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50th Anniversary of Tibetan National Uprising 2009 March 10, 2012 will be a day of protest for many Tibetans and Tibetan supporters around the world, marking the 53rd anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising . The date is so significant for Tibetans that the Kalon Tripa (or, Prime Minister) of Tibet (in exile), Lobsang Sangay, lists his birthday as falling on March 10, 1968 ; born in a refugee camp, however, he doesn't know the actual exact date of his birth. The March 10 protests will follow recent demonstrations and protests like  those we reported on previously in New York and India. In Philadelphia, marchers will meet at City Hall at 10 am and begin a march toward Independence Mall downtown at 12 pm. In all, this event will last until 4 pm and will have a video presentation, prayers, speeches, singing, prostrating and slogans. Another event is planned in Chicago, to take place outside of the Chinese Consulate offices starting at 12 pm. In New York, a march from Cadman Plaz

ChakraNews.com, Feb 23, 2012 Male, Maldives -- Similar to the Afghan Islamic Taliban's destruction of the priceless  Buddhist and other historic artifacts in 2001, an Islamic Extremist group has vandalized and destroyed precious Buddhist and Hindu statues in the Maldives which can never be made the same again to preserve the history. << The head of Lord Buddha statue that was on the display. Courtesy National Museum, Maldives The scene took place at the Maldives' National Museum where the destruction occurred.  A group of five men who were a part of an Islamic Extremist group targeted artifacts dating from the Pre-Islamic era in Maldives. Of those destroyed, many Buddhist and Hindu relics were smashed and broken to pieces making them merely unrecognizable. Pieces destroyed, specifically included the "Bohomala sculptures, Hanuman statues, and the a sculpture of the Hindu water god, Makara.  The two five faced statues from Male were also brutally damaged. This f

by Emi Hayakawa, BTN, Feb 26, 2012 Seoul, South Korea -- The Hannarae Culture Foundation opened the "2012 Indian Film Festival" to promote Korean traditional culture to foreigners in Korea. The Indian Film Festival will be opened in Busan Cinema Center from February 24th to the 26th and will showcase six Indian films that have not yet opened in Korea free of charge. This film festival will continue in Seoul at the Seoul CGV movie collage center from March 1st till March 6th. The Hannarae Culture Foundation showcased the Indian film, "I am Kalam" on the opening event on February 16th to express the Korean-Indian friendship. The director of Hannarae Culture Foundation, the head priest of Heongbeobsa temple, Venerable ShimSan, stated, "I hope that through this film festival, the Korean-Indian cultural exchange will continue to grow." More info please visit: http://www.dureraum.org/bcc/main/main.do?rbsIdx=1 Read More @ Source

The first thing you notice about Evan Brenner, who plays Buddha in a new one-man show at the Bootleg Theater, is that he looks nothing like the pot-bellied, crossed-legged, jolly-looking figure of popular imagination. Brenner’s a lean, middle-aged Jewish guy who grew up in New York. Never mind that the ancient spiritual leader was probably pretty thin himself. The point of “Buddha — A Fantastic Journey,” which was just extended through April 1, is to show that everyone has a bit of Buddha inside him — starting with Brenner himself. Brenner, an actor and filmmaker from privileged beginnings, began what he reluctantly calls his “midlife crisis” at age 40. Money and mind-altering substances, in the form of a just-sold hedge fund and a lot of alcohol, weren't leading to spiritual fulfillment. “Relating it to the play,” Brenner says, “I was unhappy living in the world of consumption.” So was young Siddhartha Gautama, a prince born some 2,500 years ago in a small Indian kingdom. His earl

