The Dharma, sutras, and commentarial interpretations of interest to American Buddhists of all traditions with news that not only informs but transforms. Emphasis on meditation, enlightenment, karma, social evolution, and nonharming.
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I want to be a fully-ordained Buddhist nun. Is this the right monastic outfit and haircut?
Dhammasara Monastery Nuns' 10th Anniversary
(BSWA Webmaster, Oct. 27, 2019) This is the full version of the Dhammasara bhikkhunīs 10th anniversary of the renewal of the Theravada Buddhist Nuns' Order or Bhikkhuni Sangha in Gidgeganup, Western Australia.
Dhammasara is a Theravada nunnery and a vital part of the Buddhist Society of Western Australia (BWSA.org), which is also composed of Bodhinyana Monastery with British Abbot Ajahn Brahm.
Dhammasara Nuns' Monastery, Western Australia, at the end of the rainbow (BSWA.org)
The abbot Ajahn Kusolo talks about the establishment of the vihara (monastic complex), how he was introduced to Buddhism, and life as a Theravada Buddhist monk.
Through glimpses of life at the monastery, such as footage of a Kathina robe offering ceremony and following the monks on their weekly alms round into Stokes Valley, this film depicts how Bodhinyanarama enriches and interacts with the local Buddhist community.
Filmed in 2016 as part of Massey University's documentary (non-fiction) film course:
massey.ac.nz...
Are there Theravada Buddhist nuns in NZ, female Buddhist monastics, like there are in Australia?
(Senses) This is a short doc on the Theravada Buddhist Bodhinyanarama Monastery in New Zealand. It is a visual montage of Buddhist symbols and mudras or gestures. It looks at celebrations conducted on the occasion of the laying of a traditional Sri Lankan moonstone.
Sri Lanka offered a replica of the moonstone, and Thailand offered a statue of the Buddha reclining into final nirvana.
Jimmy Dore (jimmydorecomedy.com); Seth Auberon, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Bill Maher and guest: DONE with masks, draconian mandates, alarmist fear of COVID! Now Maher and others are catching on? But now there's hope. Doctors are catching on that Dr. Fauci is a fraud, misleading the public at juncture after juncture for the for-profit medical industry and big pharmaceutical firms. Corporations come first, manipulated science second, and somewhere the public is a distant third.
Thay’s funeral and cremation, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022 in Vietnam
Thich Nhat Hanh's funeral and cremation was one of the biggest Huế, Vietnam, has seen in decades. Thousands came out to join the procession, in a deep expression of love and respect for a cherished spiritual leader, a humble monk, and an extraordinary human being. Plum Village feels grateful to bear solemn witness to such a powerful and elemental open-air cremation, just like in the time of the historical Buddha [and still a common daily practice in India, particularly in Varanasi]. More
Thich Nhat Hanh Casket Ceremony Day 2 | Live from Hue, Vietnam | 2022
(Plum Village, streamed live on Jan. 22, 2022) Shown here is a powerful and moving Zen/Mahayana Buddhist ceremony for laying the teacher's body in a casket, broadcast live from Từ Hiếu Temple in Vietnam and Plum Village in France.
I'm here with you lighting the pyre for this body.
The ceremony is in Vietnamese, with commentary in English by Sister True Dedication in Plum Village. (To watch without commentary, click here: youtube.com/watch...).
Please follow your breathing as high monks and Thay’s senior disciples accompany his body to the Full Moon Meditation Hall at Từ Hiếu Temple in Huế. The ceremony took place at 8:00 am on January 23 in Vietnam (2:00 am CEST, 5:00 pm on Jan. 22 PST)
Today when we factor in the interest on the national debt from past wars and total defense expenditures, the US spends almost 40% of its federal budget on the military.
It accounts for over 46% of total world arms spending. Before World War II it spent almost nothing on war defense and hardly anyone paid any income taxes.
We can't have big wars without big government. Such big expenditures are now threatening to harm the national economy. How did this situation come to be?
In this book we learn how in the critical 20 years after World War II the United States changed from being a continental democratic republic to a global imperial superpower.
Since then, nothing has been the same. Discover this secret history of the United States that formed the basis of the world today. Furthermore, discover:
Why the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) was created and used to interfere in the internal affairs of other nations when the US Constitution had no mechanism for such imperial activities.
