Psychiatrist incorporates Buddhist philosophy to heal patients

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Buddhist philosophy and practice is incorporated into psychotherapty by Dr. Loizzo

New York, USA -- In the practice and study of Buddhism, non-duality or wholeness is a binding philosophy and critical to achieving enlightenment. All beings are equal in wanting happiness and not wanting pain; therefore one should protect others as one protects the self. This is called “the exchange of self for others,” or mindfullness.

Joseph Loizzo, founder and director of The Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science, has written a book called Sustainable Happiness in which he shares decades of research and clinical practice using traditional psychoanalysis, neuroscience and Buddhism in the practice of achieving wholeness.

“The main problem in our human condition has to do with the fact that our natures were adapted for life in the wild, and that because of civilization, we are living in very unnatural conditions,” says Loizzo, who believes this is the primary source of stress for most people. "The stress instincts are what prepare us to fight or fly or freeze sometimes in dangerous situations. But since civilization began to sort of take over our whole lives, these stress reactions are a less and less useful part of our makeup,” according to an interview with Voice of America.

Controlling involuntary responses in stressful situations result in shortness of breath, sweating, and adrenaline surges alerting the body it is in possible danger.

“And because really what is challenging us is not a predator, but is another human being," he says, "whom we need to cooperate with and we need to negotiate with, essentially we become maladapted.”

Buddhist practices and philosophy have long been used for conflict resolution. Dr. Loizzo says by incorporating Buddhist techniques into his medical practice using meditation and breathing techniques, one can re-train the brain to control the body responses to reduce the stress which can lead to depression, chronic anxiety, hypertension and heart disease.

“The idea is that if you’re mindful, you are able to assess things more clearly, and you are able to catch the misperceptions and over-reactions as they occur and opt out of them and choose the alternative [and] to see what is happening to you. Meditation becomes sort of a teachable simple pragmatic system for strengthening the parts of our mind and our brain that we need to be healthy and happy.”

Personal story-telling

Australian aborigines have practiced story-telling for centuries. An adolescent experiences a rite of passage in which they create their own story by going on a “walkabout.” In this practice they trace the paths, or "songlines", that their ancestors took, and imitate, in a fashion, their heroic deeds in order to build their own life rooted in tradition.

Personal story-telling is also one of the techniques Dr. Loizzo encourages. “That’s the way our minds work. Our minds produce stories and images. And so some of the skills we teach have to do with learning to tell ourselves more constructive stories that empower us and help us to build the life that we really want to live - not the one we are trying to survive, or are afraid of being stuck in forever.”

Such methods have been life-changing for many of Loizzo’s patients.

Depression was a major problem for me," says one patient. "And through Dr. Loizzo’s support and our interaction I’ve been able to connect myself with other people and develop a network of people who support me in more meaningful relationships, things like that. It’s been a revolution in my life the way I think about myself and think about the world. I feel like I still have a long way to go but I’ve come a long way.”

Mindfulness techniques have been effective in other settings. For example, breast cancer patients whose disease has gone into remission often report PTSD-like symptoms long after treatment ends. Western medicine offers little to ease the continued fear and anxiety.

For a pilot study, Loizzo taught 60 women in a 20-week course that included meditation instruction and group discussions. Afterwards, most reported feeling less anxious and more hopeful about their lives. "Apart from curing and treating the disease, it’s important that we improve people’s quality of life.”

Combining Western psychotherapy with Eastern philosophy is the basis for Dr. Loizzo’s book and the direction of his practice.

Like the Australian Aborigines who, by singing the songs they created in walkabout, could navigate vast distances through the deserts of Australia's interior, Loizzo’s patients are learning to navigate or “walkabout” in their own lives through meditation and creating constructive stories to empower them through daily living as well as in crises.

Source: http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/12500393-psychiatrist-incorporates-buddhist-philosophy-to-heal-patients

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Pakistan: Buddha attacked by Taliban gets facelift

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JAHANABAD, Pakistan -- When the Taliban blew the face off a towering, 1,500-year-old rock carving of Buddha in northwest Pakistan almost five years ago, it fell to an intrepid Italian archaeologist to come to the rescue.

