Buddhism

[rynner2]

Amazingly, we don't seem to have any threads on this at all.

And of course there's a lot to say about this philosophy (it's not really a religion, after all).

The reason I mention it is that it has cropped up unexpectedly in a whodunnit I'm reading right now.

An old dairy farmer in NY state (not the main character in the book) falls in love with a woman interested in Buddhism, and decides to become a bodhisattva to get her attention. :shock:
(yes, it's ridiculous to follow a desire by embracing a philosophy that tries to eliminate desire, but the book is written humourously and sympathetically.)

Another reason to mention this is a couple of synchronicities associated with my reading of the book.

Today i unexpectedly received a cheque - and a clue in the book involved the murder victim cashing cheques.

And this is the third book I've read in succession that mentions the Holland tunnel in NYC.

---------------------------------

When i was in junior school (many decades ago!), I had a teacher who (i now suspect, with the benefit of hindsight) was sympathetic to buddhism. I'm sure i remember her teaching us something about breathing through one nostril at a time, which sounds like a yoga exercise. And i think I may have picked up from her a disdain for worldly goods... (Anyhow, that's how I explain my relative poverty!)

Any other thoughts about or experiences of buddhism?

 

[Rrose_Selavy]

I'm a Buddhist - but what is this Bhuddism, of which you speak?

 

[rynner2]

I'm a Buddhist - but what is this Bhuddism, of which you speak?

Doh!

(spelling now corrected)

 

[ArthurASCII]

Speaking as the reincarnated essence of the redoubtable Tuesday Lobsang Rampa, I can assure you that us enlightened ones have transcended the odious yoke of "correct" spelling.

Just read a couple of my posts if you need proof.

 

[ramonmercado]

Even I have nothing against Buddhism per se. I dont like the Dali Lamas attitude to LGBT rights but he doesnt speak for all Buddhists.

Remember:

He ain't heavy, hes my Buddha.

 

[BuckeyeJones]

Greetings,

To seek the innards of you soul is a good thing.

PEACE!
=^..^=217

 

[rjmrjmrjm]

What type of Buddhism are we talking about or just general Buddhism?

I would also like to point out that Buddhism is held to be religion by nearly every authority.

The idea that Buddhism isn't a religion comes from the rather wooly thinking of the 1960s/70's New Agers who wanted it to seem better and more infallible than the established western religions. In the process they seem to have blotted out most of the equally bloody history of the Far East.

 

[Rrose_Selavy]

What type of Buddhism are we talking about or just general Buddhism?

I would also like to point out that Buddhism is held to be religion by nearly every authority.

The idea that Buddhism isn't a religion comes from the rather wooly thinking of the 1960s/70's New Agers who wanted it to seem better and more infallible than the established western religions. In the process they seem to have blotted out most of the equally bloody history of the Far East.

In the widest sense of the meaning of the word, it can certainly be said to be a religion but Is it possible to be a Jew and a Christian? Or a Muslim and a Christian? It is quite possible to be a Christian and a Buddhist. etc. It is non theistic.
There are no creation myths in the original teachings of the Buddha . The Buddha was not a God nor did he invoke Gods.
-

 

[rjmrjmrjm]

It may be non-theistic and have no creation myths but it does deal explicitly with a higher more spiritual state (nirvana), relies heavily on ritual, statues, prayers, requires its followers to change their behavior to follow it's teachings and has a collection of holy scripts (in the agamas) which are used in ritual practices.

I'm sure that this qualifies it as a religion.

I know that in Roman Catholicism it would be probably heretical to be a Catholic and a Buddhist, not sure about other denomonations.

EDIT: I understand what you mean, you can be a practicing Catholic and follow Buddhist meditations or Zen (Thomas Merton) but you cannot say; be a Christian Monk and a Buddhist Monk at the same time. Equally a buddhist could refrain from eating meat on a Friday - still doesn't mean he's Catholic. If you see what I mean.



