The roots of intolerance and prejudice in Buddhism

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London, UK -- Violence related to Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Burma often leaves observers with a sense of bewilderment; many Buddhist practitioners have resorted to violent means in the name of what is essentially a peaceful religion. This contradiction is somewhat easier to understand when viewed from two angles – East and West.

<< Arakanese Buddhist monks pray for peace at the Sule pagoda in central Rangoon on 12 June 2012. (PHOTO: Reuters)

For the Asian Buddhist, the idea that the teachings of the Buddha could ever lead to hostility is simply dismissed. Buddhism is airbrushed from the scenes of violence and in its place is left only a threat to the nation, a threat to the culture and a threat to the religion.

The Western observer tends to assume that those committing these acts are not ‘real’ Buddhists. The original teachings have mingled with culture to such an extent as to become unrecognisable – dig beneath the culture, to the text, and there the ‘real’ message of the Buddha will be found. For the West, Buddhism has to be separated from its cultural environment. This is out of necessity – for it is assumed that Buddhism is not a ‘religion’ at all. It is a pristine ‘other’, standing alone and somewhat aloof from the messiness of the masses.

For the Asian Buddhist, the West can never culturally understand Buddhism (the West is ‘foreign’ – modern and corrupt). Whereas for the Western Buddhist, it is precisely these cultural accretions that obscure the real teachings. The East is naïve and lacks sophistication. Both sides, East and West, seek authenticity in Buddhism.

Buddhism has portrayed itself, and been described by Western commentators, as the religion untainted by ‘religiousness’ (dogmatism, violence, fundamentalism). It is the religion of choice for the compassionate, modern individual. Many believe that Buddhism has a pure history in which misdemeanors, carnage, war and hostility has been committed by everyone — except the Buddhist. This is why the recent violence in Sri Lanka and Burma elicits such shock.

In seeking the origins of these hostilities, we shouldn’t turn to the core textual tradition, even though some Buddhist groups may refer to particular texts to support their own positions. In the fundamental ideas of the Pali Canon, or the early Sutras of the Mahayana tradition, the teachings of the Buddha are based on tolerance and compassion.

The roots of intolerance might be found in the reaction of one Buddhist group to another. For example, this sectarian attitude surfaced in the emergence of the Mahayana Buddhism. The Mahayana identified itself in opposition to what it termed ‘Hinayana’ Buddhist groups. Although Mahayana is often translated as ‘Great Vehicle’ and Hinayana as ‘Smaller Vehicle’ – the term ‘hina’ actually means ‘inferior’, ‘low,’ ‘poor’, ‘miserable’, ‘vile’, or ‘contemptible’.

Evidence suggests that some Buddhist schools had uncompromising attitudes towards others. That intolerance was pronounced by the rise of Buddhism in the West (including the Asian ‘West’). There is an ongoing debate concerning which group is the most compassionate. The argument has been made that some Buddhist groups in Asia and elsewhere are using this ‘stick of compassion’ against Burmese Buddhists as a way of distancing the rest of the Buddhist world from the situation in Burma. Buddhist groups have long been vying for the claim of authenticity, an element of Buddhist history that could be at the heart of recent hostilities.

Even beyond disputes between differing factions of Buddhism, there is a broader sense of religious superiority. The notion of the superiority of Buddhism is often based upon a supposed scientific resemblance and methodology; Buddhism is better because it is viewed as scientific, rational. Because it is perceived as ‘better’, Buddhists go to war, discriminate against others, take Buddhism to be essential to national identity, and do things that we might find completely contrary to the Buddha’s teachings.

There is an historic pride in the fundamental goodness of the Dhamma which causes conflict and hostility. There are enough teachings in the Buddhist Canon that warn against these attitudes, but there are also many examples in Buddhist history where a strong sense of pride in one’s own tradition is supported. It is precisely where an attitude in which the most compassionate, the most Buddhist, the most traditional are valued – that intolerance in Buddhist culture comes into focus.

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Dr Paul Fuller has taught Religious Studies at Universities in Southeast Asia, the University of Sydney in Australia and at Bath Spa University in the UK. His research interests include early Indian Buddhist philosophy and the Buddhist ideas of Aung San Suu Kyi. His book, The Notion of Ditthi in Theravada Buddhism: The Point of View (Routledge Curzon Critical Studies in Buddhism, 2004) explores the textual basis of discrimination and attachment in the Pali Canon.

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Teaching Buddhism in the Morning, Secular Ethics in the Afternoon

Rotterdam, Holland, 11 May 2014 - His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s second day in Rotterdam began with rain beating against the windows. Before leaving for the Ahoy Stadium he gave three interviews: the first to Floris Harm van Luyn of NOS National News, who asked him about his meeting yesterday with the Dutch Foreign Minister.

Jacobine Geel who presents a talk show on religious matters was persistent in her questions about the relevance of temples and the traditional trappings of religion, and why His Holiness thinks people need to hear his message. He told her his listeners are all fellow human beings who want to be happy and that he regularly advises them, if they are interested, to think about what he says. If they find it useful, put it into effect; if they don’t, then forget it. Bettine Vriesekoop for Buddhist Broadcasting asked His Holiness about the renewal of interest in Buddhism in China. He told her that compared to Tibet, China is the senior student of Buddhism, that there is clear evidence of interest in Tibetan Buddhism among many Chinese in the context of a revived interest in Buddhism in general.
“Dharma Friends, spiritual brothers and sisters,” His Holiness responded, “I’m very happy to be here with you. Wherever I go I always talk about how all 7 billion human beings are the same. We all want to live a happy life. We need to remember that we all belong to one human family.”

He said there are two groups of religious traditions, those that have a concept of a creator, and those that like Buddhism do not. Buddhism also does not accept the existence of an independent self, a self apart from the body and mind. He mentioned that he likes, whenever possible to begin teachings with a recitation of the Mangala Sutta in Pali. Today, he invited members of a Zen group to recite the ‘Heart Sutra’ in Japanese.

The audience of over 11,000 people at the Ahoy Stadium listening to His Holiness the Dalai Lama's teaching in Rotterdam, Holland on May 11, 2014. Photo/Jurjen Donkers
“The Buddhist approach to explaining reality is to use our intelligence to the full. Nagarjuna and other masters of Nalanda also employed reason. They followed the Buddha’s advice not to accept his teachings out of faith and devotion but to investigate and test them. During the three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma, the Buddha taught according to the capacity of the disciples he was teaching. To some he spoke about the psycho-physical aggregates as a load carried by the self, as if they were separate.”

His Holiness said that as sentient beings we all want happiness not suffering, so we need to know how suffering and happiness come about. He quoted Nagarjuna’s saying that suffering is a result of nothing other than our own actions. The Buddha said, ‘Suffering must be known, the origin must be overcome, liberation must be achieved and the path must be cultivated.’ The Buddhist concept of dependent origination expresses the law of causality that results depend on their causes. But, a cause also depends on the existence of the result. A cause is a cause because there is a result. This does not mean that a cause comes from a result, but that without a result it is not a cause. His Holiness compared this to explanations of material things in Quantum Physics.

Madhyamakas say that things do not exist objectively; they only exist by way of designation. We experience suffering because of ignorance, because of the gap between appearance and reality. His Holiness related this to what the American psychiatrist Aaron Beck told him, that when we are angry about something the object of our anger seems entirely negative and yet 90% of that is our own mental projection. This also corresponds to Nagarjuna’s explanation.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking during his teaching in Rotterdam, Holland on May 11, 2014. Photo/Jeppe Schilder
“We have two goals,” His Holiness said, “higher rebirth and liberation. What binds us in cyclic existence is ignorance. Understanding selflessness is what leads us out of it. Virtue, the cause of higher rebirth, can be found in common with other spiritual traditions, but dependent origination is the king of reasonings that eliminates the ignorance that clings to intrinsic existence.”

He said that to attain enlightenment, we need an understanding of emptiness supported by the awakening mind of bodhichitta and the practice of the six perfections. To attain omniscience we need to overcome the obstacles to knowledge.

The three principal aspects of the path are renunciation or the determination to be free, bodhichitta or the altruistic aspiration for enlightenment and wisdom. To begin with we generate the determination to be free. Extending this aspiration to others is bodhichitta, but without understanding dependent origination, the determination to be free and bodhichitta will not be fulfilled. We need to realized that, existing in dependence on other factors, things do not exist the way they appear; they exist only as designations.

His Holiness said he would like to begin the afternoon session by taking questions from the audience. During the lunch break he gave an interview to respected journalist Floris van Straaten in which he talked about positive developments in China, including the attention paid to the needs of ordinary poor farmers and judicial reform in the recent 3rd plenum. He also mentioned Xi Jinping’s remark about Buddhists taking responsibility to revive Chinese culture, which he said was an unusual observation for a communist party leader to make. He said it is too early to say where it may lead, but he noted that Xi Jinping, like Hu Yaobang before him, seems to have adopted a more realistic approach.

Erica Terpstra and His Holiness the Dalai Lama enjoying a moment of laughter during his talk in Rotterdam, Holland on May 11, 2014. Photo/Jurjen Donkers
Erica Terpstra, who His Holiness has known a long time, introduced the afternoon session. She said it was a real pleasure to be here in his presence. She recalled an occasion when His Holiness was asked who he thought of as his spiritual peer and thinking for a moment he replied: “Everyone in the world.” She asked the audience to welcome ‘Our Holiness’.

