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Your Experience of the Eightfold Path

2009-11-12T19:35:39Z

Hello.

What have your experiences with the eightfold path been?
What do they mean to you?

The Right View,
The Right Intentions,
The Right Speech,
The Right Action,
The Right Livelihood,
The Right Effort,
The Right Mindfulness,
The Right Concentration.

You are experiencing. What is that?

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 2 replies

MEDITATE AND DESTROY- NOW ON DVD!!!

2009-10-25T06:27:21Z

MEDITATE AND DESTROY is NOW ON DVD!!

MEDITATE AND DESTROY is a 81 minute documentary about punk rock, spirituality, and inner rebellion through the eyes of bestselling author Noah Levine (Dharma Punx, Against the Stream). This powerful film examines the driving forces that transformed Levine from an addicted rebel into a Buddhist teacher and community leader. Tattoos, motorcycles, and an engaging punk rock soundtrack are featured in this inspirational story of finding new paths- even in our darkest hours.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FILM TRAILER (OR PURCHASE THE DVD):

www.meditateanddestroy.com

READ A REVIEW FROM MTV MOVIES:

moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/10/...d-buddha/

OFFICIAL SELECTION- INTERNATIONAL BUDDHIST FILM FESTIVAL

OFFICIAL SELECTION- SANTA CRUZ FILM FESTIVAL

OFFICIAL SELECTION- CALGARY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

OFFICIAL SELECTION- MELBOURNE BUDDHIST FILM FESTIVAL

OFFICIAL SELECTION- FROM HERE TO AWESOME FILM FESTIVAL

OFFICIAL SELECTION- NON VIOLENCE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/pages/edit/?id=9194002961#/pages/Meditate-and-Destroy/9194002961

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

How engaged are we?

2009-10-20T12:11:20Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4gymxY2zM8

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 11 replies

12 steps in Buddhism

2009-10-02T15:31:06Z

I can't find the thread now - someone was asking about a 12 step program within the Buddhist focus. One just started in LA.

**NEW**LOS ANGELES: RECOVERY FROM ADDICTION IN A BUDDHIST CONTEXT. --The Buddhist Recovery Network-- will be holding its inaugural conference in Los Angeles, Oct. 9th-11th. It will be hosted by --Against the Stream Meditation Society--. Brochure: http://www.insightla.org/insights/2box/index.asp?nlid=259 Conference Info: http://www.buddhistrecovery.org/inaugural_conference.htm

I wanted to pass the info along but now can't find which Tribe/person was asking about it.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 3 replies

HH the Dalai Lama : introduction, teaching dates, and background ( revised article )

2009-09-02T23:15:27Z

This article has now gone out to quite a few tribes related to environmental concerns, politics, and meditation. Here I have slightly revised it.
The beat goes on.
KT

Keywords : HH The Dalai Lama, public Dalai Lama talks on world peace, Dalai Lama resources and current schedule, Nobel Peace Prize, universal human [ secular ] ethics, deep permaculture ethics.

Summary: Provided here is (1) the current tour schedule for His Holiness the Dalai Lama [ for California, Massachusetts, New York, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, India, Germany ], (2) an introduction to the life and work of HH the Dalai Lama, (3) book references and resources, and (4) curriculum vitae.

HH the Dalai Lama:
“Never give up.
No matter what is going on.
Never give up.
Develop the heart.
Be compassionate.
Not just to your friends but to everyone.
Work for peace in your heart and in the world.
Work for peace and I say again:
Never give up.
No matter what is happening.
No matter what is going on around you.
Never give up.”

Introduction:

All Our Relations. Mitakuye Oyasin.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is one of the pivotal figures of our time. He is, more than anyone else that can be presently named, a world citizen and world teacher.

His work in ethics, human rights,world peace, psychology and education, Buddhist teaching and East West relations, is second to none in our generation.

In addition to a Nobel Peace Prize and the US Congressional Gold Medal, HH the Dalai Lama has received scores of honorary Doctorates ( in Laws, Philosophy, Human Letters, Divinity, Buddhist Philosophy, and so forth ) from major teaching centers worldwide. These include Columba, Brandeis, Universite de Paris, Benaras Hindu University, Hebrew University Jerusalem, U California San Francisco, and Rissho University Tokyo. He is an honorary citizen of Canada, of Roma Italia and so forth.

He speaks worldwide and has published more than seventy two books.

He is one of the most respected and revered persons on the the planet. On one visit to New York City some years back, forty thousand people turned out to see the Dalai Lama in the park.

When the Dalai Lama gives the Highest Yoga Tantra initiation ( abhisekha ) of Kalacakra, the attendees sometimes number 100,000 or even 200,000. HH the Dalai Lama has given this initiation thirty times in different parts of the world. In addition to being a master of the Great Seal ( Mahamudra ) lineage of Buddhist tantra, he also gives initiations of the Great Perfection ( Mahasandhi, Atiyoga ), for example in London, in San Francisco, and Paris.

You can see him this year at public talks in several areas, such as California, Massachusetts, New York, Europe, and India. A current schedule is provided below.

I have seen HH the Dalai Lama give extremely worthwhile empowerments in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and represented him to the State Legislature of Hawaii in 1993, where he was invited to give a talk, and did. I have listened carefully to him conferencing with Hawaiian elders in public and was struck by the care and attention he gave in listening to others, and in asking questions.

HH the Dalai Lama has written extremely important books on psychology and ethics, and I recommend these to the general public for self-help purposes, and also recommend some of his books to those committed to public service, especially in the area of multiculturalism, international human rights work, and the international Green Party movement.

Because of the profound confluence of modern events, global economics, environmental issues and human cultures, the importance of broader and deeper human co-operation becomes ever greater.

To obtain a broader and clearer understanding and principles for working with these issues, studying the secular works of the Dalai Lama is of great value.

Similarly, His Holiness is one of the few people who can and does speak for the diverse Buddhist populations and traditions worldwide. He has taught senior Japanese tantric Buddhist gurus of the Shingon lineage in their country, for instance. His Holiness is a paragon of the Buddhist renunciate order ( bhiksu-sangha ), of Buddhist scholarship, and of the Mahayana Great Way lineages, all of which are profoundly universal.

This teacher is one of our very very best, be you a psychologist or academic, a diplomat, a tantric yogi, or a Buddhist practitioner. He has completely revolutionized Buddhist teaching, parts of popular modern culture, the understanding of international diplomacy and so forth in our lifetime.

This is someone who actually embodies many of the key principles of the United Nations treaties on human rights, and also the key Buddhist Mahayana principles and teachings. It is important to note that the Mahayana Buddhist principles and the principles of the UN human rights work are essentially identical. There are universal principles that take us all forward, individually and together. In Buddhist Sanskrit these terms are, for instance pratitya-samutpada and karma. Now you know.

The final point I wish to put forward to all is this: the Dalai Lama believes in all of us as people who *already* have sensitive human hearts that can be educated and developed, and he shows all of us a very real and practical way forward, a way based on self-understanding, listening and mutual respect, and patient co-operation.

You could do worse, and please remember that due to impermanence, this master teacher will not live forever. It is not clear how anyone anywhere can replace him.

I see no real alternative to respect and co-operation for the common good, because we are one world. For this broader and deeper reason, and not specifically because he is a Buddhist guru, I support this teacher. He was not allowed by their government to attend a recent peace conference in South Africa, but he is available to you, and he is here for All Our Relations. May he live long and may his brilliant consciousness reach many many more.

Thank you,
KT, Rio Earth Summit Green Party organizer and so forth

In partial fulfillment of my formal Mahayana teaching responsibilities.
Sarva mangalam! Siddhi rastu!
[ May it be auspicious! May there be accomplishment! ]

John David Bartoe, Challenger 8 NASA space mission, July 1985:
“As I looked down, I saw large river meandering slowly along for miles, passing from one country to another without stopping. I also saw huge forests, extending across several borders. And I watched the extent of one ocean touch the shores of several continents. Two words leaped to mind as I looked down on all of this: commonality and interdependence. We are one world.”

Some of the following materials are taken from
www.dalailama.com/
Published books and multimedia materials are available at libraries throughout the world, and from Snow Lion Publications at
www.snowlionpub.com

From the official web site:

“Universal Recognition

“His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a man of peace. In 1989 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent struggle for the liberation of Tibet. He has consistently advocated policies of non-violence, even in the face of extreme aggression. He also became the first Nobel Laureate to be recognized for his concern for global environmental problems.

“His Holiness has travelled to more than 62 countries spanning 6 continents. He has met with presidents, prime ministers and crowned rulers of major nations. He has held dialogues with the heads of different religions and many well-known scientists.

“Since 1959 His Holiness has received over 84 awards, honorary doctorates, prizes, etc., in recognition of his message of peace, non-violence, inter-religious understanding, universal responsibility and compassion. His Holiness has also authored more than 72 books.

“His Holiness describes himself as a simple Buddhist monk.”

“Three Main Commitments in Life
“Firstly, on the level of a human being, His Holiness first commitment is the promotion of human values such as compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, contentment and self-discipline. All human beings are the same. We all want happiness and do not want suffering. Even people who do not believe in religion recognize the importance of these human values in making their life happier. His Holiness refers to these human values as secular ethics. He remains committed to talk about the importance of these human values and share them with everyone he meets.

“Secondly, on the level of a religious practitioner, His Holiness second commitment is the promotion of religious harmony and understanding among the world's major religious traditions. Despite philosophical differences, all major world religions have the same potential to create good human beings. It is therefore important for all religious traditions to respect one another and recognize the value of each other's respective traditions. As far as one truth, one religion is concerned, this is relevant on an individual level. However, for the community at large, several truths, several religions are necessary.
“Thirdly, His Holiness is a Tibetan and carries the name of the Dalai Lama. Tibetans place their trust in him. Therefore, his third commitment is to the Tibetan issue. His Holiness has a responsibility to act as the free spokesperson of the Tibetans in their struggle for justice. As far as this third commitment is concerned, it will cease to exist once a mutually beneficial solution is reached between the Tibetans and Chinese.

However, His Holiness will carry on with the first two commitments till his last breath.”

Upcoming Schedule
2009
Lecture in Santa Barbara, CA, USA on April 24: His Holiness will give a lecture on The Nature of Mind organized by the University of Santa Barbara at the UCSB Events Center. Contact Website: www.religion.ucsb.edu/dalailama/
Public Talk in Santa Barbara, CA, USA on April 24: His Holiness will give a public talk on Ethics for Our Time organized by the University of Santa Barbara at the UCSB Events Center. Contact Website: www.religion.ucsb.edu/dalailama/
Public Talk in Berkeley, CA, USA on April 25: His Holiness will give a public talk on Peace Through Compassion organized by the University of California, Berkeley at the Greek Theater. Contact Website: www.berkeley.edu

Public Talk in Boston, MA, USA on April 30: His Holiness will give a public talk to the Harvard University Community on Educating the Heart organized by Harvard University at the Memorial Church. Contact Website: www.harvard.edu
Inauguration of The Dalai Lama Center on April 30: His Holiness will inaugurate The Dalai Lama Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) by giving a talk on Ethics and Enlightened Leadership. Contact Website: www.thecenter.mit.edu
Panel Discussion in Boston, MA on May 1: His Holiness will participate in a panel discussion on Meditation and Psychotherapy – Cultivating Compassion and Wisdom organized by the Harvard Medical School Department of Continuing Education at Boston Park Plaza Hotel. Contact Website: www.cme.med.harvard.edu/index.asp
Teaching in Boston, MA on May 2: His Holiness will give a teaching in the morning on What Is Buddhism & Commentary on The Four Noble Truths organized by the Tibetan Association of Boston at the Gillette Stadium, Foxboro. Contact Website: www.bostontibet.org
Public Talk in Boston, MA on May 2: His Holiness will give a public talk in the afternoon on The Path to Peace and Inner Happiness organized by the Tibetan Association of Boston at the Gillette Stadium, Foxboro. Contact Website: www.bostontibet.org

Public Talk in New York, NY on May 3: His Holiness will participate in a conversation with Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and moderated by Pico Iyer on Wisdom & Compassion for Challenging Times and organized by The Tibet Fund at The Town Hall. Contact Website: www.tibetfund.org

Teaching in New York, NY on May 4: His Holiness will give a teaching on The Quintessence of Compassion organized by The Tibet House at The New Beacon Theater. Contact Website: www.tibethouse.org
Public Talk in Albany, NY on May 6: His Holiness will give a public talk on Compassionate Ethics in Difficult Times organized by the World Ethical Foundations Consortium at the Albany Palace Theater. Contact Website: www.worldethicalfoundations.org

Teaching in Copenhagen, Denmark from May 30 & 31: His Holiness will give a day and a half teaching on Nagarjuna's Commentary on Bodhicitta (jangchup semdrel) & Kamalashila's The Middling Stages of Meditation (gomrim barpa) at the Bella Center. Contact Website: www.dalailama.dk
Public Talk in Copenhagen, Denmark on May 31: His Holiness will give a public talk on Peace Through Inner Peace at the Bella Center. Contact Website: www.dalailama.dk

Public Talk in Reykjavik, Iceland on June 2: His Holiness will give a public talk on the topic on Values, Attitude and Happiness at the Laugardalsholl Sporting Arena. Contact Website: www.dalailama.is

Teaching in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on June 4: His Holiness will give a teaching on Shantideva’s Chapter 6 on Patience from A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life at the Rai Congress Center. Contact Website: www.dalailamanederland.nl
Public Talk in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on June 4: His Holiness will give a public talk on The Power of Compassion At A Turbulent Time at the Rai Congress Center. Contact Website: www.dalailamanederland.nl

Teaching in Kaza, H.P., India from July 10 to 12: His Holiness will give three-day teachings at the request of the Sakya Monastery in Kaza. On July 10 His Holiness will give a Buddhist teaching (topic yet to be decided). On July 11 and 12 His Holiness will confer the Avalokiteshvera Initiation (chenresig wangchen).

Teaching in Frankfurt, Germany on July 30 & 31: His Holiness will give a day and a half teaching on Kamalashila's The Middling Stages of Meditation (gomrim barpa). On the morning of July 31 he will confer an Amitabha Empowerment (opakmey jenang). Contact Website: www.dalailama-frankfurt.de

Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech
[ University Aula, Oslo, 10 December 1989 ] :

Your Majesty, Members of the Nobel Committee, Brothers and Sisters.

I am very happy to be here with you today to receive the Nobel Prize for Peace. I feel honored, humbled and deeply moved that you should give this important prize to a simple monk from Tibet I am no one special. But I believe the prize is a recognition of the true value of altruism, love, compassion and non-violence which I try to practice, in accordance with the teachings of the Buddha and the great sages of India and Tibet, I accept the prize with profound gratitude on behalf of the oppressed everywhere and for all those who struggle for freedom and work for world peace.

I accept it as a tribute to the man who founded the modern tradition of non-violent action for change Mahatma Gandhi whose life taught and inspired me. And, of course, I accept it on behalf of the six million Tibetan people, my brave countrymen and women inside Tibet, who have suffered and continue to suffer so much. They confront a calculated and systematic strategy aimed at the destruction of their national and cultural identities. The prize reaffirms our conviction that with truth, courage and determination as our weapons, Tibet will be liberated.

No matter what part of the world we come from, we are all basically the same human beings. We all seek happiness and try to avoid suffering. We have the same basic human needs and is concerns. All of us human beings want freedom and the right to determine our own destiny as individuals and as peoples. That is human nature. The great changes that are taking place everywhere in the world, from Eastern Europe to Africa are a clear indication of this.

In China the popular movement for democracy was crushed by brutal force in June this year. But I do not believe the demonstrations were in vain, because the spirit of freedom was rekindled among the Chinese people and China cannot escape the impact of this spirit of freedom sweeping many parts of the world. The brave students and their supporters showed the Chinese leadership and the world the human face of that great nation.

Last week a number of Tibetans were once again sentenced to prison terms of upto nineteen years at a mass show trial, possibly intended to frighten the population before today's event. Their only 'crime" was the expression of the widespread desire of Tibetans for the restoration of their beloved country's independence.
The suffering of our people during the past forty years of occupation is well documented. Ours has been a long struggle. We know our cause is just Because violence can only breed more violence and suffering, our struggle must remain non-violent and free of hatred. We are trying to end the suffering of our people, not to inflict suffering upon others.

It is with this in mind that I proposed negotiations between Tibet and China on numerous occasions. In 1987, I made specific proposals in a Five-Point plan for the restoration of peace and human rights in Tibet. This included the conversion of the entire Tibetan plateau into a Zone of Ahimsa, a sanctuary of peace and non-violence where human beings and nature can live in peace and harmony.
last year, I elaborated on that plan in Strasbourg, at the European Parliament I believe the ideas I expressed on those occasions are both realistic. and reasonable although they have been criticised by some of my people as being too conciliatory. Unfortunately, China's leaders have not responded positively to the suggestions we have made, which included important concessions. If this continues we will be compelled to reconsider our position.

Any relationship between Tibet and China will have to be based on the principle of equality, respect, trust and mutual benefit. It will also have to be based on the principle which the wise rulers of Tibet and of China laid down in a treaty as early as 823 AD, carved on the pillar which still stands today in front of the Jokhang, Tibet's holiest shrine, in Lhasa, that "Tibetans will live happily in the great land of Tibet, and the Chinese will live happily in the great land of China".

As a Buddhist monk, my concern extends to all members of the human family and, indeed, to all sentient beings who suffer. I believe all suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their happiness or satisfaction. Yet true happiness comes from a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood. We need to cultivate a universal responsibility for one another and the planet we share. Although I have found my own Buddhist religion helpful in generating love and com¬passion, even for those we consider our enemies, I am convinced that everyone can develop a good heart and a sense of universal responsibility with or without religion.

With the ever growing impact of science on our lives, religion and spirituality have a greater role to play reminding us of our humanity. There is no contradiction between the two. Each gives us valuable insights into the other. Both science and the teachings of the Buddha tell us of the fundamental unity of all things. This understanding is crucial if we are to take positive and decisive action on the pressing global concern with the environment.

I believe all religions pursue the same goals, that of cultivating human goodness and bringing happiness to all human beings. Though the means might appear different the ends are the same.
As we enter the final decade of this century I am optimistic that the ancient values that have sustained mankind are today reaffirming themselves to prepare us for a kinder, happier twenty-first century.

I pray for all of us, oppressor and friend, that together we succeed in building a better world through human under-standing and love, and that in doing so we may reduce the pain and suffering of all sentient beings.
Thank you.

[ end posting ]

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 4 replies

Right Livelihood

2009-08-03T09:00:02Z

Greetings all,

I have been struggling with this one for some time. I tend to pick jobs at businesses that close down, go bankrupt, downsize the workforce, or for whackos that enjoy living out their family dysfunction on their employees/coworkers instead of seeking therapy. I worked at low paying service jobs for years, happy and employed for years at a time. As soon as I moved to the corporate world for higher pay – I haven’t been able to keep a job for more than one year at a time. 15 jobs in 15 years is getting old.

Now that I am seeking employment again, in this time of fear-mongering economic state, the jobs are even fewer and farther between. I live in San Diego, where defense contracting is huge. To find employment without it being tied to the military in some way is challenging. Then there’s the healthcare industry, where I feel they are a bunch of leeches preying on the sick and elderly.

Green jobs are rarer than finding another Hope Diamond. Short of shaving my head and moving to a monastic existence, I am not sure what to do. It seems crazy to turn down a job right now on principle alone, when I’ve been unemployed for months now. In other words, how does one find Right Livelihood in today’s world?

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 2 replies

free monthly newsletter for socially engaged buddhism

2009-07-24T07:43:30Z

Bernie Glassman and the Zen Peacemakers are offering a free subscription to BEARING WITNESS: A Newsletter for Western Socially Engaged Buddhism. This e-Newsletter offers profiles, links and articles on the groups and individuals committed to this practice, emerging service projects and social actions as well as the history, ethical bases and philosophies comprising this multifaceted global movement. To subscribe, please link to: http://www.zenpeacemakers.org/subscribe Bernie has also created two resource directories for this work, a Directory of Socially Engaged groups and individuals: http://www.zenpeacemakers.org/doing_directory, and a directory of learning resources: http://www.zenpeacemakers.org/learning_directory

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Lama Mingyur Rinpoche: tantric Buddhist teaching and empowerment tour June - August 2009 / Avalokitesvara teaching

2009-06-03T18:25:31Z

Lama Mingyur Rinpoche: tantric Buddhist teaching and empowerment tour June - August 2009 / Avalokitesvara teaching

Keywords : meditation practice ( tantra devayoga sadhana ), Mahayana Buddhist transmission, mantra yoga, Heart Sutra, Karma Kagyu lineage of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, 2009 Tour, Portland, deity of "Liberating Compassion" Avalokitesvara empowerment ( a.k.a. Kuan Yin, Kannon, Chenresig etc. ).

Summary: His Eminence Yongey Mingyur will be giving a tantric Buddhist empowerment ( highest yoga tantra ) for Avalokitesvara in Portland this June 19, and later, other cities as well. This major tantric guru of the Karma Kagyu lineage is on international tour through August. Background references and a key book reference are provided.

" If we try too hard, meditation becomes difficult. But it is so easy... Meditation is resting in our own natural awareness. "
His Eminence Yongey Mingyur Dorje Rinpoche

His Eminence Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche is a younger yet also major teacher in the Indo-Tibetan tradition of vajrayana and tantra, specifically as a retreat master in the Karma Kagyu lineage. He is the son of the great Nyingma master Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, and his main residence is Sherab Ling, the seat of His Holiness Khentin Tai Situpa, a principal Kagyu guru.
http://www.mingyur.org/biography/index.html

Although quite young, HE Yongey Mingyur is an accomplished master of both the Great Seal ( Mahamudra ) and Great Perfection ( Dzogchen ) traditions of pure awareness yoga. I have received from His Eminence both the Tsik Sum Ne Dek ( Great Perfection Breakthrough ) and Karma Pakshi Great Seal guru yoga empowerments some years back, and both transmissions were quite powerful.

His Eminence is also establishing fellowships in North America ( e.g. San Jose CA and Phoenix AZ ) and participating in western scientific studies on mind science. He is the author of two well received books on meditation, including the recently released "Joyful Wisdom - Embracing Change and Finding Freedom".

This young teacher is clearly one of the most important of the new generation of tantric Buddhist gurus teaching in the West, in terms of the quality and quantity of his teaching work, and the deep and broad impact he is beginning to have. ( See "Yongey Foundation Links" at http://www.mingyur.org/links.html ).

This year he teaches coast to coast and also in Brazil. For information on the North American Tour continuing through August, see
http://www.mingyur.org/schedule.html

The main event of the Portland visit is a major empowerment for the meditation deity Avalokitesvara. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalokitesvara

and many book titles and other resources from Snow Lion Publications. See
http://www.snowlionpub.com/

and the Kagyu bookstore for the Karma Kagyu lineage seat in North America at Woodstock New York:
http://www.namsebangdzo.com/

Avalokitesvara is a primary and pre-eminent deity and practice for Buddhists worldwide. Avalokitesvara is the renowned deity of "Liberating Compassion", known in many parts of the Far East as Kuan Yin ( China ), Kwannon ( Japan ), Kwan Seeum ( Korea ), Kwan Theum Botat ( Viet Nam ), etc. This is a major practice for both general Mahayana ( Great Way ) Buddhists and also for esoteric / yogic ( tantric ) Buddhists, and thus unites and helps all schools of Buddhist practice in many different cultural contexts, both Asian and Western.

This is a most well known and quite universally practised pagan / polytheistic deity yoga of Sanskrit origin, Hindu or Buddhist. For example, it has become incorporated into some Hindu practice lineages, such as that of Swami Nikhilesvarananda. It is very similar to or overlaps the practice of Blue Throated Siva, as shown in one of the mantras for Blue Throated Avalokitesvara.

The influence of Avalokitesvara is vast throughout the world, and in different Buddhist lineages. Several of my teachers are considered to be emanations of Avalokitesvara including ( the late ) HE Deshung Tulku Rinpoche ( Sakya ), HH the Seventeenth Karmapa Urgyen Trinley Dorje and the Karmapa lineage, HH the Dalai Lama and the Dalai Lama lineage, and so forth.

His Eminence Dzongsar Rinpoche ( Sakya and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism ), who teaches worldwide, has stated that Avalokitesvara is the most broadly and most commonly practised of all Buddhist mantras worldwide. This is consistent with my experience in Japanese, Chinese, Tibetan, and Vietnamese traditions. Apparently there is a book on Avalokita practice in the Sri Lankan traditions, which are mostly Theravadin Buddhist.

The esoteric yoga traditions of Buddhist tantra are based on ritual empowerment and the practice of self-empowerment, and these include placing points of light at the Brow Cakra ( White Light ), Throat Cakra ( Red Light ), and Heart Cakra ( Blue Light ). Some forms of Avalokitesvara practice include a full kundalini yoga / psychic heat method, known in the Buddhist tradition as Completion Stage Yoga. N.B. One important example is the transmission of Red Avalokita / Vajrayogini. However, I do not know what form of Avalokita is being given by HE Mingyur Rinpoche.

Avalokitesvara is without doubt the most well known Buddhist ( or other ) esoteric spiritual practice in the West ( either as "OM MANI PADME HUM" or as the "Heart Sutra" or as other variants, see below ).
Many tens of millions of Buddhists recite daily either a Sanksrit formula for Avalokitesvara or a meditation text associated with this deity, as in (1) and (2) following.

1) One of the root mantras ( esoteric invocations or evocations ) of Avalokitesvara is
"OM MANI PADMA HUM", which is discussed at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Om_mani_padme_hum

2) Avalokitesvara is the source of the primary Buddhist text Prajna Paramita Hrdaya, the Heart or Essence of Transcendent Wisdom, which is recited daily in many Buddhist countries, such as in the Chinese and Japanese Zen traditions. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_sutra
This is a primary and central and definitive text for many of the Mahayana Buddhist schools, both outer and inner.

A good source of teaching on Avalokitesvara in the East Asian tradition is
"Bodhisattva of Compassion: The Mystical Tradition of Kuan Yin"
by John Blofeld.

There is also
"The Origins of Om Manipadme Hum: A Study of the Karandavyuha Sutra"
by Alexander Studholme, Ph.D.

An example of a deeper and essentialized practice focused on Avalokitesvara is given in the book
"The Union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen"
by Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche
ISBN 962-7341-13-9
Rangjung Yeshe Publications

This is a commentary on "The Direct Instructions of the Compassionate One" originally given by Karma Chagmey Rinpoche the First.
See
http://www.snowlionpub.com/html/product_6174.html
THE UNION OF MAHAMUDRA AND DZOGCHEN
by Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche
240 pp.
# UNMADZ - $ 18.00

"Teachings on the complete path to enlightenment in 8 songs by the 17th century yogi/poet Karma Chagmey explicated with Rinpoche's trademark brilliance and humor.
'This advice spoken through personal experience embodies the quintessence of the Dharma.'--Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche"

Please note that I do not formally represent this teacher nor the fellowship hosting him in Portland.

Sarva mangalam! May it be beneficial!
Siddhi rastu! May there be accomplishment!

KT

Hosted by Portland Dharma Group
www.portlanddharmagroup.org
503.341.7776

From
http://www.portlanddharmagroup.org/Mingyur2009/Mingyur.html

schedule

16 June
7:30 pm
Book signing at Powell's Books for
"Joyful Wisdom - Embracing Change and Finding Freedom"
http://www.mingyur.org/book/joyful_wisdom.html

17 June - 18 June
Public talks 7 - 8:30 pm
First Congregational Church
1126 SW Park Ave, Portland OR

19 June
7pm
Avalokitesvara [ Chenrezig ] empowerment
First Congregational Church
1126 SW Park Ave, Portland OR

[ end listing / article ]

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Dreaming the NEW American Dream

2009-04-04T17:46:49Z

California poets Ava Bird & Rex Butters, and....

Santa Cruz artist Russell Brutsche - Karen Kwiatkowski of Virginia

Protests to stop immigration raids ... and more.
____________________

http://www.newamericandream.net

The New American Dream

What's New?

* Karen Kwiatkowski column
* Ava Bird poetry
* Rex Butters poetry
* Gary Mennie poetry

Columns:
Sherwood Ross — why not shut down a few prisons in the United States as well?
Mickey Z — Americans are cowards, too comfortable, will never-ever-not-in-one-million-years revolt-or-even-bother-to-stand-up — no matter what the rich folks do to them.
Lydia Sems — It's The American Dream that is the problem.

and more from Jack Saunders ...

Resistance:
* Planned civil disobedience in Minnesota to stop raids against immigrants
* Protests at Creech AFB against U.S. drone terroristic activity
*100 days of protest against Guantanamo to culminate

All this, Northern Exposure, The Big Lebowski, Paradise by the Dashboard Lights ... a certificate for free toast ... and more.

Join us.

The New American Dream
Dude.
... because ... Sister Mary Anne told us, "There are no wrong questions, if you don't know the answers."

... from the Dream Team

http://www.newamericandream.net

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

HIS EMINENCE GARCHEN RINPOCHE in SANTA MONICA TONIGHT

2009-03-12T19:59:56Z

"The cause of happiness is love. The cause of suffering is self-cherishing." - Garchen Rinpoche

Drikung Center of L.A. & santa Monica KTC are pleased to present

HIS EMINENCE GARCHEN RINPOCHE

THURSDAY, MARCH 12 at 7.30-9.15 PM

suggested donation $20/no one turned away for lack of funds

1020 Victoria Ave./corner of Lincoln, 1 blk north of Venice

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Yardsharing and Seed Angels - We need you!

2009-03-05T23:26:46Z

We have a couple projects going that don't need funding - just participants!

The first is hyperlocavore.com. Hyperlocavore is a yardsharing community - built to support people in the practice of creating 'yardsharing' arrangements to grow food together.

Many people want to grow food but they lack one or two of these four things:
-time
-space
-skills
- physical strength

Forming a yardsharing group with your friends, neighbors, family or with your religious communities is easy - and free! You can set up a 'seeking yardshare' group for your area (like Chicago, South Side) or a private group for your own yardshare "Grandma's Backyard Garden"

CSAs are filling up fast. Community gardens have waiting lists. Food is getting more and more expensive.
Find some people and start growing together!

The other project we've started is The Great Let's Get Growing Seed Share.
We are asking experienced gardeners to become 'seed angels,' to adopt a newbie gardener and send them some garden seeds! I have sent four newbie gardeners enough seed that each of them will have huge beautiful edible gardens this summer. It's easy - it cost me less than 4 dollars to get four gardens going!

If you are an experienced gardener we need you to become a seed angel!
If you are a newbie food grower - sign up!

It's FREE
http://hyperlocavore.wordpress.com/2009/03/05/the-great-lets-get-growing-seed-share/

If you think these are good ideas please help us get the word out to your communities! Blog it, tweet it, share it!

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Ganesh ( Ganapati ) the Hindu Buddhist Deity : practices references and transmission

2009-02-15T21:14:45Z

Ganesh ( Ganapati ) the Hindu Buddhist Deity : practices references and transmission

Keywords : Ganapati / Ganesh the Elephant Headed God of Classical India, Mantra and Praise of Ganapati, Deity yoga, Tantric empowerment, Overlapping Hindu / Buddhist mantra culture, Vedacarya Thomas Ashley-Farrand, Sakya Lineage and Sakya Monastery, Seattle Washington.

“To those for whom these village fires still have meaning:
Oh, may your own most beautiful Animal of Light come safely to you!”
from the Last Whole Earth Catalog

On 13 July in Seattle Washington a Ganapati empowerment will be offered at Sakya Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism. The guru bestowing this empowerment is the tantric master of Sakya Monastery, His Holiness Jigdal Dagchen Sakya Rinbochay. See www.sakya.org for more information.

For this reason it is timely and appropriate to provide some basic teaching and perspective on Ganapati, and in particular an esoteric Hindu Ganapati mantra and also a Sanskrit Buddhist praise of Ganapati. Many diverse teachings on this deity in Hindu form are available on the internet ( under both Ganapati and Ganesh ).

An excellent introductory summary for Ganapati / Ganesh is available online at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesha

The Buddhist Ganapati is also referenced in the Tibetan Buddhist traditions of the Nyingma ( e.g. Longchen Nyingtik ) and Gelugpa lineages ( see practice texts for www.fpmt.org ). There is also Buddhist practice of Ganapati in the esoteric Buddhist Japanese tradition known as Shingon, which came East via China and not Tibet.

Briefly, Ganapati means Lord of the Troop, and Ganesh basically means Elephant Headed One. Ganapati is known by the title “Remover of Obstacles” or “Lord of Obstacles”. He carries or represents the enormous power of the Elephant. He is often accompanied by two female consorts Riddhi and Siddhi ( Magical Accomplishment and Spiritual Accomplishment ).

Ganapati is very prominent and even central in Hindu practice and is often evoked at the beginning of important engagements or projects, such as making a journey or starting employment, or beginning a meditation practice session. I have seen dance evocation of Ganapati at the beginning of a Hindu temple dance concert. Ganapati is one of the main practices of Hindu business people for success in their commercial ventures.

Ganapati is strongly associated with the “national spirit” or Mother India as well as her earliest roots. In the distant past elephants were used throughout India to clear land for agriculture, and also as war elephants. More recently, public Hindu celebrations were banned by the occupying British and the outlawed Ganapati ceremonies were brought forth, successfully, to rally India against foreign rule.

It is said that the long “History of India” was transcribed by the deity Ganapati as given by Rishi Visvamitra. Many of the key texts of Sanatana Dharma ( Hinduism ) were written down by Ganapati. So, this practice is a primary connection to Vedic Culture. Due to this, Ganapati is also practiced by students to help with their secular school exams.

Ganapati has a very ambivalent status in Buddhist tantra, the esoteric form of Buddhist meditation which relies on yoga, deity recitations and mystic practices in general. On the one hand, Ganapati is often considered unfriendly towards Buddhist practitioners in general, and propitiated or banished or subjugated so as to not cause problems. Thus, a subjugated Ganapati serves as the throne for the deity Mahakala in his Six Armed form. This reflects the fact that some but not all Hindu practice / culture affirms Buddhist teachings.

On the other hand, there are specifically Buddhist practices for Ganapati, as for other Hindu deities such as Shiva, Sarasvati and so forth. The Sakya lineage carries Buddhist deity yogas for the Hindu deities Uma Devi / Parvati and Garuda, as well as Ganapati. ( In Southern Buddhism, such as in Sri Lanka Theravada monasteries, it is common to propitiate the Hindu deity Visnu for outer or worldly benefits. )

More broadly, many Buddhist schools share with the Sanatana Dharma ( i.e. Hindu practice and culture ) a significant focus on Ayurveda, or spiritual medicine. The Buddhist deity Bhaisajyaguru, or Medicine Buddha, is a deity of Buddhist spiritual medicine and Ayurveda in both Hindu and Buddhist forms is more or less identical in practice, not just similar.

In the classical Sakya tradition, this Twelve Arm Ganapati is actually an emanation of Avalokitesvara, the beloved and universal Buddhist deity of liberating compassion. Thus, it is reasonable to view this empowerment as being a definite connection to Avalokitesvara and the general practices of Avalokitesvara.

It is also very important to note that with this ( or any ) tantric Buddhist empowerment comes the general set of universal Buddhist vows, such as the Ten Precepts ( rejection of harmfulness, theft, dishonesty, ill-will and so forth ), and the Bodhisattva vows. The Bodhisattva vows focus on active humanitarian service in the most broad and deep and long term ways, starting with rejection of limiting ideas such as racism, sexism, tribalism, and all cultural divisiveness.

For some basic teachings on Buddhist theory and practice, see the following at Asian Classics:
http://www.asianclassics.org/research_site/webdata/education.html

The Principal Teachings of Buddhism
Buddhist Refuge
The Vows of the Bodhisattva

For an excellent general introduction to Buddhist practice, with a focus on Buddhist tantra, see the following book by Kalu Rinpoche:
The Dharma: That Illuminates All Beings Like the Light of the Sun and the Moon, State University of New York Press, 1986, ISBN 0-88706-157-5

http://www.amazon.com/Dharma-Illuminates-Beings-Impartially-Light/dp/0887061575

This book is short, direct, accessible, classical and effective. It should be. It was transcribed as spoken directly to westerners by one of the greatest Buddhist masters of the last century.

To take the tantric Buddhist empowerment of Ganapati or any other is to take Mahayana Buddhist vows, as well as to become authorized to do magical kinds of practice, such as mantra recitation to develop the power of the deity. The point is that in this case, the Hindu/ Buddhist deity Ganapati is practiced within a classical Buddhist context, not otherwise. Thus the above mentioned Buddhist references are of central importance in this transmission and practice.

As a brilliant red deity aspect, Twelve Armed Ganapati is not only a remover of obstacles and disharmonious circumstances, but also a magnetizing deity, i.e. a deity that “warms up” social situations, and develops strongly positive interpersonal engagement.

On a yogic level, this deity ( in Buddhist deity yoga ) develops strength and power at the level of the navel point of the psychic energy body ( svadhisthana cakra ), although I cannot say more without transgressing tantric vows of secrecy. Note that the Hindu Ganapati is girded by snakes, representing kundalini energy, and is similarly associated with the energy at the base of the spinal column. All tantric transmissions are private, and their contents not to be discussed following initiation.

This is one of many specifically obstacle-removing diety yogas in Buddhist tantra. There are many others, but this one is definitely recommended for those who have a more Hindu-oriented background in culture and/ or personal karma. And as noted earlier, it is a connection to Avalokitesvara practice specifically, and to the outer Mahayana practices in general.

This can also be viewed ( speaking very unofficially ) as a connection to Hindu transmissions. ) For this reason I will now provide a specifically Hindu mantra for Ganapati, which has been confirmed. It is quite reasonable to say that on obtaining a Twelve Arm Ganapati empowerment, one may practice the following Hindu mantra as well.

Maha Ganapati Mantra
"Aum shrim hrim klim glaum gam
ganapataye vara varada sarva
janamme vashamanaya svaha"

Vedacarya Thomas Ashley-Farrand, from whom I have Laxmi transmission, has many introductory and also detailed teachings on Hindu mantra practice. See his website at
http://www.sanskritmantra.com/

The following is not an official representation, but I do have the Sakya lineage Ganapati transmission some twenty years back from HE Luding Khen Rinbochay. This Sakya initiation is for a Twelve Arm Red Ganapati, equivalent in many respects to the Hindu deity Ganesh or Ganapati. Many diverse teachings on this deity in Hindu form are available on the internet ( under both Ganapati and Ganesh ). The Buddhist Ganapati is also referenced in the Tibetan Buddhist traditions of the Nyingma and Gelugpa lineages.

From www.sakya.org :

07/13/2008
GANAPATI INITIATION
Offered by H. H. Jigdal Dagchen Sakya
Sunday, July 13
Time: 10:00 am
Location: Shrine Room
Suggested Donation: $30 Public, $25 Members
Translator: Dr. Jeff Schoening
Ganapati made the commitment to help all beings to uphold the 3 trainings—moral behavior, meditation, wisdom— and, in particular, to provide the necessary materials and provisions for practitioners.
He protects one from obstacles at the beginning of any enterprise and also helps to increase wealth and power for the benefit of the Dharma.
His Holiness Jigdal Dagchen Sakya, head lama of Sakya Monastery, was born in Tibet in 1929. He continues the great Sakya lineage which began with Khon Konchok Gyalpo (1034—1102). He received teachings of the unbroken Khon lineage, the Sakya Vajrakilaya, the Hevajra and the complete Lamdre Tsogshe, from his father, H.H. Trichen Ngawang Thutop Wangchul, the last Sakya throne holder in Tibet. He also studied with many other great Buddhist teachers, including Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi and Dingo Khyentse Robsal Dawa.
In 1960, H.H. J.D. Sakya was invited to work on a University of Washington research project on Tibetan civilization which was sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation. At the request of students, he co-founded with H.E. Dezhung Rinpoche Sakya Tegchen Choling, a center for the study of Tibetan Buddhism and culture. In 1984, the center became the Sakya Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism.

The following is copyrighted material from The Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon, at
http://www.uwest.edu/sanskritcanon/index.html
specifically
http://www.uwest.edu/sanskritcanon/Stotra/Roman/stotra30.html

The source text is “ Source: Pandey, Janardan Shastri ed. Bauddha strotra Samgrah. Varanasi : Motilal Banarsidass, 1994”.

This is provided as a necessary and specific demonstration that classical Indian Buddhist culture incorporated Ganapati deity yoga as a tantric practice, and not for other purposes.
Ganesastotram

kharvam sthulataram gajendravadanam lambodaram sundaram
vidhnesam madhugandhalubdhamadhupavyalolagandasthalam|
dantodghatavidaritahitajanam sindurasobhakaram
vande sailasutasutam ganapatim siddhipradam kamadam|| 1||

herambah paramo devah karyasiddhividhayakah|
saibhagyarupasampannam dehi me sukhasampadam|| 2||

ekadantam mahakayam lambodaram gajananam|
sarvasiddhipradataram gangaputram namamyaham|| 3||

vande tam gananathamaryamanagham daridrayadavanalam
sundaadandavidhuyamanasamalam samsarasindhostarim|
yam natva surakoyayah prabhuvaram siddhim labhante param
sindurarunavigraham paripataddanambudharahrtam|| 4||

uccairbrahmandakhandadvitayasahacaram kumbhayugmam dadhanah
presannagaripaksapratibhatavikatasrotratalabhiramah |
devah sambhorapatyam bhujagapatitanusparddhivardhisnuhasta-
strailokyascaryamurtirjayati trijagatamisvarah kuñjarasyah|| 5||

ganapatisca herambo vidhnarajo vinayakah |
deviputro mahateja mahabalaparakramah || 6||

mahodaro mahakayascaikadanto gajananah|
svetavastro mahadiptastrinetro gananayakah || 7||

aksamalam ca dantam ca grhnan vai daksine kare|
parasum modakapatram ca vamahaste vidharayan|| 8||

nanapusparato devo nanagandhanulepanah |
nagayajñopavitango nanavidhnavinasanah || 9||

devasuramanusyanam siddhagandharvavanditam|
trailokyavidhnahartaramakhvarudham namamyaham|| 10||

sumukhascaikadantasca kapilo gajakarnakah |
lambodarasca vikato vidhnarajo vinayakah || 11||

dhumraketurganadhyakso bhalacandro gajananah |
vakratundah surpakarno herambah skandapurvajah || 12||

sodasaitani namani yah pathecchunuyadapi|
vidyarambhe vivahe ca pravese nirgame tatha|| 13||

samgrame samkate caiva vidhnastasya na jayate|
vidhnavallikutharaya ganadhipataye namah || 14||

sriganesastotram samaptam|

Sarva mangalam! Siddhi rastu!

In partial fulfillment of vajrayana teaching responsibilities,

KT

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 12 replies

Religious Freedom in the US.

2008-11-27T11:22:34Z

Tired of people imposing their faith on you? Tired of seeing the same social issues being battled over and over--with the result of people marriage rights being taken away, being the most recent?

I have an idea... President-Elect Obama has a website. And on that website they are asking for policy suggestions. Below is the civil rights section where you can make those suggestions.

If we all write his people assigned to civil rights maybe we can cause positive change right from the beginning. As it is, all these presidential candidates (Obama included) have stated that it is an issue of the state. We can see here in California that many people cannot separate their religious ideas from legal policy. We must attack the notion from that point. It must be on the federal agenda from the equal protection and separation of church and state points of view--it is a civil rights issue that must be addressed at the federal level. This is the time. Especially with a Democratic Congress. We have to force them to deal with the issue at a national level, once and forever.

Please write your ideas for policy change:

http://change.gov/agenda/civilrights/

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 7 replies

Women's empowerment? Yes and No.

2008-11-21T20:47:08Z

Re: women's empowerment? Yes and no.

Re Adya on tribe Dark Goddesses:
"Do you think that women as a group are more empowered today?"

Depends very much on the context.

Under Islam, the answer is an emphatic NO. Benazir Bhutto was recently killed in Pakistan. That is a key example and key indicator. Under the Afghan mullahs, girls could not even attend school to learn to read. Taking education away from girls was not progress.

Within the Buddhist fellowships throughout the West, the answer is a resounding YES. Women from all walks of life now have incredible access to powerful and crucial Buddhist teachings and transmissions in many parts of the West. Some are becoming real spiritual doctors, and everyone respects this ( unlike in traditional forms of monotheism ).

The difference is HUGE.

The future is here, it is just not so well recognized . . .

Women under the yoke of Islam will have to free themselves. Let's wish them the best.

Re Lynne:
"I think women have always been empowered."

No, of course not. For the most part, women have been chattel, treated more as properties rather than as independent and worthwhile in themselves.

The Buddhist teaching clearly says "All beings have Buddha nature." This is a truly revolutionary statement, especially for women!
Free your minds. . . and the rest will follow.

"This precious human lifetime is an opportunity to be seized!"
--H.H. Chetsang Tulku Rinbochay

Acarya KT

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 1 reply

Today I am on my own with Hospice!

2008-11-19T00:34:15Z

Wow. It's been a year and a quarter since our Jason died.

And a year + three quarters since we lost beautiful Nicole.

