Posted in Buddhist News, tagged tibet on June 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
clipped from www.theglobeandmail.com
Lhasa’s monks all but vanish in Chinese crackdown
LHASA — The pilgrims returned to the Potala Palace yesterday, spinning their prayer wheels and prostrating themselves in front of the Dalai Lama’s ancient palace on a mountaintop in Lhasa.
For two days, the Buddhist pilgrims had been pushed to the sidelines to make room for the [...]
Posted in Readings, tagged bodhisattva on June 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The Bodhisattva’s Life
by Katherine Thanas, teacher of the Santa Cruz and Monterrey, California Zen Centers
Some time ago, as I was driving in town, doing my usual driving practice of skimming and snaking in and out of the flow of traffic, taking advantage of every opportunity so as not to have to slow down for traffic [...]
Posted in Buddhism (general), tagged god on June 23, 2008 | 1 Comment »
So what do you think? Do you believe in God?
clipped from scienceblogs.com
Buddhists do believe in god
One of the points that I run into all the time is that Buddhism is a religion without god, that is it is an atheistic religion. I admit this assertion as an ideal or elite belief, but contend that [...]
Posted in Readings, Theravada Buddhism on June 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Here’s one that is a bit shorter than usual. A little background on Ajahn Chah – he was a Thai forest monk who is considered one of the great contemporary Buddhist meditation masters. He was a teacher to many prominent Vipassana instructors as Ajahn Shumedo, Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, etc.
Empty Space
by Ajahn Chah
People want [...]
Posted in Readings on June 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
A question came up Monday night about the five hindrances in meditation. We all agreed that there are really more than five hindrances to practice, but these are considered the most prominent.
Hindrances in Meditation
by Traleg Rinpoche
When we meditate we need to be aware of certain hindrances or obstacles in meditation. There are five different [...]
Posted in People on June 6, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Video here of an interview with a Roman Catholic convert to Zen practice. From Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.
clipped from www.pbs.org
BELIEF & PRACTICE:
Zen Convert
The Zen practice and the Buddhist tradition [are] based on nature and space and simplicity. It really was life-changing, mind-changing for me. One of the big differences for me between the two traditions [...]
Posted in Buddhist News on June 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Some interesting reflections from a Westerner doing charitable work in Sri Lanka
clipped from www.telegraph.co.uk
Planting trees in Sri Lanka is good karma
The Sri Maha Bodhi or sacred Bo tree in Anuradhapura is apparently taken from a cutting of the original Figus Religiosa where Buddha attained enlightenment.
Louise Gray’s blog about working for a tree conservation charity in [...]
Posted in Readings on June 4, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Friendliness to Self, Part I
By Tataku Pat Phelan, abbess of Chapel Hill Zen Center
Once, when I was a student at the San Francisco Zen Center, I asked my teacher, “How can I practice with the parts of myself that don’t want to practice?” I meant the squirmy, restless part, the part that wants to [...]
Posted in Buddhist News on June 2, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Statistical data suggests that American Buddhists aren’t doing a very effective job of passing the dharma on to their children (see the Pew Foundation for details). This Roanoke mother decided to do something.
clipped from www.roanoke.com
Buddha
for kids: Dharmapala B
Katie Clifton-Wright was looking for a spiritual center for her family when she began meditating at Roanoke’s Dharmapala [...]
