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by ASHTON MOSS, Redandblack.com, September 27, 2012 Athens, Georgia (USA) -- Athens is a predominantly Christian town. A leisurely drive around town reveals protestant, Methodist, Baptist and Catholic churches. On any given Sunday, the porches, lawns and sidewalks of these churches are filled with Athens' residents in their Sunday best, chatting and catching up after a long week. << Students fall on faith in face of choices, struggles Christian, Buddhist and Jewish organizations are common on campus, but Buddhist students may have no central location to hang their hat. What's more, they may not want one. It's about the practice,not the community. MARIJA VULETIC/Staff Students have the opportunity to join a variety of different Christian organizations at the University which have their offices either on or near campus. Representatives from these organizations passing out flyers in Tate or encouraging students to attend their weekly meetings become familiar

by John Bordsen, Charlotte Observer, Sep. 28, 2012 Atlanta, GA (USA) -- Chungtsang Rinpoche, 47, is a senior lama at the Tibetan Buddhists' Drepung Loseling Monastery, in Mundgod, in southern India. He is originally from the Kham region of Tibet, and has been on a cultural tour of the United States with the Mystical Arts of Tibet program. << Chungtsang Rinpoche, 47, is a senior lama at the Tibetan Buddhists' Drepung Loseling Monastery, in Mundgod, in southern India. ADAM JENNINGS In September, the group spent a week in North Carolina at Wingate University. The tour was arranged by the Drepung Loseling Monastery in Atlanta. We spoke through an interpreter. Q: What is the daily routine where you live? At the monastery, people take classes and study. I completed mine; it took 25 years. I teach in the morning, and meditate and pray. I also join in the debate about the study of Buddhist philosophy. Q: At Christian monasteries, members often live apart from

PTI, September 29, 2012 New Delhi, India -- Government is planning to extend Visa-on-Arrival facility to nationals from countries having sizable Buddhist population such as Thailand and Malayasia. Inaugurating a two-day International Buddhist Conclave in Varanasi on Saturday, Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai said his Ministry had also decided to develop a Ghat in the temple town in the name of Lord Buddha on the bank of river Ganga.   "India, being the land of origin of Buddhism, is the main attraction for Buddhist tourists from across the globe. We are drawing up plans to attract more tourists from Buddhist countries like Thailand and Malayasia by providing them special facilities like Visa-on-Arrival (VoA)," Sahai said. Currently, India extends VoA facility to 11 countries including Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines and Myanmar. Sahai said three circuits have been identified to be developed as part of Buddhist Cir

by Emi Hailey Hayakawa, BTN, Sept 28, 2012 Seoul, South Korea -- Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the most respected zen master in the world today and is the founder of Plum Village, a meditation community located in France. << Ven Thich Nhat Hahn Many practitioners, Buddhist and Non-Buddhist alike, come from across the globe to Plum Village to learn the art of mindfulness, a teaching Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is more famous for.   There are several forms of practice in Plum Village, and the two most impressionable are the Bell of Mindfulness and Walking Meditation. When people hear the sound of bell, they must stop to breathe and stop whatever they are doing. The two most important concepts during Walking meditation is also mindfulness and breathing. Through these simple practices practictioners are able to introspect and restore the calm and peace to become free. These practices and Art of Mindfulness of Plum Village is now available for the K

TNN, Sep 30, 2012 VARANASI, India -- In an effort to attract at least half of the total Buddhist population spread in 35 countries by promoting Buddhist pilgrimage sites, is the new mantra of the ministry of tourism, Government of India and the states enshrining the Buddhist pilgrimage sites. The call was given during the inauguration of the three-day International Buddhist Conclave (IBC)-2012 at a hotel compound in Nadesar area on Saturday. Due to the last-minute cancellation of chief minister Akhilesh Yadav's visit, Union minister of state for tourism Subodh Kant Sahai, along with the ministers of tourism of UP, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha inaugurated the conclave. Apart from 133 delegates from 30 countries, who are mainly tour operators, opinion leaders and travel writers, delegates from 16 states are also taking part in the conclave. In his address, UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) executive director Marcio Favilla said th