N.B. It is entirely possible to be a Jew and a Christian. But i'll forgive you . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Christians#Contemporary_Jewish_Christians

 

[QuaziWashboard]

I have a question.
Now..I know sod all about Buddhism really so if this question makes me look silly, just put it down to me being uneducated.
This re-incarnation thing, I've heard that if you don't find Krishna or something when you die, then you have to start out as the lowest form of life and go though every form of life until you become human again, which, it is reckoned, will take thousands of years, yet many people who believe in re-incarnation site people who remember past lives from anything from a few hundred years to just a few years ago as proof of it's existance, which obviously doesn't make sense.
Can anyone explain this, or have I just got my facts wrong?

 

[Rrose_Selavy]

The past and future lives aspect is one who is very difficult to comprehend - and I don't pretend to have grasped it .

A lot of it are embellishments by later followers and explanations tailored to a particular society - eg you get states of mind expressed as deities or creatures in Tibetan images or is expressed in terms which seem like the threat of a Christian Purgatory "You better do this or you'll end up coming back as a worm etc" or perhaps a rather crude metaphor for karma - of which there are several types -

-

 

[QuaziWashboard]

The past and future lives aspect is one who is very difficult to comprehend - and I don't pretend to have grasped it .

A lot of it are embellishments by later followers and explanations tailored to a particular society - eg you get states of mind expressed as deities or creatures in Tibetan images or is expressed in terms which seem like the threat of a Christian Purgatory "You better do this or you'll end up coming back as a worm etc" or perhaps a rather crude metaphor for karma - of which there are several types -

-

Ahh, right...so who's Krishna?

 

[Rrose_Selavy]

The past and future lives aspect is one who is very difficult to comprehend - and I don't pretend to have grasped it .

A lot of it are embellishments by later followers and explanations tailored to a particular society - eg you get states of mind expressed as deities or creatures in Tibetan images or is expressed in terms which seem like the threat of a Christian Purgatory "You better do this or you'll end up coming back as a worm etc" or perhaps a rather crude metaphor for karma - of which there are several types -

-

Ahh, right...so who's Krishna?

A Hindu deity -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krishna

-

 

[QuaziWashboard]

The past and future lives aspect is one who is very difficult to comprehend - and I don't pretend to have grasped it .

A lot of it are embellishments by later followers and explanations tailored to a particular society - eg you get states of mind expressed as deities or creatures in Tibetan images or is expressed in terms which seem like the threat of a Christian Purgatory "You better do this or you'll end up coming back as a worm etc" or perhaps a rather crude metaphor for karma - of which there are several types -

-

Ahh, right...so who's Krishna?

A Hindu deity -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krishna

-

So, is this 'Hindu deity' worshiped by Buddhists?

 

[_Lizard23_]

Buddhism is to Hinduism sort of what Christianity is to Judeaism (there are a million and one ways to pick holes in that statement, but basically Buddha was a Hindu, and, simplistically put, Buddhism is kind of Hinduism without the orthadoxy and social hierarchy). The two have a close relationship and an uneasy history together. I think the Hindus consider Buddha as being an avatar of Vishnu. Depending on the flavour, various schools of Buddhism recognise various gods on various planes.

As for 'finding Krisna when you die', I'm not so sure that's anyone's plan. In both philosophies the basic 'ultimate aim' is to sort out yer karma and let go of all attachments whilst alive in order to avoid reincarnation after death. The Buddhists seem to take this a bit more seriously as far as I can tell. For them the world is sorrow and getting off the wheel is the main plan, in Hinduism, while this is still the main motivation, there are other drives to be satisfied.

 

[ramonmercado]

Damp Buddhists saved by Lottery

A Buddhist centre in a leaky Yorkshire castle is among the winners of £17.5m in grants to places of worship.
The funding was announced jointly by English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

£127,000 goes to the Losang Dragpa Buddhist Centre at Dobroyd Castle, Todmorden, West Yorkshire.

