Insight Newsletter – Spring 2004
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Teaching Letters of Zen Master Seung Sahn • Page 274 © 2008 Kwan Um School of Zen •
201 The following kong-an is number nine from the Blue Cliff Records: When you have a clear mirror, the beautiful and the ugly reveal themselves. When you hold the legendary sword, you can kill or grant life, as the moment dictates. Chinese come, foreigners go: foreigners come, Chinese go. In death there is already life: in life there is already death. Now tell me, what can you do? Unless your eye can penetrate all barriers and your body is free to make any turn, you can’t do a thing. But what is this eye that can penetrate all barriers? What is this body that is free to make any turn? Read this kong-an and see: A monk asked Jo-ju, “What is Jo-ju?” Jo Ju answered, “ East Gate, West Gate, South Gate, North Gate.” Strange language. We usually think that when a man dies he is dead, and when he lives he is alive. But in this language, life is death, death is life. Where does life come from? Where does death go? Life and death are only thinking. You must go beyond life and death. That is infinite life. It is “like this.” “Like this” is Jo-Ju’s original face. Mountains are mountains, rivers are rivers: yellow is yellow, red is red. Jo-Ju’s teacher, Nam Chan, said that everyday mind is the Way. Everyday mind is the mind that cuts off all thinking. It is the same as a mirror: when the beautiful comes, it is beautiful: When the ugly comes, it is ugly. -
Metta Bhavanabhavana Loving-Kindnessloving-Kindness Meditationmeditation Ven
MettaMetta BhavanaBhavana Loving-kindnessLoving-kindness MeditationMeditation Ven. Dhammarakkhita HAN DD ET U 'S B B O RY eOK LIBRA E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.buddhanet.net Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc. Metta Bhavana Loving-kindness Meditation Venerable Dhammarakkhita Published for free dist ribution 974–344–130–1 First edition , copies August Enquiries: Ms. Savanraya Vipatayotin (Nay) Dhammodaya Meditation Centre / Mu Tambol Th anon — Khat Ampur Muang, Nakhon Pathom , Th ailand Tel. (-) . Fax. (-) Website: http//www.rissir.com/dhammodaya E-mail: [email protected] Cover design by Dhammarakkhita with technical assistance from Khun Sangthong Srikaewpraphan Metta Bhavana Loving-kindness Meditation Venerable Dhammarakkhita Venerable Dhammarakkhita is an Australian Buddhist Monk of the Myanmar Th eravada tradition. He has been a monk for about eight years. After extensive and intensive practice in vipassana-mindfulness/insight meditation in Australia and Myanmar, his teacher Venerable Chanmyay Sayadaw instructed him to teach vipassana in Myanmar, Singapore and East and West Malaysia. Venerable Dhammarakkhita spent three years successfully establishing a monastery in South Africa. Th ese days he teaches by invitation in Myanmar, Japan and Th ailand and gives talks wherever he goes. “If you truly love yourself, you’ll easily love another; If you truly love yourself, you’ll never harm another.” Introduct ion Th is short explanation on how to practise Metta Bhavana or Loving -kindness Meditation was given as a three-day week- end retreat at Dhammodaya Meditation Centre in Nakhon Pathom in Th ailand. Mae-chee Boonyanandi, a Th ai Buddhist nun, has invited Venerable Chanmyay Saya daw of Myanmar to be the patron of the Centre. -
Mahasi Sayadaw's Revolution
Deep Dive into Vipassana Copyright © 2020 Lion’s Roar Foundation, except where noted. All rights reserved. Lion’s Roar is an independent non-profit whose mission is to communicate Buddhist wisdom and practices in order to benefit people’s lives, and to support the development of Buddhism in the modern world. Projects of Lion’s Roar include Lion’s Roar magazine, Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly, lionsroar.com, and Lion’s Roar Special Editions and Online Learning. Theravada, which means “Way of the Elders,” is the earliest form of institutionalized Buddhism. It’s a style based primarily on talks the Buddha gave during his forty-six years of teaching. These talks were memorized and recited (before the