If you are a fan of Tibetan music, look no further than the incredible Tanis Wetaskiwin from Edmonton for the latest and greatest in Tibetan music vids… She's on Facebook, representing for Native Canadian culture, Tibetan culture, and justice everywhere!  http://www.facebook.com/people/Tanis-Wetaskiwin/100000737791353 She's also on YouTube, with her own Grey Buffalo channel of Tibetan music videos:  http://www.youtube.com/user/greybuffalo Read More @ Source

by Emi Hailey Hayakawa, BTN, Feb 26, 2012 Seoul, South Korea -- There has been recent development in the studies of meditation and psychotherapy. Dr. Jung Soon Young of Koyang Physiatrics Hospital received his phD degree at the Seoul Buddhist Graduate Program through his research paper on Korean Buddhist meditation program for Schizophrenia. Dr. Jung uses the three steps; preparation, concentration, and mindfulness meditation, to make the patients be aware of their bodies. Dr. Jung re-developed Korean seon and mandala meditation, yoga and started this new program from November 2010. After eight runs of this meditation program, the results proved to be positive. In Dr. Jung's research, the symptoms of depression in the control group was much higher than the group that received Dr. Jung's Korean meditation treatment. His re-search showed that Buddhist meditation was largely helpful in improving individual's lifestyle.  Dr. Jung plans to continue his research on Buddh

Interfax, 24 February 2012 Chita, Buryatia (Russia) -- Buddhists in Buryatia and the Baikal Territory waved goodbye to the Year of the White Hare and welcomed the Year of the Black Dragon. A day earlier head of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia Pandito Khambo Lama Damba Ayusheyev congratulated Buddhists on the holiday. "The new year of the Black Dragon will not be easy for all of us because of the events occurring worldwide. I am therefore wishing you to have patience, optimism, wisdom and health. Remember what the great Buddha said: a human life has the greatest value. Take care of one another," he said in his congratulatory letter. The word 'sagaalha' [Sagaalgan] derives from 'saga alhaha,' which means to step over the time, to get over it, because time is directly linked to Erleg Khan, the Lord of Death, the Supreme Lama of Russia also recalled. "During the celebration of the Sagaalha it is more important to prepare for the future passage

T. V. Sivanandan, The Hindu, Feb 19, 2012 They were charged with removing idol found at ASI site Gulbarga, India -- Fourth Additional District and Sessions judge Basavaraj Belawagi has granted conditional bail to Buddhist monk Banteji Bhodidhamma and four Dalit leaders who were charged with removing an idol of a Hindu goddess from an excavation site in Chithapur taluk of Gulbarga district under the control of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). << Bhante Bodhidharma was granted conditional bail with four Dalit leaders Allowing the bail application of the monk and Dalit leaders Nagendra Jawali, Santosh Melmani, Kishore Gaekwad and Hanumanth Itagi, the judge ordered their release on a personal bond of Rs. 25,000 each. The judge rejected the contention of the prosecution that the accused would jump bail and influence witnesses in the case. The monk, who was initially lodged in the high security Gulbarga Central Prison, was later shifted to a private hospital by the ja

by Jan Richter, Radio Prague, Feb 25, 2012 Prague, Czecg Republic -- A town surrounded by deep pine forests, dotted with old timbered German-style villas and occasional Communist-era prefab houses, a town boasting many parks, a river, two churches – and the country's first Buddhist temple. This is Varnsdorf, a town of 16,000 in the northernmost part of the Czech Republic. << The Thien An Temple in Varnsdorf, photo: Jan Richter Only a few hundred metres from a border crossing to Germany, a 1912 two-storey villa that once belonged to a local entrepreneur, is the religious centre of the Czech Republic's large Vietnamese community. Since January 2008, it has been the home of the Thien An Temple, the first Buddhist shrine in central and eastern Europe. I asked Vu Ling Ngoc, from the local Vietnamese community, what made them establish a Buddhist shrine in their town. "We have been here for nearly 20 years, and we have a large community here. In Vietnam, Buddhism is

