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Saturday, August 31, 2013

Decline of Buddhism in Thailand - PBS

LUCKY SEVERSON, correspondent: There’s a struggle going on inside Thailand. It’s between two powerful influences. One side can be found in places like this; the other in crowded spaces like this. For now it seems that one side is falling behind.

This is Professor John Butt, senior advisor to the Institute of Religion at Payap University in Chiang Mai.

PROF. JOHN BUTT: It’s a real clash with modernity, with social change, and it’s been very intense. The changes that took place in America and in Europe have been extended over a couple of centuries; here it’s been a couple of decades.

SEVERSON: This is a country where almost 95 percent of the population is Buddhist, where the constitution mandates that the king be a Buddhist, and where there are temples almost everywhere.

PROF. BUTT: I think probably this is one of the central if not the central Buddhist country in the world.

Prof. John Butt

SEVERSON: It’s a country that has recently seen a remarkable rise in economic prosperity. There was a time not that long ago when it would have been difficult to find a mall, let alone one so crowded. The roads would have been clogged with motor scooters, and the fancy cars belonged only to diplomats and the very rich. Not anymore. The Thais have embraced consumerism with gusto.

This is An Jang Sang, professor emeritus at Chiang Mai University.

AN JANG SANG: Some of them may be interested in materialism, consumerism, but deep down in their heart they are still Buddhists.

SEVERSON: But he agrees they’re not going to the temples, also known as wats, as much as they once did.

PROF. BUTT: In the past the wat was not just the religious center, it was the life center of the village community. The social life took place there, counseling, respect, authority for the monks. That’s, I think, decreased tremendously.

SEVERSON: And not as many are going to the Buddha to offer their prayerful good wishes for all living things. Some are giving more in donations, but Phra Boonchuey, the assistant abbot at this large temple, says too many are just donating to buy good karma.

Phra Boonchuey

PHRA BOONCHUEY: Because now they are coming to the temple just only to offer the offering in order to please, you know, their life for their own benefit.

SEVERSON: Phra BoonChuey is on a mission to get Thai Buddhism back on track.

PHRA BOONCHUEY: And so we have to do many things, you know, to bring people, you know, back to the religion.

SEVERSON: That would include bringing back the monks themselves who have been disappearing. In the past, almost every young man would become a monk, leading a monastic life, some for a few months, some for a lifetime. But in the last 30 years it is estimated that the number of monks has fallen by more than half. Mr. Vinai, our tuk-tuk driver, served as a monk for over a year as a young man.

(to Mr. Vinai): Did you like being a monk?

MR. VINAI: Yes. Yes.

SEVERSON: Do you think every young man should be a monk?

MR. VINAI: No, no.

SEVERSON: He says not every young man should be a monk because some care more about shopping.

(to Mr. Vinai): How many boys do you have?

MR. VINAI: I have two.

SEVERSON: Were they monks?

MR. VINAI: Yes.

SEVERSON: His last boy served only 15 days.

It’s about 5:30 in the morning, and the first monks are showing up to collect alms, their food for the whole day. Sometimes there’s only one meal a day, often followed by some sort of community service, and then there are the hours of chanting, study, and meditation. It’s not an easy life. Professor Butt says he once asked the young men in his class how many had been ordained.

PROF. BUTT: If I had asked that question a hundred years ago, I would have gotten close to a 100 percent yes, that they had ordained as a novice, maybe a short period of time, but they had done so. I went five years before I got one positive response, who had ordained.

SEVERSON: One reason for that might be the Thais have been practicing family planning, and if there is only one boy in the family, and the choice is school, making money, or ordination…

PRHA BOONCHUEY: You may not want him to be a novice or to get ordination.

SEVERSON: A big factor is that in the past many boys became monks to get a free education at the temple. Now Thailand offers 12 years of free public education and far more are attending secular schools. Scandals have also contributed to the diminishing numbers of monks, scandals revealed by social media. Pictures of monks at parties with women, drinking alcohol, watching porn, driving expensive fancy cars. Things monks are not supposed to be doing.

MR. VINAI: Not whiskey, not beer.

SEVERSON: Cigarettes, no cigarettes?

MR. VINAI: Nah, no.

SEVERSON: No women?

MR. VINAI: No women.

post05-thailand-buddhism

SEVERSON: No partying?

MR. VINAI: Yeah, no party.

SEVERSON: It’s not that there has been an epidemic of scandalous behavior, but what there is seems to find its way into the media. Justin McDaniel, the chairman of the department of religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania, was once a monk himself in Thailand.

JUSTIN MCDANIEL: It has a big impact in the press. I think it also has a big impact that if somebody was on the fence about being a monk or nun, that this is kind of relatively a legitimate excuse you could give to your mom for not doing it: well, look at the way monks act.

SEVERSON: Professor McDaniel argues that Thai Buddhism itself is not in decline, that it is gaining considerable traction in the Western world, and that the Thai people themselves are debating it more, which he says is a good thing. He skeptical that there really is a crisis.

MCDANIEL: I’ve never heard any professional religious person, rabbi, monk, priest, imam ever say everything is fine. You know, it’s always we’re in a state of crisis, and we’re in a state of crisis so you should be coming more, and you should be giving more money, you should be becoming a monk or you should be reading more books.

Justin McDaniel

SEVERSON: He would find some disagreement here in Chiang Mai. Phra Boonchuey, for instance, thinks monks need to be taught more critical thinking instead of just memorization, and that the benefits of meditation need to be emphasized more. He wants Buddhists to get back to their basic precepts, such as abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and drinking alcohol. He would also counsel them to consume only what they need and to avoid the trappings of materialism.

PHRA BOONCHUEY: Think before [you] consume.

SEVERSON: There is a branch of Buddhism that’s flourishing. It’s called Dhammakaya. One way to explain Dhammakaya is that it is to Buddhism what the prosperity gospel is to Christianity. In other words the traditional value of selflessness has been replaced with “bigger is better.” The more you give, the more you get. Professor Butt says in some ways consumerism is becoming a religion of its own.

PROF. BUTT: This is the most pervasive and maybe becoming deeply rooted and growing the fastest of any religion in Thailand, and it’s consumerism. This is the way that one identifies one’s life, by what you own. The old thing was “I think, therefore I am.” Now it’s “I buy, therefore I am.”

MCDANIEL: I don’t see consumerism as somehow a-religious. And I don’t see modernity as somehow a-religious. I think that there’s many ways of being religious. I think when we say that consumerism or modernity is somehow a sign of secularism, I think that’s a very particular way of looking at religion.

PROF. BUTT: We’re living in a new world, and religion is a response to life, to what it means to be human, and when that changes, as I said earlier, religion has to change too or it dies. It’s put in a museum.

SEVERSON: No one is suggesting Thai Buddhism is heading for a museum, but many agree that it might need some new packaging.

For Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, I’m Lucky Severson in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Please note that the THIRTEEN editorial staff reserves the right to not post comments it deems to be inappropriate and/or malicious in nature, as well as edit comments for length, clarity and fairness. No solicitations or advertisements will be allowed. Users may link to other Web sites relevant to discussion, but most often links to commercial Web sites will not be permitted.

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Friday, August 30, 2013

Gay and transgender katoey struggle with Buddhism | Bangkok Post: news - Bangkok Post

Despite being born a boy, 28-year-old Deer has never accepted her masculinity. She is, she said, and has always been, female.

Growing up with six sisters in a small community in Si Sa Ket province, northeastern Thailand, it's perhaps not surprising that Deer adopted some feminine ways. As a youngster, she said she acted and spoke much like a girl.

It wasn't until she reached adolescence that Deer began to realise that it was not her surroundings that were shaping her behaviour, but rather her soul. It was nature over nurture.

"I've felt trapped inside a male body ever since I can remember. When I was young, I acted, talked and dressed like my sisters, and didn't feel there was anything wrong with that."

The problem for Deer was that her father didn't agree. As his only son and heir, Deer was destined to carry on the family name. Being gay, or transgender, simply wasn't an option.

"When I turned 12, my father spoke to me really seriously about the way I was acting. He said he was disappointed, and had decided that the only way I would be able to change my ways [and stop acting like a girl] was to join the monkhood."

Deer said the experience was "terrifying".

"My parents took me to the local temple and forced me to join the monastery against my will. The minute my head was shaved I started to cry. I felt naked without my hair, as it was the only escape I had from being a boy."

Deer was forced to spend six years as a monk, before leaving at age 18. Soon after, she moved to Bangkok where she has lived, as a woman, for the past 10 years.

"Leaving the monastery marked the end of my old life," she said. "But I still have the scars."

NO PLACE FOR KATOEY

Deer's story is not unique in Thailand. The relationship between katoey (a word used by some of the interviewees here to encompass both gay and transgender people) and religion is complicated, to say the least.

Venerable Shine Waradhammo, a monk who defines himself as a Neo-Buddhist, said that under the basic tenets of Theravada Buddhism, which is practised in Thailand, katoey are simply not recognised.

"Buddhism [in Thailand] was created only for heterosexual people. Male and female are the only genders that are recognised by the religion," he said.

As a result, people who fall outside those two groups "have no place to be", he said.