Grief has led me on a new path of discovery. First I joined the local Threshold Choir. And, after a year of singing.... I was ready to begin my work with Hospice.

Now I have complete the Hospice Volunteer orientation and today... I am on my way to visit with three families.

Wish me well.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 3 replies

THIS is the fastest way to build the world we need!

2008-09-26T17:22:21Z

We have a huge, idealistic, smart, practical "movement" going, over on Facebook: The Next Step Together. There are more than a thousand folks in the group now, About 100 joining daily. There's proposal on the table to run our own presidential "election", and we are trying to enroll the entire world! Join us and bring in all your friends! It's all about acting PRACTICALLY, QUICKLY, WITH HUGE NUMBERS... So job ONE is getting EVERYONE IN!

Learn about the Next Step Together at http://nextsteptogether.net
Join the Next Step Together Group on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=24568801853

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. -Mahatma Gandhi

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

"A beautiful friend.. brutally murdered..." : trauma, transpersonal psychology and soul work. And Dhammapada.

2008-08-31T00:05:13Z

Title: "A beautiful friend.. brutally murdered..." : trauma, transpersonal psychology and soul work. And Dhammapada.

Key phrases : existential pain, suffering and impermanence, murder of a friend, the way the universe does or should work, soul work and liberation, transpersonal psychology and existential psychology.

Summary : Personal emotional freedom is an inside job. So what is important on the basic human level is to learn to listen to and understand ourselves, and to recognize we have to be bigger than our problems.

KT says
The following is excepted from a tribe post. Following this post, I have given two responses to reframe the issue.
It is possible to say a lot more, from the standpoints of existential psychology and Buddhist psychology alike. For the moment the basic goal is to talk about "being brave" + developing a self-dialogue, as a response to severe emotional challenges ( such as irrational violence in the world ), and as a main means of facing personal pain and existential crises in our lives.

Also, the Guru Sakyammuni said
"Everything that is conditioned passes. Be your own light."
There are good translations of the Dhammapada, the sayings of Sakyamuni Buddha. Keeping a copy at hand in a time of deep personal pain is a remarkably helpful therapy in itself. I first read and reread the Dhammapada in seventh grade, and have never outgrown it.
http://www.amazon.com/Dhammapada-Classics-Indian-Spirituality/dp/1586380206/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219518048&sr=8-2

The teaching of Guru Sakyamuni is well established as a main way people learn to work with suffering and impermanence, so it is reasonable to mention Buddhadharma in this context, as well. It has been shown repeatedly that non-Buddhists or people with no specific religious orientation can benefit greatly from the Dhaammapada in times of emotional distress or debilitating personal disorientation. You could classify it under "transpersonal psychology" and "logotherapy", or existential psychology. It is both.

See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logotherapy
and
http://www.logotherapyinstitute.org/
as a formal bridge between modern psychology and the psychology of Guru Sakyamuni Buddha.

It is important to keep in mind that the personal tragedy that someone faces is *never* the right time for proselytizing any religious belief or promoting some money-making operation. Instead, what is most helpful, at a basic human level, is simply to listen, to ourselves and to others. There is an extraordinarily helpful book on this:
"Focusing", by Eugene Gendlin, PhD.
http://www.amazon.com/Focusing-Eugene-T-Gendlin/dp/0553278339/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219517728&sr=8-1

Please note that what is said here is In No Way a substitute for either yoga sadhana or individual counseling or whole person wellness care, such as acupuncture, herbal medicine and so forth. In a difficult situation use a broad spectrum of modalities. The goal here is to provide some perspective for those who experience deep emotional vulnerability or wounding resulting from a devastating life event.

Every authentic Buddhist teacher is, one way or another, a capable psychologist, and I am hopefully of some help. I have in fact worked effectively with some brutalized and traumatized individuals, women in particular. In the dharmic lineages ( Hindu or Buddhist ) it is emphasized that one of the most important ways to "help oneself" is to be of service to others, i.e. good karma. This is also very much true on a basic psychological or intrapsychic level.

May this be beneficial. Sarva mangalam.

-KT

P says
"I had a beautiful fairy friend....
She was a shining spirit - full of life and creativity....
But most of all - she was the embodiment of Pure, Unconditional Love....
She loved everybody - always smiling - always saying "hello Love", "goodbye Love"...
Always singing "Love, Love, Love"....
Her life was a work of art and her being was pure inspiration and joy....
I loved her - everyone she ever met loved her....

"Then I found out she was brutally murdered....
She was in Asia - home alone - someone tried to rob her - she fought back and was stabbed to death....
Grief, shock and disbelief overcame me....

"I could not get my head around it - I could not believe that this could happen to one of the most wonderful people on this earth....
she did not deserve to go like this....
I could not imagine the fear and terror she must have felt with her last breath....
the thought of it made me physically ill....

"I understand that we all must die....
and yes, it's tragic that she had to pass - her time had come - etc....
But NOT like this - how could someone so peaceful and full of unconditional love and light suffer her last day of life like this....
This can not be the way - this is just not fair - this can't be the way the universe works - it just can't.....

"A week had passed after I heard the news...
I couldn't come to terms with it....
I was listening to a Pema Chodron discourse on audio....
I was deep in a meditative state...
Then Pema Chodron said "whatever you choose to be aware of - the universe will serve up the opposite to help you become more aware...
if you want to practice patience - the universe will give you irritating situations so you can become aware of your impatience....
if you want to practice mindfulness - the universe will give you mind-less situations so you can become more aware...."

"At that moment I received a download from the universe....
My friend was murdered because she believed in unconditional love.... she WAS the embodiment of Unconditional Love...
so she was killed in the worst way in order for her soul to practice and forgive and unconditionally love her killer....
This was her soul lesson...
If she did - her soul would not come back to this earth plane as a human - but ascend to the next realm of Angels and Muses....
The universe always unfolds for our greatest good - to bring our souls closer to source....
The universe only gives you what you can handle.... and her soul must have been so close to pure that she could handle it....
otherwise it wouldn't have been so....

"This was the message I received....
and at that moment I felt like I understood....
and an awesome presence of peace came over me....
"she can do it" - I thought... she can transcend....!
I wholeheartedly believed this message - I truly believed that she was liberated from the mortal bondage of death and re-birth and that she has now gone to somewhere higher - where her love and light could do so much more profound work than on this human realm...

"Today they found her killer....
he sold the things he had stolen from her home for $300...
that was all her life was worth... 300 dollars....
And instantly, that peace I had felt before vanished....
Instead I heard a voice in my head telling me that what I had realized before - what I thought was a download from the universe - was just my mind's way of rationalizing this heinous crime.... because I could not emotionally handle her death....
The voice said that there is no justice in this universe....
and that my friends death was just a cold, cruel, accident - it could happen to anybody - it just happened to be one of the most precious creatures on the planet....

"If this is true - if there really is no rhyme or reason - if it just happened to be wrong place - wrong time - then I am not sure I can go on...
Then this whole world is pointless.... and everything is just random....
and there is no use to try to love - to try to help - to try to heal....
if this could just "happen" - then there is no karma - no wrong or right....

"I want to believe that what my insight from the universe revealed was real - that there is some sort of order to this universe - some sort of soul evolution - some sort of kind universally all-loving spirit that guides us for our highest and greatest good....
but my mind is telling me that it's just a big rationalization and that the universe just exists - it is indifferent - and doesn't really care one way or the other...
it just goes on....

"I don't know which one is real anymore...
I don't know what is real anymore...
I don't know what the point of this existence is....

"I am feeling confused, cynical and a bit schizophrenic by all of this....
any insights from this tribe will be a great help in helping me to sort this tragedy out and come to some sort of terms....
Thank you for just letting me blurt this all out..."

Re the above post:
"I want to believe that what my insight from the universe revealed was real - that there is some sort of order to this universe - some sort of soul evolution - some sort of kind universally all-loving spirit that guides us for our highest and greatest good....
but my mind is telling me that it's just a big rationalization and that the universe just exists - it is indifferent - and doesn't really care one way or the other...
it just goes on.... "

Namaste.

Okay, I will respond on a basic level. Not as a vajrayana guru in particular, but on a simple existential level, using the pop culture vernacular.

This is from Spiderman 3:
"Whatever comes our way, whatever battle. . . we always have a choice. . .
It's the choices that makes us what we are, and we can always choose to do what's right."

Soul evolution is a choice. It is a possibility that can always be engaged. We have to be bigger than our problems. We have to live for that which is most worthwhile, not throw away our human possibilities due to small or large obstacles on the way.

Life is a journey. Go forward, go up.

The Dalai Lama says "Work for peace." Sometimes you have to fight for it, too. The fight may be primarily an internal fight for higher consciousness, it may be a fight on some outer level as well. But we all do need emotional strength, so we all have to develop that, each individually.

"We can't abandon our responsibilities or the people we need to protect. This is who we are."
Jessica Alba, in "Fantastic Four"

Acarya KT, inner medical tantrika

And a second post ( part 2 )
"I don't know what the point of this existence is....

"I am feeling confused, cynical and a bit schizophrenic by all of this....
any insights from this tribe will be a great help in helping me to sort this tragedy out and come to some sort of terms....
Thank you for just letting me blurt this all out... "

The point of life is learning, and growing, and becoming more aware and responsive and able.
Major setbacks and heartaches can serve as important challenges to goad us towards greater awareness and responsibility.
In the classical Mahayana Buddhist perspective, the goal ( and the path also ) is the development of Wisdom, Compassion, and Power.
Or, as is said in Sanskrit, "Jnana Karuna Bala".
These are ennobling and liberating potentials that *natively* exist within each person, but they must be developed through classical yoga sadhana.

On a more personal level, what is clearly necessary here is personal daily journaling for some period of time, some weeks or maybe months. We are all responsible for understanding ourselves and sorting ourselves out. When we can listen to and understand our own thoughts and feelings and situations, it then becomes more possible to deal with the larger world and bigger issues.

On the specific matter of violence and victimization and personal responsiblity, I have written an article on Albert Camus, which you can find at my tribe home under the picture for Albert Camus. Camus, the great French Nobel Laureate and member of the French Underground in World War 2, said that one should be neither a victim nor an executioner.

He also said,
N'attends pas le jugement final, mon ami, par ce-que il se passe chaque journee.

That means,
Do not await the "final judgement" my friend, because it takes place every day.

So I have given answer on three levels, the dharmic, the psychological, and the existential. I do all three, obviously.

More can be said, but this establishes the basics. Beyond these points, it is necessary to do a formal practice of some kind.
Please note in this regard that poor and oppressed people who have authentic spiritual discipline can show much greater personal equilibrium and emotional stamina under severe conditions than wealthy people in free countries who lack sadhana and dharma.
Freedom is in large measure an inside job.

Live for that which is highest in yourself and others. Go for light and freedom and the truly liberating human values.

Best to all,
KT, inner medical tantrika, dagger priest and pipe carrier of the Lakota Sioux

All My Relations. Sarva mangalam!

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 2 replies

China's heavy Olympic footprint in TIbet

2008-08-23T19:11:52Z

China's heavy Olympic footprint on Tibet
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ICT Report
August 23, 2008

On the eve of an Olympics closing ceremony, which will include a
final propaganda push on Tibet, tight security remains in place
across the Tibetan plateau, including shoot to kill orders to prevent
further unrest during the final days of the Olympics Games.

Beginning in March and continuing in the weeks and months preceding
the Beijing Olympics, a tidal wave of protests swept across the
Tibetan plateau, the result of more than half a century of Chinese
government misrule. The uprising revealed the breakdown of Beijing's
Tibet policy at a time when China hoped to convey to the world an
image of harmony, as characterized in their "one world, one dream"
Olympics slogan.

"Thanks to its own hard-line policies and miscalculations - and the
determination of free people around the world - Beijing utterly
failed to portray the happy picture of Tibet it had planned for. In
the lead-up to the Olympics and during the Games, Chinese authorities
have espoused vitriol against the Dalai Lama and his supporters,
broken their pledges of media access and committed both petty and
gross violations against internationally recognized human rights
norms, from blocking access to rock songs celebrating peace to
shooting Tibetan demonstrators dead," said John Ackerly, ICT President.

The Olympics closing ceremony on Sunday, August 24 will feature an
operatic depiction of China's historic relations to Tibet. The piece
was commissioned to support Chinese legitimacy in Tibet and first
performed following the March 1959 uprising in Lhasa, which led to
thousands of Tibetan deaths and the flight of the Dalai Lama into exile.

Mary Beth Markey, ICT Vice President for International Advocacy, said
today: "There is a real drama going on in Tibet during these Olympic
Games and it has little to do with the flying Buddhist sprites of the
opening ceremony or the operatically conveyed propaganda of the
closing ceremony. China's leaders now should move beyond showmanship
to statesmanship and engage the Tibetan people in finding real
solutions to the real problems in Tibet."

According to numerous reports received by ICT, there are serious
fears that the crackdown could worsen still further after the
Olympics, once the global focus is no longer on China. Many Tibetans
are concerned - and in some cases, have been warned by Chinese
security personnel - that more reprisals may follow the Olympics,
with people who are now being monitored being taken into custody
later. One source referred, chillingly, to the well-known Chinese
phrase of "settling accounts after autumn harvest" (qiu hou suan zhang).

Veteran China analyst Willy Wo Lap Lam believes this may well apply
throughout China, saying: "Not only have the Olympics failed to act
as a catalyst for political liberalization in China, but the regime's
pre-Olympics security buildup looks set to enable the government to
crack down as hard as ever on dissent after the Games are over...
Growing instability on various fronts has predisposed the Hu
leadership toward strengthening the police-state apparatus that has
been put together in the name of ensuring a trouble-free Olympics.
Moreover, cadres in the law-and-order establishment, who include
senior officials in the Central Political and Legal Commission as
well as military, police and judicial departments, have gained
immense clout, not to mention much more funding, since early this
year." (Wall Street Journal, August 22, 2008).

New images and reports received from Tibet despite China's attempts
to impose an information blackout give evidence of the following:

* In the early days of the Olympics, military snipers were positioned
in Lhasa hotels
* Two Tibetan women entering a shop in Ngaba were shot by security
personnel on 9 August, the day after the Olympics opening ceremony
* Security personnel in Ngaba held a mock demonstration a week before
the Olympics complete with display of flags that appear to be similar
to the banned Tibetan 'snow lion' flag
* Monasteries across the Tibetan plateau remain under lockdown
* Intense security remains in the Kham area of eastern Tibet with
severe restrictions on the movements of Tibetans and the atmosphere
of a 'war zone', as described by a recent visitor
* Despite the Chinese government's attempts to impose a news blackout
across the Tibetan plateau during the Olympics, ICT has received the
following reports in the last few days.

Military snipers positioned in Lhasa hotels

From August 6-10, military snipers were positioned in Lhasa hotels.
According to a report by a Western expert with Tibetan sources, "In
one hotel, which had no guests at the time, about 20 soldiers took
over upstairs rooms overlooking the street for the entire period.
They entered the hotel discreetly so few people knew they were there.
They were behind curtains or stood back from the window in some other
way so as not to be visible from the street. They were changed
periodically by replacements. They paid a small token fee for each
room and were well behaved and friendly. All were Chinese. My source
believed that an order had been given for that 24-hour period that
soldiers could shoot on sight anyone who was seen with a knife or
other weapon." It is not known if the snipers were People's
Liberation Army or People's Armed Police, although the former appears
to be the most likely according to the same report.

Two Tibetan women shot by security personnel

A day after the Olympics opening ceremony, on August 9, at around
4.30 p.m. local time, two Tibetan women in their twenties were shot
by security personnel as they went to a shop in the town of Ngaba
(Chinese: Aba), Ngaba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan
province. The two women are Sonam Wangmo, aged 22, from Lower Ngawa
Sezo and Tranyeyeng, aged 28, from Gyalrang. One was shot in the leg
and the other sustained an injury to her hand and they are still
receiving medical treatment. According to three Tibetan sources in
contact with exile Tibetans, it appears that the women were visiting
the shop to recharge their mobile phones, and may have been shot
because they were in the street at a time of restrictions linked to
the Olympic Games and in the aftermath of protests in the region.

A Tibetan source told ICT: "[The source] heard four or five gun shots
while he was at home with family and friends. He wanted to go out
into the street to see what was going on. But his family and friends
advised against that because the situation was obviously dangerous
and, in addition, strict restrictions had been imposed upon the
movement of Tibetans since a few days before the Olympics began. He,
along with his family and friends, performed some prayers at home."

Sources in the area say that restaurants and shops are closed before
7 pm and no one is allowed to go out of their houses after that.
People are even frightened to go out in the daytime. Monks are
ordered to stay in their monasteries, which are surrounded by armed
troops, according to various reports.

Mock protest demonstrates military force

During the Olympic period, there has been a significant buildup of
troops in the Ngaba region, with military even carrying out a mock
protest as a training exercise at the end of July/early August. The
images - which are available for press - show troops near to Tro-Tsuk
monastery in Ngaba county re-enacting a protest and demonstrating the
suppression of that protest. They carried flags that appeared to be
similar to the Tibetan national flag, just as Tibetan protesters
carried Tibetan flags in demonstrations in the area in March. In that
protest, police fired on and killed unarmed protesters (see ICT's
report Tibet at a Turning Point: The Spring Uprising and China's New
Crackdown, at
http://www.savetibet.org/documents/document.php?id=258). According to
Tibetan sources who provided the images, some soldiers were dressed
as monks and lay protesters during the exercise. Sources have
speculated that the protest was being filmed, perhaps for propaganda
purposes as well as to train military personnel.

On August 4, the military troops stationed in this area, said to be
occupying nomadic pastureland a few kilometers from Ngaba town,
staged a drill performance attended by officials. Security has been
stepped up at Kirti monastery after monks participated in protests in
March. New surveillance cameras have been installed in the monastery,
which is surrounded by Chinese security personnel. Monks are not
allowed to leave the monastery without permission from senior monks
in the monastery's management.

Kham area "like a war-zone"

A number of reports received by ICT indicate that Beijing has ramped
up security substantially in Kardze (Chinese: Ganzi), Sichuan (the
Tibetan area of Kham) in order to ensure that no discontent was
expressed during the Olympics. Many monasteries in the area are still
under lockdown and severe restrictions imposed on the movements of
Tibetans in these areas.

A Taiwanese-American tourist, Wen Yan-King, who was detained and
expelled from the Kardze area after an unauthorized visit in July,
reported: "There's a good reason that foreigners aren't allowed in
these places. It looks like a war zone. In Kardze the police are in
the middle of the sidewalks. They're sitting in helmets holding their
guns and riot shields in rows of 10 or 15. They are outside
convenience stores under blue tarps every half a block, on both sides
of the road - watching. They're up on raised metal posts with cutout
windows - watching. I couldn't walk anywhere without dozens of armed
police staring at me. I've never seen so many police and military
personnel in one town in my life. Nor have I experienced this kind of
heart-pounding fear before." (Huffington Post blog by Rebecca Novick,
August 12,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rebecca-novick/arrested-in-tibet-a-young_b_118342.html).

Since the unrest began in March, the crackdown in the Kham area of
Tibet has been particularly severe - ICT has logged a total of 45 out
of 125 protests in Sichuan (incorporating the traditional Tibetan
area of Kham) since March, the highest total out of all the provinces
incorporating Tibetan autonomous areas (Qinghai, Tibet Autonomous
Region, Gansu, Yunnan). Tibetans in this area are known for their
strong sense of Tibetan identity and nationalism; many Khampas
(residents of Kham) were involved in resistance to the Chinese
invasion in 1949-50 and to the Chinese presence in 1956-9.

Wen Yan-King reported similar restrictions in the Lithang (Chinese:
Litang) area, where she counted as many as seven police stations in a
half-mile radius. "The local Tibetans told me that these police
stations had sprung up after the protests in March. If there's a way
to instill fear in people, this is the way to do it. You're not going
to go out in the street and protest when you see fifty armed police
to the left and right of you." (Huffington Post, August 12).

The recent intensification of restrictions on religious expression,
and the requirement to denounce the Dalai Lama, has led to a new wave
of protests and arrests of monks, nuns and laypeople in the last
couple of months and a number of unarmed protesters have been shot
dead. Hundreds of Tibetans in Kham including monks, nuns, laypeople
and schoolchildren, have been detained and treated with extreme
brutality. Unarmed peaceful protesters were shot dead during mainly
peaceful protests in Kham in March and April. (see ICT's report:
Tibet at a Turning Point: the Spring Uprising and China's New
Crackdown http://www.savetibet.org/documents/document.php?id=258).

Tibet and the Olympics

In order to hide its violent repression in Tibet, particularly as it
seeks to project an image of stability and unity during the Olympics,
China has sealed off virtually the entire plateau, despite promising
increasing openness prior to the Games in August. Although the Tibet
Autonomous Region [TAR] opened up to foreign tour groups on June 25,
according to an announcement in the official media, tourism is not in
any way back to normal, despite official reports. It is still highly
restricted and monasteries are still closed.

While the crackdown continues in Tibet, Tibetan cultural performers
were featured in the Olympics opening ceremony, and will feature in
Sunday's closing ceremony, in an attempt to convey the impression
that Tibetan culture is thriving and that the Tibetan people are
united with the rest of the PRC.

The opening ceremony had also included a procession of children
dressed in traditional clothing to represent China's officially
recognized 55 ethnic nationality groups. News reports later revealed
that the children were all Han Chinese, China's majority ethnic group.

Tibetan traditional opera singers performing in Beijing have been
warned that they must be on "their best ideological form," with a
senior government official in the TAR giving them the following
briefing: "All performers who are going to Beijing must have the
strongest consideration for political responsibility and must show
the best ideological form in order for the performance to be lively
and attractive." The same government official added: "The performance
must be symbolic of the great unity of ethnic groups in the TAR and
to represent the remarkable achievement of Tibetan people under the
excellent Communist Party's leaders and their policies." (News
bulletin on Xizang TV, July 22, 2008.)

The Chinese-Tibetan opera to be performed at the Olympic Games
closing ceremony is called "Princess Wencheng," and is the story of
the marriage between the eponymous Chinese princess and Songsten
Gampo, a Tibetan king in the 7th century. The tale is often used by
Beijing for propaganda purposes to illustrate the historic and
cultural connection between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples. The
director of the opera in Beijing this week, Mr Gao, told The Times of
London: "Now you can say this is a perfect marriage between these two
art forms just as the marriage of Princess Wencheng and King Songtsen
Gampo was a marriage between the Chinese and Tibetan peoples."
(August 20,
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4568771.ece).
When The Times reporter asked a Tibetan performer if he was happy to
be in the show, he replied: "What choice do I have?"

The ICT report, 'Tibet at a Turning Point: The Spring Uprising and
China's New Crackdown', which includes an analysis of Chinese leaders
responsible for implementing Tibet policy and the crackdown, is
available for downloading at:
http://www.savetibet.org/documents/document.php?id=258. Press in
China can contact press@savetibet.org for an electronic pdf copy.
Images of the military buildup and mock protest are also available
for press; contact: press@savetibet.org.

This report can be found online at
http://savetibet.org/news/newsitem.php?id=1352

Press contact:
Kate Saunders
Communications Director, ICT
Tel: +44 7947 138612
email: press@savetibet.org

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

How to protest in Beijing

2008-08-23T19:06:37Z

A Mission of Dissent in the Heart of Beijing
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Caution, Resilience Aided Pro-Tibet Team
By Ariana Eunjung Cha, Washington Post Foreign Service
The Washington Post
August 23, 2008; A01

BEIJING -- Sam Maron came to China posing as a tourist excited about
his first trip to the country. With his point-and-shoot camera and
monotone T-shirts, he blended into the crowds of other foreigners in
town for the Olympic Games.

Had Chinese authorities bothered to check his luggage and that of his
companions, they might have gotten a hint of what was to come: a
25-by-15-foot white nylon sheet, a handful of black Sharpie markers,
climbing ropes, harnesses and walkie-talkies.

Within days of the group's arrival, the items had been assembled.

Shortly before dawn on Aug. 15, Maron, two other Americans, a
Canadian woman and a British man were hanging off the side of a
billboard next to the new headquarters of China's state-run
television station, CCTV, and raising a banner that said "Free Tibet."

It was yet another victory for Students for a Free Tibet, an activist
organization based in New York that has pulled off eight protests
over two weeks in one of the most locked-down countries in the world,
a record far surpassing that of any other group.

Activists upset over China's hosting of the Games had hoped
demonstrators would descend on Beijing in droves this month. The
groups' causes included human rights, religious freedom,
environmentalism and media freedom, as well as Darfur and China's role there.

But with the Olympics ending on Sunday, few groups have demonstrated.
Many activists proved unable to evade Chinese security authorities
long enough to stage a successful protest; others, facing severe visa
restrictions, never even got into the country.

Athletes, meanwhile, appear largely to have adhered to an
International Olympic Committee rule forbidding political, religious
or racial protests at Olympic sites or venues, including the
athletes' village. Among the rare exceptions was a Polish
weightlifter, Szymon Kolecki, who shaved his head before winning a
silver medal on Sunday and indicated it was a gesture of solidarity
with Tibetan monks.

Protests by Students for a Free Tibet have been far more theatrical.
As of Friday, 55 volunteers from the group had been detained or
deported for their short-lived demonstrations in some of Beijing's
most iconic venues: Tiananmen Square, the National Stadium, the
Olympic Green. Six are still being held on a 10-day detention
sentence, and four were taken away by police Thursday, their
whereabouts unknown.

How the group, a grass-roots organization using only about 150
volunteers and a budget of $1 million in donations, managed to
outmaneuver the vast Chinese security apparatus is a study in
persistence, planning and passion. Their goal was to draw attention
to what they say is the oppression of a region that has been under
Beijing's control since 1950.

Authorities in Beijing maintain that Tibet is an inalienable part of
China and that foreigners do not understand the situation there.
Protesters, they say, are intent on simply embarrassing China.

Maron, 22, who graduated from the University of Vermont in May,
doesn't see it that way.

"I don't expect Tibet to be free once the Olympics end," he said,
"but we're trying to take the spotlight away from China's growth and
put it on the abuses of their occupation."

The Plan

The planning for the Beijing protests, funded mostly through small
individual donations of as little as $10, began in earnest earlier
this year as volunteers from around the world flooded Chinese visa
offices with their applications.

Those who were approved deployed to Beijing in teams of four or five,
with specific instructions. The teams were to operate independently
and with only minimal communication with the outside. Each knew its
own mission but was provided with little information about the other
teams. That way, if one was captured, it couldn't tip off authorities
to the broader plans.

Separately, a group of "citizen journalists" working for Students for
a Free Tibet was assigned to photograph, film and otherwise document
each protest and post footage on the Internet. A "witness" would
watch and serve as a spokesman to the media if the protesters were arrested.

While in China, these observers were not to interact with the
protesters. In many cases they would be told the time and location of
the demonstrations -- or "actions" -- minutes before they happened.
Only when speaking to reporters were they to identify themselves as
spokesmen for Students for a Free Tibet.

Maron said he was assigned to what became known as Group 6. Its
members had never met before a planning meeting in San Francisco this summer.

Besides Maron, the two other Americans were Bianca Bockman, 27, a
substitute teacher from Oakland, Calif., who is active in animal and
human rights campaigns, and Kelly Osborne, 39, a youth minister from
Oklahoma City.

They were joined by Canadian Nicole Rycroft, 41, formerly a
nationally ranked rower in Australia and head of an environmental
group, and Britain's Phil Kirk, 24, an experienced rock climber who
works in a sports equipment store.

Their motivations were as diverse as their backgrounds. Some had been
inspired by listening to the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual
leader. Others had spent time in India or Nepal and heard stories of
Tibetan repression.

Rycroft said her goal was to tell the Chinese government: "It takes
more than just economic might to be a world leader. Justice has to be
part of that." Osborne said he hoped he could inspire ordinary
Chinese to get involved. "I believed that as human beings, the
Chinese people, if they knew what was really going on in Tibet, they
would be outraged by that as well," he said.

For months, Maron agonized over whether to volunteer. His parents
were worried he would get hurt. He was concerned he would never be
able to get a Chinese visa again.

"But the more I thought about it, this is something I felt I had to
do. I realized that I have the ability to go and to go speak out and
in a way that a lot of Tibetans are not able to," he said.

So on July 31, he boarded a plane to Beijing.

The Adjustment

Maron met his co-conspirators in a two-bedroom apartment hotel in the
central part of the city. None spoke Chinese, and only one had been
to Beijing before.

They spent the first few days checking out their assigned target -- a
tourist spot near the Great Wall -- but they found security there too
tight. They needed a new plan.

Armed with a Lonely Planet phrase book, they hit all the other major
sites in Beijing in search of a new location: the Forbidden City,
Tiananmen Square, the Sanlitun bar street. They were careful not to
blow their covers. They ate Chinese for every meal, went drinking,
played a few matches of Ping-Pong.

"We were tourists through and through. They would have gotten really
bored if they followed us," Bockman said.

In their spare time, the group's members worked on the banner in
their apartment, using pens to carefully write F-R-E-E T-I-B-E-T in
giant letters. They copied the four Chinese characters with an
equivalent meaning from a piece of paper they had brought from the
United States.

All the while, they carefully followed a set of rules: limit personal
e-mail; use pay phones to check in with family and friends; in phone
conversations, use vague phrases such as "Hi, I'm fine" and "We're
having a great time."

When they talked about the protest in their hotel room, they turned
on the shower or the TV to try to drown out any listening devices
that might have been planted. All notes were ripped into tiny shreds,
separated into piles so they could not be reassembled easily, and
disposed of in multiple trash cans on the street.

One day they were riding in a taxi along Beijing's Third Ring Road
when Bockman spotted the gleaming new CCTV building, an imposing
structure of twisted steel, and suggested it might make a good target.

Security around the building was light. While the tower was under
construction and probably dangerous to climb, a row of billboards
nearby with steel frame grids seemed sturdy.

Most of the signs had corporate ads, but one of them said simply
"Beijing 2008" and featured the Olympic rings.

Perfect.

The 'Poignant' Point

At 5:45 a.m. a few days later, team members were climbing the billboard.

Rycroft and Kirk went first. Their job was to get the banner to the
top and unroll it.

The three Americans played a support role. They were the lookouts.

Within 10 minutes, Rycroft and Kirk had scaled the structure and
managed to unfurled the "Free Tibet" banner. They were taking some
Tibetan flags out of their backpacks when trouble arrived.

The Chinese security forces were fast. Maron was the first to spot
them and their clubs.

"It's hard not to be nervous and scared when you see 12 paramilitary
police in full camouflage sprinting towards you across the parking
lot," he recalled.

Maron tried to talk to them, to explain that if they just left the
group alone everyone would come down safely. But three of the men
grabbed Bockman and pulled her down. The others quickly scrambled
down, and all five were put inside a white police van.

By early afternoon, the foreigners were on a plane home.

Back in central Beijing, the Chinese police were still looking for accomplices.

Kurt Langer, a 34-year-old who works in the music industry in New
York, was the "witness" assigned to the CCTV protest. He had arrived
separately, evaded capture and was still talking to reporters.

But the next day, he said, he noticed four plainclothes police
officers following him everywhere. Worried he might compromise the
rest of the operation, he headed to the airport.

Chinese security caught up with him there and took him to an
abandoned hotel. He said they then interrogated him for 10 hours --
alternately turning up the air conditioning until he was shivering,
then the heat until he was sweating. He said they turned up the
volume of the TV until his ears hurt and then turned off every light
until it was pitch black.

The experience "drove home the point of why we were there," Langer
said. "The fact that they couldn't even stand to tolerate a foreigner
speaking openly in the press makes it even more poignant the lack of
Tibetan voices."

In the end, police made Langer sign a 12-page confession in Chinese
that he couldn't read, but he said he didn't tell the police a thing.

It wasn't because Langer didn't want to cooperate. It was because, by
design, he simply didn't know.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

China on wrong side of history

2008-08-23T19:03:00Z

EDITORIAL: History is the final judge
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ak'Bar A. Shabazz
The Washington Times
August 23, 2008

"A wolf wrapped in monk's robes. A devil with a human face and a
beast's heart."

That's how Tibetan Communist Party Secretary General Zhang Qingli
recently described the Dalai Lama, Tibet's traditional political and
spiritual leader.

It almost makes me laugh. How can someone really believe this? As I
am very familiar with the work of the Dalai Lama through his books,
articles, interviews and speeches - and his Nobel Peace Prize - it
seemed natural for me to find humor in this Chinese puppet leader's
assessment of someone almost universally recognized for being peaceful.

The more I read, however, the more I realized the depth of Qingli's
seriousness. He further said he and his party was in a
"life-and-death" struggle against the Dalai Lama. Clearly, this man
is on the wrong side of history and doesn't yet realize it.

With the Summer Olympics in the Chinese capital of Beijing, talk of
the Dalai's quest for Tibetan autonomy from China is unavoidable.
Whether or not Tibet ever actually becomes autonomous, it's
relatively safe to say the Dalai Lama will be remembered among one of
the greatest men in history working for peaceful change.

When you take a contemporary look at Mohandas Gandhi, it's almost
absurd to justify the perspectives of those who opposed his movement
at the time. It's simple to see the simplicity of his requests and
the honor of his practices. Through non-violent means, violent
massacres ceased and India gained independence from British rule.

Fierce opposition to Gandhi ended with his death by an assassin's
bullet. There were plenty of British officials and Hindu radicals as
strongly opposed to Gandhi as Qingli apparently is to the Dalai Lama.
The majority of the time, those opposing the great leaders of world
peace, miss the messenger's entire message. These people are
unmistakably on the wrong side of history; perhaps all of them in
complete ignorance at the time of how they would be remembered.

On the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., many reflected on his life, times and his message of
non-violence. Once again, history remembered a man who fought tyranny
and injustice in a peaceful manner. Dr. King endured beatings, water
hoses and enormous opposition to change not only our nation's laws,
but also our nation's attitudes about race and equality.

Many viewed Dr. King as a communist rabble-rouser who used his status
for simple notoriety. The FBI once labeled him as "the most dangerous
negro in America." Once again, looking back today, it is extremely
difficult to justify such a label. Dr. King's opponents utterly
missed the essence of his message, and there has been an obvious
reconsideration of their tactics against him.

It makes one wonder why people - such as the Chinese leadership today
with Tibet - do not recognize they are putting themselves alongside
the infamous opponents of the world's great movements. Clearly, the
Chinese are disregarding the Dalai Lama's principled message and
succumbing to short-sighted bullying that has done others a
disservice in the past.

In the end, who really wants to be remembered as the guy who killed
Gandhi or someone who turned the hoses on Dr. King rather than
marched alongside him? What will a person tell their grandchildren
about when they were apathetic to the causes of Nelson Mandela or
Lech Walesa? How can we, for that matter, justify allowing Zhang
Qingli and his Chinese cohorts to abuse and murder those seeking
autonomy for Tibet?

If we disregard the calls for freedom and democracy in places such as
Tibet, where are we placing ourselves as it relates to world history?
If we disregard the Chinese abuses upon the Tibetans for political
expediency, we risk going down in history as another apathetic
generation against a critical tide in human events.

To quote Dr. King, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent
about things that matter."

Ak'Bar A. Shabazz is a member of the national advisory council for
the Project 21 black leadership network.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

iTunes blocked in China after protest

2008-08-21T17:08:52Z

iTunes blocked in China after protest
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
By Stephen Hutcheon
The Sydney Mrning Herald (Australia)
August 20, 2008

Access to Apple's online iTunes Store has been blocked in China after
it emerged that Olympic athletes have been downloading and possibly
listening to a pro-Tibetan music album in a subtle act of protest
against China's rule over the province.

The album, called Songs for Tibet, was produced by an a group called
The Art of Peace Foundation, and features 20 tracks from well-known
singers and songwriters including Sting, Moby, Suzanne Vega and
Alanis Morissette.

It was released as a download on the iTunes Store on August 5 - three
days before the start of the Olympics - with the physical CD launched
on Tuesday this week.

The Foundation provided free downloads of the album to Olympic
athletes, urging them to play the songs on their iPods during the
Games as a show of support.

Funds raised from the sale of the album are being used by the
non-profit Foundation to support "peace-related projects that are
dear to the Dalai Lama", the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader whom
China regards as subversive.

On Monday, expatriate iTunes users living in China began experiencing
technical problems with their previously unfettered access.

That was the same day the US-based Campaign for Tibet organisation
claimed on its website that "over 40 Olympic athletes in North
America, Europe and even Beijing" had downloaded the album.

Apple's customer forums contain numerous examples where users have
complained about experiencing these technical problems.

Although some iTunes account-holders suggest that the problem is with
Apple, according to several forum posters and bloggers working in
China, the source of the technical hitch is being attributed to the
Great Firewall of China - the umbrella term given to China's system
of internet censorship.

A blogger calling herself JeninShanghai has reposted what she says is
a reply she received from Apple's customer support after reporting
that she had problems with her US iTunes Store account.

"iTunes is not being blocked in China from our end, but access to the
iTunes Store IS restricted in some areas in China. This would also
explain why it's happening to your friends there as well," the response reads.

"I would advise that you contact your ISP [internet service provider]
about this matter. Please also note though that accessing the US
iTunes Store outside of the geographic region of the United States is
not supported, and that attempting to access it while in China is at
your own risk."

The apparent blocking of the iTunes Store raises some thorny issues
for Apple which opened it's first bricks-and-mortar store in Beijing
on the eve of the Olympic Games.

"This is the first of many stores we will open in China," said Ron
Johnson, Apple's senior vice president of retail, in remarks at the
store opening in July.

The company, whose CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs is a practising
Buddhist, is also negotiating with Chinese mobile phone operators to
launch the highly successful iPhone.

iTunes Stores are locked to specific countries. In the case of the US
iTunes Store - the biggest music retailer in the country - only
holders of US-issued credit cards or US-issued iTunes gift
certificates can purchase music and videos.

Many US, European and Australian expatriates living in China access
their home-based iTunes Store accounts from China where they can
purchase and download music , videos and podcasts. However, because
of the block, that is no longer possible. The album is currently
available on the Australian iTunes Store.

According to a report published in the semi-official Chinese news
portal, china.org.cn, "angry netizens [internet users] are rallying
together to denounce Apple in offering Songs for Tibet for purchase.
They have also expressed a wish to ban the album's singers and
producers, most notably Sting, John Mayer and Dave Matthews, from
entering China."

The report, published in English, goes on to say that some netizens
are even calling for a boycott of Apple products, including the
iPhone when it is eventually released in China.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Protests continue

2008-08-21T17:05:26Z

Local protests rage as Olympics go on
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Patrick Arden
Metro New York
August 20, 2008

With the world's attention focused on the Olympic Games, protesters
converged on the Chinese Consulate this week to draw attention to
what they say is Beijing's renewed persecution of religious and ethnic groups.

Protesters march at the Chinese consulate on the Far West Side.
(Photo: aharon rothschild/metro)

A crackdown on Tibetan Buddhists followed the March riots that
embarrassed China just ahead of the Games, said Sonam Wangdue of the
Tibetan Youth Congress.

Every day since March 14, Tibetans have staged demonstrations at the
consulate, but officials have only reacted by snapping photos.

"More than 5,000 people are missing in Tibet," said Wangdue. "All the
young men were taken away before the Olympics, because China was
afraid to show its true colors." Monks were an easy target.

"This Olympics is shameful," Wangdue said. "The international
community knows what's going on, but it's surrendered to the money power."

On the other side of the street, Falun Gong practitioners gathered to
draw attention to yet another crackdown that they say has put 10,000
followers in labor camps and detention centers, most just weeks
before the Olympic Games. The Chinese Consulate did not return calls
for comment.

"On July 16, policemen broke into my parents' apartment and ransacked
their home," said Feather Zhang, a nurse who lives in Flushing. "They
kidnapped my parents because they are Falun Gong practitioners."

Zhang said police finally approached her brother after their mother
had a stroke. He then paid a 10,000 Yuan bribe to secure her release.
"But she was taken again on August 6," Zhang said. "I don't know
where my parents are now."

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

China Detains Olympic Protesters

2008-08-20T20:06:26Z

China detains 6 US pro-Tibet activists in Beijing
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
By DIKKY SINN
AP
August 13, 2008

BEIJING (AP) -- Police detained five American activists Tuesday after
they unfurled a "free Tibet" banner near a key Olympics venue in
Beijing, according to a pro-Tibet group.

An American graffiti artist, who planned to use laser beams to flash
the same message on buildings in the Chinese capital, was also
detained, according to a colleague and Students for a Free Tibet.

The five protesters were taken away by security shortly before
midnight for displaying the banner, which outlined "free Tibet" in
English and Chinese with tiny blue diodes, near the Beijing National
Stadium, the group said in a statement.

A spokesman in the news department of Beijing's Municipal Publicity
Security Bureau said he was not aware of the protest. He gave only
his surname, Li, as is common among officials in China because they
are not allowed to discuss sensitive issues with the media.

The group identified the activists as Amy Johnson, 33; Sam Corbin,
24; Liza Smith, 31; Jacob Blumenfeld, 26, and Lauren Valle, 21. Their
whereabouts were unknown, the group said.

Earlier in the day, James Powderly, co-founder of Graffiti Research
Lab in New York, was also detained as he prepared to use a handheld
green laser to project messages on prominent structures in Beijing.

Powderly's colleague, Nathan Dorjee, said in New York that he
received a text message from the artist which said he had been
detained around 3 a.m. by police.

"He was going to project a message that said, `Free Tibet,' and some
other messages that would have been three-stories high in different
locations in Beijing," Dorjee said.

Li declined to comment on Powderly's case.

The protests are only the latest instances in which foreign activists
were detained after seeking to use the Olympic Games to criticize
China for its rule in Tibet, alleging human rights abuses and
religious restrictions. Other foreign demonstrators, many of whom
also tried to hang "Free Tibet" banners in Beijing, have been quickly
picked up and deported.

"The Chinese leadership must realize that the only way it can make
the issue of Tibet disappear is to acknowledge the demands of the
Tibetan people and work with them to bring an end to China's
occupation of Tibet," said Tenzin Dorjee, Deputy Director of Students
for a Free Tibet in a statement.

China maintains that the Himalayan region has been part of its
territory for centuries, while many Tibetans insist they were an
independent nation before communist troops invaded in 1950.

Powderly is a well-known New York graffiti artist who projects laser
beam "tag" messages onto iconic skyscrapers and other notable
structures such as the Brooklyn Bridge. His messages are typically
political and often promote freedom of speech and expression.

His projects have been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New
York and the Tate Modern museum in London.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

NYC Olympic Protests this weekend

2008-08-20T20:04:37Z

Weekend Schedule of Free Tibet Protests in NYC
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
US Tibet Committee
August 20, 2008

This coming weekend will be the closing ceremonies for the Olympics
in Beijing. We hope you can come out and join us and thousands of
Tibet supporters at one or more of these upcoming events in New York
City to protest China's human rights violations in Tibet:

8/22/08 7 pm at Union Square will be candlelight vigil for all
Tibetans killed by the Chinese crackdown on demonstrations in Tibet
since March.

8/23/08 9 am at the Chinese Consulate on 42nd Street & West Side
Highway. At 3 pm we will be forming a human chain from the Consulate
to the UN on the East Side. This chain will show our united support
for human rights in Tibet & our solidarity with the Tibetan people.

8/24/08 10 am will be a demonstration at Dag Hammersjkold Plaza at
the UN and we will march in the afternoon to the PRC Consulate.

For more information about these events please contact us at (212)
481-3569 or ustc@igc.org. To make a tax-deductible donation to USTC
please send a check to our address in the sidebar.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Athletes download "Song for Tibet"

2008-08-19T19:00:46Z

Over 40 Olympic athletes in Beijing download Tibet solidarity album
'Songs for Tibet'
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
China's official media reports that Chinese internet users denounce
top-selling Tibet album

Press Release
International Campaign for Tibet
August 18, 2008

Washington, DC -- The album 'Songs for Tibet: The Art of Peace,' a
top-selling rock download in the US, Canada, several European
countries and Japan - which reached #4 on the Billboard album
download charts in its first week of sales - has been downloaded by
more than 40 Olympic athletes competing at the Beijing Games. China's
official media published a provocative online article that reported
many "angry" Chinese 'netizens' are "denouncing" the project and that
some have called for a boycott on companies that make the pro-peace
album available for sale on the web, and a ban on those involved in
making the album from entering China. Over a hundred download sites
and on-line retailers sell the album worldwide. Twenty musicians
contributed tracks, including Sting, Dave Matthews, Alanis
Morissette, John Mayer and Moby.

Michael Wohl, Executive Director of the Art of Peace Foundation which
initiated the project, said today: "We are delighted that Olympics
athletes took the opportunity to download this unique album, which
conveys a message of hope and solidarity with the Tibetan people, as
well as a commitment to freedom of expression that cannot be suppressed."

Over 40 Olympic athletes in North America, Europe and even Beijing
contacted The Art of Peace Foundation by email and through the
Foundation's website. Athletes downloaded the album as an act of
solidarity with Tibet. International organizations including the
International Campaign for Tibet, Students for a Free Tibet, and Team
Darfur helped contact the athletes. Several of the athletes, who were
assured anonymity, thanked the Art of Peace Foundation. In one case,
an Olympian commended the Foundation's "efforts, music and passion for peace."