The Associated Press, Feb 25, 2012 Charamsala, India -- Tibet's exiled government in India called on Tibetans this year to shun celebrations for their traditional new year, which started Wednesday. << In this photo, exiled Tibetan Buddhist monks beat ceremonial drums and cymbals on Wednesday, the first day of the Tibetan New Year, in Dharmsala, India. Instead, Tibetans are urged to pray for those living under Chinese rule. Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama (not pictured) led a prayer session at the Tsuglakhang Temple in Dharmsala. The Dalai Lamas, who have been spiritual leaders of the Tibetan people since the 17th century, come from the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism (also known as the "way of virtue") and are considered by adherents to be the embodiment of the bodhisattva of compassion. The Gelug school places special emphasis on the role of ethics and monastic discipline as the basis for spiritual practice. For that reason, the great majority of G

by Jocelyn Gecker, Associated Press, February 24, 2012 YANGON, Myanmar -- Amid the towering golden spires of Myanmar's grandest Buddhist shrine there was talk of politics and hope for the future as thousands came last week for the return of an annual festival that was banned for more than 20 years by the former military regime. << Myanmar's Buddhist devotees throng the Shwedagon Pagoda during its 2600th anniversary celebrations in Yangon, Myanmar, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012. Photo: AP / SA Gongs chimed at Shwedagon Pagoda as the diamond-studded monument marked what is being billed as the 2,600-year anniversary of the temple, which according to legend houses eight strands of Buddha's hair. More than a tribute to Buddhism, the event was a celebration of new freedom and the latest sign of change in this long-repressed country. "The previous regime, they wanted people to be repressed, suppressed, quiet and stable," said Pyinya Wuntha, a saffron-rob

Asia Society, the global non-profit organization devoted to educating about Asia and serving as "the leading force in forging closer ties between Asia and the West through arts, education, policy and business outreach," has opened its new headquarters in Hong Kong to a preview. The New York Times reports . The $ 50 million facility will open in the spring (as will another that cost the same in Houston) with the broad-based exhibit "Transforming Minds: Buddhism in Art." "It matches 13 artifacts from the Rockefeller Collection of Asian Art with six contemporary works," the Times writes. For more information about the Asia Society, visit asiasociety.org . Read More @ Source Minobusan new years and other ceremonies this one jumps around a bit but shows some really nice ceremonies of Nichirenshu. Video Rating: 5 / 5

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche was a bestselling author and rising star of the Buddhist world, but one day, as Andrea Miller tells us in "The Wanderer," her feature from our current issue, he just walked out and left it all behind, embracing the ancient path of the wandering yogi. A bold move, perhaps especially from a teacher who is also very much concerned with the modern-day path of science. As Miller writes: In 2002 he was one of the advanced meditators invited to the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where scientists examined the effects of meditation on the brain. Major publications such as National Geographic and Time reported on the results of the groundbreaking research. Notably, while the adepts meditated on compassion, neural activity in a key center in the brain's system for happiness jumped by 700 to 800 percent. In the control group, made up of people who'd just begun to meditate, activity increased

This is a really beautiful little book. The translator, Burton Watson, has done a wonderful job rendering the Japanese poetry of Masaoka Shiki (1867 - 1902) into English. Primarily working with Shiki's haiku - there are over 140 in this collection - Watson has seemingly transcend the problems of translating such an idiosyncratic art form into English. Shiki's poetry breaths on every page, lighting up the mind of its reader, leaving a genuine feeling of nowness. Take a look at the following examples to see what this reviewer means: "Sudden downpour -  and all these maids hauling out storm shutters" (Masaoka Shiki Collected Poems, p.26) "Stone Buddha standing there -  fallen leaves settled in his hands" (Ibid. p.31) "Fluttering, fluttering, butterflies yellow over the water" (Ibid. p.35) It's as if we are with Shiki as he watches the rain and the maids' efforts to put the shutters in place. Perhaps he is watching them in the safety of a dry