"It's already difficult for katoey to integrate into society, but religion makes it worse."It's not impossible, however, for a katoey, or at least a former katoey, to take holy orders.

Take the case of Sorrawee "Jazz" Nattee, aka Miss Tiffany Universe 2009, who earlier this month turned his back on the bright lights of the entertainment world in favour of the saffron robes and serenity of a Buddhist monk.

"I want to be a monk for the rest of my life and I'm ready to leave my worldly possessions behind," Ms Sorrawee, who's now known as Phra Maha Viriyo Bhikku, said after being ordained at Wat Liab in his home province of Songkhla.

After four years in the spotlight as a glamorous "ladyboy", Ms Sorrawee had her breast implants removed to meet the criteria for life as a monk. The abbot of Wat Liab was happy to confirm the former cabaret star's return to the masculine fold.

"Jazz is 100% man, emotionally and physically," he said.

The situation is not so straightforward for everyone. Many katoey in the monkhood are forced to live dual lives.

In an article published on his "Neo Buddhism" blog, Ven Shine says many katoey escape the demands and requirements of their "real" lives as monks by posting images of their alter egos, or true selves, on social media websites.

"Social media platforms provide a means of communication for young monks. Like all young people they want to express themselves, and sometimes that means wearing makeup or dressing in women's clothes."

Whether or not these young men are merely "experimenting" by posting pictures of themselves in "boob-tubes" [fashioned from rolled up robes] or uploading videos to YouTube of themselves lip-syncing to girl-band pop tunes is a moot point. Less frivolous is the belief held by some quarters of society that a life in the monkhood is the only way for katoey to rid themselves of the sins committed in a former life.

Not uncommon in Thailand is the opinion that "gayness" and transsexuality are retribution for the bad deeds, or karma, of an earlier existence.

"Many parents with gay sons, especially those in upcountry communities, believe that the monkhood will resolve their children's gender identity crises," said Jetsada "Note" Taesombat, coordinator of the Thai Transgender Alliance, which among other things provides a telephone and web-based support service for people with gender issues.

"It might sound strange, but they truly believe that becoming a monk will turn their gay sons straight," she said.

The reason why so many gay monks post "inappropriate" pictures of themselves online is because they are reacting to life in a monastery, she said.

''They don't want to be monks. They are forced to do it by their parents who think that a few years inside a monastery will 'cure' their gayness.''

Nopparat Benjawatananun, director-general of the National Office of Buddhism, agreed.

''Many families believe that the monkhood can change the behaviour of their gay children. They think that being a monk will lessen their sons' sexual impulses and make it easier to control themselves,'' he said.

Despite the strength of feeling, it's clear from the evidence of the Facebook images and YouTube clips, that the regimen does not always produce the desired results. But that's not Mr Nopparat's concern.

''The National Office of Buddhism has no authority to rule on monks' behaviour. If someone is accused of doing something wrong, that's for the abbots and other senior figures within the temple to sort out,'' he said.

He certainly has no problem with ''feminine'' monks.

''That's never a concern. I've met many monks that act and speak in a feminine manner, but they are smart, don't break the rules and are well-liked by the local community. For me, they are fully qualified to serve as venerable monks,'' he said.

FIGHTING HOMOPHOBIA

Pongsathon Janleuan, director of the M Plus project in Chiang Mai, said when looking at the issue of gay monks it is important to treat each case individually.

M Plus is a non-profit organisation that works with the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community, but it is primarily concerned with promoting sexual health among men who have sex with other men.

''Just because some gay monks put on makeup and dress like women, doesn't mean all gay monks do. It's a personal issue and we should consider each situation as it comes,'' he said.

Like in school, monasteries should provide clear rules on what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, he said.

''Then, regardless of sexuality, if someone misbehaves, they can expect to be reprimanded.''

The problem, as Mr Pongsathon sees it, is that people are heavily biased against the LGBT community. ''Society doesn't have enough intellect to analyse the core issues,'' he said. ''The public is quick to criticise gay monks for trivial things like putting on makeup and wearing dresses, but if a 'straight' monk behaves badly, people look the other way.''

According to Ven Shine, geography is another factor worth considering.

''Thailand is home to a great deal of sexual diversity, and that is reflected in religious communities,'' he said. ''It's not unusual to see a gay monk, and in northern and northeastern parts of the country, there is a very high concentration of them.''

Much of Thai culture, ''from the performing arts to poetry has a feminine flavour, and this is particularly evident among communities in the north of the country'', he said.

Mr Pongsathon of M Plus agreed.

''The reason why there are so many gay monks in the north of Thailand is because society there is much more laid back. Northern people care less about a person's sexuality than they do about what that person contributes to society,'' he said.

The problem is that not everyone in Thailand is as open minded as people living in the North, he said.

''Northern people know that gay monks are central to their communities, but other Thais don't see it that way. They are too quick to judge them for acting in ways they consider inappropriate. It's a very narrow-minded way of thinking,'' he said.

For Ven Shine, it's not just society that needs to be more open minded. Religious organisations do too.

''Theravada Buddhism is based on a very patriarchal system, and that contributes to the institutional homophobia,'' he said.

When a young man first enters the monkhood, he is asked several questions, in Pali, by a senior monk. One of them is ''Puri sosi'', which translates as ''Are you a man?''

''This is clear evidence of at least some degree of sexual discrimination,'' Ven Shine said.

''There are more katoey living in Thailand than anywhere else in the world, yet we've learned so little from them,'' he said.

''Even though we stage transgender beauty contests across the country, we don't really accept them as part of society.''

Despite Sorrawee Nattee's successful renaissance as Phra Maha Viriyo Bhikku, Ven Shine said he is upset by the disrespect shown to the former showbiz star by the media.

''Even though he met all the criteria set by the Buddhist authorities and was eligible to be a monk [as he had retained his male genitalia], he was still attacked by the media. It was wrong to criticise him like that.''

Mr Pongsathon agrees that gender should be of no issue if a person is truly committed to a life in the monkhood.

''Gay people have just as much right as anyone else to get ordained. Sexual orientation shouldn't have anything to do with it,'' he said.

''The gay and straight monks I know in Chiang Mai and other northern regions all joined the monkhood because they wanted to study the dhamma. But people judge the gay ones differently, often disrespectfully.''

What people forget is that in becoming a monk, a person transcends sexuality, he said.

''In their world. there is no male or female.''

Phra Payom Kalayano, the abbot of Wat Suankaew, said that despite the obvious difficulties, things are getting better for gay people who want to follow a religious path.

''In the past, katoey had no hope of being ordained because the rules were stricter and society was less open minded. But they have just as much right as anyone else to join the monkhood,'' he said.

''The best thing about katoey is that they are intelligent and well loved by local people, and they are really good at handicrafts. Masculine monks like me can't do that stuff.''

FROM MONK TO NUN

But these utopian ideals are not how Mimi, a katoey in her late 20s, sees it.

As a boy she spent six years as a monk in a temple in northeast Thailand, before moving to Bangkok as an adult, she told Spectrum.

It was in the capital she realised she was a katoey and began living as a woman. Despite the gender change, she remained committed to her religious beliefs and developed a good understanding of the dhamma.

Recently she visited her local temple, which she had been supporting financially for some time, and asked to be ordained for a week as a nun. ''I asked the head nun to ordain me so I could continue to practise the religious ceremonies. But when she looked at my ID card, she said she couldn't accept someone like me in the temple,'' she said. ''I didn't know what to say. It was like I'd been slapped in the face.

''I was annoyed, so I asked her how she could take money from a katoey but not allow one to be part of the temple. I asked her, 'What's wrong with you?'.

''She didn't answer. She just walked away,'' Mimi said.

According to Ven Shine, the only way to rid Buddhism in Thailand of such deep-rooted prejudice is to changes the way people are educated.

''We have to stop telling people that being gay is a sin. By saying that someone's sexuality is down to karma is very disrespectful. We have no right to brand anyone a sinner,'' he said.

''We should also accept people into the monkhood regardless of their gender. And that includes katoey, whether or not they have the genitals they were born with.''

Ven Shine said that the concept of men acting like women is explained in Buddhist scriptures as Vatsana, which means destiny or fate. ''It is something they are born with. It can't be changed,'' he said.

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Thursday, August 29, 2013

Buddhism, Islam, and a serious talk about fundamentalism - Patheos (blog)

Last week’s attack in Woolwich, London surprised and horrified me as much as anyone. It was quickly claimed that the men had shouted Allahu Akbar, “God is great” at the time. One early video showed one of the men also apologizing that women had to see what had happened and that the problem was atrocities in their own land (note, one of the two was born in London, the other in Nigeria), saying, “remove your government. They don’t care about you.”

Commentators rushed to fill in the gaps with terms like “Islamist,” “Baghdad style violence” and “terrorism.”

A steady tide of belligerent racism and Islamophobia ensued.

First a mosque was attacked. Then another. Then another. Then another. The count now is 10. Six days and ten Mosques… At least one Muslim has been murdered in what police suspect is a racially-motivated attack.

