Chinese Buddhist leader dies at 66

Home Asia Pacific North Asia China

HOHHOT, China -- Jia Lasen, vice head of the Buddhist Association of China and a top Buddhist leader in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, died at the age of 66 on Sunday, according to local authorities.

Jia, who was also a member of the 10th, 11th and 12th national committees of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, died of an unspecified illness in Hohhot, the regional capital, according to the region's Communist Party of China (CPC) United Front Work Department.

The Buddhist Association of China sent message of condolence to the Buddhist association of Inner Mongolia on Sunday.

Jia Lasen was elected head of the Buddhist association of Inner Mongolia in 2004.

Jia, a Mongolian, was also a professor at Inner Mongolia University.

View the original article here

Buddhist leader visits disgraced scientist Hwang

Home Asia Pacific North Asia S/N Korea News & Issues

Seoul, South Korea -- Ven. Jaseung, leader of the nation’s largest Buddhist order of Jogye, visited stem cell researcher, Hwang Woo-suk on Wednesday to encourage his little known, but ongoing study of dog cloning.

<< Ven. Jaseung (right) head of the Buddhist Jogye Order, talks with Hwang Woo-suk at the Sooam Biotech Research Foundation building in Guro, southern Seoul on Wednesday. (Yonhap News)

It is the first time a Buddhist leader paid an official visit to Hwang since the former Seoul National University professor shunned the media spotlight after it was revealed in 2005 that some data in his trailblazing research on cloning human embryo stem cells had been manipulated.

According to the report, Jaseung visited the Sooam Biotech Research Foundation building in Guro, southern Seoul, around 4 p.m. and chatted with Hwang for an hour. Alongside several other monks, the venerable then watched Hwang work on cloning a dog for about 15 minutes in the centers’ operation room.

“I wanted to encourage Hwang with his studies,” Jaseung was quoted as saying to a local news agency.

Hwang cut open a female dog’s abdomen and held up its uterus and oviduct, pointing out where the ovarian eggs were. He demonstrated the extraction of 10 eggs from the oviduct, and then let the monks look at the eggs through a microscope.

The researchers said the project was to clone a pet dog for an American client, which costs roughly $100,000, according to Yonhap news agency. “It takes about six months to undergo the whole procedure but many people have shown interest in our service, and some are using it,” a researcher said.

Hwang reportedly gave a 2-month-old Tibetan Mastiff born from an original dog and a cloned dog to Jaseung.

Hwang has been in good terms with Buddhists since he is a devoted Buddhist. He won the first “Buddhist Award” in 2004 but after the scandal questioning Hwang’s ethics shook the nation and effectively expelled him from academia, the two have maintained a rather quiet liaison. Buddhist supporters for Hwang have openly demanded the government and society approve the resumption of Hwang’s research.

Hwang has led the foundation since 2006, focusing on developing animal models for Alzheimer’s disease or diabetes research. The center is also working on cloning cows for protein engineering and gnotobiotic pigs for xenotransplantation.

Still, Hwang’s main field, embryonic stem cells for tailored medical treatments, has not won approval from the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

View the original article here

Buddhist Leader Stressed Simpler Lifestyle, Mind

Home Asia Pacific North Asia S/N Korea News & Issues

Ven. Ji-Kwan, head of the Jogye Order from 2005 to 2009 dies after long illness

Seoul, South Korea --  Leading Korea Buddhist leader, Ven. Ji-Kwan, has died on Monday evening after a long illness. He was 79.

The late Ven. Ji-Kwan who once headed the Jogye Order, the largest Buddhist sect in Korea have always stressed about the need for mutual support and a simpler lifestyle and state of mind.

"The things that we would like to avoid like pain, despair, and ongoing disputes are the reality that we must undertake, and the things that we would like to live with, like wealth and money, are those that we must release. They are the shadows of desire,'' he said.

"Yes, life will be difficult, not only in Korea, but also globally. People are worried but we must not avoid the reality. We must overcome things, and we must do this spiritually. The most important way is to control our minds. We must be modest and stop searching for luxury and wealth. If we have a clear mind, we can overcome anything,'' Ven. Ji Kwan stressed.

When asked in 2009 if he was satisfied with his past three years as the director, Ven. Ji Kwan laughed and said he still had a long way to go.

The 76-year-old head stepped down as the head of the Jogye Order in 2009.

"Personally, some plans were successfully completed, while some still need more work. In the case of the children's enlightenment programs, I think we still need to work more, but the fact that we started with children was an important step. We have also worked on various temple stay programs for the past three years, and I am glad that many people, including foreigners, know about them better compared to the past,'' he said.

Ven. Ji-Kwan Sunim founded the Kasan Institute of Buddhist Culture in 1990. It is a research institute dedicated to the study of Buddhism and in particular in compiling an-eighteen-volume Kasan Encyclopaedia of Buddhism in Korean language. So far, ten volumes have already been published.

Venerable Jikwan Sunim was also the Head of Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. Jogyesa is the head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism and is located in the heart of Seoul city centre. The Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism represents the history and traditional culture of 1,700 years of Korean Buddhism.

Funeral arrangements are under way. More information to come.

View the original article here

Remembering the life of Thich Thanh Dam, local Buddhist leader

Home Personality

Washington, D.C., USA -- Last month, a stream of tearful Buddhist monks, nuns and followers traveled to Giac Hoang Buddhist Temple in Washington, D.C., to pay their respects to Venerable Thich Thanh Dam.  Dam died at 2 a.m. Dec. 4 at age 84.  His body was cremated at National Memorial Park under the blessings of Venerable Thich Tam Chau, the Vietnamese World Buddhist Leader. 

