Letter: Sharing an interfaith experience

Sometimes when I feel particularly wicked, especially in an American context, I will casually mention that I have attended a celebration of the Prophet Mohamed's birthday at a Shiite mosque. This never fails to raise eyebrows even with some American monks.

If the truth be told, all the monks of our temple went as well, along with two monastics from the Tibetan tradition. I went because of an Iraqi imam whom I had met earlier - he reminded me of a Jewish grandfather, led a mosque of Iranians and Iraqis and thought that my name was Mr. Soto Zen.

I went to the mosque with three preconceptions that seem foolish in hindsight. I thought that no one would speak English, that the women would be suppressed and that people would be "touchy" ,as we say in Newfoundland. I found that we were shown around by young people who spoke excellent English, the women were very outspoken and fearless in their views and that we were made very welcome with baklava and coffee.

I have also participated in interfaith events with a Muslim woman who is a good friend and a Sufi. She is a professor of classical Arabic and chants the Koran at public events.

Therefore Islam to me is not an abstraction, it is these people whose presence in the world I cherish.

Imagine, if you will, an enormous mountain, so high that the top is wreathed in clouds. That is mount Carmel, Sumeru, Sinai, Ararat.

We come towards this mountain from many different directions with
our different maps of the journey - bibles, torahs, korans, sutras, suttas, that have led us to the foot of this mountain. The foolish ones circle around and around the base quarreling over who has the best map. The wise, on the other hand, just start to climb. The farther up the mountain they go the more they are simply grateful to encounter other people there.

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A Zen Monk’s Letter to Adam Lanza

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Douglas Bachman - now a Buddhist monk, named Phap Luu, pens an open letter to Adam Lanza. Phap Luu teaches applied ethics and the art of mindful living to students and school teachers. He lives in Plum Village Monastery, in Thenac, France.

Dear Adam,

Let me start by saying that I wish for you to find peace. It would be easy just to call you a monster and condemn you for evermore, but I don’t think that would help either of us. Given what you have done, I realize that peace may not be easy to find. In a fit of rage, delusion and fear - yes, above all else, I think, fear - you thought that killing was a way out. It was clearly a powerful emotion that drove you from your mother’s dead body to massacre children and staff of Sandy Hook School and to turn the gun in the end on yourself. You decided that the game was over.

But the game is not over, though you are dead. You didn’t find a way out of your anger and loneliness. You live on in other forms, in the torn families and their despair, in the violation of their trust, in the gaping wound in a community, and in the countless articles and news reports spilling across the country and the world - yes, you live on even in me. I was also a young boy who grew up in Newtown. Now I am a Zen Buddhist monk. I see you quite clearly in me now, continued in the legacy of your actions, and I see that in death you have not become free.

You know, I used to play soccer on the school field outside the room where you died, when I was the age of the children you killed. Our team was the Eagles, and we won our division that year. My mom still keeps the trophy stashed in a box. To be honest, I was and am not much of a soccer player. I’ve known winning, but I’ve also known losing, and being picked last for a spot on the team. I think you’ve known this too - the pain of rejection, isolation and loneliness.

Loneliness too strong to bear.

You are not alone in feeling this. When loneliness comes up it is so easy to seek refuge in a virtual world of computers and films, but do these really help or only increase our isolation? In our drive to be more connected, have we lost our true connection?

I want to know what you did with your loneliness. Did you ever, like me, cope by walking in the forests that cover our town? I know well the slope that cuts from that school to the stream, shrouded by beech and white pine. It makes up the landscape of my mind. I remember well the thrill of heading out alone on a path winding its way - to Treadwell Park! At that time it felt like a magical path, one of many secrets I discovered throughout those forests, some still hidden. Did you ever lean your face on the rough furrows of an oak’s bark, feeling its solid heartwood and tranquil vibrancy? Did you ever play in the course of a stream, making pools with the stones as if of this stretch you were king? Did you ever experience the healing, connection and peace that comes with such moments, like I often did?

