Here at Buddhadharma News, we strive to bring you the stories that matter most to practitioners. To help us meet our goal, we'll be doing periodic roundups of news items offered by Northwest Dharma News — an excellent resource — with links to some of their top news stories.
Northwest Dharma News is the quarterly publication of Northwest Dharma Association, a Seattle-based organization of about 110 Buddhist groups in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, British Columbia and the Yukon. The organization fosters friendship and support among Buddhist groups from all traditions, through an annual gathering, the website, NW Dharma News, and the democratic election of the board of directors.
Under the Chin dynasty a strong central government was established; provinces replaced feudal states. The empire was extended into parts of south China. The Great Wall was largely completed, protecting China on the north from the Huns. The Han dynasty rose to power in 202 BC, and greatly expanded the empire. Conquests were made in south China, Annam (northern Vietnam), and Korea. The Huns north of the Great Wall were subdued. Han conquests, westward as far as present Afghanistan, brought about trade with the Middle East by way of the Silk Road through Central Asia. China exported vast quantities of silk westward, much of it reaching the Roman Empire. The Han adopted, for those going into government service, a system of examinations based on the Confucian classics. Scholars edited the classics and discovered and copied many old texts. The first Chinese encyclopedia was compiled. Paper was invented. Meditation was introduced from India. The Han dynasty was deposed in 220 AD There followed nearly 400 years of divided rule and civil war. During 221-65 China was divided into three separate statesWu, Shu, and Weitraditionally called the Three Kingdoms. The country was reunited in 280 under the Western Chin dynasty, but the state collapsed in 316 following uprisings by various non-Chinese peoples, mainly Turkic, Mongol, and Tibetan. In the south small Chinese states continued to rule. China lost its outlying areas, closing the Silk Road. Political disunity was offset by a general ...Video Rating: 4 / 5
Photo: Florence Delahaye Sister Chan Khong is best known as Thich Nhat Hanh's closest collaborator, but she's also a dedicated activist and gifted teacher in her own right. Andrea Miller profiled her in the May 2012 Shambhala Sun magazine, and the entire piece is now online here . "People think that engaged Buddhism is only social work, only stopping the war," Chan Khong says. "But, in fact, at the same time you stop the war outside, you have to stop the war inside yourself." Over her lifetime, Sister Chan Khong has learned the importance of not making peace, but rather being peace, being understanding, being love—and to embody this way of being twenty four hours a day. The key, she tells the Shambhala Sun, is to practice mindfulness. "When your body and mind are not one, you do not see deeply," she says. Read the rest of "Path of Peace: The Life and Teachings of Sister Chan Khong" here . And browse our entire May 2012 issue o...
Homepage » News » His Holiness the Dalai Lama Concludes Teachings to Taiwanese Devotees » October 5th 2012 Dharamsala, India, 4 October 2012 (Samuel Ivor, The Tibet Post International) - Concluding His teachings on Atisha's "Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment" given at the request Taiwanese disciples, His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet culminated the fourth day (October 4th 2012) with a series of vows, blessings and future guidance to the gathering of devotees. The Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, by Atisha Dipam karashrijnana (982-1054), was further examined and translated by one of the greatest spiritual leaders of our time. Drawing upon the central and final verses of the text, His Holiness cross-examined and explained key points during the teaching, which was held in the main temple in Dharamshala, India. During the teaching, the Dalai Lama re-iterated that the cultivation of Bodhisattva (enlightened existence) should be done gradually, over ti...
By Samten Yeshi and Gyalsten K Dorji, Kuensel Online, May 21, 2012 Timphu, Bhutan -- Gender inequality took over to blend with spirituality in the second session of the Mountain Echoes festival, which began yesterday at the Tarayana Centre in Thimphu. << Writing the spirit: Swati Chopra, Kunzang Choden and Dr Tashi Zangmo Three women speakers constantly argued and discussed that women have equal spirit to attain the level of spirituality as men, while they referred to religious traditions that underestimated the spirits of women. The conversation revolved around Buddhist traditions where, at one point, Swati Chopra, who writes on spirituality and its relevance to modern lives, explained the Madhyamika ideology and the middle path teaching, associated with change and impermanence. According to her, the irrational system that became a tradition blocks change, where women are deprived from certain spiritual teachings, even in Buddhist. "Change has...
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