From Heart Advice comes another Pema-gem: "When you're like a keg of dynamite about to go off, patience means just slowing down at that point — just pausing — instead of immediately acting on your usual, habitual response. You refrain from acting, you stop talking to yourself, and then you connect with the soft spot. But at the same time you are completely and totally honest with yourself about what you are feeling. You're not suppressing anything; patience has nothing to do with suppression. In fact, it has everything to do with a gentle, honest relationship with yourself." — from Practicing Peace in Times of War To get more such Pema quotes, join the Heart Advice mailing list . And for lots more guidance from Pema, see our special Spotlight page of her best teachings from the Shambhala Sun . Read More @ Source Gratefulness in the Now Upaya Zen Center www.upaya.org upaya@upaya.org This is a preview of a talk with Broth

Photo by Ralf-André Lettau As the whole world watches to see how genuine new reforms in Burma actually are — last week, for example, we brought you the news that U Gambira, the embattled Burmese activist monk who helped to lead 2007's "Saffron Revolution," has been charged with "repeatedly breaking the Buddhist monks' code of conduct" by the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee only weeks after being released from prison — there is another sign that tide may actually be turning in some respects: the Associated Press reports that, after being banned under military rule for years and years, an annual Buddhist festival has finally returned to Schwedegon Pagoda this week. Read the whole story here . Read More @ Source Siddhartha (1972) (English) en.wikipedia.org Video Rating: 4 / 5

The Associated Press this week reports on University of Pennsylvania associate professor Justin McDaniel's unique religious studies course focusing on Catholic and Buddhist monastic traditions. In order to have a more experiential understanding of what they are analyzing, students in Professor McDaniel's class adhere to specific dress codes, schedules, diets, and relationships as part of the course. McDaniel — an expert on Lao, Thai, Pali and Sanskrit literature; Southeast Asian Buddhist; manuscript studies; and Southeast Asian history — is also the author of the books Gathering Leaves and Lifting Words and The Lovelorn Ghost and the Magic Monk. Read the whole piece here . Read More @ Source The Pubbanha Sutta - Discourse on Good Morning The 11th of 11 Maha Paritta Suttass, the Pubbanha Sutta, Recited by Magok Mahanayaka Sayadaw U Sandar Siri of Yangon. All Eleven MahaParittas (72 mins) at www.myanmarnet.co.uk Video Rating: 4 / 5

ideas about world peace are not world peace from this video: The description and additional comments from YouTube: Zen Master Seung Sahn (1927-2004) was one of the greatest Zen teachers of the 20th-century. And he always taught about world peace. But one day, a student of his, who was deeply involved in peace-work and social [...] Read More @ Source Hand Mudra Lessons Hand Mudra Lessons by Geshela Tenzin Zopa @ Losang Dragpa Centre. Video Rating: 4 / 5

The Associated Press is reporting that US District Judge Tucker Melancon has cleared the way for South Korea's mighty Buddhist university Dongguk to proceed with it lawsuit against Yale University this June. In its lawsuit, the institution claims it hired an art history professor after Yale incorrectly confirmed that the professor had earned his doctorate from Yale. Dongguk seeks $ 50 million in damages, citing the considerable scandal the hire caused. Last week, Judge Melancon rejected almost all of Yale's motion for summary judgment (though he did grant a request to dismiss a civil charge of reckless and wanton conduct). Read the whole report here . Read More @ Source

By JOYCE HOR-CHUNG LAU, The New York Times, February 22, 2012 The inaugural exhibition of the new Asia Society Hong Kong Center considers the role of Buddha in art. HONG KONG, China -- Traffic was diverted and uniformed guards were on patrol as several hundred guests got a private preview of Asia Society's fortress-like Hong Kong headquarters earlier this month. "A Long Island Buddha,''  a contemporary work by the Chinese artist Zhang Huan, in one of the outdoor pavilions of the new Asia Society Hong Kong Center. Heads of government and culture made their way around the New York organization's largest overseas outpost - a new compound that combines minimalist modern structures with a restored 19th-century British Army explosives magazine. The 1.3-hectare, or 3.2-acre, space opened after a decade of planning and construction, with care taken to preserve both the colonial-era buildings and a long-neglected wooded area above a busy commercial district. A sleek

