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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August 7, 2008

HANOI - VIETNAM has legalised some types of sex change surgery but will let government physicians have the final say on what gender a patient is, a health official in the communist country said on Thursday.

The decree published this week allows corrective surgery for hermaphrodites and people born with certain genital deformities, but not for people who are physically of one sex and request gender reassignment surgery.

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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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08/07/2008
Ari LeVaux

Chinese authorities may have shut down the dog restaurants in Beijing before the start of the Olympics, but I still scored a great piece of ass in Dunhuang, a city in western China. Stir-fried with carrots and peppers, the donkey flesh tasted like beef, only leaner.

I’m writing from Central Asia, smack in the middle of the world’s largest continent, and as far from the ocean as you can get. I’ve joined a group of Beijing-based astronomers that’s come west to watch the August 1 solar eclipse, the path of which passes near the village of Yiwu in Xinjiang, China’s most remote province.

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August 5, 2008

SANTIAGO, Chile -- Alberto Achacaz Walakial, one of the last surviving members of the nomadic Kaweskar tribe that once plied the waters off Chile's Patagonian coast, has died of blood poisoning, local media reported on Tuesday.

Government documents listed Achacaz's age at 79, but some believe he was close to 90.

Experts estimate that only about a dozen full-blooded Kaweskars - or Alacalufes - survive and the group appears destined to disappear in the near future as there are no women of fertile age left.

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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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August 04 2008
By Dick Pelletier

Imagine living in an ageless, disease-free body with youthful looks, superhuman strength and a brain that can out-think computers. Now further imagine an affluent, happy, crime-free population residing in a world terraformed for comfort without dangerous storms, tsunamis, or unbearable weather.

This is the vision many forward-thinkers believe humanity can achieve during this century. Although life seems to rush by at rocket speeds today, the future will advance even faster. Author James John Bell, in his Exploring the Singularity article in The Futurist says, “We won’t just experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century – it will be more like 20,000 years.”

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August 05, 2008
By Karen Jeffrey

-The earliest written account of kite flying was about 200 B.C. when the Chinese General Han Hsin of the Han Dynasty flew a kite over the walls of a city he was attacking to measure how far his army would have to tunnel to reach past the defenses.

- Kite flying was eventually spread by traders from China to Korea, and across Asia to India. Each area developed a distinctive style of kite and cultural purpose for flying them.

-During the Silla Dynasty of Korea around the year 600, General Gim Yu-sin was ordered to subdue a revolt. However, his troops refused to fight. They had seen a large shooting star fall from the sky and believed it to be a bad omen. To regain control, the General used a large kite to carry a fire ball into the sky. The soldiers, seeing the star return to heaven, rallied and defeated the rebels.

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Monday, Aug. 04, 2008
By BRUCE CRUMLEY

Kids sometimes get in trouble for breaking a window or an arm while playing a sport, but they rarely cause controversy for their choice of sport itself. Not so with Franco-Mexican boy Michel Lagravère Peniche, 10. Twice over the past weekend, officials in the south of France stopped Lagravère from taking part in his favorite pastime. Such a prohibition might be odd were the kid a soccer or rugby champ. But Lagravère's precocious gift is for bullfighting.

"The violence and torture central to bullfighting make it a truly shocking activity at any time, but its cruelty is even more horrible when it's being inflicted by a small child," argues Claire Starozinski, president of the Anti-Corrida Association (ACA), which seeks a full ban on bullfighting in France and was behind the moves to prevent Lagravère from performing this past weekend. "This boy has killed nearly 60 of these animals in Mexico — there's video of him, inflicting death, on the web. We decided to prevent him from fighting in France."

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Aug 5, 2008

TOKYO - JAPANESE men are worrying about more than mere sweat as summer temperatures rise: talk of body odour caused by ageing is adding to anxiety in a land that prizes being squeaky clean.

Being Japan, it has also sparked a range of new products, from odour-eating suits to special chewing gum.

