American Buddhist Net

Tibet's young lama seeks a role for Buddhism in environmentalism

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In Phil Borges's photograph, the shaved heads of three Tibetan Buddhist nuns draw an arched silhouette against gray skies and mountains.

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CUYAHOGA FALLS: The smell of incense filled the room as more than 60 people gathered for a Green Tara empowerment ceremony at the Akron-Canton Shambhala.

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Dharamsala, August 26: The city of Budapest plans to make His Holiness the Dalai Lama an honorary citizen this year, according to Hungarian media reports.

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Acting jointly, China's Ministry of Public Security and the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China have tightened up their control over the Buddhist monasteries in the Tibetan areas of China and over the mosques in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region.

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A Chinese Catholic woman has pulled off a rare feat by encouraging a number of Buddhists to convert to Catholicism in the Sino-Tibetan province of Qinghai.

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Manali, Aug.22 : Hundreds of Tibetan Buddhist monks and devotees participated in a religious congregation addressed by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama here on Sunday.

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Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama said in Himachal Pradesh's Lahaul district on Friday, there is no gender bias in Buddhism and nothing prevents a woman from becoming his successor.

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By Phurbu Thinley

Dharamsala, August 17: In what appeared to be a fresh effort to further tighten government’s control on Tibet's influential religious institutions, a top leader of the Communist Party of China has called for reforms in Buddhist monasteries by appointing monks and nuns who are "politically reliable".

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Chinese authorities in Tibet have restricted the display of photos of the Karmapa Lama, confiscating them from monks and warning drivers not to carry them in their vehicles, according to sources in the region.

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China is in a race with itself to see just how petty it can be. ABN

A fresh purge appeared to be in the offing in Tibet with a top leader of the Communist Party of China calling for reforms in Buddhist monasteries by appointing monks and nuns who are "politically reliable".

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Chinese culture is a relentless annihilator of anything that gets near it. ABN

Taipei - A group of Tibetans and Taiwanese protested at the National Palace Museum Sunday against an exhibit of Tibetan treasure.

The demonstrators accused the museum of endorsing China's territorial claim over Tibet because the exhibition does not mention the military takeover of the region in the 1950s.

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BOULDER — It's not easy being the young incarnation of a great Tibetan Buddhist spiritual teacher.

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People interested in learning about Tibetan Buddhism can get a firsthand look at the ancient Eastern religion next week through lectures, workshops, and a "Brunch with the Monks" being offered in the Toledo area.

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A special exhibition of Tibet treasures is being held at the Palace Museum in Taiwan to unveil the mysteries of Tibetan Buddhism.

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Daja Meston had a giggle that called to mind the Dalai Lama, and his voice blended accents from so many languages that his words seem to sound a melody of peace.

When customers and friends stopped by Karma, the Newton fair-trade crafts shop he ran with his wife, Mr. Meston invited them to sit and sip a cup of tea. Some called him Wangchuk, a name bestowed on him when he was ordained a Buddhist monk as a young boy in Nepal.

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A few times a year an article like this one appears. They are all roughly the same--somebody with little understanding of Buddhism and an itch to write something pesky decides to take on the Dalai Lama or Zen meditation. They go on a retreat or visit Tibet and discover that Buddhism is "not for them" or, as in this story, that Tibetan Buddhism "really freaked me out." Even the formula for these pieces is predictable--pen a few gaudy descriptions, take a few shallow statements from famous people, stir in some counterpoint by an obscure scholar or "writer", complain that more Westerners need to understand the truth about Buddhism because, when it comes down to it, all they are really doing is searching for "some cheap and easy purpose in their empty lives." I could go on, and I usually never bother with these pieces, and I really dislike criticizing anyone's work, but stuff like this furthers nothing. ABN

Tibetech.org in collaboration with Sierra Friends of Tibet has announced a special art talk with Tibetan Buddhist Monk Geshe Lobsang Tsultrim. Geshela (a title similar to a Ph.D. indicating an earned degree) is a Tibetan Buddhist monk of the Gelupa order, the same order of the Dalai Lama of Tibet.

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At the end of a cold Himalayan December in 1999, a 14-year old monk made a phenomenal escape from a monastery in Tibet where his every move was patrolled by the Chinese. Fleeing by car, on foot and by horseback, he crossed some of Nepal's most forbidding terrain and found his way to India, where he settled at the feet of the Dalai Lama, seeking teaching.

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By Jigmet, Gangtok, July 21 : Buddhist monks and devotees participated in a procession to commemorate the birth anniversary of Buddhist patron saint, Guru Padmasambhava, in Gangtok, Sikkim.

Guru Padmasambhava is adored in Sikkim and is also referred to as Guru Rinpoche.

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By P. Vijian

DHARAMSALA, July 20 (Bernama) -- Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama believes his next reincarnation will be in a "free country", if the Tibetan crisis prolongs without a cordial solution.

"If I die as a refugee and the Tibetan situation remains like this, then logically, my reincarnation will appear in a free country, because the very purpose of reincarnation is to carry on the work which began in my previous life.

"And, there is some contribution, some fulfillment in work started in the previous life. Then, that is truly reincarnation," he told Bernama in a recent interview at his exile-base in Dharamsala in northern India.

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That takes care of China having any claim on choosing the next Dalai Lama. This is an important statement that completely short-circuits Chinese moves to control the institution of the Dalai Lama. ABN

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GANGTOK, July 18: Calls for the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorjee to take his seat of power at Rumtek Dharma Chakra Centre located in East Sikkim have intensified with three major monasteries of Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism here collectively taking a lead.