internet, people could still do that) until they were finally written down a few hundred years later in Sri Lanka, where Theravada still dominates – and where there is also superb surf. In the US, Theravada mostly man- ifests through the teaching of Vipassana, particularly its popular meditation technique, mindfulness, the awareness of what is hap- pening now—thoughts, feelings, sensations—without judgment or attachment. Just as surfing is larger than, say, Kelly Slater, Theravada is larger than mindfulness. It’s a vast system of ethics and philoso- phies. That said, the essence of Theravada is using mindfulness to explore the Buddha’s first teaching, the Four Noble Truths, which go something like this: 1. Life is stressful. 2. Our constant desires make it stressful. 3. Freedom is possible. 4. Living compassionately and mindfully is the way to attain this freedom. 3 DEEP DIVE INTO VIPASSANA LIONSROAR.COM INTRODUCTION About those “constant desires”: Theravada practitioners don’t try to stop desire cold turkey. -
IMS Spring 2007 Newsletter
INSIGHT NEWSLETTER FALL WINTER Your Life is Your Practice: 2008/2009 Liberation in Every Moment An Interview with Narayan & Michael Liebenson Grady IMS Schedules: The Retreat Center 2009 Narayan and Michael Liebenson Grady have been involved with IMS for more than The Forest Refuge 2009 thirty years. Michael sat the first Three-Month Retreat held at the center, and in 1978 Interviews with Teachers spent time as the organization’s bookkeeper. He and Narayan met at IMS. Over the decades they have practiced and studied with a broad range of Asian and Western IMS News & Developments teachers. Narayan first began teaching in 1985, and currently serves on the IMS BCBS Schedule: Board as a guiding teacher. Michael has been offering the Buddha’s teachings since Listing for 2009 1991. Both are guiding teachers at the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center, a thriving urban meditation community serving the greater Boston area. Narayan and Michael, both of you Michael: Many of us believe that teach a course each summer at IMS’s awakening can only happen under Retreat Center titled “Your Life is Your certain conditions. We often think of Practice.” What is the significance of meditation and spiritual growth as this statement? taking place only in contemplative environments and on the cushion. Narayan: First, we have found that But this attitude limits our understanding certain attitudes of mind can greatly of spiritual practice, and separates it enhance our spiritual practice. “Your from the rest of our lives. So many life is your practice” is one such aspects of life then remain unexplored, approach. -
Stages of the Path: Stream Entry and Beyond by Bodhiketu
Stages of the Path: Stream Entry and Beyond by Bodhiketu For many years I have thought that the traditional Nikāya scheme of Stream Entrant, Once- Returner, Non-Returner and Arahant was unclear. The category of Once-Returner seems particularly strange, even bizarre. What does it mean to have a 'stage' in which the fourth and fifth fetters (that is, craving and hatred) are merely weakened? How ‘weak’ is enough to qualify? How could that be measured or attained? This appeared to be nothing other than an example of scholastic foolishness, but the scheme was not easy to dismiss because it is asserted as a very real category in the Pali Canon and commentaries. Moreover, there is an apparent contradiction within the Pali Canon itself about the ethical criteria that are indicative of Stream Entry. I have for some time thought that these ethical criteria were often set too high, both within the Western Buddhist Order and within the contemporary Theravāda, within parts of which it seems that Stream Entry has even come to be regarded as beyond the reach of practitioners in this current age. Why does any of this matter? Ultimately, I believe, it makes a great difference to the confidence that we have in our traditions – our institutions, practices and practitioners. In addition, it seems to me that being clear about the doctrine is of critical practical importance. Sangharakshita, the founder of the Western Buddhist Order, is often quoted as saying that Stream Entry is well within the reach of members of the Western Buddhist Order who have practised wholeheartedly for 20-30 years. -