Following international media coverage of the album and its success,
an article about the album - which referred to "angry netizens" who
"are rallying together to denounce internet retailers that offer
'Songs for Tibet' for purchase" was published on two Chinese
websites, china.org.cn - the authorized government portal site to
China, managed by the Information Office of the State Council
(http://www.china.org.cn/china/national/2008-08/08/content_16161481.htm)
- and http://www.chinanews.com, a semi-official internet news portal
which operates under close scrutiny and control of the Communist
Party. This follows demonstrations by overseas Chinese against some
companies (such as the French supermarket chain Carrefour) and
broadcasters (CNN and the BBC) that have occurred since the
international community has criticized China for its crackdown in
Tibet, and in the buildup to the Olympics. The demonstrations and
outpouring of Chinese nationalism, particularly linked to protests
against Chinese government policies at the time of the Olympic torch
relay, have been fueled by misinformation and propaganda from the
Chinese authorities.

"The predictably hostile response to the album from Chinese internet
users and an official website at this time reflects continued
attempts to suppress any support for Tibet at a time of crisis for
the Tibetan people, as well as the level of entrenched misinformation
about Tibet propagated by the Beijing government among the Chinese
public," said Kate Saunders from the International Campaign for
Tibet, which is supporting the project.

The double album, 'Songs for Tibet' celebrates peace, the Dalai Lama
and Tibet. Twenty artists, including Sting, Alanis Morissette, Dave
Matthews, John Mayer and Moby contributed songs for the release.

Proceeds that the foundation receives will support initiatives for
promoting peace and Tibetan cultural preservation projects. Details
at http://www.artofpeacefoundation.org. The video for the album,
'Songs for Tibet - Freedom is Expression,' is available on YouTube.

Contact:
Kate Saunders, International Campaign for Tibet
Email: press@savetibet.org
Tel: +44 7947 138612

Michael Wohl, The Art of Peace Foundation
Email: mikew@artofpeacefoundation.org

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Polish athlete protests

2008-08-19T18:54:52Z

Polish Weightlifter Makes Tibet Protest in Beijing
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tybetwatch.blox.pl (Poland)
August 19, 2008

The first and long-awaited Tibet-related protest of by Polish athlete
-- the weightlifter Szymon Ko?ecki -- in Beijing. In keeping with
earlier pledges, Mr Ko?ecki shaved his head in a gesture of
solidarity with the Tibetan monks.

Following this year's dramatic events in Tibet, Mr Ko?ecki said: 'I
am outraged by what's going on in Tibet. When I read about it, I can
hardly believe I'll compete in a country that bloodily suppresses
street protests and persecutes people who don't agree with the party.
I can't believe the Chinese have launched an immense operation to block Lhasa'.

'This month in Beijing is a chance for the world's biggest audience
to see how China persecutes the Tibetan people'.

'I am sure that informal groups will emerge of athletes willing to
manifest what they think. Until 17 August I'll be focused chiefly on
my participation in the contest. But after that I'll keep my eyes
wide open and if I see something worrying, I'll surely not look away'.

In his conversation with Gazeta, Mr Ko?ecki said that even before the
events in Tibet he wanted to demonstrate his support for the occupied
region in Beijing. He was one of the few Polish athletes who spoke so
firmly in favour of the Tibetans and against China's human rights violations.

On 20 March this year, Mr Ko?ecki said, 'Unless the Chinese regime
becomes more moderate, I'll compete with my head shaved in a gesture
of solidarity with the Tibetan monks'.

Yesterday he participated in the weightlifting competition, winning
silver, with his head shaved. He so commented on his appearance:
'It's a haircut from this morning. I can't really say why I decided
to wear it. It's connected with certain things that the Olympic
Charter forbids*. But I can say that it's symbolic'.

Head-shaving was one of the propositions of the Athlete Wanted
campaign carried out across the world by pro-Tibet organisations. In
Poland, the campaign was carried out by the Inna Przestrzen'
Foundation's Tibetan Programme, as part of which Polish athletes were
contacted directly as well as via the internet. More on the campaign
here: http://ratujtybet.org/Pekin_2008/ and here http://www.athletewanted.org/.

* Rule 51.3 of the Olympic Charter provides that 'no kind of
demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is
permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas'.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Olympic sponsors ignore human rights

2008-08-19T18:50:18Z

China: Olympic Sponsors Ignore Human Rights Abuses
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

For Immediate Release
China: Olympic Sponsors Ignore Human Rights Abuses
TOP Sponsors Should Back Introduction of a Permanent Olympic Rights Monitor
Human Rights Watch
August 19, 2008

New York, Aug 19-- The major corporate sponsors of the Beijing
Olympics have failed to uphold their own principles of corporate
social responsibility, Human Rights Watch said today. Sponsors have
failed to speak out -- either individually or collectively -- about
human rights abuses linked to the Beijing Games, and should be
prepared to support the establishment of a permanent body inside the
International Olympic Committee to monitor rights abuses at future Olympics.

The 12 TOP ("The Olympic Partner") sponsors of the Beijing Games are
Atos Origin, Coca-Cola, General Electric, Manulife, Johnson &
Johnson, Kodak, Lenovo, McDonald's, Omega (Swatch Group), Panasonic,
Samsung, and Visa. Over the last 12 months, Human Rights Watch
repeatedly contacted all TOP sponsors and met with five of these
companies, off the record. The other seven failed to respond to
repeated requests to meet with Human Rights Watch. In its meetings
and correspondence with the 12 TOP sponsors, Human Rights Watch
documented numerous human rights violations related to the Beijing
Games, including ongoing media censorship, the abuse of migrant
construction workers who built the Olympic venues, and the unlawful
forced evictions of hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens from
their homes to make way for these venues. Yet the sponsors were
unwilling to address these abuses.

"The Olympic sponsors claim to be good corporate citizens," said
Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "But
as they enjoy the Games from the comfort of their seats at the
Olympic stadium, they should reflect on their failure to speak up for
the Chinese citizens who built the stadium and their hotels, clean
their hotel rooms, serve their meals or, in the case of Chinese
journalists, try to bring them their news."

One corporate executive told Human Rights Watch, "It is not our
comfort zone to criticize countries." Another said: "That is the role
of human rights organizations. In this respect we are from Mars,
you're from Venus." (See appendix for examples of other statements by
corporate representatives.) Yet such statements contradict the
corporate social responsibility policies espoused in principle by
several TOP sponsors' websites. For example, the "GE Citizenship"
section of General Electric's website proclaims that, "GE seeks to
advance human rights by leading by example – through our interactions
with customers and suppliers, the products we offer and our
relationships with communities and governments." Increasingly,
General Electric's customers are Chinese citizens, who face systematic abuses.

The Olympic sponsors' silence on human rights abuses is more
pronounced given that they have collectively spent about US$866
million to gain status as TOP sponsors. Human Rights Watch has urged
the TOP Olympic sponsors to take six specific steps in line with
their commitment to corporate social responsibility:

· Publicly voice their support for the human rights dimensions of the
Olympic Charter, which seeks to promote the "respect for universal
fundamental ethical principles" and the "preservation of human dignity";

· Publicly certify that their operations in China do not entail labor
abuses or other rights violations;

· Request that the Chinese authorities fulfill their human rights
commitments made when the Games were awarded, in particular with
regard to media freedom;

· Urge the release of human rights activists such as Hu Jia,
co-author of an open letter titled "The Real China and the Olympics";

· Support an independent investigation of the March 2008 crackdown in
Tibet (a recommendation directed in particular toward Coca-Cola,
Lenovo and Samsung, sponsors of the Torch Relay, which passed through
Tibet); and,

· Press the IOC to establish a standing committee or mechanism to
address human rights abuses in future host countries, including
Russia, which will host the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games.

Human Rights Watch said that there is no evidence that any of the
Olympic sponsors has followed up in any meaningful way on any of
these recommendations. This inaction contradicts the principles of
corporate social responsibility described in these companies' annual
reports and on their websites, as well as the standards of the
Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights (BLIHR), a group to which
General Electric and Coca-Cola belong. General Electric is in an
especially prominent and influential position as a TOP Sponsor and
the parent company of NBC, which is the US broadcaster of the Games
and has paid most for Olympics-related coverage. Coca-Cola, one of
the sponsors of the torch relay, defended the passage of the torch in
Tibet despite the repression of protests there in March 2008 and the
continuing media clampdown in that region. Coca-Cola's chairman
Neville Isdell told the BBC on July 7, "I believe the Olympics are a
force for good and if they were not a force for good, we would not
sponsor them."

Yet, as Human Rights Watch and other groups have extensively
documented in the last 12 months, the Olympics cannot so far be
qualified as a "force for good" in China. The run-up to the Beijing
Games was marred by a worsening of human rights violations in China,
and, since the August 8 opening of the Games, the Chinese government
has intensified its crackdown on human rights defenders, has denied
access to protest zones, and has reneged on promised media and
internet freedom guarantees. In the run-up to the Olympics launch,
foreign correspondents were beaten, detained, and subjected to death
threats. Thousands of "undesirables" including beggars, petitioners,
and migrant workers were forcibly removed from the streets of
Beijing. More information on the deteriorating human rights climate
in China can be found here:
http://china.hrw.org/press/news_release/china_olympics_harm_key_human_rights.

"Being a good corporate sponsor of the Beijing Games has sadly not
meant being a good corporate citizen," said Richardson. "The
sponsors' silence has only emboldened the Chinese government and
allowed the IOC to ignore the human rights standards it claims to uphold."

To view excerpts from TOP Sponsors' corporate social responsibility
policies, and their statements on human rights as well as the
Olympics, please visit:

· http://china.hrw.org/corporate_sponsors

To read samples of the letters from Human Rights Watch received by
all TOP Sponsors, please visit:

· General Electric: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/09/19/china18533.htm

· NBC: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/01/07/china18534.htm

· McDonald's: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/04/14/china18535.htm

* * * * * * *
Quotes from Human Rights Watch's meetings with Olympic sponsors

Human Rights Watch held meetings with five of the 12 TOP sponsors.
The following quotes from corporate executives are given as
illustrative examples, with no attribution to respect
confidentiality, since several meetings were off-the-record.

One company's refusal to describe any discussions it may have had
with its Chinese interlocutors on human rights issues:

"What's said in Vegas, stays in Vegas."

Three companies (including one sponsor of the torch relay through
Lhasa) explaining their silence on the repression in Tibet:

"Do we want to be associated with a firestorm? No, we do not."

"In the context of the Olympics, Tibet is not relevant. None of the
Olympics takes place in Tibet. The Games are not in Tibet."

"It would not make sense for us to raise the issue of Tibet with our
Chinese interlocutors. The Chinese think that corporate sponsors do
not have a dog in this fight."

One company's "sole purpose":

"What we recognize is that as a legal entity we don't have the same
position as people. Our sole purpose as a company is to make money
for shareholders... To make money, we need to protect the brand. It's
a complex set of equations. What our prime purpose is not is to
advocate human rights."

One company's "comfort zone" regarding human rights:

"Our commitment to human rights is in our area of how we treat
employees. Our human rights policy does not address the policies of
foreign governments. It is not our comfort zone to criticize countries."

One company's refusal to be "global spokespersons for causes":

"We are not in business to be global spokespersons for causes. That
is the role of human rights organizations. In this respect we are
from Mars, you're from Venus."

One company's view of "appropriate roles and responsibilities":

"It would be inappropriate for us to take up human rights issues
around the Olympics. The question is about appropriate roles and
responsibilities."

One company's exclusion of "embarrassing" candidates from a sponsored
program related to the Beijing Games:

"We won't pick the relative of an imprisoned Chinese activist. You
are asking us to choose someone who would embarrass the Chinese
government. This would generate unwanted media coverage on an issue
which is not our direct concern."

For more of Human Rights Watch's work on China and the Beijing Olympics,
please visit: http://china.hrw.org

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

China set to crack down on Uyghurs after Olympics

2008-08-18T19:43:41Z

Harsh Chinese Crackdown Coming in Xinjiang
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Once the troublesome Olympic Games are out of the way, steel will
rain on China's rebellious regions
Willy Lam
Asia Sentinel
August 15, 2008

china-tankChinese Communist Party and military authorities are set to
launch an all-out, life-and-death struggle against underground,
"splittist" elements in Xinjiang, whose three attacks against
security personnel this month resulted in the death of 20 police and
officers of the People's Armed Police.

Diplomatic sources in the Chinese capital said the enhanced military
action would begin immediately after the Olympics end on the 24th,
when the world's attention will no longer be focused on China's human
rights record, including its shabby treatment of the Uighur
minorities in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region.

The political fortunes of President Hu Jintao's faction are at stake.
Since disturbances began to intensify in Tibet and Xinjiang early
this year, Hu cronies running western China, including the Xinjiang
Autonomous Region Party Secretary Wang Liqun and Tibet Party
Secretary Zhang Qingli, have come in for criticism by other CCP
factions for failing to do a good job in maintaining stability in the
two flashpoint regions.

In the Chinese tradition, cadres under fire for failing to maintain
law and order will normally opt for hawkish and draconian measures so
as to demonstrate their toughness as well as "political
resoluteness." Given that Wang's and Zhang's jobs are on the line,
they would seem to have ample reason to use whatever firepower they
could muster to obliterate bitter foes among the ethnic minorities.

The call to arms was issued August 13 by Politburo member and
Xinjiang region secretary Wang, Hu's protégé. In language that
recalls the excesses of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), Wang said
in a meeting with local cadres and military officials that the CCP's
war against the "three evil forces" – or groups advocating terrorism,
separatism and religious extremism -- would be "a struggle unto
death" that will remain long-term, severe and convoluted."

Wang also hinted that there was no room for compromise or for a
non-military settlement of the differences between Beijing and these
"enemy forces." The Politburo stalwart told his comrades that
military and police forces must "seize the initiative in attacking,
hit them [the enemies] wherever they show up, and undertake
pre-emptive strikes" so as to deny the three evil forces
opportunities to re-group.

Recent party documents on the "next stage of struggle" against the
"three evil forces" have underscored the significance of a kind of
responsibility system for PLA, PAP and ordinary police officers. This
means that military and police officers must ensure that areas under
their jurisdiction be free of underground separatist or extremist
bases. And if trouble or quasi-terrorist activities occur in a
certain city, town or county, responsible cadres or officers are to
be fired or demoted immediately.

As Wang said Wednesday: "Every official must man his command post
well. Officials must have a high sense of responsibility toward
safeguarding areas [under their jurisdiction]."

Beijing sources knowledgeable about Beijing's policies toward ethnic
minorities -- especially Uighurs – say that President Hu has totally
abandoned the policy of flexibility and appeasement advocated by his
patron, former party chief Hu Yaobang, in the 1980s.

The sources have pinpointed two new thrusts in Beijing's
long-standing efforts to tame Xinjiang.

Firstly, more troops -- and hardware such as jet fighters -- are to
be moved to the Lanzhou Military Region (MR), which is responsible
for western provinces including Gansu, Ningxia and Xinjiang.
Reinforcements have come, for example, from divisions that were
originally responsible for guarding the border with Russia and for a
possible military confrontation with Taiwan.

With relations across the Strait having been stabilized in the wake
of the triumph of the Kuomintang at presidential polls last March,
several units from the Nanjing Military Region (which is responsible
for Taiwan) have been deployed in the Lanzhou MR for the time being.

Secondly, Xinjiang public security departments will revive the
surveillance and "spying" functions of neighborhood committees in
various cities in the autonomous regions. XAR authorities have
allocated additional funds to hire "part-time informants" that are
attached to neighborhood committees. These informants, who include
both Han Chinese and Uighurs, are tasked with telling police about
suspicious-looking people who have newly moved into the neighborhood.

At least as of now, President Hu is confident that iron-clad tactics
against Uighur "rebels" would not lead to serious international
repercussions. The US has in the past few years toned down criticism
of Beijing's XAR policy partly in return for China's help in
Washington's global anti-terrorism gambit. And President George W
Bush's appearance at the opening ceremony of the Games has convinced
Beijing that whatever it does in Xinjiang or Tibet will not lead to a
deterioration of Sino-U.S. ties.

Moreover, even if the PLA and PAP were to play hardball with
"underground gangs" in the XAR, such actions would pale beside the
recent incursion of Russian groups into Georgia. The Western world's
lukewarm response to the Georgian crisis reinforces the CCP
leadership's belief that it can get away with even the most
repressive policies in Tibet and Xinjiang.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Song Compares Beijing Olympics to Nazi Olympics

2008-08-18T19:40:27Z

Song Compares Beijing Olympics to Nazi Olympics
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
By Katy Mantyk and Evan Mantyk
Epoch Times
August 17, 2008

NEW YORK -- As criticism of China's underhanded tactics and failed
promises mounts during the Beijing Olympics, a song comparing the
Beijing Olympics to the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany was released on
Friday. The song "Feels Like 1936 Again," sung by the Tracey
Chapman-like voice of Courtney Dowe and produced by David Bowie
drummer Sterling Campbell is a haunting and heart-stirring anthem of
conscience for the modern world.

The song poignantly asks: "Can you hold an international track meet,
when you got a labor camp right down the street? Can you sponsor the
Olympics in 08, when you still imprison people for their faith?"

China's Communist regime has used the 2008 Summer Olympics, which run
through Aug. 24, as their coming out party—a chance to establish
themselves as the next great superpower. By spending over $20
billion, they have spared no expense to make sure that the Olympics
display only their strengths. What the regime isn't letting the world
see is their horrendous human rights abuses and freedom squashing
that continue to afflict the more than 1 billion people inside China today.

"The people of the world must tell the [Chinese Communist regime] in
no uncertain terms that not only do we strongly disagree, we will not
give consent to these atrocities by remaining silent as they happen,"
said Dowe, a Falun Gong practitioner. The peaceful spiritual practice
has been banned in China and severely persecuted there since 1999.

When China got the Olympics bid in 2001, the Communist regime
promised to improve human rights in China, but international human
rights organization have agreed that the promise not only hasn't been
kept, but that preparation for the Games has prompted even worse
abuse in China.

"In the run-up to the Olympics, the Chinese authorities have locked
up, put under house arrest and forcibly removed individuals they
believe may threaten the image of 'stability' and 'harmony' they want
to present to the world," according to Amnesty International.

"Feels Like 1936 Again" notes that the situation is surprisingly
familiar to the 1936 Berlin Olympics, which were used by Adolf Hitler
to justify his Nazi regime. In 1936, Germany emerged as the winner in
the medal count with the United States second, while today China is
neck and neck with the United States in the medal count.

And so history repeats itself the song notes: "The Olympic Spirit
hangs its head in shame, when police states are allowed to host the
games. Like Germany when Hitler reigned supreme, seeking glory for
his murderous regime."

A Dark Subject

The horrors of imprisonment, torture, and murder in a modern
communist state are not easy to digest in a pop song, but that's
exactly what Dowe and Campbell set out to do.

Campbell decided to take the original folk song written by Randall
Efner in a more mainstream direction, giving it a wider appeal, and
more chance to get noticed.

"Just on my part, I had to create an atmosphere, you've got to draw
people into it. It's hard these days, cause people listen to the beat
first. It was originally a folk song, so people might not pay
attention to it," said Campbell, who has worked with Cyndi Lauper,
the B52s, and Duran Duran.

"I also worked with Courtney a lot on the lyrics and how to express
it, what should be strong. The instrumentation I just wanted to keep
simple and sparse. A guitar strum, organ, drums. It's got that mood
to it—more melancholy," he said.

The beautifully deep and rich vocals of Dowe drift over a solemn and
organic organ, while, the accompanying youtube music video takes
viewers on a journey from Berlin to Beijing, juxtaposing Nazi
soldiers in the 1930s to modern day Chinese Communist solders.

Dowe said she was inspired by Efner's lyrics.

"It's what you'd call 'urban folk.' I really have a respect for
artists like Bob Dylan" and I would definitely put Randall Efner in
that category, that level of song writing and conviction, he doesn't
back down from the subject at hand. I am honored that he allowed me
to record his song," said Dowe, who is currently working on her debut
album with Blackout Studios in Baltimore.

The single and video can be found at http://www.1936again.com.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

HH Phakchok Rinpoche and the Chokling Tersar Lineage of the Great Perfection : An Introduction and 2008 Tour Notes

2008-08-13T20:01:36Z

HH Phakchok Rinpoche and the Chokling Tersar Lineage of the Great Perfection : An Introduction and 2008 Tour Notes

Keywords: Esoteric Buddhist yoga ( buddhatantra ), Great Perfection / AtiYoga / dzogchen i.e. primordial awareness yoga, tantric Buddhist empowerment, non-sectarian tantric Buddhist practice ( Rimay ), HH Phakchok Rinpoche Tendzin Jigmey Drakpa, Orgyen Dorje Den Center ( San Francisco ), Chokling Tersar lineage ( Nyingma / Ancient School transmission of Indo-Tibetan vajrayana ).

NAMO GURU SRI PADMAKARAYE
Homage to Guru Padmasambhava.

This summer ( 2008 ) His Holiness Phakchok Rinpoche, a primary tantric Buddhist lineage holder, is on a major tour ( see below for events ), giving tantric Buddhist transmissions and teachings in the USA, Canada, and Europe. He is a younger major teacher in the Chokling Tersar tradition of Nyingma and Dzogchen ( see below ).

This lineage derives directly from Guru Padmasambhava, a most extraordinary Indian guru and a principal cofounder of the Buddhist tradition in Tibet. Today six million or more people practice teaching deriving from from Guru Padmasambhava, in for example the Tibetan traditions such as Sakya, Kagyu and Nyingma, including some millions of East Asians ( Chinese Buddhists of esoteric Buddhist lineage ).

This is a very magical, very powerful, and very yogic style of transmission, especially in terms of the inner practices. It is well supported by many independent practice lineages, of which the Chokling Tersar Foundation is an important example both in the USA and Europe. It is well established in California and Denmark, and several major teachers of this tradition give teaching tours.

This sangha ( spiritual fellowship ) is of major importance because Chokling Tersar Foundation has a translation / publishing organization called Rangjung Yeshe. This is one of the main sources worldwide for core Nyingma and dzogchen publications. I have and use quite a few Rangjung Yeshe practice and teaching texts. They are highest quality and indispensible for all Nyingma and dzogchen practitioners in particular, and broadly useful.

One of the most important books ever published for tantric Buddhists is
"Dakini Teachings", by Padmasambhava, and this is from Rangjung Yeshe.
Another key example, from the same source, is
"Light of Wisdom", by Padmasambhava and Jamgon Kongtrul.

For a general background on dzogchen, or "primordial awareness yoga", it is well worthwhile to obtain the book
"The Crystal and the Way of Light: Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen", written by another important master of a parallel Nyingma lineage, Chogyal Namkhai Norbu. This is about the best place to start for a book introduction to the inner teachings, but is descriptive only, and not sadhana or formal practice per se.

Esoteric Buddhist yoga ( buddhatantra ) and Great Perfection ( dzogchen awareness yoga ) depend fundamentally on transmission, and so it is necessary to see a real teacher. Without a major transmission from an authentic guru, much or most of the teaching - and all of the yoga sadhana - does not work. Therefore I take this opportunity to make an important introduction.

( Please note that I DO NOT have any authority to represent Chokling Tersar Foundation, HH Phakchok Rinpoche, or any activity associated with this line of transmission. I am simple conveying what I know in a clear and definite way, to support this lineage and those who may benefit from it. I cannot make any promises that any of what is said here, or this kind of transmission, will solve any particular problem or give any particular result. The results are very personal and individualized. )

HH Phakchok Rinpoche Tendzin Jigmey Drakpa is not yet well known to the public, but is already having a great influence in transmitting key innermost teachings of tantra and dzogchen. Therefore it is auspicious and appropriate to make known this teacher and the availability of these teachings.

The qualifications of HH Phakchok Rinpoche are vast and profound ( see below for his autobiography ). He has highest-level authorization to give primary transmissions in both the Nyingma and Kagyu lineages, and is one of the few people who has a complete cycle of Sakya School tantric empowerments.

Two years ago I received a major dzogchen empowerment from this teacher, from within the Chokling Tersar, and personally confirm that his transmission is powerful and effective, not only as a tantric blessing / psychic cleansing, but also as a functional teaching / practice transmission. He is very direct and engaging and extraordinarily generous in his teaching. He is here to teach core precepts, not just bestow blessings. That means actual, whole person practice.

HH Phakchok Rinpoche gave me his card at the one time I was able to attend his transmission, so he is willing to personally engage students in a longer term sense. At that time he did lay on those present the general but significant requirement to Do A Daily Tantric Buddhist Practice, which is in fact the requirement of Guru Padmasambhava.

A daily practice typically means mantra recitation, as well as upholding ethical precepts of the Mahayana and Tantra. ( See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva_vows or better yet, the above book "Dakini Teachings" for teaching on outer and inner Buddhist ethics. ) A primary example of mantra discipline is Vajrasattva deity yoga, for which a short teaching is given at my tribe.net home under the Sanskrit picture for Hundred Syllable mantra.

A specific event listing for the Yangdak Heruka transmission and teaching to be given August 16, 17 & 18 follows. Orgyen Dorje Den can host at least 200 participants. This is a remarkably important group, and a "home fellowship" for me, though I have not seen them in many years. Their center teacher, Ven. Gyaltrul Rinpoche, is a great gift to the West. I have and use and recommend his books.

Basically, it is from the Eight Herukas Cycle which is associated with the Guhyagarbha Tantra, which was propagated as one of the primary practices of Guru Padmasambhava. This fully confers Vajrasattva, a key basic and continung practice, and *may* fully confer Great Perfection / Breakthrough as well ( no guarantee ).

Significant mantra teaching on the Eight Herukas is given in the remarkable book
"The Tibetan Book of the Dead: First Complete Translation (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) (Paperback)", Publisher: Penguin Classics; Deluxe edition (January 30, 2007 ),# ISBN-10: 0143104942.

This is written in partial fulfillment of mahayana and tantric Buddhist teaching responsibilities, in support of His Holiness Phakchok Rinpoche, Orgyen Dorje Den and Ven. Gyaltrul Rinpoche, the Chokling Tersar lineage, and the benefit of as many people as possible.

Sarva mangalam! Siddhi rastu!

Acarya KT

http://www.phakchokrinpoche.org/events.htm
Events
H.H. Phakchok Rinpoche's 2008 Teaching Calendar
For more information on any of the below programs, please e-mail us at office@phakchokrinpoche.org.

San Francisco, California: Aug 15-19
Empowerments: Yangdak Heruka & Sangtik Korsum (Teaching and Advice)
Teachings: Advice and teaching on general Development Stage
Meditation Training - at Orgyen Dorje Den, Directions to Orgyen Dorje Den
Public Talks: The Great “I” (Berkeley Shambhala Center)
Great Longchenpa
E-mail: office@phakchokrinpoche.org

Toronto: August 27-Sept 1 – with H.E. Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche
Empowerment: Sangye Won
Teachings: Jewel Ornament of Liberation
Taklung Thangpa
Public Talk: The Great “I”

H.E. Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche
Empowerments: Vajrakilaya & Tara
Prosperity Vase Blessing & Tsok
Visit: Riwoche Society, riwoche.com
E-mail: pema@riwoche.com

Vancouver: September 5-7
Teaching: VajraYogini Program [ this is restricted to those who have the empowerment ]
Public Talks: The Great “I”
Meditation and Happiness
E-mail: Mara Shnay, mshnay@telus.net

Salt Springs Island: September 7-9
Empowerment: Medicine Buddha
Meditation Retreat
E-mail: Matthew, matthewphyllis@telus.net

Europe: Poland & Germany

Hamburg, Germany: Sept 20-21
Lamrim Yeshe Nyingpo (Light of Wisdom)
E-mail: Arne Schelling, arne.schellingatgmx.de

Menz, Germany: Sept 22
Public Talk on The Great “I”
E-mail: Arne Schelling, arne.schellingatgmx.de

Berlin, Germany: Sept 23-24
Life Stories of Yeshe Tsogyal and Machig Labdron
The Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra
E-mail: Anne Siml, annesiml@yahoo.de

Greifswald, Germany: Sept 25-27
Public Talk on Compassion
Mind Training
E-mail: Anne Siml, annesiml@yahoo.de

Rangjung Yeshe Gomde – Denmark: Sept 29-30
Lotus Essence Tantra
Heart Sutra
Questions and Answers for Meditators
Website: www.gomde.dk
E-mail: Erik Pema Kunsang, erik@gomde.dk

Warsaw, Poland: October 2-5
Kunzang Thuktig Preliminary Practice
Mind Training
E-mail: Julia E. Wahl, karmayeshetsomo@gmail.com
Mobile: +48 608 079 909

The following events will be at:
Orgyen Dorje Den
2244 Santa Clara Ave
Alameda, CA 94501
http://www.orgyendorjeden.org/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coming this weekend, August 16, 17 & 18:
H.H. Phakchok Rinpoche, head of the Taklung Kagyu lineage and son of H.E. Chokling Rinpoche, nephew of H.E. Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, and grandson of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, is coming to the San Francisco Bay Area from August 15-19 to give teachings and empowerments. Please plan to attend and spread the word regarding these precious teachings.
See phakchokrinpoche.org.
And for biographical info: http://phakchokrinpoche.org/lineage.htm
http://phakchokrinpoche.org/historyofpresentPK.htm

HH Phakchok Rinpoche will be giving the following empowerments and teachings at ODD.
Yangdak Heruka empowerment and teachings.
August 16 from 10 am to 12 pm and 2 to 4 pm.
When asked for some brief info about Yangdak Heruka, Rinpoche, translating from a text, replied the following in a phone call:
"Yangdak Heruka is the secret heart essence practice of Mahapandita Vimalamitra & Guru Padmasambhava. As a method to repair mistakes, purify broken samaya and reverse bad karma it is greater than even Vajrasattva. According to Ratna Lingpa, it is a supreme method for yogis to fulfill the root & branch samaya of vinaya, mahayana & vajrayana precepts & it will enable the practitioner to receive the 2 siddhis and have a long life. It requires accumulated merit from past lives to meet with these teachings and through practice you will see how fast the siddhis will be received. This terma is a revelation of Chogyur Lingpa--it is a short lineage--he revealed it on Guru Rinpoche Day from a Big Boulder. It is part of the Sangtik Korsum, which is a cycle of practice which also includes Vajrasattva & Vajrakilaya." This is the first time Rinpoche is giving the Yangdak Heruka empowerment in the USA.

Teachings on Sangtik Korsum cycle of empowerments, instruction on general development stage, and meditation training:
August 17 from 10 am to 12 pm and 2 to 4 pm
August 18 from 10 am to 12 pm and 2 to 4 pm
These teachings will relate to the specific cycle, Sangtik Korsum, but will also be applicable to whatever sadhana practice one is engaging.

The suggested donation is $100 for the three days, $35/ day & $20 per session.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Orgyen Dorje Den
2244 Santa Clara Ave
Alameda, CA 94501
www.orgyendorjeden.org

From
http://www.riwoche.com/phakchok_rinpoche.html

Phakchok Rinpoche's emanation-basis is the Lord of Secrets Dharmevajra, the compiler of the teachings of the Great Secrets (Vajrayana) of all buddhas; the arhat Ananda, the foremost disciple of our teacher (Buddha Shakyamuni); Lhalung Palgyi Dorje, the direct disciple of the Second Buddha of Uddiyana (Padmasambhava); (Rechung) Dorje Drakpa, the lord of siddhas; and many others.
. . .
The reincarnation of this sublime master was the seventh Phakchok Rinpoche, Tendzin Jigmey Drakpa, born in the Year of the Iron Bird, 1981, of the seventeenth year cycle. The family he was born into is, among the six original clans, the Nangchen Tsangsar of the Khepaga line which were chiefly holders of the Barom Kagyü Dharma lineage, a family line who maintained an unbroken tradition of combining Kagyü and Nyingma.
. . .

Due to his outstanding brightness and inherent qualities from former training, he comprehended reading and writing, and when he later studied the topics of knowledge with Kungo Kalzang, Karma Urgyen Rinpoche's younger brother, he gained effortless understanding by simply hearing what was said.

Here is a description of the ripening empowerments and liberating instructions Phakchok Rinpoche has received from masters of the Sarma and Nyingma schools of all traditions:

From Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche he has received longevity empowerments, the Six Volumes of Jatsön Nyingpo, Gyachen Kadzö (of Jamgön Kongtrül).

From Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche he has received the empowerments of longevity.

From Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche he has received the empowerments for the Rinchen Terdzö, the complete empowerments and reading trans-missions for the Chokling Tersar, the Dzogchen Desum, the empowerments, reading transmissions and instructions for the Kunzang Tuktig, the empowerment of awareness-display and mind-instruction for Dzogchen, the complete empowerments and reading transmissions for the Root Volumes of Nyingtig, the Hundred Chö Empowerments, and the Namkha Gojey.

From Kyabje Taklung Shabdrung Rinpoche he has received the complete empowerments and reading transmissions of the Taklung Kagyü, and the complete empowerments and reading transmissions for the collected works and terma teachings of Jedrung Rinpoche.

From Kyabje Chobgye Trichen Rinpoche he has received the empowerments and reading transmissions for the Gyüdey Kündü.

From Sakya Dagtri Drölma Podrang he has received the complete Drubtab Kündü.

From his father, Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche, he has received the complete empowerments and reading transmissions for the Chokling Tersar.

From Dzongsar Khenchen Kunga Wangchuk he has received the reading transmission for the collected works of the Five Sakya Forefathers, the Prajñamula, Madhyamikavatara, and the 400 Verses, Sakya Pandita's Tsema Rigter, Tsema Namdrel, the Higher and Lower Abhidharma and other works.

From Kyabje Tenga Rinpoche he has received the reading transmission for the Tenngyur, the Great Collection of the Translated Treatises.

From Kyabje Penor Rinpoche he has received the complete empowerments for the Rinchen Terdzö.

From Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche he has received the complete reading transmissions for the Rinchen Terdzö.

From Arik Khenchen Petse Rinpoche he has received explanation to the Guhyagarbha Tantra and the Manjushri Nama Sangirti, as well as mind-instruction.

From Kyabje Trülshik Rinpoche he has received the complete empowerments for the Collected Works of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

From Kyabje Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche he has received the Tögal Cycle of Khenpo Ngakchung's Hearing Lineage, as well as mind-instruction.

. . .

This was translated by Erik Pema Kunsang, at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery, February, 2000.

www.choklingtersar.org

http://www.rangjung.com/gl/Chokling_Tersar.htm
Chokling Tersar, the New Treasures of Chokgyur Lingpa ( copyrighted )
During the ninth century, Buddhism was introduced from India into Tibet and its literature and culture has since been preserved in a way that has been unique in accuracy and truthfulness to tradition. Four decades ago, the occupation of Tibet by Communist China began an era of repression and systematic destruction of this thousand year old Buddhist culture. Shreds of this tradition reached the countries on the southern slopes of the Himalaya ranges - India, Nepal and Bhutan - in the hands of the few refugees who managed to escape alive. During the following years these areas have been the meeting-point and a forum of exchange between a large number of people from all countries of the world.

In response to the heart-wish of Kyabje Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, the Chokling Tersar Foundation was established. It is in the spirit of wishing to protect and preserve one of the important contributions to the world's cultural heritage, as well as responding to a growing demand within North America, that the members of Chokling Tersar Foundation support the foundation through donations of effort, money and prayers.

Chokling Tersar literally means the 'new treasures of Chokgyur Lingpa' and owes it name to the great Tibetan Buddhist master of the 19th century. Chokgyur Lingpa lived from (1829-1870) and was regarded by the most reputable living masters of his time as one of the major tertons (revealer of hidden treasures) in Tibetan history. His teachings are widely practiced by both the Kagyu and Nyingma schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

The collection of treasures revealed by Chokgyur Lingpa together with its connected teachings are contained in the Chokling Tersar, a body of literature filling more than forty large volumes. In English translation each of these volumes would be between seven and eight hundred pages and the total would amount to approximately 30,000 pages. The connected teachings included in these forty volumes were written over the last 150 years, chiefly by his contemporaries Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Jamgon Kongtrul, as well as by the subsequent upholders of the lineage down until today.

Kangyur - the TripitakaThe Chokling Tersar literature is meant to be studied and practiced as an addition to the traditional canonical scriptures of Tibetan Buddhism. These traditional scriptures are found in the Kangyur and Tengyur, the written words of Buddha Shakyamuni and their commentaries by learned Indian Masters. These two collections occupy respectively 104 and 273 large volumes.

In these scriptures are found detailed instructions on how to take full advantage of and imbue human life with its fullest meaning. These revealed scriptures were concealed by the 9th century Buddhist saint Padmasambhava with the expressed wish to be uncovered at specific times in the future. Many of them contain predictions for those times and which particular spiritual practices would be most beneficial for the people of those times.

Centers practicing the New Treasures of Chokgyur Lingpa:

Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling monastery, Boudha, Nepal.
Lamas: Tsikey Chokling, Gyurme Dewey Dorje; Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche; Phakchok Rinpoche

Pema Ewam Chogar in Bir, Himachal Pradesh, India.
Lamas: Neten Chokling and Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche.

Tsikey Gompa in East Tibet.
Lamas: Chokling of Tsikey, Tsang-Yang Gyamtso; Tersey Tulku

Chokling Tersar Foundation, USA.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Police Olympics

2008-08-09T19:51:44Z

China Unveils Frightening Futuristic Police State at Olympics
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
By Naomi Klein
The Huffington Post
August 8, 2008

So far, the Olympics have been an open invitation to China-bash, a
bottomless excuse for Western journalists to go after the Commies on
everything from internet censorship to Darfur. Through all the nasty
news stories, however, the Chinese government has seemed amazingly
unperturbed. That's because it is betting on this: when the opening
ceremonies begin friday, you will instantly forget all that
unpleasantness as your brain is zapped by the
cultural/athletic/political extravaganza that is the Beijing Olympics.

Like it or not, you are about to be awed by China's sheer awesomeness.

The games have been billed as China's "coming out party" to the
world. They are far more significant than that. These Olympics are
the coming out party for a disturbingly efficient way of organizing
society, one that China has perfected over the past three decades,
and is finally ready to show off. It is a potent hybrid of the most
powerful political tools of authoritarianism communism -- central
planning, merciless repression, constant surveillance -- harnessed to
advance the goals of global capitalism. Some call it "authoritarian
capitalism," others "market Stalinism," personally I prefer "McCommunism."

The Beijing Olympics are themselves the perfect expression of this
hybrid system. Through extraordinary feats of authoritarian
governing, the Chinese state has built stunning new stadiums,
highways and railways -- all in record time. It has razed whole
neighborhoods, lined the streets with trees and flowers and, thanks
to an "anti-spitting" campaign, cleaned the sidewalks of saliva. The
Communist Party of China even tried to turn the muddy skies blue by
ordering heavy industry to cease production for a month -- a sort of
government-mandated general strike.

As for those Chinese citizens who might go off-message during the
games -- Tibetan activists, human right campaigners, malcontent
bloggers -- hundreds have been thrown in jail in recent months.
Anyone still harboring protest plans will no doubt be caught on one
of Beijing's 300,000 surveillance cameras and promptly nabbed by a
security officer; there are reportedly 100,000 of them on Olympics duty.

The goal of all this central planning and spying is not to celebrate
the glories of Communism, regardless of what China's governing party
calls itself. It is to create the ultimate consumer cocoon for Visa
cards, Adidas sneakers, China Mobile cell phones, McDonald's happy
meals, Tsingtao beer, and UPS delivery -- to name just a few of the
official Olympic sponsors. But the hottest new market of all is the
surveillance itself. Unlike the police states of Eastern Europe and
the Soviet Union, China has built a Police State 2.0, an entirely
for-profit affair that is the latest frontier for the global Disaster
Capitalism Complex.

Chinese corporations financed by U.S. hedge funds, as well as some of
American's most powerful corporations -- Cisco, General Electric,
Honeywell, Google -- have been working hand in glove with the Chinese
government to make this moment possible: networking the closed
circuit cameras that peer from every other lamp pole, building the
"Great Firewall" that allows for remote internet monitoring, and
designing those self-censoring search engines.

By next year, the Chinese internal security market is set to be worth
$33-billion. Several of the larger Chinese players in the field have
recently taken their stocks public on U.S. exchanges, hoping to cash
in the fact that, in volatile times, security and defense stocks are
seen as the safe bets. China Information Security Technology, for
instance, is now listed on the NASDAQ and China Security and
Surveillance is on the NYSE. A small clique of U.S. hedge funds has
been floating these ventures, investing more than $150-million in the
past two years. The returns have been striking. Between October 2006
and October 2007, China Security and Surveillance's stock went up 306 percent.

Much of the Chinese government's lavish spending on cameras and other
surveillance gear has taken place under the banner of "Olympic
Security." But how much is really needed to secure a sporting event?
The price tag has been put at a staggering $12-billion -- to put that
in perspective, Salt Lake City, which hosted the Winter Olympics just
five months after September 11, spent $315 million to secure the
games. Athens spent around $1.5-billion in 2004. Many human rights
groups have pointed out that China's security upgrade is reaching far
beyond Beijing: there are now 660 designated "safe cities" across the
country, municipalities that have been singled out to receive new
surveillance cameras and other spy gear. And of course all the
equipment purchased in the name of Olympics safety -- iris scanners,
"anti-riot robots" and facial recognition software -- will stay in
China after the games are long gone, free to be directed at striking
workers and rural protestors.

What the Olympics have provided for Western firms is a palatable
cover story for this chilling venture. Ever since the 1989 Tiananmen
Square Massacre, U.S. companies have been barred from selling police
equipment and technology to China, since lawmakers feared it would be
directed, once again, at peaceful demonstrators. That law has been
completely disregarded in the lead up to the Olympics, when, in the
name of safety for athletes and VIPs (including George W. Bush), no
new toy has been denied the Chinese state.

There is a bitter irony here. When Beijing was awarded the games
seven years ago, the theory was that international scrutiny would
force China's government to grant more rights and freedom to its
people. Instead, the Olympics have opened up a backdoor for the
regime to massively upgrade its systems of population control and
repression. And remember when Western companies used to claim that by
doing business in China, they were actually spreading freedom and
democracy? We are now seeing the reverse: investment in surveillance
and censorship gear is helping Beijing to actively repress a new
generation of activists before it has the chance to network into a
mass movement.

The numbers on this trend are frightening. In April 2007, officials
from 13 provinces held a meeting to report back on how their new
security measures were performing. In the province of Jiangsu, which,
according to the South China Morning Post, was using "artificial
intelligence to extend and improve the existing monitoring system"
the number of protests and riots "dropped by 44 per cent last year."
In the province of Zhejiang, where new electronic surveillance
systems had been installed, they were down 30 per cent. In Shaanxi,
"mass incidents" -- code for protests -- were down by 27 per cent in
a year. Dong Lei, the province's deputy party chief, gave part of the
credit to a huge investment in security cameras across the province.
"We aim to achieve all day and all-weather monitoring capability," he
told the gathering.

Activists in China now find themselves under intense pressure, unable
to function even at the limited levels they were able to a year ago.
Internet cafes are filled with surveillance cameras, and surfing is
carefully watched. At the offices of a labor rights group in Hong
Kong, I met the well-known Chinese dissident Jun Tao. He had just
fled the mainland in the face of persistent police harassment. After
decades of fighting for democracy and human rights, he said the new
surveillance technologies had made it "impossible to continue to
function in China."

It's easy to see the dangers of a high tech surveillance state in far
off China, since the consequences for people like Jun are so severe.
It's harder to see the dangers when these same technologies creep
into every day life closer to home-networked cameras on U.S. city
streets, "fast lane" biometric cards at airports, dragnet
surveillance of email and phone calls. But for the global homeland
security sector, China is more than a market; it is also a showroom.
In Beijing, where state power is absolute and civil liberties
non-existent, American-made surveillance technologies can be taken to
absolute limits.

The first test begins today: Can China, despite the enormous unrest
boiling under the surface, put on a "harmonious" Olympics? If the
answer is yes, like so much else that is made in China, Police State
2.0 will be ready for export.

Naomi Klein's latest book is The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster
Capitalism.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Worldwide Protests

2008-08-08T21:44:19Z

Thousands in anti-China protests as Olympic epic opens
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Agence France-Presse
August 8, 2008

LONDON -- Thousands of people in Asia and Europe took part in human
rights protests Friday as China launched the Beijing Olympics with a
dazzling, three-hour opening ceremony.

Demonstrators took to the streets of cities including London,
Brussels, Berlin, Kathmandu, Bangkok and Hong Kong on issues ranging
from the crackdown in Tibet to Beijing's support for the military
junta in Myanmar.

China has painted the Games as a celebration of three decades of
economic reforms and hopes it will showcase a rapidly modernizing country.

But activists across the world are using them to pressure Beijing
over its rule of Tibet and heavily Muslim Xinjiang province, the
arrests of dissidents, censorship and concerns about Chinese foreign policy.

At least 1,000 Tibetans including scores of monks and nuns were
arrested during a protest against Beijing's rule of the Himalayan region.

Demonstrators shouted "Shame shame, Hu Jintao," referring to the
Chinese president, and "Tibet belongs to Tibetans" before being taken
away by police.