By CHENGCHENG JIANG, Time, September 27, 2012 China's four most sacred Buddhist mountains are hatching plans to list on the Shanghai stock exchange. Beijing, China -- In China today, there's little that money can't buy — even when it comes to faith. Many of the country's most popular Buddhist sites are chock-full of cure-all tonics and overpriced incense. << TIM STELZER / GETTY IMAGES Buddhists pray at Putuo Shan, Zhejiang Province, China. For the most part, people seem happy, or at least willing, to oblige. That changed this summer, though, when it emerged that China's four most sacred Buddhist mountains were hatching plans to list on the Shanghai stock exchange. In July, Mount Putuo Tourism Development Co. announced it would attempt to raise 7.5 billion yuan in a 2014 initial public offering. The company operates the tourist facilities at Putuo Shan, located on an island 20 miles (32 km) off Shanghai. Chinese state media quoted representatives

Bangkok Post, Sept 30, 2012 Ramu, Bangladesh -- Thousands of rioters torched Buddhist temples and homes in southeastern Bangladesh Sunday over a photo posted on Facebook deemed offensive to Islam, in a rare attack against the community. << The burnt Buddhist temple of Shima Bihar in Ramu. Thousands of rioters have torched Buddhist temples and homes in southeastern Bangladesh over a photo posted on Facebook deemed offensive to Islam, in a rare attack against the community. Officials said the mob comprising some 25,000 people set fire to at least five Buddhist temples and dozens of homes in Ramu town and its adjoining villages, some 350 kilometres (216 miles) from the capital Dhaka. The rioters claimed the photo allegedly defaming the Koran was uploaded on Facebook by a Buddhist man from the area, district administrator Joinul Bari said. "They became unruly and attacked Buddhist houses, torching and damaging their temples from midnight to Sunday morning," h

By Jolyon Jenkins, The Nation, 30 September 2012 Ibiza, Spain -- A Spanish toddler identified as the reincarnation of a revered Buddhist lama spent his entire childhood in an Indian monastery. But at the age of 18 he returned to his family in Spain. Still hailed as a teacher, he is more comfortable on the beaches of Ibiza. << Osel finally decided to leave the monastery when he was 18 When he was two, Osel Hita Torres was enthroned as a reincarnated Tibetan Buddhist lama. He was dressed in robes and a yellow hat. Grown men prostrated themselves in front of him and asked for his blessing. No-one was allowed to show him affection unless he initiated it. He had his own special cutlery. "It must have been tempting to take advantage of that sometimes and act badly," I say to him now. "Yes," he replies. "I was a tyrant and an obnoxious spoiled brat. I was pretty bossy, let's say." Even by Tibetan Buddhist standards, t

The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you're allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it's definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it ­honestly, and tell it as best you can. I'm not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter. Neil Gaiman's Rules for Writing From the ever wonderful Brain Pickings. Also watch Neil Gaiman . Not bad advice I'd say. Read More @ Source

In Bangladesh, Buddhist temples and homes have been attacked in a wave of arson and violence perpetuated by area Muslims angered by what is said to be an image of a burning Quran. A young Buddhist local is responsible for the image, they say, having posted it on Facebook. The Associated Press has a report. (Via HuffPost.) Read More @ Source

Here's the latest from The Under 35 Project, by Chris W . It was actually a Vietnamese heroin dealer who introduced me to Thich Nhat Hanh. Thay had done a retreat for refugee families, including his, when he was a child, and he had fond memories of going his first few summers in America. He and I spent a lot of time chatting about Meditation, philosophy, and culture while we were waiting for more drugs, talking about all the things we were going to do someday, but usually those days all we ever did was just more drugs. If there is one thing that all of the addicts I've met have in common, both active and sober, is an awareness of the dissatisfaction inherent in our world and an interest in spirituality. I often think that this same drive to explore and experience the edges of life takes them to addiction at its darkest, and toward enlightenment at its best. And as far back as I can remember I always felt, and occasionally still feel, that religion was bullshit, even if I&

The XVIIth Karmapa was enthroned twenty years ago; in recognition of this milestone, His Holiness' private office has released the following statement : "On 27th September 1992, His Holiness XVIIth Karmapa was enthroned at Tolung Tsurphu, the main seat of all the Gyalwang Karmapas since the 12th century. Before the ceremony began, His Holiness was present with an official certificate from the Beijing government accepting the recognition of His Holiness as a reincarnate lama. With that simple gesture, the heart of Tibet's cultural history was officially restored. "Dusum Khyenpa, the First Karmapa, had started the  Tulku Tradition  in Tibet in the 12th century, and it endured for 800 years. It came to an abrupt quiescence after the entry of the Chinese army into Tibet in 1959. With the acquiescence of the government of China, the XVIIth Karmapa had revived the tulku tradition. This was indeed a wonderful and miraculous occurence. "As the religious ceremony