And Sunday morning I awoke to news that England’s resident racist political movement, the EDL, had rioted a few miles from where I live (note, there is a case to be made that they are not racist, just xenophobic in case that might seem better). Elsewhere in the UK EDL members were arrested for ‘racist tweets’ ahead of their own marches. And for a bit of background, you can see this 2010 Guardian investigation.

After the attack, the EDL looked a bit like this:

Wearing logo embossed ski masks.

Which just begs the question: why the matching ski masks?  (warning, offensive language):

YouTube Preview Image

And vowing vengeance. – yep, they posted it.

Now, I don’t mean to get too far away from the topic of Buddhism, Islam, and fundamentalism, but it’s worth noting that my own worry on the streets of Great Britain tonight is for what people in the EDL and similar groups might do next. 

london woolwich attack julie siddiqi Meet Julie, she is a Muslim community leader in England. Read her story.

The fact is, Muslims across the country reacted to the crime with the same shock and horror that I did, quickly condemning the act and discussing their own efforts to deal with violence in their communities (this is one article that you must read).

So what part could Islam have possibly played in the attack?

The answer is by no means simple. As with any religion, there are numerous passages in the Muslim holy book, the Qur’an/Koran, that might be used to justify violence in certain situations. However, there are also other equally, and often more, compelling passages that demand restraint, kindness, and pacifism. The Huffington Post recently hosted a live discussion with two Muslims and one ex-Muslim to help draw out the finer points of this matter and while they tend to meander a bit in terms of their specific topic and rely on various sorts of evidence to support their claims, I highly recommend it as an introduction to various ways Islam can be interpreted and lived today.

For my part, I would suggest that the part Islam played here was incredibly superficial and that the motivations of these men had far more to do with their own 1) sympathies for the suffering of Muslims in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, 2) feelings of inability to help those people, and 3) anger toward those involved in the killings. That is, of course, too simple and the details will yet emerge as to just how things came to be this way. One Englishman, who recently watched his own step-brother drawn into a radical group wrote:

They came from all sorts of backgrounds. Some from Christian households, some from immigrant families, some with mainstream Muslim parents. Others, like my stepbrother, were white and came from ordinary middle England towns. There was no single demographic.

Some explained that they had been inspired to convert by things that had happened in their lives. One man whose sister had died of a cocaine overdose blamed Western society for “allowing her to die”. There was another who had watched George W Bush, after the 9/11 attacks, saying that “you are either with us or against us”, and had decided that he didn’t like him and was therefore against him.

All had taken their search to extremes because they were extremists. It was part of who they were – or had grown up to become. I wouldn’t say they were born that way, but at some stage in their short lives they had come to believe that they couldn’t live in the world they had been brought up in, and had turned against it.

The fact that the men in Woolwich attacked a military service member suggests the defensive nature of the attack (as odd as that might sound… If they just wanted to kill non-Muslims or random English people they could have killed several who gathered at the scene after the initial attack. But they didn’t. They only killed the soldier and then attempted to kill armed police when they arrived.) They were going after those who they felt -either rightly or wrongly- were responsible for, or acting as armed representatives of those attacking fellow Muslims elsewhere. They attacked a soldier and armed police, not ordinary Britons, which suggests that this definitely wasn’t an act of terrorism (note the part of the albeit nebulous definition that slips in:  ”and deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants (civilians)”).

I also have trouble with the term “Islamist.” I suppose it is generally just a shortening of “Islamic fundamentalism,” but when this convenient shortening happens to only one religion, it seems a bit unfair. For instance, do we talk about the Westboro Baptists as a Christianist hate group? No. They’re called “extreme” or “controversial.” And I don’t suppose we’ll be hearing about the horrible “Buddhismist” preacher Saydaw Wirathu of Burma (James Ure is quite right in describing his teachings as Hatred and Anti-Muslim).

Which brings us to the rather horrible suggestion that I have seen in places too numerous to mention: that there is something intrinsic to Islam that is at the root of Islamic fundamentalism. To back up just a moment, you see – if we call it “Islamism” it is so easy to conflate it with “Islam.” There is no need to talk about the broad spectrum of the religion, from the most liberal and/or secular to the most fundamentalist. For instance, it would be irresponsible to say that “Cardinal Dolan incites Christianist Hatred toward Homosexuals,” somehow equating the rather conservative (and I would suggest abhorrent) views of this one particular Catholic leader with Christianity as a whole. If you have a hard time seeing the extremism of the Westboro Baptists or “traditional marriage” Catholics, then think of Christian groups like the LRA, Jonestown, or the KKK.

These last three are not “Christianist” organizations. They are extremist, fundamentalist, far-right-wing, etc. At least that is how we think of them. Because we all know that most Christians are nothing like that.

But whenever a Muslim commits a crime, it seems that the media (and, I’m afraid, many of the people I know) still need to have a conversation about “the problem of Islam.” Warren Jeffs. Is he part of “the problem of Christianity“? No. And given the current love affair that the West has with Buddhism, do you think we’ll ever see a headline: “the problem of Buddhism”?

Of course this is because Buddhism is not a problem. Nor is Christianity. Nor is Islam or any other religion.

The problem is fundamentalism – often fueled by poverty, things like PTSD from being raised in constant fear of violence, warfare, the threat of indiscriminate bombings, shootings, unfair trials, disappearances, torture and so on.

If you spend enough time surrounded by these things, I really don’t think it matters what ideology or religion you identify with: you are quite likely a broken person who needs help. But in societies where help is not given by the state, it is far too often the radicals that step in, offering help with a hefty – but unmentioned – price tag.

This is why Buddhists in some countries will snap into their own versions of Islamophobia, as James Ure’s post – see above- discusses, or racism. Some Western Buddhists or others might use these cases as a reason to look down on Asian Buddhists in general or specific groups in particular, but this would be to completely miss the point of the causes and conditions that brought these individuals to their current state. I am tempted to say that there are common socio-economic-historical strands to be found between the radical/fundamentalist elements of such groups as the EDL, fundamentalist Muslims in England and elsewhere, some Buddhists in Sri Lanka and Burma (and Thailand, while we’re at it), Muslims in various countries (I don’t know enough to try to pin down specifics), and Christians in other various countries (again, leaving it to you to fill in where is most appropriate).  We could also throw in the early developers of suicide bombings: Hindus in Sri Lanka.

I fear I have meandered a bit myself.

The point I hope to impart you with is that 1) Buddhism is not intrinsically peaceful, despite what many superficial analysts suggest, 2) Islam is not intrinsically violent, despite what far too many journalists, particularly bought and paid for by the right wing, will tell you, and that 3) fundamentalism is more of a socio-economic or political issue than it is one of religion. Part of what makes religions survive is their ability to speak to many people with their broad variety of statements and justifications. All religions, in their foundation or early development, have justifications for violence in some form or another and no religion that I can think of has survived for more than a century without some of its members being both a victim of violence and a perpetrator, suggesting that none of what happened last week or what has happened since is anything all that new.

Hopefully we can all come to see that religions are not all bad, nor all good. I tend to think that they must do some good (even if it is just a big placebo effect) for their adherents, or else they wouldn’t survive. And many secularists are no doubt trying to figure out how to replicate the best/most useful aspects of religions without all of the superstitious stuff. But until that sets in, if it ever does, we really have to learn to live with one another without the simplistic and often stupid labels and attacks against one another.


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Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Interview: The Wonder Years's Actress Alley Mills on How Buddhism, Jesus ... - Christian Post

Alley Mills(Photo: Alley Mills)Alley Mills with husband Orson Bean. (FILE)

Actress Alley Mills, perhaps best known for her role as Norma Arnold, the mother in the coming-of-age TV series "The Wonder Years," is unashamed to talk about Jesus Christ. However, while she was still a Buddhist working in Hollywood, she was more concerned about what people thought about her than she does now, she told The Christian Post in an exclusive interview.

"This town is driven by ego," said Mills, who currently plays Pamela Douglas in the soap, "The Bold and the Beautiful." She adds, "The more confidence you have when walking into a room, which is really about ego – that, much more than the depth of your heart, is what gets you a job." The question is always, "Can you hold your own in a room?"

Mills said that she had good survival skills as an actress before becoming a follower of Jesus 15 years ago, but that her priorities are much different now. She gives her Christian testimony in church and has talked about it in Bible study, but has never spoken to the press about her journey of faith prior to her interview with CP.

Alley Mills(Photo: Alley Mills)

The actress grew up in New York, both the city and outside the city, and was mostly raised by a caregiver. Her parents, a father that was a television executive and a mother that was a magazine art editor, were "rabid atheists," she said. They later divorced.

"From the age of a teenager, I was always seeking something outside what the real world was. I had a yearning for meaning," said Mills, 62. "That's why I became an actress in school. I went away to boarding school when my parents got divorced. My childhood had not been happy.

"I was always searching. I became a Buddhist in my twenties when I came to Los Angeles. I met a group of people who I really loved," she explained.

Being a Buddhist was part of her spiritual journey, she said. "I was a Buddhist for 20 years. At a certain point, in my late 30s I began to get unsettled about Buddhism. and the major thing was I felt like I needed to be grateful for this incredible creation … I've always loved nature. I've always been a hiker. I love the wilderness. I didn't realize it was God then, but I now do."

