American Buddhist Net

7 August 2008
BY ALISON KLAYMAN

Gold medalists won’t be the only ones climbing podiums in Beijing once the 2008 Olympic Games are under way. Isaac Shapiro will be stepping up to celebrate his bar mitzvah.

Isaac, of Highland Park, Ill., will be called to the Torah at the Chabad House in Beijing on Aug. 16. and his family are among the hundreds of Jewish tourists, athletes, dignitaries and media expected to converge on the Chinese capital for the 2008 Olympic Games, which begin Aug. 8.

While most visitors probably don’t even realize there is a local Jewish community in Beijing, the resident Jews of China’s capital are getting ready to welcome anyone who seeks them out.

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A fundamentalist church group from the U.S. has announced it plans to picket the funeral of Tim McLean Jr. in Winnipeg, declaring, "God is punishing Canada."

"People are absolutely outraged about it," said Doug Mitchell, a friend of McLean's for about seven years.

Led by pastor Fred Phelps, the Westboro Baptist Church from Kansas issued a release saying they would picket McLean's funeral this weekend.

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2008-08-08

The streets of Okinawa will be filled during a four-day period starting Wednesday, but most stores won’t be closed.

It is Obon, one of the three primary holidays on the Okinawa calendar.

Obon is a time for celebrating life, and welcoming ancestor spirits home for a family reunion. It’s a Buddhist event, where ancestor spirits are believed to return to the human world in order to visit relatives. It is also called the Urabon, the Feast of Lanterns.

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7th August 2008
By Shaun Inguanzo

SPRINGVALE’S Buddhist community celebrated the Hungry Ghost Festival this week.

The Hungry Ghost Festival is a traditional Buddhist ceremony held annually on the seventh month of the lunar calendar.

The belief is that the festival is held when spirits come to Earth from above, living Buddhists offer prayers, chants, food and burn incense to satisfy ghosts and attract good fortune.

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Wed, Aug 6, 2008
By TRACIE CONE
Associated Press Writer

HICKMAN, Calif. --Friends of an elderly millionaire who was killed by a local pastor sensed something was wrong long before his death.

The agricultural museum that the Rev. Howard Douglas Porter had promised to establish using the old man's life savings wasn't being built, so one day Les Orr drove 85-year-old Frank Craig to the site. There, behind Hickman Community Church, where Porter was the pastor, stood nothing but an empty grass lot.

"As soon as he saw there was no foundation, that nothing had been done at all, he started vomiting," Orr said, recalling the feelings of betrayal that overwhelmed Craig, his friend of 60 years. "Then he said, 'Take me home.'"

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August 5, 2008
By GRETEL C. KOVACH

DALLAS — Texas child welfare officials asked a court Tuesday to return eight children from a polygamous sect to state custody because their mothers refused to limit the children’s contact with men involved in under-age marriages.

According to affidavits filed in State District Court in San Angelo, four mothers connected to the sect, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, have refused to sign safety plans preventing such interaction.

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Chambers Expresses Surprise At Christians' Violent Reaction To Lawsuit

OMAHA, Neb. -- A Nebraska senator who filed a lawsuit against God appeared in court Tuesday and demanded the defendant to "cease certain harmful activities and the making of terroristic threats."

Despite Sen. Ernie Chambers' lack of success in petitioning the defendant, he hopes the lawsuit brings to light his stance that no lawsuit is frivolous until the court decides.

Chambers said state senators periodically have offered bills prohibiting the filing of certain types of suits. He said his main objective is that the constitution requires that the doors to the courthouse be open to all.

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The Olympics begin in Beijing on 8-8-08, but the Chinese are not alone in seeing the good fortune this number can bring

By Susan Van Dongen

IN this early part of the 21st century, for the next few years, we can have fun with dates, up until 12/12/12. This is one of those weeks that the calendar gets interesting, since Friday is 8/8/08.

Numbers in general hold a great deal of significance. For example, nine is considered the number of completion to numerologists and those interested in symbolism, for one reason, because it is the final single digit in our number system.

Eight is no slouch, though. Look into the number eight, and you’ll find a rich assortment of symbolic meanings, from pre-Christian spirituality to science fiction. Felicity, regeneration, resurrection and perfect rhythm are all attributions of eight.