Or did your loneliness know only screens, with dancing figures of light at the bid of your will? How many false lives have you lived, how many shots fired, bombs exploded and lives lost in video games and movies?

By killing yourself at the age of 20, you never gave yourself the chance to grow up and experience a sense of how life’s wonders can bring happiness. I know at your age I hadn’t yet seen how to do this.

I am 37 now, about the age my teacher, the Buddha, realized there was a way out of suffering. I am not enlightened. This morning, when I heard the news, and read the words of my shocked classmates, within minutes a wave of sorrow arose, and I wept. Then I walked a bit further, into the woods skirting our monastery, and in the wet, winter cold of France, beside the laurel, I cried again. I cried for the children, for the teachers, for their families. But I also cried for you, Adam, because I think that I know you, though I know we have never met. I think that I know the landscape of your mind, because it is the landscape of my mind.

I don’t think you hated those children, or that you even hated your mother. I think you hated your loneliness.

I cried because I have failed you. I have failed to show you how to cry. I have failed to sit and listen to you without judging or reacting. Like many of my peers, I left Newtown at seventeen, brimming with confidence and purpose, with the congratulations of friends and the approbation of my elders. I was one of the many young people who left, and in leaving we left others, including you, just born, behind. In that sense I am a part of the culture that failed you. I didn’t know yet what a community was, or that I was a part of one, until I no longer had it, and so desperately needed it.

I have failed to be one of the ones who could have been there to sit and listen to you. I was not there to help you to breathe and become aware of your strong emotions, to help you to see that you are more than just an emotion.

But I am also certain that others in the community cared for you, loved you. Did you know it?

In eighth grade I lived in terror of a classmate and his anger. It was the first time I knew aggression. No computer screen or television gave a way out, but my imagination and books. I dreamt myself a great wizard, blasting fireballs down the school corridor, so he would fear and respect me. Did you dream like this too?
The way out of being a victim is not to become the destroyer. No matter how great your loneliness, how heavy your despair, you, like each one of us, still have the capacity to be awake, to be free, to be happy, without being the cause of anyone’s sorrow. You didn’t know that, or couldn’t see that, and so you chose to destroy. We were not skillful enough to help you see a way out.

With this terrible act you have let us know. Now I am listening, we are all listening, to you crying out from the hell of your misunderstanding. You are not alone, and you are not gone. And you may not be at peace until we can stop all our busyness, our quest for power, money or sex, our lives of fear and worry, and really listen to you, Adam, to be a friend, a brother, to you. With a good friend like that your loneliness might not have overwhelmed you.

But we needed your help too, Adam. You needed to let us know that you were suffering, and that is not easy to do. It means overcoming pride, and that takes courage and humility. Because you were unable to do this, you have left a heavy legacy for generations to come. If we cannot learn how to connect with you and understand the loneliness, rage and despair you felt - which also lie deep and sometimes hidden within each one of us - not by connecting through Facebook or Twitter or email or telephone, but by really sitting with you and opening our hearts to you, your rage will manifest again in yet unforeseen forms.

Now we know you are there. You are not random, or an aberration. Let your action move us to find a path out of the loneliness within each one of us. I have learned to use awareness of my breath to recognize and transform these overwhelming emotions, but I hope that every man, woman or child does not need to go halfway across the world to become a monk to learn how to do this. As a community we need to sit down and learn how to cherish life, not with gun-checks and security, but by being fully present for one another, by being truly there for one another. For me, this is the way to restore harmony to our communion.

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Letter: On the situation in Berlin Vihara

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The story told there is indeed a heart-warming one and german Buddhists still hold Asoka Weeraratna's memory in high esteem. So far, nothing in this story is untrue - though I really would not subscribe to the notion, that  the Berlin Vihara "to date remains the centre of Theravada Buddhism in Germany and continental Europe". In my opinion not even in Berlin, to be frank. Alas the story of the Berlin Vihara has a sequel untold in this article - a very sad one.