How the end of European colonialism created a power vacuum that the United States used to create a new type of world empire backed by the most powerful military force in human history.
How national security bureaucrats got Pres. Harry Truman to approve of a new wild budget busting arms race after WW II that is still going on to this day.
Why Pres. Eisenhower really gave his famous warning against the "military-industrial complex."
Why during the Kennedy administration, the nuclear arms race almost led to the end of the world during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
I can't believe I was part of the War Machine.
How Pres. Kennedy tried to deal with what had grown into a "permanent government" of power elite national security bureaucrats in the executive branch of the federal government that had become more powerful than the individual president himself.
In this book readers discover this secret history of the US that formed the basis of the world today.
My Dinner with Andre (film); Sheldon S., Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Rifkin's Festival or My Dinner with Wallace
(Woody Allen) Pariah Woody Allen made a new movie that's just being released. It's not clear why. It's not much of a movie, except perhaps for cinema buffs. It's hard to imagine the few remaining Woody fans will have much fun watching it. Here's the story in nutshell:
Rifkin's Festival is the story of a married American couple go to the San Sebastian Festival and get caught up in the magic of the event, the beauty and charm of the city, and the fantasy of movies.
Or this might be a better summary: A middle-aged man (Wallace Shawn) is losing his spouse to a younger, more charming lothario right in front of his face, every person's fear, as he searches for life's meaning.
But My Dinner with Andre, featuring Wallace Shawn as a New York schmuck desperately searching for meaning while Andre recounts his actual quest for it, did a much better job of setting up the angst than Rifkin's Festival does in paying off with any answers.
My Dinner with Andre: Old friends Wallace (Wallace Shawn) and Andre (Andre Gregory) haven't seen each another in five years and agree to meet for dinner. Andre, a once well-known theater director, dropped out of the NYC scene to travel the world, while Wallace stuck around the city, finding only mixed success as a playwright. As they eat, Andre regales Wally with a series of fantastic stories from Asian and his time away searching for enlightenment and the meaning of life, and Wallace can't help but notice how different their worldviews have become. (Release: USA, Oct. 11, 1981, directed by Louis Malle).
Written and directed by Woody Allen, starring Wallace Shaw, Gina Gershon, Elena Anaya, and Christoph Waltz. #WoodyAllen #Rifkin's Festival #Rainydayinnewyork.
This is a classic silent movie by American genius Buster Keaton. One Week is a two-reel silent comedy film starring Buster Keaton, the first film to be released made by Keaton on his own.
Keaton had worked with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle for years. The film was written and directed by Keaton and Edward F. Cline. It runs for 19 minutes. Sybil Seely co-stars.
The High Sign had been filmed prior to One Week, but Keaton considered it an inferior effort to debut with and released it the following year when he was convalescing from an injury.
Before Edgar Wright and Wes Anderson, before Chuck Jones and Jackie Chan, there was Hollywood stuntman Buster Keaton, one of the founding fathers of visual comedy. And nearly 100 years after he first appeared onscreen, we’re still learning from him.
People are tired. Everyone faces a "breakthrough" case of COVID. The plandemic has gone endemic. Vaccinated are dangerous carriers. Asymptomatic boosted infertile do-gooders are killing others, not just their never-born babies but all the people they expose to the terrifying germ with mild symptoms and high transmissibility, sure signs a pandemic is coming to its natural end, as Garland Nixon pointed out weeks ago.
Snowfall forecast for Massachusetts for Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022 (National Weather Service)
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The storm is here. And with as much as 10 inches already reported on the ground in Eastern Massachusetts by 10:00 am, we’re in for a big one.
The updated forecast from the National Weather Service Saturday morning wasn’t pulling any punches.
“A powerful winter storm with near-record snowfall, blizzard conditions, near hurricane-force wind gusts, and coastal flooding will impact much of Southern New England Saturday into Saturday evening,” the agency said.
What has changed in the forecast is that line of really high snow totals has pushed further west, encompassing more of the state.
A whopping 24 to 30 inches is expected to hit Boston and much of Southeastern Massachusetts.