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What if it turns out that early Christianity really was deeply influenced by Buddhism, as many scholars of the subject aver? What if some of Christ's teachings were borrowed from the Dharma? Or if early Christian monasteries were modeled on Buddhist ones? There was definitely a robust Buddhist influence in the ancient Mediterranean world and there was a good deal of travel and communication between it and India. Here is a good place to start if this subject interests you: Buddhism and Christianity. ABN
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Exclusivist view of Christianity might not be so rare.

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra | posted 8/05/2008 08:32AM

Many Christian leaders lamented the results of a Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey from June, which revealed that 57 percent of those affiliated with evangelical churches agree with the statement that many religions can lead to eternal life.

But that number may not be as alarming as it first appears, said Terry Mattingly, editor of media blog GetReligion. Many survey respondents, he said, may not have distinguished between religion and denomination.

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The heirs of the Knights Templar have launched a legal battle in Spain to force the Pope to restore the reputation of the disgraced order which was accused of heresy and dissolved seven centuries ago.

Fiona Govan, Madrid Correspondent
Last Updated: 1:07PM BST 04 Aug 2008

The Association of the Sovereign Order of the Temple of Christ, whose members claim to be descended from the legendary crusaders, have filed a lawsuit against Benedict XVI calling for him to recognise the seizure of assets worth 100 billion euros (£79 billion).

They claim that when the order was dissolved by his predecessor Pope Clement V in 1307, more than 9,000 properties as well as countless pastures, mills and other commercial ventures belonging to the knights were appropriated by the church.

But their motive is not to reclaim damages only to restore the "good name" of the Knights Templar.

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August 5, 2008
By PAUL VITELLO

...On Sunday, parishioners at Mass were told that the archdiocese had removed Monsignor Harris from his parish and priestly duties while it looked into complaints by two people that he had sexually abused them about 20 years ago.

Neither the archdiocese nor the Manhattan district attorney’s office would provide more details. But people familiar with the district attorney’s investigation said the complaints involved the fondling of two boys, about 13 or 14 years old, when they were students at the Cathedral School in Manhattan, where Monsignor Harris was assigned before becoming pastor at St. Charles Borromeo.

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...Kashmiris thus find themselves not simply sandwiched between India and Pakistan, but they are caught in what I would call a web of the interplay of complex and dubious historical forces. Such being our historical experience, J&K’s deepening crisis cannot be resolved overnight. Nor can it be merely explained in terms of one factor, as for example, Hindu-Muslim divide on the basis of religion, the problematic nature of ethnic diversities or a territorial conflict between India and Pakistan. We need to understand dispassionately the nature of our crisis which, in my opinion, is essentially related to our historical and civilisational identity as a nation.

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By Geetinder Garewal

CHANDIGARH, India (Reuters) - At least 145 people, mostly women and children, were crushed to death under the feet of thousands of pilgrims in a stampede at a temple in Himachal Pradesh on Sunday, police said.

Hindu worshippers, chanting and singing hymns, were snaking up a 4-km trail leading to a hill-top temple in Bilaspur district when the stampede occurred.

Police said the pilgrims might have panicked after heavy rains caused some loose stones from a retaining wall along the hilly trail to fall.

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August 3, 2008

Fortune telling is the practice of predicting the future, usually of an individual, through mystical or supernatural means and often for commercial gain. It often conflates with the religious practice known as divination.

Chinese fortune telling has utilized many varying divination techniques throughout the dynastic periods. There are four major methods still in practice in China today, and they remain in use due to their accuracy and popularity. Over time, some of these concepts have moved into Korean and Japanese culture under other names.

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Sunday August 3 2008

At least 68 people, many of them women and children, were killed and 47 injured in a stampede at a temple in northern India today, police said.

Iron railings leading to the Hindu temple of Naina Devi in the state of Himachal Pradesh broke, causing panic, a senior police officer, K K Indoria told Reuters, adding: "We think around 68 people have died."

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08/03/2008
By Helen T. Gray

...Is there an afterlife for animals? Or as a popular question puts it, "Do all dogs go to heaven?"