Please read this paper about the 50th anniversary of the Berlin Vihara by Dr. Sudath Thenuware, a respected Sri Lankan citizen living in Berlin:
http://www.buddhist-forum.net/media/pdf/BERLIN%20VIHARA%2050TH%20ANNIVERSARY%20OR%20AN%20IMPENDING%20DISASTER.pdf

Check out the Website http://www.buddhist-forum.net/ for more background information. The deeper you go into it, the more depressing it gets.

You may be aware that the 50th anniversary of the Berlin Vihara was in 2007 - but in the last 5 years things have changed only for the worse. Today the Berlin Vihara is almost in ruins; it is now a Vihara where no monks reside any more.

This is all that remains of Asoka Weeraratne's legacy in Germany.

The DBU (German Buddhist Union), umbrella organization of German Buddhists and Buddhist organizations, feels deeply troubled by the decay of this eminent place in the history of Buddhism in Germany. In 2009 the Berlin Vihara was barred from
the DBU - it had become unavoidable.

The purpose of this letter is not to slander anyone or to gossip. But many German Buddhists have been hoping for years that the German Dharmadhuta Society would eventually intervene to make the Berlin Vihara 'Das Buddhistische Haus' again a true "centre of Theravada Buddhism in Germany and continental Europe".

The problem is not money - German Buddhists and the German monument protection service were more than willing to help. It's a problem that only the German Dharmadhuta Society in Sri Lanka can solve. Maybe that letter helps a bit - though I don't have much hope left.

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Letter: May Loving-Kindness Spread to the Arakan State of Myanmar

That momentous event, although undoubtedly tends to depict the monastic as compassionate heroes who fought for the benefit of the poor peasants and citizens in Myanmar, also raises several issues that pertain to Buddhism. For example, one very prominent question was how could the monks, who have renounced the worldly affairs, interfere in the political arena? But then, when thrown with this question, many Buddhists prefer to justify it as an act of compassion for the suffering Burmese people.

Recently, the Burmese Theravada monastic was thrown into the spotlight again when several monks’ associations played on the nationalist sentiment and aggressively called for the “extermination of the Rohingya Muslim community” due to their “cruel nature.” While monks are not prohibited from having a sense of nationalism and love for their country, it may not appear right in the eyes of Buddhism if the monks start asking or encouraging others to kill, no matter how cruel or wrong others could turn out to be.

Lack of respect for one another is one very common reason how conflict begins. Recall that during the Buddha’s time, there were also many different sects and teachers. Throughout his 45 years of teaching, neither had he proclaimed that those others as evil or cruel, nor he called upon his disciples to exterminate them. He even drew up the “Charter of Free Inquiry” as manifested in the Kalama Sutta where he encouraged individual freedom and respect for others by telling that one should not blindly accept his teaching. Hence, if the Buddha himself had never condoned such act of violence and slander in propagating the Dhamma, his disciples, even from this contemporary generation, should never set the precedence for it.

Even if a conflict breaks out, violence is never the solution. Recall the Buddha’s intervention to stop an imminent war break-out following the quarrel between the Sakyas and the Koliyans over the Rohini river. Respectful compromise, patience and most importantly, non-hatred, should be one’s best armor in dealing with conflict, not anger or violence. Again and again, we are reminded of the Buddha’s timeless message as recorded in Dhammapada v.5: “Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. Only by non-hatred is hatred appeased. This is the eternal law.”

What happen to the famous Karaniya Metta Sutta that has often been chanted during the Saffron Revolution in 2007? The sutta says that one should not deceive, despise or wish any harm to another with insult or ill-will and that one should cultivate a boundless heart toward all beings just like how a mother would protect her only child at the risk of her life. Wouldn’t it be very contradictory if those monks were to chant this sutta but at the same time inflicting harm on the Rohingya community?

At this point, perhaps it is clarifying to emphasize that I do not intend to criticize the Sangha Order in Myanmar. I am not attempting to question the purity of the Sangha there. Rather, I am airing my opinions to only those certain quarters of the Burmese Sangha who subscribed to such violence against the Rohingya community. I personally believe that there are still many blameless bhikkhus who arduously practice the teachings of the Buddha in its true spirit and promote the Buddha-sasana through peaceful and respectful means in Myanmar.

