Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Bad monks in a Buddhist country (video)

CC Liu, Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; (video)

The inclusive rainbow Buddhist flag flies over a nation for virtue, meditation, wisdom.

Thailand's Tainted Robes: Misbehaving Monks

As scandals involving misbehaving Buddhist monks rock the Southeast Asian nation of tourist-friendly Thailand (possibly the most Buddhist country in the world), 101 East examines if the nation can save its moral character.

Why is this happening? Could it be that forcibly sending males into the monastery necessarily creates rebellion, discontent, and misbehavior?

Most of the misbehavior is due not to actual "monks" (bhikkhus) but to novices (samaneras) who temporarily ordain and so undertake fewer rules than fully ordination entails for a few days or months by Thai custom. A person's ordination is only as good as one's underlying motivation for undertaking the eight to 227 training rules of a Buddhist monastic.

Four of these 227 or more training rules (many of which are minor etiquette guidelines that number 1,000 or so) are so important that breaking them leads to immediate and irrevocable "defeat" (parajika). They are: killing, stealing, sex, falsely claiming spiritual attainments.

The whole purpose of the rules is to facilitate meditation and to preserve the Dharma as a living tradition in the world for as long as possible -- through study, teaching, and most of all intensive practice that ensures that at least some people (lay and monastic) gain the stages of enlightenment.

Wheel of the Dharma

There is, of course, misbehavior higher up. Most novices are sincere and studious for the short time they are ordained. Some long time monks are the ones abusing the system set up by the Buddha for producing enlightened beings (arhats) in the world, which constitute the supreme field of merit for the world.

Some Buddhists, particularly adherents of the much larger latter-day Mahayana school, feel it is wrong to speak ill of the community. They invented an additional precept against it. One should hide the dirty laundry? We disagree because sunlight is the best disinfectant.

Dysfunctional communities, such as cults, need to keep secrets. If a community will not clean up its act in silence then saying something becomes necessary. If molestation were happening at home, would you keep silent? Most of us would. But silence makes it possible for it to keep going on. Speak up.

Two chedis (pagodas) near the summit of Doi Inthanon (Lester Mathias Andersson)

Why is there Buddhism if no one seeks a path to enlightenment and nirvana? Altars, like this one in Thailand's Doi Inthanon, would be worthless (Charlie Owen/binbagger/flickr.com).

Is Mara leering his hideous head again?

There are rules -- monastic guidelines known as The Vinaya (Monastic Disciplinary Code) and Patimokkha (direct "Path to Liberation" rule recitation).

Unfortunately, most lay Buddhists have no idea what the rules are.

And most monastics feel it is none of laypeople's business what goes on inside the monastic system. The rules lay out the enforcement of the rules, but they are not enforced. The guidelines are there, but no mechanism exists to see to it that they are carried out.

So instead of cleaning up its own act, unless some pressure comes from outside, the whole system could become corrupted to the point that we lose the third gem or guide of Buddhism, the Sangha (monastic community) like we lost most of the female monastic community and the noble community, both of which are currently on the rise again. The first gem, the Buddha, is no longer here.

The second and arguably the most important, the Dharma (the Teaching of the complete path to enlightenment) is on shaky ground as no one seems to know what it is. It is preserved in the ancient Theravada tradition as the bodhi-pakkhiya-dhamma or "37 Requisites of Enlightenment," which few know exists.

More from AJ's 101 East on

Violent cops, Trump protests, anarchy (video)

Editors, Wisdom Quarterly; Seth Meyers; Rebel Media; AP; Francesca Moore; Lizzy McCain

"It is total anarchy in the streets right now; they're blowing things up. There's mace going" (Min. 3:45) -- idiotic blond video journalist Lauren, as she attempts to conflate police violence against victims as coming from the victims. "Don't let hate win" a sign reads, which she feels is hypocrisy against whites and those who love Pres. Trump.

WASHINGTON, DC (mainstream media feed called the AP) - Protesters set fires and hurled bricks in a daylong assault on the city hosting Trump's inauguration, registering their rage against the new president in a series of clashes that resulted in more than 200 arrests [many for "felony rioting" with a 10-year prison sentence, indefinite cell phone confiscation, detention, macing]. Police used pepper spray and stun grenades to [create chaos and then] prevent the chaos from spilling into Trump's formal procession and evening balls. More

"Rage, rage against the dying of our rights."

- protest sign caught by AP (see at top)

(Ex-worker Podcast) Alt-right, racist, White Nationalist (Neo-Nazi) Richard Spencer punched in the face, which is wrong, and nobody should be punched in the face or silenced. Free speech for all!