'My wife tells me that I stink,' said company manager Atsushi Asami, 47, interviewed on a typically hot and humid Tokyo street.

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By Shanthy Nambiar and Suttinee Yuvejwattana

Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Paiboon Marvin started wearing dresses and makeup before he became a teenager. Now 16, he wants to be castrated as the next step toward becoming a woman.

Until recently, that wouldn't have been a problem: Boys of any age in Thailand could have their testicles removed for as little as 5,000 Baht ($150) with no questions asked. Now Paiboon may have to wait two years because the procedure will be outlawed for those under 18, after pressure from gay rights activists who say youngsters may follow a trend and regret it later.

``I don't think I'm too young to do it,'' says Paiboon, wearing a green-ribboned top, shorts, mascara and pink lipstick. ``I know I won't change my mind. I've known since I was a kid that I'm not male.''

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Jane Macartney in Beijing

If the men of Beijing think they can still emerge from their homes of a morning – unshaven, a bit smelly, still in their pyjamas and slippers – and saunter down to the supermarket or the public lavatories, they can think again: the etiquette police are in town and it is time to spruce up for the Olympics.

Even clothes that Chinese citizens of both sexes would consider smart may not be good enough: white socks worn with black shoes are out, leather skirts are frowned upon, bright nail varnish is a no and woe betide anyone whose colours clash.

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A GUIDE TO CHINA'S LABOR CAMPS PDF FILE

From the Wikipedia entry on durian: "The edible flesh [of the durian fruit] emits a distinctive odour, strong and penetrating even when the husk is intact. Regarded by some as fragrant, others as overpowering and offensive, the smell evokes reactions from deep appreciation to intense disgust. The odour has led to the fruit's banishment from certain hotels and public transportation in Southeast Asia." See this photo for an example of a "no durian" sign. Robyn
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Monday August 4, 2008
By BUNTHA THOL

A Durian Festival organised by the Chempaka Buddhist Lodge in Taman SEA, Petaling Jaya, attracted more than 1,000 people recently.

The Lodge has been celebrating the festival yearly during the durian season for the past five years.

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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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Vogue model, style icon and David Bailey's muse, Penelope Tree was the ultimate Sixties It girl. In a rare interview she tells Louise France about her charity work, the misery behind her privileged upbringing - and how the Dalai Lama saved her life

Sunday August 03, 2008

Penelope Tree has both a name and a face that are hard to forget. Yet for the best part of the past 35 years she has done her damnedest to stay out of the spotlight. During a brief, heady period at the end of the Sixties this American-born model encapsulated the style of the times. Eyes as lustrous as they were round, cheekbones on which you could balance a cup and saucer, a kooky, ethereal sense of style that both epitomised the mood and was all her own. When John Lennon was asked to describe her in three words he is said to have replied: 'Hot, hot, hot, smart, smart, smart!' For a while, when David Bailey was her boyfriend and there were front covers for Vogue in her modelling book, she was the It girl in a decade crowded with other so-called It girls with memorable monikers, from Twiggy to Cilla.

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Sunday August 03, 2008
By PHILIP BRASOR

Japan is overrun with cute mascots. They represent everything from chain stores to police departments, and for the past decade or so there has been a marked increase in the popularity of one species of mascot called "yuru-kyara." The second half of this word stands for "character," while "yuru" is from the adjective "yurui," which means "light" or "weak," though in this case the nuance is that of being unserious, unfinished, unimportant. They are designed for local governments; sometimes by professionals, sometimes by amateurs, sometimes by the local governments themselves. The point is that they aren't skillfully executed. In fact, the amateurish nature of their concept and design is their main appeal.

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An age-old Buddhist ritual, 'wing ma', involves both local children and adults

Sunday August 03, 2008
Story by PLOENPOTE ATTHAKOR

Holding a colourful loincloth firmly in her hands, Suchada Oonhasut is ready for her mission - to run around the main chapel of Wat Suwannaram in an act of worship.