"We want to give the millions of people who will watch the opening as
well as the hundreds of athletes taking part the message that there
are no human rights in Tibet," Tibetan student Tashi Tsering, 20,
told AFP in Kathmandu.

In Ankara a protestor tried to set himself alight outside China's
embassy as some 300 Chinese Muslim refugees rallied to denounce human
rights violations in their home region of Xinjiang.

The man in his 30s burned his face and hands before police intervened
and extinguished the flames.

Earlier in the day, Reporters Without Borders hacked into Chinese
airwaves to broadcast a 20-minute program in Chinese, English and
French at 8:08 am (0008 GMT) -- exactly 12 hours before the opening
ceremony in Beijing.

The French-based media rights group said it was the first of its kind
in China since the communists seized power in 1949.

In London, around 300 protestors gathered opposite the Chinese
embassy, many of them Tibetan exiles wearing red headbands bearing
one word: "Killed".

And in Brussels, around 200 Tibetan protesters, some chained together
or wearing 'bloody' bandages, protested near the headquarters of
European Union institutions.

"The blood continues to flow in Tibet," said organizer Nyima
Chushisu, as she put bandages on a fellow demonstrator.

Dozens of Reporters Without Borders campaigners gathered outside the
Chinese embassy in Berlin brandishing placards saying China was a
"prison" for journalists.

More than 60 protesters rallied outside Myanmar's embassy in the Thai
capital Bangkok to demand that China end its support for the ruling
junta in Yangon.

US President George W. Bush, in Beijing for the opening ceremony,
hailed the growing relationship between the United States and China,
even as he urged Beijing to accept greater freedom of expression and religion.

"I strongly believe societies that allow the free expression of ideas
tend to be the most prosperous and the most peaceful," Bush told
reporters at the official opening of the new US embassy in the Chinese capital.

"I will continue to be candid about our mutual global responsibilities."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy for his part told French television
he discussed human rights with Chinese leaders in Beijing and handed
them lists of jailed dissidents.

But in Paris RSF said police were keeping protestors away from the
Chinese embassy even though the group won a court order overturning a
police ban on demonstrations outside the building.

In Hong Kong, a British man was arrested after climbing on to the
city's largest bridge and unfurling two protest banners that read:
"The People of China want freedom from oppression" and "We want human
rights and democracy."

Matt Pearce climbed up the Tsing Yi Bridge wearing a horse costume --
a nod to the Olympic equestrian events being held in Hong Kong -- and
carrying a guitar, an Agence France-Presse photographer saw.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Berlin Protest

2008-08-08T21:39:29Z

Tibetans, Uighurs and Mongolians protested in front of the
Chinese embassy in Berlin
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Deutsche Welle (Germany)
August 7, 2008

A day before the Olympics open in Beijing, around 100 protestors
rallied in front of the Chinese embassy in Berlin Thursday to
demonstrate for human rights. Similar protests are planned in several
other European cities.

Demonstrators representing Tibetan groups, Uighurs, Mongolians and
the Falun Gong spiritual movement gathered in front of the Chinese
embassy in Berlin on Thursday, Aug 7, waving flags and holding banners.

The protest was one of a series of events planned in several European
cities on the eve of the Olympic Games in Beijing to draw world
attention to China's poor human rights record.

Protests were planned in Lisbon and in Porto in Portugal, candle
vigils in several Swiss cities and one in Norway, while in London the
Free Tibet campaign was to hold a protest in front of the Chinese
embassy on Friday.

France bans protests outside Chinese embassy

In Paris, authorities banned rights groups from demonstrating outside
the Chinese embassy on Thursday and Friday.

News agency AFP reported that a ruling ruling sent to media watchdog
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) bans "all gatherings" from Thursday
at 7:00 am (0500 GMT) to Friday at midnight (2200 GMT) within a fixed
perimeter surrounding the Chinese embassy and consulate.

RSF had called for a rally outside the embassy at 1:00 pm Friday, to
coincide with French President Nicolas Sarkozy's arrival in Beijing
for the three-hour-long Olympic opening ceremony.

The media watchdog has challenged the ruling in court, with a
decision due Friday at 10:30 am, AFP reported.

"Games of repression"

The demonstrators in Berlin tried -- and failed -- on Thursday to
hand over a petition signed by 10,000 people calling for greater
human rights in China organised by a local non-governmental organisation.

According to the Goettingen-based human rights group, Society for
Threatened Peoples, the diplomatic delegation would not grant an
appointment, despite multiple requests.

By handing over the petition the organization wanted to once against
demonstrate against the increasing persecution of ethnic groups and
religious communities. The Society for Threatened Peoples' secretary
general , Tilman Zülch, told German news agency DPA that this would
not be a "Games of Peace" for Tiebtans, Uighurs, Mongolians and Falun
Gong members.

"They've already suffered too much repression in the past months for
that," he added.

Zülch also told news agency DDP that the Olympics in China were
"comparable with the games from 1936 in Berlin," when Nazi Germany
hosted the sporting event.

"These aren't the games of openness and friendship, but rather the
games of repression," he said, adding that China was a ruled by a
totalitarian regime that committed human rights abuses.

China has painted the Games as a celebration of three decades of
economic reforms and hopes the event will showcase a rapidly
modernizing country.

More than 1,000 Tibetans missing, groups say

Some 100 participants took park in the demonstration in Berlin which
couldn't take place directly at the embassy due to police barriers.
They held up banners with Chinese characters written on them,
expressing their hope for improvement of human rights.

The protestors also took lit torches, emblazoned with the Olympic
rings, and put them out in giant tubs of water. With this symbolic
gesture, the demonstrators wanted to make clear that Beijing has
failed to honor the promises made leading up to the games to better
human rights in the country.

According to human rights organizations, more than 1,000 Tibetan were
taken into custody during the unrest and mass arrests in March 2008
and are still missing.

More than 1,500 Uighurs have been arrested in recent weeks for
political reasons, and members of the Falun Gong sects have been
victims of torture and murder. 3,160 of them have meet grisly deaths
while in the custody of the security forces, they say.

Germany-wide "protestival"

Pro-Tibet groups are planning to hold Germany-wide demonstrations in
order to call attention to the constant violations of human rights in China.

Over the next 17 days, some 50 campaigns are planned to take place in
30 different cities, including Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt.

One group of Tibet activists plan to hold a "protestival" at Berlin's
landmark Brandenburg Gate to call attention to the "ongoing bad human
rights situation" in the Chinese-controlled province.

Campaign organizers are hoping to use the demonstrations to find a
peaceful solution to the Tibet question as well as an end to torture,
capital punishment and other human rights violations in China.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Monksvs Embassy

2008-08-08T21:35:27Z

Beijing 2008: Tibetan Monks Attack Embassy In India
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
AGI (Italy)
August 8, 2008

New Delhi, 8 August - Coinciding with the start of the opening
ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing, a group of Tibetan monks
have attempted to raid the Chinese embassy in New Delhi, India but
they were stopped by the police. Using two coaches, more than 150
monks with the traditional purple gowns attempted to knock down the
steel barriers in front of the entrance to the street where the
Chinese legation is located, in the embassy district of Chanakyapuri
in the Indian capital.

While the guards blocked the bus several monks managed to get over
the barrier and reach the walls of the Beijing embassy at a run but
they were stopped there. A spokesperson from the Indian police said
that "we have strengthened the security measures and detained the
monks in custody".

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Wartime Preparations in Tibet

2008-08-08T21:28:47Z

Emergency Wartime Response Preparation Status Announced in Tibet
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
2008 Olympics & Human Rights
By Guo Chuanxin
The Epoch Times/Central News Agency
Aug 7, 2008

The Tibetan Government in Exile said on August 6 that in the Tibetan
areas in southwestern China security has been on extremely high
alert. Following two days of anti-terrorism military drills with real
weapons in Lhasa and other Tibetan settled areas, the Chinese regime
has announced that all Tibetan areas are in an emergency wartime
response preparation state that will last until September 20.

The Tibetan Government in Exile said that according to reliable
sources, in late July, the Chinese regime set up makeshift temples,
shops, and residences in Aba Tibetan Autonomous District in
northwestern Sichuan Province. On July 31, a large number of Chinese
soldiers were dressed as Tibetan monks, held flags of the Tibetan
Government in Exile, and staged a riot. The military suppressed the
riot as an anti-terrorism drill. The whole process was videotaped.

In addition, Chinese authorities conducted two anti-terrorism drills
at the Lhasa train station and airport on August 2 and August 4. On
the afternoon of August 5, the Communist Party Committee and
administration of the Tibetan Autonomous Region held meetings with
key officials to ensure security during the Olympics and Special
Olympics. Military drills were also held in other Tibetan settled
areas such as Kangding.

The Tibetan Government in Exile believes that such large-scale
anti-terrorism drills with real weapons are aimed to threaten local
Tibetans using military prowess.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Games and Gulag

2008-08-08T21:25:09Z

Games and the Gulag: Let the Protests Begin
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Aritz Parra/AP
Newsweek
August 6, 2008

The first skirmishes in the guerrilla war between Chinese authorities
and human rights protesters took place on Wednesday. Plenty of what
China doesn't want to happen has happened here today, but so far it's
been small-scale, with a scrappy, subterranean feel, and very little
of it has occurred in public. By the end of the afternoon, four Free
Tibet protesters had been detained and a film show was canceled.
Human rights groups staged at least four protests.

The day's most successful stunt came from Students for a Free Tibet.
Two men--American Phil Bartell and Briton Iain Thom--climbed pylons
near the showcase Bird's Nest National Stadium at dawn and hung out
banners saying "Tibet will be Free" and "One World, One Dream, Free
Tibet". Police detained the climbers and their two helpers–one man
and one woman–who were acting as spotters at the base of the pylon,
and there has been no word of them since. It's likely they've been
deported. Despite the small scale of this incident, the stadium is
the icon of the Games and will be the site of the opening ceremony on
Friday. It's blow to the police for activists to get so close so such
a sensitive site.

Free Tibet activists also organized film showings in hotel rooms,
notifying reporters by text message. The first show went ahead,
attended by Reuters and BBC reporters, but Newsweek's invitation was
to the later event in a second hotel. There was a distinctly amateur
feel to this occasion as two dozen reporters milled round the lobby
of the modest Hotel G (no secrecy here, that's its full name) in east
Beijing, trying to gain entry to Room 612. While management insisted
that 612's occupant did not want us admitted, reporters dialed the
room and were told to come up. After a while, though, Room 612
stopped answering. Seven journalists who did make it inside appeared
and said that management had switched off the TV and ordered them
out. The UK-based organizers included Dechen Pemba, a Tibetan woman
with a British passport who was deported from Beijing in July. Before
the film, Pemba gave a 10 minute introduction by video, Reuters reported.

Hotel rooms were a creative theme of the day. If the film show was
art-house, the day's third event was more like an art school degree
show installation. Selected reporters were invited to go to two hotel
rooms a couple of miles apart, locate the room key taped to the back
of the "Do not disturb" sign and let themselves inside for a private
viewing. What they found, according to a photographer with the
Spanish paper El Mundo, were walls daubed with slogans and a
life-size black-clad figure laid out on the bed with a splash of red
paint at its neck. Daubed directly onto the walls was the slogan
"Speak out for those who have no voices", the Beijing 2008 logo and
the names of five jailed dissidents. The names in both rooms were the
same: AIDS activist Hu Jia, Pastor Zhang Rongliang who supports
unregistered churches or "house churches", journalist Shi Tao, human
rights activist and lawyer Guo Feixiong, and Falungong member Xu Na.
There was no sign of the organizers (who presumably paid cash for
their rooms) according to Richard Spencer of the UK-based newspaper
The Daily Telegraph. It's not clear who organized these spectacles.

These guerrilla actions are small scale affairs, but the Games
haven't started yet. There almost certainly will be more protests in
the days ahead.

The Hotel G was shut down after this incident, according to an email
from the film show's organizers. "According to many sources the
guests of Hotel G. were forced to leave their hotel and find other
places for the coming night," it said.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Olympics Widen Gulf Between China and the Rest of teh World?

2008-08-08T21:19:53Z

Could the Olympics Widen the Gap Between China and the World?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jun Wang
New America Media, News Analysis,
August 8, 2008

Editor's Note: The Summer Olympics are supposed to be China's coming
out party on the world stage. But it's brought into sharp focus how
differently Chinese think the world views them, and how the world
actually views China. And even the most hospitable gestures by
Beijing residents might not be able to bridge that gap, writes Jun
Wang who monitors Chinese media for New America Media.

As the curtain rises on the Summer Olympics in Beijing, the gulf
between China and the world seems to be growing wider.

A recent Pew Research Center poll, which surveyed 24,000 people in 23
countries, found that majorities in only seven of those countries
have a positive attitude towards China. In nine countries, China's
popularity has declined in the past year. It's gone up in only two.

This when 77 percent of Chinese believe that "people in other
countries like China." That percentage has actually grown by nine
percent from 68 percent three years ago.

It's a stinging surprise for the vast population in China that
statistically, most foreigners view their country with suspicion. The
Beijing Olympics were meant to engage with the world. They are, in
effect, China's calling card to the world.

It was why so many in China have rushed to learn English. According
to the Guangzhou Daily, China has been in an English-learning mania
for some years. In the summer of 2001, 68-year-old retiree Jingxiu
Yang's dream was answered when he learned that Beijing was to host
the Olympics games. He wanted to be an Olympics volunteer. Yang
followed his grandson who was learning English and became a student
as well. Like him, at least a million Beijing residents have been
learning English, hoping that would prepare them for better
communication with foreign tourists during the Olympics.

The Chinese are going out of the way to be considerate to their
foreign guests' sensibilities. The capital recently banned dog
eating. And for those who can't read Chinese, there are suggestions
for a standardized English menu for tourists, reports the web-based
media, Online Shanghai. No more "Bean Curd Made by a Pock-marked
Woman", "Husband and Wife's Lung Slice" and "Chicken Without Sexual
Life." Now they've become the much less exotic "Spicy Tofu", "Beef
and Ox Tripe in Chili Sauce" and "Steamed Pullet" on restaurant menus.

Beijing doesn't just have brand new stadiums and subway lines.
Beijing residents are also being taught to stand in line. People have
been practicing waiting in line for buses since the government made
the 11th of each month "Waiting-in-line Day."

Beijing residents have also opened their homes. The Beijing Times
reported that Jichang Jing and his wife made four rooms in their
traditional courtyard house available to host tourists. The couple,
both in their 50s, hired an English tutor and studied the language
for two years to better communicate with their prospective guests.
The family even special-ordered over-sized beds for foreign guests,
and charges them $60 US dollars per day, breakfast included.

Jing's family is admittedly rare. With the skyrocketing real estate
prices in Beijing, average residents can by no means afford a
traditional courtyard house valued from millions to tens of millions
US dollars. Average families in Beijing don't have the ability to
host foreign guests. But the host family initiative launched by the
government has been widely considered an expression of genuine
hospitality and a desire to know more about foreign people and cultures.

But there's plenty of issues the Chinese are uniformed about which
foreign media focus on -- Tibet Independence, ethnic unrest within
China, human rights issues regarding religious and civil liberties.
Chinese people truly believe their efforts to welcome visitors have
been well perceived by people around the world.

Those stories are underreported in Western media. Instead, one reads
more about the Chinese government's power to mobilize and control.
For example, 100,000 security personnel are working in Beijing to
keep everything under control, authorities have swept away protesting
residents whose ramshackle homes are now kept hidden behind nets and
brick walls, and protesters have been arrested.

It's the control that's made an impression on China's foreign guests,
not the country's hospitality.

The Olympic games were supposed to be China's coming out party on the
world stage, but in some ways, it might have backfired.

By the time the Games are over, will the gap between China and the
world shrink? Or, despite Beijing's best efforts (or maybe because of
it), could that gap get even bigger?

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Ngakpa Ordination

2008-08-08T11:18:00Z

I took another step on my Buddhist spiritual path. Tonight I was ordained a ngakpa called "Ngakchang Konchok Jangchup Dorje." Since several of us had taken refuge only days before, Venerable Lama Sonam was apparently merciful enough not to change our newly received names. However, the level of commitment is no less demanding.
The Ngakchang path is less well known than the monastic path, but its "vows" or root samayas, although fewer in number than the precepts for monastics are very rigorous because their focus is interior rather than exterior. The fourteen root samayas are
NOT TO:
1) disparage the Master
2) transgress the Buddha's words
3) be hostile to vajra brothers and sisters
4) forsake loving kindness on behalf of sentient beings
5) abandon the enlightened mind (Bodhicitta)
6) criticize the tenets of one's own or anther's faith
7) divulge secrets to the immature
8) abuse the five components which are primordially pure
9) cast doubt on the Dharma of the Pure nature
10) maintain friendship with those who are harmful especially those who harm the doctrine
11) apply conceptualization to wordless natures
12) belittle those who have faith
13) violate one's words of honor strictly as given
14) disparage women, the source of discriminative wisdom
While I could focus on these and examine each one in turn which would be a worthwhile study, it is perhaps more important to look at the chief reason that drew me to this step. This path is devoted to the essence of tantra, transformation. Nothing is evil except the "three poisons," anger, grasping, and ignorance, but everything including afflictive emotions may be transformed from a negative into a positive. Each of these has powerful energy which can, under the right circumstances, propel the practitioner toward enlightenment.
I am only a beginner on this path with a beginner's understanding. However, I do have a course of study passed down through our lineage and teachers who can teach me.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Both McCain and Obama China Links

2008-08-07T17:17:30Z

American Foreign Policy Brought to You by China
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Advisers to Obama, McCain Tied to US Multinationals that Profit from Beijing
Democracy Now
August 5, 2008

President Bush is heading to China this week, where he will attend
the opening ceremony of the Beijing Summer Olympics on Friday. The
Games' presence in Beijing have helped spotlight opposition to China
on a number of policies, including its repression of the Tibetan
independence movement, its support for the Sudanese government in
Darfur and its crackdown on dissidents and civil liberties at home.
In the latest issue of Harper's Magazine, Ken Silverstein says many
of the bipartisan experts who have advocated so-called "constructive
engagement" with China are tied to major US multinational
corporations that profit heavily from the Chinese market. [includes
rush transcript]

Ken Silverstein, Washington editor of Harper's Magazine. He also
publishes a blog on political corruption in Washington, D.C. called
"Washington Babylon." His latest article in the magazine is called
"The Mandarins: American Foreign Policy Brought to You by China."

Rush Transcript

AMY GOODMAN: President Bush arrived in South Korea last night on the
first leg of a trip to Asia that will also take him to Thailand and
to China, where he'll attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing
Summer Olympics on Friday. In China, Bush will meet President Hu
Jintao and other Chinese leaders. His visit to China will be the
fourth of his presidency. No other US president has visited China
more than once.

Bush has been criticized by a number of lawmakers and human rights
groups for his decision to attend the Beijing Games. He has rebuffed
calls to boycott the opening ceremonies over a number of Chinese
policies, such as repression of Tibetan independence movement, its
support for the Sudanese government in Darfur and its crackdown on
dissidents and civil liberties at home.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Bush said, "One of the
reasons I'm going is because I want to show respect to the Chinese
people, and this is a proud moment for China."

Well, in the latest issue of Harper's Magazine, Ken Silverstein says
many of the bipartisan experts who have advocated so-called
"constructive engagement" with China are tied to major US
multinational corporations that profit heavily from the Chinese
market. Ken Silverstein joins me now from Washington, D.C.

Welcome to Democracy Now!, Ken.

KEN SILVERSTEIN: Thanks.

AMY GOODMAN: Lay out your thesis in "The Mandarins," the title of your piece.

KEN SILVERSTEIN: Well, basically I looked at -- I started looking at
the campaign advisers, actually, to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton
-- this was a few months ago when I started, and she was still very
much part of the fight for the Democratic nomination -- and John
McCain. And I didn't have a -- I mean, the story ended up being a
little bit different than what I had initially imagined, but what I
discovered was that many of these advisers, not just advisers on
China policy, in fact, although that's what I focused on, but many of
the presidential advisers to the top candidates worked for some of
these international consulting firms whose whole business model is to
open up doors abroad for US and other Western companies, in fact.

So, for example, in the case of China, you have a guy named Jeffrey
Bader, who is at the Brookings Institution, which I think maybe we
can get back to in a minute, but who also has worked for Stonebridge
International, which is a big consulting firm headed by Sandy Berger,
who used to be with the Clinton administration and in fact who was
primarily responsible for—or one of the people primarily responsible
for the big opening with China under Clinton. Remember, Clinton came
into office promising that he would honor the spirit of Tiananmen
Square and left having put into place permanent normal trade
relations with Beijing.

But you found time and time again that the key advisers to the major
presidential candidates had these economic conflicts that were never
stated when they wrote op-eds or were interviewed on TV or radio. You
know, they were always -- or typically, they'd be identified as
belonging to a think tank or simply as a former government official.
Well, what about their relationship with, say, Stonebridge, where not
only Jeffrey Bader, Obama's—a big adviser for Obama, but Ken
Lieberthal, who was the senior adviser to Clinton on China policy,
both of them hold positions there?

Now, it's fine if they want to, you know, acknowledge where they work
and let the listener or the viewer decide if this might influence
their point of view, but to put people on TV or on the radio and to
simply let them appear to be an independent observer, when in fact
they have a direct stake, really, and a close relationship between
Washington and Beijing, and when their business model actually
requires them being on reasonably good terms with Chinese government
officials, and in fact, you know, generally much better than
reasonably good terms, generally very warm, positive terms with
Chinese officials, because they're door openers—you cannot open doors
with Chinese government officials on behalf of Western companies
unless you are on good terms. I mean, if they don't like you, if you
say a lot of nasty things about Tibet or human rights or anything
else, then the Chinese government officials that you need to help you
in your business are not going to be there for you. So it's an
inherent conflict that's just very, very rarely discussed.

AMY GOODMAN: The company that's -- Sandy Berger, chief adviser to
President Clinton, also perhaps the foremost architect of the
administration's dramatic shift in China policy, you point out that
he, before he came into the Clinton administration, was with the law
firm of Hogan & Hartson, and he coordinated business lobbying for
China at that law firm.

KEN SILVERSTEIN: Yeah, I mean, most of the people I'm talking about,
most of these advisers, previously worked in government. Now they may
be off in the business -- the private sector. Some of them are going
to end up going back into government, I'm quite sure of that, in
either a Obama or McCain administration.

But yeah, Berger is a classic example. I mean, he started off in the
private sector lobbying for permanent normal trade relations for
China. This is back in the '90s. And this -- you know, I think
probably many of your listeners may have forgotten, but ten years
ago, fifteen years ago, the US relationship with Beijing was
extremely heated. I mean, the debate about permanent normal trade
relations with China was almost as heated as the debate over NAFTA.
Millions and millions and millions of dollars were spent by the
business community to lobby for this policy. And the Clinton
administration reversed itself, completely reversed itself, and
decided that it would prioritize -- over human rights policy, it
would prioritize commercial relationships. And that was what—that's
what happened. And Berger was one of the architects of this policy.
After he left Hogan & Hartson, he joined the Clinton administration.
So he basically lobbies for China in the private sector, joins the
Clinton administration, where he lobbies for China, then goes to
Stonebridge International, where he's basically lobbying for China still.

And you find this pattern time and time again. There are senior
government officials who, you know, had previously worked on behalf
of China in one form or another, they go into government, then they
retire, and they still have very, very important ties to China that
benefit them financially in a very direct personal manner.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk, Ken Silverstein, about Alexander Haig and
about Brent Scowcroft? Talk about, first, Haig.

KEN SILVERSTEIN: Well, Haig is -- you know, the Chinese love Haig. I
mean, there's probably no American who they are more fond of than Al
Haig. He worked with President Nixon and helped arrange the historic
visit that Nixon made to China, which marked the opening. He worked
with—you know, he was Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan, and he,
you know, very actively promoted Chinese interest against Taiwan,
which also had a very powerful lobby.

And I should say here that, you know, Haig and many of the generation
of foreign policy advisers from those years, the Reagan years and the
Nixon years, the Republican presidents pre-George Bush, looked upon
simply—or the Cold War Republican presidents—looked upon China simply
as a buffer against the Soviet Union or as an ally against the Soviet
Union. They didn't really look at China in any way other than as a
geopolitical, geo-strategic vehicle for the United States. And, you
know, our primary enemy was the Soviet Union, and even though China
was communist, it was not close at all to the Soviet Union, and so we
made an alliance with China, you know, in this grand strategic game.

So, Haig develops very close relationships with China then. Then he
retires, after becoming somewhat controversial, some of your
listeners may recall, when he tried to take over the US government
after Ronald Reagan was shot, claiming that he was next in line for
power. He made a number of blunders. Yet he then goes into the
private sector, opens up a firm called Worldwide Consulting, and,
from there, becomes a door opener, and he does a lot of business in
China, very close to the Chinese government.

He actually went to Tiananmen on -- a year after Tiananmen Square, he
went to Beijing and stood in Tiananmen Square during the fortieth
anniversary of the Communist Party's rise to power in China. He was
the only prominent Westerner who attended. Most of the Western
ambassadors boycott. But Haig, in a show of solidarity, turns up at
Tiananmen. And so, of course, the Chinese government loves Al Haig.
So if you're a company, an American company, and you want to
establish a business in China or expand your business in China, of
course you're going to go to a guy like Al Haig. He can help you. So
you pay Haig, and he opens the doors for you in China.

Same thing with Scowcroft. Scowcroft also worked for the Bush
administration at the time of Tiananmen and, very soon after the
crackdown there, traveled to Beijing and met secretly with Chinese
leaders to try to make sure that there would be no serious fallout in
the US-China relationship. So he is also well loved by the Chinese
government. And these are the sorts of people who American companies
now can turn to and say, "Look, we need your help." And they get it,
because the Chinese government is very fond of these former officials.

AMY GOODMAN: You give the example of Brent Scowcroft taking the
former CEO of Qualcomm, Irwin Jacobs, for a meeting with China's
prime minister.

KEN SILVERSTEIN: Yeah, he traveled over to China with several
prominent Fortune 500 CEOs, including the CEO of Qualcomm and also of
Chubb Corporation, as I recall. And, you know, this is what we know,
because the fact is that these companies do not disclose their
clients. It's very difficult to find out who they're actually working
for. They're under no—it's actually, in some ways, more nefarious
than lobbying, I think, because if you're a registered lobbyist, then
at least the American public knows who you represent, and if you go
on TV, people can at least say, "Oh, he's a former—he was a lobbyist
for such-and-such government or such-and-such corporation." But the
people at these big economic consulting firms, like Stonebridge—or
Scowcroft has his own firm, and Haig has his own firm—I mean, there
are dozens and dozens of these consulting firms across Washington --
and they don't disclose who they work for, they don't have to
disclose their clients, and so, you know, the public has really no
way of knowing who they represent when they make their media appearances.

AMY GOODMAN: Scowcroft's relation with McCain?

KEN SILVERSTEIN: McCain said there's no one in the world he respects
more than Brent Scowcroft. I mean, Haig and Scowcroft are informal
advisers to John McCain. They are not formally listed, but they are
both close to McCain, and as I said, McCain said that there's no one
he respects more than Scowcroft. So he has very—you know, I can
assure you that if McCain is elected president, he will be getting
advice on China from Scowcroft.

AMY GOODMAN: Scowcroft's firm, the Scowcroft Group, does employ a few
Democrats, you mention, including Kevin Nealer, a former State
Department official and trade adviser to Senate Democrats. What is
his significance in the relationship with China?

KEN SILVERSTEIN: Well, first, let me just quickly say that all of
these firms tend to be bipartisan. They may—you know, Stonebridge has
a preponderance of Democrats. But they always want people from the
other side, because that way they can reach out to companies that may
feel more comfortable with—you know, politically with a Republican,
as opposed to a Democrat. So they are all bipartisan.

Nealer was a State Department official who had worked on China, who,
at the Scowcroft Group, is the primary contact, I guess, for a major
investment fund that has extensive holdings in China. And he also,
like many of these guys, served on—he produced a Council on Foreign
Relations study that proposed closer relationships with China. This
is another thing that's very interesting. If you look at the authors
of virtually any major think tank report on foreign policy and you
look down the list of who put it together, you're almost always going
to find people from these consulting firms. And again, at least let's
identify these people. I mean, you'll see them identified as
belonging to a think tank, say, but what you won't see is, you know,
a guy like Nealer identified as working for the Scowcroft Group. I
mean, let's get these conflicts out in the open, at least, so the
public knows who's putting together our foreign policy.

AMY GOODMAN: Now, both Obama adviser, Bader, and McCain's most
respected, Scowcroft, both of them deny that the advisory class has
in any way compromised by its business relationships with China.

KEN SILVERSTEIN: Well, I mean, you would expect them to deny it. I
mean, but really, frankly, it defies all logic. I mean, let me be
honest with you. I work for Harper's Magazine. If you were to put me
on a—I mean, that's where I get my paycheck. I'm the Washington
editor of the magazine. If you put me on a panel about the greatest
magazines in America, it's very likely that I might point to Harper's
or at least put us in the top two or three. It's hard, when you're
getting paid by an institution or where you have financial ties,
direct financial ties, to, in this case, a country, not to have your
judgment and your point of view at least somewhat clouded.

I also talked to Perry Link, a Princeton professor, who said that,
you know, there's no doubt that these people who work for these
consulting firms in -- you know, he says, within the academy, within
the think tank world, it's very well known that people who have such
ties are in some ways biased, at minimum. And Link has said that—he
told me that, you know, he's actually banned from entering China,
because he had written some very critical pieces and done some
critical work, and the Chinese actually banned him from going over
there. And he said to me, "Look, I"—he founded Princeton's summer
program in China some years ago, and then he was barred from going
over there. And he said, "Look, it, you know, was painful. You know,
I'd love to go over to visit my friends in China, and it's a great
position to head the summer program. You get paid very well. It's a
terrific position." He said, "You know, I have to admit, if I hadn't
been barred from entering the country, I might find myself hedging my
own opinions about China, just so as not to anger the Chinese government."

And he said he constantly came across graduate students who were
shying away from topics, such as human rights or forced abortion or
issues that might anger the Chinese government, because they knew it
would make it more difficult for them to further their academic
research in China, and it also might have some career implications.

So I think it's illogical. You know, I would expect the advisers to
say, "No, of course it doesn't influence us." And I would also say
that I don't believe it's as simple as, well, they open doors in
China, and hence every word they say has no value, because some of
these people are extremely smart and insightful. And yet, there's no
question that their point of view has been—is not impartial. I mean,
at a minimum, if they're not in any way influenced by this, then why
is it that so few of them identify these ties? I mean, you never see
Jeffrey Bader, when he goes—writes an op-ed or when he's on the
radio—why don't they volunteer, "Oh, and, by the way, it's irrelevant
that I work for Stonebridge. People ought to know that." And I found,
time and time again, that these advisers -- it seems to me that they
actively try not to disclose a relationship that might be somewhat
embarrassing. And there's a good reason: it is embarrassing.

AMY GOODMAN: How do they actively try to disclose --prevent the disclosure?

KEN SILVERSTEIN: Well, I know that when I first talked to Brookings,
I contacted Bader through the Brookings Institute, which receives an
enormous amount of money from John Thornton, who is a former CEO of
Goldman Sachs and himself has a lot of direct financial stakes in
China—he's the primary funder of the China program at Brookings,
which is named after him, so that's another story. But I contacted
Brookings, and I contacted the Obama campaign, and when I talked to
Brookings, I mentioned—you know, I was told by someone at Brookings
that "We prefer not to have the Stonebridge label disclosed." Now,
they might say, "Well, it's because, you know, we're Brookings, and
we want more credit for Brookings," but it seemed to me that it was
quite clear that they preferred not to mention Stonebridge in talking
about Bader.

And if you just -- if you simply look"I mean, look, look at how these
people are identified. I looked at dozens and dozens and dozens of
media appearances for people like Bader and Scowcroft and Ken
Lieberthal. You almost never come across an instance where they list
their affiliation with—you know, if they're talking about China,
don't you think that working for Stonebridge, which has offices in
China—and, in fact, Lieberthal and Bader are both listed as being key
officials at Stonebridge China. That would be a little bit relevant,
I would think, to their identity when they appear in the press. But
it never comes out, and I can't help but believe, from what I heard
and from what I see, in terms of how they're identified in their
media appearances, that that's not deliberate. It raises questions
about the independence of their point of view, and I'm sure that they
wouldn't want that done.

AMY GOODMAN: Ken, you close with a telling quote from the Princeton
University professor now banned from China, Perry Link, who said,
"I'm for engagement. When people like Henry Kissinger talk about
engagement, they mean black tie affairs with top government and
business leaders. But those leaders are not the same as the Chinese
people." Ken Silverstein, thanks so much for joining us, Washington—

KEN SILVERSTEIN: Thank you.

AMY GOODMAN: Washington editor of Harper's Magazine. We'll link to
Harper's on our website. He also publishes a blog on political
corruption in Washington, D.C. called "Washington Babylon."

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

To change the Olympics, change the channel

2008-08-06T01:55:23Z

Opinion: To change the Olympics, change the channel
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jonathan Zimmerman
The San Francisco Chronicle
August 4, 2008 B-7

I love everything about sports: playing them, viewing them and
writing about them. But when the Olympic Games start later this week
in Beijing, I'm not going to watch. And neither should you.

Call it the People's Boycott. Despite worldwide protests, every major
nation is sending its athletes to Beijing. That's all the more reason
for you and me to stage our own silent demonstration. If you want to
change the Olympics, change the channel.

Anything less will make you party to the cynical brutality of China's
leaders, who have broken nearly every promise they made when they
were awarded the Games in 2001. Although the government pledged to
allow journalists unfettered access to the Internet during the
Olympics, for example, censors have blocked Web sites such as Radio
Free Asia and Amnesty International. This is the same regime that
bankrolls Sudanese dictator Omar el-Bashir, who was recently indicted
for genocide and war crimes in Darfur. But China turns a deaf ear to
the international community, insisting that the Darfur crisis is an
"internal affair."

And that's the same line it uses with respect to Tibet, of course,
where China crushed a rebellion earlier this spring. Ditto for the
jailing of political dissidents and the muzzling of parents who lost
children during last May's earthquake. "Internal affairs," all.

If you really believe that, go ahead and watch the Olympics. But if
you think that people should have the same human rights, no matter
where they happen to live, then it's incumbent upon you to look away
when the Games come on. The People's Boycott will face objections, of
course. I can already predict five of them:

1. The Olympics shouldn't be "political." That's like saying
unmarried men shouldn't be bachelors. The Olympics have always been
political. They were political in 1936, when Adolf Hitler used the
Games to burnish his international standing; in 1968, when two
African American medal-winners raised their fists in a black power
salute; in 1972, when Palestinian terrorists murdered 11 Israeli
athletes; and in 1980, when 60 nations boycotted the Moscow Olympics
to protest the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. One of those
nations was - you guessed it - the People's Republic of China.

2. Protesting the Olympics reflects "anti-Chinese" bigotry. No, it
doesn't. It's a critique of the Chinese government, not of its
citizenry. I have written hundreds of columns questioning the
American government's behavior, in Iraq and elsewhere, and but that
doesn't mean I'm "anti-American." So why does a demand for an Olympic
boycott make me "anti-Chinese"?

3. The United States commits its own human-rights abuses, in Iraq and
elsewhere. Like I said, I'm no friend of the war in Iraq. But I'm
also free to tell you that, in print and in person, without fear of
government goons harassing me or my family. Chinese dissidents aren't so lucky.

4. The People's Boycott will penalize hard-working athletes. That was
the best argument I have heard against a true Olympic boycott: if a
country withheld its athletes, their toil and preparation would go
for naught. Now that all of the nations are participating, however,
it's hard to see how turning off your television set will harm
Olympic competitors. They'll still get to play, but they'll also get
put on notice that lots of people object.

5. The People's Boycott won't make a difference. Maybe not this year.
But down the road, it will. After all, NBC bid nearly $900 million to
broadcast the Beijing Games. If its TV ratings suffer, you can bet
that the International Olympic Committee - which derives the bulk of
its revenue from broadcast fees - will think twice before awarding
the Games to another dictatorial government.

And remember: Whether you watch the Olympics or not, your children
will be watching you. One day, people will read about the Beijing
Games and ask how the world could possibly have played along. Your
kids will have a ready answer: We didn't. And they'll be proud of it, too.

Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor of history and education at New York
University, is the author of "Small Wonder: The Little Red
Schoolhouse in History and Memory," forthcoming from Yale University Press.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Tutu and Havel urge athletes to speak up

2008-08-01T08:44:10Z

Tutu, Havel urge athletes to speak up at Games
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Reuters
July 31, 2008

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech ex-president Vaclav Havel and Nobel Peace
Prize winner Desmond Tutu called on Olympic athletes on Thursday to
speak up on human rights in China during the Beijing Olympics next month.

Havel, a human rights campaigner jailed by Communist rulers before
their government fell in 1989, and the South African Archbishop Tutu
said in an open letter the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
should let athletes know about the suppression of liberties in China.

"It is necessary for all Olympians to be able to learn about the real
situation in China and to point out human rights violations freely
whenever and wherever, in line with their conscience," the letter said.

"We call on the International Olympic Committee to make that possible."

Beijing has drawn criticism from international rights groups for acts
such as the arrest of a prominent dissident and the censorship of
some websites, and scrutiny of its foreign policy and rights records
is mounting ahead of the August 8-24 Games.

The IOC has worked hard to keep Games-linked events and ceremonies as
politics-free as possible.

But athletes should speak out and the IOC should allow them to, said
the letter, also signed by Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng and
European Parliament Vice-President Edward McMillan-Scott.

"To speak of the conditions of human rights ... cannot be in
violation of the Olympic Charter," the letter said.

"To speak of human rights is not politics; only authoritarian and
totalitarian regimes try to make it so. To speak of human rights is a duty."

Havel irked the Chinese government on several occasions during his
1989-2003 tenure as president, mainly through his personal friendship
with the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Lithuanian president to boycott Olympics

2008-07-31T22:21:09Z

Boycotting the Olympics
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Baltic Times, Latvia
Jul 30, 2008
In cooperation with BNS

VILNIUS -- Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus has decided not to go
to the Beijing Summer Olympic Games 2008, announced his press service.

According to the press release, the Lithuanian Head-of-State will not
take part in the opening of the Olympic Games, however plans to
attend the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) this fall.

The release notes that Adamkus wishes the greatest of luck to the
Lithuanian athletes and plans on be active in rooting for their success.

Having noted that hosting the Olympic Games is a great honor and
responsibility for any country, as it thus becomes committed to
maintain and respect the spirit and principles of the Olympics,
Adamkus wished China the best of luck in organizing this global athletic event.

The Lithuanian Head-of-State also hopes that the Olympic Games will
help the world to become more familiar with China's rich history,
culture and people, and China's opening up to the world and the
dialogue and progress currently in development will be successfully
continued after the games as well.

As the president decided against going to Beijing, the country's
Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas will be the highest-ranking
Lithuanian official present in the Olympic Games. The prime minister
will be visiting in China together with his wife August 17-25th.

Worldwide prompts for boycotting the Beijing Olympic Games spread
following actions taken by the Chinese government to suppress unrest
that broke out this spring in Tibet. A non-formal freedom for Tibet
support group operating in Lithuania has also made analogous
exhortations many a time and went on to gather signatures of over
3,000 inhabitants in favor of the initiative.

Mass protests against China's rule in Tibet broke out in March.
Encounters between Tibetans and Chinese police as well as army units
were reported, claiming human lives. Protests in Tibet's capital
Lhasa turned into riots and later extended to neighboring regions of
China with a large population of Tibetans.

Lithuania and other members of the European Union (EU) have stated
concern over the unrest in Tibet, speaking for peaceful regulation of
the relations between the Chinese administration and Tibetan
spiritual leader Dalai Lama.

The president's decision not to attend the opening of the Olympic
Games in Beijing is the only possible political move to draw the
attention to the Tibet issue, says Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas.

"I see the president's move as a certain political move of support to
Tibet's independence aspiration. The president is not attending the
opening ceremony, and participation in the Olympic Games in general
is an entirely different thing. I am a guest invited by the
International Olympic Committee and I intend to be there to support
our athletes," the vacationing prime minister said.

In an interview to BNS, the prime minister restated that the essence
of Olympic Games is that "people set aside conflicts and wars."

"I believe sports and politics should not be confused. However, on
the other hand, non-participation in the Opening Ceremony of the
Olympic Games is the only possible move to draw the attention to
Tibetan problems," said Kirkilas.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Chinese to purge Tibetan monasteries

2008-07-31T22:06:02Z

New measures reveal government plan to purge monasteries and
restrict Buddhist practice
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ICT Report
July 30, 2008

Sweeping new measures introduced in Kardze to purge monasteries of
monks and restrict religious practice in the wake of protests across
the plateau reveal a systematic new attack on Tibetan Buddhism that
is reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution. The new measures, which
will apply to hundreds of monasteries, strike at the heart of Tibetan
religious identity at a time of unprecedented tension on the plateau
and are likely to create further resentment among the Tibetan people.

According to the new measures, specified in an official document from
Kardze (Chinese: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan
province (the Tibetan area of Kham):

* Monks who express dissent or refuse to 'conform' can be expelled
and their residence demolished

* Tulkus (reincarnate lamas) could be 'stripped of the right to hold
the incarnation lineage' if they communicate with foreigners or
engage in protests against the Chinese authorities - a measure that
is consistent with an earlier ruling that all reincarnate lamas must
have the approval of the Chinese government

* Buddhist practice will be suspended in monasteries where a specific
percentage of monks have engaged in protest or dissent

* Senior religious teachers could face public 'rectification' or
imprisonment if they are shown to have even 'tolerated' peaceful
protest activity

The document, dated June 28 and published in Tibetan on an official
website1, has been translated into English by ICT below. Published
under the name of the head of Kardze prefecture, Li Zhangping, the
measures are aimed at "dealing clearly with participants in illegal
activities aimed at inciting the division of nationalities, such as
shouting reactionary slogans, distributing reactionary writings,
flying and popularising the 'snow lion flag' and holding illegal
demonstrations".

The measures have disturbing implications for the lives of monks and
nuns in Tibet, and represent a further attempt by the Chinese
authorities to seriously weaken the institution of Tibetan Buddhism.
They emerge from the authorities' position of equating any expression
of Tibetan identity with 'separatism', which has stifled debate, led
to a climate of fear, and created a serious threat to the survival of
Tibetan culture and religion.

Hundreds of Tibetans, including monks, nuns and laypeople, have been
imprisoned in Kardze in the last few months for peaceful protests
against Chinese rule since demonstrations began across the Tibetan
plateau on March 10, the anniversary of the Lhasa Uprising in 1959.
Tibetans in Kardze are known for their strong sense of Tibetan
identity and nationalism; hardline Chinese campaigns against the
Dalai Lama and economic policies that have led to the loss of their
land and livelihoods as well as the extraction of minerals by Chinese
prospectors have caused deep resentment in the region. Monks and nuns
in Kardze led a second wave of protests in the last few weeks
demonstrating against the severe implementation of 'patriotic
education' in religious institutions, which requires monks and nuns
to denounce the Dalai Lama. Many nuns in Kardze were also detained
for protesting against the brutal treatment of other Tibetans in
custody since March.

Kardze, one of 18 counties in the prefecture, has been the site of
more known political detentions of Tibetans by Chinese authorities
than any other county outside the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) since
the late 1980s, according to an authoritative database maintained by
the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (http://www.cecc.gov).

Entitled 'Measures for dealing strictly with rebellious monasteries
and individual monks and nuns (An order from the Peoples Government
of Kandze TAP no.2),' the new measures issued by the prefectural
government describe how monasteries with "10%-30% of monks or nuns
participating in disturbances" will be systematically "sealed off,
searched, suspect persons detained according to law and any banned
items they have hidden handed over (to the authorities). All
religious activities will be suspended, inmates will be prohibited
from leaving the premises, and they will be cleaned up and rectified
in the proper manner."

In an edict reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution, the ruling states
that the rooms of monks and nuns who refuse to be registered or who
do not conform to the demands of political education will be
demolished, and the monks and nuns expelled: "Monks and nuns
returning to the monastery who cannot give a clear reason for having
gone outside, who cannot make a clear stand with respect to the
unification of the Motherland and rejection of the separation of
nationalities will be expelled, and their cells demolished."

The Kardze document also places a strong emphasis on the public
'rectification' of senior lamas and religious figures, and states
that those "who fail to make their attitude clear or take a two-faced
stance will not only be strictly warned, but will have to give a
detailed examination of their behaviour in front of a general
assembly of the monastic community, and a written guarantee, and the
giving of this examination and written guarantee will be shown
repeatedly in newspapers and on television."

The new official measures also state that reincarnate lamas (tulkus)
can be "stripped of the right to hold the incarnation lineage" and
will be "severely punished by the law" if they attempt to communicate
information about what is happening in their monastery outside, or
participate in protests or "tolerate them." This ruling appears to
follow from, and is consistent with, earlier controversial measures
introduced in September 2007, 'Management measures for the
reincarnation of living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism, which give the
Chinese authorities final oversight over the selection process for
reincarnate lamas.' (See: 'New measures on reincarnation reveal
Party's objectives of political control,' ICT, April 15, 2007.) This
new edict in Kardze means that not only can the Chinese state, that
promotes atheism, approve or reject a candidate to be a reincarnate
lama, but the government can also withdraw the title.

