From jayarava at yahoo.com Mon Sep 1 00:51:18 2008 From: jayarava at yahoo.com (Jayarava) Date: Sun, 31 Aug 2008 23:51:18 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Buddha-l] Dalits --caste--upward mobility (?) in India In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <841563.50493.qm@web51409.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Marrying a Brahmin to improve your caste status means that you still accept the Brahmin as superior. The Buddha had quite a bit of fun with Brahmins who thought they were superior to him... Jayarava From rhayes at unm.edu Mon Sep 1 11:14:56 2008 From: rhayes at unm.edu (Richard Hayes) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2008 11:14:56 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Purpose of life In-Reply-To: <7BEBD6FA-349A-4128-83AE-A446850ABF8B@peavler.org> References: <604886322.20080828042940@baolin.org> <200808281356.25459.rhayes@unm.edu> <7BEBD6FA-349A-4128-83AE-A446850ABF8B@peavler.org> Message-ID: <1220289296.7271.35.camel@localhost> On Fri, 2008-08-29 at 08:33 -0600, Jim Peavler wrote: > On Aug 28, 2008, at 1:56 PM, Richard P. Hayes wrote: > > I have no idea who this Camus fellow was (he's a stranger > > to me), but I'd advise him to get a life. > > You wouldn't have liked him. Everyone who knew him avoided him like > the plague. I don't mind the plague as a rule, but I try to avoid it in the fall. (Speaking of diseases, there's an alleged venereal disease called sisyphus that a lot of people are worried about these days, but I personally think it's a myth.) > Vinegar in my coffee? That was outlawed in the Geneva convention! What > are you, some kind of a Republican? Now that McCain has that cute runner-up in the Miss Alaska beauty contest as his running mate, I have switched over to the Republican Party. It happened just in time. I was so anti-Republican that I had just written a letter to our senator demanding that the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America replace the word "republic" with "democracy". Luckily I tore that letter up before sending it. Now that I'm a Republican, I have had to buy a new batch of bumper stickers, such as "Torture Terrorists" and "Invasion YES! Negotiation NO!" I just got back from southwestern Colorado, where of saw plenty of bumper stickers with strongly-worded messages opposed to environmentalists, abortionists, homosexuals, peace and taxation. I can see that I'll have to make some minor modifications in a few of my opinions if I want to fit in with my fellow Republicans, but it has to be done for that gal from Alaska. Buddhist content: Now that I'm a Republican, I'm clearly going to have to repudiate Buddhism. I'm going to rename this discussion group to JESUS-L. Any objections? -- Republican Hayes Department of Mysosophy University of New Mexico From rhayes at unm.edu Mon Sep 1 11:36:06 2008 From: rhayes at unm.edu (Richard Hayes) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2008 11:36:06 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Purpose of life In-Reply-To: <1220289296.7271.35.camel@localhost> References: <604886322.20080828042940@baolin.org> <200808281356.25459.rhayes@unm.edu> <7BEBD6FA-349A-4128-83AE-A446850ABF8B@peavler.org> <1220289296.7271.35.camel@localhost> Message-ID: <1220290566.7271.47.camel@localhost> On Mon, 2008-09-01 at 11:14 -0600, Richard Hayes wrote: > > You wouldn't have liked him. Everyone who knew him avoided him like > > the plague. I apologize to everyone (especially Jack Hatfied and Dan Lusthaus) for repeating their bons mots about Al Bear Camoo (as American undergraduates call him). I should have read all my e-mail before writing anything to buddha-l. > Buddhist content: Now that I'm a Republican, I'm clearly going to have > to repudiate Buddhism. I'm going to rename this discussion group to > JESUS-L. Any objections? I haven't heard any objections, so consider it done. (I think this move could protect us from the evangelists who are allegedly out making the world safe from Buddhism.) -- Richard Halleluja Department of Philodoxy University of New Mexico From smith at wheelwrightassoc.com Mon Sep 1 11:36:54 2008 From: smith at wheelwrightassoc.com (Timothy Smith) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2008 10:36:54 -0700 Subject: [Buddha-l] Purpose of life In-Reply-To: <1220289296.7271.35.camel@localhost> References: <604886322.20080828042940@baolin.org> <200808281356.25459.rhayes@unm.edu> <7BEBD6FA-349A-4128-83AE-A446850ABF8B@peavler.org> <1220289296.7271.35.camel@localhost> Message-ID: Try Jesus-H. Its what my mother used to say. Timothy Smith Wheelwright Associates www.wheelwrightassoc.com From bshmr at aol.com Mon Sep 1 12:50:17 2008 From: bshmr at aol.com (R B Basham) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2008 12:50:17 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Purpose of life Message-ID: <1220295017.13613.27.camel@aims110> Excuse me, properly, it should be Hey-Zeus-Got-Net (long form), or Hey-Zeus for short. That ambiguous spelling is more or less copyrighted. However, the younger Richard's Conversion to Republican-ism has gone too -- in the throes of fantasy, he is mandating his fantasies without any regard for consequences in realty. For example, our host would need to change '*.conf' files, register (pay an unfunded mandate) DNS, ... . In addition, unless our host converts to Republican-ism too, hours burned integrating buddha-l with hey-zeus (or whatever) just to preserve a record of Richard, the Younger's legacy. Of course, if the host emulates the Younger, any half-assed, needlessly expensive attempt will do, even if it, in fact, fails. Then, there is the marketing necessary to convince donors and a few pliable believers what isn't is. Richard Basham From jayarava at yahoo.com Mon Sep 1 13:28:00 2008 From: jayarava at yahoo.com (Jayarava) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2008 12:28:00 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Buddha-l] Purpose of life In-Reply-To: <1220289296.7271.35.camel@localhost> Message-ID: <932682.54166.qm@web51411.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Hi Richard > I can see that I'll have to make some minor modifications in > a few of my opinions if I want to fit in with my fellow Republicans, > but it has to be done for that gal from Alaska. Presumably your wife doesn't read Buddha-L... all this new found enthusiasm makes me wonder... they haven't announced who the father of the Palin's daughter's baby is yet have they? Is there something you're trying to tell us? > Buddhist content: Now that I'm a Republican, I'm clearly going to have > to repudiate Buddhism. I'm going to rename this discussion group to > JESUS-L. Any objections? No objections, but one or two quibbles... JR From rhayes at unm.edu Mon Sep 1 13:44:43 2008 From: rhayes at unm.edu (Richard Hayes) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:44:43 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Purpose of life In-Reply-To: <1220295017.13613.27.camel@aims110> References: <1220295017.13613.27.camel@aims110> Message-ID: <1220298283.9665.13.camel@localhost> On Mon, 2008-09-01 at 12:50 -0600, Richard B Basham wrote: > However, the younger Richard's Conversion to Republican-ism has gone too > -- in the throes of fantasy, he is mandating his fantasies without any > regard for consequences in realty. That's what being a Republican is all about. See how quick I learn? Somebody find out where this Basham fellow lives and invade his country. Find out if his country has uranium first. We're gonna needs lots of uranium, 'cause we're gonna start replacing terrorist-owned oil with nucular power. By 2012 we'll all be driving nucular cars, using nucular cell phones, sleeping under nucular blankets and checking our e-mail using computers powered with nucular batteries. Our grandchildren will all have seven toes on each foot. Of course we can't rely solely on nucular power. We may have to use some solar power, too. But first we gotta invade the sun. We're gonna hafta build a big fence around the sun to prevent sunlight from getting to the terrorists, the Rushins and Venezuelea. Remember, the purpose of life is to prevent it from being reasonable. Buddhists believe in being reasonable. That's because they are mostly savages. Praise Jesus. The Real Richard From rhayes at unm.edu Mon Sep 1 13:47:50 2008 From: rhayes at unm.edu (Richard Hayes) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:47:50 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Purpose of life In-Reply-To: <932682.54166.qm@web51411.mail.re2.yahoo.com> References: <932682.54166.qm@web51411.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1220298471.9665.17.camel@localhost> On Mon, 2008-09-01 at 12:28 -0700, Jayarava wrote: > Presumably your wife doesn't read Buddha-L... What more proof do you need that there's a god in heaven? > all this new found enthusiasm makes me wonder... they haven't > announced who the father of the Palin's daughter's baby is yet have > they? Is there something you're trying to tell us? Our relationship was purely play tonic. -- Richard From jayarava at yahoo.com Mon Sep 1 14:17:22 2008 From: jayarava at yahoo.com (Jayarava) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2008 13:17:22 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Buddha-l] demise in asia In-Reply-To: <598baadd0808300905u5be59d55le0304a8e78139bec@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <770270.63720.qm@web51403.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Gary Gach wrote: >is it a matter of time only before evangelicals concertedly > target gampo abbey, The FWBO now has 'mitras' in Beijing and Seoul, a few supportive contacts in Malaysia, and a sizeable presence in India which receives some support from Taiwanese Buddhists. I think there is quite a bit of enthusiasm for taking Buddhism (back) to the East, but not the resources or coordination. Buddhism is a great missionary religion... though we westerners tend to favour a fairly dry and rational approach, and who ever had their mind changed by reasoned argument? As I understand it the initial interest in Buddhism from China was that 2000 years ago the Buddhist monks had a better, stronger, kind of magic. The age of reason has relegated magic to the sidelines, and our marketing has not kept pace. Making Buddhism seem relevant is the problem. I suspect that traditional forms of Buddhism seem, and perhaps actually are, irrelevant. We modern western Buddhists also seem to have an aberrant attitude to money not shared by our evangelical friends or by ancient Buddhist evangelists (even the monks if you believe Greg Schopen). If I had the kind of budget that those evangelicals (like my dear old Mum, currently spreading the gospel in Zambia) have, I could buy a loads converts too. Food has more or less replaced magic as the main tool for conversion, with medicine in a distant but not inconsequential second I would think. We just don't have the resources, and seem afraid to ask for them. A lot of Buddhists are getting involved in climate-change issues and see that as the "new Buddhist magic" - we teach the interconnected ecologicality of all things, how not to be greedy and *still* be happy, and how to chill-out when things get heated. It's all good! It might work except that the climate-change zealots are so earnest and aggressively evangelical that they are almost as hateful as the Christian evangelists. (I already don't own a car, live communally, recycle religiously, am vegetarian, use green bulbs burning green electrickery, buy local, yadda yadda - get off my back!) Jayarava P.S. My money is on Gampo Abbey as long as it's not decided by soft-ball game. From jkirk at spro.net Mon Sep 1 14:36:47 2008 From: jkirk at spro.net (jkirk) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2008 14:36:47 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Purpose of life In-Reply-To: <1220289296.7271.35.camel@localhost> References: <604886322.20080828042940@baolin.org><200808281356.25459.rhayes@unm.edu><7BEBD6FA-349A-4128-83AE-A446850ABF8B@peavler.org> <1220289296.7271.35.camel@localhost> Message-ID: <29B6D4D43C614B2E94AB53DC8F3D34AD@OPTIPLEX> Buddhist content: Now that I'm a Republican, I'm clearly going to have to repudiate Buddhism. I'm going to rename this discussion group to JESUS-L. Any objections? -- Republican Hayes Department of Mysosophy University of New Mexico ===================================== Jesus-L, as in "Jesus Loves."? Or, for Republicans it might better be Jesus Saves--at Bank of America. Joanna From robertertman at msn.com Mon Sep 1 14:00:42 2008 From: robertertman at msn.com (Robert Ertman) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2008 16:00:42 -0400 Subject: [Buddha-l] What more proof? In-Reply-To: <1220298471.9665.17.camel@localhost> References: <932682.54166.qm@web51411.mail.re2.yahoo.com> <1220298471.9665.17.camel@localhost> Message-ID: Ben Franklin said that "Beer is proof that God loves us." > From: rhayes at unm.edu > To: buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com > Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2008 13:47:50 -0600 > Subject: Re: [Buddha-l] Purpose of life > > On Mon, 2008-09-01 at 12:28 -0700, Jayarava wrote: > > > Presumably your wife doesn't read Buddha-L... > > What more proof do you need that there's a god in heaven? > > > all this new found enthusiasm makes me wonder... they haven't > > announced who the father of the Palin's daughter's baby is yet have > > they? Is there something you're trying to tell us? > > Our relationship was purely play tonic. > > -- > Richard > > _______________________________________________ > buddha-l mailing list > buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com > http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l From rhayes at unm.edu Mon Sep 1 16:29:59 2008 From: rhayes at unm.edu (Richard Hayes) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2008 16:29:59 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] demise in asia In-Reply-To: <770270.63720.qm@web51403.mail.re2.yahoo.com> References: <770270.63720.qm@web51403.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1220308199.13092.7.camel@localhost> On Mon, 2008-09-01 at 13:17 -0700, Jayarava wrote: > Buddhism is a great missionary religion... though we westerners tend > to favour a fairly dry and rational approach, and who ever had their > mind changed by reasoned argument? A lot of Asians became Christian through the power of reasoned argument. They were told "If you become Christian, we'll give you food." Starving Asians reasonably converted. A similar argument was used on American Indians: "If you become Christian, we won't kill you." (That proposition turned out to be false, of course. Many Indians converted and got killed anyway.) I think the most powerful argument a modern Buddhist can use would be something like this: If you practice Buddhism, you won't have to go to heaven and spend more time with a bunch of born-again Christians and Muslim jihadis. Dayamati From alex at chagchen.org Mon Sep 1 17:40:27 2008 From: alex at chagchen.org (Alex Wilding) Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2008 09:40:27 +1000 Subject: [Buddha-l] Name of the deceased In-Reply-To: <1220298471.9665.17.camel@localhost> References: <932682.54166.qm@web51411.mail.re2.yahoo.com> <1220298471.9665.17.camel@localhost> Message-ID: <000001c90c8c$1ce84a70$56b8df50$@org> Just yesterday I heard that in Tibetan culture there is a tradition that the name of a recently deceased person is not used - the deceased is referred to obliquely as, for example "Tashi's mother". I had never heard of anything like this before. Is that because my familiarity is limited (which indeed it is)? Or is it a regional thing? Or what? How long does this apply? It's obvious that the Tibetans are not generally reluctant to talk about the dead in the way that, for instance, Australian aboriginals are. I'd be grateful for any clarification from any of you (CF?) who have extensive personal experience of Tibetan culture, so thanks in advance. ????????????????????????????? ????? All the best Alex Wilding From jkirk at spro.net Mon Sep 1 17:57:58 2008 From: jkirk at spro.net (jkirk) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2008 17:57:58 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] What more proof? In-Reply-To: References: <932682.54166.qm@web51411.mail.re2.yahoo.com><1220298471.9665.17.camel@localhost> Message-ID: <6110CA248AA94EB799A24FAF22703CD4@OPTIPLEX> Beer?????? Yuk It"s wine that proves His love. Joanna ================================ Ben Franklin said that "Beer is proof that God loves us." > From: rhayes at unm.edu > To: buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com > Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2008 13:47:50 -0600 > Subject: Re: [Buddha-l] Purpose of life > > On Mon, 2008-09-01 at 12:28 -0700, Jayarava wrote: > > > Presumably your wife doesn't read Buddha-L... > > What more proof do you need that there's a god in heaven? From jkirk at spro.net Mon Sep 1 17:59:56 2008 From: jkirk at spro.net (jkirk) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2008 17:59:56 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] demise in asia In-Reply-To: <1220308199.13092.7.camel@localhost> References: <770270.63720.qm@web51403.mail.re2.yahoo.com> <1220308199.13092.7.camel@localhost> Message-ID: <82DE19971C6D432F8BC85CC9628385CE@OPTIPLEX> Hail Richard------------good one. But one might amend it to read, "Christians and white riasins." JK ================================ I think the most powerful argument a modern Buddhist can use would be something like this: If you practice Buddhism, you won't have to go to heaven and spend more time with a bunch of born-again Christians and Muslim jihadis. Dayamati From twin_oceans at yahoo.com Mon Sep 1 18:29:44 2008 From: twin_oceans at yahoo.com (Katherine Masis) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2008 17:29:44 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Buddha-l] demise in asia Message-ID: <733770.60419.qm@web54505.mail.re2.yahoo.com> I was hearing one of the many talks by Ayya Khema that I've downloaded lately from http://www.kalyanamitta.net.? This talk was from the 1990s, but I'm not sure what year (she died in 1997 and the website lists talks from 1990 and from 1996, as well as other non-dated talks).? She says that the Buddha had predicted the decline of Buddhism, and that we were about midway into the decline (i.e., another 2500 years to go).? She also says that at this midpoint there would be a 100-year mild?upswing and that we were about 40 years into it (i.e., about 60 more years to go).? Can anyone on this list reference this? ? Katherine From dharmafarer at gmail.com Mon Sep 1 19:59:53 2008 From: dharmafarer at gmail.com (Piya Tan) Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2008 09:59:53 +0800 Subject: [Buddha-l] demise in asia In-Reply-To: <733770.60419.qm@web54505.mail.re2.yahoo.com> References: <733770.60419.qm@web54505.