In fact, to help alleviate the current predicament that tarnishes the reputation of Buddhism and the Sangha Order, we would need to rely upon this group of blameless monastic members. It is through their strict adherence to the Dhamma-Vinaya that the members of the Order could be inspired to practice likewise and be less inclined to engage in unskillful deeds. I definitely do not expect all the monks to be saints, but at least I hope they could see and live by the spirit of ahimsa as preached by the Buddha. 

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An Open Letter from the Buddhist Community on Islamophobia

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San Francisco, CA (USA) -- As disciples of the Buddha who live in the West, we would like to take the holy month of Ramadan as an opportunity to express our growing concern about Islamophobia, both within our governments and within the Buddhist community worldwide.

In North America and Europe, the past decade has seen peaceful Muslim communities targeted by hate crimes, police profiling, and even challenges to their basic human rights of free religion and free assembly. The New York Times reports that the New York City Police Department infiltrated peaceful Muslim groups across the Northeastern United States for indiscriminate surveillance. The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro in Murfreesboro, Tennessee has faced vandalism, arson, and legal challenges opposing their new mosque, while France and Belgium have outlawed wearing niqab in public over concerns about immigration, the status of women, and the diluting of European culture.

In the wider Buddhist community there have been media reports of Buddhist leaders—including monastics - endorsing human rights abuses against Muslim ethnic groups. For example, The Independent reports that Buddhist monastic organizations in Burma are blocking aid shipments to refugee camps for ethnically Rohingya Muslims in the western state of Rakhine. The article also accuses monastic associations of encouraging ethnically Rakhine Buddhists not to associate with Rohingya. Ethnic tensions have resulted in human rights abuses and loss of life on both sides of this conflict.

Meanwhile, Newsweek reports that the Thai government has set up military encampments inside Buddhist temples—even using some of them as torture chambers—in their ongoing fight against a violent Malay Muslim insurgency in the southern states of Patani, Yala, and Narathiwat. More disturbingly, Newsweek reports the Thai government is paying ethnic Thais to resettle in majority-Malay areas in order to dilute the Malay population. Once again, there have been many human rights abuses and much loss of life on both sides of the conflict.

In this time of conflict, we believe that the life and teachings of the Buddha can be a shining example for the world. He taught us to practice mutual respect among all people without prejudice, to work for the mutual benefit of all beings, and to try to solve our problems without resorting to violence. In those rare instances where violence is necessary, he taught us to practice restraint and to protect innocent lives. It is in this spirit that we are writing.

In our own countries, we ask law enforcement agencies to stop targeting Muslim communities with indiscriminate surveillance and profiling. And we call on Americans to see their Muslims neighbors as fellow citizens, bound together with them through the shared values of democracy, equality, and freedom.

In the wider Buddhist community, we ask our fellow Buddhists to refrain from using the Dharma to support nationalism, ethnic conflict, and Islamophobia. We believe that these values are antithetical to the Buddha’s teachings on loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity.

The vast majority of Muslims the world over are peaceful, law-abiding people who share much the same dreams, hopes, and aspirations as their non-Muslim neighbors. They are our friends, our relatives, our colleagues, our neighbors, and our fellow citizens. Most importantly, they are our fellow sentient beings, all of whom, the Buddha taught, have loved and cared for us in the past. We stand with them during this holy month of Ramadan and denounce Islamophobia unequivocally.