Like these earlier measures, the new edict is deliberately targeted
at one of the core belief systems of Tibetan Buddhism, revealing the
Party's agenda to undermine and supplant the Tibetan religious
hierarchy and weaken the authority of legitimate Tibetan religious
leaders including the Dalai Lama.

A translation of the ruling follows below.

**************************
Measures for dealing strictly with rebellious monasteries and
individual monks and nuns
Order from the People's Government of Ganzi TAP, No. 2
These measures were decided by the third work meeting of the standing
committee of the prefecture Peoples Government and are effective from
the day of their promulgation.

Head of prefecture: Li Zhangping, June 28, 2008.

In order to defend social stability, socialist law and the basic
interests of the people, the measures listed below have been
resolutely drafted for dealing clearly with participants in illegal
activities aimed at inciting the division of nationalities, such as
shouting reactionary slogans, distributing reactionary writings,
flying and popularizing the "snow lion flag" and holding illegal
demonstrations are listed below.

One: Dealing strictly with monk and nun troublemakers.

1) In cases where those who have committed minor offences, show a
good attitude in admitting their mistakes and submit a written
statement of guilt, their head of household should be guarantor (that
they commit no further offence), should keep them inside and ensure
that they strictly follow re-education.

2) Those whose offences are greater but who are ready to admit them
should, after undergoing re-education, make a sincere confession of
guilt, give a voluntary account of the main points in their case and
submit a written statement of guilt. Until they have done so, they
will be held in custody doing re-education.

3) Those guilty of serious offences who show a stubborn attitude will
be counselled strictly, given a warning, stripped of their rights as
religious practitioners and expelled from their monasteries, and held
in custody doing re-education.

4) Those involved in instigating splittism and disturbances, hatching
conspiracies, forming organisations and taking a leading role will
not only be strictly punished according to law, but will have their
rights as religious practitioners annulled, be expelled from their
monasteries, and henceforth not be able to serve as religious
practitioners, no monastery will be allowed to take them in, and
should they do so, the heads of that monastery's management
committee2 will be held responsible for supporting and harboring
splittists and dealt with severely.

Two: Dealing strictly with troublemaking monasteries.

5) Those monasteries with 10%-30% of monks or nuns3 participating in
disturbances will be sealed off, searched, suspect persons detained
according to law and any banned items they have hidden shall be
confiscated. All religious activities will be suspended, inmates will
be prohibited from leaving the premises, and they will be cleaned up
and rectified in the proper manner.

6) Monastery management committees with officials participating in
disturbances will be rectified in a timely manner, and in cases where
an overt incident has occurred, or where there are no suitable
personnel available, the local government will depute officials to
assume control of management. During the period of cleansing and
rectification, the monastery's financial control and all other
management functions will be suspended.

7) During the period of rectification, those monks or nuns who do not
assist the work of the committee, who do not agree to be registered
and photographed, who leave the monastery premises as they please and
refuse to correct themselves despite repeated reeducation, will be
completely expelled from the monastery, will have their rights as
religious practitioners annulled, will be sent back to their native
places, and their residential cells will be demolished. Monks and
nuns returning to the monastery who cannot give a clear reason for
having gone outside, who cannot make a clear stand with respect to
the unification of the Motherland and rejection of the separation of
nationalities will be expelled, and their cells demolished.

8) Monks and nuns at monasteries involved in disturbances must
re-register, and their cells in the monastery must be collectively
numbered. The limit on the number of monks or nuns allowed to join
the monastery must be reduced in accordance with the number who
participated in the disturbances and the number expelled. Monks and
nuns who continue to profess splittism, who covertly assist or
participate in disturbances, or refuse to comply with reeducation
will be expelled.

9) The management committees of monasteries that do not improve
following rectification, where monks and nuns go out again and make
trouble, will be investigated, and in due course, according to law,
they will be removed from the list of registered religious
institutions and closed down.

Three: Strict checking that the management committees fulfill their
responsibilities.

10) Monks, Tulkus, Khenpos,4 Geshes5 and so on in the management
committees of monasteries that, although not directly involved in
disturbances, do not take a clear stand on the issue, do not fulfill
their management responsibilities, are lax or implicated in instances
of poor management, or fail to investigate and discipline monks and
nuns who go outside and participate in disturbances must be subjected
to careful scrutiny of their mistakes while undergoing criticism and
re-education.

11) Management committee officials, Tulkus, Khenpos and Geshes who
fail to make their attitude clear or take a two-faced stance will not
only be strictly warned, but will be submitted to a detailed
examination of their behavior in front of a general assembly of the
monastic community, and obliged to give a written guarantee, and the
giving of this examination and written guarantee will be shown
repeatedly in newspapers and on television.

12) Management committee officials, Tulkus, Khenpos and Geshes who
send secret reports or collude with foreign separatists, assist in
disturbances, tolerate them, or incite others will be severely
punished by law. In accordance with legal provisions, their political
right of participation in government bodies, People's Congresses,
People's Political Consultative Conferences and Buddhist Associations
will be annulled, and all salaries paid for the performance of such
various functions terminated. They will not be allowed to participate
in religious activities with the rights of religious practitioners,
and in the case of Tulkus, they will be stripped of the right to hold
the incarnation lineage, and simultaneously the finances and
financial management of monasteries under their control will be
frozen and inspected, all instances of misappropriation of monastery
funds or financial management contravening the regulations will be
examined and dealt with according to law, as well as broadcast in
prefectural newspapers and on television.

*********
Footnotes
1. http://zw.tibet.cn/news/xz_news/ttxw/200807/t20080718_413324.htm
2. This is a reference to Democratic Management Committees that run
monasteries, which are composed of monks and nuns who have ostensibly
been elected by other members of the monastic community, although
their appointment needs to be approved by local government officials.
DMCs are expected to serve the interests of the government and not
those of the monastery or nunnery's population; the system is
intended to supplant the traditional hierarchical layers of authority
in Tibetan religious institutions.
3. The wording of this figure is unclear in the original Tibetan, and
could possibly be referring to 10-30 monks, as opposed to 10-30% of monks
4. The title of a religious teacher
5. Also the title of a religious teacher; a Geshe degree is the most
advanced level of scholarship possible in the Gelugpa school of
Tibetan Buddhism, typically requiring 20 years of intense study

This report can be found online at
http://savetibet.org/news/newsitem.php?id=1341

Press contact:
Kate Saunders
Communications Director, ICT
Tel: +44 7947 138612
email: press@savetibet.org

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Woeser: Banning Tibet

2008-07-31T21:58:15Z

Woeser: Banning Tibet
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Woeser on how China closed a country
Woeser
The New Statesman
July 31, 2008

A great cry, a noise that can be produced only by those who live in
the grasslands, sounded from the Tibetan lands in March 2008,
shocking the world. The Chinese media called it "the wolf howling".

When the Olympic torch passed through Lhasa, Tibetans were not
allowed to leave their homes unless they had special passes. My
friends in Lhasa wondered: "If Chinese citizens can watch the torch
when it passes through other cities, why can't we? Are we not
citizens of this country?"

Many monks have disappeared. Where are the thousands who were in the
three major monasteries in Lhasa? Where are my two young monk
friends? Last year I saw pictures of the Dalai Lama in their quiet
dormitory, filled with scents of monastery incense. Some say that
more than a thousand monks are locked up as "terrorists" in the Gobi
Desert in Golmud, Qinghai - the Guantanamo of China - and will not be
released until after the Olympics.

Buddhist ceremonies have been cancelled because the authorities fear
gatherings of monks and devotees. Many annual folk festivals have
been called off, too. When the Torch reached Qinghai, Tibetans around
Qinghai Lake were banned from worshipping mountain gods and racing
horses. The traditional layi song festival of the farming communities
of Amdo, originally scheduled for the end of July, was banned. The
Kampa Litang Horse Festival is not exempt either.

"I suppose the Olympic Games are just like our horse festival," said
a tall Kampa man, when I was visiting the area. "But we won't have a
horse festival this year."

More troops have been deployed to the Tibetan areas in Gansu and
Sichuan provinces. Roadblocks and military police are seen
everywhere. In Ganzi County alone, there are more than 70,000
soldiers - far more than the troops sent to suppress the Tibetan
rebellion in 1959. More than 10,000 soldiers have set up camp in Maqu
County, the same number as the local population. In Lhasa, everyone
must pass a loyalty test in the campaign to clean up in the aftermath
of the unrest in March. The Olympics are meaningless to Tibetans there.

Then there are the thousands of Tibetans in Beijing. Tibetan college
students have been told to go home this summer, while students at
Tibetan schools are not allowed to leave the school premises. The
Tibetan Studies Centre has given its staff a rare long holiday: even
those we call "Tibetans hired by the imperial court", meaning those
on the government payroll, are not trusted. A Tibetan tour guide who
I know was detained for a month, with no explanation whatsoever from
the police.

A Tibetan artist friend was interrogated for a day because Buddhist
scripture in Tibetan was found in his painting. My good friend Dechen
Pemba, an ethnic Tibetan who was born in London and has been studying
and working in Beijing, was deported back to the UK for reasons that
were never fully explained.

As for me, if I stay in Beijing during the Olympics, I expect to be
put under house arrest. So, should I go back to Lhasa? Friends and
relatives there tell me: "You'd better wait until after the Olympics."

Translated from the Chinese by Bessie Du.

Woeser is a Tibetan writer based in Beijing. Her blog The Middle Way
is frequently blocked and her books are banned in China

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Games won't change China's repressive ways

2008-07-28T21:14:58Z

Games won't change China's repressive ways
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Gazette (Canada)
July 28, 2008

Montreal -- These must be trying times for the aging autocrats who
rule China, as they prepare their nation for an invasion they
invited. More than 10,000 athletes from around the world will soon
arrive in Beijing - some are already there - for the 2008 summer
Olympics, bringing in their wake a media army several times that
size. It's a prospect intimidating enough to make the sternest
apparatchik pause and wonder if this was such a good idea after all.

But with the tone-deaf thoroughness shared by the masters of most
oppressive regimes, China's leaders are making frantic efforts to
assure that nothing goes wrong to mar their nation's moment in the
sun. And as so often happens in these cases, the more they flail
about, the worse they make things.

The regime in Beijing has already broken many of the promises it made
to the International Olympic Committee to win these the Games. Its
notion of enhancing human rights, for example, appears to consist of
setting up a couple of carefully monitored "protest pens" far from
the Games venues, where dissidents (properly licensed, of course)
will be able to air their views - as long as they don't talk about
Tibet or Darfur, that is.

In fact, according to many observers, the approach of the Games has
brought out the worst in Beijing's officials. Security officials have
been busily rounding up what they consider to be the more troublesome
dissidents and warning them to leave town until after the foreign
hordes have left. They've also clamped down on visas, to keep
international human-rights activists - or "foreign agitators," if you
prefer - from stirring things up.

Higher up the food chain, a little bullying seems to have made some
world leaders reconsider their threats not to show up for the opening
ceremonies. A "skip France" campaign, for example, which reduced
Chinese visitors to that country to a trickle, might have had
something to do with President Nicolas Sarkozy's backing down on
linking his attendance to improved human rights in Tibet.

The Games will, no doubt be dazzling - a tribute to the Chinese
people if not to their regime. And Chinese athletes will probably do
very well. Autocracies are often adept at producing squads of elite
athletes in short order.

But don't be fooled by the glitter. Despite its idealistic claims,
the Olympics will come and go, leaving behind no visible mark on the
shameful human-rights record that damages the world's perception of
China so severely and so persistently.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Free Tibet, say Australian Olympians

2008-07-28T21:06:41Z

Free Tibet, say Australian Olympians
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Herald Sun (Australia)
July 28, 2008

A LARGE chunk of Australia's Olympic team will enter Beijing opposed
to its occupation of Tibet.

More than one-third of athletes in the team - 35 of the 100 polled -
declared that they wanted China to withdraw from the strife-torn home
of the Dalai Lama.

Tibet has been a huge talking point among athletes in the wake of
riots and a ruthless response by Chinese authorities this year.

Tour de France cyclist Cadel Evans, perhaps now the most famous
Australian Olympian to compete at the Beijing Games - triggered world
headlines when he wore a Free Tibet T-shirt during a race in Belgium
earlier this year.

Evans recently repeated his show of support for the Tibetan cause,
wearing a Free Tibet T-shirt under the prestigious yellow jersey
preserved for leaders of the Tour de France, during stage 15 of this
year's race.

The International Olympic Committee has toughened its interpretation
of the Olympic Charter for Beijing, adding a clause banning
demonstrations or political, religious or racial propaganda.

The Chinese have been extremely sensitive about any form of Tibetan
protest, and they have banned any demonstrations on the issue.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Dharma of Political Action

2008-07-25T21:16:54Z

See: http://thetibetconnection.org/dharmaofpolitics.html

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Hidden Cost of China's Olympic Gold

2008-07-25T21:15:44Z

The Hidden Cost Behind China's Olympic Gold
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
By Hua Ming
The Epoch Times
July 24, 2008

As the Beijing Olympics approaches, Chinese people hope that their
country will out do the U.S. in gold medals. According to recent
reports, China is gradually becoming the top sports country in the
world -- China is to surpass the U.S. in gold medal totals to be the
top gold medal winner in the world.

At the Athens Olympics four years ago, the Chinese Olympics
Delegation won 32 gold, 17 silver and 14 bronze medals; it was only
second to US, which had won 35 gold metals. For the forthcoming
Beijing Olympics, where expectations see China winning the majority
of all medal totals, the Chinese Olympic Delegation will send nearly
600 athletes, far exceeding 407, the number of athletes sent to Athens.

While these statistics may be exciting for the Chinese people, many
may not have considered how a country that is ranked around 100th in
the world for GDP per person can win over the U.S. -- ranking in the
top 10 countries for GDP -- to become the top sports nation in gold
metal totals. Especially for a country that still has more than 200
million living below the poverty line, some believe China's
anticipated high medal ranking represents a poor allocation of resources.

How Much for a Gold Medal?

Prior to Athens Olympic Games, an Internet article in China became
extremely popular. In "The Trap of Olympic Gold Medal," the author
exhibited astounding numbers. After the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games,
the budget for the China Sports Bureau raised from three billion yuan
($USD 439 million) to five billion yuan ($732 million) per year.
During the four years of preparation for the Athens Olympics, China
spent 20 billion yuan ($3 billion), but the expense earned China 32
gold medals, making the cost for each gold medal nearly 700 million
yuan ($102 million). Due to this high price for Olympic glory, China'
gold medals have been called "The most expensive gold medals in the world."

To put this in perspective, the article points out that the 700
million yuan used to win one Olympic gold medal can build 3500
elementary schools, rescuing 350,000 children from poverty due to
lack of education.

Such a contrast is shocking. In a country where the budget for
education, science, research and social security is extremely tight,
many believe the 700 million yuan to win one gold medal could be
better spent. Like an exploding bomb, "The Trap of Olympic Gold
Medal" received an enormous response from across Chinese society. Of
course while gold medals are something people look forward to, some
are beginning to think that the cost is too high.

Funded by a Billion Taxpayers

Although the General Administration of Sports of China never
publicized all the numbers invested in preparation of Olympic Games,
Bao Mingxiao, Head of Center for Sports and Social Science Research
under the Administration estimated that the country invests
approximately four to five million yuan ($590,000–$730,000) on one
Olympic athlete. Assuming there are 400 athletes in China's Olympic
Delegation, the total cost is between 1.6 to 2.0 billion yuan ($234
million to $292 million). Convert the investment for each gold medal
based on the 32 won in the last Olympics, and the cost for one gold
medal is 500-600 million yuan ($73 million to $87 million).

Chinese track star Liu Xiang won a 110-meter hurdle at the Athens
Olympics. Before this, his annual expense was about three million
yuan, which included an environmentally-friendly running course for
over a million yuan and several hundred thousand yuan for a new set
of hurdles. The amount China spent on Liu Xiang could equal several
hundreds even thousands of Elementary Schools of Hope—charity schools
for kids in poor areas of China.

Wu Shouzhang, vice chairman of China's Olympic Committee commented
that the total cost for this endeavor is very difficult to calculate.
He adds that, besides Liu, there are also medical doctors,
scientists, nutritionists, field workers, document workers, as well
as early investments made by Shanghai, Liu's home city.

According to the "Report on China's Olympic Gold Medal" issued by the
China Branding Research Institute, the commercial value for Liu
Xiang's gold metal was worth 461 million yuan ($67.5 million) last year.

Weighing Priorities: Gold Medals or People's Livelihood?

How do people feel about a country with a per capita GDP ranked more
than 100 in the world striving to become a sports superpower? "If we
become number one in the world, how can we speak of our pride?"
lamented one Internet user. "Can we say to the people, whose basic
freedoms cannot even be guaranteed, that we are number one in the
world? Can we say to the tens of thousands of migrant workers, who
have to work over ten hours a day all year round, yet cannot even
have their salary guaranteed, that we are number one in the world?"

This Internet user believes that a huge number of gold medals
represent "a diseased inverted pyramid type of sport system. It has
nothing to do with the sporting achievements enjoyed by common
people. Primary and junior high schools at basic level cannot even
provide students any fields for athletics. Sporting facilities for
the masses are almost nonexistent in the countryside."

Renowned Taiwanese writer Lung Ying-tai questioned how China gained
its 32 gold medals. She found that the country used a huge amount of
taxpayer money to set up sport schools at various levels. In
comparison, with other sports superpowers such as the U.S., Germany,
and Japan, the majority of their achievements are display of the
results from across the entire population.

China's situation is just the reverse. There are many sports venues,
but they are not open to general public. Rather they are only
reserved for a few specific people. China has an amazing sports
budget, but it doesn't go to national athletic programs. Instead it
is used to train a few medal winning stars. Western countries use
competitions to encourage athletic excellence for all, and to improve
citizens' health. In China, competitions are for publicizing Chinese
regime's prestige to the outside world. They seem to have little
interest in promoting the health of its citizens.

So does the Chinese regime believe that gold medals are more
important or people's livelihood? "We've been asking this question
for some time," say human rights activists, "and the consideration
has those who see the truth demanding: 'Human Rights before Olympics'!"

Olympic Projects: A Source for Corruption

Moreover, many Chinese officials spent large portion of public funds
to inspect abroad in the name of the Olympics. The audit storm in
2004 exposed the scandal of General Administration of Sports of China
appropriating Olympic special funds to build houses. Hence some
Internet users exclaimed, "Olympics, Olympics, how many corruptions
are undertaken in your name!"

According to an Associated Press report, Beijing Vice-mayor Liu
Zhihua -- who oversaw the Olympic construction projects costing 280
billion yuan ($US 41 billion) -- was under investigation for
corruption. He was dismissed in June 2006.

Observers point out that Liu had an opportunity to gain a large
amount of ill-gotten gains just before and right after Olympic
construction began. The bidding process alone could make him very rich.

China's Olympic project is a major endeavor overseen by the Chinese
regime. This authoritarian regime does not allow independent
judiciary or media supervision, so power monopolization and
behind-the-scenes deals are common. Without freedom of the press and
media supervision, the oversight is Chinese communist's own
anti-corruption system. In such a situation, embezzlement is common.
In reality, no one can know just how much Chinese taxpayers have paid
for a single gold medal. Yet one thing is certain: while these gold
medals give prosperity to corrupt officials and a few elite athletes,
the Chinese people who paid for them will not benefit from it at all.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Derby Creek Co-working co-operative looking for Bodhisattvas

2008-07-25T16:52:19Z

Hello!
I am starting a co-working co-operative in Berkeley. I was tired of trying to work over 40 hours a week from my bedroom and Peete's coffee. Please let me know if you want to be part of this project. Let me know what you do and your work space needs. peace!

Derby Creek Co-working Co-operative
6601 Telegraph St. jerlina@berkeley.edu

The Derby Creek Co-Working Co-operative is a co-working space, a space shared by a number of people to pool workplace resources such as internet connections, while retaining the amenities of working from home or a coffee shop. Members of Derby Creek are graduate students, freelancers, consultants, artists, and other independent types preferring flexible workplace conditions. Co-working is an incredibly new and popular way to work and this will be the first co-operative co-working group in the world.

Why chose Derby Creek over working at a café?

We believe that you deserve to have a work environment that is quiet, clean, comfortable but also communal and anti-consumer! At Derby Creek you can feel comfortable hanging out for hours and bringing your own food. You can also feel relief in knowing that there will always be a place available for you to sit and an outlet for you to plug into. You might even enjoy becoming part of a community of people who also work independently in your neighborhood.

Facilities-
* Shared open table layout, can accommodate 15+ people
* WiFi
* Unlimited tea, coffee and snacks
* Full kitchen w/ refrigerator for co-workers
* Desk lamps, power outlets
* Lockers to store your stuff
* Numerous public transportation options: AC Transit 1 and 1R Express
* Easy street parking
* Two blocks away from Whole Foods
* Across the street from the White Horse Bar
* 5-10 minute bike ride to UC Berkeley Campus

6601 Telegraph is between Down at Lulu’s Vintage Boutique and the White Horse Bar, the corner of Telegraph and 66th st. We are two blocks away from Whole Foods and one block away from the Book Zoo and Café Colucci. You can catch the bus across the street to UC Berkeley campus or ride your bike. We are also in walking or biking distance to the Elmwood shopping district.

As a co-operative we will communally manage the facilities and finances. This will be our autonomous zone where we create the best work environment on the planet!

Hours-
For the first few months we will have limited hours. We’ll be open 7 days a week 10am-10pm. As membership increases so will our hours.

Rates-
Join us for only $150 a month (work trade available). Not ready for a commitment? Drop-ins are welcome, donations of $5-10 a day are welcome.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Web desingers?

2008-06-24T10:10:35Z

Im just putting the word out. I am working on an activist media and organizational project and am looking for a web designer who would be willing to donate some time or work for an affordable price.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Sacred Sculpture Course

2008-06-15T03:38:18Z

Hi! I am new to the tribe so I wanted to introduce myself and ask a question.

I am very interested in Engaged Buddhism. I have spent some time at Deer Park Monastery, learning Thich Nhat Hahn's philosophy, and I regularly study with a Tibetan Buddhist teacher from the Sakya school.

I have been doing figure sculptures for a few years now and I am interested in learning the symbolism and technique involved in some of the beautiful sacred sculptural figures and objects I have come in contact with.

I am looking for a course that might offer some hands on work in this area.

I have found courses in mandala painting and Thangka painting but nothing in this area (except for one basic sculpture course at Naropa Institute).

Something in the Southern California area would be bonus.

Any information is greatly appreciated.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

A brief talk by Joan Halifax Roshi

2008-06-15T02:19:08Z

Hi friends,
just to share with you a brief talk given at the Lensic Theater in Santa Fe on May 25, by Joan Halifax Roshi, Buddhist teacher, Zen priest, anthropologist, and author. She is Founder, Abbot, and Head Teacher of Upaya Zen Center, a Buddhist monastery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is Director of the Project on Being with Dying. A Founding Teacher of the Zen Peacemaker Order, her work and practice for more than three decades has focused on engaged Buddhism:
http://www.futureprimitive.org/

Warm regards
Zorro

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Re: New AFFIRMATION, nothing like a "Mantra". Also not particularly Buddhist. "God is YOUR business. Karma is MY business."

2008-06-14T01:01:50Z

Re Angel-face on tribe Bodhisattva:
I've been developing this for some time and it is working, so I share it with you:
"God now provides us with lives we love living."

KT responds:
That is an English phrase, an affirmation. It is not Sanskrit, and it is neither Hindu, nor Buddhist.
It is a personal thought, not a lineage teaching from a guru.
There is no deity associated with this supposed mantra, nor is there a sacred text, nor is there established lineage.

Guru Sakyamuni Buddha publically rejected the belief in a creator deity as contrary to the law of karma and the pursuit of spiritual liberation. Just so you know. The Dalai Lama has done the same, many many times. Ever hear of these teachers?

Also. you have failed to specify which God. A Celtic God? A Hindu God, like Krishna? One of the Voodoo gods? A Taoist God?
ROTFL!

Thanks for offering us an obviously non-Buddhist non-mantra as a mantra in a Mahayana Buddhist tribe.
The response clearly shows that numerous somewhat Buddhist people here have no idea at all what a mantra is, Buddhist or Hindu!

I have published numerous teachings for tribe regarding Medicine Buddha, Manjusri, and Vajrasattva practice.
You can see a basic teaching on Vajrasattva mantra at my tribe home under the photo for "100 syllable mantra".

As the Dalai Lama reportedly said to the Bishops and Cardinals at the Vatican many years ago:
"God is YOUR business. Karma is MY business."

OM MANI PADMA HUM.

KT, an engaged classical Mahayanist

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Desire is not the Problem, Dualistic Identity Is

2008-06-05T22:32:09Z

Desire is not the Problem, Dualistic Identity Is

Excerpts from Troma Rigtsal Rinpoche’s upcoming book,
MahaSiddha Buddhism

Seemingly never-ending, unrelenting, seductive, distracting, debilitating; oh, the ebb and flow of Desire. Rumors abound that only the most realized, hard-core, radical, fanatical, warrior-hero Buddhists could ever dare work with it. But is Desire really such a problem? Desire is the radiance of Buddha-nature, our wakefulness to the sparkling, sacred qualities of existence. We glow with it. Our world is lit up when we are in it. In the surge of desire, we feel alive, tantalized and joyous. How then could it go so wrong at times? How then could it gain the reputation as being the bane of a Buddhist’s existence? To understand the answer, we must venture into the understanding of dualism and non-duality, the heart of the MahaSiddha’s Buddhism. The fundamental teaching is that most people live their lives in a state of dissatisfaction (dukha) caused by misperception of what we are. When we misperceive our own mind, we misperceive others, our world and all of reality. And in this misperception we find awkwardness and dissatisfaction at best.

Mistaken Identity

Imagine if you thought you were a tuba - imagine how this would complicate your life. People would try to feed you and you’d think, “tubas do not need food.” So you would not eat. Your lover would try to kiss you and as soon as their lips hit your “mouthpiece” you would blare out with your loud, low tuba sounds. Of course, this would make relationships difficult. Misunderstanding what we are is a serious mistake.

If you thought you were a plum and you were really a banana, trying to be more purple and round, more plum, more tart - imagine the awkwardness. Perhaps you would tighten up, knotting up your insides to mimic a plum’s seed and cover up how soft your long, white belly really was. You might try to act more like a plum and avoid expressing those embarrassing banana sentiments. Meanwhile, with all your efforts to be a plum, you might be plagued with shame and confusion about your inability to completely hide your big yellow peel and feathery, white flesh. Our attempt to be the plum would only make our existence as a banana much more complicated than it needs to be. Misperceiving what we are is a grave error that causes us to fall into all kinds of dissatisfaction, confusion and even all out suffering. Our mistaken identity in dualism is as ill-fitting (dukha) as thinking we are a plum or a tuba. It is a subtle but serious mistake that distorts our every experience.

How Desire Could Be Twisted

Our capacity for enjoyment quickly fades and our desire becomes twisted if we manipulate it to prove we are something we’re not. For example, we may think it is imperative to be a plum and therefore we need to be more purple, plum-like and juicy to be satisfied. We believe the way to satisfaction is in being a plum. We start looking for what is missing. A mixture of desire and grasping arise in a tidal wave as we fantasize about our future as a plum. We realize we need purple pants to cover up our yellow peel. We long for those pants, we day-dream about them and invest time in finding the exact right pair. We try them on and think about how great it will feel to finally be a plum. Finally, we get the purple pants, squat and roll around and do everything we can to be a plum. But something is still missing. There is still a problem – but it isn’t desire that is the problem, nor is it the object of desire that is the problem. Purple pants are not problematic by nature. They are quite enjoyable unto themselves, they are what they are. It is only when we are trying to manipulate them to disguise what we really are that a problem arises. Purple pants cannot do that. Objects of desire cannot provide the fixed, “good” self that the dualistic habit pursues. Nothing can hide our banana-nature, so life gets very tedious and unsatisfying when we let desire get tangled up in our dualistic identity.

If we misperceive what we are, we misperceive everything else, including desire and the objects of desire. Then instead of having desire properly and fully, we confuse desire and attempt to manipulate it to serve our mistaken identity. The piece of chocolate is no longer just a piece of chocolate, it becomes a way of drugging ourselves so that we don’t have to face our own insecurity. It becomes a way to avoid emptiness, the open-ended, insecure nature of what we are. The chocolate fails to do this of course, thus that desire leads to frustration. So also, relationship fails to makes us feel secure. Work we have done fails to prove we are the “good” self. Everything we have desired only fails us when what we are really wanting is not the object of desire. When the hidden motivation is establishing some ideal Self, the objects of desire doesn’t provide it. That is dualism, forever disappointing. Trying to establish Self is a futile pursuit, since what we are is too open-ended to be captured in fixed form. That is the "me" project that brings us so much suffering as we attempt to establish an identity made up of dualistic fantasies. It is dualistic because it is form based, the Self we want to find is imagined to be some permanent, definite, secure Self, divided from the temporary, ambiguous, insecure reality of life.

Every person wants to be loved for “who they are,” what if we also loved the objects of desire in this way? What if we enjoyed things for what they really are; lacking the security or confirmation, temporary and ineffable; as empty as we are. All objects of desire give us no solid ground to stand on, and we don't have take issue with that. We can enjoy phenomena as is. Then desire is just simple minded delight. Nothing more, nothing less.

Contacting What We Are Directly

Meditation is a method for contacting what we are directly. We can observe and become intimate with what we are. We discover moments where we are not relying on reference points to deduce what we are. We have the direct experience. Our attempts to prove we are “good” or disprove that we are “bad” through referencing how we measure up to plum-ness, tuba-ness or dualism has less meaning. What we actually are becomes directly apparent. Then desire is what it is. No more, no less, it is as pure and innocent as primordial existence. We can want the cake and eat it too. There is nothing un-buddhist about that. We can enjoy the cake even more, because we can eat the cake without the confusion of trying to use the cake to take away our anxiety, or give us the happiness or confirmation. It is just cake. We eat it as it is, with the calories, pleasure and the vivid emptiness that pervades all forms.

Desire can be as enlightening as it could be poisonous. Like everything, it could be the opportunity for waking up or confusion, based on our understanding of our own mind. We have all heard about the monastic path of renouncing desire. Who couldn’t appreciate the potency in that? Most adults have followed desire into neurosis at one time or another, but it is not the only direction we could go with desire. We could be in it and find liberation. Desire will only ever point to the non-dual nature of things if we do not try to forge a Self with it.

The MahaSiddhas

"Know that desire and covetousness are Discriminating
Awareness - You will find fine sensory distinction in no
other place than a mind hungering for beautiful things,
wanting the whole world. Look into the intrinsic
freshness of your desire and there is boundless light!"
-Yeshe Tsogyal, Sky Dancer

Motivated by revenge a king tried to corrupt the MahaSiddha of the Bell, by sending a woman to seduce him. Instead of being corrupted by desire, he was enlightened. Within passion, desire, love and companionship, he found the final ingredient to go beyond ignorance. The MahaSiddha called the Glutton was not told to go on a diet. On the contrary, he was instructed to increase his appetite to extend to all phenomena. When desire is liberated from the confines of dualistic identity, it is a raw appreciation that connects us with the living energy of all things. If we set down our dualistic obsession with trying to be other than as we are, then Desire is not a problem. A banana can enjoy appreciating plums. A person can enjoy a tuba. We don’t need to renounce them, unless of course that is our cup of tea. We only need liberate our grasping at dualistic identity to enjoy our world with awareness.

Disclaimer: Buddhism is a tradition of methods for awakening. The Buddha introduced 84,000 different methods that may seem contradictory because of their differences, but are each appropriate according to the specific individuals and stages of the path for which they are intended. This article is written from the perspective of the Inner Tantras. It does not address the relationship with desire taken by renunciate or monastic practitioners who take a different view as a method for awakening.

all content © 2007 MahaSiddha Dharma
for more information visit www.MahaSiddhas.org

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 1 reply

on being inconsequential and/or too important

2008-05-30T13:46:08Z

I've been pondering about the duplicity of the notion of being inconsequential or too important depending on our conveniences-- a kind of cognitive dissonance.

For example:
In driving slowly, one may think ""it's just 10 miles above the limit.. it's not going to burn the earth; everyone else is driving fast, why should I slow down?"

Or in tribe, one may think nothing of insults to others, thinking “It's just silly games”; but if one gets insulted, one thinks more differently of insults.

I think there is great improvement to be had when one thinks of themselves as important without bias and equanimity--with great potential for benefit and for harm, like karma.

Any thoughts?

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 1 reply

buddhism is a PART of the "New Earth"~

2008-05-16T09:42:44Z

http://tribes.tribe.net/eckarttolle

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 4 replies

Are many Republicans Buddhist?

2008-05-14T15:54:10Z

I never thought about it.. but my personal biases tell me that there are not too many of them around..

what do you think?

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 9 replies

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... And Spring: My Mother's Day.

2008-05-13T08:05:06Z

Yesterday, I was gifted with this prayer, written by my oldest son:

[Prayer for Mother’s Day

Spirit of Life, Great Mother and Father of Many Names, You Who are Greater than Each of Us and Yet Reside Within Each of Us, be present to us today.

We recognize that today is Mother’s Day. It is a day that we come to with mixed feelings. For some of us it is a time to honor the person who gave us life, and who shaped our lives. We have gratitude for all of the ways our mothers have stood with us when we were alone. We have gratitude for the example some of our mothers have shown us. We have gratitude for all of the gifts that special person gave us without being asked.

For some of us, Mother’s Day is bittersweet. Many of our mothers have passed. We hold in memory the gifts that they gave us, and we hold in community one another’s grief. And we also recognize that, for some of us, Mothers Day does not bring positive feelings. So we hold in community one another’s pain.

Let us be together in our joys and sorrows. Let us celebrate the gifts that have been given us, and let us reflect on the ways that we can pass those gifts on to others. Spirit of Life, at this time we lean into your silence.

Amen.]

My middle child brought me brownies after we dined on pizza and salad.

And my daughter, tho working far away, text messaged me with a "Happy Mother's Day, I Love You."

A good day, despite the cold and rain that kept me from my daily walk.

David and I, then, spent the evening sipping wine over a movie called "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter.... and Spring." This little Buddhist film spoke to me of what Mother's Day is really about.... the great cycles of life. Including the painful choices any mother must make if she is to do her job well ... the decision to die, and to let her children go.

Here is a review that did the Korean film justice, I think: http://www.kfccinema.com/reviews/drama/sprinsummerfallwinter/springsumemrfallwinter.html
Pay no attention to the American reviewers of the "Sesame Street" generation who claim it was slow to start, or boring. Bah! No such thing!!

Amma

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 2 replies

Cooks needed for youth meditation retreats, 6/6-13 and 6/14-21

2008-05-10T03:23:11Z

Have you ever had one of those jobs where you worked hard knowing you were part of something deeply meaningful, even transformative? This could be one of those jobs.

The Buddhist Peace Fellowship’s Youth Program seeks an experienced kitchen manager and 1-2 cooks with a love of service and a sense of adventure to prepare healthful, delicious vegetarian meals for a meditation retreat for teenagers (ages 15-19), June 14-21, at a Tibetan Buddhist retreat center near Cazadero, Calif. (Sonoma County coast). We also seek an experienced cook for a meditation retreat for young adults (ages 18-30), June 6-13, at the same location.

The kitchen manager’s and cooks’ duties include:
- cooking healthful vegetarian meals and snacks using mostly organic ingredients
- working collaboratively with other cooks and kitchen volunteers
- keeping the kitchen clean and organized

The kitchen manager is also responsible for:
- coordinating menu planning, including the accommodation of special dietary needs (i.e., food allergies and sensitivities, vegan diets)
- ordering wholesale groceries and produce and coordinating retail shopping (we have sources)
- developing and managing the work schedule for cooks and kitchen volunteers

We need you to have:
- experience cooking for groups of 50-60 in a retreat or camp setting
- current, relevant references
- your own reliable transportation

You’ll be a great fit if you also have:
- a passion for building healthy communities with likeminded others
- a commitment to open, responsible communication and mature, respectful, collaborative problem-solving
- the ability to respond to the unexpected with ease, humor and creativity
- experience or familiarity with meditative practices such as mindfulness, yoga or qi gong
- experience working with/around teenagers

We offer:
- a $500 stipend and a private room for the kitchen manager
- a $300 stipend per retreat for each cook (one cook could work at both retreats)
- a comfortable, quiet shared lodging for the cooks
- all meals
- opportunities to meditate and participate in the retreat
- a week in a beautiful setting with mountain-top views of the ocean
- the gratitude of the community you work with and feed

To learn more, contact Jim Brown, retreat manager, at one_more_jim@yahoo.com or 916-508-7578 no later than May 16.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

BEthe change!

2008-05-05T18:13:18Z

"

Choose your intention carefully and then practice holding your consciousness to it, so it becomes the guiding light in your life. --John Roger

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

buddhism and anarchy

2008-05-01T18:57:49Z

As an anarchist who advocates for social change, naturally I found myself attracted to the philosophy of Buddhism. Anarchy seeks to build a society without hierarchy, including sexism, racism, beautyism, ageism, etc. It is through these hierarchies that create the societal problems we face on a local, national and global scale.

Yet, it seems that Buddhism is the foundation of anarchy. How can we possibly create an anarchist society if we cannot be whole, healthy individuals? How can we eliminate hierarchy if we cannot control our anger and/or not live our lives dominated by our egos? Besides, it seems that a Buddhist community wouldn't need to work to build anarchy, because by living by Buddhist principals, naturally there anarchy would exist.

It seems to me there might be room for a new "sect" of Buddhism revolving around these ideas. I don't understand how Buddhism can support hierarchies in governance, because it seems that many of those hierarchies are egos manifesting themselves into the public sphere.

I am just beginning to study Buddhism, but it seems that people in "1st world countries" (especially the U.S.) are not connecting their lifestyles to the suffering of people around the world. For example, many wealthy people are now into yoga and Buddhism, yet they don't see how consumerism and capitalism are causing huge amounts of suffering in "developing" nations and on the natural world. It seems that by applying the laws of karma, that Americans are collecting a lot of bad karma because we are causing so much suffering.

Thus, it seems that in this day and age, there is a natural intersection between anti-globalization activism and Buddhism, as well as working on other progressive issues such as sexism, racism, etc.

Does anyone know of any resources that may discuss these ideas?

thanks! solidarity from the southwest,
Cienega

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 14 replies

Please Sign this Petition Against "Starvation Art."

2008-04-20T09:13:34Z

The "artist" allowed a dog to starve to death, as part of an "art" exhibit.

But this is not all... the prestigious Visual Arts Biennial of the Central American decided that the 'installation' was actually art, so that Guillermo Vargas Habacuc has been invited to repeat his cruel action for the biennial of 2008.

http://www.petitiononline.com/ea6gk/petition.html

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 1 reply

... peace ...

2008-04-16T06:26:25Z

If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.

If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.

If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.

If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.

If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.

-- Lao Tzu (570-490 B.C.)

shanti shanti shanti
may your smile reach through and beyond as you go about the daily whatever...

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Tibet Help: Please engage

2008-04-05T02:45:45Z

After gaining 1.5 million signatures on the petition it is time for the next step:

send a letter to your head of state to take action about Tibet!

http://www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_report_back/7.php/?cl=69966565

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 1 reply

Dharma or Deception?: Chinese Soldiers Dressed as Monks

2008-04-01T02:06:11Z

There is an image and a story traveling around the internet in emails and plastered all over the blogosphere right now that needs to be addressed.

I received an email thru my Buddhist community's email list. The article claims British intelligence has taken images, via satellite, of Chinese soldiers dressed as Tibetans starting the recent violence in Lhasa, Tibet. The image that accompanied the article is quite startling and appears to be quite damning evidence of Chinese soldiers carrying the robes of Buddhist monks, apparently at the ready to don the robes and start some trouble sometime during the recent unrest in Lhasa and elsewhere in Tibet.

However, the photo seemed somewhat familiar to me... like I had seen it somewhere before... that and the fact that the image's angle tells me that it could not have been taken from a satellite raised my curiosity level and prompted me to look into the truth of these claims and origin of the image. The results of which I wish to share and encourage the reader to pass on.

Rather than repost my entire blog entry here (which uncovers and explains the origins of this photo and article), please read the entry and feel free to comment/discuss it here or there.

Link to the blog entry here: http://people.tribe.net/thinkpossible/blog/b019e6d5-f576-4a04-9106-f0d73070e5f1

Respectfully in the Dharma,

Ehron Asher

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Engaged Ethics and Democracy Vs. the Total Society and the Rule of Arbitrary Law : Examples and References ( from Tribe Ethics and Morals )

2008-03-29T19:35:08Z

Title "Engaged Ethics and Democracy Vs. the Total Society and the Rule of Arbitrary Law : Examples and References" ( from Tribe Ethics and Morals )

Keywords : universal human rights and "well-ordered societies", John Stuart Mill, United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and related treaties, Total Society ( Medieval Christianity, Radical Islam, Stalinism, Fascism, etc. ), internationally oriented democracy, Nobel Peace Laureates HH the Dalai Lama and Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, Rio Earth Summit, Dr. Vandana Shiva and sustainable environmental democracy, prosocial behavior, Aquarian Conspiracy.

Summary: This is an brief overview of some of the main principles in universal human rights as related to Total Societies, with some key references to significant people and books. It is based on the concept that arbitrary and oppressive social order, whether politically or religiously based, is self-contradictory, unstable and irresponsible by definition, and that history shows Total Societies to be inherently dangerous and destructive, and that they can and must be fought when overly aggressive.

A counterpoint is outlined in terms of John Stuart Mill, key United Nation treaties and the necessity of balancing shared human and social concerns based on global interdependence and "inalienable" human rights ( as advanced primarily by references and citations to be followed up by interested readers ). The basic ideas of universal rights and responsibilities and "sustainable environmental democracy" are then put forward together. These are promoted as a necessary alternative to any and all total societies and as an alternative to advancing social and cultural destruction throughout the planet.

“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759; (b1706 - d1790)

"Concepts such as truth, justice and compassion cannot be dismissed as trite when these are often the only bulwarks which stand against ruthless power."
Aung San Suu Kyi, elected leader of Burma ( presently imprisoned by military junta ), Nobel Pease Laureate

"No defeat baby, no surrender."
Bruce Springsteen

"Whenever I despair, I remember that the way of truth and love has always won. There may be tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they may seem invincible, but in the end, they always fail. Think of it: always." -- Mohandas K. Gandhi

"Today's world requires that we accept the oneness of humanity. . . In the context of our new interdependence, considering the interests of others is clearly the best form of self-interest." HH the Dalai Lama, Nobel Peace Laureate and Mahayana Buddhist teacher

Re TMIbo on Tribe Ethics and Morals:
"Evil is as evil does. I would define evil as that which seeks chaos over order. Or destroys order to create chaos, take your pick."

K T answers
Democracy is a kind of "social chaos", compared with Fascism, Stalinism, Medieval Roman Catholicism, and "Radical" Islam ( e.g. Afghanistan under the Taliban ), and the People's Republic of China. Those latter systems are all about social control of the many by the few, and their capabilities for crushing human rights are renowned throughout the world and throughout history. They also don't work, as history has shown again and again by the collapse of totalitarian regimes.

Know this: where books are burned or banned, individuals and groups are or will be jailed or banned or tortured or even burned to death. The Christian Middle Ages were also known as the Dark Ages, and a lot of the history represented the subjugation of pre Christian beliefs and lifeways, including the Burning Times, and also official Ex Cathedra opposition to scientific thought and research.

Thus, there is an obvious and inherent set of problems in elevating social order AS SUCH over AND ABOVE basic human freedoms such as democracy and freedom of speech, and that clearly includes so called moral or idealistic systems of belief or "faith based societies". . . even though basic freedoms are also problematical in practice.

So, a social system based on psychological or cultural control of private persons, one which opposes freedom of thought or belief( intellectual anarchy etc. ), will eventually progress towards tyranny unless opposed. It has happened all over the world in different ways. This is a now a major problem in the world today, with the rise of broadly based low-intensity to medium intensity paramilitary attacks on democratic societies and institutions worldwide.

We all have to pay attention to this, or eventually humanity can lose much or most that has been gained in progressive human culture and society, because progressive society and culture can be restricted or banned outright, as happens in one party or one religion states and social orders.

The first problem is
What is the social recourse for mistakes or bias or unlawful behavior by a ruling social order?
The second problem is
Who shall decide which kind of social order shall prevail?
The third problem is
What shall be done when a ruling social order determines to make war on another, outside social order?

After all, every one can see that Fascism, Stalinism, Medieval Roman Catholicism, and Sunni Islam, and Post-Marxist Chinese "Communism" are all fundamentally incompatible! Who then is to rule? "There can be no agreement on the basis of exclusivist dogmas. Each excludes the other." ( K T )

So to this we can add a fourth problem: Isn't it true that while claiming to support and maintain order, totalitarian systems actually create massive chaos and destruction?
This is clearly demonstrated in Cambodia under Pol Pot, in Afghanistan under Mullah Omar and the Taliban, in Germany under Hitler and the Third Reich, in Russia and Eastern Europe under Stalin, and in China under Mao during the Cultural Revolution.