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: In Singapore, many turn to Christianity because of history (colonial past) or economics (the upper echelons of business and power are ruled by Christians),as are the better semi-government schools. Most Buddhists are found in the middle classes and grassroots; about 45% are statistically Buddhists. Lately, however, we see dramatic reports of monks buying lotteries at the local joint, a leading monk with multiple charges of misuse of public funds. LIke a Catholic priest last year, he is likely to go to prison, too. Things look worse as the young man living with him in his expensive suburban condo was caught with illegal DVDs (porno, etc). Strangely, most Buddhists here do not discuss the matter, although I get questions from concerned youths in the varsities. Maybe Buddhists here expected this to happen considering many know the character of the actors involved. Or we could be in constant denial (like FWBO?). Anyway, FWBO has a good framework, but if they accept themselves as what they really are: a lay organization, and continue building up healthy connections with the more Dharma-centred individuals and groups, it would be for the good of the many. Sabda- wise, we can say, it is like a vulnerable naked body that badly needs a change of clothes. I think a new dialysis of fresh blood would be good, too. The FWBO itself is an interesting study of a cult: beginning as an exclusivist Sangharakshita club, into a successful business enterprise, going through really bad scandals, and now a more mature more individualistic (in the good sense) networking with other Buddhist teachers and groups. Sangharakshita's struggle with sexuality and religiosity may be an interesting study in psychology like Erik Erikson "Young Man Luther." Could be someone's PhD. There are many lessons to learn from this. Or perhaps, it is better to remain in denial. It's better for business and livelihood. Still, soft-selling is a better way of promoting the FWBO than Theravada-bashing of the early FWBO. Piya Tan On Tue, Sep 2, 2008 at 8:29 AM, Katherine Masis wrote: > > I was hearing one of the many talks by Ayya Khema that I've downloaded lately from http://www.kalyanamitta.net. This talk was from the 1990s, but I'm not sure what year (she died in 1997 and the website lists talks from 1990 and from 1996, as well as other non-dated talks). She says that the Buddha had predicted the decline of Buddhism, and that we were about midway into the decline (i.e., another 2500 years to go). She also says that at this midpoint there would be a 100-year mild upswing and that we were about 40 years into it (i.e., about 60 more years to go). Can anyone on this list reference this? > > Katherine > > > > _______________________________________________ > buddha-l mailing list > buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com > http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l -- The Minding Centre Blk 644 Bukit Batok Central #01-68 (2nd flr) Singapore 650644 Tel: 8211 0879 Meditation courses & therapy: http://themindingcentre.googlepages.com Website: dharmafarer.googlepages.com From jayarava at yahoo.com Tue Sep 2 02:16:28 2008 From: jayarava at yahoo.com (Jayarava) Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2008 01:16:28 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Buddha-l] demise in asia In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <693246.22125.qm@web51411.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Hi Piya > Anyway, FWBO has a good framework, but if they accept > themselves as what they really are: As I understand the rules of engagement here this kind of thing is bordering on the unseemly... Is it not ironic however that you seem not to welcome Sangharakshita's criticisms of Theravada monasticism (Sangharakshita has seldom been critical of Theravada doctrine or practices, and is reverential towards P?li texts) while in the same post pointing out that monks are buying lottery tickets in your country... Should we complain about monks who don't keep the vinaya? Or not? As the wonderfully iconoclastic Greg Schopen has pointed out - it's unlikely that the vinaya, in all it's long history, has been anything other than an ideal, and basically monks don't keep it. Monks of old not only handled money, but in at least one monastery in India they printed it. In Tang China the wealth of the temples was been described as "incalculable" - one donation of a billion copper coins was recorded. Would it not be more appropriate to call for traditional Buddhist leaders and full-timers, to accept themselves for what _they_ are - an outmoded and anachronistic medieval institution that is so failing to inspire people to practice in Asia that Buddhism is *dying out* and being replaced by Christianity. What an unmitigated disaster! (except perhaps that the hungry are no longer so hungry) Those leaders are in the words of the Buddha "ritto tuccho aparaddho". In the west we have been saying things like this about Christianity and economists for quite some time now. Nietzsche said that God was dead. I suspect that in East Asia the Buddha is dead and the monks just haven't realized it yet. Is it not bad enough that Buddhism died out in India, now it's going to die in Asia as well? Doesn't that just break your heart? I don't believe that the only choices are monk or layman (or forest dweller) - our society is not, Lord be praised, structured on a medieval Indian model. But if it were and I had to choose then, on form, I'd choose the lay-people. On the whole they are more true to their vocation and fulfil their side of the lay/monastic/forest-dweller bargain. BTW: Have you read my paper on pa?ikaroti yet? Dharmacari Jayarava Full-time, non-monastic, Buddhist. From Nik.Macleod at proquest.co.uk Tue Sep 2 10:16:25 2008 From: Nik.Macleod at proquest.co.uk (Macleod, Nik) Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2008 17:16:25 +0100 Subject: [Buddha-l] More effects of climate change In-Reply-To: References: <004c01c8fc8c$9b22cfb0$0400a8c0@OPTIPLEX> <0AA38D9E66B59D4B8EB25114CCA9EB7E081F2EF2@NWS-EXCH1.nws.oregonstate.edu> <000301c8fcbc$47cfa1a0$0400a8c0@OPTIPLEX> Message-ID: Greetings all This piece from yesterday's London Times may be of some interest ... http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4648526.ece Best regards Nik Macleod From bencd at baolin.org Tue Sep 2 03:29:43 2008 From: bencd at baolin.org (Ben C Diez) Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2008 11:29:43 +0200 Subject: [Buddha-l] Purpose of life In-Reply-To: <604886322.20080828042940@baolin.org> References: <604886322.20080828042940@baolin.org> Message-ID: <44196512.20080902112943@baolin.org> On Thursday, August 28, 2008, 4:29, Ben wrote, > I'm doing a research involving the question of > purpose [...] Thank you very much for your replies on this topic. Some Buddha-lers has asked me what is my agenda. I have no agenda. I'm doing a research. I'm asking different groups this same question. Then I will ask no specific people which answers they like most. Best wishes, -- Ben C Diez Asturias, Spain From bencd at baolin.org Tue Sep 2 03:33:02 2008 From: bencd at baolin.org (Ben C Diez) Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2008 11:33:02 +0200 Subject: [Buddha-l] Buji-nin Message-ID: <1127702507.20080902113302@baolin.org> Dear Buddha-l denizens, According to Alan Watts, "DT Suzuki would sometimes sign himself Buji-nin, or 'No special person'". Does _Buji-nin_ really mean "no special person" in Japanese? Is the hyphen necessary? Thank you, -- Ben C Diez Asturias, Spain From shian at kmspks.org Mon Sep 1 20:07:54 2008 From: shian at kmspks.org ([DPD Web] Shen Shi'an) Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2008 10:07:54 +0800 Subject: [Buddha-l] demise in asia In-Reply-To: References: <733770.60419.qm@web54505.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: More on the recent state of Buddhism in Singapore: http://www.moonpointer.com/index.php?itemid=2478 (A partial analysis of a news feature in Singapore's largest newspaper) -----Original Message----- From: Piya Tan [mailto:dharmafarer at gmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, 02 September, 2008 10:00 AM To: Buddhist discussion forum Subject: Re: [Buddha-l] demise in asia In Singapore, many turn to Christianity because of history (colonial past) or economics (the upper echelons of business and power are ruled by Christians),as are the better semi-government schools. Most Buddhists are found in the middle classes and grassroots; about 45% are statistically Buddhists. From shian at kmspks.org Mon Sep 1 21:00:47 2008 From: shian at kmspks.org ([DPD Web] Shen Shi'an) Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2008 11:00:47 +0800 Subject: [Buddha-l] Purpose of life In-Reply-To: References: <004401c909e9$fe6a5060$83369c04@Dan> Message-ID: As life and death is meaningless, only transcendence of life and death is meaningful. When one helps all to do likewise life after life, life and death becomes infinitely meaningful. - Stonepeace Undergoing countless rebirths per se is pointless if they do not somehow lead us to True Happiness, which is attained by ending rebirth; by realising Nirvana. When we aspire to break free of rebirth for ourselves, and help others do the same, rebirth in Samsara as practising or enlightened Bodhisattvas becomes meaningful. -----Original Message----- From: Ngawang Dorje [mailto:rahula_80 at yahoo.com] Sent: Saturday, 30 August, 2008 1:59 PM To: Buddhist discussion forum Subject: Re: [Buddha-l] Purpose of life Hi, ? I think?life is meaningless. Bhikkhu Thanassaro wrote: ? "Think back for a moment on the story of the young Prince Siddhartha and his first encounters with aging, illness, death, and a wandering contemplative.........." .........? From rhayes at unm.edu Tue Sep 2 12:48:24 2008 From: rhayes at unm.edu (Richard P. Hayes) Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2008 12:48:24 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Purpose of life In-Reply-To: <44196512.20080902112943@baolin.org> References: <604886322.20080828042940@baolin.org> <44196512.20080902112943@baolin.org> Message-ID: <200809021248.24801.rhayes@unm.edu> On Tuesday 02 September 2008 03:29:43 Benito Carral y Diez wrote: > Thank you very much for your replies on this topic. > Some Buddha-lers has asked me what is my agenda. I have > no agenda. I'm doing a research. Is research not an agenda? Does your research have a purpose? > I'm asking different groups this same question. Then > I will ask no specific people which answers they like > most. Are these "no specific people" connected in any way to the "no special person" (bujinin) mentioned in your previous message? Or does the no special person have no particular connection to the no specific people? -- Richard From jkirk at spro.net Tue Sep 2 19:15:36 2008 From: jkirk at spro.net (jkirk) Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2008 19:15:36 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] demise in asia In-Reply-To: References: <733770.60419.qm@web54505.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1C66A1F110FF4FA1A1BF6AD25AC8E0F8@OPTIPLEX> From dharmafarer at gmail.com Tue Sep 2 20:31:24 2008 From: dharmafarer at gmail.com (Piya Tan) Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2008 10:31:24 +0800 Subject: [Buddha-l] demise in asia In-Reply-To: <1C66A1F110FF4FA1A1BF6AD25AC8E0F8@OPTIPLEX> References: <733770.60419.qm@web54505.mail.re2.yahoo.com> <1C66A1F110FF4FA1A1BF6AD25AC8E0F8@OPTIPLEX> Message-ID: Buddhists in Singapore and Malaysia are generally tacitly paranoid or feel deprived like abused children or Cinderellas, especially in the face of racial political in Malaysia, and in the face of the constant presence of evangelism in Malaysia and Singapore. I have Myanmarese students in my Sutta classes who regularly admit they feel very stressed and depressed as soon as they arrive in Singapore. Not only is the society here very different from traditionally Buddhist Myanmar (forget about the asura-bound generals and their minions). Evangelism is illegal there. Actually open evangelism is technically illegal here, too, but we still see them doing it. Back home, these young Myanmarese are not troubled by the evangelists, but here they are constantly harrassed. Or at least some of their friends are harrassed. The British once colonized Burma, now you see banners in Myanmarese welcoming them in St Andrews in the city centre. The local Buddhists are trying to counter this evangelical flood with a reverse Stockholm syndrome. They copy the evangelists. You got hymns, we have Buddhist hymns (Onward Buddhist soldiers!); you go business gospel groups, we have Buddhist businesses, too; you make teaching religion fun, we do that to Buddhism too. I think this is like someone coming to burn our houses with firebrands, and we get bigger firebrands, and say hey look we have firebrands, too, and we can burn our houses on our own! So now both sides are homeless. Holy Cassandra, who are we listening to? who is our standard? The evangelists have bigger churches, better organized assemblies, etc, because they have studied their Bibles well. Many of them are professionals. So they marry the two into a colonial cocktail to attract converts and hold them. They instruct their flock to stay in the pen, insulated from others until they are blind enough to blind us. Local Buddhists (western scholars call us "ethnic Buddhists"), or many of us, don't know much about the Suttas, so we put them aside, or simply knock them down. It's like we have beautiful idyllic beaches, and crystal clear seas with glorious corals. We do not appreciate them until the beaches and waters are crowded with strange tourists who molest our children and deflower our maidens, and mess up the beaches. Lesson: if you do not know the Suttas, have no experience of stillness through meditation or mindfulness, you have only an empty core, waiting to be filled in by borrowed culture. Oh yes, you will need a long resume of titles, qualifications, on business cards, like what many monks carry now. If you use only Buddhist hymns, you will get hymn Buddhists; if you use only management, you will get management Buddhists; if you you use businesses only, you will get money Buddhists; which are not really bad in themselves, but we need to move on. But what have you to move on with, except your music, your management, your businesses. We still have a "village" or "native" mentality here that anyone with a "Dr" to