<< In this May 24 photo, people sit near a sculpture of the Buddha whose face was destroyed by Taliban fighters at Jahanabad, Pakistan, in the Swat valley. (AP-Yonhap News)

Thanks to the efforts of Luca Olivieri and his partners, the 6-meter-tall image near the town of Jahanabad is getting a facelift, and many other archaeological treasures in the scenic Swat Valley are being excavated and preserved.

Hard-line Muslims have a history of targeting Buddhist, Hindu and other religious sites they consider heretical to Islam. Six months before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the Taliban shocked the world by dynamiting a pair of 1,500-year-old Buddhist statues in central Afghanistan.

The Jahanabad Buddha, etched high on a huge rock face in the 6th or 7th century, is one of the largest such carvings in South Asia. It was attacked in the fall of 2007 when the Pakistani Taliban swarmed across the scenic Swat Valley. The army drove most of them out two years later, but foreign tourists who used to visit the region still tend to stay away.

Olivieri himself had to leave in 2008 after more than two decades of tending to the riches dating back to Alexander the Great and the Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim invaders who followed. The 49-year-old head of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Pakistan returned in 2010 and is back at work.

Taliban militants climbed ropes to insert explosives in holes drilled into the face and shoulders of the Jahanabad Buddha, said Olivieri. The explosives in the shoulders failed to detonate, but the others blew off most of the face above the lips and cracked other parts of the carving and surrounding rock.

Olivieri and his team began work this month on fixing the cracks and what’s left of the face. A full reconstruction is impossible because detailed documentation and fragments of the face are lacking.

“Whatever you do in the absence of perfect data is a fake,’’ said Olivieri, who says he has wanted to be an archaeologist since age 6 and still brings a youthful exuberance to his work even as his beard grows gray.

Arriving as a university student in 1987, he was fascinated by Swat, once an important center of Buddhist culture and trade. The monk credited with introducing Buddhism to Tibet, Padmasambhava, was born in Swat.

In more recent decades, the area was known as “the Switzerland of Pakistan,’’ popular with religious tourists from China, Japan and South Korea, and the hope is that restoration of the Jahanabad Buddha will spark a revival of tourism here.

Olivieri’s mission is funded by the Italian government, which works with local Pakistani antiquities authorities. It has uncovered over 120 Buddhist sites among Swat’s soaring hills and rushing rivers. Of roughly 200 Buddhist rock carvings in Swat, the Jahanabad Buddha was among the few to survive with its face intact for so long, said Olivieri. Most were defaced centuries ago by Muslim invaders who, like the Taliban, consider Buddha a false idol.

Maulana Shamsur Rehman, a leading Islamist politician in Swat, says the attack on the Buddha should never have happened. Islam preaches freedom and protection for followers of all religions, he told The Associated Press, and “in line with Islamic rules, nobody should have an objection to the repair work on the Buddha statue.’’

In 2001, militants damaged the excavated ruins of a 7th century Hindu temple in Swat overlooking a stronghold conquered by Alexander in the 4th century B.C. Unable to protect the temple, the Italian mission had to rebury it.

Ironically, the site that Olivieri was most worried about during the Taliban’s violent reign in Swat was an Islamic one ? the roughly 1,000-year-old Udegram Ghaznavid mosque, the third oldest in Pakistan. He feared the militants would occupy and damage it, but that never happened.

Pakistani security officials say the Taliban are again trying to infiltrate Swat, but militants are not the only threat to the archaeological sites. Looters are perhaps a bigger problem. Many relics looted from Swat are in private and public collections around the world.

In December police arrested several men in Swat and seized a roughly one-meter-tall, 1,800-year-old Buddhist statue that could have fetched tens of thousands of dollars on the international antiquities market.