And that is why the United Nations, following World War II, in 1948 approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. ( See http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr/lang/eng.htm ) This reads in part,

"Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people. . ."

The "order over chaos" social alternatives to democratic society and human freedom, whether derived from religious or nationalist or internationalist dogma, ALL fully fit the definition of Total Society, in which the individual has few or no rights, and the state claims basically arbitrary control over the most essential aspects of human life and freedom.

This is a crucial point : absolutist or primarily one-sided social control is a form or mechanism that can be "religious", or "nationalist", or "internationalist". The *process* is what matters, *not* the dogmatic content per se. Such a process is what distorts and even destroys human society, specifically and especially while claiming to promote "coherence" and "order" and "harmony". Violent and arbitrary oppression of many diverse people both near and far is by definition the opposite of those claimed values.

That is, an authoritarian-leaning society or Total Society, to the extent that it is authoritarian or Total in practice, is
a) NOT well-ordered society
b) NOT designed to advance the good of its members and
c) NOT effectively regulated by a ( truly ) public conception of justice.

"Justice" means "rights" and the balancing of rights through corresponding responsibilities among people. This is well developed in the writings of John Stuart Mill. But a Total Society is one in which rights are arbitrarily abridged. It was not so long ago that the Civil Rights movement ( 19th and 20th C. ) brought upheaval to the American South.

Ironically, it was a broad and ever larger set of American citizens who worked for peace and freedom for blacks in the Southern states for blacks ( often illegally or under direct attack by police ), and many blacks were Christian but still oppressed by a basically Christian society / slave system that was clearly worse than Imperial Rome. In Rome, slaves could read and write, and some were Greek scholars. In the American South, black Christian slaves were not allowed to learn to read and write ( the Bible, etc. ) by their Christian masters. So that is an example of a Total Society in recent American history, and one that was conclusively overthrown.

In the above example, it is clearly unfair and therefore unreasonable that some Christians were allowed to go to school and some were not. That's arbitrary abridgement. Basic rights means no arbitrary abridgement, i.e. that the laws and basic rules of fairness apply throughout society, to all human beings.

The main point here is that laws and social systems are always distorted in total Societies, that basic rights are arbitrarily abridged so that the few apply law to the many, while basically remaining above the law. And that is the opposite of a reasonable civil society, whether it is Medieval Catholicism or Nazi Germany or black slavery in the American South or Stalinist control of Eastern Europe.

Rights fundamentally opposed by large scale religious and political organizations can include some or all of the following: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Association and Assembly, Freedom of Worship, Freedom of Political Self-Determination through Elected Representation. ( In fact, the Vatican did not formally acknowledge the legitimate rule of democracy until 1962. )

A key example of abridged rights is the "establishment" of Nazi rule in Germany. This was *not* authorized in the national German legislature, as many think. In fact, the National Socialist regime came to power in significant part by literally holding the German legislature hostage until that body resigned to Nazi rule. It was a state coup. How is that so called "order" IN ANY WAY legitimate? Since it is not, we can all agree that order and law are *not* the same thing as legitimacy, and can in fact promote the opposite.

Thus, a total society can be established by a social force that works like organized crime, and since large scale crime is inherently antisocial, this is contradicts the most basic notions of a well-ordered society.

When TMIbo ( on Tribe Ethics and Morals ) says "I would define evil as that which seeks chaos over order", this is a deep self contradiction. Clearly, the National Socialists sought "order", and their appeal to the German people was to lead the people from economic chaos and national weakness to strength and power. The Nazis represent an evil will to power, a power that claimed to protect the people from weakness and anarchy, but evil and self-defeating because universally destructive.

Historical perspective matters greatly in this discussion, and so do the perspectives of those who have worked long term and very effectively for peace and freedom, such as Mohandas Gandhi and Albert Einstein.

Dr Einstein said:
"Politics is a pendulum whose swings between anarchy and tyranny are fueled by perpetually rejuvenated illusions."
"The unlimited desire for ever greater power seeks to become active and aggressive wherever and whenever the physical possibility offers itself."
"Democratic institutions and standards are the result of historic developments to an extent not always appreciated in the lands that enjoy them."

TMIbo publically and clearly elevates "order" over "chaos", and we can all agree that the problem is not limited to Nazi Germany or to any one specific time or place. Feudal Totalitarian Christianity, Total Society in many Islamic Nations, National Socialism and Stalinist Dictatorship of the Proletariat emphasize "order" over "chaos" ( i.e. non-Christians or Freethinkers, the so-called "International Jewish Conspiracy", feminists and those who seek freedom from Islamic rule or jihad, etc. ).

We know this because all these institutions historically have emphasized war and bloodshed to subjugate or completely eliminate opposing positions, individuals, groups and even whole societies. Up through and including wholescale genocide. The Twentieth Century was largely largely dominated by Total Societies and their massive efforts to reshape the world into their own images, up through and including unlimited warfare ( along with contervailing forces such as the Allies in World War II ).

A casual, rough estimate of the 20th Century destruction of unarmed civilians under Communist rule ( in Russia, China, Cambodia ) runs from fifty million lives to eighty million lives, perhaps more. How is that "well-ordered" ? Yes, there is a strong sense of "order" in Marxist Stalinist rule, but the cost is astonishingly severe. And Communism still failed in Russia, throughout Eastern Europe, and so forth.

The same is true of Fascism in Spain and Germany. Yes, the Fascists ruled ( established and maintained complete "social order" ), but The Third Reich fell most spectacularly, even after amazing efforts to establish control over all of Europe, and so forth. Even after all the bloodshed of World War II, which claimed over thirty million lives.

Thus we can see the repeatedly demonstrated truth of Gandhi's statement that tyrants eventually fail. This means, more generally, that no Total Society ( such as Medieval Roman Catholicism, or Fascism, or Stalinism, or Radical Islam ) is inevitable, stable, or unassailable.

I argue the reverse: I will argue that all total societies, including Post Marxist Chinese Communism and Radical Islam, are inherently unstable and are doomed to failure. One basic reason for this is very simple: the more a violent social order succeeds, the more other societies will become concerned and seek to counterbalance naked aggression.

Another fundamental reason is that oppressive social orders fail to develop the potential of many or most of their members. For example, about 51% of the world's population is female, yet women are oppressed by Total Societies. ( See "The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith", by Irshad Manji, and "Infidel" by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. )

That total societies are inherently unstable is demonstrated by much historical evidence. This is true of Ancient Rome and Medieval Spain, which were based on continuous conquest, which cannot always proceed. It is structurally true today becasue of fundamental ( and basically unresolvable ) problems within Post Marxist Communism and within Islam ( e.g. the Sunni Shia divide as seen historically, as well as in present day Lebanon, Iraq, and so forth ).

It has never been shown that any culture based on war or conquest is ever really sustainable as a whole. Although Sunni Islam and Shia Islam are both quite powerful today, they are not unified, and for many centuries they have fought each other. Thus to a significant extent, they weaken themselves and each other in overall terms.

Devolution of imperial power is well demonstrated in major cases, with the development of near democracy or effective democracy asa replacement. Witness the development of self-rule in India and the many countries which became free of 16th century Spanish rule ( see http://encarta.msn.com/media_461518061/spanish_empire.html ), or free of the British Empire and so on.

It is quite clear that the overall progression of human societies from the time of the Protestant Reformation to today is characterized by several trends:
1) the breakdown of large scale total societies, such as Medieval Catholism and royalist rule;
2) the breakdown of colonialism and international imperial rule;
3) the tremendous and widespread development of human rights efforts and organizations ( including nongovernmental organizations, or NGOs ) and progress towards universal human rights as principle, as model, and as main priority for large scale societies.

This is due to many major economic, cultural, and international factors, including the global rise of literacy and freer more powerful forms of communication and networking ( e.g. the internet ). It is also based on tested working models of democracy that balance rights and responsibilities through transparent and equitable means. These social models are in turn based on well developed definitions of "social contracts" as advanced by John Stuart Mill and others.

The point is to find and uphold a balance based on freedom and responsibility, consciously and mutually addressed. The claim is not that people and groups will in general come to "mutual understanding and consonance with other people" ( Einstein ), but rather all will have to come to terms with fair and reciprocal standards of rights and responsibilities which favor nor one group and which are as little arbitrary as possible, paricularly in terms of negative rights ( non-interference ).

But Non-interference is the opposite of social control as defined by any Total Society. Therefore it is in the interest of the many to seek the opposite of any one model for a total society. When the many can and do work together effectively, or at least begin to work together, then movement towards a total society can be slowed, or reversed, and basic freedoms strengthened or reestablished.

This means negotiated rights and responsibilities through a civil order that
a) accords equal rights to all individuals by default as a matter of course;
b) is negotiated through a system of law that is always independent of any specific political party ( e.g. the US Bill of Rights and the US Supreme Court );
c) is always independent of any specific religious system ( separation of church and state ), i.e. that fundamentally rejects Judaism, Christianity, Islam etc. as foundational to society and social agreements;
d) actively promotes peace and co-operation and democracy in all parts of the world
( e.g. the United Nations and interventions by democracy-backed peacekeeping forces - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacekeeping ).

Furthermore, it also means, in our time,
e) the basic idea of "sustainable environmental democracy" as an alternative to any and all total societies based on squandering resources needed for future generations. This basic concept is called "intergenerational equity", or equity between generations. This has been developed by for example the Rio Earth Summit ( 1992 ) and environmental democracy has been advanced in particular by Dr. Vandana Shiva ( see following references ).

"Universal responsibility" and "universal human ethics" have been well communicated by for example HH the Dalai Lama, a Buddhist teacher awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He says
"Human beings by nature want happiness and do not want suffering. With that
feeling everyone tries to achieve happiness and tries to get rid of suffering, and everyone has the basic right to do this. In this way, all here are the same, whether rich or poor, educated or uneducated, Easterner or Westerner, believer or non-believer ... and so on. Basically, from the viewpoint of real human value we are all the same."-- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, from "Kindness, Clarity, and Insight."

( See also The Global Community & the Need for Universal Responsibility - by H.H. the Dalai Lama, Wisdom Publications, Boston, 1990. )

The point is that this kind of ethic is strongly prosocial, it actively seeks peace and freedom for all, not just this group or that. The alternative, isolationist viewpoint fails, just as failing to address the Nazi threat would have been a tragic failure for the US and others, just as failing to address the threat of Taliban style Islamic rule can become a major problem for any and all democratic societies.

HH the Dalai Lama belives in and works for peace. But peace is very different than pacifism. The Dalai Lama makes it very clear that he definitely supports the war effort that destroyed National Socialism in Germany. So did Dr. Albert Einstein.
Peace therefore is not the absence of war per se, it is the active promotion of freedom and democracy, including sometimes, acts of defensive warfare.

This is acceptable by definition at the United Nations, and it is only fair. It is universally agreed theat there is a need to fight for peace and freedom. This has major implications today in dealing with long-term aggressive and expansionist social orders that develop by swiftly or incrementally burying human rights. These must be dealt with using "scalable response".

There are several principal sets of documents that frame and illuminate the issues of negotiation based civil society. These include
1) "On Liberty and Utilitarianism" by John Stuart Mill
( see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill and http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mill/ ) ;
2) the founding documents and historical development of democracy in the American Colonies, esp. the sources of American style democracy in the Iroquois Confederacy;
3) the founding documents and historical development of the United Nations
( see http://www.unhchr.ch/map.htm );

To these I would add several additional current sources:

1) information on Nobel Peace Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi
see also the book "Freedom From Fear and Other Writings", by Aung San Suu Kyi
http://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Fear-Other-Writings-Revised/dp/0140253173

2) information on the Nobel Peace Prize Winner HH the Dalai Lama
( e.g. "The Global Community" http://www.dalailama.com/page.75.htm )

3) The Rio Earth Summit documents and process
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Summit

4) information and books related to Dr. Vandana Shiva
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vandana_Shiva

5) Aquarian Conspiracy, by Marilyn Ferguson
http://www.amazon.com/Aquarian-Conspiracy-Marilyn-Ferguson/dp/0874774586

But politics is not something that happens "out there". Professor Todd Gitlin famously pointed out that "politics isn't where you stand on the issues, politics is how you live your life". And that necessarily involves personal principles, models and priorities, not mere acknowledgement of social "realities" and "concerns". This is why I claim that the Dalai Lama and Aung San Suu Kyi are relevant. I will offer some words from Aung San Suu Kyi and Marilyn Ferguson on the inner ethic of progressive social change.

Freedom From Fear Speech, by Aung San Suu Kyi
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Burma/FreedomFromFearSpeech.html

". . .Within a system which denies the existence of basic human rights, fear tends to be the order of the day. Fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear ofdeath, fear oflosing friends, family, property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear of isolation, fear of failure.

"A most insidious form of fear is that which masquerades as common sense or even wisdom, condemning as foolish, reckless, insignificant or futile the small, daily acts of courage which help to preserve man's self-respect and inherent human dignity. It is not easy for a people conditioned by fear under the iron rule of the principle that might is right to free themselves from the enervating miasma of fear. Yet even under the most crushing state machinery courage rises up again and again, for fear is not the natural state of civilized man.

"The wellspring of courage and endurance in the face of unbridled power is generally a firm belief in the sanctity of ethical principles combined with a historical sense that despite all setbacks the condition of man is set on an ultimate course for both spiritual and material advancement. It is his capacity for self-improvement and self-redemption which most distinguishes man from the mere brute.

"At the root of human responsibility is the concept of perfection, the urge to achieve it, the intelligence to find a path towards it, and the will to follow that path if not to the end at least the distance needed to rise above individual limitations and environmental impediments. It is man's vision of a world fit for rational, civilized humanity which leads him to dare and to suffer to build societies free from want and fear. Concepts such as truth, justice and compassion cannot be dismissed as trite when these are often the only bulwarks which stand against ruthless power."

. . . . this is . . . For All Our Relations, and not least for the Dalai Lama and Aung San Suu Kyi. Sarva mangalam.

K T

"Our past is *not* our potential. In any given hour, with all the stubborn teachers and healers of history who have called us to our best selves, we can re-choose, to awaken. Awakening brings it's own assignments, chosen by us, unique to each of us. But whatever you have thought about yourself, and however long you may have thought it, you are not just "you". You are a seed, a silent promise. You are the conspiracy."
Marilyn Ferguson, the Aquarian Conspiracy

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 4 replies

URGENT! PLEASE HELP TIBET! SIGN THIS PETITION!

2008-03-18T21:59:39Z

URGENT! PLEASE HELP TIBET! SIGN THIS PETITION!
PLEASE REPOST!

> Dear friends,
>
> After decades of repression under Chinese rule,
> the Tibetan people’s frustrations have burst
> onto the streets in protests and riots. With the
> spotlight of the upcoming Olympic Games now on
> China, Tibetans are crying out to the world for
> change.
>
> The Chinese government has said that the
> protesters who have not yet surrendered "
> will be punished". Its leaders are right
> now considering a crucial choice between
> escalating brutality or dialogue that could
> determine the future of Tibet, and China.
>
> We can affect this historic choice--China does
> care about its international reputation. China’s
> President Hu Jintao needs to hear that the ’Made
> in China’ brand and the upcoming Olympics in
> Beijing can succeed only if he makes the right
> choice. But it will take an avalanche of global
> people power to get his attention--and we need
> it in the next 48 hours.
>
> The Tibetan Nobel peace prize winner and
> spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama has called for
> restraint and dialogue: he needs the world’s
> people to support him. Click below now to sign
> the petition--and tell absolutely everyone you
> can right away--our goal is 1 million voices
> united for Tibet:
>
::: SIGN THE PETITION! :::
http://www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_end_the_violence/6.php
>
> China’s economy is totally dependent on "
> Made in China" exports that we all buy, and
> the government is keen to make the Olympics in
> Beijing this summer a celebration of a new
> China, respected as a leading world power. China
> is also a very diverse country with a brutal
> past and has reason to be concerned about its
> stability -- some of Tibet’s rioters killed
> innocent people. But President Hu must recognize
> that the greatest danger to Chinese stability
> and development comes from hardliners who
> advocate escalating repression, not from
> Tibetans who seek dialogue and reform.
>
> We will deliver our petition directly to Chinese
> officials in London, New York, and Beijing, but
> it must be a massive number before we deliver
> the petition. Please forward this email to your
> address book with a note explaining to your
> friends why this is important, or use our tell-a-
> friend tool to email your address book--it will
> come up after you sign the petition.
>
> The Tibetan people have suffered quietly for
> decades. It is finally their moment to speak--we
> must help them be heard.
>
> With hope and respect,
>
> Ricken, Iain, Graziela, Paul, Galit, Pascal,
> Milena, Ben and the whole Avaaz team
>
> PS - It has been suggested that the Chinese
> government may block the Avaaz website as a
> result of this email, and thousands of Avaaz
> members in China will no longer be able to
> participate in our community. A poll of Avaaz
> members over the weekend showed that over 80% of
> us believed it was still important to act on
> Tibet despite this terrible potential loss to
> our community, if we thought we could make a
> difference. If we are blocked, Avaaz will help
> maintain the campaign for internet freedom for
> all Chinese people, so that our members in China
> can one day rejoin our community.
>
> Here are some links with more information on the
> Tibetan protests and the Chinese response:
>
> BBC News: UN Calls for Restraint in Tibet
> http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7301912.
> stm
>
> Human Rights Watch: China Restrain from
> Violently Attacking Protesters
> http://hrw.
> org/english/docs/2008/03/15/china18291.htm
>
> Associated Press: Tibet Unrest Sparks Global
> Reaction
> http://ap. google.
> com/article/ALeqM5gSSpPcDOPMoAiRLhPUyezuCRiXBQD8VFDD680
>
> New York Times: China Takes Steps to Thwart
> Reporting on Tibet Protests
> http://www. nytimes.
> com/2008/03/18/world/asia/18access.html?ref=world
>
> --------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> ABOUT AVAAZ
> Avaaz. org is an independent, not-for-profit
> global campaigning organization that works to
> ensure that the views and values of the world’s
> people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz
> means "voice" in many languages.)
> Avaaz receives no money from governments or
> corporations, and is staffed by a global team
> based in London, Rio de Janeiro, New York,
> Paris, Washington DC, and Geneva.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

What to do and how to help? - Tibet

2008-03-18T20:30:17Z

The least you can do to help Tibet !
http://meyul.com/

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 5 replies

Fundraiser for Mama Cats!

2008-03-11T12:16:34Z

Kitten season is nearly upon us, and we will really need help if we are to save some tiny lives!! We are so thankful to TL2 Productions for hosting this fundraiser for our mama cats. It is at The Pink Door in Louisville KY.

I know you will be able to catch the ladies of Mystic Hips performing, as well as Jajira (doing a drum solo or two with Dave.) I believe Taletha is performing as well... with her troupe and, maybe, her band!

The online portion of the fundraiser has already begun! If you can't be with us in Louisville (or even if you can, and just want to get an early start) go to this website:
https://www.thebodyshopathome.com/web/jchischillie/home/overview.do
When you submit your order mark the hostess block as either "TL2" or "3SistersCats" and a hefty portion of the proceeds will come straight into the vet care fund for our cats. The Body Shop has the finest line of cruelty free cosmetics and body care products ANYWHERE. (I highly recommend the Tea Tree products, which I use on myself... and also on my special "mangey" dogs.)

Here is a link for Raffle Tickets:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_xclick&business=skhergert%40yahoo%2ecom&undefined_quantity=1&item_name=Body%20Shop%20Raffle&item_number=BSR0315&amount=5%2e00&shipping=1%2e00&no_shipping=1&tax=0%2e00&currency_code=USD&lc=US&bn=PP%2dBuyNowBF&charset=UTF%2d8
I'll be posting pics of raffle items in my photos as we get them!

TIA,

Amma

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 2 replies

self immolation by Buddhist activists in Viet Nam was a life saving personal sacrifice, not mere self-destruction as with typical suicide

2008-03-09T08:02:08Z

"Self immolation by Buddhist activists in Viet Nam was a life saving personal sacrifice, not mere self-destruction as with typical suicide."

Re: Paganism and Suicide : the classical Buddhist teaching
Wed, January 23, 2008 - 4:29 PM

Re Ike on Modern Paganism:
"Right... if Buddhist teaching makes it emphatically clear, it makes me wonder how they feel about the guys who immolated themselves in protest during the Vietnam war..."

This is a completely valid criticism. I am aware of the specific situation. It happened in South Viet Nam, in about 1964.

These seven men and women deliberately immolated themselves, and they did so to protest the police state under the Dictator Diem.

The Diem regime had rounded up more than eight hundred Buddhist monks as subversives. The monks were all going to be killed.

This desperation move was done as a sacrifice to save the lives of many more. Although technically this does come under the heading of self-murder, it was done with the intent to save many hundreds of lives, with profound spiritual discipline and meditative awareness. This is quite different than a purely self-destructive act. It was bartering one's own life to save many lives.

The self-immolations were successful. World opinion was triggered, in France and so forth. The eight hundred monks were freed, and soon after the Diem regime completely collapsed.

It is a great lesson to us all. A handful of really great Buddhist practitioners or compassionate people can accomplish what an army of ordinary and unevolved people cannot.

As a noble and most painful self-sacrificing act, this is greatly meritorious in the sense of protecting the Buddhist community, and also more generally in terms of saving human life. As a an act of great compassion, the result is incredibly positive, not spiritually self-destructive.

Please note that this kind of desperation move is not recommended. Do not try this at home.

Note also that those who claim a religious authorization to commit mass murder of innocents as human bombs do go straight to hell, because that is what they chose. The presumed "creator god" cannot save these psychopaths from their own karma.

Thus it is karma and intention that rule, not religious belief systems.

Everyone makes their own destiny, for good or for evil. Think carefully on this and choose well.

And thanks for allowing me to honor those who have gone before, and who are by the examples of their own lives so much better at teaching the Law, so much better at helping others, than I am. I am simply bearing witness to really good practitioners.

As Lady Diana said,
"I am a humanitarian. I always have been. I always will be."

All Our Relations. Sarva mangalam.

In partial fulfillment of mahayana teacher vows,

K T, inner medical tantrika and dagger priest.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 2 replies

Green monks

2008-02-12T17:50:46Z

I foundthis article very interesting.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/02/11//news/top_stories/20_41_172_10_08.txt

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 1 reply

Eckhart Tolle: holding space

2008-02-07T03:42:59Z

funny video..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx526pO9UV0

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Drikung Kagyu Global Resources / Tantric Buddhism and Mahamudra Book References / Vajrasattva Retreat in North Carolina

2008-01-27T15:30:37Z

Title: Drikung Kagyu Global Resources / Tantric Buddhism and Mahamudra Book References /
Vajrasattva Retreat in North Carolina -- Repost from "Tribe : Teaching Yoga"

Keywords: Deity Yoga, global resources for Kagyu lineage Tantric Buddhism and Mahamudra practice, book: "Pearl Rosary The Path of Purification", inner healing yoga, interfaith retreat center, North Carolina, Southern Dharma Retreat Center, Drikung Kagyu lineage, Vajrasattva empowerment and retreat January 2008.

NAMO GURU SRI HASYAVAJRAYE

Homage to Mila Joyous Vajra, King of the Mountain Yogis. For the ordeals you endured, for the sweetness of this profound transmission, and for "a few cotton threads" we thank you from our innermost hearts.

"Knots of the right and left channels [ of the human energy body ] are loosened to their natural state
By Vajrasattva mantra which draws currents in and out of the central channel.
Don't rely on any mental support other than Vajrasattva mantra repetition."
Milarepa to Rechungpa,
quoted in "Drinking the Mountain Stream: New Stories and Songs by Milarepa"

A vast amount of effective Buddhist / yogic teaching is available through the web site for Vajra Publications, specifically for Kagyu lineage tantric Buddhism and Mahamudra practice. See the web site at
http://www.vajrapub.org/

The Drikung lineage is not yet well known in the West( and that WILL change, I promise you ), but it is powerful and available in different parts of the world. See
http://www.dkinstitute.org/
This lineage offers a serious and direct path to inner yogic discipline and primordial awareness yoga ( i.e. Mahamudra ). The Drikung lineage descends from great yogic masters such as Tilopa and Naropa of India, and Marpa and Milarepa of Tibet.

The Drikung lineage is, I will state from personal and professional experience as a yogi and vajrayana guru, entirely authentic, classical, and effective: I personally received two major rounds of empowerment from His Holiness Chetsang Tulku Rinbochay, once in Seattle and again in Hawaii ( Big Island ).

During one of these, a Heruka Vajrasattva in 1987, I experienced energy pouring down through my crown center as though a gallon of milk was literally being poured through the top of my head. How many yoga teachers do you know that can do that? ( I was outwardly and inwardly sick and exhausted at the time from several years of severe difficulty, so that was very much a necessary healing for my magnetic field. Reason enough to receive Vajrasattva empowerment and do the 100,000 recitations, although of course your mileage may vary. )

Understand therefore that HH Chetsang Tulku is a New School guru and a Kagyu guru of the first rank, someone to be respected as much as Vajradhara Kalu Rinbochay and Kyabgon Khentin Tai Situpa ( these being some of my other Kagyu teachers ). He is a very gentle, quiet, generous man, very warm and approachable. I would certainly trust anyone he names vajrayana guru.

I have many primary practice texts of the Drikung Kagyu, which are excellent, and indeed these were among the first key practice texts for Kagyu devayoga sadhana to be published. Since they keep producing more great study and practice materials, I needs must make more ( debit card ) offerings to receive the precious dharma ( although my dharma and yoga book stacks are more than overflowing ). It must be emphasized that these practice texts are generically useful for all New School tantric Buddhists, where New School refers to the Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelugpa Orders of Tibetan Buddhism.

Beyond this, be aware that the Drikung school, like the Karma Kagyu school of vajrayana, incorporates a substantial amount of Old School ( Nyingma and Great Perfection ) teaching and practice. For example, their Phowa ( Consciousness Transference At Time Of Death ) does not derive from the Kagyu lineage Six Yogas of Naropa, but rather from an Old School Treasure Teaching ( terma ).

As this letter goes out to a diverse and broad set of audiences, I will say a few words on the Kagyu lineage, on deity yoga, and Mahamudra. In short, here are some truly wonderful books for you:
Book 1) "Drinking the Mountain Stream: New Stories and Songs by Milarepa", by Lama Kunga Rimpoche and Brian Cutillo. This book is extraodinarily good as an introduction and in providing key teaching/ precept songs which are both poetic and intuitive.

Book 2) "The Garland of Mahamudra Practices", by Khenpo Konchog Gyaltsen and Katherine Rogers. This is a short summary of Cakrasamvara / Vajrayogini deity yoga and Mahamudra awareness yoga translated by a Drikung abbot from the writings of Kunga Rinchen, the Fifteen Lineage Holder of the Drikung Kagyu transmission. It is remarkably clear teaching on the essentials of New School vajrayana practice.

Book 3) "Clarifying the Natural State", by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal ( translation by the priceless western scholar Eric Pema Kunsang ). This practice summary for the primordial awareness yoga of Mahamudra is held to be "preeminent" and "indispensible" by the great modern scholar-yogi Khenchen Thrangu Rinbochay. 'Nuff said.

Book 4) "Becoming Vajrasattva; the Tantric Path of Purification", by [ Lama ] Thubten Yeshe, 2nd edition. A remarkably useful retreat and teaching manual on Vajrasattva. With this and Vajrasattva empowerment one can practice the indispensible deity of Purification, Vajrasattva / Diamond Being.

Now, there is going to be, in early January, a Vajrasattva empowerment and retreat to be given by a Drikung abbot ( Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin Rinpoche ) in North Carolina ( Southern Dharma Retreat Center ). Being given by an abbot, it could possibly be a major empowerment (i.e. a "four-banger", a four level catur-abhisekha empowerment ) for Vajrasattva, although I do not know. Even a medium level "three banger" Vajrasattva empowerment is really quite good.

If you live near there, farther from the world-class vajrayana empowerment venues, this is a truly great opportunity. Vajrasattva is the ultimate swiss army knife of tantric practice.
- If you are a healer, or someone in need of deep healing, this is for you.
- If you are someone oriented towards "higher consciousness", you can take this as a primary practice.
- If you have chronic psychic or mental or environmental discord, then Vajrasattva and the included Vajrapani ( Thunderbolt Holder ) are ofgreat importance for inner cleansing.
- If you are a western witch who wants to do goddess practice, you can take this transmission and thereby fully engage all the Twenty One Taras.
- If you wish to practice any of the standard Buddhist deities, such as Manjusri, Avalokitesvara, Amitabha, Vajrapani and so forth, you can do so on the basis of this one empowerment and a compendium of deity yogas, which is

Book 5) "Pearl Rosary The Path of Purification ( Sadhanas and Commentaries )" available from Vajra Publications. See
http://shop.vajrapub.org/product.sc?categoryId=1&productId=79

From that web page:
"Pearl Rosary The Path of Purification
"The content of this text is primarily meant for people who are far away and don’t have the opportunity to engage in Dharma practice in the presence of the teacher. The book itself is a representation of the teacher, and therefore is meant to help one’s Dharma practice. The text describes the methods of visualization and how to incorporate practice into our day to day life experience. .... The visualization of these deities is mainly concerned with the practices of tantrayana and mantrayana, which are the highest forms of practice. The path of visualization is very powerful and if properly engaged in, it is capable of transforming our life within a single moment.
"By engaging in this kind of practice, infinite clarity of mind is achieved, and through such power, we are able to purify our ordinary body and manifest the body of the deity. Likewise, we are able to purify ordinary speech, and manifest wisdom speech. Furthermore, we are able to purify the deluded ordinary mind, and realize the wisdom mind.
From the foreword by His Holiness Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang Rinpoche"

The point is that it is much more direct and useful to take a single encompassing empowerment, such as the Vajrasattva, than to go here and there for smaller blessing empowerments. The Vajrasattva is of crucial importance in all schools of Indo-Tibetan vajrayana, AND at all levels, up through and including Great Seal and Great Perfection practice. I have therefore placed a short basic teaching ( under tribe member "k t" photo "Hundred Syllable mantra" ) for you.

This practice is really pervasive. You can get full Vajrasattva through many differently named transmissions, such as Cakrasamvara, Hevajra, Kalacakra, Padmasambhava, Tsik Sum Ne Dek/ Hitting The Three Essential Points, Vajrakilaya and so forth. I myself have received sixty one full Vajrasattva empowerments, often through primary lineage holders, and have completed a quarter million of the long Vajrasattva mantra. . . and intend to do more, because of the great purifying and empowering effects of this mantra and sadhana.

A story: some twelve years ago I was in Vancouver taking Native American yogic teachings from a Tsalagi ( Cherokee ) teacher named Ven. Dhyani Ywahoo. In addition to being a Tsalagi teacher of family lineage, she is also a Tibetan lama of the Nyingma lineage through HH Dudjom Rinbochay, and a Drikung Kagyu lama through HH Chetsang Tulku Rinbochay. Her young son decided to run through the teaching hall, so she called out to him, "Hey, wouldn't you like to DO SOME VAJRASATTVA PRACTICE? That was her way of telling him to settle down. So parents, this is a good practice for the kids. It's really one of the best gifts one could give a child or children, for their entire life.

I thank the Drikung lineage and Vajra Publications, HH Chetsang Tulku Rinbochay, Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin Rinpoche, and so forth. With abiding gratitude I dedicate the merit of sharing this teaching on Kagyu dharma to the Drikung teachers, all the Kagyu teachers, and those who take up these quintessential liberating practices for the benefit of all our relations.

May the Mahamudra transmission remain wide open like the sky!
May the Mahamudra transmission remain pervasive like the earth!
May the Mahamudra practitioners remain unshakeable like mountains!
May awareness remain shining like a flame!
May wakefulness remain lucid like a crystal!

OM AH NAMO GURU VAJRA DHRIKA MAHAMUDRA SIDDHI PHALA HUM
OM AH NAMO GURU PRAJNABHADRA MAHAMUDRA SIDDHI PHALA HUM
OM AH NAMO GURU JNANASIDDHI MAHAMUDRA SIDDHI PHALA HUM
OM AH NAMO GURU DHARMAMATI MAHAMUDRA SIDDHI PHALA HUM
OM AH NAMO GURU VAJRA DHVAJA MAHAMUDRA SIDDHI PHALA HUM. . . . .
NAMO NAMAHA

With best wishes to all at Southern Dharma Retreat Center, and best wishes to all of you who are willing to go forward in authentic yogic bodhisattva practice, this brief note is written quite unofficially, yet in partial fulfillment of serious formal teaching responsibilities.

Sarva mangalam! Siddhi rastu! Samaya . . .

K T, inner medical tantrika and dagger priest

Original event notice etc. follows:

" Southern Dharma Retreat Center is an interfaith retreat center which hosts meditation retreats representing the world's various spiritual traditions. Retreat teachers are experienced and recognized in their own traditions. All retreats have meditation, contemplation, and silence as underlying threads. Between teacher-led retreats, individual private retreats may be arranged.

Located part way up one of the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North Carolina, isolated and forested, Southern Dharma provides a comfortable, secluded gathering place removed from everyday distractions. Retreats create an atmosphere of quiet reflection, peace, and opening to the truths within the heart. "

Contact information for SDRC:

Southern Dharma Retreat Center
1661 West Road
Hot Springs NC 28743
828-622-7112

southerndharma@earthlink.net

www.southerndharma.org

Registration Information at
http://www.southerndharma.org/RegistrationInformation.htm

-- In Drikung-Sangha@yahoogroups.com, Hun Lye <HLye@...> wrote:

Southern Dharma Retreat Center
Hot Springs, North Carolina

Presents

"Vajrasattva Retreat: Empowerment, Teachings and Practice"
January 1-4, 2008
Cost: $180 (includes meals and housing, offering to teacher is
according to one's abilities)
For registration info:
http://www.southerndharma.org/RetreatSchedule2007.htm or contact
Michael Campbell at 828-622-7112 or southerndharma@earthlink.net

*Retreat Description*
For four days of the retreat Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin Rinpoche,
co-spiritual director of the Tibetan Meditation Center in Frederick,
MD will lead us in Vajrasattva meditation, a purification practice
from the Vajrayana path of Buddhism, as practiced in Tibet. The main
meditation practice in the Vajrayana path is deity yoga. With this
technique one first visualizes a being with a perfect form of a
deity. Then one creates a perfect auditory note, for example "OM,"
then one imagines a perfectly clear luminous mind. In the practice one
is empowered to first imagine all of these as a mentally "created"
being - outside oneself, then one merges with that being and imagines
oneself to have those physical qualities of perfection. Then one chants the
appropriate mantra and acquires "perfect speech." Finally one
dissolves the visualization into emptiness, thus realizing the
"perfect mind."

In doing this practice one comes to see that one's very nature is now
and always has been the same as the Buddha's - that is,
pure,uncontaminated - uncreated emptiness and luminosity. It has just
been tarnished by one's unskillful actions in the past. The
Vajrasattva practice can help to remove the tarnish so that our true
nature comes into focus. Khenpo Rinpoche will explain this further
during the first session on the evening of the 1st. On the following
morning he will give the empowerment that allows you to do this
practice on your own. For the rest of the retreat we will alternate
between doing the Vajrasattva practice, doing silent meditation and
receiving dharma talks about the Path to Enlightenment as embodied in
the Six Perfections or Paramitas.

*Khenpo Rinpoche's Bio*
Khenpo Rinpoche was born in southeastern Tibet 1970. At the age of 14
he took his monk's vows and soon after began his Buddhist Studies at
Samye Monastery, the first monastery ever built in Tibet.
He was an outstanding student from the start and excelled in all of
his subjects. In 1987, he traveled to India to enroll in the Drikung
Kagyu Institute at Jangchub Ling in Dehra Dun.

After finishing his course work he spent three years teaching lower
classes in the monastic college. He was awarded the title "Khenpo" in
1998 and then spent another three years teaching Buddhist philosophy
at the Institute. He has completed the Ngondro, Chakrasamvara and
other deity-yoga practices in retreat. Khenpo arrived at the Tibetan
Meditation Center in April 2001 to become one of the Spiritual
Co-directors of the Center. He also began his study of English at that
time and is now
quite fluent in it. He has been teaching at the Tibetan Meditation
Center, The Garchen Institute and at other Drikung Kagyu centers in
the US since then.

*Southern Dharma Retreat Center*

Southern Dharma Retreat Center is an interfaith retreat center which
hosts meditation retreats representing the world's various spiritual
traditions. Retreat teachers are experienced and recognized in their
own traditions. All retreats have meditation, contemplation, and
silence as underlying threads. Between teacher-led retreats,
individual private retreats may be arranged.

Located part way up one of the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North
Carolina, isolated and forested, Southern Dharma provides a
comfortable, secluded gathering place removed from everyday
distractions. Retreats create an atmosphere of quiet reflection,
peace, and opening to the truths within the heart.

Facilities include the meditation hall, lodge, and tent platforms.
The lodge, which can accommodate twenty-three, has a dining room,
kitchen, small library, double bedrooms on the second floor, and a
dormitory room on the uppermost floor. All retreatants are housed on
the premises. Four tent platforms are located adjacent to a small
mountain stream with many waterfalls. Tent platforms may be reserved
but we are unable to take reservations for rooms in the lodge although
any preference indicated on the registration form will be taken into
consideration. Rooms are assigned first on the basis of gender, then
for any special medical reasons, and finally in the order of
registration. Only for retreats with small enrollment is a single room
available.

There are several trails -- along the stream, affording mountain
views, and one to the top of the mountain.

Dana is a Pali word (the language spoken in India during the time of
the Buddha about 400 BCE) meaning generosity. Teachers are
reimbursed by Southern Dharma only for their travel. At the end of a
retreat, retreatants are offered the opportunity to offer
contributions (anonymous if they prefer) to the teacher. Southern
Dharma Retreat Center also relies on financial support through
charitable contributions.

--- End forwarded message ---

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 2 replies

Does Voting Make Us Happy?

2008-01-25T03:22:11Z

Did you know that the more often people *vote* the happier they seem to be?

Contrary to what we may like to think... about stress reduction .... active engagement in your country's political process is directly related to happiness.

Eric Weiner's "Geography of Bliss" is so fascinating....

Not tropical weather
Not wealth
Not pursuit of happiness

But voting????

Amma

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 21 replies

What can we do to support truthsayers?

2008-01-23T08:35:10Z

Is there a Buddhist opinion?
Or is it the opinion of no opinion?

http://people.tribe.net/sensei/blog/d0401146-200b-4657-be13-b4961ac65191?_click_path=Application%5Btribe%5D.Tribe%5B53bcf5c5-3cf0-488c-bac6-2cb87f6e569e%5D#comments

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Weekly meditation group in the Mission

2007-12-30T08:19:11Z

Hello sangha!

Come join us on Sunday nights.
We sit in the Plum Village tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh.
For more details visit our website.

http://communitybuilders.meetup.com/3/

-Michael

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Weekly sitting group in The Mission.

2007-12-30T08:17:01Z

Hello sangha!

Come join us on Sunday nights.
We sit in the Plum Village tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh.
For more details visit our website.

http://communitybuilders.meetup.com/3/

-Michael

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Educational Video

2007-12-15T12:14:29Z

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 1 reply

Lakulish Yogasan Championships 2008: Feb. 22; 23; & 24th, - City of Surat, Gujarat State, India

2007-12-10T12:11:05Z

For details and application forms, please refer to: http://www.lifemission.org/ and under "New" go to item #4 and click on "World Open Yogasan Championships".

Please note, to optimize your India trip and your experience of Lakulish Yoga you could attend or participate in the Yogasan Championships and also take in the 3 week Certificate Yoga Training Course being offered at Swami Rajarshi Muni's Malav Ashram from January 30 -February 20th. For details on the training go to http://www.lifemission.org/ and under "New" click on item # 5 " "Overseas Students Annual Yoga Certificate Training Program"

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

HHDL Link

2007-12-04T21:13:05Z

http://www.dalailama.org.au/

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Albert Camus - Nobel Laureate, Resistance Fighter and Humanitarian

2007-12-01T22:02:25Z

Albert Camus - Nobel Laureate, Resistance Fighter and Humanitarian

Keywords : Albert Camus, humanitarian ethics, universal responsibility, conscious engagement, struggle & freedom & redemption.

"Courage for our friends, Merry!"
Eowyn, in film production of Lord of the Rings

Albert Camus was one of the great thinkers and writers of the 20th Century, and made a profound and lasting contribution to the modern understanding of the human condition in terms of basic personal ethical responsibility and broader social relations. His long novel "The Plague" is one of the great modern stories which explores what it means to be a thinking, feeling human being in times of suffering and oppression, and shows through character development and story arc the meaning of life from a humanitarian viewpoint.

In a time when the world was polarized into different camps, Camus emphasized the inherent value of human freedom and conscious choice and shared existential issues. He also spoke and worked against totalitarian regimes and criticized or rejected their proponents in the free societies, such as the Marxist JP Sartre. Camus represented and embodied what is called "L'Homme Engage'", the Committed Man.

Here I reproduce one of his essays on human relations and social conscience, which is just as strikingly clear and relevant as today as when written in the Nineteen Forties.

Along with Dr. Martin Luther King, Albert Einstein, and the Dalai Lama, Albert Camus is one of the Great Voices for hope and for a commitment to humanity which is both broad and deep. Like these others he represents and teaches a kind of universal responsibility. His words and actions show people a real alternative to one-party totalitarianism, blind religious belief, mere nihilism and unevolved personal self-obsession.

It's not about belief or dogma, it's not about "god" or money, it's about freedom and responsibility, which is what we all must engage, whatever our paths in life. This is because we are all human beings who must learn to live with ourselves, and with others. The point is to do so consciously, to live as though human life really matters, both our own and that of others.

Camus emphasized that slavery and coercion and lies and propaganda must be rejected on all levels for people to become authentic and conscious and free. This simple idea is one of the most radical and important steppingstones to a more human world and to more broader-based cooperation among the peoples of the world. That's what matters.

As a humanitarian social-change agent and Buddhist teacher, I will tell you that almost no-one has made a more profound difference in my understanding of what it means to be a human being than Albert Camus. This was true thirty years ago and it remains true now.

"The Plague" is a long book about struggle and suffering, it is true, but that's what life is, both for those who do not care for others, and for those who do. The question is how each of us faces struggle and suffering, alone or together. The answer Camus gives is that we have to give a damn.

"Giving a damn" for everyone's sake is one of the great themes in literature, and also for several schools of spiritual practice and classical philosophy. One finds that theme driving other books of existential challenge, war and personal struggle, such as The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series. Not surprisingly, these are some of my favorite works. Along with some of the principal documents of the United Nations.

In his song "Passing Through", Leonard Cohen says

"I was at Franklin Roosevelt's side
The night before he died.
He said 'One world must come out of World War II'.
Be you yellow white or tan,
A man is still a man.
We're all on one road and we're only passing through."

Ours is very much a time of accelerating careless or even destructive intent and increasing consequences of same. There are not many effective voices for free and peaceful co-operation, but those who call for blood and highjacking or even tearing down civilization are emboldened. This has severe implications for human societies everywhere and for the planet as a whole. It's why I sometimes make use of a rather unusual prayer, which is

"Pardon me thou bleeding Earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers."

But it is possible to be, as Camus pointed out, someone who is neither a victim nor an executioner, and to be someone who stands fast in the middle, someone who strongly works for balance on our long road to freedom. There are many stories there, both known and unknown.

To me, it's all the same story. It's a truly human story. It's about struggle and freedom and redemption being really pretty much the same thing, and for all of us at the same time. And that is why we say
"For All Our Relations."

Our past is not a binding condition nor is it our potential. We can re-choose to awaken to our own shared humanity, which is indeed no different than awakening to ourselves and our own hopes and our own lives. For better or worse, probably both, we are all in this together. Carpe diem!

Of course I never met Albert Camus in the flesh. Still he is one of my very few and very dear friends. So then, here I have introduced to you one of my friends.

K T

"Now the only moral value is courage, which is useful here for judging the puppets and chatterboxes who pretend to speak in the name of the people…"
- Albert Camus

From another web site -
Dr. Rieux of La Peste (The Plague), 1947, who tirelessly attends the plague-stricken citizens of Oran, enacts the revolt against a world of the absurd and of injustice, and confirms Camus's words:
"We refuse to despair of mankind. Without having the unreasonable ambition to save men, we still want to serve them".

From Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Camus

Albert Camus (November 7, 1913 – January 4, 1960) was a French author and philosopher who won the Nobel prize in 1957. He is often associated with existentialism, although Camus refused this label; as he wrote in his essay The Rebel, his whole life was devoted against the philosophy of nihilism. His most important phrase for the future was: "All of us, among the ruins, are preparing a renaissance beyond the limits of nihilism. But few of us know it".

http://www.spunk.org/texts/writers/camus/sp001174.txt

Neither Victims Nor Executioners (French: Ni Victimes, ni bourreaux) was a series of essays by Albert Camus that were serialized in Combat, the daily newspaper of the French Resistance, in November 1946. In the essays he discusses violence and murder and the impact these have on those that perpetrate, suffer and observe them.

