14th Dalai Lama and Pope Benedict XVI (both in France recently and separately)
Pope: Accept death "at the hour chosen by God"
Angela Doland (AP)
Recently, the Catholic leader has been making more news than the Dalai Lama. Both have been in France. The Dalai Lama called a high-level meeting to discuss the future of Tibet, while the pope has been giving advice on everything from money, to power, to death. Avalokiteshvara the Bodhisattva of Compassion, or the Mother Goddess incarnate in another form as the Virgin Mary -- the similarities and redundancies are too numerous and obvious to make too much of.
- Gwan Yin at Lourdes as Mary
- "Lourdes pilgrims stock up on 'miracle' water"
LOURDES, France -- People must accept death at "the hour chosen by God [read: by your karma]," Pope Benedict XVI told ailing pilgrims Monday in an anti-euthanasia message at Lourdes, the shrine that draws the desperate, sick, and dying.
At the chilly open-air service outside the Lourdes sanctuary reputed for its curative spring water, some faithful lay on gurneys, tucked into quilts and comforters. A few breathed with oxygen tanks. The 81-year-old pontiff administered the sacrament of the sick to ten people, most in wheelchairs, gently anointing their foreheads and palms with oil.
While several European countries permit euthanasia, the Vatican vehemently maintains that life must continue to its natural end. The pope said in his homily that the ill should pray to find "the grace to accept, without fear or bitterness, to leave this world at the hour chosen by God [karma]." More>>
At the chilly open-air service outside the Lourdes sanctuary reputed for its curative spring water, some faithful lay on gurneys, tucked into quilts and comforters. A few breathed with oxygen tanks. The 81-year-old pontiff administered the sacrament of the sick to ten people, most in wheelchairs, gently anointing their foreheads and palms with oil.
While several European countries permit euthanasia, the Vatican vehemently maintains that life must continue to its natural end. The pope said in his homily that the ill should pray to find "the grace to accept, without fear or bitterness, to leave this world at the hour chosen by God [karma]." More>>
NOTE: WQ talks about these two heads of state (or state-like non-states, the Vatican and Dharmsala) because they seem to share the same function in disseminating different kinds of Mahayana Buddhism. (The trail to Mahayana doctrines may be traced back to the time of St. Issa, a.k.a. "Jesus Christ," in Tibet, India, and Nepal as previously covered here). Christianity, after all, is famous for borrowing most of its rituals, holidays, and doctrines from other traditions. And Vajrayana is concerned with fighting duns of plague, disaster, and black magic.
Witchcraft rumor sparks riot in Congo (AP)
KINSHASA, Congo -- Accusations that a soccer player was using witchcraft during a match in eastern Congo sparked a riot that killed 13 people, a U.N.-funded radio station reported Monday. Most of the victims were between the ages of 11 and 16, Radio Okapi said. They were suffocated as panicked crowds ran for the exits during the mayhem Sunday in Butembo in eastern Congo's North Kivu province.
Radio Okapi said police tried to control the violence at Matokeo stadium by firing into the air to protect their commander, who was hit in the head and wounded by fans. The two local clubs involved were Socozaki and Nyuki System, the radio said. Dozens of teenagers marched through Butembo's dirt streets Monday in protest, and the regional governor, Julien Mpaluku, paid a visit to the hospital.
Mpaluku said the government was investigating. He made no mention of witchcraft, but confirmed that soldiers had fired into the air to calm angry crowds. The shooting prompted panic instead, which became fatal "when the crowds all tried to leave at the same time." "Most of the dead were children, only two or three were adults," Mpaluku also said. North Kivu has been the epicenter of violence between Congo's army and rebels over the last year which has displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
Radio Okapi said police tried to control the violence at Matokeo stadium by firing into the air to protect their commander, who was hit in the head and wounded by fans. The two local clubs involved were Socozaki and Nyuki System, the radio said. Dozens of teenagers marched through Butembo's dirt streets Monday in protest, and the regional governor, Julien Mpaluku, paid a visit to the hospital.
Mpaluku said the government was investigating. He made no mention of witchcraft, but confirmed that soldiers had fired into the air to calm angry crowds. The shooting prompted panic instead, which became fatal "when the crowds all tried to leave at the same time." "Most of the dead were children, only two or three were adults," Mpaluku also said. North Kivu has been the epicenter of violence between Congo's army and rebels over the last year which has displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
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