his name knows a lot about Buddhism; or better if he is white, he knows everything about Buddhisms. There's your opening, lads, forget that sun-tan. The natives are still welcoming Captain Cook and Columbus. This is the tail end of it all, I hope. (Happy note: A sweet Colombian student has paired up with a handsome German Catholic boy in my Sutta class, and they are both in Europe now. Be well and prosper!) At present, if you come to Singapore and wish to look for a "Singapore" Buddhist temple. you only have these flavours: Thai, Sinhala, Myanmar, Tibetan, Japanese, or Chinese joint. Sorry, no Singapore Buddhist temple or joint. On the other hand, why are Ajahn Chah's western forest monks becoming such a great global attraction now (for example)? People know that they know their stuff, and they also behave in a manner that evokes stillness in us. I foresee the vital need for more committed lay (non-monastic) Buddhist workers who know more Suttas and Dharma than the monastics (not as a challenge, but on account of commitment), meditate more than the monastics (if they ever do it); have less money than the monastics, but more happiness; less sensual pleasures than the monastics, but more satisfaction, contentment and joy. For three to five days a week, I see happy, laughing faces in my Sutta classes, where most of whom on their own accord, would naturally sit meditating before class starts. If you are really a Buddhist, who is your refuge? Or, we could put it another way, I'm not yet a really a Buddhist yet until I awaken to true reality. Meantime, what am I doing to get there? In recent years, I get a lot of non-Buddhists (esp evangelists and Muslims) coming for counselling and meditation therapy. They know I am Buddhist, and they know these methods will help them. And I tell them, you don't have to be a Buddhist to practise Buddhism. They quietly ask me for Buddhist literature, and I give it to them. Despite what I say, I'm confident they will find their way if they are true seekers. That is my faith in the Three Jewels. I think we ethnic Buddhists will be left far behind, so long as we keep trailing the evangelists, and forget to count our own cows. "If the world is a storm, I will not fall into it, but remain in the still eye at peace with myself." Jayarava, part of my reply to your email is above here. With concerned metta, Piya On Wed, Sep 3, 2008 at 9:15 AM, jkirk wrote: > From your website article as linked below: > > "Comments: If Ms Ng felt that Buddhism is fine other than the > idea of making offerings for blessings being a transaction, then > she had given up Buddhism for the wrong reason - because true > Buddhists know that offerings are made to remind themselves of > various aspects of the Buddha's teachings. Any blessings that > result comes from devotion and generosity in making offerings, > not out of expectations of blessings." > > Well, most of the world's Buddhists, and people of other > religions that incorporate this model, are not "true" > religionists, following your concept of "true Buddhists". Ms Ng > seems to be well aware that the attitude of transactional > relations between devotee and deity is indeed a prevailing > notion. > > It's an almost universal human attitude of approach to a deity > (and for most people in the world, Buddha is conceptualized as a > deity, even if he isn't).The model is thus: I donate to you, I > spend money on offerings to you, building temples, etc, and so > you will I hope answer my requests or preserve me from enemies, > sickness, etc. If the personal element of the transaction in > Buddhism is absent, then expectations of earning tons of > (abstract merit), compensate just as well.) > > In these situations (also found in any version of the Christian > religion that prays to saints), the relationship between devotee > and deity is one of patronage, echoing the familiar prevailing > power structures within the society in question. These societal > power structures are what is called patronage systems. There are > patrons--rich or powerful abbots, businessmen, zamindars, police > chiefs, etc-- and clients--those who need the help or support of > patrons. > > This is the "way" of the world, if not the way of the Buddha. > > Best wishes, Joanna > ========================================================== > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com > [mailto:buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com] On Behalf Of [DPD Web] > Shen Shi'an > > > More on the recent state of Buddhism in Singapore: > http://www.moonpointer.com/index.php?itemid=2478 > (A partial analysis of a news feature in Singapore's largest > newspaper) > > > _______________________________________________ > buddha-l mailing list > buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com > http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l > -- The Minding Centre Blk 644 Bukit Batok Central #01-68 (2nd flr) Singapore 650644 Tel: 8211 0879 Meditation courses & therapy: http://themindingcentre.googlepages.com Website: dharmafarer.googlepages.com From bshmr at aol.com Wed Sep 3 12:26:53 2008 From: bshmr at aol.com (R B Basham) Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:26:53 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] demise in asia Message-ID: <1220466413.5115.11.camel@aims110> Scholars and non-scholars, I just finished reading a public (free) LMD article which is linked to below. This thread was constantly in mind as I did so; I imagine that some will see why. Richard Basham ** http://MondeDiplo.com/2008/09/07israel ZIONIST NATIONALIST MYTH OF ENFORCED EXILE Israel deliberately forgets its history by Schlomo Sand; Translated by Donald Hounam An Israeli historian suggests the diaspora was the consequence, not of the expulsion of the Hebrews from Palestine, but of proselytising across north Africa, southern Europe and the Middle East. From SJZiobro at cs.com Wed Sep 3 12:45:23 2008 From: SJZiobro at cs.com (SJZiobro at cs.com) Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:45:23 -0400 Subject: [Buddha-l] Purpose of life Message-ID: <6CE07831.2FF90FFE.007A239A@cs.com> Richard Hayes wrote: >Remember, the purpose of life is to prevent it from being reasonable. > >Buddhists believe in being reasonable. That's because they are mostly >savages. > >Praise Jesus. > >The Real Richard Richard, Not to dampen your new-found enthusiasm for things Christian and/or Republican, but reason, according to Aquinas (who by the way was not a Republican), entirely in accord with the general Catholic theological tradition, is the first light of God illuminating the human person. So, at least for the Catholic and Orthodox tradition(s), being unreasonable is not to live in accord with our humanity and, consequently, with the oldest Christian traditions. As for Buddhists being savages, feel free to mischaracterize. The Jesuits in India, China, and Japan recognized that Buddhism has great rational traditions, and over time this view has prevailed. But do let these realities keep you from penning more enthusiastic rationales for your conversion. That would be reasonable. Stan From jkirk at spro.net Wed Sep 3 17:14:16 2008 From: jkirk at spro.net (jkirk) Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2008 17:14:16 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] demise in asia In-Reply-To: References: <733770.60419.qm@web54505.mail.re2.yahoo.com><1C66A1F110FF4FA1A1BF6AD25AC8E0F8@OPTIPLEX> Message-ID: Dear Piya-- Well your reply was to what I wrote, not to what Jayarava wrote--at least you left in your message (below) what I, not Jayarava, wrote. So I'm confused as to whom you meant to reply---but in any case, happy that your sutta classes are going gangbusters :) I can really sympathise with what SG Buddhists are going through today. It resembles what thoughtful non-Christian people are going through here in the US, what with the onslaught of Republican evangelical righteousness at every media turn. What with political candidates having to routinely state their religious preferences and church membership, how devoted to Jesus they are etc. Yuk again. The commercialization of piety has gone bonkers here, thanks to the pressure from evangelicals who are perceived by politicians (and their promo hacks) as independents or "swing voters." May I respectfully suggest that one of the problems with maintaining and growing Buddhism in today's globalistic environment might be the traditional accent on what brings merit-- donating to temples and monasteries and leaving public education up to them. Since the FWBO isn't a monastic order along the lines of the tradition, strikes me that they have a chance (if they can raise the necessary money) to make a big imprint on the missionary goal of the Buddha dharma that traditional Theravadan monastic institutions cannot seem to accomplish. (The Tibetans seem to be having a lot of success in the USA today. They are good at raising money and spreading their message, too.) So Jayarava, what is the FWBO doing to spread the Buddha dharma these days in the west? Best wishes, Joanna ======================= -----Original Message----- From: buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com [mailto:buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com] On Behalf Of Piya Tan Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2008 8:31 PM To: Buddhist discussion forum Subject: Re: [Buddha-l] demise in asia Buddhists in Singapore and Malaysia are generally tacitly paranoid or feel deprived like abused children or Cinderellas, especially in the face of racial political in Malaysia, and in the face of the constant presence of evangelism in Malaysia and Singapore. I have Myanmarese students in my Sutta classes who regularly admit they feel very stressed and depressed as soon as they arrive in Singapore. Not only is the society here very different from traditionally Buddhist Myanmar (forget about the asura-bound generals and their minions). Evangelism is illegal there. Actually open evangelism is technically illegal here, too, but we still see them doing it. Back home, these young Myanmarese are not troubled by the evangelists, but here they are constantly harrassed. Or at least some of their friends are harrassed. The British once colonized Burma, now you see banners in Myanmarese welcoming them in St Andrews in the city centre. The local Buddhists are trying to counter this evangelical flood with a reverse Stockholm syndrome. They copy the evangelists. You got hymns, we have Buddhist hymns (Onward Buddhist soldiers!); you go business gospel groups, we have Buddhist businesses, too; you make teaching religion fun, we do that to Buddhism too. I think this is like someone coming to burn our houses with firebrands, and we get bigger firebrands, and say hey look we have firebrands, too, and we can burn our houses on our own! So now both sides are homeless. Holy Cassandra, who are we listening to? who is our standard? The evangelists have bigger churches, better organized assemblies, etc, because they have studied their Bibles well. Many of them are professionals. So they marry the two into a colonial cocktail to attract converts and hold them. They instruct their flock to stay in the pen, insulated from others until they are blind enough to blind us. Local Buddhists (western scholars call us "ethnic Buddhists"), or many of us, don't know much about the Suttas, so we put them aside, or simply knock them down. It's like we have beautiful idyllic beaches, and crystal clear seas with glorious corals. We do not appreciate them until the beaches and waters are crowded with strange tourists who molest our children and deflower our maidens, and mess up the beaches. Lesson: if you do not know the Suttas, have no experience of stillness through meditation or mindfulness, you have only an empty core, waiting to be filled in by borrowed culture. Oh yes, you will need a long resume of titles, qualifications, on business cards, like what many monks carry now. If you use only Buddhist hymns, you will get hymn Buddhists; if you use only management, you will get management Buddhists; if you you use businesses only, you will get money Buddhists; which are not really bad in themselves, but we need to move on. But what have you to move on with, except your music, your management, your businesses. We still have a "village" or "native" mentality here that anyone with a "Dr" to his name knows a lot about Buddhism; or better if he is white, he knows everything about Buddhisms. There's your opening, lads, forget that sun-tan. The natives are still welcoming Captain Cook and Columbus. This is the tail end of it all, I hope. (Happy note: A sweet Colombian student has paired up with a handsome German Catholic boy in my Sutta class, and they are both in Europe now. Be well and prosper!) At present, if you come to Singapore and wish to look for a "Singapore" Buddhist temple. you only have these flavours: Thai, Sinhala, Myanmar, Tibetan, Japanese, or Chinese joint. Sorry, no Singapore Buddhist temple or joint. On the other hand, why are Ajahn Chah's western forest monks becoming such a great global attraction now (for example)? People know that they know their stuff, and they also behave in a manner that evokes stillness in us. I foresee the vital need for more committed lay (non-monastic) Buddhist workers who know more Suttas and Dharma than the monastics (not as a challenge, but on account of commitment), meditate more than the monastics (if they ever do it); have less money than the monastics, but more happiness; less sensual pleasures than the monastics, but more satisfaction, contentment and joy. For three to five days a week, I see happy, laughing faces in my Sutta classes, where most of whom on their own accord, would naturally sit meditating before class starts. If you are really a Buddhist, who is your refuge? Or, we could put it another way, I'm not yet a really a Buddhist yet until I awaken to true reality. Meantime, what am I doing to get there? In recent years, I get a lot of non-Buddhists (esp evangelists and Muslims) coming for counselling and meditation therapy. They know I am Buddhist, and they know these methods will help them. And I tell them, you don't have to be a Buddhist to practise Buddhism. They quietly ask me for Buddhist literature, and I give it to them. Despite what I say, I'm confident they will find their way if they are true seekers. That is my faith in the Three Jewels. I think we ethnic Buddhists will be left far behind, so long as we keep trailing the evangelists, and forget to count our own cows. "If the world is a storm, I will not fall into it, but remain in the still eye at peace with myself." Jayarava, part of my reply to your email is above here. With concerned metta, Piya On Wed, Sep 3, 2008 at 9:15 AM, jkirk wrote: > From your website article as linked below: > > "Comments: If Ms Ng felt that Buddhism is fine other than the idea of > making offerings for blessings being a transaction, then she had given > up Buddhism for the wrong reason - because true Buddhists know that > offerings are made to remind themselves of various aspects of the > Buddha's teachings. Any blessings that result comes from devotion and > generosity in making offerings, not out of expectations of blessings." > > Well, most of the world's Buddhists, and people of other religions > that incorporate this model, are not "true" > religionists, following your concept of "true Buddhists". Ms Ng seems > to be well aware that the attitude of transactional relations between > devotee and deity is indeed a prevailing notion. [etc] From dharmafarer at gmail.com Wed Sep 3 20:43:50 2008 From: dharmafarer at gmail.com (Piya Tan) Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2008 10:43:50 +0800 Subject: [Buddha-l] demise in asia In-Reply-To: References: <733770.60419.qm@web54505.mail.re2.yahoo.com> <1C66A1F110FF4FA1A1BF6AD25AC8E0F8@OPTIPLEX> Message-ID: Dear Joanna, Jayarava, and anyone who cares to read something not academically correct or profitable, Jayarava replied to me on 2 Sep, and I was actually responding to another countryman, Shian, whom I admire and respect. I'm also very concerned with the "profiling" of events where I live: why things are so, where we are heading, etc. It's great that you are relating to what I have frankly written on. As far as FWBO is concerned, I still have difficulty accepting it as a group or whatever you call it. I think it is still centred on its own success, and has not come to the level of common magnanimity, although it is much more open than when Sangharakshita was having fun with his movement(s). (On the light side, I recall some non-Dharmacaris esp the less physically attractive ones then had a joke among themselves: "Start a new movement, eat prunes!") It is easier and healthier to