NEITHER VICTIMS NOR EXECUTIONERS by Albert Camus

Yes, we must raise our voices. Up to this point, I have refrained from appealing to emotion. We are being torn apart by a logic of history which we have elaborated in every detail--a net which threatens to strangle us.

It is not emotion which can cut through the web of a logic which has gone to irrational lengths, but only reason which can meet logic on its own ground. But I should not want to leave the impression... that any program for the future can get along without our powers of love and indignation.

I am well aware that it takes a powerful prime mover to get men into motion and that it is hard to throw one's self into a struggle whose objectives are so modest and where hope has only a rational basis-- and hardly even that. But the problem is not how to carry men away; it is essential, on the contrary, that they not be carried away but rather that they be made to understand clearly what they are doing.

To save what can be saved so as to open up some kind of future--that is the prime mover, the passion and the sacrifice that is required. It demands only that we reflect and then decide, clearly, whether humanity's lot must be made still more miserable in order to achieve far-off and shadowy ends, whether we should accept a world bristling with arms where brother kills brother; or whether, on the contrary, we should avoid bloodshed and misery as much as possible so that we give a chance for survival to later generations better equipped than we are.

For my part, I am fairly sure that I have made the choice. And, having chosen, I think that I must speak out, that I must state that I will never again be one of those, whoever they be, who compromise with murder, and that I must take the consequences of such a decision. The thing is done, and that is as far as I can go at present....

However, I want to make clear the spirit in which this article is written. We are asked to love or to hate such and such a country and such and such a people. But some of us feel too strongly our common humanity to make such a choice.

Those who really love the Russian people, in gratitude for what they have never ceased to be--that world leaven which Tolstoy and Gorky speak of--do not wish for them success in power politics, but rather want to spare them, after the ordeals of the past, a new and even more terrible bloodletting. So, too, with the American people, and with the peoples of unhappy Europe.

This is the kind of elementary truth we are likely to forget amidst the furious passions of our time. Yes, it is fear and silence and the spiritual isolation they cause that must be fought today. And it is sociability and the universal inter- communication of men that must be defended. Slavery, injustice, and lies destroy this intercourse and forbid this sociability; and so we must reject them.

But these evils are today the very stuff of history, so that many consider them necessary evils. It is true that we cannot "escape history," since we are in it up to our necks. But one may propose to fight within history to preserve from history that part of man which is not its proper province. That is all I have to say here.

The "point" of this article may be summed up as follows: Modern nations are driven by powerful forces along the roads of power and domination. I will not say that these forces should be furthered or that they should be obstructed. They hardly need our help and, for the moment, they laugh at attempts to hinder them. They will, then, continue.

But I will ask only this simple question: What if these forces wind up in a dead end, what if that logic of history on which so many now rely turns out to be a will o' the wisp? What if, despite two or three world wars, despite the sacrifice of several generations and a whole system of values, our grandchildren--supposing they survive-- find themselves no closer to a world society?

It may well be that the survivors of such an experience will be too weak to understand their own sufferings. Since these forces are working themselves out and since it is inevitable that they continue to do so,there is no reason why some of us should not take on the job of keeping alive, through the apocalyptic historical vista that stretches before us, a modest thoughtfulness which, without pretending to solve everything, will constantly be prepared to give some human meaning to everyday life.

The essential thing is that people should carefully weight the price they must pay.... All I ask is that, in the midst of a murderous world, we agree to reflect on murder and to make a choice.

After that, we can distinguish those who accept the consequences of being murderers themselves or the accomplices of murderers, and those who refuse to do so with all their force and being. Since this terrible dividing line does actually exist, it will be a gain if it be clearly marked.

Over the expanse of five continents throughout the coming years an endless struggle is going to be pursued between violence and friendly persuasion, a struggle in which, granted, the former has a thousand times the chances of success than that of the latter. But I have always held that, if he who bases his hopes on human nature is a fool, he who gives up in the face of circumstances is a coward. And henceforth, the only honorable course will be to stake everything on a formidable gamble: that words are more powerful than munitions.

[ end document ]

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

How Engaged?

2007-11-27T10:55:32Z

Id like to hear some stories of how people are engaging their lives with Buddhist ideal.

Thanks

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 41 replies

I Take Refuge (a chant to be sung in rounds)

2007-11-19T10:50:46Z

I take refuge in The Mother
Planet of my birth

I take refuge in the dharma
Work I do on earth

I take refuge in the Buddha
My own awakening

I take refuge in the sangha
Community wherein I sing

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Bay Area Buddhism resource

2007-11-03T21:14:55Z

If you're in the bay area and looking for a Buddhist center or sangha, check out this site:

http://bayareabuddhism.blogspot.com

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Feed the hungry by playing a game!

2007-10-30T03:29:57Z

http://www.freerice.com/index.php

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

VAJRASATTVA, a Buddha to engage for everyone . . . with teaching and references ( repost )

2007-10-28T22:10:57Z

VAJRASATTVA KARMA MANTRA, with teaching and references ( repost )
repost from tribe: teaching yoga

Namaste. Om svasti.

I have uploaded a Sanskrit language text image for Vajrasattva mantra recitation at my tribe home ( "k t" ).

If you do not know about Sanskrit or Buddhist Sanskrit practices, an excellent book is
"Sacred Calligraphy of the East" by John Stevens.

There are online resources for Buddhist mantra in Sanskrit, including
<http://visiblemantra.org/>

Anyway, here is a short, casual teaching on Vajrasattva. I know, I know, it is woefully incomplete. But to actually study this teaching one needs a complete empowerment, a lot of practice, and real instruction from an authentic tantric Buddhist guru, such as commonly come from Tibet and teach in different parts of the West.

This is quite doable. I have received sixty full Vajrasattva empowerments in all different schools. I have not been to India.

Scroll down quite a bit further for several pages of classical tantric teaching. Somebody has to know how this stuff works. Back in India, this is known as "yoga", specifically "guhyamantra yoga".

As one of my many many teachers from Asia once said,
"In the final analysis, all talk is worthless. It is only the exact practice that gives a result."
He also said,
"Dharma eliminates the karma." ( You know, Dharrrrmahhh Heeeleeemeenaaates teee karrrrmmaahhh. )

All my relations! May this benefit all!

K T

Translation of the VAJRASATTVA KARMA MANTRA
( Diamond Being Action Recitation Which Is All-Accomplishing )

". . . Identical to Vajrasattva, the supreme siddhis ( powers ) are perfected in him; he attains the blissful pure land, supreme wisdom becomes his display, and he is an exemplar to gods and men; he is empowered in body speech and mind and whatever he imagines is actualized."
- - from the Thirty First Chapter of the Guhyagarbha tantra, The Chapter on Direct Perception of Vajrasattva

This mantra is quintessential to the foundational practices of Buddhist tantra ( i.e. mystical yoga ), and also is broadly and extensively used at the highest levels of Tantra, up to and including Mahamudra / Great Seal and Atiyoga/ Great Perfection.

The following text and teaching is most sacred.

Vajrasattva is the quintessence of ( all ) the Hundred Families of Buddhist tantra. It is a universal key to all the esoteric Buddhist tantric traditions of India, Tibet, China, and Japan. Vajrasattva practice distinguishes Inner Mahayana / Great Vehicle Buddhism from Outer Mahayana / Great Vehicle Buddhism, for in the latter it is either not found or very hidden.

Vajra has the sense of "indestructible, infinite, immovable, all-encompassing, timeless", ultimate awareness ( jnana ) and skillful means ( prajna ). As one of the Buddha Families it refers either to the Buddha Family of the East, or to the All Encompassing Six Families, i.e. Vajrasattva, the Five Buddha Families plus Vajrasattva.

As a ritual scepter vajra also has the sense of ultimate nobility and royal power, and the union of the Five Buddha Families and the great sacred circles ( mandala ). There are many different kinds of vajra scepters, with one, three, five, or nine prongs, and the vajra is usually part of other tantric implements such as the knife handle and bell handle. It is not realistic to practice Buddhist tantra without both a good vajra scepter and vajra bell: these are required and to be used as part of the tantric commitments.

From a practical perspective, Vajrasattva is one of the most important methods in Buddhist tantra for healing and purification on all levels of Body speech and Mind. ( Of course, no promises can be made for any specific medical condition. ) This includes purification of the practitioner to effectively practice tantra, and also to purify continuing minor infractions and even severely dangerous transgressions of the tantric commitments, which would otherwise be worse than fatal. It also includes psychic heat yoga ( Tibetan: tummo ) and in the Great Perfection full transmission, includes the quintessential precepts of Breakthrough ( dzogchen trekcho mannakde ) for direct liberation of awareness into primordial freedom and purity.

Vajrasattva is also an "All Accomplishing" ( Sanskrit: sarva siddhi ) mantra, as you can see in the translation that follows. Thus, Vajrasattva accomplishes the outer sacred circle magical activities of Purification ( Vajra Family ) , Enrichment ( Ratna Family ), Magnetization ( Padma Family ), and Eliminating Negativity and Obstacles ( Karma Family ). It also accomplishes the primary Great Work of Buddhahood ( Buddha Family or alternatively the Six Great Families, the Five plus Vajrasattva.

The most basic forms of Vajrasattva recitation are these
1) OM VAJRASATTVA AH
2) OM VAJRASATTVA HUM

There is also a basic wrathful form of Vajrasattva known as Vajrapani ( Scepter in Hand ). If one has any major Vajrasattva empowerment, this includes Vajrapani, for which the basic mantra is
HUM VAJRA PHAT
There are also variations of Vajrapani mantra, as Vajrapani is one of the principal angelic guardians ( dharmapalas ) of all the schools of Buddhist tantra across Asia, and also the Shaolin School of Ch'an Buddhist Kung-fu.

There are many images and forms of Vajrasattva, both peaceful and wrathful, and both with and without consort. The consort is for example Vajragarvi ( peaceful ) or Diptacakra ( wrathful consort of Vajrakilaya-Vajrasattva ).

Typically, the Peaceful Vajrasattva is brilliant shimmering transparent clear-white, holding a vajra ( diamond scepter ) in the right hand at the heart, and holding a ghanta ( diamond bell ) in the left hand at the left waist ( bowl up ). This peaceful Vajrasattva may then appear in union with the peaceful consort, or in the heart center of the Ultimate Wrathful Vajrasattva known as Vajrakilaya ( Diamond Dagger ).

As a ritual practice, the seed syllable ( bij mantra ) may be either HUM or AH, and there are other variants as well. The deity is visualized as oneself / an ideal being, atop one's head, and in different forms. So for example, a woman may well see herself as a female Vajrasattva, or as "Reversed Vajrasattva", i.e. as Vajragarvi in tantric union with the masculine aspect Vajrasattva.

Vajrasattva is the source deity of the Great Kalacakra mandala ( sacred circle ), and also the source deity of the Great Perfection ( Atiyoga or "dzogchen" teachings of primordial purity, the most profound, essential, and powerful awareness-yogas of the Early Translation ( Nyingma ) school.

For example, the first human teacher of Atiyoga was Joyous Vajra ( Tibetan : Garab Dorje ), a direct emanation of Vajrasattva. According to the Great Perfection / Atiyoga tradition sourced through Garb Dorje, there are six million four hundred thousand verses of teaching of Vajrasattva and the Great Perfection, of which a worthwhile fraction have been transmitted down to the present day. See for example the following
1) "The Tibetan Book of the Dead: First Complete Translation" ( i.e. the Gyurme Dorje translation and commentary ISBN-10: 0143104942 )
2) "Wellsprings of the Great Perfection", Erik Kunsang
3) many online texts, such as those available from Keith Dowman at
<http://www.keithdowman.net/dzogchen/>
These include
3a) Direct Perception of Vajrasattva ( The text that gave King Dza his enlightenment vision )
3b) The Exalted Spaciousness of Vajrasattva ( Garab Dorje's Source of all Dzogchen Precepts ).

Also, every key empowerment of Great Perfection Break Through ( dzogchen trekcho ), such as the renowned Patrul Rinbochay Tsik Sum Ne Dek ( Striking the Essence in Three Words ) includes the Vajrasattva Hundred Syllable mantra as a key practice. Finally, a greatly wrathful Vajrasattva practice is one of the Three Roots ( primary deity yoga practices of the Nyingma school ), either as Vajrakilaya or as Mahasri Heruka ( the wrathful Samantabhadra-Vajrasattva ).

In addition to the Tibetan Book of the Dead, a crucial and comprehensive teaching with many Great Perfection mantras including Vajrasattva as a primary practice , there is also a rare transmission of Guru Padmasambhava as Vajrasattva. This is the Red ( Padma ) Vajrasattva, which would look superficially similar to other Vajrasattva practices but which has a very different structure and orientation. It is a quintessential restricted practice and requires a specific Red Vajrasattva empowerment. Apart from this, all major Nyingma Great Perfection transmissions, such as Padmasambhava, Yeshe Tsogyel, Tara, Vajrakilaya, Troma, Bardo, etc. include a full Vajrasattva.

In the New Schools of Indo-Tibetan Vajrayana ( i.e. the Sarma, including Gelugpa, Sakya, and Kagyu ), the ultimate Buddha realization is embodied in the Dharmakaya ( Primordial Dimension ) Vajradhara ( Diamond Bearer ). This Buddha Vajradhara is the fully realized Vajrasattva, just as Vajrasattva is the ( sambhogakaya / angelic ) Buddha of the Tantric Path. They are two aspects of the same ultimate teaching, which is known as Mahamudra, the Great Seal.

So for example the great renunciate yogi Milarepa, who was Vajra Family in the Five Buddha, accomplished Buddhahood as Vajradhara. Accomplishing the deity Kalacakra-Vajrasattva also brings one to the level of Vajradhara. ( Accomplishing the deity Yamantaka or Hevajra brings one to this same level. There are many tantric paths to universal awareness. This is known as polytheism. )

There are also many variants of the Hundred syllable mantra, as for Tara Karma Mantra, Mahakala Karma Mantra, Yamantaka Karma Mantra the different Heruka Karma Mantra and so forth. I know directly from having received all these transmissions and the corresponding texts. Thus the Hundred Syllable mantra, like the Hindu Gayatri mantra, serves as a core for many or most other practices.

There are also different extensions to this mantra, including that for "Purifying the Six Realms", and other versions. Most of these are sealed by the oath of tantric secrecy, which must be upheld by all initiates. The many variants of the basic mantra can be summarized in these categories:

a) with and without the optional ending seed syllables HUM and PHAT;

b) with different ordering of phrases, such as SUTOSNYO, SUPOSNYO, and ANURAKTO BE BHAVA;

c) via substitutions of different deities ( angels ) in place of Vajrasattva ( N.B.: not a simple substitution );

d) using basic substitutions for different Buddha families ( i.e. replacing each instance of VAJRA with PADMA to focus more on Lotus Family deities such as Avalokita, Hayagriva, etc. );

e) using the Tibetanization of the original Sanskrit recitation, by substituting for example BENZA for VAJRA. This is also effective as mantra. There is a close Chinese variant of the Tibetan form which is in use by four or five million practitioners.

These different permutations and combinations are all classical and valid, not mistakes in the various publications or traditions you may encounter. Nevertheless, the basic form accomplishes all aspects of spiritual purification and realization.

It is typical for committed practitioners of Buddhatantra to complete a commitment of 100,000 recitations of this long Vajrasattva mantra as a basic daily purification ( 21 x daily or 100x daily ) and as a preliminary to major empowerments and to complete many deity practice sessions ( usually 3x per session to mend mistakes ). Some people do basic Vajrasattva purification practice each full moon, others do extensive retreat entirely focused on this deity, such as for Red Vajrasattva.

Once the basic 100,000 long recitations have been completed, it is possible to go further and perform basic mandala activities ( enrichment, etc. ) or perhaps psychic heat practice or Great Perfection practice ( at some point ). Typically the advanced practices will not even begin to work without completing the long recitations first. I have completed 250,000 long Vajrasattva recitations and intend to do more. It is said that in Tibet good tantric practitioners of different schools quite commonly completed 200,000 long recitations, so this is a major practice for basically every serious tantric yogi.

An excellent text on Vajrasattva in New School Indo-Tibetan Vajrayana is
"The Tantric Path of Purification: The Yoga Method of Heruka Vajrasattva"
by Lama Thubten Yeshe, ISBN-10: 0861710207
This specific mantra authorization ( as well as the one given here ) is included in essentially all major New School Tantric empowerments, such as Kalacakra, Cakrasamvara, Hevajra, Vajrayogini, Yamantaka, Milarepa, Mahakala and so forth. However, the Heruka forms also vary between deity yoga lineages, and the Nyingma versions of Vajra Heruka vary as well.

This translation is partially based on that of the great Nyingma scholar / Dzogchen master Khetsun Sangpo Rinbochay, and also that of the great Dzogchen master Terton Sogyal Tulku Rinbochay. Khetsun Sangpo has provided an excellent commentary which brilliantly summarizes Vajrasattva practice and all the esoteric preliminary practices from the standpoint of the Old School ( Nyingma ) tradition: see
"Tantric Practice in Nying-ma"
by Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche, ISBN-10: 0937938149

Because Vajrasattva is so important in all schools and all levels of Buddhist tantra, it is quite helpful to have both these books.

The Sanskrit phonetic text following is broken out on a phrase by phrase basis without punctuation. The English interpretation follows between each phrase.

I have provided some clarification and elucidation, mostly within the parenthesized parts.

Translation follows:

> > > Begin Translation > > >

Om vajrasattva samayam anupalaya
Om Vajrasattva ( Diamond Being )! Protect the sacred commitment.

Vajrasattva tvenopatistha
Vajrasattva abide in me.

dridho me bhava
Make me firm.

sutosnyo me bhava
Grant me complete satisfaction.

suposnyo me bhava
Fulfill me ( increase the positive within me ).

anurakto me bhava
Make me compassionate ( or: be loving towards me ).

sarva siddhim me prayaccha
Grant me all siddhi ( powers and attainments, both relative and transcendent ).

sarva-karma su ca me chittam sriyam kuru
Manifest for me all ( noble ) actions. Make my mind wholly virtuous.

"hum"
"hum" ( the bijmantra, the essential vibratory wave-particle of Vajrasattva )

"ha ha ha ha"
"ha ha ha ha" ( the Four Joys, Four Immeasurables, Four Levels of Tantric Empowerment, the Four Dimensions of Sacred Being - Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, Nirmanakaya, Svabhavivakaya )

"ho"
"ho" ( exclamation of joy at accomplishing these sets of four )

bhagavan sarva-tathagata-vajra
Transcendent Lord who embodies ( or: who is together with ) all the Indestructible Realized Buddhas !

ma me munca
Do not abandon me.

vajri bhava maha-samaya-sattva
Make me indivisible, Great and All Encompassing Pledge Being ( great angel of angels ).

"ah"
"ah" ( release into vast primordial pure wisdom-dimension beyond all limitations and obscurations )

(optional : hum phat! )
(hum phat!) Hum here means manifest great diamond power! Phat! has the sense of strike / cut through all confusion, grasping and negativity! I.e. by prajnopaya, the Union of Wisdom and Skillful Means.

< < < End Translation < < <

Sarva mangalam! Siddhi rastu.

In partial fulfillment of my received responsibilities as vajrayana guru, this was set down one as casual chatter by the inner medical tantrika and dagger priest K T, who is of the Vajrasattva ( Sixth of the Fivefold ) family.

AHHH AHHH

Tistha vajra! Samaya ho!

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 2 replies

Support the Buddhist Monks and Nuns in Burma .. Two Actions You Can Take

2007-10-02T13:16:30Z

Buddhist Peace Fellowship Action Alert/News
Two Actions You Can Take to Support the Buddhist Monks and Nuns in Burma

For the last week, thousands of Burmese monks have marched against the repressive Burmese military regime in cities across that nation. They have recently been joined by Buddhist nuns and Burmese citizens. This is the largest public demonstration against the junta in nearly 20 years. Over the past couple of days, the situation is getting more tense as the Myanmar military junta has warned that it is prepared to crack down on the monks at the heart of the protest.

The situation in Burma requires our urgent attention. Your support for the monks and nuns will make a big difference to the people of Burma (Myanmar).

Here are two actions you can take now:

1) Our friends at the Buddhist Channel have initiated a global petition to garner support for the Holy Sangha. Please go to the petition online here http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=70,4945,0,0,1,0 and follow the instructions given. This page also includes address information for the Myanmar (Burmese) Embassy in a number of countries.

2) Light a candle and place it in your window every night this week, along with a sign in support of the nonviolent protest. Click here to visit our website where you can download a sign that reads "The World is Watching -- Free Burma!"
http://www.bpf.org/html/whats_now/2007/burma_peace.html

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 2 replies

burnt toast

2007-09-06T09:04:06Z

Hot. Red pepper tamale hot. My god, she was so flaming hot I had to strip down naked, roll in the reeking mud like a wild hog to staycool, until even the fetid bog dried up and turned to graveyard dust. I then felt compelled to give up the proverbial ghost, leaving my bones to bleach white in the scorching heat of the Great Mother's alchemical furnace. What sort of cake would she bake next? What tasty stew would her cauldron brew? Only the thermophiles knew a sure future. For all the rest of flesh the chances for sustainable survival were not much more than a beggar's zilch as the temperatures climbed and the surface sparked, ignited, quickly combusting, leaving behind blackened charcoal, gray ash, and a thickening atmosphere filled with poisonous heat trapping CO2.

Purification by fire the Hopi prophesized and sure as shootin' they weren't just tootin' the horns of street corner apocalypse. This is the real thing. Turn on the air conditioner, fire up another power plant to handle the load, dump tons of CO2 into the atmosphere raising the temperature some more so we have to turn up the air conditioner, which requires higher output from the power plant, which spews more CO2 in a vicious circle spiraling out of quasi-human control. Ah, for the life of a mole …

We might have done better to leave well enough alone and maybe learn to build homes underground and gardens on top. But no, we aspired to bend the Great Mother to our will and testament, harness her to the wagon of industry, and make huge raping profits off the spoils of biosphere exploitation. What an artificial nation! Take a vacation and see her fading beauty before she dries up shriveled into the "hag at the crossroads" where we sit like poisonous toads dumping our loads before expiring along with the water hole. The deepest wells were finally sucked dry. We doomed ourselves while blaming everything and everyone else for our errors.

Do you dream reality? Does reality dream you? There is no actual escape. Fantasy departs when the grid goes down and we are left in the dark fending for ourselves. The whole city is a ghetto and much of the countryside is either owned and operated by fast food corporations and paved suburban malls or is another dried up gene modified mega farm powered by the self-consumption of biofuels, fed on the byproducts of dwindling crude oil. Where are the backyard organic gardens? Is there a backyard to garden and, if so, why aren't we busy replacing the well mowed lawns?

My videogame cell phone oracle has no sane answers. Answers are for sissies. We're planning on toughing and bluffing our way through the blistering reality straight into the lake of fire, stopping to roll like hogs in the mire before we expire and are discarded like burnt black toast. We call it the Great Mother's Roast which reminds the dead church of it's dark history of witch and faggot burning. Who needs midwives, herbal healers, and sane people of nature when there are cities to build, a population to control, and a Book of Revelation to fulfill? Sell them the swill. Give the masses bread and circuses
and wars of terror to entertain and consume a portion of the expendable overpopulation. Salute your damned nation. Remain at your appointed station.

Whatever you do you may not combine talents and resources for mutual aid and support. If you do there will be a secret report and horned lord cattle roundup when the Burning Bush decrees another divinely inspired God-directed attack. There is a glowing gourd of ashes out back. The Beast 666 sees no lack of opportunity for unleashing the solar current directly on already scarred skin, pretending it is not a sin to plunder, tear asunder, and cleave the Priestess on the rack. We are so far gone now that there is no turning back. We might as well get our kicks in before the whole shithouse goes up in fact. How is that for tact? No need for sugar coating the truth when the fundamental theocracy steals the votes before the peasants get to the booth. I can see the imperial ministers proclaiming wildly "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" and filling the temple with money machines. Donate your deepest dreams so the deadly fathers and carnival conmen can spend them for you.

We need conversion surfaces rather than converting churches. This diatribe of the dark future is being typed on a solar electric powered computer as the solar electrified fans blows the cooler evening air over my bare skin, a lesser sin against nature, something she might be able to live with. Imagine a surface which both shades the body from the sunlight's harsh glare and turns that glare into pollutionless free electricity. Now we're getting somewhere that the oilmen of god don't want you to know about. Too late. The cat is out of the bag and it's not about to go back.

--- by a friend called Jade

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 2 replies

Buddhism & Sexuality - September 7-9 in Portland, OR at the Maitripa Institute with Professor Jose Cabezon

2007-09-01T01:02:18Z

Buddhism & Sexuality - September 7-9 in Portland, OR at the Maitripa Institute

ProfessorJose Cabezon, Dalai Lama Professor of Religious Studies University of California, Santa Barbara, will give a Public Talk & Weekend Workshop on this intriguing topic. For more information please see www.maitripa.org

The Maitripa Institute also offers a four year program in Advanced Tibetan Buddhist Studies, classes for part-time students, extension programs, and public teachings and meditations with Larampa Geshe Yangsi Rinpoche.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Major Teachings and Empowerments on August 24 - 29, 2007 by His Holiness

2007-08-19T12:44:58Z

SHAR CHOG NGON GA'I LING
Buddhist Dharma Center of Manifesting Joy
www.BuddhistDharma.net

IS HONORED TO PRESENT

HIS HOLINESS ORGYEN KUSUM LINGPA

August 24 - 29th, 2007

His Holiness Orgyen Kusum Lingpa is a pre-eminent Dzogchen teacher
and Nyingma lineage holder. He is an authentic treasure revealer.
His title, Kusum Lingpa means "Treasure Revealer of the Three Kayas."
Concerning his life's work, His Holiness said recently: "Much earlier
in my life, I made a pilgrimage to Samye. There, due to the good
karma and auspicious coincidence in conjunction with the needs of
these times, I saw all my past and future lives. I recalled all the
teachings I had received directly from Guru Padmasambhava when I was
his disciple, and I saw all the hardships and difficulties of the
time in which I am now living. This made it possible for me to reveal
these teachings which are of particular benefit to everyone, in this
time of terrible suffering."

Join us for this exceptional visit by one of the greatest living
treasure revealer of the innermost esoteric yoga of Primordial
Awareness (Tibetan: Dzogchen Pema Nyingtik). Each of these three
transmissions can be of extraordinary value in transforming
consciousness, developing inner guidance, developing authentic inner
spiritual life, and most especially learning the classical Buddhist
deity yogas of liberating ones mind, body and spirit.

VAJRAKILAYA EMPOWERMENT - Friday, Aug 24th (6PM - 8PM)

The practice of Vajrakilaya blazes at the very heart of the ancient
Vajrayana traditions of Tibet. The wrathful Heruka Vajrakilaya is a
Deity who embodies the enlightened activities of all the Buddhas,
manifesting in an intensly wrathful yet compassionate form in order
to subjugate the delusion and negativity that can arise as obstacles
to the practice of Dharma.

In fact, the practice of Vajrakilaya is famous in Tibetan Buddhism as
an exceptionally powerful method to remove obstacles, destroy the
forces hostile to compassion, and purify the spiritual pollution so
prevalent in this age. Vajrakilaya practice is extremely powerful in
removing outer, inner and secret obstacles on the Dharma path and is
said to bring swift ordinary and extraordinary spiritual
accomplishments. It can also avert misfortunes such as war, disease
and famine. The practice of this deity makes it very easy to progress
on the path, since all obstacles are naturally dispelled and one can
achieve the supreme siddhi without any fault.

In summary, the practice of Vajrakilaya reigns supreme amongst
Meditational Deities. Practitioners of Vajrayana should all receive
this most excellent empowement.

AMITABHA EMPOWERMENT and PHOWA TRANSMISSION
Saturday, Aug 25th (10AM - 12PM)

Phowa is the profound path to Buddhahood without meditation, where
the student learns how to transfer his or her consciousness directly
to the pure land at the time of death without having to go through
the experiences of the intermediate state or fall into any one of
the six realms of samsara. This is a skillful method through which
anyone with faith may swiftly be liberated.

Through this Empowerment, the seeds are planted in the students mind
streams so they may practice conscious dying at the time of death,
through their faith and devotion in the Lama and the practice of
P'howa one may be able to bypass rebirth and go to the pure land of
Amitabha, the Buddha of Limitless Light.

SHI-TRO EMPOWERMENT - Saturday, Aug 25th (2:30PM - 4:30PM)

This empowerment into the Mandala of the 42 Peaceful and 58 Wrathful
Enlightened Deities grant blessings beyond expression. It introduces
us to the display of the peaceful and wrathful energies of the
enlightened mind as they appear to beings in the intermediate state,
or Bardo, between death and the next rebirth.

This empowerment will truly be a priceless opportunity to affirm our
connection with the enlightened Deities, to purify damaged or
impaired samaya and strengthen our spiritual connection. It is
recommended for all students who wish to progress along the path of
secret mantra and purify their defilements and negative karma of
body, speech, and mind. The Shi-tro Empowerment is highly suggested
for all who attend the Bardo teachings.

EXTENSIVE BARDO TEACHINGS - Sunday - Wednesday
Aug 26th - 29th (10 AM - 12 PM and 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM)

Join us for 4 days of extensive teachings on the Six Bardos, or
intermediate states, including the Bardo of Birth, the Bardo of
Dreaming, the Bardo of Meditation, the Bardo of Dying, the Bardo of
Dharmata, and the Bardo of Becoming. Each of these six bardos
presents us with opportunities for recognizing the true nature of our
mind and being liberated from the duality of
self-clinging and subject-object grasping.

Receiving these teachings from a living master who has direct
realization of this is a rare and priceless gift. Through these
instructions, there is opportunity for finding enlightenment when
encountering these bardos, rather than being overwhelmed by them or
frightened by the appearances of the dying state and so forth. This
is a precious opportunity to prepare ourselves for that moment of
death we will all have to face, and to make a connection with a Vajra
Dharma Master who can guide us along the path of liberation.

Please reserve seating in advance since space is limited.
Contact: Anthony (425.772.3488) or Denise (425.772.3317)
Email: DorjeTar@...

Suggested Donation: $30/Empowerment and $10/Teaching
(No one turned away)

Location: 1111 Harvard Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122 (Harvard & Seneca
St.)
(Park free in "U-Park" lot after 6 PM Aug 24 and all day 25th -
26th. Register parking space.)

*Your donations / offerings will go toward expenses related to the
Dharma events and hosting His Holiness, the Lamas and translators.

Driving Instructions:

Seattle First Baptist Church is located in Seattle's First Hill
Neighborhood at 1111 Harvard Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122.

The Buddhist Dharma Center has reserved the parking lot for Friday
Aug 24th starting at 6 PM and all day Saturday and Sunday August
25th - 26th. The parking is located adjacent to the rear of the
church in the U-Park lot. Attendees may ONLY park in this location
for free from Friday evening ? Sunday during the Teachings and
Empowerments. Donations may be made to defray parking costs are
greatly appreciated.(There are handicap entrances on the Harvard and
Boylston sides of the building.)

Directions to: Seattle First Baptist Church:

Coming South on I-5: Take the UNION ST. exit- EXIT 165B. Stay
STRAIGHT to go onto UNION ST. Turn RIGHT onto 7TH AVE. 0.1 mi. Turn
RIGHT onto PIKE ST. Go 0.5 mi. Turn RIGHT onto HARVARD AVE. go 1.5
blocks to the Church. Turn RIGHT onto SENECA ST., there is a parking
lot to the west side/BOLYSTON AVE. of the Church.

Coming North on I-5: take the MADISON ST. EXIT and turn RIGHT on
MADISON ST. go 0.2 mi. Turn LEFT onto BOYLSTON go 0.1 mi. Turn RIGHT
onto SENECA AVE. go 1 block. Turn RIGHT onto HARVARD. The Church is
on the corner of HARVARD and SENECA. The parking lot is just behind
the Church on BOYLSTON AVE.

What to Bring:
We have lots of chairs but not many cushions. Bring your favorite
sitting cushions.

Accomodations nearby for out-of-town attendees:
The Buddhist Dharma Center has limited sleeping space and would need
special approval and reservations in advance. Please bring your own
sleeping bag.

Hotels and Motels nearby:
Reserved for Dharma Sangha Members is the Inn at Virginia Mason. This
is the sister property of the Baroness Hotel below. Please call (800)
283-6453 for reservations. Mention you are with the "Tibetan
Teachings" or "Group Number 18" to get special rates.
Website: www.innatvirginiamason.com/innWelcome.html

Nearby, the most affordable lodging may be at the Baroness Hotel.
They mostly cater to those visiting the nearby medical facilities.
For reservations please contact us at 1-800-283-6453.
Website: www.baronesshotel.com/index.htm

The nearest hotel is the Silver Cloud which is one block away from
the event location. Reservations: 800.590.1801.
Website: www.silvercloud.com/broadway.htm

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 1 reply

Anyone in the LA area up for Living Dharma Satsang?

2007-08-18T11:25:57Z

I just posted an event listing for a group that I’m hosting. We meet on Sunday afternoons starting at 2 pm.

The facilitator relates everything to Buddhist Dharma, but this work is not based strictly on Buddhism. The main meditation technique we use is bringing awareness out of the head down to the heart, with Vipassana-style awareness of body sensations in the heart area.

Check out the “Integrative Awakening” section on my profile for more info.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Any New Kadampa Tradition members out there?

2007-08-15T13:31:36Z

If anyone here is a member of the New Kadampa Tradition would you consider joining the NKT tribe?

http://tribes.tribe.net/kadampa

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

China bans reincarnation

2007-08-10T04:56:28Z

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article2194682.ece

If you made this stuff up, nobody would believe you!

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 3 replies

Energy of Mantra/ Merit etc. CAN be transferred to another ( repost from tribe medicine buddha )

2007-08-01T23:41:24Z

Energy of Mantra/ Merit etc. CAN be transferred to another

Re Thubten
"In terms of your question merit is created in your mental continuum and cannot be transfered [sic], I think."

Re Fairylite
"can you post to have ppl send merit to a person? was wondering if this was possible. I hate to say it, but the person that can use a little help is me. I have been chanting the MB [ Medicine Buddha ] Sutra each day, and it helps ok. I don't want to impose on anyone, I just thought I'd ask."

Mantra energy or other good energy can and should be transferred to others. This is the whole point of the mahayana: to help others.

If we perform good acts and practices only for ourselves, then our spiritual practice and result will be very very limited. If however we offer the results of our practice to others then the spiritual benefit is multiplied.

If a person does a mahayana ( universal service ) or tantrayana ( integrative yoga ) practice such as Medicine Buddha only for themselves, then it is no longer mahayana by intention or in result. It is only a practice of individual liberation at best.

All tantric Buddhist practices begin with mahayana inspiration and end with mahayana dedication. We practice to help and free all, not just one or a few. This kind of intention and dedication is uniquely powerful in transforming the basis of ignorant grasping into pure awareness and freedom.

The whole point of the mahayana is to live for that which is highest in ourselves and others.

Guru Sakyamuni speaks of 500 impure previous lives ( i.e. lifetimes without mahayana intention ) and 500 pure lifetimes ( lifetimes upholding the mahayana vow ). It was the noble intention to take on the suffering of another in a lower realm that immediately freed Sakyamuni from the bondage of that bad migration.

When we recite mantras and consciously direct this energy to the sick, the emotionally disturbed, or the dying, or even for strangers on public transport, we are accomplishing something very significant and of long term benefit. ( In the esoteric practice of Mystic Sacrifice/ Chod, one gives mahayana blessing to disembodied spirits, and simultaneously releases the disturbing influences of one's own cognitive and behavioral mistakes and transgressions. )

Doing so is not only possible and appropriate, it is the whole point of the the mahayana practice. In helping each other with pure intention, we are ALREADY becoming more free, more aware, and more capable.

Wisdom, compassion, and power are one and the same on the innermost levels of bodhicitta and primordial pure awareness. There is no separation in the limitless ground of the originally pure nature of being.

One for all and all for one, THAT is the principle!

If you need help and good energy, then by all means ask. At the same time, what will really benefit you is to dedicate yourself to becoming pure and strong so that you can help others. It has always been this way. This is the breakthrough in awareness and intention that establishes a real connection to the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Now you know.

So the dedication is, in Sanskrit
"sarva mangalam"
i.e.
May All Beings Benefit!

In the Lakota Sioux tradition of Ptecalasanwin, the prayer or statement always begins with
"All My Relations".

In the Hard Rock Cafe in London, the motto is
"Love All, Serve All"

The meanings are the same.

K T, inner medical tantrika

"Compassion is the greatest power in the universe."
Vajradhara Kalu Rinbochay

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 1 reply

TRY THIS!

2007-07-02T23:50:41Z

http://tribes.tribe.net/stemcellsarelife?_click_path=Application%5Btribe%5D.Tribe%5B833e19cd-292d-48b2-af68-69643a2d8d72%5D

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Permaculture book and Permaculture training ( October ) repost

2007-07-02T23:38:57Z

Permaculture book and Permaculture training ( October )
repost from tribe ethnobotany

Today I will say a few words on Permaculture and forward notice of a Permaculture course to be given in October.

Permaculture is a neologism which stands for Permanent Culture. It is at the heart and soul of bioregionalist theory and practice, up to and including the Green Party Movements worldwide. ( Bioregionalist in turn meaning watershed politics, as in Biological Regionalism. )

I am not a permaculture teacher and I do not know the people giving this course. I am a former regional class Green Party organizer and have taken basic permaculture training on the West Coast, and I have the Mollison book and have given an Earth Day feature presentation talk on alternative green medicine.

Today I am passing this information on to you in the hopes that it will help you and inspire some to take a deeper and broader look at this type of work. It's much much more than just gardening and landscape design. It is a way to start healing the planet.

K T

From Amazon Reviews of the Bill Mollison book
PERMACULTURE: A Designers' Manual (Hardcover)
by Bill Mollison (Author), Reny Mia Slay (Author)

# Hardcover: 576 pages
# Publisher: Tagari Publications; Reprint edition (October 1, 1997)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 0908228015
# ISBN-13: 978-0908228010

"Bill Mollison is an ecologist of the first rank. In 1981 he received the Right Livelihood Award--the Alternative Nobel Prize--for his work in environmental design. He and David Holmgren coined the word permaculture; Mollison has devoted his life to teaching the concept. Permaculture is humans working with, not against, nature. It's about causing land, water, plants and animals to synergistically cause multiple benefits and to improve an ecosystem simultaneously. It maximizes functional connections so that the many parts become a whole. To create permaculture design is to make the strongest possible statement of our eco-values, a resounding vote against current agribusiness practices. I have four of Mollison's books--this one has it all plus 129 color photos and a gazillion drawings by Andrew Jeeves. Here is complete knowledge to create your personal permaculture, a place to work and live in harmony with nature, a place that will nuture your body and your soul."

"If ecology was the primary intellectual response to the environmental and agricultural crises of the twentieth century, permaculture (or permanent agriculture) was its practical application. Born in the mid-seventies, permaculture co-founder Bill Mollison defines this new field as "the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter, and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way. Without permaculture there is no possibility of a stable social order." In other words, permaculture is the practical science of sustainability - a whole-systems approach life in the biosphere - and this near-encyclopedic tome covers every aspect of the subject, from soil conditions to climactic factors. The only conceivable drawback of this book is that it is rather difficult to ascertain and won't come cheap. If you enjoy tracking down rare and expensive books, there are none better than Mollison's Permaculture: A Designer's Manual. Large, comprehensive and filled with helpful illustrations and explanations, it is nothing less than the permaculture bible. On the other hand, if you are on a tight budget, and do not wish to spend your time searching for an unworn copy, there are newer and more accessible titles on the subject: like the other permaculture co-founder David Holmgren's Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability, or the concise and slim Earth User's Guide to Permaculture, by Rosemary Morrow. Whatever book you choose, this fascinating subject is perhaps humanity's only hope for a sustainable (read livable) future. Should not be overlooked."

An essential reference.

Permacltur@aol.com
Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2007 17:46:20 EDT
Subject: 12th Annual Permaculture Design Course Online
To:
Please post and/or announce

Elfin Permaculture Announces
12th Annual Online Course

Elfin Permaculture's 12th Annual Permaculture Design Course Online, which begins Oct. 14, 2005, culminates a dozen years of the online courses and more than a quarter century of teaching permaculture.

The deadline for scholarship applications is Aug. 1 each year. Otherwise, students may register at any time. Students who are fully paid before the cycle begins receive a $100 discount.

Persons interning at Barking Frogs Permaculture Center during the course cycle may monitor the course at no charge. Monitoring is free with purchase of the course CD self-study version, or the full self-study reading package. See the Course Protocol, on our web site, for details.

The certificate course runs six months and includes the following learning approaches:

o extensive reading in books, papers, both in print and on the course CD-ROM;
o 21 modules of at least one week, mainly presented on the CD, representing the formal presentations of course instructors;
o at least four reports from each student, including a full permaculture design report;
o class discussion via email of readings and reports, as well as questions and issues raised by students or instructors;
o the opportunity to participate in student study groups where interested students can pursue any agreed-upon topic as long as they wish;
o support for students by three instructors: Dan Hemenway (USA), course designer leader; Cynthia Hemenway CNM (USA), designer and discussion leader for a special week on Design for Health, and Dr. Willem Smuts (South Africa), an earth scientist who has contributed to each of the previous course cycle, currently as discussion leader

The online course consists of three consecutive sections, plus work on a permaculture design which students undertake throughout the cycle in which they are registered. Samples of student design work are included in the course CD.

Registration is limited because of the time required to review and critique individual designs. To enable more students to participate, students may enroll in a fast track, 2-cycle track, or deliberate track, each with different design report deadlines.

Content of the course sections follow:

Section 1: Introduction and Basic Principles
a) World ecological problems and interrelationships.
b) Principles of natural design.
c) Permaculture design concepts.
d) Classical landscapes.
e) Patterning, edges, edge effects.
f) The Permaculture Design Report
g) Principles of transformation (Unique to Elfin Permaculture courses.).

Section 2: Appropriate Technologies in Permaculture Design
a) Energy--solar, wind, hydro, biomass, etc.
b) Nutrient cycles--soil, microclimates, gardening methods, perennials, tree crops, food parks, composting toilets, livestock, "pest" management, food storage, seed saving, cultivated systems, forests, etc.
c) Water--impoundments, aquaculture, conservation, etc.
d) Shelter/buildings and access.
e) Design for Health (NEW in 2000)

Section 3: Social permaculture. Design Report.
a) Design for catastrophe.
b) Urban permaculture.
c) Bioregionalism.
d) Alternative economics.
e) Village development.
f) Final design reports and critiques.
g) Final evaluation.

Online course participants have come from every continent on Earth and a number of island countries, from latitudes spanning the equatorial tropics to sub-arctic, and a comparable range of elevations, etc.. The course is suited to beginning permaculture design students, people seeking support in producing a permaculture design for their own homes, and, by special arrangement, people with some permaculture experience who wish work in advanced areas. Successful students receive certification as entry-level permaculturists. Advanced students pay no extra, but are expected to be additional resources to the regular students.

To review information about the course methodology, content, certification requirements, tuition & fees, registration process, scholarship policies, reading list & cost, and assignment schedule, download the course preregistration package from our web site, www.barkingfrogspermaculture.org

From the same site, prospective students may downolad a copy of the Course CD Contents Table. The course CD includes more than 300 separate items, including papers, data bases, weekly teaching modules, samples of design work, and other resources.

Donations are needed to support additional scholarships and to provide reading materials to scholarship students. (We cannot include these in our scholarships.) Inquire at BarkingFrogsPC@aol.com or send contributions to Barking Frogs Permaculture Center, PO Box 69, Sparr FL 32192-0069 USA. Please include the term â€œpermacultureâ€? in the subject field when sending email to us.

Elfin Permaculture is a project of Barking Frogs Permaculture Center operated by Dan and Cynthia Hemenway.

# # #

To Editors: Permaculture publications, media, and closely allied publications may request a review copy the latest version (5.x) of the course CD for self-study by sending an email to Dan Hemenway at Permacltur@aol.com This version is substantially enlarged and refined from the review version we distributed at the inception of this online approach to the Permaculture Design Course. The self-study version omits a few files restricted to certificate course students, but is substantially the same otherwise.

Please reply to BarkingFrogsPC@aol.com to be removed from this list.

Barking Frogs Permaculture Center

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barking Frogs Permaculture Center
www.barkingfrogspermaculture.org

Our 12th Annual Permaculture Design Course Online begins Oct. 14, 2007. The protocol for our Annual Permaculture Design Course Online is at http://www.barkingfrogspermaculture.org/Protocol4-23-06.pdf

A complete list of Yankee Permaculture publications by category may be downloaded from:

http://www.barkingfrogspermaculture.org/YPCpublicationsbycategory.pdf

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

Mahabodhisattva Manjusri ( & Wrathful Manjusri / Yamantaka ) resources : scripture and commentaries ( repost )

2007-06-27T14:43:32Z

Mahabodhisattva Manjusri ( & Wrathful Manjusri / Yamantaka ) resources : scripture and commentaries
( repost from tribe buddhism )

Om Svasti!

