Buddhism explained with an Irish accent

Well, don't that beat all? Tuatha Dé Danann, I tink that's brilliant, always been partial to Booda.

(Cognito) Irish brogue/Gaelic accented "BUDDHISM EXPLAINED"

What's the Irish version of Buddhism?

We are the Tuatha Dé Danann

Buddhism is the THIRD largest religion in the world when we restored the 1 billion Buddhists in China the communist regime refuses to count since communism is officially atheist and insists party member comply.

Nearly all Chinese Buddhists follow three blended traditions (Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism) and now have to mix those with a communist version of capitalism). The country's regime is trying to supplant religion with this new capitalist-friendly communism and a nanny state with mass surveillance, bringing the actual total number of Buddhists to more than 1.5 billion. That makes Buddhism the third largest missionary (universalist) "world religion."

Good thing we in US are not spied on

(The Young Turks) What the FLOCK (AI-driven camera system)?

Catholicism is the biggest religion in the world. Combining its total with Protestantism and Eastern Orthodoxy, and many strange sects and post schismatic traditions, Christianity has the most nominal adherents.

Islam is said to be growing but is already the second biggest world religion, having gone from place to place by the sword, just as Christianity used to do with imperial crusades, ethnic cleansings, and forced conversions.

Buddhism is the original missionary tradition, but neither then nor now is it out to convert anybody away from their faith. Exposing them to the Teachings of the Awakened One capable of curing suffering and making people better at adhering to their beliefs and practices, it has been most welcome.

Why? Just as in the Buddha's time, the Buddha's Dharma ("Doctrine") is not actually a "religion." But the West treats all daily activities and beliefs as "religious" systems when, since the time Sumer, Greater Egypt, and the very advanced Indus Valley Civilization held sway, what we now call "religion" was just the collective daily habits and somewhat superstitious customs of whole societies that made little to no distinction between ordinary life and spirituality.

Buddhism in Celtic Britain and Ireland before Christianity?

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Buddhism in Celtic areas?

Transcultural Buddhism: Celtic Buddhism in pre-Christian Britain

The first Western Buddhist convert to become a monk was Irish

British forces arrival in Mandalay, Burma, in 1885: U Dhammaloka (wiki)

Irish Burmese Theravada Buddhist monk Ven. Dhammaloka in 1902, age approximately 50

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The Irish Buddhist: Forgotten Monk

His name was Venerable (U) Dhammaloka (born Laurence Carroll in the 1850s) from Boostertown, Dublin County, Ireland.

He reportedly gave at least five names for himself, including Laurence O'Rourke and William Colvin [2]. On occasion he used the nom de plume "Captain Daylight."

It is accepted that he was Irish, almost certainly born in Dublin in the 1850s, and emigrated to the United States, possibly via Liverpool. More

Celtic Buddhism, a new lineage

celticbuddhism.org

Welcome to CelticBuddhism.org, a site of benefit and inspiration to those who enter and proceed on the path of Dharma.

The lineage of Celtic Buddhism was suggested in the 1970s during a conversation between the renowned [and abusive, scandal-ridden, Shambhala] Tibetan lama Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and his student John Perks. The actual development is the result of the mixing of their minds.

What would an Irish Buddhist do?

The lineage was formally incorporated as a non-profit in 1989, when it took on official status. After meeting for years in rented rooms, Venerable Seonaidh Perks established the Anadaire Celtic Buddhist Center on 11 acres in Saxtons River, Vermont, where the sangha ("spiritual community") erected a stone circle that has aided in increasing and focusing energies for transformation.

Sangha members are encouraged to establish a daily meditation practice. Practices range from a host of traditional Tibetan [Vajrayana] Buddhist practices to the more contemporary practices of the Celtic Fire visualization and working with the mandala of the Celtic cross. We also encourage integrating everyday practices in art, music, healing through various modalities -- including animals, and in the world of business.

As a group, some members have gone on yearly retreats to Maine (USA) or to further connect with latent Celtic energies to Ireland and Scotland. One member has delved into thangka painting to explore the emerging Celtic Buddhist mandala.

In March 2010, we celebrated the ordination of Sister Griffin as abbess of Glen Ard Abbey, a newly formed Celtic Buddhist monastery. More: celticbuddhism.org

• Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Buddhism in Uganda, Africa

Buddhism in Uganda, Africa: ancient tradition of alms round

(Uganda Buddhist Centre) Dec. 8, 2023: Under the guidance of Bhante Buddharakkhita, Theravada African Buddhist monks and nuns at The Uganda Buddhist Centre go on alms round (pindapata) in Bulega Village, Garuga, Uganda. Their mindful steps with alms bowls in hands reminds us of our journey to liberation.