The Central Tibet Administration has released a 30-minute documentary film titled "The Burning Question: Why are Tibetans Turning to Self-immolation?" that focuses on the self-immolations in Tibet that started happening in 2009. The film looks at why the self-immolation protests might be happening in the first place, despite efforts by the CTA to persuade Tibetans to not take such action. Watch below. (Photo by framesofmind via Flickr using a CC-BY license.) Read More @ Source

A White Tara by Carmen Mensink The Rubin Museum of Art in New York City will be hosting a Tibetan thangka painting workshop from October 19–21. The workshop is just one of many great events the Rubin Museum, which focuses on Himalayan art, has hosted since it opened in 2004. See " Where the Deities Live ," our profile of this treasure of a museum, to learn more about it. The workshop's participants will learn how to draw the White Tara according to the traditional Tibetan thangka-making process. In Buddhist philosophy, making a picture of White Tara or practicing her meditation can prolong your life or help you overcome illness. The course will lead students through gallery observations, the historical, cultural and religious context of thangkas, and the process of making studio art using grid measurements. It costs $ 175 ($ 150 for museum members.) For more information and to register, click here . Sound interesting? Then you might also want to see our Novemb

Poet Gary Snyder has been awarded the Academy of American Poets' $ 100,000 Wallace Stevens Award. (Click here to read a statement from fellow poet Jane Hirshfeld.) Our congratulations to him for this latest honor. (He also recently received PEN New England's "Henry David Thoreau Prize" for Literary Excellence in Nature Writing.) Here at the Shambhala Sun we've had the honor of publishing his writing; click through here for links to see for yourself what makes Snyder so special. Gary Snyder in the Shambhala Sun [links open in new windows]: Writers and the War Against Nature — this Snyder commentary was selected by our editors as one of the best commentaries published in the first thirty years of the Shambhala Sun. Highest and Driest — from "Poetry and Zen Talks of Philip Whalen." The Wild Mind of Gary Snyder — a 1996 profile by Trevor Carolan See also: Naropa University: Where East Meets West and Sparks Fly Read More @ Sourc

( From our September 2012 magazine; click here to browse it online .) See David Sipress's next cartoon for the Shambhala Sun when the November 2012 issue hits newsstands in the first week of October. More: "What's So Funny About Buddhism?" — cartoonist David Sipress explains Read More @ Source

He is a perfect example of sitting up with full attention. All his senses are alert. A truely wonderful companion to sit with as I type this. It is just the purring that tells me there is something going on in that beautifully formed head. That and the gentle swish of his tail on the keyboard. Now I am wondering if he is trying to communicate something. Wanting to be let out perhaps. Ah Smudge, you have grown mellow in your old age. And let's face it, a tiny bit tubby too! And that's about as personal as I am going to get. Yes, here sits a cat, the monastery cat, eyes lowered in repose. Read More @ Source

Photo by Joshua Eaton. By Danny Fisher Last week, I had the great honor and pleasure of attending Amnesty International's town hall event with Burma's Nobel Peace laureate and engaged Buddhist icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi . Held at the Newseum in Washington, DC, and moderated by MSNBC's Alex Wagner, the event came only a day after "Daw Suu" met with President Barack Obama and received U.S. Congress's highest civilian honor , the Congressional Gold Medal. Suu Kyi is the leader of Burma's National League for Democracy, and currently sits in the lower house of the country's parliament. Her election came after she had spent 15 of the 21 years between 1989 and 2010 under house arrest. During that time, she became the symbol for Burma's struggle for democracy and freedom from the repressive ruling junta. In addition, she became the world's most recognized prisoner of conscience during that time—thanks not only to her Nobel Prize and the interna