His Holiness began as he usually does by acknowledging that all human beings are the same, mentally, physically and emotionally. All want a happy life. He said:

“If we could appreciate that all human beings are brothers and sisters belonging to the same human family, there’d be no room for conflict, no division between ‘us’ and ‘them’. There’d be no violence, no cheating or exploitation. People involved in education should think seriously about how to introduce such values into education. We are social animals, like bees who, without religion, laws or police, work together for their own survival.”

Answering questions from the audience, he suggested that in introducing Buddhism to children, if they belonged to a Buddhist family the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha could be explained to them. If not, it might be easier to talk about the mind and emotions. Asked how he relaxes he replied - sleep, going on to say that when he has time he reads and generally what he reads are the works of the Nalanda masters. Someone else wanted to know how His Holiness deals with mosquitoes and he said, to laughter from the audience, that his relationship with them is not very good. He added that he wonders what size of brain is needed to develop appreciation, because he sometimes allows a mosquito to drink his blood, but it flies off without showing any appreciation.

Audience members lined up to ask His Holiness the Dalai Lama questions during his talk at the Ahoy Stadium in Rotterdam, Holland on May 11, 2014. Photo/Jurjen Donkers
About euthanasia he said that like abortion it is generally better to avoid it, but that you would have to weigh the pros and cons of each case. Beginning his talk about secular ethics he said that all religious traditions teach about love, tolerance, forgiveness and self-discipline. However, in today’s world, in which at least 1 billion people have no interest in religion, there is a need for a system of ethics that has a universal appeal; a system of secular ethics beyond the limits of this or that religious tradition.

He said that the effects of climate change and the global economy extend beyond national boundaries. To deal with problems like corruption and the huge gap between rich and poor requires secular ethics. He mentioned that pilot projects are going on to design a curriculum to incorporate secular ethics into the education system. He does not expect to see the results of this work, but, if it is successful, those belonging to the 21st century generation may see a new way of thinking emerge that will result in this really becoming a century of peace.

His Holiness answered further questions from the audience, advising that peace of mind is the most important thing for those who are dying, and that what the Buddha taught is more important than works of art. He clarified that the teaching about there being no independent self does not mean there is no self at all, but that it is designated on the basis of the body and mind.

Regarding pro-Shugden demonstrators on the street outside, he said:

“They chant “Stop lying”, but I don’t know what they are referring to lying about. I have been very straightforward about this. “

A view of the stage at the Ahoy Stadium during His Holiness the Dalai Lama's talk  in Rotterdam, Holland on May 11,2014. Photo/Jurjen Donkers
Asked if it was true that he would be the last Dalai Lama he said that as early as 1969 he had made it clear that whether or not there would be another Dalai Lama would be up to the Tibetan people to decide.

Finally, to a question about climate change he pointed out that we have to be more alert. Whereas the sight of obvious violence makes us recoil, damage to the environment and climate change take place more stealthily. We are often not aware of it until it has already happened and it is difficult to restore.

The organizers thanked His Holiness profusely for coming to warm and extended applause from the audience and he left the stage. Tomorrow he will go to The Hague to meet parliamentarians and participate in a seminar on ‘The Heart of Education.

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What Tibetan Buddhism Can Teach Us About Happiness

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San Francisco, CA (USA) -- One of the most geographically isolated cultures in the world may contain the secrets to happiness that the rest of us have been looking for. Perhaps in part because of the country's remote location, the Tibetans have become the guardians of a deep, well-preserved wisdom tradition that modern science is only now catching up to.

But with the "mindful revolution" spreading in the West and a growing amount of research funding being dedicated to the study of contemplative practices and the science of compassion and altruism, the secrets of this ancient tradition are finally being recognized globally.

"Tibet has probably the greatest treasure trove of ancient contemplative knowledge, science and wisdom about how to influence the mind from the inside out," Joe Loizzo, founder of the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science, told The Huffington Post. "The Tibetans have an unbroken lineage of oral knowledge and technical expertise ... both in medicine and in psychology."

Early Indic cultures developed public systems of training in mindfulness -- including the Hatha Yoga tradition and Tibetan Buddhist mind training -- to ensure that the skills of contemplation and positivity were taught to everyone, explains Loizzo.

A Harvard-trained psychiatrist and a Columbia-trained Buddhist scholar, Loizzo has spent his career merging "the scientific and the spiritual," bringing ancient teachings on contemplative practice to modern Western psychotherapy and preventive medicine.

"There's a growing understanding that we need to move back in the direction of the contemplative traditions -- the ancient wisdom that says slow down, pay attention, be kind, be at peace -- whereas our modern wisdom has said that we need to just push forward and move into the future. We're realizing that's not sustainable for us either as a civilization or for our individual minds and brains. It's wearing and tearing us down just like it's wearing and tearing the planet down."

Loizzo spent years studying with Tibetan teachers in exile in India and in the West, and is convinced that the Tibetan Buddhist tradition -- which emphasizes training in mindful awareness and compassion -- has something to teach us all about how to live better lives.

Here are four essential lessons from Tibetan Buddhism that can help in your own pursuit of happiness.

Get intimate with your own mind.

We need two main things to become happy, according to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition: mindful awareness and loving compassion. The theory goes that the combination of attention and loving-kindness -- both of which can be built through contemplative practices like meditation -- can help bring the brain into its most plastic, growth-oriented state and support the development of a greater state of consciousness, Loizzo says.

Meditation -- "the quiet, humble work it takes on a daily basis," as Loizzo puts it -- is the cornerstone of the Tibetan contemplative science. Through a meditation practice, we can begin to overcome negative thoughts and habitual emotional responese, and start to live from a more calm, centered place, he says.

“Above all, be at ease, be as natural and spacious as possible. Slip quietly out of the noose of your habitual anxious self, release all grasping, and relax into your true nature," Sogyal Rinpoche advised in The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, a guide to meditation and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. "Think of your ordinary emotional, thought-ridden self as a block of ice or a slab of butter left out in the sun. If you are feeling hard and cold, let this aggression melt away in the sunlight of your meditation."

The research is now there to back up the benefits of this time-worn strategy for stabilizing emotions and boosting the brain's capacity for joy. Studies have shown meditation may be effective in reducing anxiety and depression, lowering stress levels, reducing loneliness and boosting emotional well-being.

"Twenty years and a thousand stories that have given me an unshakable confidence in the truly boundless potential we human beings have to heal ourselves and transform our lives," Loizzo wrote in his 2012 book, Sustainable Happiness.

Practice compassion, at every moment.

Most Eastern spiritual traditions involve some form of practice around compassion, or "loving-kindness." In Buddhism, there is a meditation for loving-kindness,“metta bhavana”, which involves sending kindness to yourself, loved ones, community members, people you may dislike, and eventually, all beings. In the Tibetan tradition, monks practice tonglen, which consists of breathing in suffering and breathing out happiness, so as to reduce pain and spread peace among all beings.

"What's unusual about the Tibetans is that they have what I call an industrial-strength version of this discipline," Loizzo says of loving-kindness practice. "These practices allow us to turn our sense of life as a battle, a struggle for survival against everybody else, into a communal experience of connecting with friends and the larger world. That, we've learned, is so important to our quality of life and our personal sense of meaning in life."

The Tibetans have devised powerful ways of helping people learn how to become more compassionate that are now being used in the Western world. A 2012 Emory University study suggested that compassion training derived from ancient Tibetan practices may boost empathy, and other studies have shown that loving-kindness meditation could increase positive emotions and lead to more positive relationships over time.

Connect with others who support your journey.

The traditional "Three Jewels" of Buddhism consist of the Buddha (the example), the Dharma (the path) and the Sangha (the community). In this tradition, the community is just as important an element as any other in living a happy, purposeful life. Increasing your happiness and well-being is a difficult thing to do alone. It requires the support and love of others, and a sense of belonging to a community.

"Modern neuroscience is showing us that we're really wired to be extremely social creatures," Loizzo says. "We're happier and healthier when we do that in a committed way ... We need to learn to connect with others with mindful openness and positivity, and to deal with the daily slings and arrows and work through those and maintain a sense of connection that's positive. This is something we practice in spiritual communities."

Strong social support networks have also been linked to a number of health benefits, including lower stress levels and increased longevity.

Embrace death -- don't fear it.

In Western cultures, our attitude toward death is largely characterized by fear and denial -- and this can, consciously or unconsciously, cause a great deal of suffering throughout our lives. But a central aspect of the Tibetan Buddhist philosophy is the belief that death should be embraced, and the concept that dying can be the "crowing achievement" of a life well lived. Although this attitude stems in part from a strong belief in reincarnation, you don't have to believe in an afterlife in order to better accept the impermanence of life in the here and now. The Tibetans believe that meditation can help us to come to terms with the nature of life and death.

When Loizzo is working with patients who are suffering from chronic or terminal illnesses, in addition to practicing meditation and loving-kindness, he goes through a traditionally Tibetan practice of asking some of life's big questions: What has been meaningful to you in your life? How do you face the impermanence of your life and the inevitability of death?

"Being able to embrace the idea of death and being present ... some of the women say it gives them a new lease on life," says Loizzo. "The ancient traditions made a science of trying to understand the death process and make meaning out of it ... This kind of approach of facing reality, even the parts that scare us, has tremendous potential for healing."

Asking these questions can help bolster an acceptance of things that can't be changed or controlled, which Buddhist teachings have long touted as a key to reducing suffering. Now, this ancient doctrine has science on its side: A recent study from Australian researchers showed that during the difficult changes of later life -- moving into residential care and losing independence -- an acceptance of what can't be changed may be a significant predictor of life satisfaction.