Her uncertainty began to grow as she realized that chanting "to a law in the universe" was beginning to not work for her. She was also concerned that some of the Buddhist leaders were "becoming a little bit egocentric."

A shift in her life began, she says, when she went to a Lutheran school's church service because it was recommended that as grandparents (Mills is married to actor and author Orson Bean) who are helping to place their grandchild in the school, they should attend.

"There on the wall [of the church where service was held] was a very old picture of Jesus and it was the same picture that the woman who raised me, my whole childhood, had by her bed," she said. "It was as if I was hit by a thunderbolt. I saw that picture and I suddenly remembered everything that I had not remembered at all about Mary (her caregiver) raising me pretty much from the age of two. She was a devout Christian. She was an African American. She kind of rescued me from a very crazy caregiver we had at that time, and always took me under her wing."

Mills continued, "She would rock me in her rocking chair. She had a huge Bible and would open up her Bible and read to me. And I remembered everything when I saw this picture. I remember when I used to walk to school and that Jesus was with me, that he was my friend, that I wasn't afraid anymore, because I was a very anxious child. Mary would pray with me all the time. I snuck out to Sunday school. I had my own Bible with my name on it because I sang in a school choir. My parents didn't know."

She said she completely forgot about this part of her childhood probably because her parents forbade the caregiver from teaching from the Bible at a certain point. "I remembered that happened in front of me when I was about six and she stopped reading me the Bible, which was awful. It must have broken her heart," Mills explained. "Unfortunately, she died before I became a Christian. I am convinced she prayed for me every day."

She said the transition from Buddhism to Christianity at the point of remembering her past seemed logical.

"Nothing went against what I believed as a Buddhist. It was all like a missing link, because I had remembered what Jesus had been to me – just this incredibly humble and kind friend who brought peace to my heart as a very little girl … but I sobbed and I sobbed," she said. "She was the most incredible role model of my whole life. When I saw that picture everything came back to me."

Later, Mills asked the pastor of the Lutheran school church if it was okay for her to attend even if she was a Buddhist. He told her it was fine just as long as he could have meetings with her and her husband over coffee.

"That pastor is still my husband's best friend and he baptized me 3 to 4 years later with my grandson," she said. "That was the beginning of a change in my life. It was a continuation for me… Buddhism was sort of a step. People worry about [Buddhism being the wrong spiritual path]. That's true, people can become complacent and remain stuck… but it wasn't for me, it was a step."

Mills said she now prays regularly before coming onto a set and has been shown that by doing so it can help her think less about herself and alleviate any worries. Most of her coworkers and the crew on the set of "The Bold and the Beautiful" know she is a Christian, she said.

"I like to tell people about the peace of God. When Jesus left, he said, 'My peace I give you,' and that peace is totally palpable and it accumulates," she said. "It's hard to explain to someone who hasn't experienced it, but as a [previously] self-centered, anxious actress, and often lonely, broken-hearted, and many other things as an actress at 40, that peace is palpable, it's real. That's exactly what I experienced."

Mills has also had discussions about her faith with conservative media mogul Andrew Brietbart, who was her stepson-in-law. She and her husband are in a scene of the documentary, "Hating Breitbart."

"In his book, Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World, Andrew wrote, 'Alley, I want you to know that your prayers have not gone unnoticed.' Nobody that knew him doubts that Andrew is up there with Jesus," she said. "He and I talked about faith a lot."

Contact: alex.murashko@christianpost.com; @AlexMurashko (Twitter); Alex Wire (Blog)

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Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Buddhism Today, East and West - the Diplomat

Last Friday, millions of Buddhists across Asia gathered to celebrate a rather hazy date, but one with deep cultural import nonetheless: the so-called birthday of Siddhartha Gautama (better known as the Buddha). Depending on the country, the day is recognized as any time from the first full moon in May to April 8, the latter being steadily adhered to by the practical Japanese.

In reality, “Western scholars would tell you that we don't even know the year in which the Buddha was born, much less the actual month and date,” José Ignacio Cabezón, professor of Tibetan Buddhism and Cultural Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told The Diplomat. “So it is really a matter of tradition. Many Buddhist societies celebrate a particular day (usually a full moon day) in the lunar calendar not only as the Buddha's birthday, but also as the day of his enlightenment and of his death.”

When combined, the holiday – birth, enlightenment and death – is referred to as Vesak and is recognized from Tibet and Thailand to Bhutan and Japan. And while Cabezón has a point about the hazy year of Gautama’s birth, it was popularly believed to have been 2,557 years ago, in 563 BCE.

In celebration of this day, the devout in Japan pour sweet tea on Buddhist statuary. In Nepal, where “Buddha Jayanti” is a national holiday, thousands flock to the Buddha’s supposed birthplace at Lumbini to donate food and clothes to the needy and offer tithes to Buddhist monasteries and schools.

Even in predominantly Muslim Malaysia “Wesak Day” is a national holiday during which the faithful head to temples to meditate on the enlightened one’s eight precepts. Even in Indonesia, the world’s largest Islamic nation by population, the pre-Muslim history of the islands is recalled when monks convene at the magnificent temple complex at Borobudur to chant mantras, meditate, bottle up holy water and move flames between various locations in the temple on Waisak Day.

According to Cabezón, one of the most devout displays of reverence for the Buddha can be seen in Tibet where the holy day “is celebrated as part of a month-long series of religious observances that occurs in the fourth Tibetan lunar month called Sagadawa. Tibetans consider this an especially auspicious time to engage in religious practice: making offerings in temples, observing religious precepts, and engaging in various prayers and rites.”

He added that “The tradition of scholastic studies is thriving among Tibetans; not Tibetans in Tibet, where there are a lot of restrictions on the practice of Buddhism, but among Tibetans in exile.”

Perhaps not quite that pious, Seoul is still known to take it up a notch prior to the Buddha’s birthday with its spectacular Lotus Lantern Festival, in which paper lanterns in the shapes of lotus flowers, dragons, pagodas and other elements of Buddhist iconography are hung throughout the city and plied on rafts along the Cheonggye Stream that runs through the heart of the metropolis, creating an enchanting show of tradition and light.

This diversity underlines the epic journey that Buddhism took across Asia, from its origins in India to the northeastern edge of the continent in Japan. Ultimately, this brings us to Buddhism’s most recent migration: the West.

Starting with The Beat Generation writers of the 1950s, and carried along by Western Buddhist forerunners like British author and philosopher Alan Watts, Buddhism has amassed significant cultural cache. A trip to any bookstore attests to this, where Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and books on the “crazy wisdom” of Tibetan teacher and counterculture figure Chögyam Trungpa are readily available.

What accounts for this popularity?

“More recently, I think that charismatic figures like Thich Nhat Hanh and the Dalai Lama have done a lot to bring greater visibility to Buddhism,” Cabezón said. Further back, “Certainly the counterculture movement as a whole played a very large factor. As young people in the 1960s and 1970s became increasingly disenfranchised from their own culture, they began to turn to Asia, and to Asian religious traditions, for answers to the pressing existential questions of life.”

Cabezón added, “Maybe it's the fact that Buddhism is perceived as a kind of minimalist religion, requiring little by way of metaphysical commitments and really considered more of a therapy.

Yet, Buddhism’s reach has not permeated Western culture’s roots. Instead, it has mainly gained traction among the educated, upper stratum of Western society. According to some Buddhist teachers, such as Tibetan Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, the West has missed the point altogether, “mistaking nihilism for Buddhism,” Cabezón explained. The end result: it has become subsumed by consumerism.

“Consumerism is certainly a persistent problem, but from a Buddhist point of view, it is especially pernicious when Buddhism itself becomes commoditized, when it becomes an object of consumption.”


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Monday, August 26, 2013

As UN marks Buddhist holiday, Ban says spiritual ideals can help tackle global ... - UN News Centre

Lumbini, a World Heritage site, is the birthplace of Buddha. Photo: UNESCO/Nipuna Shrestha

24 May 2013 – The teachings of Buddhism can offer significant insights on how to face today's most pressing challenges, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, in a message marking Vesak Day, which commemorates the birth, enlightenment and passing of the Buddha.

“Now more than ever, we need the spirit of non-violence to help inspire peace and quell conflict,” Mr. Ban said.

“This year's observance, falling at a time of widespread strife and misery, is an occasion to examine how Buddhist teachings can inform our response to prevailing challenges.”

Mr. Ban noted that confronting troubling problems is a big part of Buddhism as the Buddha himself – when he was a young prince – left the safety of his palace to discover the four sufferings of birth, sickness old age and death.

“While such painful realities cannot be avoided, Buddhism offers insights into how to cope with them. Its history is replete with inspiring examples of the transformative power of Buddhist philosophy,” he said.

Mr. Ban also recalled that King Ashoka, who presided over a brutal reign in India in from 268-232 B.C., ultimately converted to Buddhism, renouncing violence and embracing peace.

“The values that King Ashoka espoused, including human rights, democratic governance and respect for the dignity of life, are common to all great religions. The fact that he was able to embrace them after years of brutal war offers proof that the goodwill of individuals can end widespread suffering.”

Mr. Ban offered his best wishes to Buddhists and expressed his sincere hope that “we may all draw on spiritual ideals to strengthen our resolve to improve our world.”