relate to the order members as individuals. If the Dharma comes first, it does not really matter which movement or monastery the Dharmacari comes from. I think it is more meaningful today towards for a meeting of concerned minds than of movements or organizations. I'm thinking specially of Buddhist work in our times. Yes, Jayarava, I have read your paper, and I generally agree with your ideas about confession. However, on a spiritual level, that is, deep within myself, I generally find no problem with words, properly defined and used with true good intentions. For example, I regularly teach what are "hard-core" early Buddhist texts (I try to avoid using "Theravada") in a beautiful monastery dedicated to the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha. I find no problem explaining to my class how the facets of the two traditions can fit harmoniously if we look at the principles behind the teachings, rituals, images, etc. In fact, for the rest of the year, I will be leading an in-depth study on "How Buddhism Became Chinese," for a better understanding of difficulties our Chinese Buddhist ancestors faced, and how they responded to I hope Subhuti is a blue lotus above the muddy past of WBO; or is the present FWBO unified enough, and what is unifying them? Anyway, there is an interesting prophecy in the Dakkhina Vibhanga Sutta (M 142) about "yellow-necks" (those wearing yellow kesas?) who will be treated as "sangha," and supported with donations. The true movement is like a storm, it has a still centre. At the heart of the storm's eye is the Buddha giving the Dharma. Let us visualize ourselves sitting joyfully as his audience. With metta, Piya Tan On Thu, Sep 4, 2008 at 7:14 AM, jkirk wrote: > Dear Piya-- > Well your reply was to what I wrote, not to what Jayarava > wrote--at least you left in your message (below) what I, not > Jayarava, wrote. > > So I'm confused as to whom you meant to reply---but in any case, > happy that your sutta classes are going gangbusters :) I can > really sympathise with what SG Buddhists are going through today. > It resembles what thoughtful non-Christian people are going > through here in the US, what with the onslaught of Republican > evangelical righteousness at every media turn. What with > political candidates having to routinely state their religious > preferences and church membership, how devoted to Jesus they are > etc. Yuk again. > The commercialization of piety has gone bonkers here, thanks to > the pressure from evangelicals who are perceived by politicians > (and their promo hacks) as independents or "swing voters." > > May I respectfully suggest that one of the problems with > maintaining and growing Buddhism in today's globalistic > environment might be the traditional accent on what brings > merit-- donating to temples and monasteries and leaving public > education up to them. > Since the FWBO isn't a monastic order along the lines of the > tradition, strikes me that they have a chance (if they can raise > the necessary money) to make a big imprint on the missionary goal > of the Buddha dharma that traditional Theravadan monastic > institutions cannot seem to accomplish. > (The Tibetans seem to be having a lot of success in the USA > today. They are good at raising money and spreading their > message, too.) > > So Jayarava, what is the FWBO doing to spread the Buddha dharma > these days in the west? > > Best wishes, > Joanna > ======================= > > > -----Original Message----- > From: buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com > [mailto:buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com] On Behalf Of Piya Tan > Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2008 8:31 PM > To: Buddhist discussion forum > Subject: Re: [Buddha-l] demise in asia > > Buddhists in Singapore and Malaysia are generally tacitly > paranoid or feel deprived like abused children or Cinderellas, > especially in the face of racial political in Malaysia, and in > the face of the constant presence of evangelism in Malaysia and > Singapore. > > I have Myanmarese students in my Sutta classes who regularly > admit they feel very stressed and depressed as soon as they > arrive in Singapore. Not only is the society here very different > from traditionally Buddhist Myanmar (forget about the asura-bound > generals and their minions). Evangelism is illegal there. > Actually open evangelism is technically illegal here, too, but we > still see them doing it. > > Back home, these young Myanmarese are not troubled by the > evangelists, but here they are constantly harrassed. Or at least > some of their friends are harrassed. The British once colonized > Burma, now you see banners in Myanmarese welcoming them in St > Andrews in the city centre. > > The local Buddhists are trying to counter this evangelical flood > with a reverse Stockholm syndrome. They copy the evangelists. You > got hymns, we have Buddhist hymns (Onward Buddhist soldiers!); > you go business gospel groups, we have Buddhist businesses, too; > you make teaching religion fun, we do that to Buddhism too. > > I think this is like someone coming to burn our houses with > firebrands, and we get bigger firebrands, and say hey look we > have firebrands, too, and we can burn our houses on our own! So > now both sides are homeless. Holy Cassandra, who are we listening > to? who is our standard? > > The evangelists have bigger churches, better organized > assemblies, etc, because they have studied their Bibles well. > Many of them are professionals. So they marry the two into a > colonial cocktail to attract converts and hold them. They > instruct their flock to stay in the pen, insulated from others > until they are blind enough to blind us. > > Local Buddhists (western scholars call us "ethnic Buddhists"), or > many of us, don't know much about the Suttas, so we put them > aside, or simply knock them down. It's like we have beautiful > idyllic beaches, and crystal clear seas with glorious corals. We > do not appreciate them until the beaches and waters are crowded > with strange tourists who molest our children and deflower our > maidens, and mess up the beaches. > > Lesson: if you do not know the Suttas, have no experience of > stillness through meditation or mindfulness, you have only an > empty core, waiting to be filled in by borrowed culture. Oh yes, > you will need a long resume of titles, qualifications, on > business cards, like what many monks carry now. > > If you use only Buddhist hymns, you will get hymn Buddhists; if > you use only management, you will get management Buddhists; if > you you use businesses only, you will get money Buddhists; which > are not really bad in themselves, but we need to move on. > > But what have you to move on with, except your music, your > management, your businesses. > > We still have a "village" or "native" mentality here that anyone > with a "Dr" to his name knows a lot about Buddhism; or better if > he is white, he knows everything about Buddhisms. There's your > opening, lads, forget that sun-tan. The natives are still > welcoming Captain Cook and Columbus. This is the tail end of it > all, I hope. > > (Happy note: A sweet Colombian student has paired up with a > handsome German Catholic boy in my Sutta class, and they are both > in Europe now. Be well and prosper!) > > At present, if you come to Singapore and wish to look for a > "Singapore" Buddhist temple. you only have these flavours: > Thai, Sinhala, Myanmar, Tibetan, Japanese, or Chinese joint. > Sorry, no Singapore Buddhist temple or joint. > > On the other hand, why are Ajahn Chah's western forest monks > becoming such a great global attraction now (for example)? > People know that they know their stuff, and they also behave in a > manner that evokes stillness in us. > > I foresee the vital need for more committed lay (non-monastic) > Buddhist workers who know more Suttas and Dharma than the > monastics (not as a challenge, but on account of commitment), > meditate more than the monastics (if they ever do it); have less > money than the monastics, but more happiness; less sensual > pleasures than the monastics, but more satisfaction, contentment > and joy. > > For three to five days a week, I see happy, laughing faces in my > Sutta classes, where most of whom on their own accord, would > naturally sit meditating before class starts. > > If you are really a Buddhist, who is your refuge? Or, we could > put it another way, I'm not yet a really a Buddhist yet until I > awaken to true reality. Meantime, what am I doing to get there? > > In recent years, I get a lot of non-Buddhists (esp evangelists > and Muslims) coming for counselling and meditation therapy. > They know I am Buddhist, and they know these methods will help > them. And I tell them, you don't have to be a Buddhist to > practise Buddhism. They quietly ask me for Buddhist literature, > and I give it to them. > > Despite what I say, I'm confident they will find their way if > they are true seekers. That is my faith in the Three Jewels. > > I think we ethnic Buddhists will be left far behind, so long as > we keep trailing the evangelists, and forget to count our own > cows. > > "If the world is a storm, I will not fall into it, but remain in > the still eye at peace with myself." > > Jayarava, part of my reply to your email is above here. > > With concerned metta, > > Piya > > > > On Wed, Sep 3, 2008 at 9:15 AM, jkirk wrote: >> From your website article as linked below: >> >> "Comments: If Ms Ng felt that Buddhism is fine other than the > idea of >> making offerings for blessings being a transaction, then she > had given >> up Buddhism for the wrong reason - because true Buddhists know > that >> offerings are made to remind themselves of various aspects of > the >> Buddha's teachings. Any blessings that result comes from > devotion and >> generosity in making offerings, not out of expectations of > blessings." >> >> Well, most of the world's Buddhists, and people of other > religions >> that incorporate this model, are not "true" >> religionists, following your concept of "true Buddhists". Ms Ng > seems >> to be well aware that the attitude of transactional relations > between >> devotee and deity is indeed a prevailing notion. > [etc] > > _______________________________________________ > buddha-l mailing list > buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com > http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l > -- The Minding Centre Blk 644 Bukit Batok Central #01-68 (2nd flr) Singapore 650644 Tel: 8211 0879 Meditation courses & therapy: http://themindingcentre.googlepages.com Website: dharmafarer.googlepages.com From rhayes at unm.edu Wed Sep 3 21:54:45 2008 From: rhayes at unm.edu (Richard Hayes) Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:54:45 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] [SPAM?? 62%] Re: demise in asia In-Reply-To: References: <733770.60419.qm@web54505.mail.re2.yahoo.com> <1C66A1F110FF4FA1A1BF6AD25AC8E0F8@OPTIPLEX> Message-ID: <1220500485.1419.2.camel@localhost> On Wed, 2008-09-03 at 17:14 -0600, jkirk wrote: > what is the FWBO doing to spread the Buddha dharma > these days in the west? If anyone has to do anything to spread a thing, it ain't worth spreading. -- Dayamati http://dayamati.blogspot.com http://dayamati.home.comcast.net From dharmafarer at gmail.com Wed Sep 3 22:07:52 2008 From: dharmafarer at gmail.com (Piya Tan) Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2008 12:07:52 +0800 Subject: [Buddha-l] [SPAM?? 62%] Re: demise in asia In-Reply-To: <1220500485.1419.2.camel@localhost> References: <733770.60419.qm@web54505.mail.re2.yahoo.com> <1C66A1F110FF4FA1A1BF6AD25AC8E0F8@OPTIPLEX> <1220500485.1419.2.camel@localhost> Message-ID: The Dharma is not worth any thing, that is why some of us are spreading it, some too thinly though. Piya Tan On Thu, Sep 4, 2008 at 11:54 AM, Richard Hayes wrote: > On Wed, 2008-09-03 at 17:14 -0600, jkirk wrote: > >> what is the FWBO doing to spread the Buddha dharma >> these days in the west? > > If anyone has to do anything to spread a thing, it ain't worth > spreading. > > -- > Dayamati > http://dayamati.blogspot.com > http://dayamati.home.comcast.net > > _______________________________________________ > buddha-l mailing list > buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com > http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l > -- The Minding Centre Blk 644 Bukit Batok Central #01-68 (2nd flr) Singapore 650644 Tel: 8211 0879 Meditation courses & therapy: http://themindingcentre.googlepages.com Website: dharmafarer.googlepages.com From cfynn at gmx.net Thu Sep 4 23:51:00 2008 From: cfynn at gmx.net (Christopher Fynn) Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:51:00 +0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Demise in asia In-Reply-To: References: <733770.60419.qm@web54505.mail.re2.yahoo.com><1C66A1F110FF4FA1A1BF6AD25AC8E0F8@OPTIPLEX> Message-ID: <48C0C8C4.7000804@gmx.net> jkirk wrote: > The Tibetans seem to be having a lot of success in the USA > today. They are good at raising money and spreading their > message, too. The Tibetans are also v. successful in Taiwan - and do fairly well in Malaysia and SG. Indeed in monetary terms most do far better in these places than they do in the west - since their Asian followers are generally far more financially generous than their European and American followers. However I think in many cases all this cash corrupts the Dharma. - Chris From jkirk at spro.net Fri Sep 5 10:17:05 2008 From: jkirk at spro.net (jkirk) Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2008 10:17:05 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Demise in asia In-Reply-To: <48C0C8C4.7000804@gmx.net> References: <733770.60419.qm@web54505.mail.re2.yahoo.com><1C66A1F110FF4FA1A1BF6AD25AC8E0F8@OPTIPLEX> <48C0C8C4.7000804@gmx.net> Message-ID: <7BF1DA362F2B4AB1920FC91E92AA35AD@OPTIPLEX> jkirk wrote: > The Tibetans seem to be having a lot of success in the USA today. They > are good at raising money and spreading their message, too. The Tibetans are also v. successful in Taiwan - and do fairly well in Malaysia and SG. Indeed in monetary terms most do far better in these places than they do in the west - since their Asian followers are generally far more financially generous than their European and American followers. However I think in many cases all this cash corrupts the Dharma. - Chris ========================== 'However I think in many cases all this cash corrupts the Dharma.' Chris, Ain't it da trut! There's too much money everywhere, especially in US politics and also religion. My first brush with UUs was in the North Bennington Library, upstairs, where four of us met to discuss. Sort of like what I once heard the old NY Ethical Society meetings were like. No church, no muzak, no minister, no gigantic building, no paid employees~~~~~~~~~~~~ The local Unitarian fellowship I occasionally visit here in Boise raised a ton of money after 2 years of hard work, to enlarge their meeting hall and make more rooms for Sunday school classes. They also got enough to hire a regular music director. Now again they are trying to raise even more money for this 'n that... Once an institution hits the money trail, it's the long long trail that, like Draupadi's sari, is unending. Along with institutional expansion. They did spend a lot on their religious education program, which is where I personally think most of the swag ought to go, to build up the self-respect, critical thinking, and compassion of the future generations. But yes--cash corrupts all Dharmas, and apparently Buddhist ones as well. In capitalist societies, even deliberately chosen poverty or public modesty influences nobody. New book that might be of interest to someone besides yours truly: _Bengal in Global Concept History: Culturalism in the Age of Capital_ (Chicago Studies in Practices of Meaning) (Paperback) by Andrew Sartori. U Chic. Pr., Sept 15-2008. Even though the focus is apparently on Bengal, the culturalism idea under discussion might yield some insights. Cheers, Joanna From vasubandhu at earthlink.net Sat Sep 6 06:10:55 2008 From: vasubandhu at earthlink.net (Dan Lusthaus) Date: Sat, 6 Sep 2008 08:10:55 -0400 Subject: [Buddha-l] Bhutanese Monks accompany exhibit References: <733770.60419.qm@web54505.mail.re2.yahoo.com><1C66A1F110FF4FA1A1BF6AD25AC8E0F8@OPTIPLEX> <48C0C8C4.7000804@gmx.net> Message-ID: <007b01c91019$caa13880$dc369c04@Dan> Nice write-up in the NY Times on the monks who accompany Bhutanese sacred objects on a museum tour, now in NY. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/arts/design/06monk.htm Dan From marshallarts at bigpond.com Sat Sep 6 16:33:38 2008 From: marshallarts at bigpond.com (Kate Marshall) Date: Sun, 7 Sep 2008 08:33:38 +1000 Subject: [Buddha-l] Dalai Lama's brother dies in US References: <733770.60419.qm@web54505.mail.re2.yahoo.com><1C66A1F110FF4FA1A1BF6AD25AC8E0F8@OPTIPLEX> <48C0C8C4.7000804@gmx.net> <007b01c91019$caa13880$dc369c04@Dan> Message-ID: <000f01c91070$9b964d30$0300000a@katies> http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/06/2357366.htm Regards Kate From curt at cola.iges.org Sat Sep 6 17:07:03 2008 From: curt at cola.iges.org (Curt Steinmetz) Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:07:03 -0400 Subject: [Buddha-l] Dalai Lama's brother dies in US In-Reply-To: <000f01c91070$9b964d30$0300000a@katies> References: <733770.60419.qm@web54505.mail.re2.yahoo.com><1C66A1F110FF4FA1A1BF6AD25AC8E0F8@OPTIPLEX> <48C0C8C4.7000804@gmx.net> <007b01c91019$caa13880$dc369c04@Dan> <000f01c91070$9b964d30$0300000a@katies> Message-ID: <48C30D17.9050500@cola.iges.org> I was fortunate enough to meet Rinpoche several times. He was a beautiful man who accomplished a great deal and who literally set out to accomplish nothing less than the seemingly impossible task of regaining complete independence for his native country. That lofty goal never distracted him from the "real world" - in which he had an academic career, ran his own restaurant, built a Temple, raised money to support refugees, engaged in political activism at a variety of levels - and even worked for the CIA! But he was also a thoroughly ordinary and very real human being - always smiling, very friendly. He managed to be a genuinely good, warm person while also being a great teacher, leader and a shrewd politician on the world stage. Not mentioned in the abc article that Kate linked to is that Rinpoche co-authored the book "Tibet" with Colin Turnbull in 1968. This was one of my first introductions to Buddhism as a wide-eyed teenager in Indiana. One could go on and on about this guy! His wikipedia entry has been updated since his death: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thupten_Jigme_Norbu Also here is a link to the group "Rangzen", a group devoted to the Independence of Tibetan than Rinpoche helped to start: http://www.rangzen.com/ And also a link to the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center - another one of his projects (the links in the wikipedia article don't work, but this one does): http://www.tibetancc.com/info/index.asp Ji Jang Bosal (as we say in Korean Buddhism) Curt Steinmetz Kate Marshall wrote: > http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/06/2357366.htm > > Regards > Kate > _______________________________________________ > buddha-l mailing list > buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com > http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l > From jkirk at spro.net Mon Sep 8 13:49:47 2008 From: jkirk at spro.net (jkirk) Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2008 13:49:47 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] FW: [Indo-Eurasia] 62-feet 'sleeping Buddha' found at Bamiyan, Afghanistan Message-ID: <33A0D8DBF45F4FE1B72743F5D3FDFD94@OPTIPLEX> X-posted. The French also were involved in these excavations, although they probably weren't there when this discovery was unearthed. Wow--maybe they are getting close to he 300m one noted by Xuangzhan. Joanna ________________________________ From: Indo-Eurasian_research at yahoogroups.com [mailto:Indo-Eurasian_research at yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of naga_ganesan Sent: Monday, September 08, 2008 12:19 PM 62-feet 'sleeping Buddha' found at Bamiyan http://in.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idINISL34253320080908 Afghans unearth 19-metre Buddha statue, relics KABUL (Reuters) - Archaeologists have discovered a 19-metre (62- foot) Buddha statue along with scores of other historical relics in central Afghanistan near the ruins of giant statues destroyed by the Islamist Taliban seven years ago. The team was searching for a giant sleeping Buddha believed to have been seen by a Chinese pilgrim [Xuangzhan] centuries ago when it came upon the relics in the central province of Bamiyan, an official said on Monday. "In total, 89 relics such as coins, ceramics and a 19 meters statue have been unearthed," Mohammad Zia Afshar, adviser in the information and culture ministry, told Reuters. He said the idol, in sleeping posture, was badly damaged. The other relics dated back to the Bactrian era and from Islamic and Buddhist civilizations. Lying on the old Silk Road and linking West with the East, Bamiyan was once a thriving Buddhist centre where monks lived in caves. In 2001 the Taliban blew up two giant standing Buddha statues carved into a cliff face saying they were offensive to Islam, despite appeals worldwide. Later that year U.S.-led and Afghan forces toppled the Taliban government, and work has begun to restore the biggest of the two destroyed statues, once the tallest standing Buddha in the world. The mammoth task is expected to take a decade. The latest discovery has raised hopes of finding a 300-metre-long Buddha statue that according to an ancient Chinese pilgrim is lying in Bamiyan, Afshar said. also see, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7604519.stm From jkirk at spro.net Mon Sep 8 14:12:26 2008 From: jkirk at spro.net (jkirk) Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2008 14:12:26 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Job anyone? Message-ID: Courses: Chinese Religions, Japanese Religions, and Buddhism or similar courses. Behalf Of John Cort Sent: Monday, September 08, 2008 2:08 PM I've been asked to circulate this. John Cort Denison University Kenyon College Visiting Professor of Religious Studies The Religious Studies Department at Kenyon College invites applications for a part-time position in Religious Studies at the visiting assistant professor or instructor level beginning January 1, 2009. A Ph.D. in Religious Studies or a relevant discipline is preferred; ABD will be considered. Teaching responsibilities will consist of three courses: Chinese Religions, Japanese Religions, and Buddhism or similar courses. The Department seeks applicants whose scholarly specialties complement those of current faculty and encourages a visit to the department's website. Kenyon College is a highly competitive liberal arts college of approximately 1650 students. The college is located in the beautiful village of Gambier, 50 miles northeast of Columbus, Ohio. Kenyon prides itself on its reputation as an excellent teaching environment enriched by small classes, close contact with highly motivated and engaged students, and an outstanding faculty of dedicated teacher scholars. Kenyon offers competitive salaries and a generous benefits package, including spouse and domestic partner benefits. To learn more about Kenyon, visit www.kenyon.edu. For application instructions, visit http://www.kenyon.edu/facultyjobs.xml Review of applications will begin on October 15, 2008 and continue until the position is filled. Kenyon College is an equal opportunity employer. It is the College's policy to evaluate qualified applicants without regard to age, ancestry, disability, national or ethnic origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, political belief or activity, or status as a veteran. Kenyon welcomes diversity and encourages the applications of women and minority candidates. From anemone at ghvalley.net Mon Sep 8 18:25:54 2008 From: anemone at ghvalley.net (Perennial Favorites) Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2008 18:25:54 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Job anyone? References: Message-ID: <001e01c91212$9f736160$0f3f7941@PerennialOne> And Kenyon College is also the home of my favorite science fiction author, Joan Slonczewski: http://biology.kenyon.edu/slonc/slonc.htm A Door Into Ocean is one of the best books on nonviolent resistance in any genre. Diana Capen e > Visiting Professor of Religious Studies > The Religious Studies Department at Kenyon College invites > applications for a part-time position in Religious Studies at the > visiting assistant professor or instructor level beginning > January 1, 2009. A Ph.D. in Religious Studies or a relevant > discipline is preferred; ABD will be considered. > Teaching responsibilities will consist of three courses: Chinese > Religions, Japanese Religions, and Buddhism or similar courses. > The Department seeks applicants whose scholarly specialties > complement those of current faculty and encourages a visit to the > department's website. > Kenyon College is a highly competitive liberal arts college of > approximately 1650 students. The college is located in the > beautiful village of Gambier, 50 miles northeast of Columbus, > Ohio. Kenyon prides itself on its reputation as an excellent > teaching environment enriched by small classes, close contact > with highly motivated and engaged students, and an outstanding > faculty of dedicated teacher scholars. > Kenyon offers competitive salaries and a generous benefits > package, including spouse and domestic partner benefits. > To learn more about Kenyon, visit www.kenyon.edu. > For application instructions, visit > http://www.kenyon.edu/facultyjobs.xml > Review of applications will begin on October 15, 2008 and > continue until the position is filled. > Kenyon College is an equal opportunity employer. It is the > College's policy to evaluate qualified applicants without regard > to age, ancestry, disability, national or ethnic origin, race, > religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, political > belief or activity, or status as a veteran. Kenyon welcomes > diversity and encourages the applications of women and minority > candidates. > > _______________________________________________ > buddha-l mailing list > buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com > http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l > From vasubandhu at earthlink.net Tue Sep 9 00:15:27 2008 From: vasubandhu at earthlink.net (Dan Lusthaus) Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2008 02:15:27 -0400 Subject: [Buddha-l] Dalai Lama's brother dies in US References: <733770.60419.qm@web54505.mail.re2.yahoo.com><1C66A1F110FF4FA1A1BF6AD25AC8E0F8@OPTIPLEX> <48C0C8C4.7000804@gmx.net> <007b01c91019$caa13880$dc369c04@Dan><000f01c91070$9b964d30$0300000a@katies> <48C30D17.9050500@cola.iges.org> Message-ID: <003c01c91243$75780b00$79369c04@Dan> Another obit, this one from the NY Times, with photo and more detailed (and accurate) bio information. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/09/world/asia/09norbu.html Dan From jkirk at spro.net Tue Sep 9 09:10:04 2008 From: jkirk at spro.net (jkirk) Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2008 09:10:04 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Dalai Lama's brother dies in US In-Reply-To: <003c01c91243$75780b00$79369c04@Dan> References: <733770.60419.qm@web54505.mail.re2.yahoo.com><1C66A1F110FF4FA1A1BF6AD25AC8E0F8@OPTIPLEX> <48C0C8C4.7000804@gmx.net> <007b01c91019$caa13880$dc369c04@Dan><000f01c91070$9b964d30$0300000a@katies><48C30D17.9050500@cola.iges.org> <003c01c91243$75780b00$79369c04@Dan> Message-ID: <186504E53C34414EBE399A3A37A4ABC2@OPTIPLEX> From vasubandhu at earthlink.net Tue Sep 9 09:47:29 2008 From: vasubandhu at earthlink.net (Dan Lusthaus) Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2008 11:47:29 -0400 Subject: [Buddha-l] Dalai Lama's brother dies in US References: <733770.60419.qm@web54505.mail.re2.yahoo.com><1C66A1F110FF4FA1A1BF6AD25AC8E0F8@OPTIPLEX> <48C0C8C4.7000804@gmx.net> <007b01c91019$caa13880$dc369c04@Dan><000f01c91070$9b964d30$0300000a@katies><48C30D17.9050500@cola.iges.org><003c01c91243$75780b00$79369c04@Dan> <186504E53C34414EBE399A3A37A4ABC2@OPTIPLEX> Message-ID: <00b601c91293$904519f0$79369c04@Dan> > From this obituary: > 'Mr. Norbu led a major monastery at the very young age of 27 and > soon was caught up in the trauma of the Communist invasion of > Tibet in 1950, an action that China contends was justified on > many grounds.' > > The last phrase of this sentence is a gratuitous slight, IMO. > > Joanna > ============================================== Agreed, Joanna. That's the price the NYTimes pays to maintain the veneer of objectivity, rather than falling into the partisanship of, say, Fox News. By qualifying it as "China *contends*..." they signal that they don't necessarily endorse that contention. Dan From jkirk at spro.net Fri Sep 12 14:34:54 2008 From: jkirk at spro.net (jkirk) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:34:54 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Stanford Center for Buddhist studies Message-ID: Their new website: http://www.stanford.edu/group/scbs/ The study of Buddhism at Stanford is centered in the Department of Religious Studies , with additional resources provided by the Stanford Center for Buddhist Studies, the Asian Religions & Cultures Initiative, the Center for East Asian Studies, and other units of the university, as well as by the Group in Buddhist Studies http://buddhiststudies.berkeley.edu/index.html and other units of the University of California, Berkeley. The Buddhist studies program began in the late 1980s. Since 1994, it has graduated twenty-one doctoral students, with another fourteen currently enrolled. The Stanford program has focused especially on East Asian Buddhism, with an emphasis on the religion in its cultural and historical contexts. The recent appointment of Professor Paul Harrison in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism and a planned university initiative to develop Tibetan studies at Stanford give promise that the focus of the Buddhist studies program may gradually broaden. Faculty: http://scbs.stanford.edu/buddhist_studies/faculty.htm From jkirk at spro.net Fri Sep 12 14:36:22 2008 From: jkirk at spro.net (jkirk) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:36:22 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Stanford Center for Buddhist studies Message-ID: Oops--their new website is coming soon. ======================= Their new website: http://www.stanford.edu/group/scbs/ The study of Buddhism at Stanford is centered in the Department of Religious Studies , with additional resources provided by the Stanford Center for Buddhist Studies, the Asian Religions & Cultures Initiative, the Center for East Asian Studies, and other units of the university, as well as by the Group in Buddhist Studies http://buddhiststudies.berkeley.edu/index.html and other units of the University of California, Berkeley. The Buddhist studies program began in the late 1980s. Since 1994, it has graduated twenty-one doctoral students, with another fourteen currently enrolled. The Stanford program has focused especially on East Asian Buddhism, with an emphasis on the religion in its cultural and historical contexts. The recent appointment of Professor Paul Harrison in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism and a planned university initiative to develop Tibetan studies at Stanford give promise that the focus of the Buddhist studies program may gradually broaden. Faculty: http://scbs.stanford.edu/buddhist_studies/faculty.htm From jamesward at earthlink.net Mon Sep 15 23:58:34 2008 From: jamesward at earthlink.net (James Ward) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:58:34 -0700 Subject: [Buddha-l] Fwd: [Sogdian-L] A Conference on Dunhuang Studies Message-ID: <234ad362da6b0cd1446a8f1c6b933a0d@earthlink.net> Perhaps the following announcement (forwarded with permission) will be of interest to some here. With best wishes, James Ward Begin forwarded message: > From: Pavel Lurje > Date: September 10, 2008 3:32:35 AM PDT > To: Sogdian-L at yahoogroups.com > Subject: [Sogdian-L] A Conference on Dunhuang Studies > Reply-To: Sogdian-L at yahoogroups.com > > An international conference on Dunhuang Studies will take place in > Petersburg in September 2009, maybe interesting for somebody here (the > information I have got is, unfortunately, only in Russian, but the > announced working languages are English and Chinese) > > http://www.orientalstudies.ru/rus/index.php? > option=com_content&task=view&id=2135 > > Best, > Pavel From jkirk at spro.net Tue Sep 16 21:48:12 2008 From: jkirk at spro.net (jkirk) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2008 21:48:12 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] FW: [n/a] Asian & Pacific Studies - Historical Photographs Message-ID: <4ED41D1A2A2549C38F57E072718BA985@OPTIPLEX> Lots of wonderful photo data in these collections. In the Gertrude Bell archive are some amazing old photos she took of Borobudur --in 1903--perhaps before one of the earthquakes that wrecked a lot of it? (no time to look up dates) Interesting photos of Burma--lots more data here, folks. captions often leave much to be desired, some are hers and some added by archive curators-- To find