Dam was born in 1928 in Nam Dinh province, North Vietnam.  He joined  the Buddhist priesthood in 1950. His mentor was Venerable Thich Phuc Duc, who Buddhists called “To Tra Trung” (Patriarch Tra Trung). Duc was the founder and head of a famous temple in Tra Trung village, Nam Dinh, North Vietnam.

In 1954, when the communists took over North Vietnam, Dam fled to the south.  He and other monks who immigrated from the North resided and practiced Buddhism in Giac Minh temple in Saigon.

During the Buddhist crisis in 1963, he and many other monks challenged the Diem administration in an attempt to obtain fair treatment for Buddhists. At that time,  South Vietnam's government was Roman Catholic. During the second republic's government in South Vietnam, Dam was a military chaplain with the rank of captain.  The communists defeated the South Vietnamese government in 1975 and put South Vietnam under communist rule. Dam was again forced to flee, this time to the United States.

In the District, he and another monk, Venerable Thich Giac Duc, bought a rundown old church on 16th Street NW and built a Buddhist temple in 1975.  To support himself and the temple, he worked as an electrician. By late 1975, the flow of refugees fleeing Vietnamese communist rule was growing. The refugees were looking to their Buddhist faith to help them rebuild their lives. With the community's support, the two monks purchased a bigger piece of property, also on 16th Street, and built a Vietnamese temple, named Vietnam, in late 1975. 

In 1981, Vietnam temple was renamed Giac Hoang in honor of King Tran Nhan Ton (1258-1308), who in 1293 renounced his monarchy and became a monk at the Truc Lam temple in Yen Tu Mountain, North Vietnam.

Under Dam's leadership,  Giac Hoang blossomed into a religious and cultural center for the Vietnamese Buddhist community in the D.C. area.   During the decades after 1975, he consistently helped many refugees from Vietnam and other countries to settle here and become successful.   On Buddhist celebration days such as Buddha's Birth and Enlightenment, New Year's Eve and the Hungry Ghost festivals, hundreds of Buddhists from not only the D.C. area, but also from as far away as New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Florida and North Carolina, came to Giac Hoang to take part in the prayer ceremonies that Dam led.

Dam was always willing to help other Buddhist communities in the area. Giac Hoang is a key participant in the International Buddhist Committee's annual Visakha celebration, a multicultural Buddhist celebration of the Buddha's Birth and Enlightenment.  Hundreds of Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai, Tibetan, Sri Lankan, Laotian, Indian and American Buddhist families from around D.C. attend the joyful celebration.

On two occasions, Dam generously hosted a major tour of Buddhist holy relics organized by the foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, a Tibetan Buddhist organization.

Dam is remembered by all who knew him as a very kind and humble mentor. Several times,  he squeezed more rooms into Giac Hoang's living quarters for  monks, nuns or lay persons who needed shelter. He would visit any Buddhist family to share their sorrow of losing a loved one and bless them. Wherever he went, he brought the simple gift of love and peace. In keeping with the Buddhist tradition, for the next seven weeks, visitors will come to Giac Hoang temple to pray for Dam.

View the original article here

Tibetan Buddhist Teacher Acts as Spiritual Leader

By Cindy Atoji Keene

Patients at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center can choose to have a chaplain visit for spiritual guidance or comfort. As one of the on-call interfaith chaplains who are available, Tsering Ngodup said he finds patients are surprised when they hear he is also a Tibetian Buddhist teacher or lama. ?They think I should be wearing a yellow robe and have a shaved head,? said Ngodup, who is also known as Chiring, another interpretation of his name. But Ngodup said because lamas are not required to renounce worldly life as Tiebetian monks are, he is free to wear t-shirts and jeans, his usual attire. Although he has many followers who come to him to listen to Buddhist teachings and practice meditation, Ngodup said, ?I am not a guru but a spiritual friend.?

Ngodup, 57, also the spiritual director of the Bodhi Path Institute in Cambridge, was born in Tibet in 1954, and like many Tibetans, escaped across the Himalayan mountains into exile. He was educated in Nepal and India, where he learned English and other foreign languages, and found himself in demand as an interpreter for Tibetan lamas traveling through Europe giving teachings. In 1983, Ngodup was authorized by an eminent Tibetian leader to start his own spiritual practice, beginning years of study and mentorship at religious centers. But he laughs when asked when he will reach enlightenment. ?I have no idea, but I wish it would be soon,? said Ngodup. ?How do you know when pride, jealously, greed, and desire is replaced by wisdom that has a very wholesome and positive impact on others??

Q: Tibetian Buddhism is a very complex religion. Where should Americans start if they want to understand it?
A: For those with no connection with Buddhism, they think it is an obscure Asian religion with different rituals and ceremony, but those are mostly the ethical and cultural components. True Buddhism is a way of life, understanding how to change your mind from fear, anxiety and doubt to reach a state of freedom and peace.

Q: Your mentor or teacher is named HH ShaMar Rinpoche and comes from a long lineage holder of Tibetian Buddhism. You would not be able to be a lama without the blessing of such a person. Why is it so important to be ?authorized? by someone else?
A: Lamas like myself have to go through years of studying Buddhist philosophy then receive the endorsement of a spiritual master, which means you can then be viewed as a teacher or guru. But no matter how informed or learned you are, we need someone there to constantly guide and correct your path.

Q: Does being a lama mean that you can?t have a cell phone and other material possessions?
A: Of course I have a cell phone. You cannot reject what comes along the way because you will miss many things. Of course technology is not necessary but the point is not to covet and desire because of greed. Otherwise it?s like sitting in a cave meditating while your car is parked outside.

Q: Have you ever fallen asleep while meditating?
A: I meditate often during the day, and of course, if I have had a heavy meal, I might catch myself dozing off. It?s only human.

View the original article here