By its resolution 54/115 of 1999, the General Assembly recognized internationally the Day of Vesak to acknowledge the contribution that Buddhism, one of the oldest religions in the world, has made for over two and a half millennia and continues to make to the spirituality of humanity. This day is commemorated annually at the UN Headquarters and other UN offices, in consultation with the relevant UN offices and with permanent missions.


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Sunday, August 25, 2013

Intro to Buddhism: No war, eat what you like, and pain is inevitable. - Freeline Media

Bill Melms offered an Intro to Buddhism at the regional gathering of American Mensa. Bill Melms offered an Intro to Buddhism at the regional gathering of American Mensa.

CLEARWATER – Bill Melms was raised as a Protestant, but as a teen, he didn’t stick with the faith. He eventually got to the point where he started to question aspects of the church’s teachings.
“When I got old enough to think for myself, I had one of those ‘Now wait a minute ….’ moments, and became an agnostic,” he recalled.
But as it turns out, his lack of commitment to faith didn’t last, either. In the 1960s, Melms got drafted into the Vietnam War, and as an American soldier fighting in the jungles of that Southeast Asia country, he had yet another epiphany.
“They say there’s no atheists in foxholes,” he said. “We were suffering from rocket attacks then. There’s nothing like a rocket attacking you to put the fear of God in you.”
Melms said he quickly became what he called the most religious person in the military. The challenge, though, was settling on a particular religion. That, as it turns out, was the toughest part of his spiritual journey.
He went back to Protestantism, then drifted into Catholicism, then Judaism. Each time, he said, he wandered back to that ‘Now wait a minute ….’ moment.
Then he had a final epiphany.
“I said, ‘Wait a minute, I’m in Vietnam, and it’s a Buddhist country,’ so I became Buddhist, too,” he said.
He found himself now fascinated by the teachings by Buddha – and for once, he didn’t have a ‘Now wait a minute ….’ moment.
“When I got to the Buddhist text, that didn’t happen,” he said. “It all just made sense, and I started looking into it more and more. The Bible is easy. You just read it and you’re done. If we had a Bible in Buddhism, it would be five times as long. Buddhism is like an onion, you peel it back and there’s another layer and another layer.”
On Sunday, Melms talked about his spiritual journey, and his discovery of and lifelong commitment to Buddhism, at the annual regional gathering of the Tampa Bay chapter of American Mensa, held at the Holiday Inn at Clearwater.
Melms’ discussion on his “Intro to Buddhism” focused on both his trips to China and how he practices his faith in the Tampa area.
What’s he’s learned over the years, Melms said, is that the general public has a better sense of what Buddhism is not about, rather than what it actually represents.
“There are common misconceptions about Buddhism,” he said. “Like we are all vegetarians. We have no dietary restrictions.”
There’s an even bigger misconception, he added.
“The big surprise is it’s not a religion at all,” Melms said. “There is no God. How can you have a religion without God?”
Consider it more of a belief system, he said, that believes people can evolve.
“Christianity says you have a permanent soul,” Melms said. “Buddhism says ‘No you don’t.’ Trying to find out who you are is very nebulous. Of course you exist, you are something, but nothing is permanent. It’s all subject to change.”
That’s also part of how Buddhism looks at the concept of suffering – and how to cope with it.
“All suffering is based on delusion,” he said. “If you weren’t deluded based on the nature of reality, there wouldn’t be suffering. One of the noble truths of Buddhism is you can end suffering. Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional. You need to see reality for what it is.”
Educating oneself is good place to start, he added.
“To say we don’t know much – the amount you don’t know about the universe is staggering,” Melms added. “What’s the nature of happiness? You better find out or you’re not going to be able to find it.”
Buddhism, Melms said, is “science-based, and about action-reaction. Everything you do has an effect. There is a cause and effect. The present didn’t get here by accident.”
As part of that, Buddhists do not believe there is a logical and sensible motive for war, he said.
“The big difference between Buddhism and other faiths is we don’t fight,” Melms said. “The other religions love to fight. The Protestants fight the Catholics and the Muslims fight everybody. Buddhists just don’t like to fight. We just don’t want anything to do with wars. Wars are pretty stupid. We can all see that. But we do it anyway. Why? Because it’s our team against your team. Send your best and brightest out to fight wars. War is obsolete today, but our psychopathic leaders haven’t figured that out yet.”
Instead, there is much in Buddhism that looks at personal growth, he said.
“Everything is numbered,” he said. “Nothing is permanent. There is nothing that doesn’t change. You have pain, but then suffering is different from pain. Suffering is an emotional response. It’s not there by accident. Suffering is a thing we do. It’s a survival tool. It’s necessary to life.”
Buddism is also a fun religion, he added.
“In Tampa we have a Thai Temple that is very beautiful,” Melms said. “It’s not like Catholics where they scream, ‘You need to repent!’ No, in our temple we laugh and have a lot of fun.”

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Friday, August 23, 2013

Buddhism: Made for the internet

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Sydney, Australia -- Buddhism is a largely de-centralised religion, with ancient communities throughout Asia and more modern practitioners in Australia and across the world. Mapping the modern day face of the religion proved a difficult task for Professor Lewis Lancaster, until he struck on the idea of a digital atlas.

<< Religious Atlas of China and Himalaya can be viewed at http://ecai.org/chinareligion/index.html

At the heart of Buddhism is a metaphor for interconnectedness: Indra’s net. The Vedic god’s net, which is supposed to hang over his palace on Mount Meru, is said to stretch to infinity. At each point where the threads cross sits a jewel that reflects all the other jewels, and like mirrors within mirrors, the entire cosmos is reflected.

Lewis Lancaster, Professor Emeritus of Buddhism at the University of California at Berkeley, knows how apt that metaphor is in the current world. For years he's struggled to find an adequate way of documenting the complicated, almost infinite spread of Buddhism from its 5th century BCE Indian origins. That is, until he found an equally complex instrument to map the ancient faith.

Sanskrit and Pali were the first languages of the Buddhist canon known as the Tripitaka (Three Baskets: Sutras, Vinaya, and Abidharma) but by the 2nd century the first translations into Chinese began. These texts were taken to Korea in the 4th century, and from there on to Japan.

To trace this epic journey, and map the contemporary face of Buddhism, Professor Lancaster formed an association of scholars and developed the Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative, which is essentially a collection of maps with dots, with each dot representing a place where Buddhist temples, monasteries, communities, resources, and histories are available by simply clicking your mouse.

From early on, Buddhism was a uniquely portable religion, spreading far and wide, with few of the barriers that anchored other religions to their original historic settings. After being driven out of India in the late middle-ages, Buddhism was not associated with one nation, one territory, one sacred temple, and not even one sacred tongue.
The Electronic Atlas was not Professor Lancaster's first attempt to engage Buddhism with the modern world. For the Seoul Olympics he transferred a complete 13th century Korean woodblock printing of the Tripitaka onto a CD Rom. During the Korean Olympic Games, the CD Rom was placed in a glass reliquary and carried into the stadium by Buddhist monks.

The CD Rom as sacred relic is characteristic of Buddhism’s adaptability. Relics in fact are typical of Buddhism, and are often found as crystalline knobs in the cremated remains of a Buddhist saint or Bodhisattva. The Temple of the Buddha’s Tooth in Kandy Sri Lanka is a rare example of an actual part of the body as a relic.

Today, however, a sacred relic might just as well be a CD Rom that contains the Dharma or Buddhist teaching. The Dharma teaches that the nature of the material world is transient and insubstantial. It's made of elements that come together and will later decay, only to be reborn as something else. This endless cycle of birth and death is known as samsara, and Buddhists believe it's the fate of all things and beings. The electronic digital age has also plunged us into this perspective and no more obviously than in our attempt to store information in new, fragile forms.

In contrast to the wooden printing blocks of 800 years ago, which can still be used to produce copies of the Buddhist canon, we do not know what digital platforms will be in use even 20 or 40 years from now. To keep abreast of this constantly changing technology, the Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative, which has been stored at the University of California Berkeley, is now poised to be housed in Taiwan, where a more advanced software will allow it to survive the inevitable obsolescence of the computers and programs it was created on.

'If you start a project on a computer, you have a baby that never grows up,' Professor Lancaster says. 'You can never leave it, never ignore it. If you do, it dies.'

So the transient nature of digital technology is testing the preservation of the Dharma even as it confirms its teachings. If this is not ironic enough, a Buddhist nun and doctoral student of Professor Lancaster, Jue Wei Shin, is recreating a Buddhist festival of 1500 years ago from the ancient capital of Lou Yang. Her tool? An interactive multimedia display of Buddhist images and icons which can be seen at Darling Harbour on 11–12 May for the Buddha’s birthday celebrations.


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Muslim, Buddhist leaders forge ties to promote interfaith relations

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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- A Muslim politician and a local Buddhist group have taken the first step in fostering interfaith relations between the two religions.

<< Malaysian Muslims were upset that a prayer room (surau) of a holiday resort was used by Buddhists to conduct prayers and meditation.