the Bell archive go here first http://coombs.anu.edu.au/WWWVLPages/AsianPages/Asian-Historical-P hotographs.html and then scroll down to Gertude Bell. The segment with Borobudur is here: Album RTW Volume 3 Round The World India, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia 1903 Joanna ============================================================= The Asian Studies WWW Monitor: late Sep 2008, Vol. 15, No. 11 (285) -------------------------------------------------------------- 17 Sep 2008 Asian & Pacific Studies - Historical Photographs Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies (RSPAS), The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Self-description: "This document [est. Sep 2008] is a part of Asian Studies WWW Virtual Library [http://coombs.anu.edu.au/WWWVL-AsianStudies.html] and Pacific Studies WWW Virtual Library [http://coombs.anu.edu.au/WWWVL-PacificStudies.html]. It keeps track of leading on-line collections of still images of value/significance to researchers in Asian and Pacific Studies. Please mail tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au if you know of relevant information resource not in this list." Site contents [in Sep 2008]: * Afganistan Old Photos; * Asian Historical Architecture; * Bond Photograph Library; * Cambodian Genocide Program - Photographs; * China: Exploring the Interior, 1903-1904; * Digital Himalaya Project; * Echoes of Freedom: South Asian Pioneers in California, 1899-1965; * Four Months of War, Shanghai 1937; * Himalayan Art Resources (HAR) - Photographic Archives; * Historic Camel Photos - China, Mongolia, India, Central Asia, Russia, Middle East; * Historical Photographs of China; * Historical Photos of Central Asia - Images of Life in Central Asia; * Indonesia independent - Photographs 1947-1953; * Japanese Old Photographs in Bakumatsu-Meiji Period; * Keagle Photograph Library; * Mahatma Gandhi Research and Media Service; * Micronesia Over the Years; * Moluccan History and Culture in Pictures; * Pakistan: Historic Karachi; * Photos of Tibet in the early 1940's; * Pictures from Tibet; * Pioneer Photography from the [19th c.] Dutch Indies; * RAWA Photo Gallery: Afghanistan from 1992-2008; * SouthEast Asian images & Texts; * Svadesh videsh - Asia, Pacific & Africa Collections; * The Cities/Buildings Database; * The Dutch East Indies in Photographs, 1860-1940; * The East Asian [Digital] Collection; * The French Institute of Pondichery (IFP) - Photo Archives; * The Gertrude Bell Project; * The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 - Materials from the Dana and Vera Reynolds Collection; * The Hawaii War Records Depository (HWRD) Photos; * The Hedda Morrison Photographs of China, 1933-1946; * The Islamic Gallery: Photos and Artwork; * The Nanking Atrocities (Online Documentary); * The Rev. Claude L. Pickens, Jr. Collection on Muslims in China; * The Virtual Museum of Cham Architecture, Vietnam; * Thomas H. Hahn Docu-Images - Contemporary Transformations of China; * Thomas, G.H - An American in China: 1936-1939; * Turkestanskii Al'bom (Photo Album of 19th Century Russian Turkistan); * Vanished Kingdoms: The Wulsin Photographs of Tibet, China, and Mongolia, 1921-1925; * [The Dutch East Indies in] Colonial World Fairs. URL http://coombs.anu.edu.au/WWWVLPages/AsianPages/Asian-Historical-P hotographs.html Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site was not archived at the time of this abstract] Link reported by: T. Matthew Ciolek (tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au) * Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Online Guide * Publisher [academic - business - govt. - library/museum - NGO - other]: Academic * Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: rating not available * External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 30 -------------------------------------------------------------- Src: The Asian Studies WWW Monitor ISSN 1329-9778 URL http://coombs.anu .edu.au/asia-www-monitor.html URL http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/asia-www-monitor The e-journal [est. Apr 1994] provides free abstracts and reviews of new/updated online resources of significance to research, teaching and communications dealing with the Asian Studies. The email edition of this Journal has now over 7420 subscribers. The AS WWW Monitor does not necessarily endorse contents, or policies of the Internet resources it abstracts. - regards - Dr T. Matthew Ciolek tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au Head, Internet Publications Bureau, RSPAS, The National Institute for Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia ph +61 (02) 6125 3124 fax: +61 (02) 62571893 skype: tmciolek also, Asia Pacific Research Online at www.ciolek.com [You may freely forward this information, but on condition that you send the text as an integral whole along with complete information about its author, date, and source.] _______________________________________________ asia-www-monitor at anu.edu.au http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/asia-www-monitor From jkirk at spro.net Sun Sep 21 20:09:44 2008 From: jkirk at spro.net (jkirk) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2008 20:09:44 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] The Life & times of Allan Ginsberg--2 DVDs--- from Joanna Message-ID: http://www.allenginsbergmovie.com/ The filmmaker, Jerry Aronson, was interviewed this morning on NPR. That's how I found out about this movie. Always loved Ginsberg's poetry. He was a Buddhist, I guess everyone knows by now. From tony at starve.org Mon Sep 22 12:12:34 2008 From: tony at starve.org (Tony Trigilio) Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:12:34 -0500 Subject: [Buddha-l] The Life & times of Allan Ginsberg--2 DVDs--- from Joanna In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <48D7E012.6030007@starve.org> Thanks, Joanna, for passing this along. I'll look for the interview on the NPR site. Best, Tony buddha-l-request at mailman.swcp.com wrote: > Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2008 20:09:44 -0600 > From: "jkirk" > Subject: [Buddha-l] The Life & times of Allan Ginsberg--2 DVDs--- from > Joanna > To: "'Buddhist discussion forum'" > Message-ID: > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > http://www.allenginsbergmovie.com/ > > The filmmaker, Jerry Aronson, was interviewed this morning on > NPR. That's how I found out about this movie. Always loved > Ginsberg's poetry. He was a Buddhist, I guess everyone knows by > now. > > >From this site: > > Deluxe two-disc DVD set > > Disc One: > The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg by Jerry Aronson > 84 Minute Feature Documentary plus Two Hours of Extras. > > Disc Two: > 35 Interviews > and the 1998 New York City Memorial for Allen Ginsberg. > > visionary, radical, spiritual seeker, > renowned poet, > founding member of a major literary movement, > champion of human rights, Buddhist, > political activist and teacher. > Allen Ginsberg's remarkable life > challenged the very soul of America. > > Academy Award nominated Director Jerry Aronson spent 25 years > accumulating more than 120 hours of film on Allen Ginsberg, > resulting in this comprehensive portrait of one of America's > greatest poets. > > This deluxe 2-disc DVD set contains the Director's cut of the > award-winning documentary updated and re-mastered. This DVD set > includes never-before seen material and historical interviews > with friends, family and contemporaries and the latest generation > of artists influenced by Ginsberg. > > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > buddha-l mailing list > buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com > http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l > > > End of buddha-l Digest, Vol 43, Issue 15 > **************************************** > > > From lidewij at gmail.com Tue Sep 23 01:39:06 2008 From: lidewij at gmail.com (Lidewij Niezink) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:39:06 +0200 Subject: [Buddha-l] Fwd: [*****] Kalasampada Digital Library - Resources of Indian Cultural Heritage In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <296141cb0809230039t46af3524y3b6b660a08ced05c@mail.gmail.com> For those who are not familiar with this, some cross-posting. If somebody finds it annoying, please let me know and I'll keep from it next time. Cheers. -- Lidewij Niezink, PhD http://www.linkedin.com/in/lniezink ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Reviews of Internet resources for Asian Studies < asia-www-monitor at anu.edu.au> Date: 2008/9/23 Subject: [*****] Kalasampada Digital Library - Resources of Indian Cultural Heritage To: asia-www-monitor at anu.edu.au The Asian Studies WWW Monitor: late Sep 2008, Vol. 15, No. 11 (285) -------------------------------------------------------------- 23 Sep 2008 Kalasampada Digital Library - Resources of Indian Cultural Heritage Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi, India. Self-description: "Aims [of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts which was established in Nov 1985]: * to serve as a major resource centre for the arts, especially written, oral and visual source materials; * to undertake research and publication programmes of reference works, glossaries, dictionaries and encyclopaedia concerning the arts and the humanities; * to establish a tribal and folk arts division with a core collection for conducting systematic scientific studies and for live presentations; * to provide a forum for a creative and critical dialogue through performances, exhibitions, multi-media projections, conferences, seminars and workshops between and amongst the diverse arts, traditional and cotemporary [...]." Site contents: * Digital Images (Archaeological Sites, Slide Collections, Multimedia Projects, Multimedia Documentation, Exhibitions, Print Material); * Photograph Collections; * Video Recordings (Gita Govinda, Brhadisvara Temple, Kutiyattam, Video Clips of Archaeological Sites of Orissa, Film & Video Documentation, Film & Video Acquired) * Audio Recordings: Music Collections; * Multimedia CD Roms Available (Ajanta, Devadasi Murai, Muktesvara, Rockart); * DVD ROMs Available (Behind the Mask, Hampi - The World Heritage Site, Oral Tradition of Vedas, Saat - Sur); * Multimedia Documentation (The Illustrated Jataka & Other Stories of the Buddha, Art & Crafts of North-East); * Newsletters and Journals of IGNCA; * Books Published by IGNCA (online Electronic Books, Series : Kalasamalocana, Kalatattvakosa, Kalamulasastra) * Papers and Essays (Indo-Chinese Studies, Nature & Cosmology, Man & Matter, Oral Traditions, Culture : Ecology, Education and Development, Multimedia) * Research Reports (Pali Tipitaka Chanting, Report on Cultural Mapping of India, Village India Project, The Viavaripa iconographic traditions 5th - 13th c. CE.); * Bibliography (An Annotated Bibliography on Zoroastrian Studies, A Select Bibliography on Shadow Puppetry, Prof. Vasudeva Saran Agrawala - A Bibliographic Survey of his Published works, Calligraphy - a Literature Search, Bibliography on Hampi - World Heritage Site); * Manuscripts Catalogue (Organization, Catalogue of Microfilmed Manuscripts, Survey of Manuscripts in India); * Databases; * Articles by In-house Scholars; * Conference Proceedings. URL http://ignca.nic.in/dgt_0001.htm Internet Archive http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://ignca.nic.in/dgt_0001.htm Link reported by: T. Matthew Ciolek (tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au) * Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Study/Documents * Publisher [academic - business - govt. - library/museum - NGO - other]: Academic * Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: Essential * External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 30 -------------------------------------------------------------- Src: The Asian Studies WWW Monitor ISSN 1329-9778 URL http://coombs.anu.edu.au/asia-www-monitor.html URL http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/asia-www-monitor The e-journal [est. Apr 1994] provides free abstracts and reviews of new/updated online resources of significance to research, teaching and communications dealing with the Asian Studies. The email edition of this Journal has now over 7430 subscribers. The AS WWW Monitor does not necessarily endorse contents, or policies of the Internet resources it abstracts. - regards - Dr T. Matthew Ciolek tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au Head, Internet Publications Bureau, RSPAS, The National Institute for Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia ph +61 (02) 6125 3124 fax: +61 (02) 62571893 skype: tmciolek also, Asia Pacific Research Online at www.ciolek.com [You may freely forward this information, but on condition that you send the text as an integral whole along with complete information about its author, date, and source.] _______________________________________________ asia-www-monitor at anu.edu.au http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/asia-www-monitor From jkirk at spro.net Tue Sep 23 09:05:14 2008 From: jkirk at spro.net (jkirk) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:05:14 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Fwd: [*****] Kalasampada Digital Library - Resources ofIndian Cultural Heritage In-Reply-To: <296141cb0809230039t46af3524y3b6b660a08ced05c@mail.gmail.com> References: <296141cb0809230039t46af3524y3b6b660a08ced05c@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: I've used this one before-- URL http://ignca.nic.in/dgt_0001.htm it's a useful resource --thanks for posting it on the list. Joanna -----Original Message----- From: buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com [mailto:buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com] On Behalf Of Lidewij Niezink Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2008 1:39 AM To: Buddhist discussion forum Subject: [Buddha-l] Fwd: [*****] Kalasampada Digital Library - Resources ofIndian Cultural Heritage For those who are not familiar with this, some cross-posting. If somebody finds it annoying, please let me know and I'll keep from it next time. Cheers. -- Lidewij Niezink, PhD http://www.linkedin.com/in/lniezink From jkirk at spro.net Tue Sep 23 09:45:22 2008 From: jkirk at spro.net (jkirk) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:45:22 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] The Life & times of Allan Ginsberg--2 DVDs--- fromJoanna In-Reply-To: <48D7E012.6030007@starve.org> References: <48D7E012.6030007@starve.org> Message-ID: <7C5436E8C67F426E81CBE80A65418537@OPTIPLEX> Hi Tony--I'm glad it reached a least one soul :) Can hardly wait to see this DVD--once I heard someone's tape of him reciting his poem 'Kaddish' and it made me just weep. He was a great poet--not only a writer but a reciter, a speaker of poetry. Like a few other artists of his period, he saw through this country and its superficialities and knew where it was heading. Joanna ============================ -----Original Message----- From: buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com [mailto:buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com] On Behalf Of Tony Trigilio Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 12:13 PM Thanks, Joanna, for passing this along. I'll look for the interview on the NPR site. Best, Tony buddha-l-request at mailman.swcp.com wrote: > Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2008 20:09:44 -0600 > From: "jkirk" > Subject: [Buddha-l] The Life & times of Allan Ginsberg--2 DVDs--- from > Joanna > To: "'Buddhist discussion forum'" > Message-ID: > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > http://www.allenginsbergmovie.com/ > > The filmmaker, Jerry Aronson, was interviewed this morning on NPR. > That's how I found out about this movie. Always loved Ginsberg's > poetry. He was a Buddhist, I guess everyone knows by now. > > >From this site: > > Deluxe two-disc DVD set > > Disc One: > The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg by Jerry Aronson > 84 Minute Feature Documentary plus Two Hours of Extras. > > Disc Two: > 35 Interviews > and the 1998 New York City Memorial for Allen Ginsberg. > > visionary, radical, spiritual seeker, renowned poet, founding member > of a major literary movement, champion of human rights, Buddhist, > political activist and teacher. > Allen Ginsberg's remarkable life > challenged the very soul of America. > > Academy Award nominated Director Jerry Aronson spent 25 years > accumulating more than 120 hours of film on Allen Ginsberg, resulting > in this comprehensive portrait of one of America's greatest poets. > > This deluxe 2-disc DVD set contains the Director's cut of the > award-winning documentary updated and