Since this has been brought up ( by Ron in tribe buddhism ), and there is interest, I will say a little about Manjusri. This is a great bodhisattva, whose name means "Smooth and Glorious". He is the archetype of Bodhisattva wisdom ( prajna ) and his consort is the Hindu / Buddhist Sarasvati.

The basic mantra is
OM A RA PA CA NA DHI
and the seed syllable is
DHI

Here is the meaning of this mantra:
"The Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom sets out the following meanings for the first syllables:
A is a door to the insight that all dharmas are unproduced from the very beginning (adya-anutpannatvad);
RA is a door to the insight that all dharmas are without dirt (rajas);
PA is a door to the insight that all dharmas have been expounded in the ultimate sense (paramartha);
CA is a door to the insight that the decrease (cyavana) or rebirth of any dharma cannot be apprehended, because all dharmas do not decrease, nor are they reborn;
NA is a door to the insight that the Names [i.e. nama]" of all dharmas have vanished; the essential nature behind names cannot be gained or lost."

The mantra in Sanskrit letters is given at
http://www.visiblemantra.org/manju.html

This mantra is pervasive in the Mahayana world. It is used equally by "Chinese" Buddhists and "Japanese" Buddhists. I have a practice commentary and the hand mudras from Chinese lineage.

The primary source text for Manjusri is the Manjusri Namasamgiti. It is possible to recite this text in Sanskrit. I have Dr. Alex Wayman's commentary and translation back in 1986 or so, under the title
"Chanting the Names of Manjusri"
and should be available in inexpensive paperback form. The text in Sanskrit is a long mantra. It also includes a number of Manjusri mantras that are very valuable but little known or used.

Translations and commentaries are available for free ( without the Sanskrit ). They can be found at
http://kalachakranet.org/resources_english.html

At that page scroll down to the following line items, which are associated with clickable downloads. See
a) "Manjushri Namasamghiti, translated by Ronald M. Davidson."
b) "Study Guide to the Namasamgiti, With Reference to the Vimalaprabha, edited and tabulated by Phillip Lecso"

There is a specific empowerment for the Namasamgiti, which I have in the Sakya tradition. However, there are many ways to obtain a Manjusri initiation, and also many ways to obtain a wrathful Manjusri / Yamantaka initiation. I also have received the grand two day Yamantaka initiation ( Ra Lotsawa lineage ) in the Sakya school. This is a central transmission in Sakya lineage, and absolutely primary in the Gelugpa school.

Many wrathful Padmasambhava initiations include a full Yamantaka. Also, all Vajrakilaya initiations include a full Yamantaka. From these alone I have received about thirty full Yamantaka initiations. The Fivefold Cakrasamvara initiation of the Shangpa Kagyu school includes a full New School ( Sarma ) Yamantaka.

However, I have never seen a Kagyu practice text for Yamantaka. Only last year was I able to get a good Nyingma text for Manjusri + Yamantaka.

There is a comprehensive web site for Yamantaka practice texts and commentaries. See
www.yamantaka.com

These many practice texts and commentaries are absolutely wonderful and can serve as primary materials.

The site is restricted to those who can say they have received a full Yamantaka empowerment, by which is meant full Yamantaka in the New School, not the Old School ( Nyingma ). Technically, I do not see that the Old School Yamantaka would work differently from New School Yamantaka, but I do not have detailed Old School commentaries or teachings. It may be similar or the same in practice, but I cannot aver this based on lack of evidence.

What follows is a copyrighted text for Manjusri Namasamgiti which includes some Sanskrit accomplishment mantras for Manjusri. It is provided for personal use only.

Sarva mangalam. Siddhi rastu.

In partial fulfillment of my teaching responsibilities,

K T

http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/archives/advanced/kalachakra/practice_texts/guru_yoga_prayers/concert_names_manjushri.html

Copyright the Berzin Archives
Donations to the Berzin Archives can be made. See
http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/about/help/donations.html

A Concert of Names of Manjushri
('Jam-dpal mtshan-brjod, Skt. Manjushri-namasamgiti)

translated from the Tibetan, as clarified by the Sanskrit
Alexander Berzin, 2004

Homage to Manjushri in youthful form.
Sixteen Verses on Requesting Instruction

(1) Then the glorious Holder of the Vajra,
The most superb tamer of those difficult to tame,
The hero, triumphant over the world’s three planes,
The powerful lord of the thunderbolt, ruler of the hidden,

(2) With awakened white-lotus eye,
Fully bloomed pink-lotus face,
Brandishing over and again
The supreme vajra with his hand –

(3) Together with countless Vajrapanis,
With features such as brows furrowed in fury,
Heroes, tamers of those difficult to tame,
Fearsome and heroic in form,

(4) Brandishing blazing-tipped vajras in their hands,
Superb in fulfilling the aims of wandering beings,
Through great compassion, discriminating awareness,
And skillful means,

(5) Having happy, joyful, and delighted dispositions,
Yet endowed with ferocious bodily forms,
Guardians to further the Buddhas’ enlightening influence,
Their bodies bowed – together with them

(6) Prostrated to the Guardian, the Vanquishing Master Surpassing All,
The Thusly Gone One, the Fully Enlightened,
And standing in front, his palms pressed together,
Addressed these words:

(7) “O Master of the All-Pervasive,
For my benefit, my purpose, from affection toward me,
So that I may obtain
Manifest enlightenment from illusion’s net

(8) For the welfare and attainment
Of the peerless fruit for all limited beings
Sunk in the swamp of unawareness,
Their minds upset by disturbing emotions,

(9) O Fully Enlightened, Vanquishing Master, Guru of Wanderers,
Indicator, Knower of the Great Close Bond and Reality,
Foremost Knower of Powers and Intents,
Elucidate, please,

(10) Regarding the enlightening body of deep awareness
of the Vanquishing Master,
The Great Crown Protrusion, the Master of Words,
The embodied deep awareness that is self-produced,
The deep awareness being, Manjushri,

(11) The superlative Concert of His Names,
With profound meaning, with extensive meaning,
with great meaning,
Unequaled, and supremely pacifying,
Constructive in the beginning, middle, and end,

(12) Which was proclaimed by previous Buddhas,
Will be proclaimed by future ones,
And which the Fully Enlightened of the present
Proclaim over and again,

(13) And which, in The Illusion’s Net
Great Tantra,
Was magnificently chanted
By countless delighted great holders of the vajras,
Holders of the hidden mantras.

(14) O Guardian, so that I (too) may be a holder
Of the hidden (teachings) of all the Fully Enlightened,
I shall preserve it with steadfast intention
Till my definite deliverance,

(15) And shall elucidate it to limited beings,
In accord with their individual intents,
For dispelling disturbing emotions, barring none,
And destroying unawareness, barring none."

(16) Having requested the Thusly Gone One with these words,
The lord of the hidden, Vajrapani,
Pressed his palms together
And, bowing his body, stood in front.
Six Verses in Reply

(17) Then the Vanquishing Master Surpassing All,
Shakyamuni, the Able Sage,
The Fully Enlightened, the Ultimate Biped,
Extending from his mouth
His beautiful tongue, long and wide,

(18) Illuminating the world’s three planes
And taming the four (mara) demonic foes,
And displaying a smile, cleansing
The three worse rebirths for limited beings,

(19) And filling the world’s three planes
With his sweet Brahma-voice,
Replied to Vajrapani, the magnificently strong,
The lord of the hidden:

(20) “Excellent, O glorious Holder of the Vajra,
(I say) excellent to you, Vajrapani,
You who possess great compassion
For the sake of the welfare of wandering beings.

(21) Rise to the occasion to hear from me, now,
A Concert of Names of the enlightening body of deep awareness,
Manjushri, the great aim,
Purifying and eliminating negative force.

(22) Because of that, Overlord of the Hidden,
It’s excellent that I’m revealing it to you;
(So) listen with single-pointed mind.”

“O Vanquishing Master, that’s excellent,” he replied.
Two Verses of Beholding the Six Buddha-Families

(23) Then the Vanquishing Master Surpassing All,
Shakyamuni, the Able Sage,
Beholding in detail the entire family of great hidden mantra:
The family of holders of hidden mantras
and of mantras of pure awareness,
The family of the three,

(24) The family of the world and beyond the world,
The family, the great one, illuminating the world,
(That) family supreme, of (mahamudra) the great seal,
And the great family of the grand crown protrusion,
Three Verses on the Steps of Manifest Enlightenment by Means of Illusion?s Net

(25) Proclaimed the verse of the Master of Words,
Endowed with the sixfold mantra king,
(Concerning) the nondual source
With a nature of non-arising:

(26) “ A a, i i, u u, e ai, o au, am a:.
Situated in the heart, I’m deep awareness embodied,
The Buddha of the Buddhas
Occurring in the three times.

(27) Om – Vajra Sharp,
Cutter of Suffering,
Embodied Discriminating Deep Awareness,
Enlightening Body of Deep Awareness,
Powerful Lord of Speech,
And Ripener of Wandering Beings (Ara-pachana) – homage to you.”
Fourteen Verses on the Great Mandala of the Vajra Sphere

(28) Like this is the Buddha (Manjushri),
the Vanquishing Master Surpassing All,
the Fully Enlightened:
He’s born from the syllable a,
The foremost of all phonemes, the syllable a,
Of great meaning, the syllable that’s deepest,

(29) The great breath of life, non-arising,
Rid of being uttered in a word,
Foremost cause of everything spoken,
Maker of every word perfectly clear.

(30) In his great offering festival, great longing desire’s
The provider of joy to limited beings;
In his great offering festival, great anger’s
The great foe of all disturbing emotion.

(31) In his great offering festival, great naivety’s
The dispeller of the naivety of the naïve mind;
In his great offering festival, great fury’s
The great foe of great fury.

(32) In his great offering festival, great greed’s
The dispeller of all greed;
He’s the one with great desire, great happiness,
Great joy, and great delight.

(33) He’s the one with great form, great enlightening body,
Great color, great physique,
Great name, great grandeur,
And a great and extensive mandala circle.

(34) He’s the great bearer of the sword of discriminating awareness,
The foremost great elephant-hook for disturbing emotions;
He’s the one with great renown, great fame,
Great luster, and great illumination.

(35) He’s the learned one, the bearer of great illusion,
The fulfiller of aims with great illusion,
The delighter with delight through great illusion,
The conjurer of an Indra’s net of great illusion.

(36) He’s the most preeminent master of great generous giving,
The foremost holder of great ethical discipline,
The steadfast holder of great patience,
The courageous one with great perseverance,

(37) The one abiding in the absorbed concentration
of great mental stability,
The holder of a body of great discriminating awareness,
The one with great strength, great skill in means,
Aspirational prayer, and a sea of deep awareness.

(38) He’s the immeasurable one, composed of great love,
He’s the foremost mind of great compassion,
Great discrimination, great intelligence,
Great skill in means, and great implementation.

(39) Endowed with the strength of great extraphysical powers,
He’s the one with great might, great speed,
Great extraphysical power, great (lordly) renown,
Great courage of strength.

(40) He’s the crusher of the great mountain of compulsive existence,
The firm holder of the great vajra;
The one with great fierceness and great ferociousness,
He’s the great terrifier of the terrifying.

(41) He’s the superlative guardian with great pure awareness,
The superlative guru with great hidden mantra;
Stepped up to the Great Vehicle’s mode of travel,
He’s superlative in the Great Vehicle’s mode of travel.
Twenty-five Verses, Less a Quarter, on the Deep Awareness of the Totally Pure Sphere of Reality

(42) He’s the Buddha (Vairochana), the great illuminator,
The great able sage, having great sagely (stillness);
He’s the one produced through great mantra’s mode of travel,
And, by identity-nature, he (himself) is great mantra’s mode of travel.

(43) He has attainment of the ten far-reaching attitudes,
Support on the ten far-reaching attitudes,
The purity of the ten far-reaching attitudes,
The mode of travel of the ten far-reaching attitudes.

(44) He’s the guardian, the powerful lord
of the ten (bhumi) levels of mind,
The one established through the ten (bhumi) levels of mind;
By identity-nature, he’s the purified ten sets of knowledge,
And the holder of the purified ten sets of knowledge.

(45) He’s the one with ten aspects, the ten points as his aim,
Chief of the able sages, the one with ten forces,
the master of the all-pervasive;
He’s the fulfiller of the various aims, barring none,
The powerful one with ten aspects, the great one.

(46) He’s beginningless and, by identity-nature,
parted from mental fabrication,
By identity-nature, the accordant state; by identity-nature,
the pure one;
He’s the speaker of what’s actual, with speech of no other,
The one who, just as he speaks, just so does he act.

(47) Non-dual, the speaker of nonduality,
Settled at the endpoint of what’s perfectly so;
With a lion’s roar of the lack of a true identity-nature,
He’s the frightener of the deer of the deficient extremists.

(48) Coursing everywhere, with his coursing meaningful,
(never in vain),
He has the speed of the mind of a Thusly Gone One;
He’s the conqueror, the full conqueror, with enemies conquered,
A (chakravartin) emperor of the universe, one that has great strength.

(49) He’s the teacher of hosts, the head of hosts,
The (Ganesha) lord of hosts, the master of hosts, the powerful one;
He’s the one with great strength, the one that’s keen (to carry the load),
The one that has the great mode of travel,
with no need for travel by another mode.

(50) He’s the lord of speech, the master of speech,
eloquent in speech,
The one with mastery over speech, the one with limitless words,
Having true speech, the speaker of truth,
The one that indicates the four truths.

(51) He’s irreversible, non-returning,
The guide for the mode of travel
of the self-evolving rhino pratyekas;
Definitely delivered through various (means)
of definite deliverance,
He’s the singular cause of the great elemental states.

(52) He’s a (bhiksu) full monk, (an arhat) with enemies destroyed,
Defilements depleted, with desire departed, senses tamed;
Having attained ease of mind, having attained a state of no fear,
He’s the one with (elements) cooled down, no longer muddied.

(53) Endowed to the full with pure awareness and movement,
He’s the Blissfully Gone, superb in his knowledge of the world;
He’s the one not grasping for “mine,” not grasping for a “me,”
Abiding in the mode of travel of the two truths.

(54) He’s the one that’s standing at the far shore,
beyond recurring samsara,
With what needs to be done having been done, settled on dry land,
His cleaving sword of discriminating awareness
Having drawn out the deep awareness of what’s unique.

(55) He’s the hallowed Dharma, the ruler of the Dharma,
the shining one,
The superb illuminator of the world;
He’s the powerful lord of Dharma, the king of the Dharma,
The one who shows the most excellent pathway of mind.

(56) With his aim accomplished, his thought accomplished,
And rid of all conceptual thought,
He’s the nonconceptual, inexhaustible sphere,
The superb, imperishable sphere of reality.

(57) He’s the one possessing positive force, a network of positive force,
And deep awareness, the great source of deep awareness,
Possessing deep awareness, having deep awareness
of what exists and what doesn’t exist,
The one with the built-up pair of networks networked together.

(58) Eternal, the ruler of all, he’s the (yogi) yoked to the authentic;
He’s stability of mind, the one to be made mentally stable,
the master of intelligence,
The one to be individually reflexively known, the immovable one,
The primordial one who’s the highest,
the one possessing three enlightening bodies.

(59) With an identity-nature of five enlightening bodies, he’s a Buddha;
With an identity-nature of five types of deep awareness,
a master of the all-pervasive,
Having a crown in the identity-nature of the five Buddhas,
Bearing, unhindered, the five enlightening eyes.

(60) He’s the progenitor of all Buddhas,
The superlative, supreme Buddhas’ spiritual son,
The womb giving rise to the existence of discriminating awareness,
The womb of the Dharma, bringing an end to compulsive existence.

(61) With a singular innermost essence of firmness,
by identity-nature, he’s a diamond-strong vajra;
As soon as he’s born, he’s master of the wandering world.
Arisen from the sky, he’s the self-arisen:
The great fire of discriminating deep awareness;

(62) The great-light (Vairochana,) Illuminator of All,
luminary of deep awareness, illuminating all;
The lamp for the world of the wanderers;
The torch of deep awareness;
The great brilliance, the clear light;

(63) Lord of the foremost mantras, king of the pure awareness;
King of the hidden mantras, the one that fulfills the great aim;
He’s the great crown protrusion, the wondrous crown protrusion,
The master of space, the one indicating in various ways.

(64) He’s the foremost one, an enlightening body
with the identity-nature of all the Buddhas,
The one with an eye for the joy of the entire wandering world,
The creator of diverse bodily forms,
The great (rishi) muse, worthy of offerings, worthy of honor.

(65) He’s the bearer of the three family traits,
the possessor of the hidden mantra,
He’s the upholder of the great close bond
and of the hidden mantra;
He’s the most preeminent holder of the three precious gems,
Indicator of the ultimate of the three vehicles of mind.

(66) He’s the totally triumphant, with an unfailing grappling-rope,
The great apprehender with a vajra grappling-rope,
With a vajra elephant-hook and a great grappling-rope.
Ten Verses, Plus a Quarter, Praising Mirror-like Deep Awareness

He's Vajrabhairava, the terrifying vajra terrifier:

(67) Ruler of the furious, six-faced and terrifying,
Six-eyed, six-armed, and full of force,
The skeleton having bared fangs,
Halahala, with a hundred heads.

(68) He’s the destroyer of death (Yamantaka),
king of the obstructors,
(Vajravega,) vajra might, the terrifying one;
He’s vajra devastation, vajra heart,
Vajra illusion, the great bellied one.

(69) Born from the vajra (womb), he’s the vajra lord,
Vajra essence, equal to the sky;
Immovable (Achala), (with matted hair) twisted
into a single topknot,
Wearer of garments of moist elephant hide.

(70) Great horrific one, shouting “ha ha,”
Creator of terror, shouting “hi hi,”
With enormous laughter, (booming) long laughter,
Vajra laughter, great roar.

(71) He’s the vajra-minded (Vajrasattva),
the great-minded (mahasattva),
Vajra king, great bliss;
Vajra fierce, great delight,
Vajra Humkara, the one shouting “hum.”

(72) He’s the holder of a vajra arrow as his weapon,
The slasher of everything with his vajra sword;
He’s the holder of a crossed vajra, possessor of a vajra,
Possessor of a unique vajra, the terminator of battles.

(73) His dreadful eyes with vajra flames,
Hair on his head, vajra flames too,
Vajra cascade, great cascade,
Having a hundred eyes, vajra eyes.

(74) His body with bristles of vajra hair,
A unique body with vajra hair,
With a growth of nails tipped with vajras,
And tough, (firm) skin, vajras in essence.

(75) Holder of a garland of vajras, having glory,
He’s adorned with jewelry of vajras,
And has long (booming) laughter “ha ha,” with loud sound,
The vajra sound of the six syllables.

(76) He’s (Manjughosha,) with a lovely voice,
enormous volume,
A tremendous sound unique in the world’s three planes,
A voice resounding to the ends of space,
The best of those possessing a voice.
Forty-two Verses on Individualizing Deep Awareness

(77) He’s what’s perfectly so, the lack of identity-nature,
the actual state,
The endpoint of that which is perfectly so, that which isn’t a syllable;
He’s the proclaimer of voidness, the best of bulls
Bellowing a roar, profound and extensive.

(78) He’s the conch of Dharma, with a mighty sound,
The gong of Dharma, with a mighty crash,
The one in a state of non-abiding nirvana,
Kettledrum of Dharma in the ten directions.

(79) He’s the formless one, with an excellent form, the foremost one,
Having varied forms, made from the mind;
He’s a glory of appearances in every form,
The bearer of reflections, leaving out none.

(80) He’s the impervious one, with great (lordly) renown,
The great powerful lord of the world’s three planes;
Abiding with a lofty arya pathway of mind,
He’s the one raised on high, the crown banner of Dharma.

(81) He’s the body of youth unique in the world’s three planes,
The stable elder, the ancient one, the master of all that lives;
He’s the bearer of the thirty-two bodily signs, the beloved,
Beautiful throughout the world’s three planes.

(82) He’s the teacher of knowledge and good qualities to the world,
The teacher of the world without any fears,
The guardian, the rescuer, trusted throughout the world’s three planes,
The refuge, the protector, unsurpassed.

(83) The experiencer (of experiences) to the ends of space,
He’s the ocean of the deep awareness of the omniscient mind,
The splitter of the eggshell of unawareness,
The tearer of the web of compulsive existence.

(84) He’s the one with disturbing emotions stilled, without an exception,
The one crossed over the sea of recurring samsara;
He’s the wearer of the crown of the deep awareness empowerment,
Bearer of the Fully Enlightened as adornment.

(85) He’s the one stilled of the suffering of the three kinds of suffering,
The one with an endless ending of the three,
having gone to the liberation of the three;
He’s the one definitely freed from all obscurations,
The one who abides in space-like equality.

(86) He’s the one past the stains of all disturbing emotions,
The one understanding the three times as non-time;
He’s the great (naga) chief for all limited beings,
The crown of those wearing the crown of good qualities.

(87) Definitely freed from all (residue) bodies,
He’s the one well established in the track of the sky;
Bearer of a great wish-fulfilling gem,
He’s master of the all-pervasive, ultimate of all jewels.

(88) He’s the great and bounteous wish-granting tree,
The superlative great vase of excellence;
The agent fulfilling the aims of all limited beings,
the wisher of benefit,
He’s the one with parental affection toward limited beings.

(89) He’s the knower of what’s wholesome and what’s unwholesome,
the knower of timing,
The knower of the close bond, the keeper of the close bond,
the master of the all-pervasive;
He’s the knower of the faculties of limited beings,
the knower of the occasion,
The one skilled in the three (kinds of) liberation.

(90) He’s the possessor of good qualities, the knower of good qualities,
the knower of the Dharma,
The auspicious one, the source of what’s auspicious,
He’s the auspiciousness of everything auspicious,
The one with the auspicious sign of renown,
the famous, constructive one.

(91) He’s the great breath, the great festival,
The great joy, the great pleasure,
The show of respect, the one showing respect, the prosperous one,
The supremely joyous, the master of fame, the glorious one.

(92) Possessor of the best, he’s the provider of the best,
the most preeminent,
Suitable for refuge, he’s the superlative refuge,
The very best foe of the great frightful things,
The eliminator of what’s frightful, without an exception.

(93) Wearing his hair in a bun, he’s the one with a bun of hair,
Wearing his hair in mats, he’s the one having matted locks,
He’s the one draped with a munja-grass sacred cord,
the one wearing a crown,
The one with five faces, five buns of hair,
And five knotted locks, (each) crowned with a bloom.

(94) He’s the one maintaining great taming behavior,
the one with shaved head,
The one with celibate Brahma(-like) conduct,
the one with superlative taming behavior,
The one with great trials, the one who’s completed the trials,
The one who’s taken ablution, the foremost, Gautama.

(95) He’s a brahmin, a Brahma, the knower of Brahma,
The possessor of a Brahma-nirvana attainment;
The liberated one, he’s liberation,
the one with the body of full liberation,
The fully liberated one, the peaceful one, the state of peace.

(96) He’s nirvana release, the one with peace,
the one released in nirvana,
He’s the one most definitely delivered and nearly (brought to an end),
The one who’s completed bringing to an end pleasure and pain,
The one with detachment, the one with (residue) body consumed.

(97) He’s the invincible one, the incomparable one,
The unmanifest one, the one not appearing,
the one with no sign that would make him seen,
The unchanging, the all-going, the all-pervasive,
The subtle, the untainted, the seedless.

(98) He’s the one without a speck of dust, dustless, stainless,
With faults disgorged, the one without sickness;
He’s the wide-awake one, by identity-nature, the Fully Enlightened,
The Omniscient One, the superb knower of all.

(99) Beyond the nature of partitioning primary consciousness,
He’s deep awareness, bearer of the form of nonduality;
He’s the one without conceptual thought,
spontaneously accomplishing (without any effort),
The one enacting the enlightening deeds of the Buddhas
throughout the three times.

(100) He’s the Buddha, the one without a beginning or end,
The (beginning) primordial Adibuddha, the one without precedent;
The singular eye of deep awareness, the one with no stains,
Deep awareness embodied, he’s the One Thusly Gone.

(101) He’s the powerful lord of speech, the magnificent speaker,
The supreme being among speakers, the ruler of speakers,
The best of those speaking, the very best one,
The lion of speakers, inconquerable by others.

(102) Seeing all around, he’s supreme joy itself,
With a garland of brilliance, beautiful to behold;
He’s the magnificent light, the blazing one (Vishnu, beloved of Shri,)
the curl at the heart,
The illuminator with hands (that are rays) of blazing light.

(103) The best of the great physicians, he’s the most preeminent one,
The unsurpassed remover of (thorny) pains;
He’s the celestial tree of all medications, with none left out,
The great nemesis of the sicknesses of disturbing emotions.

(104) He’s the beauty mark of the world’s three planes, the lovely one,
The glorious one, with a mandala of lunar and zodiac constellation stars;
He’s the one extending to the ends of space in the ten directions,
The great ascending of the banner of Dharma.

(105) He’s the unique extension of an umbrella
over the wandering world,
With his mandala circle of love and compassion;
He’s the glorious one, the Powerful Lord of the Lotus Dance,
Great master of the all-pervasive, the one with an umbrella of precious gems.

(106) He’s the great king of all the Buddhas,
Holder of the embodiments of all the Buddhas,
Great yoga of all the Buddhas,
Unique teaching of all the Buddhas.

(107) He’s the glory of the empowerment of the vajra jewel,
Powerful lord of the sovereigns of all jewels;
Master of all (Lokeshvaras,) the powerful lords of the world,
He’s the sovereign of all (Vajradharas,) the holders of the vajra.

(108) He’s the great mind of all Buddhas,
The one that is present in the mind of all Buddhas;
He’s the great enlightening body of all Buddhas,
He’s the beautiful speech (Sarasvati) of all Buddhas.

(109) He’s the vajra sun, the great illuminator,
The vajra moon, the stainless light;
He’s great desire, the one that begins with non-desire,
Blazing light of various colors.

(110) He’s the vajra posture of the Fully Enlightened,
The bearer of the Dharma, the concert of the Buddhas;
He’s the glorious one, the one that’s born from the lotus of the Buddhas,
The keeper of the treasure of omniscient deep awareness.

(111) He's the bearer of diverse illusions, he's the king;
He's the bearer of Buddhas' pure awareness mantras,
he's the great one;
He's the vajra sharp, the great sword,
The supreme syllable, totally pure.

(112) He’s the Great Vehicle (Mahayana), the cutter of suffering,
He’s the great weapon, Vajra Dharma;
He’s (Jinajik,) the triumph of the triumphant, vajra profound,
He’s vajra intelligence, the knower of things and how they exist.

(113) He’s the perfected state of every far-reaching attitude,
The wearer of all (bhumi) levels of mind as adornment;
He’s the lack of a true identity-nature of totally pure existent things,
He’s correct deep awareness, the core light of the moon.

(114) He’s great diligence (applied), Illusion’s Net,
Sovereign of all tantras, the one that’s superb;
He’s the possessor of vajra (postures and) seats, without an exception,
He’s the bearer of enlightening bodies of deep awareness,
without an exception.

(115) He’s the all-around excellent (Samanta-bhadra),
he’s excellent intelligence,
He’s the womb of the earth (Kshiti-garbha),
the support of the wandering world;
He’s the great womb of all of the Buddhas,
The bearer of a circle of assorted emanations.

(116) He’s the supreme self-nature of all functional phenomena,
The bearer of the self-nature of all functional phenomena;
He’s the non-arising existent, with purposes diverse,
The bearer of the nature of all existent things.

(117) Great discriminating awareness in a single moment,
He’s the bearer of comprehension of all existent things;
The clear realization of all existent things,
He’s the able sage, with foremost intelligence,
the endpoint of that which is perfectly so.

(118) He’s the immovable one, extremely pure, by identity-nature,
The bearer of the purified state of the Perfect, Fully Enlightened Ones;
He’s the one having bare cognition of all Buddhas,
The flame of deep awareness, the excellent clear light.
Twenty-four Verses on Equalizing Deep Awareness

(119) He’s the fulfiller of wished-for aims, he’s superb,
The one totally purifying all of the worse rebirth states;
He’s the ultimate of all limited beings, the guardian,
The complete liberator of all limited beings.

(120) He’s the hero in the battle with disturbing emotions,
the unique one,
The slayer of the insolent arrogance of the enemy “unawareness”;
He’s intelligence, bearer of an enamored tone, the one with glory,
Bearer of forms with heroic and disdainful tones.

(121) He’s the one pounding with a hundred clubs in his hands,
He’s the dancer with a pounding-down of his feet;
He’s the one with glory, the user of a hundred (user) hands,
The dancer across (the sectors used in) the expanse of the sky.

(122) He’s the one standing on the surface of the mandala of the earth,
Pressing down on the surface with a single foot;
He’s the one standing on the nail of his large toe,
Pressing down on the tip of Brahma’s (egg-like) world.

(123) He’s the singular item,
the item regarding phenomena that’s nondual,
He’s the deepest (truth) item, (the imperishable powerful lord,)
the one that lacks what’s fearful;
He’s the item with a variety of revealing forms,
The one that has a continuity
of mind and of partitioning consciousness.

(124) He’s joyful awareness of existent things, without an exception,
He’s joyful awareness of voidness, the highest intelligence;
The one gone beyond the longing desires, and the likes,
of compulsive existence,
He’s great joyful awareness regarding the three (planes of)
compulsive existence.

(125) He’s the pure white one – a brilliant white cloud,
With beautiful light – beams of the autumn moon,
With an exquisite (face) – the mandala orb of a (youthful) sun,
With light from his nails – a great (passionate) red.

(126) With sapphire-blue hair knotted on top,
And wearing a great sapphire on top of his locks,
He’s the glorious one with the radiant luster of a magnificent gem,
Having as jewelry emanations of Buddha.

(127) He’s the shaker of spheres of hundreds of worlds,
The one with great force with his extraphysical powerful legs;
He’s the holder of the great (state of) mindfulness
as well as the facts of reality,
He’s the ruler of the absorbed concentrations
of the four types of mindfulness states.

(128) He’s the fragrance of the love-blossoms on the branches
(leading) to a purified state,
(The cream atop) the ocean of good qualities of the Thusly Gone Ones;
He’s the one knowing the mode of travel
with the eightfold pathway minds,
The one knowing the pathway mind of the Perfect, Fully Enlightened.

(129) He’s the one having great adherence to all limited beings,
But without having adherence, like the sky;
He’s the one entering the minds of all limited beings,
Having speed in accord with the minds of all limited beings.

(130) He’s the one with awareness of the powers
and objects of all limited beings,
The one who captures the hearts of all limited beings;
He’s the one with awareness of the items and reality
of the five aggregate factors,
The one who holds the full purity of the five aggregate factors.

(131) He’s the one standing at the end of every definite deliverance,
The one who’s skilled in that which brings every definite deliverance;
He’s the one standing on the path for every definite deliverance,
The one who’s indicating every definite deliverance.

(132) He’s the one who’s uprooted compulsive existence
with its twelvefold links,
The holder of their purification having twelvefold aspects;
Having the aspect of the mode of travel of the fourfold truths,
He’s the holder of the realization of the eightfold awareness.

(133) He’s the points of truth in twelvefold aspects,
The knower of reality in sixteen aspects,
The Fully Enlightened through twenty aspects,
The Enlightened Buddha, the superb knower of all.

(134) He’s the one making knowable millions
Of enlightening emanation bodies of innumerable Buddhas;
He’s the clear realization of everything in a moment,
The knower of the objects of all moments of mind.

(135) He’s the skillful means of the modes of travel
of the various vehicles of mind,
The one who makes knowable the aims of the wandering world;
He’s the one who’s definitely delivered threefold,
through the vehicles of mind,
The one who’s established as the fruit of (Ekayana,)
the single vehicle of mind.

(136) He’s the identity-nature totally pure of the spheres
of disturbing emotions,
He’s the depleter of the spheres of karma;
He’s the one who has fully crossed over the ocean of currents,
The one who’s emerged from the wilderness by means of the yogas.

(137) He’s the one fully rid of the disturbing emotions,
the auxiliary disturbing emotions,
And the general disturbing emotions, together with (all) their habits;
He’s discriminating awareness and great compassion as skillful means,
The one fulfilling the aims of the wandering world,
meaningfully (without fail).

(138) He’s the one with objects of all conceptual discernment
gotten rid of,
The one with objects of partitioning consciousness brought to a halt;
He’s the cognitive object (in reference to) the minds of all limited beings,
The one that abides in the minds of all limited beings.

(139) He’s the innermost stand of the minds of all limited beings,
The one who’s passing as the equality of their minds;
He’s the one bringing satisfaction to the minds of all limited beings,
He’s the joy of the mind of all limited beings.

(140) He’s the culminating point of actualization,
the one with confusion departed,
He’s the one with every mistake dispelled;
He’s intelligence not indecisively wavering, the one that is threefold,
The one (fulfilling) everyone’s aims,
with an identity-nature of three constituents.

(141) He’s the object (in reference to) the five aggregate factors,
the one throughout the three times,
The one that makes things individually knowable in every instant;
He’s the one with manifest total enlightenment in an instant,
The bearer of all the Buddhas’ self-nature.

(142) He’s the one with an enlightening body that’s incorporeal,
the foremost of enlightening bodies,
The one that makes knowable millions of enlightening bodies;
He’s the one exhibiting everywhere a variety of forms,
He’s the great gem, (Ratnaketu,) the crowning jewel.
Fifteen Verses on the Accomplishing Deep Awareness

(143) He’s the one to be realized by all the Fully Enlightened,
He’s the purified state of a Buddha, the peerless;
He’s the one that isn’t a syllable, the one comes forth
from hidden mantra’s womb,
The triad of families of great hidden mantra.

(144) He’s the creator of every significance of hidden mantra,
He’s the great creative energy-drop, that which isn’t a syllable;
He’s the great void, having five syllables,
And the creative-drop void, having six syllables.

(145) He’s the possessor of all aspects, that which hasn’t an aspect,
He’s the bearer of the sixteen creative drops, and half of their half;
He’s the one without phases, beyond count,
Holder of the peak of the fourth level of mental stability.

(146) He’s the advanced awareness of the phases of all levels
of mental stability,
The knower of the families and castes of absorbed concentration;
He’s the one with the enlightening body of absorbed concentration,
the foremost of the enlightening bodies,
The ruler of all (Sambhogakaya,) Enlightening Bodies of Full Use.

(147) He’s the one with a (Nirmanakaya,)
Enlightening Body of Emanations,
the foremost of the enlightening bodies,
Holder of the lineage of Buddha’s emanations;
He’s the one issuing forth various emanations in the ten directions,
The one fulfilling the aims of the wandering world,
whatever they may be.

(148) He’s the chief of the deities, the deity over the deities,
The chief of the gods, the overlord of the (devilish) non-gods,
The chief of the immortals, the guru of the gods,
The destroyer, and the powerful lord of the destroyers.

(149) He’s the one with the wilderness of compulsive existence
crossed over,
The unique indicator, the guru for the wandering world;
He’s renowned throughout the world’s ten directions,
The master of generous giving of the Dharma, the great one.

(150) Armored with the armor of love,
Coated with a coat-of-mail of compassion,
Wielder of a sword of discriminating awareness and a bow and arrow,
He’s the one who finishes the battle against disturbing emotions
and unawareness.

(151) He’s the heroic one, enemy of the (mara) demonic forces,
subduer of the maras,
The one who brings fear of the four maras to an end;
Defeater of the military forces of all maras,
He’s the Fully Enlightened, the leader of the world.

(152) He’s the one worthy of offerings, worthy of praise,
the one for prostration,
Worthy of (being honored) forever in paintings,
Worthy of shows of respect, most worthy of veneration,
Worthy for homage, the highest guru.

(153) He’s the one traversing the world’s three planes in a single stride,
The one striding forth endlessly, just like space;
He’s the one with triple knowledge, (proficiency in the sacred,)
clean and pure,
Possessor of the six types of heightened awareness
and the six types of close mindfulness.

(154) He’s a bodhisattva, a great-minded (mahasattva),
The one with great extraphysical powers,
the one gone beyond the world;
(Situated) at the endpoint of far-reaching discriminating awareness
(prajnaparamita),
He’s the one who’s come to reality through discriminating awareness.

(155) He’s the one with all knowledge of self
and knowledge of others,
Helpful to all, the foremost person (of all);
He’s the one who’s gone beyond all comparison,
The superb sovereign of knowing and what’s to be known.

(156) He’s the master of generous giving of Dharma,
the most preeminent,
The one who shows the meaning of the fourfold (mudra) seals;
He’s the one most fitting to be helped and shown respect by the worldly
And by those traversing the three (pathways of) definite deliverance.

(157) He’s the purity and glory of the deepest truth,
The portion of excellence of the world’s three planes, the great one;
The one bringing all enrichments, the one having glory,
He’s Manjushri, (the lovely and glorious,)
supreme among those possessing glory.
Five Verses on the Deep Awareness of the Five Thusly Gone Ones

(158) Homage to you, granter of the best (boon), the foremost vajra;
Homage to you, the endpoint of what’s perfectly so;
Homage to you, the womb of voidness;
Homage to you, the Buddhas’ purified state.

(159) Homage to you, the Buddhas’ attachment;
Homage to you, the Buddha’s desire;
Homage to you, the Buddhas’ enjoyment;
Homage to you, the Buddhas’ play.

(160) Homage to you, the Buddhas’ smile;
Homage to you, the Buddhas’ (shining) laugh;
Homage to you, the Buddha’s speech;
Homage to you, the Buddha’s (state of) mind.

(161) Homage to you, rising from non-true existence;
Homage to you, arising from the Buddhas;
Homage to you, rising from space;
Homage to you, arising from deep awareness.

(162) Homage to you, illusion’s net;
Homage to you, the Buddhas’ dancer;
Homage to you, everything for everyone;
Homage to you, enlightening body of deep awareness.
The Mantras

Om sarva dharma ‘bhava svabhava,
vishuddha vajra chakshu, a a am a:

Om – the total purity of all existents,
By self-nature, non-truly existent,
Through the vajra eye – a a am a:

Prakrti parishuddha:
sarvadharma yad uta
sarvatathagata jnanakaya
manjushri parishuddhitam
upadayeti

That which is the completely pure nature
Of all existents takes the form, indeed,
Of the completely purified Manjushri,
The enlightening body of deep awareness
of all Thusly Gone

A a: sarvatathagata hrdayam
hara hara om hum hri:
bhagavan jnanamurti
vagishvara mahapacha
sarvadharma gaganamala
suparishuddha dharmadhatu
jnanagarbha a:

A a: – the heart of all the Thusly Gone,
Take out, take out – om hum hri:
Vanquishing master surpassing all, embodied deep awareness,
Powerful lord of speech, the great one who ripens,
The complete total purity of all the existents, stainless like space,
Womb of deep awareness of the sphere of reality – a:
Five Verses as an Epilogue

(163) Then the glorious Holder of the Vajra,
Joyful and delighted, with palms pressed together,
Bowing to the Guardian, the Vanquishing Master Surpassing All,
The Thusly Gone One, the Fully Enlightened,

(164) Together with the other guardians of many (varied) sorts,
Lords of the hidden, Vajrapanis,
Kings of the furious,
Loudly proclaimed these words of praise,

(165) “We rejoice, O Guardian,
Excellent, excellent, well said.
For us, the great (guardian) aim has (now) been fulfilled,
The attainment of a perfect, full enlightenment state;

(166) And for the wandering world also, lacking a guardian,
Wishing for the fruit of complete liberation,
This excellent and pure pathway mind has been shown,
The mode of travel of Illusion’s Net.

(167) This cognitive object indeed of the Buddhas,
Having a profound and extensive broad scope,
The great aim, fulfilling the aims of the wandering world,
Has been expounded by the Perfect, Fully Enlightened One.”

A Concert of the Deepest Truth Names of the Vanquishing Master Surpassing All, the Deep Awareness Being Manjushri, expounded by the Vanquishing Master, the Thusly Gone One, Shakyamuni, is hereby completed.

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

short film: APT + Kontrabrand - The Litany

2007-06-23T14:38:37Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBsep4Xosk8

this is a short film i made in san francisco with spoken word/performance artist Chris Sia and Eugene Steele. It started out with Chris reading a list of all of these wartorn places in his van at Burning Man last year, and then he asked me to help him make a video, so we dug out a ton of samples and went to town.

our crew is A.P.T. (armageddon prevention team) and Kontrabrand is top secret, but suffice to say, you'll hear about it in the near future if you follow what i do at all.

enjoy!

dylan

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 1 reply

The Oracle of Tibet will be making three appearances in Los Angeles, June 28-30

2007-06-21T05:42:55Z

June 28
THURSDAY
7:00PM
Hosted by Lucy Casado

Welcome Ceremony at the famous Lucy’s El Adobe. Owner Lucy Casado has hosted Robert F. Kennedy, Cesar Chavez, U.S. Presidents, and numerous Tibetan delegations, including Tibetan sand mandalas constructed in the "Tibetan monks room" where she will welcome Venerable Thupten Ngodup, the Medium of Tibet's Chief State Oracle.

Address:
Lucy's El Adobe Cafe & Restaurant
5536 Melrose Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90038
Contact: Dana Walden, 323-650-1101
Eemail: danagwalden@gmail.com

L.A. Contact
Dana Walden
323 650-1101
310 430-9831 (mobile)
danagwalden@gmail.com

June 29
FRIDAY
5:30 PM
"The Time is Now"
Conversation between the Venerable Thupten Ngodup, the Medium of Tibet's Chief State Oracle, Don Alejandro Cirilo Perez Oxlaj, Head of the Council of Elders of the Maya as well as Head of Indigenous Council of the Americas, and Ruben Saufkie, Hopi Messenger of Water, who will also perform the Eagle Dance. (He will be joined by his thirteen year old son, Jordan). After this dialogue, Venerable Thupten Ngodup will speak on Global Warming and personal responsibility and offer healing and blessings. Please join us for this unprecedented event.

...and a music concert with:

Sacred chanting by Tibetan monks
Cellist, Michael Fitzpatrick (website...)
Inner Voice (website...)
$25 suggested donation

Golden Bridge Yoga
Founder: Gurmukh
6322 De Longpre Ave.
Los Angeles 90028
Contact: Sadasimran
www.goldenbridgeyoga.com

L.A. Contact
Dana Walden
323 650-1101
310 430-9831 (mobile)
danagwalden@gmail.com

June 30
SATURDAY
11:00 AM
Venerable Thupten Ngodup, the Medium of Tibet's Chief State Oracle, will offer Long Life Initiation to remove obstacles, promote healing and long life; and will offer blessings.

...and music with:

Sacred chanting by Tibetan monks
Cellist, Michael Fitzpatrick (website...)
$25 suggested donation

Golden Bridge Yoga
6322 De Longpre Ave.
Los Angeles 90028
Contact: Sadasimran
www.goldenbridgeyoga.com

L.A. Contact
Dana Walden
323 650-1101
310 430-9831 (mobile)
danagwalden@gmail.com

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies

news article on surge in Buddhist sangha of Australia & recent Dalai Lama tour

2007-06-18T15:03:15Z

repost from tribe bodhisattva:
news article on surge in Buddhist sangha of Australia & recent Dalai Lama tour

This is a fairly short yet significant article. I wanted to see something from a generic news source regarding
a) the recent Dalai Lama visit to Australia
b) claims of massive quick growth in the Buddhist fellowship(s) of Australia.

The article is found at
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/18507/buddhism-4

The source is Voice of America, dated today. Sample quote:

"There are about 350 thousand Buddhists in the country in this mainly Christian nation, and government census data indicate that number is up almost 80 percent from 1996. The Buddhist population eclipses the size of Australia’s Muslim population."

If anything, the recent Dalai Lama visit should make a truly strong or even remarkable impact on several levels.

According to official notices HHDL was giving both Manjusri and Medicine Buddha empowerments during this tour.

Major tantric transmissions and transmission cycles have been given in Australia and there is at least one Tibetan-derived three year retreat center there.

I strongly expect that there is relatively little political friction among Buddhists of any kind in Australia.

There is a newer social model of Mahayana developing in the West which is
a) definitely multicultural and inclusive on different levels
b) more socially co-operative and personally engaging, more socially aware in general
c) doctrinally open-minded and non-sectarian
d) oriented more towards functional personal practice than group identification, intellectualization and abstract philosphical analysis
e) more emotionally mature and focused on a sense of personal responsibility rather than religiosity or emotional need fulfillment through external religious or social crutches
f) psychologically critical and articulate, very resistant to propaganda and emotional or cultural attacks
g) less invested or involved with self image and personal drama and presumed station, more "transpersonal" and more oriented towards getting down the road
h) more oriented towards mantra and esoteric practices of the outer and inner tantras
i) more aligned with classical Mahayana devotionalism.

It has taken a relatively long time to develop this newer social model, about a generation in fact. However, it is quite sustainable and will no doubt develop greater momentum and prominence in the coming years.

I think that is more what you will find among the Australians. I think you will also find this type of Buddhadharma developing in Europe and North America as well, although as a contextual and contextualizing phenomenon it is more in the background.

Long live the Mahayana.

KT

"The opportunity is on!"

posted in Engaged Buddhism - 0 replies