Compassion & Social Justice
COMPASSION & SOCIAL JUSTICE Edited by Karma Lekshe Tsomo PUBLISHED BY Sakyadhita Yogyakarta, Indonesia © Copyright 2015 Karma Lekshe Tsomo No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the editor. CONTENTS PREFACE ix BUDDHIST WOMEN OF INDONESIA The New Space for Peranakan Chinese Woman in Late Colonial Indonesia: Tjoa Hin Hoaij in the Historiography of Buddhism 1 Yulianti Bhikkhuni Jinakumari and the Early Indonesian Buddhist Nuns 7 Medya Silvita Ibu Parvati: An Indonesian Buddhist Pioneer 13 Heru Suherman Lim Indonesian Women’s Roles in Buddhist Education 17 Bhiksuni Zong Kai Indonesian Women and Buddhist Social Service 22 Dian Pratiwi COMPASSION & INNER TRANSFORMATION The Rearranged Roles of Buddhist Nuns in the Modern Korean Sangha: A Case Study 2 of Practicing Compassion 25 Hyo Seok Sunim Vipassana and Pain: A Case Study of Taiwanese Female Buddhists Who Practice Vipassana 29 Shiou-Ding Shi Buddhist and Living with HIV: Two Life Stories from Taiwan 34 Wei-yi Cheng Teaching Dharma in Prison 43 Robina Courtin iii INDONESIAN BUDDHIST WOMEN IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Light of the Kilis: Our Javanese Bhikkhuni Foremothers 47 Bhikkhuni Tathaaloka Buddhist Women of Indonesia: Diversity and Social Justice 57 Karma Lekshe Tsomo Establishing the Bhikkhuni Sangha in Indonesia: Obstacles and -
Dhamma Bell Newsletter
Issue 1 Spring 2007 Newsletter Introducing Dhamma Bell Newsletter Dhamma Bell Newsletter shares news twice a year of Tathágata Meditation Center (Nhu’ Lai Thiên Viên), which was formed in 1987 as the Vipassaná Meditation Group under the spiritual guidance of the late Sayádawgyi U Sìlánanda. In 1991, the group founded a meditation center and named it Tathágata Meditation Center. All are welcome to come to Tathágata Meditation Center (TMC) and practice Satipaþþhána Vipassaná meditation. TMC Biographies Saya¯dawgyi U Pandita is a world-renowned meditation teacher. He has taught Vipassaná meditation for well over 50 years, in the tradition of his teacher, the late Mahási Sayádaw. He began to teach meditation to the Vipassaná Meditation Group in 1989 and has been coming to conduct retreats at Tathágata Meditation Center since its founding. Sayádawgyi U Pandita is the founder and head monk of Panditarama Monastery in Burma. He is the author of two books, In This Very Life and The State of Mind Called Beautiful. Venerable Khippa Panno was ordained in Vietnam. After studying Vipassaná meditation in Burma with the late Mahási Sayádaw, he came to the United States to teach Vipassaná meditation, and is now the abbot of Ky Vien Temple in Washington, D.C. and the chief meditation teacher at Thich Ca Thien Vien Meditation Center in Riverside, California. He has been leading a special retreat every year since 1987, first with the Vipassaná Meditation Group and then at Tathágata Meditation Center. Beelin Saya¯daw (U Paññádìpa) is the abbot of Tathágata Meditation Center. He is a former lecturer at Hitakaryi Saògha University in Burma. -
A Beginner's Guide to Meditation
ABOUT THE BOOK As countless meditators have learned firsthand, meditation practice can positively transform the way we see and experience our lives. This practical, accessible guide to the fundamentals of Buddhist meditation introduces you to the practice, explains how it is approached in the main schools of Buddhism, and offers advice and inspiration from Buddhism’s most renowned and effective meditation teachers, including Pema Chödrön, Thich Nhat Hanh, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Sharon Salzberg, Norman Fischer, Ajahn Chah, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, Sylvia Boorstein, Noah Levine, Judy Lief, and many others. Topics include how to build excitement and energy to start a meditation routine and keep it going, setting up a meditation space, working with and through boredom, what to look for when seeking others to meditate with, how to know when it’s time to try doing a