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7 Pieces Of Evidence That Prove The Matrix Is Really About Buddhism

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As an action/sci-fi flick, The Matrix is a total thrill-fest, combining badass Kung Fu fight scenes with the sole reason you wanted a black trench coat for a while. It was one of the most exciting films to come out in the 90's and introduced mind-bending ways of making movies.

But as a work of art, it’s utterly ripe for insane amounts of analysis. Film students or just general enthusiasts can spend months, or even years focusing on aspects of it; dissecting it scene by scene and line by line, looking for cryptic clues and complex meanings. Even though most people just want to see a fast-paced film where Keanu Reeves wears sunglasses and has two hair styles, there are others who read so much in between the lines that they’ve gone cross eyed.

Of all the theories out there, there’s one which not many people are aware of. And that is that the Wachowskis – either by design or by accident – wrote and directed a film that’s actually about the teachings of Buddhism.

Wait, what?

Yep. You read that right. One of the most popular actions films in recent cinema history has a deeper meaning that teaches peace and enlightenment. Don’t believe us? Here’s why we think so.

7) The Name “Neo”

Right off the bat we have Keanu Reeves as nerd-cum-saviour of humanity, Neo. If you rearrange the letters in the character’s names, you can spell the word “one.” In fact, Neo is referred to as The One throughout many parts of the film. It’s no coincidence then that his alias is an anagram foreshadowing his own destiny.

Of course, this sounds like a bit of a stretch. After all, there are plenty of films throughou history that have a central character referred to as the one, or a prophet, or even the saviour of human kind.

So, how does this relate to Buddhism then? Much of the Eastern philosophy reflects on the desire for people to become at one with the world; to empathise with everyone and everything on Earth (possibly the universe). Now, it’s true that Neo doesn’t exactly show his most peaceful side throughout the film, but him being a chosen one does elevate him to a sort of messianic status to become the leader of a more free world. Similar to Buddha himself.

Not convinced? Keep reading.

6) Awakening In The ‘Real World’

What’s even more interesting about Neo being an anagram of “one” is not only the fact that it relates to who he is in relation to the film (a prophet who has come to save the world), but how it references another very key part of Buddhism, specifically Buddha himself.

As the founder of Buddhism in 520BCE, Siddhartha then became known as the first Buddha. The word itself literally translates to “the awakened one.” Now, you don’t have to skip too many scenes in the film to see how this is relevant.

Much of The Matrix involves Neo/Mr Anderson coming to terms with the fact that the world he lives in is an illusion and that he must wake up so he can experience the true world. Fulfilling an ancient prophecy, he is taken down the “rabbit hole” and shown the truth about the world. He is literally a modern version of one who has awakened to a more enlightened state – a reincarnation of Buddha in our contemporary period.

5) The Modern World Isn’t Real

Let’s examine some of the core philosophies of the film. It’s apparent how Neo can be seen as representing a sort of reincarnated Buddha figure, but what about the rest of the film? One of the main teachings that Morpheus imparts to Neo is that the world in which his alter ego Mr. Anderson lives does not actually exist. He tells him that it’s an illusion, in which your mind simply interprets the other signals (touch, smell, etc.) and creates the world as a sort of virtual reality setting.

In the world that we know and live in, there is corruption, anxiety, stress and material desire. In the real world of The Matrix, there is freedom. Albeit it’s not exactly nirvana, but the characters in the film continue to insist that they have been set free by Morpheus. Neo was freed to protect the world, release others from their mind prisons and prevent further suffering (what Buddhism refers to as “Samsara”).

He can also never go back. Much like not being able to unsee something once you’ve witnessed it, a person who is awake can never be “un-awake” again. The scene in which Morpheus tells Neo this is interesting in that he also talks about a man who saw the world as it was; who freed the first people. Sound like someone you know? I’ll give you a hint. His name starts with a ‘B’.

4) Martial Arts

The Matrix is a rare treat in that it successfully blends Western attributes with Eastern ones. Take the famous lobby scene for example, in which Neo and Trinity gun down a room of security guards. An interesting point to make at this stage is how Trinity’s name could easily relate to The Holy Trinity in the Christian faith. She obviously represents Western philosophies while Neo represents the East.

Taking Buddhism into account, we see Neo being trained by Morpheus in various forms of martial arts, a traditionally Eastern self defence technique. While this doesn’t relate entirely to its teachings, there are a sect of Buddhists who do practice the art. Martial arts is not only about learning to fight, but also about mastering ones own mind and body. Both mind and body are a key aspect to the teachings of Buddha.

There is also a very Eastern feel about the training dojo sequence. Morpheus takes on the role of master and engages Neo in combat, asking him to show how much he has learned. The entire sequence is reminiscent of one of many martial arts films and is a huge step away from the ‘guns blazing’ methodology that many action films prefer (though we do see this later on).

3) Impermanence

Now, the idea of someone dying and being dead for the rest of the film is not something you can link to Buddhism. Death is final. You don’t need teachings or philosophies to be able to know that. What can be linked, however, is the idea of dying in an imaginary world.

During Neo’s training, he is taken to the top of a skyscraper and asked to leap from one roof to another. Failing the first time and plunging to the ground, he is extracted from the matrix world and re-emerges in the real world. Noticing his mouth is bleeding (despite the training occurring in a virtual realm), he questions Morpheus.

“I thought it wasn’t real,” he states.

“Your mind makes it real,” Morpheus says.

He then informs Neo that were he to die in the fake world, he would die in real life, saying that “the body cannot live without the mind.” This again brings to light the Buddhist ideas of how important the mind is. By training it, resting it (via meditation) and basically not dying in the matrix, a person can master it.

In fact, we even see this put to the test in one scene where several of the other characters (all of whom have been inserted into the matrix program) have their outside life support plugs removed. Dropping like flies, this shows that Morpheus was indeed right; that dying in the fake world is the same as dying in the real one.

2) Reincarnation

One of the most recognizable beliefs about Buddhism is the idea that a person is reborn after their physical body expires. You don’t need to know anything about the philosophy itself to be able to describe, even vaguely, what it means to be reincarnated. And yes, The Matrix features it. Twice in fact.

The first instance is when Neo first wakes up in the real world to find himself cacooned in a pod attached to tubes. While in this instance he hasn’t been reincarnated after death, it is still a rebirth in some form. More astute film buffs and students will argue that death has occurred in a very metaphorical sense, in that Neo’s perceptions of the world he once knew are now dead and new insights have been born.

The much more obvious example is right at the end when Neo is disposed of by Agent Smith. While death is indeed permanent, Neo awakens once more from ultimate demise and is reincarnated into The One, exactly how Morpheus has been referring to him throughout the film.

At this point he now sees how the world really is (green code that a person must decipher). He battles Agent Smith with a calm demeanour and utilising his Kung Fu skills. In this instance, he has obviously reached a state of enlightenment; essentially the ultimate goal of Buddhism.

1) “There Is No Spoon”

While Neo is clearly supposed to represent Buddha (or at least Buddhism at its core level), it can be easy to gloss over the idea for one simple reason: he doesn’t much look like the leader of one of the oldest Eastern philosophies in the world.

All theories can be thrown out with that basic observation, but if you want even more evidence that The Matrix is more than just a nod towards Buddhism, you can clearly see it in the scene where Morpheus takes Neo to see the Oracle.

While sat in the waiting room, Neo sees several children who are quite clearly gifted (one child is seen levitating letter blocks above her head). One notable character is the bald boy who is seen bending spoons with his mind. He hands the spoon to Neo and imparts not only great words of wisdom, but also the most famous line from the film.

He tells him that he cannot bend the spoon with just his mind and that he must realize the truth. “There is no spoon,” he says. Dressed in traditional Buddhist garbs and with no hair, the young boy could easily be mistaken for an ordained monk. His words speak a great truth and his calm expression suggests he too has been set on this path of discovery. Like Neo, he has been set free from Samsara.

So, now are you convinced?

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When love and Buddhism go hand-in-hand

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Bangkok, Thailand -- It is rare for the important days of two faiths to fall on the same date. Yet, it happens today when Thais celebrate St Valentine’s Day and Makha Bucha Day. For many young people, especially those in love, Valentine’s Day surely brings more fun to them, while devout Buddhists who believe in true happiness from faith certainly opt for observing Makha Bucha.

Not all people know that the Valentine's Day was not originally meant for romantic love. Instead it commemorates the unconditional love of Saint Valentine of Rome who was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry, and for ministering for Christians who were persecuted under the Roman Empire. Legend has it that he healed the daughter of his jailer, Asterius, during his imprisonment and wrote her a letter signed "Your Valentine" as a farewell before his execution. The celebration of Saint Valentine did not have any romantic connotations until Chaucer's poetry about "Valentines" in the 14th century, according to Jack B. Oruch's article, "St. Valentine, Chaucer, and Spring in February".

Meanwhile, Makha Bucha Day falls on the full-moon day of the third lunar month. It marks the time 1,250 monks visited the Lord Buddha at Weluwan Temple in India without appointment more than 2,500 years ago. All those monks were arahant (perfect ones who attained nirvana) who had been ordained by Lord Buddha. On this occasion, Lord Buddha delivered a sermon called Owat Patimok, which concludes the major principles of refraining from bad deeds, doing good and achieving a pure mind.

In fact, it is not unorthodox for anyone to celebrate both of these important occasions at the same time since the Lord Buddha also teaches about the cause and effect of affection and ways to end unpleasant feelings and suffering caused by love, attachment, lust and craving.

According to the Tipitaka's Visakha Sutra, Visakha, a female millionaire who lived near the city of Savatthi, visited the Lord Buddha at Buppharam Temple she had built — despite her wet hair and attire — because she was devastated by the death of her beloved grandson. The Lord Buddha asked her whether she loved and needed her children and grandchildren as much as the people in that city. She replied yes. The Buddha then told her, "One who has 100 beloved things feels 100 times sorry. ... One who has no love is free of sorrow, lust and craving."