The mission to be carried out by the 13-year-old girl is part of a ritual called wing ma kae bon (riding on horseback as an act of worship), which is performed by thankful worshippers whose wishes have been granted by Phra Satsada, the sacred Buddha image of Wat Suwannaram in Bangkok Noi district. The loincloth symbolises a horse. The girl will run three times around the main hall of the temple.

The girl and her running mate, Monchai Kramwong, will mimic a horse's neigh from time to time during the ritual, which is well-known not only to locals but also people in other districts. They will both receive 200 baht for the mission, which will last about 10 to 15 minutes.

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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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Good piece, worth reading, especially if you are not familiar with the history of this area. Moreover, given the importance of Buddhist Gandhara, Taxila, and Greco-Bactria, and given the known influence of these regions on both Indian and Chinese Buddhism, it is hard not to conclude that Eastern Mediterranean coastal areas were also deeply influenced by these kingdoms and that consequently early Christianity was influenced by Buddhism. Some say that it was profoundly influenced. Central Asia is one of the world's most important historical regions, though constant changes in the area often obscure that fact. ABN
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August 1, 2008
Pervaiz Munir Alvi

Pakistan is home to the ancient Gandhara Civilization. Its Buddhist character, which this civilization is best known for, was first established in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when colonial British military men and archeologists discovered various ancient religious sites near the city of Taxila in the Potowar region of Pakistan.

However since independence of Pakistan, the late 20th century studies and research conducted both by the Pakistani and Western scholars have documented and confirmed that Gandhara Civilization was not always Buddhist in character but had also gone through some well defined Hellenistic and Parthian periods as well.

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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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Thu Jul 31, 2008

LONDON (Reuters) - The world's oldest recorded joke has been traced back to 1900 BC and suggests toilet humor was as popular with the ancients as it is today.

It is a saying of the Sumerians, who lived in what is now southern Iraq and goes: "Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband's lap."

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Human beings are compelled to live within a lie, but they can be compelled to do so only because they are in fact capable of living in this way. Therefore not only does the system alienate humanity, but at the same time alienated humanity supports this system as its own involuntary master plan, as a degenerate image of its own degeneration, as a record of people's own failure as individuals.

Vaclav Havel
1936-, Czech Playwright, President

Walking in the footsteps of Apache chief Mangas Coloradas

Story and photos by Jerry Eagan

...A friend recently asked, "How do you find the places you hike?" Read the history, I replied. Once I've got a "target area" in mind, I go. Once there, I ask the spirits of the Apache, Anglos and Hispanics who were there: Where do you want me to go? What do you want me to see? Find? Who are you? Reveal yourself to me. After I explained this process, my friend said, "Well, then, it seems the Spirits lead you." I don't take that lightly, and I feel grateful for those gifts from "them."

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August 1, 2008
Joel Gibson

AT THE 2007 NSW Liquor Store of the Year, staff were instructed to keep "coloureds" out of the shop unless they were willing to come in individually and be searched - and to call police if they refused.

Tim Leonard, owner of Old Bar Cellars near Taree on the NSW north coast, wrote a memo to staff in February outlining new rules for Aboriginal customers, "due to the fact that we have now had three known incidents of shoplifting involving the one coloured girl plus friends".

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A powwow builds bridges between the town of Meeker and the White River Utes.

July 31, 2008
By Josh McDaniel

Meeker, Colorado - LeAllen Blackhair began the Grass Dance at dusk as thunderheads gathered on the ridges above the White River Valley. The fringes on his regalia swayed in time to the drumbeat as he glided in smooth, symmetrical movements to create a sense of balance on the land.

The significance of the dance was not lost on the hundreds of Ute and non-Ute spectators who ringed the arena at the First Annual Smoking River Pow Wow here last weekend.

This was a dance of reconciliation.

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