The Gyalwa Karmapa is the head of Kaygu School of Tibetan Buddhism while Rumtek Dharma Chakra Centre is the headquarters of this School.

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Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama has again expressed his firm belief that one day he would win over the Chinese leaders to gain genuine autonomy for the people living in Tibet, but reiterated that he was not seeking separation from China. "You know, I have my mantra, we are not seeking independence, and the Chinese have their own mantra, Tibet is part of China," the Nobel Peace laureate said in an interview, according to a post on the website of the Tibetan government-in-exile on Saturday.

"I believe the middle path will come true. In the last 60 years, the same one party system has changed, the obvious big change today is Chinese communist has changed to capitalist communist," he said.

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Historically, China has done many times in the past what it is doing today in Tibet and Inner Mongolia. It uses its huge population to overwhelm and smother border regions that are being absorbed into the Chinese fold. It is not genocide since they do not seek to kill Tibetans and it is not ethnic cleansing since they do not seek to get the Tibetans to all move out. It is a sort of culture-cide, a lingo-cide, a religio-cide that seeks to replace native customs and beliefs with Chinese ones. It is a type of colonialism. In Israel, where Jews have a tiny population compared to China, we can see their sort of colonialism working to move people off the land or sequester them in smaller and smaller areas. Jews cannot hope to assimilate non-Jews and have them disappear into the greater Jewish community as the Chinese can do with Tibetans. Jews and Chinese exhibit two extremes of what might be called a cultural evolutionary strategy. One is like the ocean, absorbing everything that flows into it, while the other is like a seawall, seeking to keep everything out. How much should Buddhists care about this? Culture is notoriously difficult to preserve, as are religions, especially nowadays. In Buddhist teachings, most cultures are fundamentally the shared delusions of masses of people. When I first started thinking along those lines many years ago, it all seemed fairly philosophical. After George Bush, 9/11, the Patriot Act, insane wars, Sarah Palin and John McCain, it seems so real and down-to-earth, I am once again amazed at the Buddha's wisdom. With so few examples, he was able to see so much, and so much of what he saw still holds true today. I have no idea what is going to happen in Tibet. I hope the Dalai Lama is right. He has set a great example of non-violence coupled with persistence. If he succeeds, future generations will learn from his methods as much or more than from Gandhi. I also have no idea what is going to happen in Israel, but I wish American Jews, who have so much power, would use their influence with one-tenth the wisdom of the Dalai Lama. There must be a way we can establish a secure state of Israel without screwing the Palestinians or rubbing their faces in defeat day after day. So many American Jewish billionaires and scholars and all they can come up with is bomb Iran, build a wall, force Congress to sign loyalty oaths, twist the media, dissemble for yet another decade on "peace talks"? Where is it leading? How much goodness has been abandoned in the pursuit of an inherently flawed plan, one that looks like it belongs on the shelf with other forms of 19th century colonialism? ABN

Tamzhing shedra, Chamkhar 16 July, 2010 - Coinciding with the first sermon of the Lord Buddha, the purjang of His Eminence the Lhalung Thuksey rinpoche was held in front of the Tamzhing shedra near Konchosum lhakhang in Chamkhar, Bumthang yesterday.

The day is considered one of the most auspicious on the Bhutanese calendar by both Buddhist masters and according to astrological beliefs.

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After campaigning for 2 years worldwide against the Dalai Lama via NKT’s front group Western Shugden Society, the NKT is launching now a huge campaign via the publisher Tharpa in USA and UK. Tharpa Publications is a property of the NKT and publishes exclusively the books of ‘Geshe’ Kelsang Gyatso and the educational material for the NKT organisation and NKT’s followers, including posters, postcards or propaganda material like "Tibetan Situation". Since the books about Tibetan Buddhism by Kelsang Gyatso are usually written well, touching basic ideas of Buddhism often in an inspiring way, and the cultish structure of NKT shines through them only slightly, these books are of extreme benefit for NKT to attract new members who are open to Buddhism or who are interested to do something to improve their lives. So it comes to no surprise that after the loss of many followers—due to NKT’s internal sexual scandals and the protests against the Dalai Lama—NKT leadership decided to try hard to attract new members for the sake “to expand their empire”.

Of course the NKT leadership is telling their members that they are helping millions of millions of sentient beings by spreading “the pure Buddhadharma” (=NKT) in “these extremely impure times”. Followers of the NKT is told by the leadership they must serve the organisation because this is the only way “to accumulate merit” and to “attain realizations”. Them is also told that they would not be successful in retreats because of “lacking merits” and due “to the extremely impure times” their endeavour wouldn’t bring big results. But if they teach others the “pure Dharma” (=Kelsang Gyatso’s books or teachings) or work for the organisation as directors, teachers, education program coordinators and all the other needed tasks to run such a huge organisation, they would serve their own enlightenment the best.

What is for others “empire building” is for NKT a noble activity.

For details and additional background information see:

Waterstones' Naivety Helps the Spread of the New Kadampa Tradition

DHARAMSALA: India has denied permission to Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the 17th Karmapa who is the third most respected Tibetan monk reincarnate and is recognised by both the Dalai Lama and China, to go on a two-week religious tour to the US this month.

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Spiritual aspirants can learn a lot from the life of Milarepa, the great Tibetan yogi and a realised master of Mahayan Buddhism. His adamant aspiration, tenacity and absolute surrender to the guru leading to supreme realisation can lighten our own spiritual pilgrimage. In early life, with terrible spirit of revenge, he acquired occult powers to teach befitting lesson to his inimical relatives who had impoverished his helpless widowed mother with two kids. But very soon he realised that revenge is a kind of wild justice and it invariably fails to generate peace or requisite learning.

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