formal meditation retreat, how to bring the practice “off the cushion” with walking meditation and other practices, and much more. ROD MEADE SPERRY is an editor and writer for the Shambhala Sun magazine. Sign up to receive news and special offers from Shambhala Publications. Or visit us online to sign up at shambhala.com/eshambhala. A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO Meditation Practical Advice and Inspiration from Contemporary Buddhist Teachers Edited by Rod Meade Sperry and the Editors of the Shambhala Sun SHAMBHALA Boston & London 2014 Shambhala Publications, Inc. Horticultural Hall 300 Massachusetts Avenue Boston, Massachusetts 02115 www.shambhala.com © 2014 by Shambhala Sun Cover art: André Slob Cover design: Liza Matthews All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. -
INSIGHT NEWSLETTER PAID Insight Meditation Society Permit No.2 1230 Pleasant St
INSIGHT NEWSLETTER FALL WINTER 2006/2007 IMS Schedules: Practicing with Vedana: The Retreat Center 2007 The Forest Refuge 2007 The 2nd Foundation of Mindfulness An Interview with Christina Feldman Teacher Interview In 1971, Christina Feldman began Buddhist meditation practice in northern India. She was 17 at the time, and had left her native Canada to travel and explore new IMS News horizons. Since then she has played a key role in bringing the Buddha’s teachings and Developments to the West, offering retreats at IMS and co-founding Gaia House in Devon, England. Married with two adult children, she introduced the Family Retreat at IMS in 1982, and the Women’s Retreat in 1984 – both popular mainstays of BCBS 2006/2007 our annual course calendar. Course Schedule Outline Christina, what are the On his journey towards enlightenment, Buddha’s ‘Four Foundations we know that these ascetic practices of Mindfulness’? didn’t work; they did not bring about the freedom from suffering that he First, it’s helpful to describe the historical sought. One of the turning points of context of the Buddha’s teachings. his awakening was the understanding Siddhartha Gautama - the Buddha - that the very aspects of life he was came from a society rooted in the belief trying to overcome actually held the that life was an obstacle to overcome. key to liberation. He then turned The body, the mind and human rela- towards his body, his mind, his tionships were all to be transcended. feelings and towards everything So, once he started his spiritual search, that arose in his consciousness, it was natural for him to become an seeing them as the ground for his ascetic – he left his family and spent awakening. -
Social Values in the Metta Sutta
Social Values in the Metta Sutta Bhante Bokanoruwe Dewananda SOCIAL VALUES IN THE METTA SUTTA. Copyright © by Bhante Bokanoruwe Dewananda. All rights reserved. Printed in Sri-Lanka. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of breif quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. All inquiries regarding this book are welcome. Contact: Dr.B.Dewananda (0094-11-2791197) Those who wish to contribute towards the printing of Dhamma materials are cordially welcome. For inquiries, please send us an email: [email protected] Book and Cover Design by: Ruvan Chintaka ISBN: First Edition: March 2017 Let's bring Aurora (Sun Beams) of peace to every corner of the world by practicing loving-kindness very sincerely, because that is what is lacking in the modern society of the world. This, humble work of mine is dedicated with a devotion filled mind to my beloved parents, who brought me into this world, all Dhamma teachers who paved the way for the Buddhist Monastic Order and all supporters who did so much to bring this to completion --- Bhante Bokanoruwe Dewananda Contents Foreword 2 Introduction 4 1 Metta Sutta- Discourse on Loving Kindness 6 2 The Concise Meaning of the Metta Sutta 8 3 What is Meditation? 11 4 The Reason for Preaching the Metta Sutta 20 5 Terminology of Words in the Sutta 23 6 Values of the Karaniya Metta Sutta 66 7 Some Important Canonical Notes that Support the Values of Loving-Kindness 87 8 Techniques for Practicing Loving Kindness 102 9 The Benevolent Profits of Loving Kindness 125 Glossary of the Metta Sutta 134 1 SOCIAL VALUES IN THE METTA SUTTA FOREWORD am so blessed to have been asked by Bhante I Dewananda to write the foreword for his book. -