"One time," writes Karen Maezen Miller , in "Booooring…" , found in our current issue, "I was interviewed by a radio host about meditation, and she seemed alarmed, even offended, by the idea. Staying put runs contrary to the religion of self-gratification. "'It seems to me you're telling people to settle,' she said. I was flummoxed, and I searched my mind for a response. If I'd had the equanimity of my Zen forebears, I would have said what I really meant. "I would have said, 'Yes.'" "What's wrong with settling? What's wrong with being patient and making peace? What's wrong with quieting the crazy-making, egocentric mind? And for that matter, what's wrong with boredom?" Good questions! For more read Karen's complete article, which is now available for online reading; just click here . (And be sure to visit Karen's wonderful site/blog, Cheerio Road .) Read More @ Source

Thekchen Choeling, Dharamsala, 25th September 2012 - As soon as His Holiness the Dalai Lama had taken his seat this morning, representatives of the group from Vietnam presented him with a flowering tree that is traditionally grown in pagoda gardens in Vietnam. He thanked them and began his talk, " Yesterday, my main theme was secular ethics and today I'd like to talk a little about Buddhadharma.  Usually when I talk about Buddhist I like to explain something about other world religions so people can appreciate the unique features of the Buddha's teachings. Great scholars of the ancient Indian University of Nalanda like Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, Bhavaviveka and later Shantarakshita and Kamalashila, who came to Tibet, would compare Buddhist philosophical views with non-Buddhist views for clarity. In India, Buddhist views didn't go unchallenged and the way scholars defended Buddhist are invaluable to us today."  His Holiness compared the philosophical disputes of th

How To Build Your Own Trippy Meditation Pod From 1970 via @EdaMomma Read More @ Source

Via a fresh AFP report: "A thousand-year-old Buddhist statue taken from Tibet in 1938 by an SS team seeking the roots of Hitler's Aryan doctrine was carved from a meteorite, scientists reported on Wednesday. [...] "'The statue was chiseled from an iron meteorite, from a fragment of the Chinga meteorite which crashed into the border areas between Mongolia and Siberia about 15,000 years ago,'" said investigator Elmar Buchner of Stuttgart University. Click here for the full story . Read More @ Source

Motionless in a crevice of an old wall -  a pregnant spider (Shiki) Heat in waves -  in the stones angry reverberations (Kyotai) Sudden shower and rising from the heat, the broken-down horse (Kito) Lightning! fleeing up the wall, the legs of a spider (Kicho) Sudden shower -  clutching the blades of grass a flock of sparrows (Buson) Down a paulownia tree the rain comes trickling across a cicada's belly (Baishitsu) The tree frog riding the plantain leaf sways (Kikaku) "It's much too long a day," opening its mouth a crow (Issa) The above haiku are excerpted from a bo! ok by St ephen Addss, Fumiko Yamamoto & Akira Yamamoto. For a review of this fabulous collection of poetry, click here: Review: Haiku, An Anthology of Japanese Poems. Read More @ Source

On October 13, 2012, InsightLA, the leading non-profit provider of mindfulness and mediation training in Los Angeles, will celebrate its 10th anniversary with an event hosted by actress Sandra Oh. Renowned meditation expert Jack Kornfield, PhD., a clinical psychologist, trained Buddhist monk and author, and Trudy Good, founder, will be the featured speakers. Founded in 2002, InsightLA is at the forefront of providing meditation and mindfulness courses to individuals and groups and has provided training to more than 9,000 individuals. InsightLA's courses, workshops, and retreats are based on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MSBR), which provides individuals with ways to cope with stress, depression and other personal and professional challenges. Trudy Goodman founded the organization, which is based on Buddhist teachings. InsightLA brings its training to some of the most challenging professions in society. For the past seven years InsightLA has worked with caregivers of c

Via a Facebook item from Wisdom Publications this morning comes news of the passing of W.S. Karunatillake, a scholar and a co-author of the book A New Course in Reading Pali: Entering the Word of the Buddha : "We regret to announce the passing of Professor W. S. Karunatillake, who passed away two weeks ago in Sri Lanka. A professor of linguistics at Kelaniya University, he trained generations of scholars worldwide in linguistics, history, and religious studies. He was public intellectual in Sri Lanka and a supporter of the Sangha, and in addition to his many works on the Pali, Sinhala, and Tamil languages, he also published on the topic of Meditation. Professor Karunatillake insisted that research on Meditation take into account the lived experiences of Buddhists, and he and his students have contributed greatly to our understanding of Meditation as it is lived today in South and Southeast Asia." Read More @ Source