And although the forecasted totals decrease as one heads west, most of the state is expected to get more than a foot of snow. The western end of the Berkshires is the only part of the state expected to be spared
the heavy snowfall with 4 to 6 inches expected there.
Thundersnow — thunder during a snowstorm — was reported in Attleboro just before 11:00 am. More
Samsara is a "vicious circle" of dukkha, different from nirvana or "complete freedom" (WQ).
The last rites of Thich Nhat Hanh: a funeral for a Buddhist monk
(Religion World, Jan. 23, 2022) Religion World is an initiative to cover all religions, spiritual practices, traditions, beliefs, astrology, meditation, and every aspect of faith. #thichnhathanh #vietnam #buddhism
[EDITORIAL NOTE: Beloved teacher Thich Nhat Hanh knows that an attained person, that is to say an actual enlightened person, merits a monument, a stupa or chorten, a reliquary for the veneration of that person's sacred relics or sarira.
But Thay insisted this not be done for him, using the excuse that it would be better for the environment not to. How incredibly humble?
How dare you question our teacher's attainment!
It seems a flimsy explanation. Perhaps he knew he was not one of the "noble ones" (arya) in the dispensation of the historical Buddha Gautama or Shakyamuni and this was his way of signaling that, staving off false and unfruitful veneration of his remains.
Surely a fully enlightened person, utterly selfless, would not wish to deprive those who yet wander in the world (samsara) the merit of venerating genuine relics if s/he could offer them to those who remain behind after passing into final nirvana. Perhaps Thay experienced a satori, a powerful epiphany about reality, but not actual Buddhist enlightenment/awakening as described in detail as bodhi in the ancient and sacred Buddhist texts.
We don't "know." Who but other nobles can know? Yet we dare to question the attainment of this great peace activist and Zen teacher, so beloved by the world. Traditions differ; awakening in one is not awakening in another if one bothers to examine the details of what the historical Buddha taught rather than the overwhelming Brahmanical/Hindu influences on Mahayana.]
[Please send your angry complaint letters and hate mail on Thay's behalf to the comments section, and we at Wisdom Quarterly will be sure to read it. How dare anyone suggest that Thay was anything but the very embodiment of a bodhisattva, a mahasattva, Maitreya Buddha himself!!]
Author Hannah Paasch’s Millenneagram helps some millennial gay and possibly some straight readers figure out who the f*ck they are to live their best life.
“When you read the words that call your bluff, everything changes.”
Queer people love taxonomies, says Paasch, who love astrology and Harry Potter houses and magnificent, evolving systems of language.
Maybe it’s because the dominant culture has shoved us into and thrown us out of so many boxes that we decided to grab the reins and categorize ourselves on our own terms.
The Enneagram, which sorts people into nine main “types” numbered one through nine, has experienced a surge of popularity in the last few years.
Philosopher Oscar Ichazo created and first taught the system in the 1960s; he incorporated influences from numerous spiritual and intellectual traditions.
Paasch studied Ichazo’s work and many others who have written and studied the Enneagram before writing her own book on the subject. More
Thich Nhat Han (RIP), Plum Village, 2002/2014; CC Liu, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
(1) Where do we go when we die? | Thich Nhat Hanh explains
(Plum Village, France, Jan. 22, 2002) Thay, Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh answers this question at his center, Plum Village. Support by donating (plumvillage.org/support) or helping to caption and translate at amara.org/en...
(Plum Village)
The theme of Plum Village's 21-day retreat in 2014 was "What happens when we die?" In this clip, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh offers "the shortest answer" to that question. He also tells us, "We are our action [karma], and we are continued by our action."
Faith and Race: The Culture War within the Evangelical Church over Critical Race Theory
(WHYY) The brutal murder by criminal-cops of George Floyd and the racial disparities laid bare during the pandemic sparked national unrest and debate, as well as a divide among Christians.
This Fall, Forum Philly, Red Letter Christians, Pennsylvania Progressive Baptist Alliance, and the Tenth Memorial Baptist Church partnered with WHYY to organize a live, public virtual conversation on the topic.
The intention was to dispel myths, educate, and provide context around the history and current realities of race within the Evangelical church.