C:\Users\Kusala\Documents\2009 Buddhist Center Update
California Buddhist Centers / Updated August 2009 Source - www.Dharmanet.net Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery Address: 16201 Tomki Road, Redwood Valley, CA 95470 CA Tradition: Theravada Forest Sangha Affiliation: Amaravati Buddhist Monastery (UK) EMail: [email protected] Website: http://www.abhayagiri.org All One Dharma Address: 1440 Harvard Street, Quaker House Santa Monica CA 90404 Tradition: Non-Sectarian, Zen/Vipassana Affiliation: General Buddhism Phone: e-mail only EMail: [email protected] Website: http://www.allonedharma.org Spiritual Director: Group effort Teachers: Group lay people Notes and Events: American Buddhist Meditation Temple Address: 2580 Interlake Road, Bradley, CA 93426 CA Tradition: Theravada, Thai, Maha Nikaya Affiliation: Thai Bhikkhus Council of USA American Buddhist Seminary Temple at Sacramento Address: 423 Glide Avenue, West Sacramento CA 95691 CA Tradition: Theravada EMail: [email protected] Website: http://www.middleway.net Teachers: Venerable T. Shantha, Venerable O.Pannasara Spiritual Director: Venerable (Bhante) Madawala Seelawimala Mahathera American Young Buddhist Association Address: 3456 Glenmark Drive, Hacienda Heights, CA 91745 CA Tradition: Mahayana, Humanistic Buddhism Contact: Vice-secretary General: Ven. Hui-Chuang Amida Society Address: 5918 Cloverly Avenue, Temple City, CA 91780 CA Tradition: Mahayana, Pure Land Buddhism EMail: [email protected] Spiritual Director: Ven. Master Chin Kung Amitabha Buddhist Discussion Group of Monterey Address: CA Tradition: Mahayana, Pure Land Buddhism Affiliation: Bodhi Monastery Phone: (831) 372-7243 EMail: [email protected] Spiritual Director: Ven. Master Chin Chieh Contact: Chang, Ei-Wen Amitabha Buddhist Society of U.S.A. Address: 650 S. Bernardo Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94087 CA Tradition: Mahayana, Pure Land Buddhism EMail: [email protected] Spiritual Director: Ven. -
The Tulku System in Tibetan Buddhism: Its Reliability, Orthodoxy and Social Impacts
The Tulku System in Tibetan Buddhism: Its Reliability, Orthodoxy and Social Impacts By Ramin Etesami A thesis submitted to the graduate school in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at the International Buddhist College, Thailand March, 20 Abstract The Tulku institution is a unique characteristic of Tibetan Buddhism with a central role in this tradition, to the extent that it is present in almost every aspect of Tibet’s culture and tradition. However, despite this central role and the scope and diversity of the socio-religious aspects of the institution, only a few studies have so far been conducted to shed light on it. On the other hand, an aura of sacredness; distorted pictures projected by the media and film industries;political propaganda and misinformation; and tendencies to follow a pattern of cult behavior; have made the Tulku institution a highly controversial topic for research; and consequently, an objective study of the institution based on a critical approach is difficult. The current research is an attempt to comprehensively examine different dimensions of the Tulku tradition with an emphasis on the issue of its orthodoxy with respect to the core doctrines of Buddhism and the social implications of the practice. In this research, extreme caution has been practiced to firstly, avoid any kind of bias rooted in faith and belief; and secondly, to follow a scientific methodology in reviewing evidence and scriptures related to the research topic. Through a comprehensive study of historical accounts, core Buddhist texts and hagiographic literature, this study has found that while the basic Buddhist doctrines allow the possibility for a Buddhist teacher or an advanced practitioner to “return back to accomplish his tasks, the lack of any historical precedence which can be viewed as a typical example of the practice in early Buddhism makes the issue of its orthodoxy equivocal and relative.