re-mastered. This DVD set > includes never-before seen material and historical interviews with > friends, family and contemporaries and the latest generation of > artists influenced by Ginsberg. > > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > buddha-l mailing list > buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com > http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l > > > End of buddha-l Digest, Vol 43, Issue 15 > **************************************** > > > _______________________________________________ buddha-l mailing list buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l From jkirk at spro.net Tue Sep 23 11:57:15 2008 From: jkirk at spro.net (jkirk) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:57:15 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] new list (for me anyway) Message-ID: <7A79406F1BBF4BF4B6F4EE956277DEC1@OPTIPLEX> Just joined the "Buddhist Community e-Sangha" list. Interesting. Getting into Mongolia issues...how they were crushed by the Soviets and later how revival began--how they are being invaded by Mormons and evangelicals-- This western-origin monk, Konchon Norbu's blog is informative: http://danzanravjaa.typepad.com/my_weblog/ Joanna From jkirk at spro.net Tue Sep 23 12:13:03 2008 From: jkirk at spro.net (jkirk) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:13:03 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Garuda Aviary (I kid you not)---joanna Message-ID: <0C079B61D03741CDB55C7FA7753FCA1B@OPTIPLEX> http://www.gazette.net/stories/09172008/poolnew195315_32471.shtml Formerly abused birds take flight at sanctuary by Meghan Tierney | Staff Writer It's been a long journey from Arizona to Maryland, but the roughly 40 formerly abused and neglected tropical birds of Garuda Aviary finally have a permanent place to take flight. The flock came to Kunzang Palyul Ch^ling Buddhist temple in Poolesville in August 2006 from a converted two-car garage, where they were cared for by the Maryland center's spiritual leader. They stayed in an army tent and gutted music studio until an indoor aviary was constructed last fall, and now have a chance to fully spread their wings in their outdoor flight cage, which celebrated its grand opening on Sunday. The $10,000 enclosure was built thanks to a donation from an African grey parrot owner in Germany, according to Claire Waggoner, the nonprofit aviary's director. The flight cage is made from a chain link fence with smaller holes that is tough enough to withstand pressure from the birds' beaks. A smaller cage will be built inside the enclosure to accommodate tiny conures and cockatoos, and a drinking system and misting apparatus will come later. No longer solely confined in indoor cages, the public will be able to visit the birds by appointment. The birds are supervised when they're outside in case of fights or the presence of predators such as raccoons or opossums. "They are prey animals and we're predators, so when they're in small cages, they feel trapped," Christopher Zeoli, the birds' main caretaker said Sunday from inside the enclosure, a massive hyacinth macaw perched serenely on his shoulder. "I'm going to put in a sign on this side that says 'bird observatory' and one the other side that says 'primate observatory' because they're watching us, too," Zeoli joked as the birds sat on a series of handmade wooden perches, navigated the walls with their claws and beaks and hung from the ceiling. Many of the temple's monks and nuns and a group of worshippers gathered to bless the flight cage and ask that the birds be reborn into happier lives. Many of the birds had been abused by their owners, such as one who was thrown against a wall and burned with cigarette butts. In addition to providing sanctuary for unwanted pets, one of the aviary's goals is to discourage people from buying the birds, which can live anywhere from 30-80 years and fare poorly in captivity. "On average, a bird will go through 10 homes in seven years, which is hard because they bond with people," said author Mira Tweti, who spoke about the problems with the pet bird trade. The sounds imitated by the birds provide their caretakers with hints about what their former homes were like, such as ones that whinny or sing opera. Some of the birds now bark, copying noises produced by the stray dogs taken in by the temple from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Others, such as two African greys cared for by Pema Mallu, a nun and holistic vet, make sounds that are more representative of their peaceful environs. "One of Pema's birds has learned to say 'Om mani padme hum,'" a mantra that invokes compassion, laughed monk Konchog Norbu. --------------- [More pics on Konchon Norbu's blog for Sept 17th http://danzanravjaa.typepad.com/my_weblog/ ] From jkirk at spro.net Wed Sep 24 10:30:50 2008 From: jkirk at spro.net (jkirk) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:30:50 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Vietnamese Buddhistsin LA finally get their expansion plans approved Message-ID: Once in a while we write about Asian Buddhism in our midst, but not much. A Vietnamese Buddhist group in LA finally got the go-ahead to expand their place: Happy to see that the ACLU went to work for them. Joanna ----------------------------------------- http://www.latimes.com/news/local/orange/la-me-temple18-2008sep18 ,0,4461160.story After a two-year legal battle with the city of Garden Grove, a Vietnamese Buddhist congregation has won a settlement paving the way for a 10,000-square-foot temple to be built on the site of a former medical building -- a spot the city had claimed was inappropriate for a church. The congregation, known as the Quan Am Temple, joined the American Civil Liberties Union in filing a federal lawsuit in 2006 accusing city leaders of unfairly barring the Buddhists from holding services and expanding their worship center on Chapman Avenue next to a middle-class residential neighborhood. The ACLU described the settlement as a victory for religious freedom. "All we have wanted all along is to find a home where we could worship as we saw fit, as we could not do in our homeland," said Thich Dao Quang, the temple's 79-year-old abbot, who made 12 attempts to flee Vietnam after the communist government seized his temple there. He finally succeeded in reaching the United States in 1988. "I actually became extremely ill because of this," he said through a translator, explaining that he has suffered high blood pressure and heart problems for the last two years. "Now that we have a resolution, I am hopeful that my health will improve." He said his creed is to avoid strife, which made it "an extremely difficult" decision to sue the city. "He was very personally conflicted," said Belinda Helzer, an ACLU attorney, speaking at a news conference Wednesday at the site of the future temple, where the settlement was announced. "On the one hand, he didn't want to have conflict. But on the other hand, he had a whole population of lay congregants that weren't able to practice their religion." The congregation bought the 1.8-acre former medical center in 2004, but complaints from neighbors about traffic and noise prompted the city to bar services there. The city in 2005 rejected the congregation's request to build a 15,500-square-foot temple on the site, and in 2006 rejected a scaled-down plan on the grounds that it clashed with the residential neighborhood's "spirit and intent." The abbot said the protracted fight with the city has left the congregation deep in debt. K. Luan Tran, an attorney representing the congregation, said it now faces the task of raising money to build the temple, estimated to cost at least $2 million. "It's like a vicious circle," Tran said. "Without a fully functioning temple, it's very hard to get people in to fund-raise." In October 2006, after the ACLU filed suit, a federal judge ruled the Buddhists could temporarily hold worship services in the old medical building while the lawsuit was being decided. Congregants have been gathering for Sunday services, but the old medical building holds only 49 people, and some drifted away to temples in neighboring cities. The temple is expected to hold 300 people for services, with an adjacent monastery to house the abbot and about a dozen monks. Susan Emery, the city's community development director, said the city has yet to receive an application for the temple and cannot guarantee that it will be approved, "but we will consider it favorably in light of this settlement." She said the settlement, in essence, removes the city's objection to rezoning the Chapman Avenue property from "office-professional" status to the "residential" status that would permit the temple. Tran said that if the application is approved, the city will pay $145,000 in lawyer's fees, and if it is rejected, the litigation will resume. He said the two-year legal battle was "very stressful" for the abbot. "We just want to get this thing behind us," Tran said. Helzer said she hoped the city would approve the temple plans by the end of the year. She said the Justice Department launched an investigation into whether Garden Grove has violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, passed in 2000, which prohibits the government from using land-use regulations to thwart religious practice. The investigation, launched by the Justice Department's housing and civil enforcement section, could result in another lawsuit. The Justice Department said Wednesday that its investigation is continuing. christopher.goffard @latimes.com From vasubandhu at earthlink.net Thu Sep 25 01:06:27 2008 From: vasubandhu at earthlink.net (Dan Lusthaus) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2008 03:06:27 -0400 Subject: [Buddha-l] Faith-based initiatives - phase 2 References: Message-ID: <00ee01c91edd$434375b0$e7339c04@Dan> While we sometimes hear calls for a more politically engaged Buddhism, and this list has its fair share of political positioning, here is the next phase unleashed by the Bush-Cheney Faith-based initiatives. In the US, Churches, etc., can currently receive federal tax dollars for a range of programs and activities while remaining tax-free organizations, based on being religious organizations. Receiving such funds is a relatively recent development, challenged at the time as a violation of the separation of Church and State mandated by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Treating religious organizations such as churches as tax-free institutions has a much longer history. The current thrust by the right-wing churches is to further obscure such distinctions. Now the right-wing church beneficiaries want to destroy what's left of the wall separating church and state, and do so while retaining their tax-free status. These sorts of "grass roots" plans, which are well organized and strategically astute, have in the past proven very persistent and effective, so this is not to be taken as an insignificant backpage item, but one we will be wrestling with for some time to come. Dan From jkirk at spro.net Thu Sep 25 09:09:55 2008 From: jkirk at spro.net (jkirk) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2008 09:09:55 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Faith-based initiatives - phase 2 In-Reply-To: <00ee01c91edd$434375b0$e7339c04@Dan> References: <00ee01c91edd$434375b0$e7339c04@Dan> Message-ID: <8F605892666D44D8A6604CC7162EDB4F@OPTIPLEX> "Receiving such funds is a relatively recent development, challenged at the time as a violation of the separation of Church and State mandated by the First Amendment of the US Constitution." And if challenged in court, will the current Supreme Court invalidate whatever legislation allows this? NBL!! Joanna -----Original Message----- From: buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com [mailto:buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com] On Behalf Of Dan Lusthaus Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 1:06 AM To: Buddhist discussion forum Subject: [Buddha-l] Faith-based initiatives - phase 2 While we sometimes hear calls for a more politically engaged Buddhism, and this list has its fair share of political positioning, here is the next phase unleashed by the Bush-Cheney Faith-based initiatives. In the US, Churches, etc., can currently receive federal tax dollars for a range of programs and activities while remaining tax-free organizations, based on being religious organizations. Receiving such funds is a relatively recent development, challenged at the time as a violation of the separation of Church and State mandated by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Treating religious organizations such as churches as tax-free institutions has a much longer history. The current thrust by the right-wing churches is to further obscure such distinctions. Now the right-wing church beneficiaries want to destroy what's left of the wall separating church and state, and do so while retaining their tax-free status. These sorts of "grass roots" plans, which are well organized and strategically astute, have in the past proven very persistent and effective, so this is not to be taken as an insignificant backpage item, but one we will be wrestling with for some time to come. Dan From rhayes at unm.edu Thu Sep 25 14:43:38 2008 From: rhayes at unm.edu (Richard P. Hayes) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:43:38 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Faith-based initiatives - phase 2 In-Reply-To: <00ee01c91edd$434375b0$e7339c04@Dan> References: <00ee01c91edd$434375b0$e7339c04@Dan> Message-ID: <200809251443.38434.rhayes@unm.edu> On Thursday 25 September 2008 01:06:27 Dan Lusthaus wrote: > While we sometimes hear calls for a more politically engaged Buddhism, and > this list has its fair share of political positioning, On buddha-l? Political positioning? I think you must have buddha-l confused with some other Buddhist discussion group. We only discuss dharma around here, Dan. > here is the next > phase unleashed by the Bush-Cheney Faith-based initiatives. Spooky. While digesting that, here is another interesting morsel: there is an initiative to guarantee health care providers the right to refuse to dispense birth control products or information about them if they feel it conflicts with their faith. http://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/campaigns/240.htm . What more evidence do people require that we need a WOMAN in the White House? So get out there, Buddhists, and back Sarah Palin for president. She deserves your vote even if her running mate John McCain is showing sings of advanced senior dementia. And now for something about Dharma. There is a poster pasted to the wall near the elevator that I take to get to my office when I'm feeling too lazy to walk up five flights of stairs. It shows a fat Buddhist monk with a leering grimace on his face firing a monstor-sized machine gun. It got my attention. Turns out it's for a new board game called Playing Gods, the motto of which is "My god is badder than your god." Check out their web site for images of the machinegun-toting Buddhist firing away at Jesus getting ready to bash someone with his cross. Go to http://www.playinggods.com and keep clicking the screen refresh button to get the full range of drawings that confirm Bobby Dylan's observation that "It's easy to see without looking too far that not much is really sacred." Anybody know the cost of a ticket to Mars? I'm ready to move there. -- Richard P. Hayes Department of Philosophy University of New Mexico From jkirk at spro.net Thu Sep 25 14:54:15 2008 From: jkirk at spro.net (jkirk) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:54:15 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Faith-based initiatives - phase 2 In-Reply-To: <200809251443.38434.rhayes@unm.edu> References: <00ee01c91edd$434375b0$e7339c04@Dan> <200809251443.38434.rhayes@unm.edu> Message-ID: <5B85D4BC5D14436D9B5CC87D5A9F7654@OPTIPLEX> Turns out it's for a new board game called Playing Gods, the motto of which is "My god is badder than your god." Check out their web site for images of the machinegun-toting Buddhist firing away at Jesus getting ready to bash someone with his cross. Go to http://www.playinggods.com and keep clicking the screen refresh button to get the full range of drawings that confirm Bobby Dylan's observation that "It's easy to see without looking too far that not much is really sacred." Anybody know the cost of a ticket to Mars? I'm ready to move there. -- Richard P. Hayes ================= Just shows to go that religion is, au fond, divisive and combative.............nai? Joanna From rhayes at unm.edu Thu Sep 25 19:07:34 2008 From: rhayes at unm.edu (Richard Hayes) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2008 