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Unconditional Compassion

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Colombo, Sri Lanka -- Who is to be held responsible if an aged member of the Sangha, discharged from a government hospital, seeks shelter in the nearby bus stand for several days not knowing where to turn to? Is it the Buddhist laymen of the country, or the disciples of the aged monk? All should share the disgrace, I believe.

<< Ven. Modarawane Amilasiri Thera nursing an ailing monk

But is it of any use to point fingers at others when what should be done is to rise to the occasion and reach out to the needy? This is the very thought that would have crossed the mind of Ven.Maderawane Amilasiri Thera of the Sri Bodhirukkharamaya, Wellawa, Polgahawela when his eyes accidentally fell on the aged monk who was lying in a critical condition at a bus stand in the Kurunegala town on January 20, 2004.

“As I spoke to the Thera I understood that he had been lying there for several days. He was from Galewela. With great difficulty he had managed to come to the bus stand and his feeble physical condition had made him stay there until I found him. His disciples had dropped him to the hospital, but had not returned to take him back. I decided to take him to our temple and look after him.” Amilasiri Thera recollected the incident which inspired him to establish the Amilasiri Centre for the Aged Monks which is located in the temple premises.

The very next day the Thera visited the Kurunegala hospital and told the staff that he is ready to accept aged monks after their discharge if there is nobody to accept them.

Five monks were sent to the centre on the same day. Since that day Amilasiri Thera is engaged in the noble mission of looking after the sick monks who have no where to turn to at their old age.

The Amilasiri Centre for the Aged Monks which is located in the premises of Sri Bodhirukkharamaya, Wellawa, Polgahhawela, today provides shelter to 35 aged Bhikkhus who come from different parts of the country. Though the drive to the temple, which is situated on an elevated land is not easy, the place is surrounded by lush greenery and the serene environment is ideal for the aged monks. However the difficult drive sometimes makes the lives of these ailing monks tedious as it is not so easy for vehicles to reach the place in an emergency to rush them to the hospital.

As children we have heard the story of Puthigaththa Tissa Thera who was nursed by the Buddha when he was lying in his Kuti in a critical condition at the Jethavanarama. “He who attends to the sick, attends to me” said the Buddha emphasising the importance of looking after the sick. Amilasiri Thera, a disciple of the Buddha in the true sense of the word, is fully devoted to these sick monks who seek his assistance throughout the day.

“Three monks have to be fed and some are bedridden and they need full time attention.” It is with great compassion and sympathy that Amilasiri Thera nurses the sick monks who stay in the four wards which are at the temple premises. There are twenty three Sameneras (Novice Monks) in the temple and they help the Thera for preparing Dahna (alms) for the monks and collect firewood cadjan leaves, and coconuts from the temple backyard. The way the Sameneras help the noble mission of Amilasiri Thera is praiseworthy. Amidst all this work and financial difficulties, these Sameneras continue with their Pirivena education as well.

During the early days of its establishment the Thera had to go on alms rounds along with the other monks to collect food for these ailing monks. “The support of the villagers was immense.”said the Thera. But as the number of aged monks increased and also because the type of food required by each monk differ due to their medical conditions, now food is generally prepared in the temple premises by Amilasiri Thera with the support of the Samaneras. “We also get Dhanas on certain days. What we mostly get as donations are dry rations.” No vehicles are owned by the temple to take the sick monks to the hospital. “There is only one trishaw owned by a village boy who rises to the occasion at a considerable rate and helps us out.”

The Thera’s extraordinary compassion towards humanity was appreciated at the Viru Jana Weera award ceremony in June, 2011 where he was awarded with Viru Jana Weera award for donating a kidney to a needy patient by risking his own life. The donation was made to a 22- year old newly married Catholic girl in 2005.

“In two earlier instances I was planning to donate a kidney. But both patients died. My name was registered in the Kandy Hospital donators’ list, so they came looking for me when this girl was in need of a kidney.’

Today she is a mother of two. When asked whether he has any contacts with that family he said that he had asked them not to visit him and that his sole expectation was to give someone else a chance to live. He does not want anything beyond that.