Personally, I am very impressed with some other words of wisdom by the Lord Buddha and the brilliant English translation I read from Sathienpong Wannapok's The Lord Buddha's Words In Dhammapada. Here are some examples:

"Be not attached to the beloved, And never with the unbeloved;
"Not to meet the beloved is painful, As also to meet with the unbeloved.
"Therefore hold nothing dear, For separation from the beloved is painful;
"There are no bonds for those, To whom nothing is dear or not dear.

"From the beloved springs grief, From the beloved springs fear;
"For him who is free from the beloved, There is neither grief nor fear.
"He who is perfect in virtue and insight, Is established in the Dharma;
"Who speaks the truth and fulfils his won duty-Him do people hold dear."

This truth about love is undeniable and should be spread to the young generation so that they treat their loved ones kindly and unselfishly.

This year when Makha Bucha Day and Valentine's Day run parallel, the Sangha (council of ruling monks) goes modern by assigning all temples in Thailand and overseas to organise activities to encourage youths to make merit, give alms to monks and attend religious ceremonies. The council notes that youths are at risk of inappropriate conduct on Valentine's Day and should be taught to be mindful and think and act in decent ways instead.

Today, the Religious Affairs Department hosts additional activities for youngsters, reasoning that Makha Bucha Day and Valentine's Day fall on the same day. In Bangkok, 50 temples in 50 districts are hosting such activities. Moreover, nine pilgrimage trips are being held on nine routes by boat and bus in the Central Region, the North, the Northeast, the East and the South.

Furthermore, an ad hoc centre for moral studies has been set up at Sanam Luang to educate youths on how to pray and worship the Lord Buddha, dhamma and monks correctly through dhamma teachings that are applicable to their daily life.

With or without this campaign, many Thais apparently harmonise the mood of love and joy with religious activities today. Several threads on popular website pantip.com show a number of young lovers plan their Valentine's dates at temples by making merit and taking part in the wian thian candle ceremony. The main reason is that Thai people are known to love to have fun and celebrate every festival no matter what culture they belong to.

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Pichaya Svasti is a travel writer for the Life section of the Bangkok Post.

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Hatred and Buddhism don't mix

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Bangkok, Thailand -- With anger and bitterness a common sight in these politically strained times, let’s pause and ask how we can still call ourselves Buddhists after allowing ourselves to sink this deep into the politics of hatred.

Lest you forget, Makha Bucha Day is coming up this Friday. This year it also falls on Valentine's Day, which — in theory — should make the much-needed message of goodwill, love, and compassion it carries doubly louder. I doubt, however, that this will be the case.

Personally, I find it perplexing and distressing to think that many will go to temples to make merit, light candles, and do the ceremonial circular walks around the prayer hall as pious Buddhists to observe Makha Bucha Day, then go straight to the rally sites or return home to watch their “blue” or “red” cable TV channels to enjoy the rhetoric of hatred without thinking much of it.

Many love-birds, I guess, will also go to the rally sites together on Valentine's Day to express their larger love for the country as patriots, all the while feeling much closer in the same cause of destroying the enemy.

Since both Makha Bucha and Valentine's Day have a common theme of love and compassion, we might as well ask ourselves what kind of love we subscribe to. Is it the kind that is blind and, when taken to extremes, can be destructive, personally and politically?

All great teachers of every faith teach love for all without prejudice. They all teach deep listening, empathy, and forgiveness. Why do we then take delight in hate and dehumanising speech to legitimise our dark feelings and reaffirm our righteousness and superiority?

Why do we celebrate our fierce love for certain political ideas or persons that lead to our passionate efforts to destroy the ideas or the persons we hate?

Really, can we call this kind of motive love?

I don’t have any answers. But if you look at what the Buddha taught on Makha Bucha Day 2,557 years ago, you might find yours.

From childhood, we Thai Buddhists are taught that Buddha’s message from the “Ovada Patimokkha” sermon on the full moon day, nine months after his spiritual enlightenment is: "To abstain from all evil, to cultivate what is good and wholesome, and to purify one’s mind."

The teaching is in line with the Buddha’s First Sermon on Asalaha Bucha Day on how to work one’s way toward inner peace through moral discipline, insight meditation, and the understanding of nature’s laws on impermanence and non-self to let go of greed, anger and delusion. Without this realisation, suffering will not end.

It is not as simple as it sounds. As any practitioners know, this inner battle is the hardest one.

Few Buddhists know, however, that the Buddha also gave other advice on Makha Bucha Day on how to obtain peace, without and within. Devote yourself to inner contemplation with patience and endurance, he advises.

But also refrain from insulting and harming others, while cultivating restraint and modesty in one’s food and dwelling place.

In short, peaceful speech, non-exploitation, and humility are also key Buddhist practices. The only goal of those practices, he said, is to end defilements and suffering. Nothing else.

These teachings were originally aimed at monks who gathered to pay the Buddha respect on Makha Bucha Day. Look around and see for yourself if the clergy, the monks at political rallies, or those wealthy ones in palace-like temples follow the Buddha’s path or not.

It is even less known among Buddhists that Makha Bucha Day also saw another important event in the history of Buddhism.

In the last year of his life, this was the day on which the Buddha determined he would die. Three months later, on the full moon day of the 6th month in the lunar calendar, he did at the age of 80.

The message was loud and clear: all things, all beings, all beliefs, are impermanent. All that comes into existence cannot escape decay, or death. Not the Buddha, nor any of us.

So should we fight, hurt, kill and impoverish our mind and spirit for what will eventually come to pass, or something we will soon regret? And if our society is determined to go on this hateful path, should we still consider ourselves Buddhists?

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Sanitsuda Ekachai is editorial pages editor, Bangkok Post.

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Spreading Buddhism via old-style storytelling

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OSAKA, Japan -- In an effort to broaden the understanding of Buddhism among the lay population, some followers are using a traditional form of Japanese storytelling as a teaching tool.

<< Getting the word out: Professional storyteller Kyokudo Nankai addresses a gathering in a Buddhist temple in Chuo Ward, Osaka, on Dec. 27. | KYODO 

Professional storyteller Kyokudo Nankai, 49, is one of the leaders. In late December, Nankai told the story of Kukai, who founded the Shingon school of Buddhism and is known posthumously as Kobo Daishi, to a gathering of people at a temple in the busy Minami shopping district in Osaka.

Vividly depicting Kukai’s young days, Nankai stressed the great Buddhist master’s resolve to “help sufferers” while occasionally arousing laughter from the audience by referring to funny episodes.

Nankai began “kodan,” or traditional oral Japanese storytelling, on great Buddhist masters, who also include Shinran, Nichiren and Rennyo, over a decade ago and continues to receive invitations from temples and other places.

Nankai always keeps in mind that he should not step into the teachings of Buddhism while performing kodan, which, he says, is “not a sermon but a performing art.”

“I hope listeners will feel close to (the Buddhist masters) I describe and become willing to visit temples,” Nankai said.

The Jodo Shinshu school of Buddhism used to perform “fushidan sekkyo,” or artistic sermons, to popularize its teachings, an example of the close relationship between storytelling and the religion.

Kyoko Okazawa, 45, is another storyteller aiming to help laypersons understand Buddhism.

The wife of Keicho Okazawa, chief priest of Hase Temple of the Shingon sect in the city of Nagano, tells stories based on a “Nehan” painting of the Buddha’s deathbed and grieving followers and animals.

During her performance at a temple in Tennoji Ward, Osaka, last fall, Okazawa started with the birth of the Buddha and later explained the background of each person and animal in the drawing.

“I’m dying because I was born into this world,” Okazawa said of the Buddha’s deathbed.

“Life is tough and everyone dies. That’s why we should live with all our strength,” Okazawa said of the message she tries to bring to people with her storytelling.

Referring to Ananda, one of the Buddha’s 10 principal disciples who broke down in tears at the master’s death but eventually understood his message, Okazawa said, “I’m Ananda and so are many of you.”

It is extremely difficult to accept the death of loved ones, she continued. “The Buddha said, ‘Everyone dies,’ and so we can start accepting it (death). I think I’m assisting (the Buddha’s) work.”

Okazawa studied the relationship between women and Buddhism during the Heian Period (794-1185) when she was a graduate student. She married Keicho and the couple began managing Hase Temple in 1996.

That year they discovered the Nehan painting, drawn during the Edo Period (1603-1863), at the temple. After the painting was repaired and displayed in 1998, Okazawa began explaining it to visitors to the temple and her storytelling about it has since gained fame.

She has been invited to perform not only by temples and other Buddhist institutions but also day care centers for children, senior citizen associations and Christian groups across Japan.

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Sibling synergy, Buddhism fuel start-up's success

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SEATTLE, WA (USA) -- Armorize Technologies doesn't fit the mold of your typical tech start-up.

Brothers Wayne and Matt Huang chart a distinctive course at Armorize Technologies

The Taipei-based malware detection firm was launched in January 2006 as the brainchild of brothers Wayne and Matt Huang, who took divergent paths in their respective college and early career years.

Older brother Wayne, the company's CEO, was a military software engineer in Taiwan, while Matt, COO, was a globe-trotting venture capitalist. After deciding to team up, the Huang brothers found a tall, blonde Mandarin-speaking South African, Jordan Forssman to help them land the company's initial Taiwanese customers. Forssman's is the company's director of business development.