19:07:34 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Faith-based initiatives - phase 2 In-Reply-To: <5B85D4BC5D14436D9B5CC87D5A9F7654@OPTIPLEX> References: <00ee01c91edd$434375b0$e7339c04@Dan> <200809251443.38434.rhayes@unm.edu> <5B85D4BC5D14436D9B5CC87D5A9F7654@OPTIPLEX> Message-ID: <1222391254.5701.8.camel@localhost> On Thu, 2008-09-25 at 14:54 -0600, jkirk wrote: > Just shows to go that religion is, au fond, divisive and > combative.............nai? Some approaches to life seem to be founded on ideas that turn out to be divisive. Others seem to be founded on a strong wish to heal divisions. Division, being more destructive, and destruction, being better at demanding our attention than harmony, captures the attention of more consumers of news media and board games. A suicide bomber or a serial killer makes the news. A tree growing quietly in a garden does not. These days I spend quite a bit of time watching trees grow in my garden and very little time watching the news. I confess this with apologies to those who would like to make me spend more money. -- Richard From curt at cola.iges.org Fri Sep 26 15:59:11 2008 From: curt at cola.iges.org (Curt Steinmetz) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:59:11 -0400 Subject: [Buddha-l] Faith-based initiatives - phase 2 In-Reply-To: <00ee01c91edd$434375b0$e7339c04@Dan> References: <00ee01c91edd$434375b0$e7339c04@Dan> Message-ID: <48DD5B2F.6020004@cola.iges.org> Faith and Foreign Aid Fun Facts: Of US foreign aid money that goes directly to religious groups, 98.3% goes to Christian groups - the two largest recipients are World Vision (an Evangelical Protestant group) and Catholic Relief Services. From 2001 to 2005 Andrew Natsios headed USAID (which distributes taxpayer-funded assistance overseas). Natsios' political career started in 1975 when he was first elected to the Massachusetts state legislature (as a Republican). Then in 1989 Natsios went to work at USAID, and in 1993 went directly from USAID to the vice-presidency of World Vision - and then became head of of USAID in 2001. During Natsios' tenure at USAID, the percentage of it's budget going directly to religious organizations *doubled* , and during the same time many previous restrictions designed to keep the US government out of the proselytizing business were scrapped by executive order. While an increasing amount of US foreign aid money goes to religious groups, non-religious international charities have faced a coordinated campaign of political attacks from the American far right. Rick Santorum, for example, has gone after CARE, one of the largest humanitarian organizations in the world, as "anti-american" and even "pro-prostitution"!! On the Boards of Directors of the 55 largest INGO's (international non-governmental organizations) involved in "relief work" only 6% of the members are from developing countries - the other 94% are from "donor" countries. The CEO of World Vision in India is a member of Parliament from Orissa - an area of intense (although mostly unsuccessful) Christian missionary activity. Historically (going back over 500 years) Christian missionary activity has been intimately associated with European colonialism. For example, a direct consequence of China's decisive defeat by England and France in the Second Opium War in 1860 was to allow Christian missionary activity in China (as part of the Chinese surrender terms in the Treaties of Tientsin). Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries - and continuing into the 21st century - many missionary organizations developed close ties with the intelligence agencies of western nations, as well as with far-right political groups based in the US. Prominent examples include the "Wycliffe Bible Translators" activities in Latin America, "Christian Solidarity International" in Africa, and the "Christian and Missionary Alliance" in Asia. Suggestions for further reading: October 2006 Boston Globe four part series on "faith" and foreign aid: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/10/08/bush_brings_faith_to_foreign_aid/ A Paris Declaration for International NGO's?: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/7/55/41159413.pdf Biography of Andrew Natsios at usaid.gov: http://www.usaid.gov/about_usaid/bios/bio_asn.html "God and the CIA" (book review about missionaries and spooks): http://www.morc.info/MORC_ThyWill.html "Imperfect Instrument" (obituary of World Vision founder Bob Pierce): http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/march/19.56.html History of Hindu Christian Encounters by Sita Ram Goel: http://voiceofdharma.org/books/hhce/ Curt Steinmetz Dan Lusthaus wrote: > While we sometimes hear calls for a more politically engaged Buddhism, and > this list has its fair share of political positioning, here is the next > phase unleashed by the Bush-Cheney Faith-based initiatives. In the US, > Churches, etc., can currently receive federal tax dollars for a range of > programs and activities while remaining tax-free organizations, based on > being religious organizations. Receiving such funds is a relatively recent > development, challenged at the time as a violation of the separation of > Church and State mandated by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. > Treating religious organizations such as churches as tax-free institutions > has a much longer history. The current thrust by the right-wing churches is > to further obscure such distinctions. Now the right-wing church > beneficiaries want to destroy what's left of the wall separating church and > state, and do so while retaining their tax-free status. These sorts of > "grass roots" plans, which are well organized and strategically astute, have > in the past proven very persistent and effective, so this is not to be taken > as an insignificant backpage item, but one we will be wrestling with for > some time to come. > > Dan > > From today's LA Times: > > http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pulpit25-2008sep25,0,5235934.story > Pastors plan to defy IRS ban on political speech > Ministers will intentionally violate ban on campaigning by nonprofits in > hopes of generating a test case. > By Duke Helfand, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer > September 25, 2008 > Setting the stage for a collision of religion and politics, Christian > ministers from California and 21 other states will use their pulpits Sunday > to deliver political sermons or endorse presidential candidates -- defying a > federal ban on campaigning by nonprofit groups. > > The pastors' advocacy could violate the Internal Revenue Service's rules > against political speech with the purpose of triggering IRS investigations. > > > That would allow their patron, the conservative legal group Alliance Defense > Fund, to challenge the IRS' rules, a risky strategy that one defense fund > attorney acknowledges could cost the churches their tax-exempt status. > Congress made it illegal in 1954 for tax-exempt groups to publicly support > or oppose political candidates. > > "I'm going to talk about the un-biblical stands that Barack Obama takes. > Nobody who follows the Bible can vote for him," said the Rev. Wiley S. Drake > of First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park. "We may not be politically > correct, but we are going to be biblically correct. We are going to vote for > those who follow the Bible." > > Drake was the target of a recent IRS investigation into his endorsement last > year of former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike > Huckabee. In the end, Drake was cleared. > > > Drake and 32 other pastors who have signed on to the "pulpit initiative" > have sparked loud condemnations by fellow clergy and advocates of the > separation of church and state. > > These critics, such as Americans United for Separation of Church and State, > argue that Sunday's sermons at churches in Oregon, Texas, New Mexico, > Pennsylvania and other states will violate federal tax law by politicizing > the pulpit. That, they believe, will undercut the independence churches have > long enjoyed to speak out about moral and ethical issues in American life, > including women's suffrage, child labor and civil rights. > > "The integrity of the religious community is at stake when religion and > politics become entangled," said the Rev. Eric Williams of the North > Congregational United Church of Christ in Columbus, Ohio. > > Williams was recruited for the defense fund but instead joined with 54 other > Christian and Jewish clergy members to file a complaint against the > initiative with the IRS. > > The religious leaders asked the agency to stop the Arizona-based defense > fund from recruiting churches and to investigate whether its efforts may > jeopardize its own tax-exempt status. > > Representing the religious leaders are three Washington attorneys, all > former IRS officials, who also filed a complaint accusing defense fund > attorneys of violating IRS rules by helping the churches break federal law. > > Meanwhile, a separate group of 180 ministers, rabbis and imams also has > sought to counter the "pulpit initiative." > > Members of the Interfaith Alliance -- which includes the nation's top > Episcopal bishop -- have signed a pledge to refrain from electioneering in > their houses of worship. > > "Political activity and political expressions are very important, but > partisan politics are . . . . a death knell to the prophetic freedom that > any religious organization must protect," said the Rev. Ed Bacon, rector of > All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, who signed the pledge. > > All Saints survived a nearly two-year IRS investigation after former Rector > George Regas spoke out against the Iraq war on the eve of the 2004 > presidential election. Bacon repeatedly said the church did not engage in > campaigning. > > The IRS dropped the case last year even though agency officials indicated > that they still considered the sermon to be illegal. > > All Saints leaders voiced frustration Wednesday at pulpit initiative backers > for using the Pasadena church's fight with the IRS as fodder for their > cause. > > "These people are wanting to promote one candidate over another and that's a > huge difference," Bacon said. > > At the heart of the controversy is the Johnson amendment, named after former > President Lyndon Johnson, a senator from Texas when it was enacted in 1954. > The measure stated that nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations cannot > participate in political campaigns for or against candidates for public > office. > > Many churches have appeared to step over the line, but legal scholars could > recall only one church that lost its tax-exempt status -- a congregation in > New York that urged voters not to vote for Bill Clinton in the 1992 > presidential race. > > The defense fund said churches targeted by the IRS would serve as clients > for lawsuits against the agency in federal court. > > The defense fund issued seemingly contradictory statements about the > initiative. On one hand, it insists pastors will not endorse candidates and > will simply exercise their constitutional rights by addressing "the > differing positions of the presidential candidates in light of Scripture." > > On the other hand, the defense fund describes its efforts as a "strategic > litigation plan" that seeks to "restore the right of each pastor to speak > scriptural truth from the pulpit" without losing a church's tax-exempt > status. > > "The bottom line is that churches and pastors have a right to speak freely > from the pulpit," said Dale Schowengerdt, a defense fund attorney working on > the project. "They should not be intimidated into silence by > unconstitutional IRS regulations or rules." > > Still, recognizing the confrontational nature of their strategy and wary of > protests, the defense fund released the name of only one pastor ahead of > Sunday -- the Rev. Gus Booth of the Warroad Community Church in rural > Minnesota, who already is the subject of a complaint filed with the IRS over > a May sermon in which he urged congregants to oppose Obama and Democratic > New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton because of their positions on abortion. > > "There is nobody who will ever tell me what I can and cannot say from behind > my pulpit," Booth said, "except the spirit of God or the word of God." > > duke.helfand at latimes.com > > _______________________________________________ > buddha-l mailing list > buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com > http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l > From vasubandhu at earthlink.net Fri Sep 26 22:10:16 2008 From: vasubandhu at earthlink.net (Dan Lusthaus) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2008 00:10:16 -0400 Subject: [Buddha-l] Born Again, Thai Style References: <00ee01c91edd$434375b0$e7339c04@Dan> <48DD5B2F.6020004@cola.iges.org> Message-ID: <001e01c92056$fbfda470$a4339c04@Dan> From bshmr at aol.com Sat Sep 27 13:22:08 2008 From: bshmr at aol.com (R B Basham) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2008 13:22:08 -0600 Subject: [Buddha-l] Born Again, Thai Style Message-ID: <1222543328.4867.25.camel@aims110> Dan, Thanks for updating us on where and what, in addition to his Palin worship, has absorbed the other Richard. One can only imagine that the late Hayes has reincarnated several times by now and brags of being a legacy USAn Republican. Just what is the merit in your charitably sending him away on such junkets, enabling him some would say, when your wealth could be supporting the one, true Dharma. Of course, when you do go with him, not only do we get reports but he has always returned home. You haven't bought him a casket so that he continues this practice, have you? In jest, Richard Basham From antonio.jardim at gmail.com Mon Sep 29 17:26:45 2008 From: antonio.jardim at gmail.com (Antonio Ferreira-Jardim) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:26:45 +1000 Subject: [Buddha-l] Lecturer in Asian Religions at the University of Queensland Message-ID: Dear colleagues, Please find attached the following advertisement for a new position at the University of Queensland which may be of interest to some on this list. Kind regards, Antonio Ferreira-Jardim University of Queensland http://seek.com.au/users/apply/index.ascx?Sequence=16&PageNumber=1&jobid=13816656 Lecturer in Asian Religions School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics The University of Queensland, St Lucia The School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics is a dynamic team with a reputation for innovative approaches to teaching and research excellence. The School is the second largest in the Faculty of Arts, with thirty-six academic staff who are widely published internationally and have extensive research backgrounds. The School, regarded as a leader in humanities teaching and research in Australia, has the largest cohort of undergraduates and postgraduates, and the largest research income and publication output in the Faculty. The role The successful applicant will be expected to pursue a strong and productive program of research, to be primarily responsible for the teaching of Asian Religions and to contribute to the teaching of other religion courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and to supervise honours and postgraduate research students. Taking on some administrative work in the School is expected. The person Applicants should possess a PhD with a speciality in Asian Religion. At Academic Level B, the applicant will have an established research track record, excellent teaching skills, and a capacity to develop a strong and productive research program, and contribute to successful postgraduate teaching. A commitment to excellence in teaching and ongoing development of the undergraduate and postgraduate programs is essential. Preference will be given to an appointee who relates well to a collegiate environment and can create links to other disciplines in the School. Remuneration The remuneration package will be in the range $68,239 ? $81,034 p.a., plus employer superannuation contributions of 17% (total package will be in the range $79,839 - $94,809 p.a.). This is a full-time, continuing appointment at Academic Level B. Contact Obtain the position description and selection criteria here: http://www.uq.edu.au/jobs/2008documents/arts/1079433.doc . To discuss the role contact Head of School, Professor Clive Moore, telephone +61 7 3365 2154 or email c.moore(at)uq.edu.au. Send applications to the Human Resources Officer, Faculty of Arts, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld, Australia 4072, or email applications.arts(at)uq.edu.au Applications close 13 October 2008. Reference No 1079433.