The duo - Parit Buntar Member of Parliament Mujahid Yusof Rawa and a leader in the Buddhist Vajralink Movement, Sherab Wong - noted that to promote relations, individuals and associations must continue "healthy, positive and proactive" dialogue.

"Each religion must be proactive in ensuring their members understand the meaning of respect for each other and totally avoid extremist views which are of no benefit in a multiracial society," they said in a statement.

They pointed out that in recent times, interfaith relations have become challenging particularly when questions about sensitivities of either faiths were not addressed, adding that this would undermine the relations.

They referred to the surau issue in Kota Tinggi, Johor, as an example.

The manager of the resort had allowed a group of Singaporean Buddhists to use a surau at the premises for their meditation. The incident had caused an uproar among Muslims and the manager was detained by police on Sunday to assist in investigations.

"This happens when there is no sense of sensitivity among certain quarters which would result in heightened tension between the different religions," they said.

Both men asserted that the element of respect for one another has faded over time while the multiracial fabric of society continues to be threatened.

"What is worrying is that certain quarters are taking advantage of the matter to further incite this fragile situation by causing hatred between religions."

In an attempt to defuse the situation, the two leaders urged Malaysians to look at the Federal Constitution which states that Islam is the official religion of Malaysia but there is freedom of religion for other faiths.

They called on the authorities to act on those who purposely create hatred among citizens, stressing that they needed to be firm in their actions against those who deliberately hurt religious sensitivities, regardless of who they are.

"The police should be independent of any political influence, and work hard to eliminate the rising crime in our midst," they said.

"The past incidents were not real serious problems between two religions but made to appear as such by those who harbour ill motives for their own personal interest.

"We hope everyone can view the current issue with a matured, open mind and heart so that our thinking and actions are not influenced or tarnished by irresponsible parties," Mujahid and Wong said.

Mujahid is a chairperson of Southeast Asia Inter-religious Dialogue for Peace, which has links in Indonesia and Thailand.


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Kushinagar, a Serene Buddhist Destination

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Kushinagar, India -- Welcome to the land of the Buddha. A breather from most other religious destinations, which, ironically, reel under chaos, Kushinagar - the place where Gautam Buddha breathed his last - is a place where you can pray in peace or simply soak in the beauty of the architectural marvels and the natural surrounding.

Situated 51 km east of Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, Kushinagar is one of the four important religious destinations for Buddhists. This is the place where the Buddha delivered his last sermon, and died. The other three important destinations are Lumbini, Bodh Gaya and Sarnath.

It's of little surprise then that the place, which is well endowed with greenery, is flocked by tourists - both domestic and foreign - through the year, but especially so in the cooler months between October and April.

It is estimated that nearly two million tourists visit Kushinagar every year.

"Many tourists come to Kushinagar to pray and to pay their respect to the place where Lord Buddha delivered his last sermon and finally rested in peace. From among foreign countries, we mainly have people coming from Thailand, Japan, China, Korea, Sri Lanka and Myanmar," said Bhadant Choudhury, a Buddhist monk at the Mahaparinirvana temple.

One of the main attractions of the place, the Niravana Chaitya or the Main Stupa, was excavated by Carlleyle in 1876 and stands at a height of 2.74 metres. A copper vessel was unearthed at this site and it bore an inscription in ancient Brahmi, which stated that Lord Buddha's remains had been deposited there. The Stupa was restored and its chamber was ceremoniously closed in 1927, in the presence of 16 Buddhist priests. Several gold, silver and copper plate-inscriptions were deposited inside, recording the facts of discovery and identification of the monument.

Right in front of the Nirvana Stupa is the Mahaparinirvana temple, which you wouldn't want to miss - not just for religious purposes but also for the grandeur of a 6.10 metre-long statue of the Buddha in a reclining position which dates back to the fifth century and was also excavated in 1876. While it looks as if it was made of gold, the statue, which represents the dying Buddha, is made of monolith red sandstone.

"One of the amazing things about the statue is that the facial expression of Lord Buddha seems to change when you look from different positions. If you stand in front, from an angle, it looks like he is smiling; from behind his head, it looks like he is thinking; and from his feet, it looks like he is dying," explained Amit Kumar, a resident of Kushinagar.

Sitting on the steps of the temple, Choudhury motioned to the beeline of devotees to wait for some time until a Thai delegation of 20 people inside were done with their chanting.

"The foreigners travel great distances to reach this place and that too for a few days. So it doesn't make much of a difference if the rest of us wait for a few minutes...and people really don't mind. Everyone is patient," he said, as other devotees sat on the steps with him, chatting with the monks.

One of those waiting, Lakshmi Devi, from the neighbouring state of Bihar, said: "It's all right if we have to wait for a little while for the foreigners...they have, after all, come from so far and are our guests. My family and I wanted to pay our respects to Lord Buddha, and we are here. What will we get by creating a fuss?"

Considering the heavy flow of foreign tourists, many neighbouring countries have built their own temples near the Mahaparinirvana temple. Their temple complexes also have guest houses to accommodate their citizens and are again a must-see for the sheer beauty of their architecture.

The Watt Thai temple, for instance, is a huge temple complex built in the Thai-Buddhist architectural fashion. The Japanese temple has a beautiful Ashta Dhatu (eight metal) statue of the Buddha which has been brought from Japan. The Linth Son Chinese temple, Myanmar temple and the Korean temple, among others, are also some must visits.

Just about 400 yards from the Nirvana Stupa is the Matha Kuar shrine which has a colossal statue of the Buddha in the 'Bhumi Sparsh Mudra' (earth touching posture) under the 'Bodhi tree', carved out of a single block of stone. The inscription at the base dates it to the 10th-11th century. Also on the itinerary should be a visit to the Ramabhar Stupa which is the cremation ground of the Buddha.

Although there is no air or rail link right to Kushinagar, it is well connected to Gorakhpur, which in turn has a railway station and an air strip. Food and accommodation are not a problem with numerous guest houses and restaurants with, predictably, names like Vipassana and Nirvana! So pack your bags for a few days of nirvana in Kushinagar!


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Sri Lanka mosque closes after attack by Buddhist mob

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Colombo, Sri Lanka -- A mosque in the Sri Lankan capital has been closed after an attack by a Buddhist mob over the weekend sparked clashes in which five people were hurt.

<< Special Task Force commandos stand guard outside a vandalised mosque in Colombo on 11 August 2013 Hard-line Buddhist groups have mounted a campaign against Muslim and Christian targets

Muslims in Colombo's Grandpass area will now use an older place of worship which has been saved from demolition in a deal struck with the government.

But the authorities have also been condemned for failing to make arrests.

In recent months hard-line Buddhist groups have mounted a campaign against Muslim and Christian targets.

Last month, a group of Buddhist monks protested near the mosque, demanding it be relocated.

But during evening prayers on Saturday night Buddhist-led crowds threw stones at the mosque. Police imposed a curfew when Buddhists and Muslims clashed after the attack on Sunday.

The curfew has now been lifted but hundreds of police and special forces are still present on the streets of Grandpass, BBC Sinhala's Azzam Ameen reports.
'Troubling' attacks

The Sri Lanka Muslim Council confirmed that the mosque which was attacked would be abandoned for an older place of worship which the government had previously earmarked for demolition.

"We have a compromise deal worked out last night," Council President NM Ameen told the Agence France-Presse news agency. "From today, we are out of the new mosque," he said.

After a meeting with religious leaders the government withdrew plans to develop a canal behind the old mosque, allowing Muslims use of that site once more.

"Through a just solution, we have now peacefully solved the issue," minister Champika Ranawaka told reporters.

But the violence has sparked criticism, with Sri Lanka's main opposition UNP party condemning authorities for failing to make arrests.

"Not a single arrest [has been] made so far, when it comes to attacks against religious places over the past year. This why we are seeing more and more attacks," MP Harin Fernando told the BBC.

A US embassy statement said that the incident was "particularly troubling in light of a large number of recent attacks against the Muslim community".

The past year has seen mounting religious tension in the country as hard-line Buddhist groups have attacked mosques and Muslim-owned businesses, as well as churches and clergy.

In February, one group also called for the abolition of the Muslim halal system of certifying foods and other goods.

Buddhist hard-liners accuse Muslims and Christians of promoting extremism and trying to convert Buddhists to their own faiths. Both Muslims and Christians have denied such accusations.

The Buddhist Sinhalese community makes up three-quarters of Sri Lanka's population of 20 million.

During Sri Lanka's bitter civil war, the Muslims - a small Tamil-speaking minority, about 9% of the population - kept a low profile, but many now fear that ethnic majority hard-liners are trying to target them.


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Guiyuan Buddhist Temple

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Wuhan, China -- Guiyuan Buddhist Temple is located at Hanyang District, which lies in Wuhan, the largest city in mid-west China. It was built in 1658 during the Qing Dynasty, and was included into "the Four Buddhist Monasteries of Wuhan" together with the Baotong Buddhist Temple, the Gude Temple and the Zhengjue Temple.

<< The huge two-sided Guanyin Avalokitesvara saves you from torment. (CRIENGLISH.com)

Guiyuan Temple covers an area of 4.67 hectares, with more than 200 halls, rooms and temple buildings. It is famous for its splendid architecture, unique sculptures and rich Buddhist collections.