Funded initially by both angel investors and institutional investors, Artmorize began very frugally using minimal resources from its base in Taiwan. "We did everything ourselves with just a few employees and very little cash," says Matt. "It was a very tough but very exciting time."

After a series of advances and setbacks – including Wayne's departure for a year to dedicate himself to Buddhism studies – Armorize hit stride about a year and a half ago when Wayne returned as a reinvigorated CEO. His Buddhist master bestowed him with a mandala, a plan to harmoniously blend his Buddhist's studies and entrepreneurial pursuits.

The mandala was structured to "join these two worlds into one, so the harder I work at Armorize and the more I innovate at Armorize, the more I would actually learn about Buddhism and make great advances in my Buddhism studies," Wayne says.

Wayne brought on board 50 close associates whom he knew from college and Buddhist camps and study groups, and Armorize has thrived ever since.

It now has more than 70 employees, adding 20 people since early 2012, and has sold products to more than 300 enterprise and government customers, in more than 15 countries throughout Asia, Europe and the U.S.

"Buddhists are very, very disciplined people," says Forssman. "They bring that to the table in the way they view their work and their responsibilities in developing solutions for our customers."

Says Wayne: "It's very special. You get the execution power together with an environment that inspires a lot of creativity and innovation."

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8th Global Conference on Buddhism passed resolutions against violence in Buddhist countries and bombing in India

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Singapore -- Delegates from Singapore and overseas attended the two-day 8th Global Conference on Buddhism, held in Singapore on 6 and 7 July 2013. Drawing on the presence of 1,200 delegates from the various Buddhist traditions, the Conference culminated in the passing of two resolutions concerning the on-going violence against Muslims in Buddhist countries, and the bombing of the MahaBodhi Temple in Bodhgaya, India on 7 July 2013.

The resolutions were a response from the Buddhist community towards these international incidents, and passed with an overwhelming majority of more than 95% voting in favour.

Resolution on the violence against Muslims in Buddhist countries

“We hereby wish to inform our Muslim brothers and sisters that as Buddhists, we are deeply concerned by the violent treatment of Muslims at the hands of people claiming to be Buddhists.

Islam is a religion of peace and Buddhism a religion of non-violence. These are ideals for all mankind, regardless of differences in beliefs and customs. We call upon the leaders of the Buddhist and Muslim communities to condemn all acts of violence and to use their influence to encourage all to be gentle and act with compassion. We also call on governments to take firm measures against murder, assault, arson, rape and other acts of violence and incitement to violence, and take the appropriate action against offenders, whatever their social status.”

Resolution on the bombing in India

“We are deeply saddened but we forgive those responsible for bombing the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya.

You may damage the most important temple in Buddhism but you will not destroy our faith in forgiveness and compassion. “

“Buddhism is a religion of compassion and wisdom,” said Ms Angie Chew Monksfield, organising chairperson of the Global Conference on Buddhism and President of Buddhist Fellowship, said: “While we are saddened by the violence in Myanmar and the bombings in
India, we recognise that the only lasting solution towards such acts of violence is forgiveness. The resolutions are a concrete way of demonstrating our commitment to peace. We hope that these resolutions will contribute towards resolving the conflicts in a
peaceful and effective manner.”

Datuk Dr Victor Wee, President of Buddhist Gem Fellowship Malaysia, said: “I am heartened to see Buddhists from all traditions using this opportunity to engage each other on current issues of critical importance. We have discussed and passed public
resolutions on these two issues, based on the Buddhist principles of kindness and wisdom.”

The Conference included topics and presenters such as “Search Inside Yourself” by Mr Tan Chade-Meng of Google, “Challenges to Buddhism: Taking the Buddha Seriously” by Professor Richard Gombrich of Oxford University, and “Buddhist Bioethics in Medicine and Research” by Dr Ho Eu Chin.

About the Organiser of the Conference - Buddhist Fellowship

Buddhist Fellowship is a non-sectarian English speaking Buddhist group that focuses on the learning of the Buddha’s Teachings and the practice of meditation. It has over 5,000 members and has been a dynamic force in the Buddhist community in advocating modernization and bringing issues into the open for discussion and resolution.

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Dhamma Or Ethnic Buddhism

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Singapore -- Buddhism is my religion and has been for nearly 43 years. I consider the Buddha to have been the greatest mind in human history. I believe that the Dhamma is the closest humanity has come to ethical and spiritual perfection.

I have been teaching Dhamma for about 25 years and  I have never got tired of it, and I still discover aspects of  it that I had not noticed before. As an outgrowth of all this I have also developed a deep interest in Buddhist societies and cultures and have been fortunate enough to visit nearly every region where Buddhism prevails. During my travels I have generally found Buddhists to be open, gentle, generous and kindly folk.

But I am not blind. As samsaric beings Buddhists have their defilements just as people of other faiths do. They are capable of being stupid and greedy, prejudiced and uncaring, provoked and provoking, self-centred and inflexible, tradition-bound and superstitious.

They practice their religion as often as they fail to practice it – just as people of other faiths do. Despite this there has long been the illusion in the west that Buddhists, unique amongst humanity, practice their religion with complete fidelity - that because the Buddha taught gentleness, understanding and love, Buddhists follow these teachings unfailingly.

Well, it looks like those with such  illusions might be about to be disillusioned. It started some years ago with news reports of Sri Lankan monks being involved in racist politics and ethnic violence.

The Dorje Shugden and the Karmapa rumpus had little impact on public opinion because of the obscure issues involved, although they shocked and perhaps disillusioned some western Tibetan Buddhists.

Then the riots in Tibet gave a rather un-Shangri La picture of the troubles in that country.

Now it’s the ethnic riots in Burma. I quite understand that thoughtful people are deeply disturbed by these happenings.

I am too. But there is an added dimension to the reports about these as opposed to troubles beyond the Buddhist world. And it is this. Commentators and observers continually express their surprised to discover that Buddhists, monks included, can be provoked to violence, that they have chauvinistic feelings, that they are capable prejudices, and that they can resort to violence.

On the one hand this disillusioning worries me. Why? Because it tends to happen that when an illusion gives way to reality there is often a strong reaction in the other direction. When the deluded finally see the real situation they do not blame themselves for being unrealistic, they blame that which they were previously deluded about.

I suspect that Buddhists, and by implication Buddhism, previously held  so unrealistically high is  gradually going to be put down far lower than it should be.

On the other hand I am not  entirely unhappy that a more realistic view of Buddhists and Buddhist lands is beginning to emerge. Why? Because I have long seen the danger, not to say the foolishness, in the  “ethnic” approach to Dhamma.

When a western monk in the west asks to be addressed as Ajahn or Gelong, Sayadaw, Roshi or Sensei rather than their English equivalent he is identifying himself, not just as a Buddhist, but with a particular ethnic expression of Buddhism.

When they chant in the Tibetan or the Burmese or the Chinese way the same impression can be created.  When you tie yourself to a particular culture or country you involve yourself in people’s minds with that culture or country. And when that country or culture looks bad people see Buddhism as bad.

Dhamma is universal, it transcends culture and ethnicity. The practice of the Dhamma is not the special preserve of any particular ethnic group.

Let us practice the Buddha’s teaching, not Thai Buddhism, not Tibetan Buddhism, not Burmese Buddhism or any other culturally-specific expression of the Dhamma. Let us practice the Dhamma with a minimum of cultural trappings.

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Website aims to project "original Pure Land Buddhism"

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Hong Kong, China -- A new website on Pure Land Buddhism – http://www.purelandbuddhism.org/ was recently launched to promote awareness of the "original Pure Land Buddhism".

The aim of the new site is to introduce to international audiences the original Pure Land school in the lineage of Tang Dynasty China’s Master Shandao (????), synthesizer of the Pure Land thought of the great early masters and de facto founder of Pure Land Buddhism.

The website, the only one of its kind in English, is part of a broader effort, now gathering momentum in eastern Asia, to restore the original face to Pure Land Buddhism, the subject of so much historically-accumulated confusion and misunderstanding about its true nature.

Pure Land has long been the largest school of Buddhism in China and eastern Asia. But the versions that have flourished over the past millennium are not the original form taught by Shandao. The reason is historical: Because of a Buddhism-persecution campaign in the late Tang Dynasty, the writings of Shandao and his disciples were lost in China for a thousand years. During that period, the teachings became mixed as masters from other traditions interpreted Pure Land Buddhism according to the doctrines of their own schools.

Shandao’s texts were, however, transmitted to Japan, where they not only survived but thrived. The Shandao lineage became the basis on which the Jodo Shu (Pure Land School) and, later, the Jodo Shinshu (True Pure Land School) were founded. These evolved into a dominant stream of Japanese Buddhism, though with many features different from what Shandao had taught.

It wasn’t until the end of the Qing Dynasty that Master Shandao’s original writings were “re-exported” back to China. However, war, revolution and political upheavals posed formidable obstacles to the systematic study and propagation of pristine Pure Land Buddhism. Only with the relative peace and social development of recent decades have such efforts begun in earnest.