We're nonviolent, guys. Put on a pussyhat and demonstrate on the side of love (DN).

Is Trump a divisive figure? What's "divisive"?

You know, does he divide people, the nation, the world? Yeah.

Has it led to violence around his inauguration and the many marches against him around the world? Pretty much.

The fake flag from the false flag operation

Is it fair to use violence against violence, feed hate more hate, fight fire with fire? "Fair," I don't know. Effective? Probably not.

Probably? No, it's definitely not. But people are mad. People hate Trump and the fascist police forces that get trained and sent out to inflict violence.

Late Night with Seth Meyers: A Closer look at the Anti-Trump rallies in DC and the US (because DC is not in the US; look it up).

Look the other way; we're not a police state.

So We the People are defending themselves? We're reacting.

Well, knock it off. Sure, you tell them. When people are p*ssed, you can count on impassioned reacting over reasoned responses to a problem.

Armored vehicles will fight demonstrators.

What's the "problem"? Trump and all he represents is the problem.

There you have it, why things happen. And remember, kids, don't punch Nazis. Don't punch anybody. Racist Trump supporters at rallies punch people.

Violent paramilitary police throw grenades at civilian demonstrators at protest (AP)

American imperialism in Haiti at a crossroads, Feb. 4 (kpfk.org/sotrueradio.org)

Celebrating David Bowie, Wiltern, LA, Jan. 25th (concerts1.livenation.com)

VIDEO: News of the world (democracynow.org MP4) Go to Minute 12:15 for NYPD abuse, successful class action lawsuit, and new crack down on citizens

Two hats in the world: Pussyhat vs. MAGA

Crystal Quintero, CC Liu, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; PussyhatProject.com; Wiki

Ears matter. Pussyhat Project for Women's March causes run on pink yarn (SFgate.com)

There are two hats you can wear in the world, Red Hats or Yellow Hats. But that's in Buddhist Tibet up in the Himalayas (see below). Coming down from those heights, we're in a tiny part of America (a big continent) in a country that rules the world or in any case thinks that it does. And here it's MAGA ("Make America Great Again" baseball cap) against Pussyhat (pink knitted beanie). Choose your side. We all want a great America, but we don't need to dress like a trucker to say so. We want a pink, pussy-friendly country.

They should be illegal. Because I said so. I bigly don't like 'em. Makes me want to grab 'em.

PUSSYHAT PROJECT We did it! We created a sea of pink. Women's March on Washington D.C. and over 600 sister solidarity marches took place January 21st, 2017 (pussyhatproject.com).

Pussyhat locations (this Ally offers a #Pussyhat related discount... This Ally will allow knitters to drop off their #pussyhats during business hours...)

Those hat are stupid. These hats are best.

Our Story (Pussyhat Project was co-founded by Krista Suh and Jayna Zweiman. Krista is a...Kat Coyle designed the Pussy Power Hat pattern. Kat owns The Little Knittery...

The creators of the Pussyhat Project explain how craft projects... (fastcompany.com) Born from this protest was the Pussyhat Project, a movement with...a bit of a rock star in the knitting community, designed the simple pattern...

United we knit, divided we split: let's make pink pussyhats together. Take that, Trump.

Finally, the pendulum is swinging from fake "liberals" under Obama to real progressives.

Knitters are furiously making pink "Pussyhats" for the looming marches... (dcist.com)
With "Pussyhats" at Women's Marches, headwear sends a defiant... (NPR.org)
Choose COMEDY (Glendale Laughs Comedy Festival)

National Split by Hats: Tibet

Je Tsongkhapa, founder of the Yellow Hat sect or Gelugpa school, on the altar in his birthplace temple, Kumbum Monastery, near Xining, Qinghai (Amdo), China (Mario Biondi/wiki).

Emergence as the Dominant School

The 14th Dalai Lama is a Yellow Hat ruler.

By the end of the 16th century, following violent strife among the sects of Tibetan Buddhism, the Yellow Hats or Gelug school emerged as the dominant one over the Red Hats.

According to Tibetan historian Samten Karmay, Sonam Chophel (1595-1657), treasurer of Ganden Palace, was the prime architect of the Gelug's rise to political power.

True colors - sea of pink, Women's March

Later he received the title Desi, meaning "Regent" [person left in power who awaits the return of the king], which he would earn through his efforts to establish Gelugpa power.