A total of 153 grade I and II* listed churches and chapels across England will benefit from the latest round of repair grants.

Buckets currently litter the floors of the castle, in Calderdale, to catch leaking water. The problem is causing serious damage to ornate plasterwork and cornices.

A Victorian church in Berkshire has been granted the largest award ever under the scheme. £754,000 will help mend its crumbling 150-foot spire.

The grant will form the bulk of the estimated £1m cost to prevent masonry tumbling from the spire of All Saints', Boyne Hill, Maidenhead.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6410199.stm

 

[rjmrjmrjm]

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6441631.stm

Malaysian monks face ant dilemma
By Jonathan Kent
BBC News, Kuala Lumpur

Buddhist temple in Penang, Malaysia
Penang's wildlife have been known to make temples their homes
A group of Buddhist monks in Malaysia is appealing for help to solve a problem with ants.

Buddhism forbids devotees from harming any living creature.

So the monks are looking for a creative and non-violent solution to deal with the insects, which are biting worshippers.

The monks at the Ang Hock Si Temple, also known as the Hong Hock See temple, in Georgetown on Penang Island have had to learn to live with nature.

Some years ago they shared their temple compound with a cobra.

The chief monk, the Venerable Boon Keng, told the BBC that they had become used to meditating alongside the snake but eventually decided to catch it and take it away to a nearby forest.

Now he says the cobra's place has been taken by a colony of fire ants.

Vacuum cleaner

But the ants are dropping from the temple's sacred bodhi tree onto people meditating below - and when they bite it causes painful swelling.

The Venerable Boon Keng practises what he calls "letting go" meditation - so he "lets go" of the pain.

But out of consideration for worshippers less far along the path to enlightenment the monks are looking for ways to persuade the ants to go.

An attempt to remove them using a vacuum cleaner failed, so the Buddhist community is appealing for help.

They cannot encourage anyone to harm the ants, but the chief monk says that if someone turns up unbidden and deals with them without the monks' involvement then that is the will of the universe.

I love that last line. Looks like it's not just Jesuits who have an answer for everything.

 

[ramonmercado]

Ok, I'm off there with my pet aardvark.

 

[rjmrjmrjm]

Perhaps it should read 'unbidden (NUDGE, NUDGE, WINK, WINK, SAY NO MORE) then it is the will of the universe'

 

[Xanatico]

Hey, I think I´ve been to that temple. And I´ve also tried getting bit by fireants, not pleasant at all.

 

[rynner2]

Boy chosen by Dalai Lama turns back on Buddhist order
Dale Fuchs in Madris guardian.co.uk, Sunday 31 May 2009 23.11 BST

As a toddler, he was put on a throne and worshipped by monks who treated him like a god. But the boy chosen by the Dalai Lama as a reincarnation of a spiritual leader has caused consternation – and some embarrassment – for Tibetan Buddhists by turning his back on the order that had such high hopes for him.

Instead of leading a monastic life, Osel Hita Torres now sports baggy trousers and long hair, and is more likely to quote Jimi Hendrix than Buddha.

Yesterday he bemoaned the misery of a youth deprived of television, football and girls. Movies were also forbidden – except for a sanctioned screening of The Golden Child starring Eddie Murphy, about a kidnapped child lama with magical powers. "I never felt like that boy," he said.

He is now studying film in Madrid and has denounced the Buddhist order that elevated him to guru status. "They took me away from my family and stuck me in a medieval situation in which I suffered a great deal," said Torres, 24, describing how he was whisked from obscurity in Granada to a monastery in southern India. "It was like living a lie," he told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo. Despite his rebelliousness, he is still known as Lama Tenzin Osel Rinpoche and revered by the Buddhist community. A prayer for his "long life" still adorns the website of the Foundation to Preserve the Mahayana Tradition, which has 130 centres around the world. The website features a biography of the renegade guru that gushes about his peaceful, meditative countenance as a baby. In Tibetan Buddhism, a lama is one of a lineage of reincarnated spiritual leaders, the most famous of which is the Dalai Lama.