For more information please visit: http://www.purelandbuddhism.org

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For Lexington author's life Buddhism connects many points - Wicked Local

When Meikle Paschal began writing down the experiences of his life, he did not know there would be a transcendental common theme connecting the events. After a closer examination, he realized his life had been threaded together through Buddhism.In Paschal’s new book, "Black Buddhist," he examines how his transformation from Catholicism to Buddhism shaped his life. On Thursday, May 30, the Lexington resident will discuss hismost recent book at Cary Memorial Library, 1874 Massachusetts Ave. at 7 p.m.Paschal spoke to The Minuteman about his experiences as an author and as a Buddhist.How did you find that you were interested in writing stories?I’ve always written well, all the way through school. And I’ve always been full of stories, some more robust than others.While in the classroom – I used to teach in Boston Public Schools and at some state colleges and would always tell my students my experiences. And for the most part I told them for the entertainment value, but then I started getting feedback from my students about my stories.I remember running into a student – one who I never thought paid very much attention – and he was telling my stories back to me and telling me how he applied them to his own life.When I realized they were important to my students, I thought it would be important that I write them down for my children. I didn’t even think it would turn into a book at that point.Over time I realized these stories had a common thread - Buddhism. It was at that point I knew this could be more than just something for my children. The writing revealed more about me than I ever could have expected. I reached deep inside myself to capture the spiritual essence.At what point did you decide to make the transition to Buddhism?I grew up Catholic and was very dissatisfied. Christian values are built around pure faith, so when I asked a question, and I questioned quite a bit, I was just told to believe instead of being told answers.I felt it was just a story to keep order in the community. So I went on to atheism for many years, but I felt that was an ignorant way to go through life, so eventually I became agnostic.When I was going through my doctoral program, it weighed stress on my entire family and me. My wife sent me to live with my mother-in-law in the Caribbean to relax it was very important in my life.When Meikle Paschal began writing down the experiences of his life, he did not know there would be a transcendental common theme connecting the events. After a closer examination, he realized his life had been threaded together through Buddhism.In Paschal’s new book, "Black Buddhist," he examines how his transformation from Catholicism to Buddhism shaped his life. On Thursday, May 30, the Lexington resident will discuss hismost recent book at Cary Memorial Library, 1874 Massachusetts Ave. at 7 p.m.Paschal spoke to The Minuteman about his experiences as an author and as a Buddhist.How did you find that you were interested in writing stories?I’ve always written well, all the way through school. And I’ve always been full of stories, some more robust than others.While in the classroom – I used to teach in Boston Public Schools and at some state colleges and would always tell my students my experiences. And for the most part I told them for the entertainment value, but then I started getting feedback from my students about my stories.I remember running into a student – one who I never thought paid very much attention – and he was telling my stories back to me and telling me how he applied them to his own life.When I realized they were important to my students, I thought it would be important that I write them down for my children. I didn’t even think it would turn into a book at that point.Over time I realized these stories had a common thread - Buddhism. It was at that point I knew this could be more than just something for my children. The writing revealed more about me than I ever could have expected. I reached deep inside myself to capture the spiritual essence.At what point did you decide to make the transition to Buddhism?I grew up Catholic and was very dissatisfied. Christian values are built around pure faith, so when I asked a question, and I questioned quite a bit, I was just told to believe instead of being told answers.I felt it was just a story to keep order in the community. So I went on to atheism for many years, but I felt that was an ignorant way to go through life, so eventually I became agnostic.When I was going through my doctoral program, it weighed stress on my entire family and me. My wife sent me to live with my mother-in-law in the Caribbean to relax it was very important in my life.Soon after my return home she and my mother passed. One night in my sleep my mother-in-law came to me in an experience and talked to me. I could actually feel the weight of her on my bed and she told me everything was going to be fine.I went through grief therapy, and started reading a lot of Alice Bailey. I asked a bookstore employee what I should read and he recommended the stories from the Buddha. Eventually I joined a cousin who lived in Lexington start going to Buddhist sessions.When looking back at your life, what effects did Buddhism have?A lot didn’t even occur when I was practicing Buddhism. I look back and apply the philosophy and research on past events.I’ve lived a whole series of important events in my life and felt that I have moved my life in the right direction.I know a lot of young black men who didn’t make it to 25. I was never arrested or shot and was able to go to college in a family that never sent anyone to college before. So when I graduated with a good cumulative average and a degree, it was then, looking back, I realized I could always summon up the courage and discipline to do what I needed to do to get where I wanted to be in life.In retrospect, it was one of my first recognitions of Buddhism.

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Decline of Buddhism in Thailand - PBS

LUCKY SEVERSON, correspondent: There’s a struggle going on inside Thailand. It’s between two powerful influences. One side can be found in places like this; the other in crowded spaces like this. For now it seems that one side is falling behind.

This is Professor John Butt, senior advisor to the Institute of Religion at Payap University in Chiang Mai.

PROF. JOHN BUTT: It’s a real clash with modernity, with social change, and it’s been very intense. The changes that took place in America and in Europe have been extended over a couple of centuries; here it’s been a couple of decades.

SEVERSON: This is a country where almost 95 percent of the population is Buddhist, where the constitution mandates that the king be a Buddhist, and where there are temples almost everywhere.

PROF. BUTT: I think probably this is one of the central if not the central Buddhist country in the world.

SEVERSON: It’s a country that has recently seen a remarkable rise in economic prosperity. There was a time not that long ago when it would have been difficult to find a mall, let alone one so crowded. The roads would have been clogged with motor scooters, and the fancy cars belonged only to diplomats and the very rich. Not anymore. The Thais have embraced consumerism with gusto.

This is An Jang Sang, professor emeritus at Chiang Mai University.

AN JANG SANG: Some of them may be interested in materialism, consumerism, but deep down in their heart they are still Buddhists.

SEVERSON: But he agrees they’re not going to the temples, also known as wats, as much as they once did.

PROF. BUTT: In the past the wat was not just the religious center, it was the life center of the village community. The social life took place there, counseling, respect, authority for the monks. That’s, I think, decreased tremendously.

SEVERSON: And not as many are going to the Buddha to offer their prayerful good wishes for all living things. Some are giving more in donations, but Phra Boonchuey, the assistant abbot at this large temple, says too many are just donating to buy good karma.

PHRA BOONCHUEY: Because now they are coming to the temple just only to offer the offering in order to please, you know, their life for their own benefit.

SEVERSON: Phra BoonChuey is on a mission to get Thai Buddhism back on track.

PHRA BOONCHUEY: And so we have to do many things, you know, to bring people, you know, back to the religion.

SEVERSON: That would include bringing back the monks themselves who have been disappearing. In the past, almost every young man would become a monk, leading a monastic life, some for a few months, some for a lifetime. But in the last 30 years it is estimated that the number of monks has fallen by more than half. Mr. Vinai, our tuk-tuk driver, served as a monk for over a year as a young man.

(to Mr. Vinai): Did you like being a monk?

MR. VINAI: Yes. Yes.

SEVERSON: Do you think every young man should be a monk?

MR. VINAI: No, no.

SEVERSON: He says not every young man should be a monk because some care more about shopping.

(to Mr. Vinai): How many boys do you have?

MR. VINAI: I have two.

SEVERSON: Were they monks?

MR. VINAI: Yes.

SEVERSON: His last boy served only 15 days.

It’s about 5:30 in the morning, and the first monks are showing up to collect alms, their food for the whole day. Sometimes there’s only one meal a day, often followed by some sort of community service, and then there are the hours of chanting, study, and meditation. It’s not an easy life. Professor Butt says he once asked the young men in his class how many had been ordained.

PROF. BUTT: If I had asked that question a hundred years ago, I would have gotten close to a 100 percent yes, that they had ordained as a novice, maybe a short period of time, but they had done so. I went five years before I got one positive response, who had ordained.

SEVERSON: One reason for that might be the Thais have been practicing family planning, and if there is only one boy in the family, and the choice is school, making money, or ordination…

PRHA BOONCHUEY: You may not want him to be a novice or to get ordination.

SEVERSON: A big factor is that in the past many boys became monks to get a free education at the temple. Now Thailand offers 12 years of free public education and far more are attending secular schools. Scandals have also contributed to the diminishing numbers of monks, scandals revealed by social media. Pictures of monks at parties with women, drinking alcohol, watching porn, driving expensive fancy cars. Things monks are not supposed to be doing.

MR. VINAI: Not whiskey, not beer.

SEVERSON: Cigarettes, no cigarettes?

MR. VINAI: Nah, no.

SEVERSON: No women?

MR. VINAI: No women.

SEVERSON: No partying?

MR. VINAI: Yeah, no party.

SEVERSON: It’s not that there has been an epidemic of scandalous behavior, but what there is seems to find its way into the media. Justin McDaniel, the chairman of the department of religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania, was once a monk himself in Thailand.

JUSTIN MCDANIEL: It has a big impact in the press. I think it also has a big impact that if somebody was on the fence about being a monk or nun, that this is kind of relatively a legitimate excuse you could give to your mom for not doing it: well, look at the way monks act.

SEVERSON: Professor McDaniel argues that Thai Buddhism itself is not in decline, that it is gaining considerable traction in the Western world, and that the Thai people themselves are debating it more, which he says is a good thing. He skeptical that there really is a crisis.

MCDANIEL: I’ve never heard any professional religious person, rabbi, monk, priest, imam ever say everything is fine. You know, it’s always we’re in a state of crisis, and we’re in a state of crisis so you should be coming more, and you should be giving more money, you should be becoming a monk or you should be reading more books.

SEVERSON: He would find some disagreement here in Chiang Mai. Phra Boonchuey, for instance, thinks monks need to be taught more critical thinking instead of just memorization, and that the benefits of meditation need to be emphasized more. He wants Buddhists to get back to their basic precepts, such as abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and drinking alcohol. He would also counsel them to consume only what they need and to avoid the trappings of materialism.

PHRA BOONCHUEY: Think before [you] consume.

SEVERSON: There is a branch of Buddhism that’s flourishing. It’s called Dhammakaya. One way to explain Dhammakaya is that it is to Buddhism what the prosperity gospel is to Christianity. In other words the traditional value of selflessness has been replaced with “bigger is better.” The more you give, the more you get. Professor Butt says in some ways consumerism is becoming a religion of its own.