From the period of the 5th Dalai Lama in the 17th century, the Dalai Lamas held political control over central Tibet. The core leadership of this government was also referred to as the Ganden Phodrang.

14th Dalai Lama, CIA op.

Scottish Botanist George Forrest, who witnessed the 1905 Tibetan Rebellion led by the Gelug lamas, wrote that the majority of the people in the Mekong valley in Yunnan were Tibetan.

According to his accounts, the Gelugpas were the dominant power in the region, with their lamas effectively governing the area. Forrest said they used "force and fraud" to "terrorise the...peasantry" [giving some credence to China's modern propaganda campaign that it helped average Tibetans by "liberating" them from serfdom under Vatican-style overlords in the Vajrayana Sangha, with the Dalai Lama ("Pope-King") emerging as a kind of authoritarian Trump figure]. More

Wasting our rain water in Los Angeles

Sharon McNary (scpr.org, Jan. 23, 2017); CC Liu, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly

Streets of Los Angeles flooded due to series of rainstorms after 7 years of drought (AP)

West coast mermaids need more water

Los Angeles County storm water capture systems have shunted enough water from rain-swollen rivers into percolation ponds this rain season to serve the annual water needs of about a half-million people, an official said Monday.

More than 22 billion gallons of storm water has been collected since mid-October along the San Gabriel and Los Angeles rivers, said Steven Frasher, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Public Works Department.

However, most of the water that falls on the region is still lost to the Pacific Ocean, partly because the kinds of investments made over the years in spreading grounds along the San Gabriel River have been lagging along the Los Angeles River, said Mark Gold of the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.

Unsustainable

Annual fires due to lack of rain retention

"You see a storm year like this, and you see all the water that ends up going through the LA River and Ballona Creek and Dominguez Channel, and you say, "Wow, that could have been our water supply for the next year," Gold said.

"I think this storm here has really demonstrated where the shortcomings are in our local water system," Gold added.

"We've barely scratched the surface on what we can do in the eastern San Fernando Valley in trying to capture more of that precious rainfall from the sky and have it actually infiltrate into the ground and get into our groundwater supply."

Why do we lose so much rain water?

The flood control system was initially built to speed water to the ocean to avoid damage to communities along the rivers during heavy rain storms. So it took decades for the region to adapt to the idea of capturing that water for later use. More

Monday, January 23, 2017

Relax: Nothing is Under Control (sutra)

Elizabeth J. Harris, Ph.D. (accesstoinsight.org); Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Relax. Nothing is under control. (KLR Rich/meetup.com/zen-7/rawforbeauty.com)

Detachment and Compassion in Buddhism

To people looking at Buddhism in English, practicing compassion and detachment can appear incompatible.

This is especially true for those of us who consider ourselves to be socially just and politically engaged. In contemporary usage, "compassion" brings to mind outward-moving concern for others. "Detachment" suggests aloofness and withdrawal from the world.

Yet, Buddhism recommends both as admirable and necessary qualities to be cultivated. This raises questions:

If compassion means to relieve suffering in a positive way, and detachment means to remain aloof from the world, how can the two be practiced together?
Does detachment in Buddhism imply lack of concern for humanity?
Is the concept of compassion in Buddhism too passive, connected only with the inward-looking eye of meditation, or can it create real change in society?

It is possible to draw sentences from Buddhist writers that seem to support a rejection of outward concern for others. For example, Edward Conze wrote, "The Yogin can only come into contact with the unconditioned when he brushes aside anything which is conditioned" (Buddhist Thought in India, 1960, Ch. 5). Similarly, G.S.P. Misra wrote, "In the final analysis, all actions are to be put to cessation..."

The Buddha speaks of happiness involved in non-action, which he further says is an integral part of the Right Way or samma patipada (Development of Buddhist Ethics, p. 44).

Taken in isolation and out of context, these remarks can give the impression that the path to nirvana implies developing a lack of concern towards everything in samsara (the world, the wheel of rebirth and suffering). But is this inference correct? It is not.

This is an issue that touches on the whole question of transferring concepts across linguistic barriers, in this case Pali and English.

It calls not only for an understanding of how the concepts are used within the framework of the Pali language Buddhist texts, but also for an awareness of how the English terms used in translation function and whether or not they are adequate. Inevitably, a dialogue between two linguistic frameworks is necessary.

Detachment?

Viveka and viraga are the two Pali words that have been translated as "detachment." The two, however, are not synonymous. The primary meaning of viveka is separation, aloofness, seclusion. Often physical withdrawal is implied but the deeper inner detachment is paramount.