According to the foundation biography, another leader suspected Torres was the reincarnation of the recently deceased Lama Yeshe when he was only five months old. In 1986, at 14 months, his parents took him to see the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India. The toddler was chosen out of nine other candidates and eventually "enthroned".

At six, he was allowed to socialise only with other reincarnated souls – though for a time he said he lived next to the actor Richard Gere's cabin.

By 18, he had never seen couples kiss. His first disco experience was a shock. "I was amazed to watch everyone dance. What were all those people doing, bouncing, stuck to one another, enclosed in a box full of smoke?" [I've often wondered the same thing! ]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/ma ... ita-torres

 

[Mythopoeika]

You do wonder at the irresponsibility of his parents for allowing it to happen.
I wonder if he bears a burning resentment towards his parents for putting him in the monastery? I wouldn't be at all surprised.

 

[rynner2]

Buddhist monk returns to life after four years in retreat
Gelong Thubten, who has just come back to the modern world after four years in retreat
Melanie Reid

There are things you expect a Buddhist monk to say when he emerges, blinking, after four years of selfimposed retreat from the world. And there are things you don’t.

“It was a bit like Big Brother without the cameras,” said Gelong Thubten. “What did I miss? I missed my Mum and ice cream.” 8)

What he found to replace them, it seems, was a profound inner happiness and an almost tangible aura of stillness and calm.

In June 2005 Gelong Thubten, 37, from the Home Counties, was voluntarily incarcerated in a remote part of Scotland, cut off from radio, television and telephone communication. Apart from letters once a month, he and his 14 fellow monks were divorced from the outside world.

He has spent the time following an intense and disciplined schedule of meditation and prayer, shutting out the material world and focusing on the inner mind. For 19 hours a day, seven days a week, he has been practising life inside his own head. During five months of the second year, the monks observed a vow of silence.

Gelong Thubten grew up in a middle-class family in Cambridge and Hampstead. He is the son of the Indian actress Indira Joshi, who was in The Kumars at No 42. He went to University College School, North London, and the University of Oxford, then to drama school in New York to become an actor.

When he was 21, and shortly after auditioning for the role in the film Little Buddha — “wonderful coincidence, isn’t it?” — the fast life and stress of acting got too much for him and he decided to take 12 months out to study Buddhism.

That was 16 years ago. He is now a senior monk, living by five simple precepts: do not kill or harm a living being; do not steal, tell lies, engage in sexual activity or take intoxicants.

Gelong Thubten is open about the difficulties that he faced on the retreat, which was in a converted farmstead. The satellite of the Samye Ling Monastery in Dumfriesshire is the first Tibetan Buddhist Centre established in the West.

“The first year dragged so much. Me and one of the other monks, we would meet over lunch and joke, 1,099 days to go, and the next day we’d say, 1,098 to go. It really seemed a drag. But in the second year you lose yourself in it, you become very focused. Then, towards the end, when it starts revving up, and you know you are out in a year, you start to get impatient again.

“I’m reluctant to compare it to a prison sentence. You can walk out any time. There’s no stigma. One or two people did leave and we do not judge them. I have friends who dropped out and I understand — it’s so hard.”

The monks had a calendar for their rota and used this to gauge the passage of time. They celebrated Christmas not with turkey — they are vegetarian — but with crackers. Occasionally the caretaker would bring them a treat such as Marmite. 8)

He spent most of his time in his small, austere room, containing a shrine, a meditation box and a trunk for his meagre personal possessions of robes and socks. He had no books or any kind of luxury.

“It’s hard work, like physically building something — building your own inner strength. It’s quite practical. I found it exhausting in an exhilarating sort of way.”

etc...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/commen ... 538999.ece

 

[Layla]

While talking to a friend last week the subject wandered onto Spongebob Squarepants (bear with me, this will make sense soon) and he said that the cartoon had been condemned by certain religious organisations as being pro-buddhist propaganda and was trying in an underhand manner to convert good christian children (although if children are being brainwashed into anything I would rather it was buddhism).