The temple has three distinct courtyards. The central yard possesses a free-life pond with a bell tower and drum tower on both sides. The Weituo Hall is located in the center with the Great Buddha's Hall several steps ahead.

The wing-rooms of the hall function as living rooms and the abstinence dining hall, while the meditation room sits at the back. In the south yard, 500 lifelike Arhat sculptures are enshrined in the Hall of Arhats. The superb manufacturing technique and distinctive styles of the sculptures make them extremely precious.

You can find the Depository of Buddhist Texts in the north yard. The first floor serves as a display room, exhibiting the stone sculptures found in the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Guanyin Avalokitesvara in the Tang Dynasty and the Buddhist statues from other periods. Some treasured instruments and paintings are also displayed here.

The second floor of the depository stores more than 7,000 volumes of Buddhist sutras, including some texts and pal-leaf manuscripts from India, Burma, Thailand and Sri Lanka. There are two especially valuable treasures: a Chinese character of "Buddha" and a volume of the Flower Adornment Sutra and the Lotus Sutra.

The former is written on a piece of paper no larger than 60 square inches. Yet it consists of 5,424 small Chinese characters, showing the texts of the Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra. The latter treasure is written in a special ink made by blood and gold dust.

There are a number of monks in Guiyuan Temple at present, and the current abbot of the temple is the respectable Master Long Yin. Walking into the temple, you'll be welcomed by small and winding paths that will lead you to clear ponds and solemn halls surrounded by big ancient trees. It's a perfect place to regain your inner peace.


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Thursday, August 22, 2013

Aversion, Attachment, and Addiction

Home Healing & Spirituality

Venice, California (USA) -- Recovering from drug addiction is often a difficult and painful process. We spend years of our lives running from every thought and emotion that arises. Intoxicants are the illusion of the perfect solution. We believe we have found the quieted and peaceful mind that we are looking for.

Upon getting sober, we are suddenly left without the anesthesia of intoxicants. As thoughts and emotions begin to arise into our consciousness, we find ourselves suffering greatly. The years of addiction clouded our minds and hearts, pushing out unpleasant thoughts and emotions. When the mind begins to clear, these thoughts and emotions arise and we do not have any tools to work with them.

Buddhism offers the perfect toolset for the recovering addict. Learning about Buddhist principles, the reasons for our behavior begin to make more sense. Teachings on cause and effect open the door to this possibility. For the first time, we take responsibility for our actions. Addiction and the behavior that goes along with it have a root cause in our minds.

The Three Unwholesome Roots, or Three Poisons are especially applicable to recovering from addiction. The first poison, ignorance, is the predecessor to the other two. In ignorance, our view of the world is greatly distorted. We separate from the rest of the world, identifying with “self.” Identifying with self creates a divide. If we have “self,” then everything else in the world is “they” or “them.” This dichotomy gives way to our aversive or attaching relationships to things that are not self.

The second poison (aversion) is our tendency to deny, run, hate, or act aggressively toward something. Without mindfulness and understanding, aversion is often thought to be from other people, situations, or harsh words or actions. However, more practice reveals that aversion is internal; it is the emotion, thought, or sensation that we are averting from, hating, or judging. Getting sober causes a great amount of repressed emotions and thoughts to arise, and our natural and unskillful reaction is to avert. Buddhism teaches the newly sober addict that the aversion is not from anything except these feelings, and we must compassionately and mindfully accept these feelings as they are with equanimity. As AjahnSumedho puts it, “Right now, it’s like this.”

Attachment, the third poison, is not only applicable in our use of intoxicants. It is also relevant to our life without intoxicants. Attachment and greed cause us to want things to be a certain way. If we are attached to an idea of how things should be, we suffer greatly. Similarly, we suffer if we are craving something other than what we have in the present moment. For recovering addicts, this craving for control and anesthesia rips the present moment away.

Although the Buddhist teachings are a great to read and learn about, it is not the only true path. In order to see what the teachings really are, we must sit and meditate for ourselves. Listening to a teacher speak of the dharma is a great way to learn, but it is through personal experience that we begin to uncover our hearts, leave our habit energies behind, and grow into more mindful, compassionate beings.

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The Easier Softer Way is a site dedicated to drug addiction recovery and Buddhist practices. Located in Venice, California, it provides meditation coaching, mindfulness coaching, and sober coaching services. Find out more at:

Website: http://TheEasierSofterWay.com
Facebook: http://Facebook.com/TheEasierSofterWay
Twitter: http://Twitter.com/EasierSofter
Google+ page: http://plus.google.com/100146888366412647279

Read also: Meditation calms mind, helps heal body


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Buddhist monk beaten unconscious

Home Asia Pacific Oceania New Zealand

Auckland, New Zealand -- A 58-year-old Buddhist monk has been beaten unconscious and left tied up on the floor of the Quan Am Buddhist Monastery south of Auckland.

Police were called to the temple on Beaver Rd, Bombay at about 8:40pm yesterday after the monk phoned them for help.

Three offenders smashed down a door and assaulted the monk before binding him with handcuffs.

They continued to assault him until he was unconscious and stole property from the temple before escaping.

The monk is in hospital suffering from several fractures and a significant head injury.

Police said it was a vicious and unprovoked attack.

"It is a particularly nasty attack on a harmless monk from the temple."

They are appealing for anyone who saw any suspicious vehicles in the area to come forward.

They are interested in a blue 2000 Mazda Capella hatchback registration ESJ401.


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One day forum to explore Buddhism's adaptation to the 21st Century

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Petaling Jaya, Malaysia -- The Buddhist Gem Fellowship (BGF) will be organizing a one day forum entitled "Adapting Buddhism to the 21st Century", The event is organized in memory of the late Ven Dr K Sri Dhammananda, commemorating his legacy as a far sighted monk.

The forum will be held at Hall 3, Level 1 of the Graduate Centre, Sunway University on August 31, 2013. Programme will feature talks from renowned Dharma teachers, scholars and practitioners from the United States, Singapore and Malaysia.

Among the venerable and lay speakers are Ven. Mahinda, Ven. Sing Kan, Dr Brooke Schedneck, Datuk Dr Victor Wee, Yap Ching Wi, Dr. Lim Tuck Meng, Tan Huat Chye and Lim Kooi Fong.

This forum invite participants to explore issues of balancing modernity and tradition, with a keynote address by Dr Brooke Schedneck showcasing a case study of Thailand, Burma and Cambodia. It will also discuss whether tradition is an obstacle or enabler of Buddhist growth. A panel discussion will cap off the day's programme by discussing new approaches to revitalize Buddhism.

A key event at the forum will the launching of the book "One Dharma: Many Buddhist Traditions - A Festschrift in Memory of K. Sri Dhammananda Maha Thera (1919 - 2006)". Edited and compiled by Benny Liow, the book is a compilation of articles written by students of the late venerable.

For more information and programme details, please visit:
http://bgf.org.my/index.php?31-aug-2013-adapting-buddhism-to-21st-century-forum-in-memory-of-ven-dr-k-sri-dhammanandas-7th-year-memorial

If you go:

Forum: Adapting Buddhism to the 21st Century
Hall 3, Level 1 of the Graduate Centre, Sunway University
Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
August 31, 2013

Special note to participants driving to the forum's venue:

Due to on-going expansion works, car parking bays on campus are limited. Visitors are advised to park vehicle at Sunway Pyramid, Entry C, Blue Zone and enjoy a scenic 6-minute walk to Sunway campus via the Canopy Walk which is located near the entrance to Sunway Lagoon.

Download map here


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Dalai Lama condemns Buddhist attacks on Muslims in Myanmar, Sri Lanka

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NEW DELHI, India -- The Dalai Lama has reached out to monks in Myanmar and Sri Lanka, imploring them to end recent violence towards Muslims in their countries.

<< Peaceful words: In his speech at the University of Maryland, the Dalai Lama implored Buddhist monks to stop the violent and deadly anti-Muslim violence in Sri Lanka and Myanmar

The Buddhist spiritual leader blamed those of his own religion for recent violent attacks in south Asia, while giving a speech at the University of Maryland.

Hundreds have died and more than 135,000 people have fled their homes in Myanmar, also known as Burma, in the past year's brutal assaults.

In Sri Lanka, Buddhist groups have recently attacked Muslim businesses.

In his speech on Tuesday, the Dalai Lama condemned all killings in the name of religion and admitted that not even Buddhists were exempt from carrying out religious attacks.

‘Killing people in the name of religion is really very sad, unthinkable, very sad,’ the Nobel Peace laureate said.

‘Nowadays even Buddhists are involved, in Burma and Sri Lanka. Buddhist monks destroying Muslim mosques or Muslim families - it's really very sad.’

Dalai Lama begged Buddhists in Sri Lanka and Myanmar to look to their own religion to end the recent escalating violence against Muslims.

'When they develop some sort of negative emotions toward the Muslim community, then please think of the face of Buddha.’

'If the Buddha is there, he will protect the Muslims, he said in the speech in front of 15,000 gathered at the University of Maryland.

However, his calming words may be in vain as Buddhists in Myanmar and Sri Lanka are predominantly Theravada Buddhists, which is separate from the Dalai Lama's Tibetan school, which means they do not answer to his authority.