Signed,

Joshua Eaton, M.Div., Boston, MA, USA

Rev. Danny Fisher, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Rod Meade Sperry, Halifax, Nova Scotia, CANADA
Sharon Salzberg, Barre, MA, USA
Mushim (Patricia) Ikeda, Oakland, CA, USA
Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, Carmel, NY, USA
Karma Lekshe Tsomo, San Diego, CA, USA
Charles Prebish, State College, PA, USA
William Aiken, Washington, DC, USA
Diana Winston, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Rev. Maia Zenyu Duerr, Santa Fe, NM, USA
Rev. James Ishmael Ford, Providence, RI, USA
Shastri Ethan Nichtern, New York City, NY, USA
Lodro Rinzler, New York City, NY, USA
Acharya Judith Simmer-Brown, Boulder, CO, USA
Lopon Rita Gross, Eau Claire, WI, USA
Gary Gach, San Francisco, CA, USA
Allan Badiner, Big Sur, CA, USA
Ven. Zenkei Blanche Hartman, San Francisco, CA, USA
Rev. Wakoh Shannon Hickey, Alfred, NY, USA
Koshin Paley Ellison, New York City, NY, USA
Steve Kanji Ruhl, State College, PA, USA
Martin Aylward, Cubjac, Aquitaine, FRANCE
Karma Yonten Gyatso, Richmond Hill, Ontario, CANADA
Rev. Beth Kanji Goldring, Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA
Chap. Mikel Ryuho Monnett, M.A., BCC, Columbus, OH, USA
Acharya Sujatin Johnson, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, ENGLAND
Rev. Josho Pat Phelan, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Tomoe Moriya, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, JAPAN
Rev. Daishin Eric McCabe, Pennsdale, PA, USA
Rev. Patricia Dai-En Bennage, Pennsdale, PA, USA
Kobutsu Malone-osho, Sedgwick, ME, USA
Carole Craven, Mableton, GA, USA
Genko Blackman, Seattle, WA, USA
Arun Gandhi, Rochester, NY, USA
Claire Michalewicz, Halifax, Nova Scotia, CANADA
Martin Whelan, Slingo, County Slingo, IRELAND
Lesley Grant, Fairfax, CA, USA
Susan Wirawan, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
Luke McKean, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
Miguel Marcos, Madrid, Community of Madrid, SPAIN
Catherine DeLorey, Boston, MA, USA
Stephen Hale, Muir Beach, CA, USA
Rik Center, San Francisco, CA, USA
Kris Freedain, Laguna Niguel, CA, USA
Rev. Michael Tran, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Brant Henne, Swampscott, MA, USA
Craig Thomas, York, PA, USA
Zoey Roy, Halifax, Nova Scotia, CANADA
Angela Gunn, Savannah, GA, USA
Laurie Knowlton, Boothbay, ME, USA
Jessica Bizub, Milwaukee, WI, USA
Robin Reed, San Francisco, CA, USA
Prof. Kristopher Short, Cranston, RI, USA
Vivien Phung, Laguna Niguel, CA, USA
Jean Lamont, State College, PA, USA
Kathleen de Vries, Napa, CA, USA
Peter Muller, New York City, NY, USA
Dee Levy, Swindon, Borough of Swindon, ENGLAND
Sandra Madera, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Chaplain Karen Morris, M.Div., Johnson City, TN, USA
Anda Peterson, St. Petersburg, FL, USA
Matthew Gegenhuber, Hawkins, WI, USA
Dean Hill, Albany, NY, USA
Karla Passalacqua, Atlanta, GA, USA
Ven. Hue Hai, Alhambra, CA, USA
Terry Evans, Bangor, North Wales, WALES
Jim Hasse, Walnut Creek, CA, USA
Karma Sonam Lhamo, Penllyn, PA, USA
Geoff Haynes, Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA
Lynnea Bylund, Dana Point, CA, USA
Victor Spence, Edinburgh, SCOTLAND
Upasaka Raymond M. McDonald, La Verne, CA, USA
Imtiaaz Gafoor, Johannesburg, Gauteng, SOUTH AFRICA
Nisar Ahmed, Karachi, Sindh, PAKISTAN
David Cabrera, Hollywood, FL, USA
Rev. Michael W. A. Henderson, Halifax, Nova Scotia, CANADA
Christina Omorochoe, Toronto, Ontario, CANADA
Kelly Hills, Ardmore, PA, USA
Thom Stromer, Baltimore, MD, USA
Roger K. James, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, BRAZIL
Stephanie Cianfriglia, Endicott, NY, USA
John Christensen, Chicago, IL, USA
Tanis Moore, Winnipeg, Manitoba, CANADA
Nancy A. Jefferis, Santee, CA, USA
Rev. Michele Kaishin Tae, Boise, ID, USA
David Coleman, Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, IRELAND
Rev. Jim Hokyo Dunn, Santa Fe, NM, USA
Penny Nakatsu, San Francisco, CA, USA
Robert McConnachie, Uithoorn, North Holland, THE NETHERLANDS
Shelly Griska, Monroe, GA, USA
Steven Ganci, St. Petersburg, FL, USA
Ettianne Anshin, Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
Ericson AF Proper, Naples, FL, USA
Jaime Heiku McLeod, Lewiston, ME, USA
Tiffany Puett, Austin, TX, USA
Connie Nelson Ahlberg, Burnsville, MN, USA
James Cox, Omaha, NE, USA
Tracey McFadden, Elburn, IL, USA
Jim Hsiung, Taipei, Taiwan, REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Aron Weinberg, Austin, TX, USA