• 'It's not weird or foreign': the Ugandan monk bringing Buddhism to Africa – photo essay | The Guardian
• Religion in Uganda
• Buddhism in Africa

Hindu holy cows? (Praveen Mohan)

(Danny Jones) The shocking historic reason why Hindus worship holy cows | Praveen Mohan

First European Buddhist youth convention

Free Buddhist Audio, August 2, 2017; Amber Larson, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The first European mainland young Buddhists' convention

(Free Buddhist Audio) BERLIN, Germany - In June 2017, Buddhistisches Tor Berlin hosted the first European mainland young Buddhists' convention, attended by 70 young people ages 18 to 35. Organizer Hannah Prinzler and contributor Dh Prasadacharin talk all about the event. The talks on Vimeo:

• "One Sangha: Diversity and Unity" by Prasadacarin
• "One Sangha: Building the Buddhaland in 2017" by Akasajoti

Where's Europe? Americans can't find it on map

We offer classes and retreats in English! Usually, we have a Saturday morning class for those new to meditation and Buddhism and a Friday night class to intensify our meditation practice. Click for current program (also online) of English-speaking events and retreats in Brandenburg.

European Buddhist Youth Convention 2017, meditation in Berlin, Germany

Materialism beats Buddhism (video)

Bhikkhu Bodhi (Buddhist Publication Society via Access to Insight); Iconic Tik Toks; Key of Awesome; Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Vital Link

Bhikkhu Bodhi

As Buddhism has begun to gain a firm foothold in the West, its fate in its traditional Asian homelands has been moving in the opposite direction, toward atrophy and decline.

Already in several Asian Buddhist countries Buddhism has been forcibly suppressed, while even in those countries that have preserved their political integrity the Dharma no longer occupies the same sovereign place in people's hearts it held in an earlier era.

The spread of Buddhism in Asia: Silk Road

Although devotion and a sense of Buddhist personal identity still remain strong, throughout the breadth of Buddhist Asia, cultural and ideological forces of great power have been unleashed that daily challenge the influence of the Dharma as the key to meaning and value for those who profess it as their light and guide.

Among the changes taking place in current patterns of thinking, perhaps the most detrimental to the Dharma has been the rise to prominence of a materialistic world-view that focuses upon the present life as the only field for human endeavor.

This paradigm or view need not be assented to intellectually, with full awareness of its implications, for it to become a major determinant of our attitudes and conduct.

(Key of Awesome) Camila Cabello's "Havana" parody unplugged!

Often a curious ambivalence prevails in our minds, where one part of us professes our confidence in the lofty principles of the Dharma, while with the other we think and act as if the present life were the sole occasion for happiness and the achievement of worldly success were the true mark of the accomplished individual.

The rapid spread of this materialistic outlook has in turn brought about a far-ranging secularization of values that invades every part of our lives.

This transformation of values gives precedence to goals and attitudes diametrically opposed to those advocated by the Dharma. And under its impact the scales have tipped far away even from a reasonable balance between material and spiritual goods.

Now we see acquisitiveness replacing contentment as the reigning ideal, competition taking the place of cooperation, speedy efficiency the place of compassionate concern, and selfish indulgence the place of abstinence and self-control.

The attempt to live simultaneously by two conflicting sets of principles — those being ushered in by secular materialism and those grounded in the Dharma — generates a... More

Erawan Museum's Buddhist cosmology

Thailandsworld.com; Wisdom Quarterly; Stewie1980 (Flickr.com)

Hinduism was brought to Southeast Asia 1,500 years ago and was the controlling belief system of the imperial Khmers and Siamese kingdoms. Buddhism had pervaded the lands beyond India in all directions:

• west to Afghanistan, Central Asia, ancient Greece, and onto China, Japan, and Korea
  
• south to Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Indonesia
  
• east to Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam
  
• north to Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, and Mongolia.

Many Vedic Brahminical (pre-Hindu) and pre-Buddhist myths were prevalent in art and architecture in ancient and modern Thailand. Erawan Museum is a five-storey building shaped like the three-headed elephant Erawan. The museum contains ancient objects of cultural and religious significance.

The building is constructed as a symbol, just as temple prangs are a symbol of Mount Meru. The former Kingdom of Laos used the symbol head of Erawan on its flag, and statues of Erawan can be seen throughout Bangkok.

