibetan government in exile. But in the spirit of Buddhism, t...
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Buddhism Comes to the West, by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi
2007-09-07 23:20:00
Buddhism Comes to the West , by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi An extract of a talk by Bhikkhu Bodhi from a seminar on "The Necessity for Promoting Buddhism in Europe," held on the first death anniversary of Ven. Mitirigala Dhammanisanthi Thera - Colombo, Sri Lanka 2nd July 2000.The topic of this seminar is very timely, for in many Western countries today Buddhism is the fastest growing religion. In North America, Western Europe, and Australia-New Zealand, hundreds of Buddhist centres have sprung up almost overnight, offering teachings and meditation retreats even in remote regions. Today Buddhism is espoused not only by those in the alternative culture, as was the case in the 1960s, but by businessmen, physicists, computer programmers, housewives, real-estate agents, even by sports stars, movie actors, and rock musicians. Thousands of books on Buddhism are now available, dealing with the teachings at both scholarly and popular levels, while Buddhist magazines and journals expand their circulatio...
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