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Letter: Monks involved in oppresion of Rohingya?

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Many of us cringe when we hear news of the Buddhist Rakhine oppression of the Rohingya.  The Buddhist Channel also issued a letter to the monks of Myanmar callng on them "to do the rignt thing."

Letters written to the various news portals indicate that the Rohingya who are viewed in Myanmar as illegal immigrants, have been a source of violent crime and cross border insurgency for decades. While this does not validate any form of violence against an entire community, it indicates that conflicts that have been left to simmer for generations cannot simply be reduced to a short article and blame summarily dispensed.

Human rights law requires that stateless persons should be treated with compassion and efforts should be made to resolve the problem of statelessness. The Myanmar government, for decades dealing with various problems and insurgencies, has apparently not succeeded in doing this. However, no country has a right to tell another who should and who should not be a citizen. The "right to a nationality" is poorly established in international law and there is no global practice that is binding on governments. It is up to the various governments to exercise their discretion in accepting refugees. Muslim countries, including neighbouring Bangladesh, although soundly criticising Myanmar's actions have also not been forthcoming in accepting these refugees. Bangladesh is embarassingly, in a similar position, as it is accused of tacitly supporting the oppression of the Buddhist tribes in the Chittagong Hill Tracts who are being pushed into exile into India. A political solution is needed, not calls for jihad which are just plain idiotic. This is the job for the reformist Myanmar government which now includes the highly respected Aung San Suu Kyi in its ranks.

Many expressed dissapointment that the monks who led the Saffron Revolution are also involved in the oppression. The Young Monks? Association of Sittwe and Mrauk Oo Monks? Association have been reported to be two orgamisations which called for the shunning of the Rohingya and are obstructig the distribution of humanitarian aid. There has been no reports of the size nor influence of these organisations, but all the same, such actions appear extreme, at least by Buddhist standards.

However, it is a mistake to view a religious group as a uniform block and it is unfair to paint the entire monastic sangha with the broad brush of blame. It should be borne in mind that Myanmar has almost half a million monks. A significant fraction of this number, most likely the politically aware, marched in the streets of Yangon during the Saffron Revolution. But the majority stayed in the monasteries, aloof from these political spasms. A small number of monks also sided with the government. But just as we applauded those who marched in the Saffron Revlolution, then blame should be directed only at these organisations which support the poor treatment of a minority.

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Letter: Buddhist temple with Muslim architechture directive

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I'm not sure of the reaction of the Kelantanese Buddhists but I am in the opinion that this is not an issue at all.

Buddhism has been a religion of tolerence due to its emphasis on Metta (loving-kindness), Panna (Wisdom) and its universal feature inclined towards non-attachment.