The recorded event includes the diverse perspectives of leading religious scholars including:
Lisa Sharon Harper, an author, speaker, activist, and founder of Freedom Road
Shane Claiborne, a speaker, activist, and author who runs Red Letter Christians
Dr. Chris Hall, an author and president of Renovaré and former director of academic spiritual formation and distinguished professor of theology at Eastern University
Dante Stewart, a speaker and author of Shoutin’ in the Fire: An American Epistle
Brandon Washington, a writer and speaker who pastors the Embassy Church in Denver, Colorado.
WHYY afternoon drive host Cherri Gregg moderates the discussion.
The conversation was converted by WHYY into a broadcast format for a special program on WHYY that aired on 11/12/21. More
Associate Prof. of Religious Studies Pamela Winfield (The Conversation); Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
Jack Kerouac, a Beat Generation Dharma Bum, made a big impression on the US (Geoth)
Professional athletics have used Zen coaching strategies and furthered America’s misunderstanding of Buddhism not as a “religion” but as a secular philosophy with broad applications.
The exotic appeal
American secular Buddhism has also produced some unintended consequences. D.T. Suzuki’s writings greatly influenced Jack Kerouac, the popular Beat Generation author of On the Road and The Dharma Bums.
But Suzuki regarded Kerouac as a “monstrous imposter” because he sought only the freedom of Buddhist awakening [the outcome] without the discipline of practice [the means].
Other Beat poets, hippies, and New Age DIY-self-helpers have also paradoxically mistaken Buddhism for a kind of self-indulgent narcissism, despite its profound and confounding teachings of selflessness and compassion.
Still others have commercially exploited its exotic appeal to sell everything from “Zen Tea” to “Lucky Buddha Beer,” which is particularly ironic given Buddhism’s traditional proscription against intoxicants that occasion heedlessness, particularly alcohol.
As a result, the popular construction of nonreligious Buddhism has contributed much to the contemporary “spiritual but not religious” phenomenon, as well as to the secularized and commodified mindfulness movement in America.
We may have only transplanted a fraction of the larger bodhi tree of religious Buddhism in America, but our cutting has adapted and taken root in our secular, scientific, and highly commercialized age.
For better and for worse, it’s Buddhism American-style. More
Party on, Mom. Here's my husband. Get your dopamine! | Are you sure, Dear? | I guess.
There's a corporate scheme to sell us pleasure, driving an epidemic of addiction, depression, and chronic diseases like obesity and more.
While researching the toxic and addictive properties of white sugar for his New York Times bestseller Fat Chance, Dr. Robert Lustig, MD, made an alarming discovery:
Our pursuit of happiness is being subverted by a culture of addiction and depression from which we may never recover.
If I can't have what I want, I'll kill myself.
Dopamine is the “reward” neurotransmitter that tells our brains we want more.
Yet, every substance or behavior that releases dopamine in the extreme leads to addiction.
Serotonin is the “contentment” neurotransmitter that tells our brains we don’t need any more.
Yet, its deficiency leads to depression.
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Ideally, both are in optimal supply. But dopamine evolved to overwhelm serotonin — because our ancestors were more likely to survive if they were constantly motivated — with the result that constant desire can chemically destroy our ability to feel happiness, while sending us down the slippery slope to addiction.
In the last 40 years, government legislation and subsidies have promoted ever-available temptation (white sugar, illegal drugs, toxic social media, overwhelming porn) combined with constant stress (work, home, money, internet), with the end result of an unprecedented epidemic of:
addiction
anxiety
depression
chronic disease.
And with the advent of "neuro-marketing," corporate America has successfully imprisoned us in an endless loop of desire (craving, yearning, feeling incomplete) and consumption from which there is no obvious escape. More
Bhutan is a wondrous Buddhist land high in the Himalayas. It is a former kingdom and the innovator of the "gross domestic happiness" index, thumbing its nose at miserable capitalist nations, like us in the West.
It has kept to its simpler ways or did when there was a benevolent king calling the shots. But now elements of modernity are creeping, and there's no one to stop them. Here, a young man passes his exams and applies to be a teacher, a government job. He doesn't take his first assignment very seriously so is relocated to the most isolated classroom in the world, on the roof of the world. That improves his outlook, except for the yak in the classroom.
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