By Julia Hysell, Planet News Article, February 22, 2012 San Francisco, CA (USA) -- Before Bill McKibben wrote thoughtful prose about the effects of human impact on the Earth's environment, there was Gary Snyder; before Pema Chodron penned approachable writings on Meditation, there was Snyder. Snyder's accomplishments include 18 books of poetry and essays, numerous awards and fellowships, keynote lectures and an endowed chair at University of California at Davis. His writing delves into themes of pollution and overpopulation, wilderness ethics, Buddhist principles, and Native American mythology. In his published collections, including The Back Country (1967), The Real Work (1980) A Place in Space (1995) and Danger on Peaks (2005), Gary Snyder has established his singular Pacific Rim perspective, rooted in North America's West Coast and innately inclined to the East. His work has been translated into 20 languages, and the poet-scholar has translated various Chinese text

Interfax, 22 February 2012 Moscow, Russia -- President Dmitry Medvedev has credited Russia's Buddhist community with effective work to build ethnic and religious harmony in the country. "The values of Buddhism and the traditions of peoples professing it, which span many centuries, are an inseparable part of the culture and history of our country," a statement from the Kremlin quoted Medvedev as saying in a message of greetings to the community in connection with Sagaalgan, the Buddhist New Year holiday. "The Russian Buddhists carefully preserve the legacy of their ancestors and work for the spiritual and physical health of the young generation. All this helps strengthen mutual understanding between different ethnic and religious groups," Medvedev said. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in his turn, has credited Russia's Buddhist community with an effective public role and has said it has "extensive opportunities for the revival" of their

TNN, Feb 22, 2012 VARANASI, India -- Buddhism has not only influenced the art and culture of the country but also globalised the Indian culture. On that note, the Centre of Excellence, department of history, Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth (MGKV) organised a seven-day national workshop on the 'Role of Buddhism in the Cultural Intergration of India' at the seminar hall of the history department on Tuesday. According to Dr Gopal Yadav, assistant professor, MGKV and spokeperson, over 70 delegates including students, research scholars, senior faculty members from various universities and colleges of the city participated in the seven day workshop. During the workshop, different topics like influence of Bhuddhism on Indian art, effect of Buddhist religion in uplifting social integration and various social organisations of the country, Buddhist literature influencing the Indian Medieval literature and many other related topics were discussed at length on Tuesday. Pro

Happy New Year to our Tibetan friends! Bhod gya-lo. Read More @ Source

A short film by Tashi Wangyal. Cultural values form the founding principles of one's life. By preserving a culture, one keeps their traditions, family values, sociological standards and language intact. Without a culture, no one knows what the traditions are and where the family came from, nor could they appreciate the family history and struggles made. That is usually seen in about the fourth generation in any ethnic state. In 1971, the government of Canada had sponsored a group of Tibetan refugees from India to immigrate to Canada. They were young and innocent and had lived their lives in poverty. These young families were grateful and felt very fortunate to be able to immigrate to Canada and raise their families. Over the years, they have worked hard to preserve their traditional values and have managed to retain their language, traditional festivities, costumes, food and most importantly, the cultural values to which they adhere, to bind them together. They strongly believe

Reuters, 22 February 2012 Losar celebrations quieter than usual after call for Tibetans to shun festivities and pray for those who suffered under Chinese Langmu, Tibet (China) -- Tibetans in north-west China have marked a tense traditional new year with prayer, the sounding of a gong and subdued defiance, in the wake of a string of self-immolations and protests against Chinese control. << Chinese security presence has been heavy in Tibetan areas of Sichuan such as Aba, which is near the Kirti monastery. Photograph: Jonathan Watts for the Guardian The traditional new year, or Losar, is a combination of Buddhist ceremony and family celebration observed across the Tibetan highlands of western China. But this year, unrest has overshadowed the celebrations and there has even been a call from an exiled Tibetan leader for people to shun festivities and instead pray for those who have suffered under Chinese rule. At least 16 Tibetans are believed to have died after setting thems