PROF. BUTT: This is the most pervasive and maybe becoming deeply rooted and growing the fastest of any religion in Thailand, and it’s consumerism. This is the way that one identifies one’s life, by what you own. The old thing was “I think, therefore I am.” Now it’s “I buy, therefore I am.”

MCDANIEL: I don’t see consumerism as somehow a-religious. And I don’t see modernity as somehow a-religious. I think that there’s many ways of being religious. I think when we say that consumerism or modernity is somehow a sign of secularism, I think that’s a very particular way of looking at religion.

PROF. BUTT: We’re living in a new world, and religion is a response to life, to what it means to be human, and when that changes, as I said earlier, religion has to change too or it dies. It’s put in a museum.

SEVERSON: No one is suggesting Thai Buddhism is heading for a museum, but many agree that it might need some new packaging.

For Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, I’m Lucky Severson in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

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Gay and transgender katoey struggle with Buddhism | Bangkok Post: news - Bangkok Post

Despite being born a boy, 28-year-old Deer has never accepted her masculinity. She is, she said, and has always been, female.

Growing up with six sisters in a small community in Si Sa Ket province, northeastern Thailand, it's perhaps not surprising that Deer adopted some feminine ways. As a youngster, she said she acted and spoke much like a girl.

It wasn't until she reached adolescence that Deer began to realise that it was not her surroundings that were shaping her behaviour, but rather her soul. It was nature over nurture.

"I've felt trapped inside a male body ever since I can remember. When I was young, I acted, talked and dressed like my sisters, and didn't feel there was anything wrong with that."

The problem for Deer was that her father didn't agree. As his only son and heir, Deer was destined to carry on the family name. Being gay, or transgender, simply wasn't an option.

"When I turned 12, my father spoke to me really seriously about the way I was acting. He said he was disappointed, and had decided that the only way I would be able to change my ways [and stop acting like a girl] was to join the monkhood."

Deer said the experience was "terrifying".

"My parents took me to the local temple and forced me to join the monastery against my will. The minute my head was shaved I started to cry. I felt naked without my hair, as it was the only escape I had from being a boy."

Deer was forced to spend six years as a monk, before leaving at age 18. Soon after, she moved to Bangkok where she has lived, as a woman, for the past 10 years.

"Leaving the monastery marked the end of my old life," she said. "But I still have the scars."

NO PLACE FOR KATOEY

Deer's story is not unique in Thailand. The relationship between katoey (a word used by some of the interviewees here to encompass both gay and transgender people) and religion is complicated, to say the least.

Venerable Shine Waradhammo, a monk who defines himself as a Neo-Buddhist, said that under the basic tenets of Theravada Buddhism, which is practised in Thailand, katoey are simply not recognised.

"Buddhism [in Thailand] was created only for heterosexual people. Male and female are the only genders that are recognised by the religion," he said.

As a result, people who fall outside those two groups "have no place to be", he said.

"It's already difficult for katoey to integrate into society, but religion makes it worse."It's not impossible, however, for a katoey, or at least a former katoey, to take holy orders.

Take the case of Sorrawee "Jazz" Nattee, aka Miss Tiffany Universe 2009, who earlier this month turned his back on the bright lights of the entertainment world in favour of the saffron robes and serenity of a Buddhist monk.

"I want to be a monk for the rest of my life and I'm ready to leave my worldly possessions behind," Ms Sorrawee, who's now known as Phra Maha Viriyo Bhikku, said after being ordained at Wat Liab in his home province of Songkhla.

After four years in the spotlight as a glamorous "ladyboy", Ms Sorrawee had her breast implants removed to meet the criteria for life as a monk. The abbot of Wat Liab was happy to confirm the former cabaret star's return to the masculine fold.

"Jazz is 100% man, emotionally and physically," he said.

The situation is not so straightforward for everyone. Many katoey in the monkhood are forced to live dual lives.

In an article published on his "Neo Buddhism" blog, Ven Shine says many katoey escape the demands and requirements of their "real" lives as monks by posting images of their alter egos, or true selves, on social media websites.

"Social media platforms provide a means of communication for young monks. Like all young people they want to express themselves, and sometimes that means wearing makeup or dressing in women's clothes."

Whether or not these young men are merely "experimenting" by posting pictures of themselves in "boob-tubes" [fashioned from rolled up robes] or uploading videos to YouTube of themselves lip-syncing to girl-band pop tunes is a moot point. Less frivolous is the belief held by some quarters of society that a life in the monkhood is the only way for katoey to rid themselves of the sins committed in a former life.

Not uncommon in Thailand is the opinion that "gayness" and transsexuality are retribution for the bad deeds, or karma, of an earlier existence.

"Many parents with gay sons, especially those in upcountry communities, believe that the monkhood will resolve their children's gender identity crises," said Jetsada "Note" Taesombat, coordinator of the Thai Transgender Alliance, which among other things provides a telephone and web-based support service for people with gender issues.

"It might sound strange, but they truly believe that becoming a monk will turn their gay sons straight," she said.

The reason why so many gay monks post "inappropriate" pictures of themselves online is because they are reacting to life in a monastery, she said.

''They don't want to be monks. They are forced to do it by their parents who think that a few years inside a monastery will 'cure' their gayness.''

Nopparat Benjawatananun, director-general of the National Office of Buddhism, agreed.

''Many families believe that the monkhood can change the behaviour of their gay children. They think that being a monk will lessen their sons' sexual impulses and make it easier to control themselves,'' he said.

Despite the strength of feeling, it's clear from the evidence of the Facebook images and YouTube clips, that the regimen does not always produce the desired results. But that's not Mr Nopparat's concern.

''The National Office of Buddhism has no authority to rule on monks' behaviour. If someone is accused of doing something wrong, that's for the abbots and other senior figures within the temple to sort out,'' he said.

He certainly has no problem with ''feminine'' monks.

''That's never a concern. I've met many monks that act and speak in a feminine manner, but they are smart, don't break the rules and are well-liked by the local community. For me, they are fully qualified to serve as venerable monks,'' he said.

FIGHTING HOMOPHOBIA

Pongsathon Janleuan, director of the M Plus project in Chiang Mai, said when looking at the issue of gay monks it is important to treat each case individually.

M Plus is a non-profit organisation that works with the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community, but it is primarily concerned with promoting sexual health among men who have sex with other men.

''Just because some gay monks put on makeup and dress like women, doesn't mean all gay monks do. It's a personal issue and we should consider each situation as it comes,'' he said.

Like in school, monasteries should provide clear rules on what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, he said.

''Then, regardless of sexuality, if someone misbehaves, they can expect to be reprimanded.''

The problem, as Mr Pongsathon sees it, is that people are heavily biased against the LGBT community. ''Society doesn't have enough intellect to analyse the core issues,'' he said. ''The public is quick to criticise gay monks for trivial things like putting on makeup and wearing dresses, but if a 'straight' monk behaves badly, people look the other way.''

According to Ven Shine, geography is another factor worth considering.

''Thailand is home to a great deal of sexual diversity, and that is reflected in religious communities,'' he said. ''It's not unusual to see a gay monk, and in northern and northeastern parts of the country, there is a very high concentration of them.''

Much of Thai culture, ''from the performing arts to poetry has a feminine flavour, and this is particularly evident among communities in the north of the country'', he said.

Mr Pongsathon of M Plus agreed.

''The reason why there are so many gay monks in the north of Thailand is because society there is much more laid back. Northern people care less about a person's sexuality than they do about what that person contributes to society,'' he said.

The problem is that not everyone in Thailand is as open minded as people living in the North, he said.

''Northern people know that gay monks are central to their communities, but other Thais don't see it that way. They are too quick to judge them for acting in ways they consider inappropriate. It's a very narrow-minded way of thinking,'' he said.

For Ven Shine, it's not just society that needs to be more open minded. Religious organisations do too.

''Theravada Buddhism is based on a very patriarchal system, and that contributes to the institutional homophobia,'' he said.

When a young man first enters the monkhood, he is asked several questions, in Pali, by a senior monk. One of them is ''Puri sosi'', which translates as ''Are you a man?''

''This is clear evidence of at least some degree of sexual discrimination,'' Ven Shine said.

''There are more katoey living in Thailand than anywhere else in the world, yet we've learned so little from them,'' he said.

''Even though we stage transgender beauty contests across the country, we don't really accept them as part of society.''

Despite Sorrawee Nattee's successful renaissance as Phra Maha Viriyo Bhikku, Ven Shine said he is upset by the disrespect shown to the former showbiz star by the media.

''Even though he met all the criteria set by the Buddhist authorities and was eligible to be a monk [as he had retained his male genitalia], he was still attacked by the media. It was wrong to criticise him like that.''

Mr Pongsathon agrees that gender should be of no issue if a person is truly committed to a life in the monkhood.

''Gay people have just as much right as anyone else to get ordained. Sexual orientation shouldn't have anything to do with it,'' he said.

''The gay and straight monks I know in Chiang Mai and other northern regions all joined the monkhood because they wanted to study the dhamma. But people judge the gay ones differently, often disrespectfully.''

What people forget is that in becoming a monk, a person transcends sexuality, he said.

''In their world. there is no male or female.''

Phra Payom Kalayano, the abbot of Wat Suankaew, said that despite the obvious difficulties, things are getting better for gay people who want to follow a religious path.

''In the past, katoey had no hope of being ordained because the rules were stricter and society was less open minded. But they have just as much right as anyone else to join the monkhood,'' he said.