Amilasiri Thera was born as the fifth child in a family of eight. In 1988 he entered the Order at the age of fifteen under Malambe Madurasiri Nayake Thera of the Homagama , Dampe Sri Bodhiwardhanarama. His father Peter Weeresinghe of Embilipitiya, Modarawana passed away three months back at the age of 83. As a grateful son he never forgot to spare a few hours from his busy life to visit his sick father. His mother Misilin Nona is seventy three years old.

Since its establishment in 2004, 40 theras have gone back to their respective temples after curing themselves completely. Twenty six Theras have succumbed to old age and died at the centre.

None of the disciples of Hanguranketha Pungnasara Thera who is taking treatment at the Centre has any contact with him. His only aide is Amilasiri Thera. Pungnasara Thera has been staying here for one year. Handapangoda Sandasiri Thera has been staying at the centre for the past one and half years and is taking treatment for a leg ailment. “Very rarely do the Dayakes call me to inquire about my health.” He said. The stories of the other 33 Theras including the Panawela Gnana Keerthi Thera , Wathuragama Siri Sumana Thera, and Kirama Ananda Thera are more or less the same.

However the most tragic is the story of Thrikunamale Nandasara Thera who was dumped at the Kurunegala hospital by his own driver on whom he had immense trust. According to Amilasiri Thera the driver had been in the habit of handling the Thera’s bank pass books and had access to his money. Once the thera got critically ill he had admitted the thera to the Kurunegala Hospital. “Then he sold the Thera’s car and took his belongings and fled the area.” Today Amilasiri Thera is the sole guardian of Thrikunamale Nandasara Thera. He is completely bed-ridden requiring constant attention.

According to Amilasiri Thera the long- stay in the wards have made most of these theras mentally weak. “Not all are bed ridden. There are monks who can walk around and get their things done. What they want are separate rooms so that they are more free and happy.”

“The free land adjacent to the temple premises is owned by somebody else. Unfortunately the well is also situated there.” If this piece of land could be bought by the temple that will be of immense benefit to these sick monks. “ That land could be used to build a hall where these monks can stay more freely. Confining themselves to beds forever make them mentally weak” the Thera said. In a culture where we had an extended family system which had all the facilities to look after the aged , ‘elders home’ was a remote concept. It is certainly not a concept we should promote. However the truth is so bitter that if these places do not exist most of the elders have to undergo immense suffering at their old age.

The same plight awaits the aged monks if their Dayakes (patrons) and disciples shy stay away from their responsibility. People with golden hearts cannot wait until those who are responsible reach to help their ‘loved ones.’, what they can do is to strengthen the hands of noble people who are ready to accept those who are in distress with open arms for the sheer compassion for humanity.

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Double standards in Buddhist commune’s sale of Tharpaland to Scottish Power for wind farm?

It reports that the ability to concentrate in meditation dropped by 70% within a mile of wind turbines and that head and chest pains were experienced during prayer.

Quite why it was the occasion of prayer in which head and chest pains were manifest has not been explained. Raised blood pressure, head and chest pains are almost routinely reported in what studies of infrasound have taken place ? along with insomnia and nightmares.

However, while we can understand that low frequency ?noise? might well impact on body and mind as decribed, quite how the specific circumstances of prayer marry with infrasound to be conducive to the appearance of these symptoms is not immediately explicable.

It is, though, easy to see how meditation is a particularly useful test of concentration in the face of the presence of infrasound; and entirely plausible that this sort of constant low level disruption would mess with brain function.

However, having presented their findings and expressed their reasonable consequent view that they could not continue to run the very specific facility of a retreat beside a wind farm, the Buddhists are selling their estate to Scottish Power and moving away.

The move has a defensible pragmatism ? but it comes oddly from a spiritual group to be prepared to save their own operation while bequeathing a potentially enhanced problem to their erstwhile neighbours.

Scottish Power will now own more land in an area where they may wish to extend the 71-turbine farm they are already to build nearby.