I've had a google and can't find any mention of this although it's crazy enough to be true. All I've found are accusations that Spongebob promotes homosexuality

Has anybody heard of this?

 

[rynner2]

Why do Buddhist monks sleep upright?
WHO, WHAT, WHY?
The Magazine answers...

A group of Buddhist monks recently emerged from four years in isolation in a retreat in Scotland, having spent their nights sleeping in an upright position. Why?

The monks at the Samye Dechen Shing Buddhist retreat in Dumfriesshire are supposed to sleep upright in a "meditation box". For less than five hours.

We've all fallen asleep in armchairs, but it seems a different proposition to sit bolt upright every night for four years.

According to Buddhist monks, it is possible to sleep that way, but it's not for the uninitiated.

"If somebody is diligent they make a lot of effort to sit upright," says Ani Lhamo, secretary to the abbot at the Samye Ling monastery, which owns and runs the retreat.

"The aim is definitely to sit upright and reduce the need for sleep. If the person is strongly motivated and healthy and strong there is no reason why not."

THE ANSWER
It is possible to sleep upright
But in deep, dreamy REM sleep muscle tone is lost
The monks may get around this by the way they sit
Or it may be that they constrain their REM sleep

For those spending the four years on retreat the aim is to spend as much time meditating as possible.

"If possible, if somebody is well-attuned to that kind of thing, they can develop the amount of time eventually to be able to use the sleeping time [for meditation]. Also if you are more upright when you sleep, when you wake up you haven't slept so deeply, and it is easy to wake up quickly and get going."

Bedtime at the retreat is 11pm and the gong goes at 3.45am when the monks are supposed to start praying and meditating.

Of course, we don't need to be supine to be asleep.

"We can sleep in a chair. We can sleep standing up but we are not as good at it as other creatures, for example birds," says Derk-Jan Dijk, professor of sleep and physiology at Surrey University.

Soldiers on sentry duty are among those who have been known to take 40 winks standing up, but if we enter the deeper, dreamy phase of sleep it starts to become difficult to remain upright.

"In Rapid Eye Movement sleep we lose the tone in our muscles which makes it difficult to stand up or even sit up," says Prof Dijk.

Dr Neil Stanley, sleep expert at the Norfolk and Norwich hospital, says sleeping upright may be easier for those who have a different concept of comfort.

"It is possible. In order to sleep you need to be safe and comfortable. We all know we can nod off in front of the TV. When you go into dreaming sleep you lose all muscle tone.

"But I imagine [the monks] are sitting in a posturally correct way and are not going to slip and slither off their chair and that they could have a perfectly good night's sleep."

It's not easy to verify the sleep patterns of the monks. They are in individual rooms at the retreat, and although the gong goes at 3.45am nobody comes around to check they are awake.

Prof Dijk says there have been studies where professed short sleepers, when observed over 24 hours, turned out to be getting more sleep than they had stated.

But at the Buddhist retreat it may all just be a question of dedication.

"In the beginning I had a lot of sore knees," says Ani Lhamo. "It suited me better than lying in a bed in the end."

But for anybody thinking of starting to sleep upright, and only for a brief period, there are dangers in short duration sleep.

"There is a large body of epidemiological literature suggesting that there are associations between short sleep duration and a number of negative health outcomes including cardiovascular disease," says Prof Dijk.

These negative effects are noticed in those who regularly sleep for less than six hours, but also those who regularly sleep more than 10 hours. The effects of reducing only REM sleep are not known.

"If you are artificially constraining sleep that can cause problems - heart disease and depression," says Dr Stanley. "That may be taken care of by the fact that these people are meditative - they don't have the stresses of 21st Century living to contend with in their lifestyle.