Contemplative photography is a method for working with the contemplative state of mind, seeing the world in fresh ways, and expressing this experience photographically. Each week we choose an image that's been submitted to seeingfresh.com that really exemplifies this practice. This week's photo is by Mark Bessoudo. It is such a quirky image, with the clothespins reflecting the shape of the red exclamation point. How can you not smile at such a fine example of fresh seeing? For more about contemplative photography, and lots of other great photos, visit seeingfresh.com . And don't miss this video or this article on contemplative photography. You can see all our Seeing Fresh posts on Shambhala SunSpace here . Read More @ Source

By Kristin Cantu, Wicked Local Lincoln, Sep 24, 2012 Lincoln, MA (USA) -- Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School students and residents of Lincoln and Sudbury gathered recently to learn lessons in kindness and suffering from Buddhist monk and teacher Geshe Pema Dorjee. << Buddhist monk and teacher Geshe Pema Dorjee recently visited Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. Dorjee's first audience was with curious high school student to talk about kindness. "We picked kindness because it relates to a lot of the work the whole school does at the beginning of every year," said Sandy Crawford, L-S housemaster and event organizer. "We talk a lot about the values of the school and remind them the first value we have is caring and cooperative relationships." "I thought it would be good to hear about kindness from him," Crawford added. "Here's a person who has devoted his life to kindness." Evan Berkowitz, high scho

By Cho Chung-un, Korean Herald, Sept 24, 2012 A variety of Templestay programs are offered for Chuseok holidays and throughout the fall Seoul, South Korea -- The change of the season has started to turn leaves into red and gold, urging many to hit the road for a fall foliage trip. If you are trying to find an alternative to mountain climbing, try a two-day trip to Buddhist temples across the country already surrounded by beautiful autumnal foliage and where you can actually become a part of the great nature. The Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism, an affiliate of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, offers a variety of Templestay programs throughout the fall and particularly for the upcoming Chuseok holidays. Templestay is a cultural program that allows people to stay in mountainside temples and participate in Zen meditation, early-morning chanting and daily chores. "Templestay programs in autumn are designed to offer people a chance to heal their mind and soul at histo

China Daily, Sept 24, 2012 Mt. Wutai, China -- China's Mount Wutai became China's 38th site to join UNESCO's World Heritage List as a cultural landscape. "We've been through a rough path, full of suspense," Tong Mingkang, deputy chief of China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage, said after the announcement. Mount Wutai, literally the five-terrace mountain, is a sacred Buddhist mountain with five flat peaks. The cultural landscape features 53 monasteries and includes the East Main Hall of Foguang Temple, a structure that was built in 857 during the Tang Dynasty (618-917) and is one of the oldest wooden buildings in China. It also features the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Shuxiang Temple with a huge complex of 500 statues representing Buddhist stories woven into three dimensional pictures of mountains and water. The structures on the site represent a catalogue of the way Buddhist architecture developed and influenced palace

TNN, Sep 25, 2012 VARANASI, India -- As many as 28 countries have confirmed their participation in the proposed three-day International Buddhist Conclave (IBC) which will begin in the city from September 28. Around 350 delegates from 30 countries and 16 states of India will participate in the conclave being organised by governments of state and centre. The conclave will be inaugurated by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on September 29 at Nadesar area and union tourism minister Subodh Kant Sahai will also be present in the function along with officials and tour operators of UP, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Sikkim. According to director UP Tourism Abhilash Sharma, "The countries participating are Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Cambodia in the far East Asia, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal in Sout

by Gauri Kohli, Hindustan Times, September 25, 2012 New Delhi, India -- Delhi University's department of Buddhist studies has been a major centre for the study of Buddhism for many years, attracting a large number of students from as many as 37 countries. << Global appeal: The department attracts a large number of students from 37 countries "The department allows us to explore this subject from as many different points of view as possible. My course has taught me to be more calm and composed and has improved my interpersonal skills," says Savita Chhikara, an MPhil student at the Department of Buddhist Studies, Delhi University. Most students who take admission to this department are foreigners who come from different countries where Buddhism is a major religion. In those countries, Buddhist studies is a very popular subject in the schools, colleges, and universities and considering that Buddhism is the original home of India, getting a degree from here