Religious violence in Myanmar flared up a year ago when mobs of Buddhists armed with machetes razed thousands of Muslim homes in the western Rakhine state, leaving hundreds dead and forcing 125,000 people to flee.

That violence has since spread into a campaign against the country's Muslim community in other regions.

In March, at least 43 people were killed and 12,000 displaced in the central city of Meikhtila when Buddhist mobs rampaged through the town and police stood idly by. Most of the victims were Muslim.

Last week, one person was killed and nine others injured when Buddhists stormed a township 50 miles north of the main city Yangon, ransacking mosques and burning villages to the ground.

Sri Lanka, where 70 per cent identify themselves as Buddhists, compared to 9.7 per cent Muslim, is seeing a rise in attacks on Muslim-owned businesses and hate speeches in public places.

Groups led by Buddhist monks accuse the small Muslim minority of dominating business on the island nation and secretly sterilising Buddhists.


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Disturbing Buddhist Trend toward Violence

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Colombo, Sri Lanka -- Recent incidents of anti-Muslim religious nationalism in Sri Lanka and Myanmar, ostensibly in defense of the Theravada Buddhist faith held by the majority, have opened fresh cultural and political wounds.

<< What would Buddha do?
In Myanmar and Sri Lanka, anti-Muslim religious nationalism opens wounds

Growing violence appears in danger of spinning completely out of control in Burma, most lately in the town of Okkan on the outskirts of Yangon, where a Buddhist mob burned as many as a dozen homes and ransacked a shop shouting "Let's destroy the property of Muslims." Two mosques were desecrated and Qurans were torn to pieces.

Some of these are violent events with alleged government or Buddhist monastic (sangha) backing. Others appear spontaneous, beyond the control of state and Buddhist hierarchy. Either way, they are destructive and troubling. Buddhism is revered as a faith of healing and mercy, but like all religions, it can promote contradictory elements of triumphalism and intolerance.

Both countries are newly emerged from recent politically traumatic experiences released from a decades-long military autocracy (Myanmar) and the ravages of a civil war (Lanka). Both are spectacularly ill-served by this latest outburst of jingoism in the name of a faith that in both instances appears to be manipulated to meet political ends.

Turning first to Myanmar, the state has a long record of relations between the majority Buddhists (90 percent) and minority religions, notably Muslims (5 percent) and Hindus (3 percent). Muslims from a variety of Middle Eastern and Central Asian ethnic backgrounds were at one time a welcome part of historical Burmese kingdoms, traders for the most part, but even serving in the infantry of the great king Mindon Min in the mid-19th century.

Others, particularly the Rohingya in Arakan State bordering on present-day Bangladesh, filtered across porous borders over decades. More controversial were thousands of Indian Muslims brought in by British colonial officials for their commercial skills and hard work.

Anti-Muslim outbreaks associated with Burmese Buddhist economic resentment occurred periodically prior to independence. But Muslim fortunes in Myanmar were virtually ruined by the 1962 military take-over of the state. The Rohingya in particular were held back by the 1982 Citizenship Law, which required proof of ancestry in Myanmar for three generations.

Elsewhere, in 1997 the government allegedly provoked a violent anti-Muslim riot as a diversion over the disappearance of a precious, mystically powerful ruby rumored to have been stolen by superstitious generals from the famous Maha Myat Muni Buddha image in Mandalay.

Further attacks in 2001 in Taungoo and Pyinmana were precursors of the vicious 2012 pogrom on Rohingya communities in the western Rakhine state. This sometimes featured Buddhist monks in the vanguard of activism organizing and encouraging forcible relocation of the Muslim population. More recently in March, 2013, a minor altercation in a Muslim-owned gold shop in the small mid-country city of Meiktila, was suddenly compounded by the murder of a Buddhist monk.

This provoked a week-long rampage. Dozens of pro-Burmese motorcyclists suddenly appeared. Photos of a Buddhist monk manhandling a bull-dozer, and of police standing by while Muslim buildings burned, lent credibility to the suggestion that disgruntled military parliamentarians over the reforms of the government of President Thein Sein were behind the incident, perhaps a circuitous appeal for a return to military rule.

Though Muslims are only a fragment of Myanmar's population, a recent avalanche of rumors about rising Muslim economic and demographic dominance is further spurred on by widespread circulation of inflammatory Islamophobic DVDs. These are complemented by the infamous but relentless hate-filled sermons of the maverick Buddhist monk U Wirathu of Mandalay's otherwise prestigious Masoeyein monastery.

The vitriol spills over into street-level social and commercial relations, with Buddhist businesses demarcating their premises with a special number (969) purporting a spiritual significance, and Muslims adopting something of the same strategy with their own sacred numerals (786).

Left unresolved, these unsavory activities are serious harbingers of a possible failure of Myanmar's three-year experiment with reform and democracy.

Second, Sri Lanka is an example of how sectarian conflict can ruin an otherwise fortunate country. Despite the end of the long civil war in 2009, inter-community relations have sharply deteriorated, and minority vulnerability is high.

This has provided space for a new, anti-Muslim ethnic fault line. Lankan Muslims make up only 9% population and have a centuries-old historical lineage with the Middle East. Many Muslims have been caught by surprise at the recent turn of events, believing themselves to be well integrated, loyal to the state during the civil war, and with longstanding senior appointments in government.

But the roots of Buddhist resentment and suspicion about Muslim presence in Lanka emerged a century ago with the introduction of the ?Aryan myth' into Sinhala politics, which claimed that all minorities live in Lanka by the grace of Sinhalese supremacy and must know their secondary place.

This was the background to the infamous 1915 anti-Muslim riots. Nowhere was motivation for an activist Sinhala Buddhist role more clearly articulated than in Ven. Walpola Rahula's 1946 ground-breaking Bhiksuvage Urumaya (The Heritage of the Bhikkhu).

An intense religio-ethnic struggle had come to characterize the nation, and Buddhism played a critical role in fostering a tough, uncompromising ethnocentric faith, characterized by the 1956 and 1983 riots, this time focused on Ceylon Tamils. An appeal to neo-traditionalism, rather than a needed reappraisal of the role of the sangha and Buddhism in public life, became commonplace.

The situation in 2013 is really not much different in this matter. Just as even an educated Sinhala middle class was persuaded that the Tamils were taking over commercial, educational and professional opportunity in Lanka in the 1980s, now there is renewed antipathy towards the longstanding indigenous Muslim community, an attitude that thrives under the present government, feeling vindicated by the victorious Eelam war.

Anti-Muslim actions have involved attacks on mosques with little or no effective police response, claims that national examination results are distorted to favor Muslims, demands for repeal of Halal certification with the claim that its fees go toward mosque construction, ludicrous conspiracy theories (e.g., that certain sanitary napkins sold in Muslim stores to Buddhist women lead to sterilization), claims that Muslim families are too large, and malicious spreading of rumors of rape and coercion. Within the last year there have been attacks on Muslim mosques or businesses in Dambulla, Gampola, Peliliyana and Colombo, some involving stone-throwing Buddhist monks.

This is accompanied by the sudden rise of the Bodhu Bala Sena (Buddhist Power Force), a relatively new expression of Sinhala ultra-nationalistic patriotism. The organization uses crude language to describe, for instance, Muslim imams, and is also actively anti-Christian.

It has top-level patronage support, with its new leadership academy in Galle opened by Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who recently intoned "It is the monks who protect our country, religion and race. No one should doubt these clergy."

Buddhism is not a monolithic organization in Sri Lanka. The sangha is comprised of approximately 30,000 monks (bhikkhus) belonging to three principal nikayas, in turn divided into many smaller groups. Each monastery is virtually an autonomous unit.

This indicates that centralized authority over the conduct of sangha members is almost non-existent. Buddhism's many nuances, structural and ideological, make it impossible for senior monks to dictate an alternative official Buddhist position or to propose any one sweeping commentary on its participation in the political destiny of the country.

This is compounded by a current climate of fear and helplessness, with people silent or unable to speak out against rampant injustice and intimidation, violence. The government appears indifferent to alternative opinions and is obsessed with majoritarianism, not with unity in diversity, or equality and justice in a pluralistic state.

Lankan moderates, of which there are many, have failed to sustain or act on inter-religious friendships and to speak out and protect each other. Regrettably there is no key internal pressure from the electorate to challenge the slide into communalism, despite the horrors stance this has visited upon Lanka since independence in 1948.

Muslim leaders have not been confrontational, and remain largely conciliatory. But there is the risk of Sri Lanka losing any political and economic good will the government might have built up with Middle East countries, many of which are huge sources of employment for Sri Lanka domestics and their important economic remittances.

No government representing a majority Buddhist population should tolerate such anti-Muslim activism. As Ven. Arriya Wuthu Bewuntha, abbot of the Myawaddy Sayadaw monastery in Mandalay has put it, "This is not what the Buddha taught." But in both Myanmar and Sri Lanka, this is an on-going uncomfortable reality. It remains to be seen what further deleterious consequences these events will have for these nations.
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Bruce Matthews is a Professor Emeritus of Comparative Religion, Acadia University, Nova Scotia


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