"I wouldn't have thought that poor sleep is going to be a huge, huge problem for them. But it isn't recommended for the man in the street."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8112619.stm

 

[GNC]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8584546.stm

Akon refused Sri Lankan visa after protests

Sri Lanka has refused to issue a visa to R&B star Akon, who was due to perform there next month, saying he offended the country's Buddhists.

The ban comes after protests over one of the star's music videos featuring scantily-clad women dancing in front of a statue of Buddha.

A spokesperson for Akon said later that, due to the protests, the star had "decided to postpone" his show.

They said they hoped to have the issue "resolved in the coming weeks".

In a statement, the government said the video for Sexy Chick by David Guetta, featuring Akon on vocals, "triggered a lot of disappointment among Buddhists".

It added some of Akon's lyrics were not "suitable for public articulation".

Spiritual man

On Monday, hundreds of people stormed the head offices of the Maharaja Broadcasting and Television Network, the media sponsor of the planned concert.

Four workers were injured and windows and parked cars were smashed after protesters threw stones at the building.

"Considering the controversial video images, offensive song lyrics and strong protests coming from various cultural, religious groups and organisations in the country, the government was compelled to take this decision," the government said.

Akon said he was "disheartened" to hear of the protests.

"I was not aware that the statue was even on the set of the video until now. I would never set out to offend or desecrate anyone's religion or religious beliefs," he said in a statement.

"I myself am a spiritual man, so I can understand why they are offended, but violence is never the answer and I am disheartened to hear about what happened yesterday."

Akon's international booking firm, American Talent Agency, said it hoped to reschedule the concert after ensuring the safety of the singer and his fans.

Concert promoter Lasantha Samarasinghe said he would ask the government to reconsider its decision, adding that the concert would boost tourism and help the country's economy.

So it is possible to rile a Buddhist. Or "disappoint" them, anyway.

 

[rynner2]

Cambodian monks barred from 'sexy' water festival
AP
Wednesday, 10 November 2010

Buddhist monks in Cambodia will be banned from taking part in a water festival this month to prevent undignified behaviour such as mingling with scantily-clad women and seeing couples kissing, the country's chief monk said today.

During the Boat Racing Festival between November 20 and 22, monks will be required to stay in their pagodas and watch the event on TV, said 85-year-old chief patriarch Non Gneth.

"For a monk to walk freely with crowds of ordinary people during the water festival violates the rules of the Lord Buddha," the patriarch said.

"If the monks walk freely, they will see women wearing sexy clothes or see people kissing. This violates their discipline," he said. He added some younger monks carried mobile phones equipped with cameras at last year's festival and took pictures of people dancing, drinking alcohol and kissing - all of which are not allowed, including the possession of mobile phones.

Monks are supposed to adhere to a code of Buddhist precepts that include celibacy and not touching or being alone with women, not drinking alcohol and leading a contemplative lifestyle without material possessions.

A committee has been created to curb bad behaviour among monks and if any are seen mingling at the festival they will be reprimanded and sent for a re-education class before being returned to their temples, Non Gneth said.

It is estimated upward of two million people could descend on the capital, Phnom Penh, for the annual boat festival, also known as the water festival, which takes place at the end of the rainy season along the Tonle Sap River.

Some 400 wooden boats will compete in rowing contests that are part of a carnival-like atmosphere that also includes evening concerts, fireworks and late-night partying.

About 85% of Cambodia's 14 million people are Buddhist. The country has 4,000 Buddhist temples and more than 50,000 monks.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 30048.html

 

[giantrobot1]

Boy chosen by Dalai Lama turns back on Buddhist order
Dale Fuchs in Madris guardian.co.uk, Sunday 31 May 2009 23.11 BST

As a toddler, he was put on a throne and worshipped by monks who treated him like a god. But the boy chosen by the Dalai Lama as a reincarnation of a spiritual leader has caused consternation – and some embarrassment – for Tibetan Buddhists by turning his back on the order that had such high hopes for him.