The building's three floors have, on the first floor, antiquities, on the second floor, decorative artistic statues and a stained glass ceiling illustrating the zodiac and the world (as shown here) and the top floor contains Buddhist relics and ancient statues. There is also a painted ceiling illustrating the cosmos. More

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Buddhism Reaches Burma

Burma: fierce Naga warrior, famed even in the time of the Buddha (allmyanmar.com)

Enlightened Missionaries originally spread Buddhism

Soon after his Great Enlightenment, the Buddha sent out 60 enlightened disciples. They had the mandate to spread the good news (of liberation) to the world, with no two going in the same direction. They made it to Alexandria, Greece, Afghanistan, Persia, and the teaching of these Great Elders (Maha Theras) eventually made it to the Middle East (by way of Saint Issa), right to the religious powder keg known as Jerusalem. The teachings traveled throughout Asia, by way of the Silk Route which had as much to do with commerce as culture.

Eventually, because Chinese missionaries were blown far off course, Buddhism made it to the pre-European-contact New World. It revolutionized cultures wherever it went, often meeting heavily Animistic indigenous views and melding with them. For example, pre-Buddhist Tibet practiced Bon, Japan practiced Shinto, and China was steeped in ancestor worship.

Closer to home (the Buddha after all lived in Northern India, or what was known as the "Middle Country" portion of Jambudvipa, lit. "the Rose Apple Island," the ancient name of the Indian subcontinent), missionaries arrived in Burma. However, as history records, it was not until a few hundred years later -- during the reign of an empire -- that a Buddhist Council made a concerted effort to establish the teachings in Myanmar (which, of course, bore different borders and different clan and tribal allegiances than the Naga, Karen, Mon, majority Burman, and others seen today).

Burmese tribesmen, young girls from the mountainous region (allmyanmar.com)

Buddhism in Myanmar: A Short History
Roger Bischoff (Access to Insight)

Missionaries of the Third Buddhist Council
The Third Buddhist Council was held during the reign of Emperor Asoka in the year 232 BCE in order to purify the monastic order (Sangha), to reassert orthodox teaching, and to refute heresy. But the work of the Council did not stop there.

18th century Burman replete with Indochinese influences (allmyanmar.com)

With the support of Emperor Asoka, experienced teachers were sent to border regions in order to spread the teachings of the Buddha. This dispersal of missionaries is recorded in the Mahavamsa, a Sri Lankan chronicle on the history of Buddhism:

When the Thera ("Elder") Moggaliputta, the illuminator of the religion of the Conqueror, had brought the (third) council to an end and when, looking into the future, he had beheld the founding of the religion in adjacent countries, then in the month of Katthika he sent forth theras, one here and one there.

The thera Majjhantika he sent to Kasmira and Gandhara [Kashmir and Afghanistan], the thera Mahadeva he sent to Mahisamandala [the region girding the Himalayas]. To Vanavasa he sent the thera named Rakkhita, and to Aparantaka the Yona named Dhammarakkhita; to Maharattha he sent the thera named Mahadhammarakkhita, but the thera Maharakkhita he sent into the country of the Yona. He sent the thera Majjhima to the Himalaya country and together with the thera Uttara, the thera Sona of wondrous might went to Suvannabhumi...12

According to the Sasanavamsa [the "great history of the dispensation"], the above mentioned regions are the following: Kasmira and Gandhara is the right bank of the Indus river south of Kabul; Mahisamandala is Andhra; Vanavasa is the region around Prome; Aparantaka is west of the upper Irrawaddy; Maharattha is Thailand; Yona, the country of the Shan tribes; and Suvannabhumi is Thaton (Burma). The Sasanavamsa mentions five places in Southeast Asia where Asoka's missionaries taught the Buddha's doctrine, and through their teaching many gained insight and took refuge in the Triple Gem [Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha].

There are two interesting features mentioned in the text. First, in order to ordain nuns (bhikkhunis), other bhikkhunis had to be present, and secondly, the Brahmajala Sutra ["The All-Embracing Net of Views Discourse"] was preached in Thaton.

The Sasanavamsa goes on to describe sixty-thousand women ordaining in Aparanta. It states that women could not have been ordained without the presence of bhikkhunis, as in Sri Lanka where women could only be ordained after Ven. Mahinda's sister Sanghamitta had followed her brother there. In this case, it is surmised that bhikkhunis must have followed Dhammarakkhita to Aparanta at a later stage.

The Brahmajala Sutra, which the arhats ["enlightened"] Sona and Uttara preached in Thaton, deals in detail with the different schools of philosophical and religious thought prevalent in India at the time of the Buddha. The fact that Sona and Uttara chose this discourse to convert the inhabitants of Suvannabhumi indicates that they were facing a well-informed public, familiar with the views of Brahmanism [early brahmin caste leaning Hinduism] that were refuted by the Buddha in this discourse. There can be no doubt that only Indian colonizers, not the Mon people of Burma, would have been able to follow an analysis of Indian philosophy as profound as the Brahmajala Sutra.

• Read more on the history of Buddhism in Burma
• A Burmese outline from the Mahavamsa
• Christians call Life of St. Issa a Biblical "hoax"