Jack Vinyardi of Kansas City, Mo., an ordained interfaith chaplain of pets, said he is asked that question all the time as he comforts people about to lose or who have lost a pet.

He tells them there is no faith that claims to know unquestionably what happens to animals when they die.

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Hundreds of Kashmiri Hindus backed by political parties clashed with police in the Capital on Saturday while holding a rally to pledge support to activists in Jammu protesting the killings of two people and revocation of the land transfer to the Amarnath Shrine Board.

Around 3,000 people of all age groups gathered at Jantar Mantar in the heart of the Capital and proceeded towards Parliament House, but were stopped by police officials near the Parliament Street police station.

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Army called out in Kashmir religious protests

India-Pakistan clashes bring fear to Kashmir villages

Sat Aug 2, 2008
By Paul Majendie

BEIJING (Reuters) - Astrology expert Raymond Lo has a word of warning for China's Olympic leaders -- they should wear an ox pendant to ward off bad karma at the Olympics.

The Beijing Games open at eight minutes past eight o'clock in the evening on the 8th day of the 8th month in 2008, a time that traditionally offers the perfect combination of good luck and prosperity.

The Olympics are being staged in the Year of the Rat but, according to Chinese animal astrology, that could spell trouble for anyone born in the Year of the Horse.

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Aug 01, 2008

If you live in or have visited Bangkok, you are probably under the illusion that Thailand is a modern society and you could be excused for thinking that. Sure, it's modern in the way that shopping malls, underground and sky trains, large movie theatres and enormous supermarkets are modern. But, in thought and in action, the Thais are often actually not very modern at all and, in fact, are the products of a culture of superstition and folk beliefs.

Not that I'm knocking it. In fact, I love the superstitions, spirit worship and folk beliefs that Thais believe in. Buddhism is still the main religion of Thailand, yet most Thais actually believe in a mixture of Thai Buddhism, superstition and folk religions. Every day, just in my normal life, I experience an example of some of this superstition and folk magic, and work today was no exception.

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August 2, 2008
By SUE RYAN

Kevin Kim began his trek in May as a walk across America to talk about religious diversity and pluralism.

He isn’t filling lecture halls but meandering from person to person as he explores what faith means to people across the United States. He reached Cascade Locks this week and is headed east.

“I’m a Christian who has a deep interest in Buddhism,” he said.

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August 1, 2008

...In addition to people from numerous tribes around the country, the participants in the group ranged from Caucasian Americans concerned about the planet to a group of Buddhist monks and nuns from Japan.

"It was a good feeling to see all the races," Escalante said. "There is so much turmoil and so much bad blood between races and when you see (everyone together), it's really a good feeling. We were all walking for the same reason."

Several of the Buddhist monks were drawn to the photograph Escalante was carrying and they asked if they could bless her great-grandmother.

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8/2/2008

The Olympic Games start Friday in Beijing. Religion is a complex and tense issue in China. Here are five basics about religion in China:

China is officially atheist. It's a communist country, but its constitution allows religious practice, and the government regulates five major religions: Catholicism, Protestant Christianity, Taoism, Buddhism and Islam.

Buddhists make up the largest group of Chinese faithful. Believers number in the tens of millions, according to government estimates. The country has more than 13,000 Buddhist temples. The religion came to China early in the Common Era.

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August 1, 2008

PORTERVILLE, Calif. -- Hundreds of people have been flocking to see what they believe is an angel in the window of a California carpet store.

Owners of the store in Porterville said they receive a visit from the apparition every night.

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Memorials including songs and prayers will mark the 1-year anniversary of the I-35W bridge collapse Friday.

At 6:05 p.m., the time the bridge fell, there will be nothing but silence.

A morning interfaith memorial service at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis will include prayers from different faith traditions. Buddhist monks will chant, and Native American drum group will play.

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By Jim Coggins

...The Beijing hosting committee has chosen to bypass the usual method and provide the required religious services through Chinese nationals, particularly the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM). The TSPM was established shortly after the Communist takeover of China in 1949. It was intended to bring all Protestant and evangelical groups in China together into one body free from any ties to foreign religious bodies. As the only legally recognized Protestant body in China, it is tightly controlled by the Communist Party. It is not allowed to teach children or discuss issues such as the Second Coming or abortion.

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