''The best thing about katoey is that they are intelligent and well loved by local people, and they are really good at handicrafts. Masculine monks like me can't do that stuff.''

FROM MONK TO NUN

But these utopian ideals are not how Mimi, a katoey in her late 20s, sees it.

As a boy she spent six years as a monk in a temple in northeast Thailand, before moving to Bangkok as an adult, she told Spectrum.

It was in the capital she realised she was a katoey and began living as a woman. Despite the gender change, she remained committed to her religious beliefs and developed a good understanding of the dhamma.

Recently she visited her local temple, which she had been supporting financially for some time, and asked to be ordained for a week as a nun. ''I asked the head nun to ordain me so I could continue to practise the religious ceremonies. But when she looked at my ID card, she said she couldn't accept someone like me in the temple,'' she said. ''I didn't know what to say. It was like I'd been slapped in the face.

''I was annoyed, so I asked her how she could take money from a katoey but not allow one to be part of the temple. I asked her, 'What's wrong with you?'.

''She didn't answer. She just walked away,'' Mimi said.

According to Ven Shine, the only way to rid Buddhism in Thailand of such deep-rooted prejudice is to changes the way people are educated.

''We have to stop telling people that being gay is a sin. By saying that someone's sexuality is down to karma is very disrespectful. We have no right to brand anyone a sinner,'' he said.

''We should also accept people into the monkhood regardless of their gender. And that includes katoey, whether or not they have the genitals they were born with.''

Ven Shine said that the concept of men acting like women is explained in Buddhist scriptures as Vatsana, which means destiny or fate. ''It is something they are born with. It can't be changed,'' he said.

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Buddhism, Islam, and a serious talk about fundamentalism - Patheos (blog)

Last week’s attack in Woolwich, London surprised and horrified me as much as anyone. It was quickly claimed that the men had shouted Allahu Akbar, “God is great” at the time. One early video showed one of the men also apologizing that women had to see what had happened and that the problem was atrocities in their own land (note, one of the two was born in London, the other in Nigeria), saying, “remove your government. They don’t care about you.”

Commentators rushed to fill in the gaps with terms like “Islamist,” “Baghdad style violence” and “terrorism.”

A steady tide of belligerent racism and Islamophobia ensued.

First a mosque was attacked. Then another. Then another. Then another. The count now is 10. Six days and ten Mosques… At least one Muslim has been murdered in what police suspect is a racially-motivated attack.

And Sunday morning I awoke to news that England’s resident racist political movement, the EDL, had rioted a few miles from where I live (note, there is a case to be made that they are not racist, just xenophobic in case that might seem better). Elsewhere in the UK EDL members were arrested for ‘racist tweets’ ahead of their own marches. And for a bit of background, you can see this 2010 Guardian investigation.

After the attack, the EDL looked a bit like this:

Wearing logo embossed ski masks.

Which just begs the question: why the matching ski masks?  (warning, offensive language):

And vowing vengeance. – yep, they posted it.

Now, I don’t mean to get too far away from the topic of Buddhism, Islam, and fundamentalism, but it’s worth noting that my own worry on the streets of Great Britain tonight is for what people in the EDL and similar groups might do next. 

Meet Julie, she is a Muslim community leader in England. Read her story.

The fact is, Muslims across the country reacted to the crime with the same shock and horror that I did, quickly condemning the act and discussing their own efforts to deal with violence in their communities (this is one article that you must read).

So what part could Islam have possibly played in the attack?

The answer is by no means simple. As with any religion, there are numerous passages in the Muslim holy book, the Qur’an/Koran, that might be used to justify violence in certain situations. However, there are also other equally, and often more, compelling passages that demand restraint, kindness, and pacifism. The Huffington Post recently hosted a live discussion with two Muslims and one ex-Muslim to help draw out the finer points of this matter and while they tend to meander a bit in terms of their specific topic and rely on various sorts of evidence to support their claims, I highly recommend it as an introduction to various ways Islam can be interpreted and lived today.

For my part, I would suggest that the part Islam played here was incredibly superficial and that the motivations of these men had far more to do with their own 1) sympathies for the suffering of Muslims in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, 2) feelings of inability to help those people, and 3) anger toward those involved in the killings. That is, of course, too simple and the details will yet emerge as to just how things came to be this way. One Englishman, who recently watched his own step-brother drawn into a radical group wrote:

They came from all sorts of backgrounds. Some from Christian households, some from immigrant families, some with mainstream Muslim parents. Others, like my stepbrother, were white and came from ordinary middle England towns. There was no single demographic.

Some explained that they had been inspired to convert by things that had happened in their lives. One man whose sister had died of a cocaine overdose blamed Western society for “allowing her to die”. There was another who had watched George W Bush, after the 9/11 attacks, saying that “you are either with us or against us”, and had decided that he didn’t like him and was therefore against him.

All had taken their search to extremes because they were extremists. It was part of who they were – or had grown up to become. I wouldn’t say they were born that way, but at some stage in their short lives they had come to believe that they couldn’t live in the world they had been brought up in, and had turned against it.

The fact that the men in Woolwich attacked a military service member suggests the defensive nature of the attack (as odd as that might sound… If they just wanted to kill non-Muslims or random English people they could have killed several who gathered at the scene after the initial attack. But they didn’t. They only killed the soldier and then attempted to kill armed police when they arrived.) They were going after those who they felt -either rightly or wrongly- were responsible for, or acting as armed representatives of those attacking fellow Muslims elsewhere. They attacked a soldier and armed police, not ordinary Britons, which suggests that this definitely wasn’t an act of terrorism (note the part of the albeit nebulous definition that slips in:  ”and deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants (civilians)”).

I also have trouble with the term “Islamist.” I suppose it is generally just a shortening of “Islamic fundamentalism,” but when this convenient shortening happens to only one religion, it seems a bit unfair. For instance, do we talk about the Westboro Baptists as a Christianist hate group? No. They’re called “extreme” or “controversial.” And I don’t suppose we’ll be hearing about the horrible “Buddhismist” preacher Saydaw Wirathu of Burma (James Ure is quite right in describing his teachings as Hatred and Anti-Muslim).

Which brings us to the rather horrible suggestion that I have seen in places too numerous to mention: that there is something intrinsic to Islam that is at the root of Islamic fundamentalism. To back up just a moment, you see – if we call it “Islamism” it is so easy to conflate it with “Islam.” There is no need to talk about the broad spectrum of the religion, from the most liberal and/or secular to the most fundamentalist. For instance, it would be irresponsible to say that “Cardinal Dolan incites Christianist Hatred toward Homosexuals,” somehow equating the rather conservative (and I would suggest abhorrent) views of this one particular Catholic leader with Christianity as a whole. If you have a hard time seeing the extremism of the Westboro Baptists or “traditional marriage” Catholics, then think of Christian groups like the LRA, Jonestown, or the KKK.

These last three are not “Christianist” organizations. They are extremist, fundamentalist, far-right-wing, etc. At least that is how we think of them. Because we all know that most Christians are nothing like that.

But whenever a Muslim commits a crime, it seems that the media (and, I’m afraid, many of the people I know) still need to have a conversation about “the problem of Islam.” Warren Jeffs. Is he part of “the problem of Christianity“? No. And given the current love affair that the West has with Buddhism, do you think we’ll ever see a headline: “the problem of Buddhism”?

Of course this is because Buddhism is not a problem. Nor is Christianity. Nor is Islam or any other religion.

The problem is fundamentalism – often fueled by poverty, things like PTSD from being raised in constant fear of violence, warfare, the threat of indiscriminate bombings, shootings, unfair trials, disappearances, torture and so on.

If you spend enough time surrounded by these things, I really don’t think it matters what ideology or religion you identify with: you are quite likely a broken person who needs help. But in societies where help is not given by the state, it is far too often the radicals that step in, offering help with a hefty – but unmentioned – price tag.

This is why Buddhists in some countries will snap into their own versions of Islamophobia, as James Ure’s post – see above- discusses, or racism. Some Western Buddhists or others might use these cases as a reason to look down on Asian Buddhists in general or specific groups in particular, but this would be to completely miss the point of the causes and conditions that brought these individuals to their current state. I am tempted to say that there are common socio-economic-historical strands to be found between the radical/fundamentalist elements of such groups as the EDL, fundamentalist Muslims in England and elsewhere, some Buddhists in Sri Lanka and Burma (and Thailand, while we’re at it), Muslims in various countries (I don’t know enough to try to pin down specifics), and Christians in other various countries (again, leaving it to you to fill in where is most appropriate).  We could also throw in the early developers of suicide bombings: Hindus in Sri Lanka.

I fear I have meandered a bit myself.

The point I hope to impart you with is that 1) Buddhism is not intrinsically peaceful, despite what many superficial analysts suggest, 2) Islam is not intrinsically violent, despite what far too many journalists, particularly bought and paid for by the right wing, will tell you, and that 3) fundamentalism is more of a socio-economic or political issue than it is one of religion. Part of what makes religions survive is their ability to speak to many people with their broad variety of statements and justifications. All religions, in their foundation or early development, have justifications for violence in some form or another and no religion that I can think of has survived for more than a century without some of its members being both a victim of violence and a perpetrator, suggesting that none of what happened last week or what has happened since is anything all that new.

Hopefully we can all come to see that religions are not all bad, nor all good. I tend to think that they must do some good (even if it is just a big placebo effect) for their adherents, or else they wouldn’t survive. And many secularists are no doubt trying to figure out how to replicate the best/most useful aspects of religions without all of the superstitious stuff. But until that sets in, if it ever does, we really have to learn to live with one another without the simplistic and often stupid labels and attacks against one another.

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