Instead of leading a monastic life, Osel Hita Torres now sports baggy trousers and long hair, and is more likely to quote Jimi Hendrix than Buddha.

Yesterday he bemoaned the misery of a youth deprived of television, football and girls. Movies were also forbidden – except for a sanctioned screening of The Golden Child starring Eddie Murphy, about a kidnapped child lama with magical powers. "I never felt like that boy," he said.

He is now studying film in Madrid and has denounced the Buddhist order that elevated him to guru status. "They took me away from my family and stuck me in a medieval situation in which I suffered a great deal," said Torres, 24, describing how he was whisked from obscurity in Granada to a monastery in southern India. "It was like living a lie," he told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo. Despite his rebelliousness, he is still known as Lama Tenzin Osel Rinpoche and revered by the Buddhist community. A prayer for his "long life" still adorns the website of the Foundation to Preserve the Mahayana Tradition, which has 130 centres around the world. The website features a biography of the renegade guru that gushes about his peaceful, meditative countenance as a baby. In Tibetan Buddhism, a lama is one of a lineage of reincarnated spiritual leaders, the most famous of which is the Dalai Lama.

According to the foundation biography, another leader suspected Torres was the reincarnation of the recently deceased Lama Yeshe when he was only five months old. In 1986, at 14 months, his parents took him to see the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India. The toddler was chosen out of nine other candidates and eventually "enthroned".

At six, he was allowed to socialise only with other reincarnated souls – though for a time he said he lived next to the actor Richard Gere's cabin.

By 18, he had never seen couples kiss. His first disco experience was a shock. "I was amazed to watch everyone dance. What were all those people doing, bouncing, stuck to one another, enclosed in a box full of smoke?" [I've often wondered the same thing! ]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/ma ... ita-torres

A lot of nonsense has been written about Osel, so he wrote this letter as a clarification:


Dear Friends,

It is important to have a good experience of what life is. I have been really lucky to be able to experience both western and eastern cultures and I am so grateful to everyone who has helped me in both cultures. In combination, being in India and the West has been a rich experience that I’ve been privileged to absorb from both sides.

There were times in India when it was hard to accept the destiny. Being treated differently, and feeling apart. But that experience was really good and I so appreciate it.

However, certain media find ways to sensationalize and exaggerate an unusual story. So I hope that what appears in news print is not read and taken too literally. Don't believe everything that is written!

Experience shows that however hard one tries in interviews to sincerely and honestly convey key information, the printed result can tend towards sensationalism to get the most attention.

FPMT is doing a great job and Lama Zopa is an immensely special person - very inspiring and a great yogi.

Personally, my job is to find new ways in which to discover the true nature of our being. There is no separation between myself and FPMT - we are all working together in so many aspects and terrains. Humanity is our office. Besides, I don’t really qualify very much in Buddhist studies, because I didn’t finish them, so working together is the clue.

So I’m trying to find a different way for this future generation. One of the ways is through music, movies and audio-visual techniques. In a movie you can condense so many different stories. You can put in music, you can put in different situations and messages. Even just the sunset can be enough to give you peace to find a moment of meditation in yourself. There are so many different millions of possibilities in movies.

And not just movies, but documentaries actually going somewhere and interviewing people who may have reached a level on their path where they are at peace with themselves, and so much more....!!!

That’s kind of what I’m planning to do. But it is one thing is to plan and another for things to actually happen. So we’re back to mental projections. But for now, that’s what I am hoping to do.

Big Love

Osel

http://www.fpmt.org/teachers/osel/

 

[GNC]

I'm not entirely sure I understand what he's setting out to do, but he sounds less of a rebel without a cause than the previous news reports made him out to be. "Buddhist learns at university of life and continues spiritual studies" is a far less sensational headline, and you don't sell papers that way.

 

[Kondoru]

Hurrah for Osel

Now where did I put that copy of the 5th dalai lamas poetry?