The later commentarial tradition, however, identifies three forms of viveka: kaya-viveka (physical withdrawal), citta-viveka (mental withdrawal), and upadhi-viveka (withdrawal from the roots of suffering).

Kaya-viveka, as a chosen way of life, was not uncommon during the time of the Buddha. To withdraw from the household life, renounce possessions, and adopt a solitary mendicancy was a recognized path.

The formation of the Buddhist monastic community (Sangha) was grounded in the belief that going out "from home to homelessness" could facilitate meditation and aid intensive spiritual development.

Yet, to equate the renunciation the Buddha encouraged with a physical withdrawal that either punished the body or completely rejected human contact would be a grave mistake.

The Buddha made it clear that the detachment of a noble disciple (ariya savaka) -- the detachment connected with the path to enlightenment and nirvana (the end of all suffering) was not essentially a physical act of withdrawal, let alone austerity.

Kaya-viveka was valuable only if seen as a means to the inner purging and mental (heart) transformation connected with the destruction of craving and clinging.

This is illustrated in the Udumbarika Sihanada Sutra in which the Buddha claims that the asceticism of a recluse who clings to solitude could lead to pride, carelessness, attention-seeking, and hypocrisy, if not linked to the cultivation of morals (virtue) and the effort to gain liberating insight (wisdom) through meditation (DN, Sutra No. 25). More

Anarchy? Cars set on fire during protest of Trump's inauguration in DC police state (AP)

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Pussy (hat) Riot, Los Angeles (video)

Pussy Riot; Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Dhr. Seven, Crystal Quintero, Sheldon S., Wisdom Quarterly; Sara Fay, Paige Osburn, Josie Huang (KPCC FM, Southern California Public Radio/SCPR.org)

L.A. march a success -- too many marchers!

Don John Trump is not my president.

LOS ANGELES, California (WQ) - The Metro trains going to DTLA for the Los Angeles sister march to the Women's March on Washington had long lines all along their route. Tens of thousands of eager participants waited to board. But arriving in downtown the crowds only got thicker.

Nadya et al's Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer (the Russian rockers' movie)

Filmed over six months, this film tells the incredible story of three young women -- Nadia, Masha, and Katia, members of the feminist art collective. Sacrilege: they perform a 40-second "punk prayer" inside Russia's main Christian cathedral. This protest led to their arrest on charges of religious hatred and culminated in a trial that has reverberated around the world and transformed the face of Russian society forever.

Emma Stone, Women's March, hat added.

With unparalleled access and exclusive footage, A Punk Prayer looks at the real people behind their now famous colorful headgear (balaclavas). Following the bizarre and intricate twists of the trial, three young women fight back against injustice -- a system that seems impervious to logic. From their family and friends, the film explores what transformed them from political activists to modern-day icons.

As they defend their convictions from a cage inside a courtroom, the face of Pussy Riot (a large collective anyone can join with a balaclava) plan new guerilla performances and cultivate a protest movement across the globe. Moving from farce to tragedy and back again, the film explores how political and religious forces contrive to make an example out of females who step out of line. But the world and its ruling powers get more than they bargained for. It's time for a Pussy Riot!

When it came time to move from Pershing Square gathering place, where there was a rally and speakers, the massive city blocks could not hold everyone who wanted to march.

So three simultaneous marches on three massive parallel blocks oozed toward City Hall to hear more speakers for the main gathering.

No, don't eat cat, Vegans!

But even with three simultaneous marches, it was still very slow going.

It was peaceful, it was over-attended, and it was inspiring to all be on the same page for women (minorities, LGBTQ, workers, dreamers, etc.) and against Trump.

Let's give him a chance, of course. But what we've seen and heard from him before has not been inspiring, uniting, or suggestive of better times to come. Get with, Trump. Unite the people against a corrupt government swamp and lying media.

Women's March fills DTLA with signs, songs

"Without women there is no revolution" (K)

(SCPR) Many people trying to get to and from the Women's March Los Angeles encountered long lines and waits for Metro trains and buses. Metro says it added more cars to the trains and more frequent service, but long lines were reported throughout the city trying to get to the march in DTLA. More

A Guide to the Women's March in LA

Muslim Aneesa Andradi in LA (Josie Huang)

The march -- open to all, not just women -- [was] held Saturday in Downtown L.A. Organizers expect at least 100,000 people to attend, including a roster of artists, actors, and musicians. Get details on time, location, route, speakers, organizers, getting there, and how the event got started. More + PHOTOS