Now if the state government of Kelantan is moving towards Islamizing the state architechture,it is not an issue. There is nowhere in the Tipitaka that states all temples built in the name of 'Buddhism' must have 'Buddhist features'.

Thai Buddhist Wats have been incorporating Hindu elements in its architechture for ages without any much hoohah. Islamic architechture can be another enriching feature to Kelantanese future temples.

I can also see no harm in following the state directive disallowing the display of religious icons clearly in the open. Buddhism, after all began without images. Images were Greeco Buddhist innovation and it spread like wild fire throughout the Buddhist world since it was first created. Buddha images,if the temple wants to have it,can be displayed within the temple premises for devotional purposes. Examplirary forest monks like the late Ajahn Buddhadassa never had any Buddha images in his practice centre. All he had was the Patimokha,that's it.

Having Metta, Buddhists should always be sensitive to the needs of others. Having Panna, Buddhists should weigh the wieght of this issue,is it harming Buddhism,or it's stepping on our ego? Contemplating on non-attachment, one can clearly see this whole issue is but worldly.

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Letter: Wrong depiction of Buddhist history in India

Mr. Sharma has changed history of Buddhist India by writing this article without any evidence or supporting data. Mr. Sharma (being ?Brahmin?) is trying to protect his Brahmin ancestor who destroyed Buddhism in India.

The Prince Brahdrad ( the grand-son of King Ashoka) was killed by Brahmin Leader Pushyamitra Shung in a conspiracy and these Brahmins destroyed the monasteries and massacred Buddhist monks. (Reference, see ?Saha Soneri Pane? ? book written by Brahmin scholar Shri. V D Sawarkar).

The Brahmins claims that they are ?Aryans?, people with origins from the North Pole in Europe. They migrated to india and ruled by creating a caste system to maintain their supremacy (Reference, see ?Artic home of theVedas? book by Brahmin scholar Lokmanya Tilak. (available on Wikipedia) .

Let Mr. Sharma give proof of ancient texts where the word ?Hindu? appears. Nowhere in Brahmins religious text book i.e. Vedas, Upanishdas, Manusmruti, etc does the word "Hindu" is written.

The people residing at the banks of the Indus river were called ?Sindhu ? but were pronounced as Hindu by Turkish rulers because they could not pronounce ?S? (accent ?H? instead of ?S?).

In the 16th century when the British came and ruled India they officially recognized these people (OBC, SC & ST) as Hindus. The ?Vedic? is a religion of the Brahmins, which basically is a veil of the Hindus. This is what is called Hindu religion.

Brahmins are always priest of the their gods and non-Brahmins (OBC, SC, ST) were made to worship Brahmins and their gods. Non-brahmins are not allowed to be priest nor given religious privileges.

It is true that Arab, Turk, Afgani, etc came and ruled India but they did not destroy Buddhist temples/monasteries. The Mahabodhi temple is still there in Bihar and Ajantha & Yellora, Sarnath, Sanchi and stupas and chaityas are still existing in India.

It is a fact that Brahmins themselves destroyed ancient Buddhist Universities such as Nalanda ,Takshashila, Vikramshila . Surviving Buddhist monks ran off to Myanmar with a few texts, thus preserving whatever that was left.

Brahmins converted famous Buddhist temple such as Vithoba (Pandharpur), Balaji, Mahabalipuram , Somnath, Jagganath Puri into so called Hindu temples (reference; see ?History of Buddhism? by Brahmin scholar Mr.Apte)

Before the British came, India was ruled by Muslim rulers such as Aurangzeb and Tipu Sultan. Mr. Sharma has written false article stating that Hindu king resisted Muslim ruler and Hinduism could not be wiped out.

There are evidence that Hindus (OBC, SC, ST) converted to Islam because they were being discriminated in the caste system introduced by Brahmins through their religious text ?manusmruti? (Reference, see ?Gulamgiri? by scholar and social reformer Shri Jyotirao Phule).

May I request that the editorial team from Buddhist Channel to refrain from publishing such misleadings articles with regards to the true history of Buddhist India.

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Note: OBC (other backward classes) , SC (scheduled caste) ST (scheduled tribes). These so called Hindus have now begun to follow Buddhism after knowing their past history . Recently 1.5 million from the "Maratha" community in Maharashtra State, India converted to a new movement called "Shivdharma". The founder Dr. A H Salunke of this new religion and who has written book "The great son of soil - Lord Buddha" said that once their people come out from the mindset of Hinduism under the new religion, then they will further convert them into Buddhism.

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Last letter from death row: Facing death

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Malaysian Yong Vui Kong, 21, is on death row in Singapore for drug trafficking. Malaysiakini is publishing Yong's final letters to Yetian, a member of the Save Vui Kong Campaign, as he faces death.

Singapore -- Before I begin, I would like to thank everyone for reading this 12th letter. Time passes so quickly that this will be my last letter.

I hope that when you finished reading this letter, despite whatever that is going to happen to me, you will continue to support 'We Believe in Second Chances' campaign.

For my final letter, I would like to write about how I feel about facing death.

Firstly, I feel that the existence of the death penalty is not for the sake of retribution, but rather a way to allow the offender to understand, and fully confront, the mistake he has committed.

Take me as example, I am actually grateful that I was caught because it allowed me to understand the true meaning and purpose of life, and it has allowed me to find strength within myself. I remembered I once mentioned about the “me” before I was caught - a person who has never truly lived before.

A few days ago, my lawyer, M Ravi, came to visit me. He told me that he would send my final appeal to the Singapore's president in a few days. That will be my last chance.

On the night before the execution is carried out, many death-row inmates will have no opportunity to say goodbye to their families. For most of them, they are in no mood to think of anything else other than feeling hurt and pain before their final sentence.

For most of these death-row inmates, the moment they are brought out of their cell, they will lose control their emotions and they will start to break down. No amount of counselling will be able to pacify them because once they step out of their cell, they know there is no coming back and they will be gone forever.

But those who feel the most pain are their families. I do not dare to imagine how they would feel as they wait outside to collect the cold and lifeless body of their love ones.

If tomorrow is my last night

For me, if tomorrow is my last night, I too will have no choice. But I am ready to face the fact. After all, I was the one who made a mistake, and I have repented.

Would I be frightened? I really don't know. But I think I may not be because I am beginning to be familiar with how it feels to face death - don't forget that in this short four years, I have brushed death many times.

Indeed, I have “died” a few times before. In 2007, when I was caught, and discovering Buddhism has allowed me to be “reborned”. In 2009, when I was sentenced to death, and my lawyer helped me to appeal against my sentence.

I will not request for my last dinner to be anything sumptuous. I think I will follow my regular routine of waking up in the morning to chant my Buddhist scripts and meditate, followed by my vegetarian breakfast until night falls, put on the best clothes which my sister has bought for me, say goodbye to the rest of the inmates, and finally kowtow to the Goddess to show my appreciation and thanks.

But I cannot truly express my feelings as I really don't know how I will feel as I walk towards the noose. I guess no one will really know.

My greatest fortune

I have been through stages where I felt lost, ignorant and was suffering but because of my practice of Buddhism, it has allowed me to free myself.

NONEI am also grateful that many members of public are willing to forgive me. Being able to live until today is my greatest fortune.

I think my family has already accepted me for what I did, and also accepted whatever outcome it may be. They take comfort in the fact that I have turned over a new leaf, and that I have continued reading and practicing Buddhism.

My ordeal has also improved the relationship among those in my family, especially my siblings. But I still worry sometimes that my mother will come to know that I am no longer around.

I would like to thank all of you once again. I will not be able to share my story without your help. I shall pray for you, and wish you good health and happiness.

Goodbye.

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YONG VUI KONG, a Malaysian, was sentenced by a Singapore court in November 2009 to death for drug trafficking. He was 19. On April 4, Yong lost his final appeal against a mandatory death sentence. He will be executed soon unless he is granted clemency by Singapore's president.

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