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Buddhism tour circuit to woo more visitors

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Karnataka, India -- Karnataka tourism is looking at exploring Buddhist sites in the state for its religious tour circuit. Till now, Jain sites have been much promoted in the religious circuit, and with the new initiative, the department hopes to bring in increased domestic and foreign travellers.

The department plans to promote the Tara Bhagavati temple in Shiralakoppa, Koliwad and Dambal in Gadag district, apart from monuments in historical Aihole in Bijapur district for the tourism initiative.

?We have got approval for setting up the Buddhist circuit. There is also a Jain circuit that has done quite well. For the Buddhist circuit, we are even looking at China for promoting this circuit among Buddhist travellers,? said Mrs Latha Krishna Rao, Principal Secretary, Tourism. For some time now, the state tourism department has found much takers on its Jain circuits such as Shravanabelagola and Karkala.

?We plan to improve accommodation facilities. In Shravanabelagola, there are proposals for adding more medium-level accommodation facilities for tourists,? Ms Rao added. Recently, the tourism department conducted a survey across the state for determining tourism needs and found that the state needs improved accommodation facilities, especially medium and high-end level. In Bengaluru alone, tourist facilities capable of accommodating both medium and high end tourists to the extent of 28,000 persons is required.

With this focus in the global investors' meet, the tourism department had announced that Hyatt Hotels and Resorts will be setting up a five-star hotel at Hampi, while Orange County, Somateeram and Windflower will be setting up resorts around heritage spots like Pattadakal, Aihole, Belur, Bijapur, Jog, Mysore and Anekal.

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Myanmar is reminded of its ethnic realities

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Communal violence flares up even as the country tries to return to democracy

Arakan, Myanmar -- A week ago, a Buddhist woman was raped, allegedly by a Muslim man in the Rakhine province (once known as Arakan) in Myanmar, once known as Burma. Incensed Buddhists stopped a bus which had many Rohingyas, who are Muslim, and killed at least ten, injuring others.

The death toll in the unrest since has risen to 21. Myanmar is sending troops to the region. Rohingyas are fleeing their villages for Bangladesh, which has rushed its own troops to the border. Yesterday, the Bangladeshi border authorities sent back three boats full of civilian Rohingyas fleeing conflict.

The stream of good news coming from Myanmar had to stumble at some point, and this is perhaps the time, where Myanmar’s horrific past and tragic presence have cast a shadow on its future. That this week Aung San Suu Kyi will receive her Nobel Prize 23 years late combines the ironies of the country impeccably.

This reality check doesn’t come from some generals expressing unhappiness with the effortless re-emergence of Aung San Suu Kyi in public life, but it reveals a far older problem, of how the country treats its minorities.

As an ethnic pot, heterogenous is a mild word to describe Myanmar. While Burmans (or Bamars, as they are known in the country) form the majority - and hence the country’s former name, Burma - there are other minorities dominant in specific geographic terrains, such as Kachins, Karens, Chins, Shans, Mons, and Karennis. Many of these groups have fought battles for decades against the army, with some demanding more autonomy and others demanding independence. The government has signed ceasefire agreements with all but one community, although some agreements are fragile. Aung San Suu Kyi has said reconciliation with the ethnic groups is important, and she draws on the Panglong Agreement her father signed, representing the Burmese Army, with three key groups before independence in 1948.

Notice the absence of Rohingya Muslims in the conversation. This group is a minority in Myanmar, and they “look” South Asian and not Southeast Asian. They follow a different faith - Islam - unlike the majority Buddhists. (Some ethnic groups which have fought the Burmese army are majority Christians). Since independence, relations between Rohingyas and the Buddhists have been poor, and in the 1980s the government actively pushed them out, with most of them becoming de facto refugees in Bangladesh. Myanmar denies them citizenship rights and places many restrictions on their personal lives. Over the years, Bangladeshi governments have negotiated with Myanmar and repatriated some Rohingyas. Officially, there are fewer than 30,000 Rohingyas in Bangladesh, but there are claims that the real figure is ten times larger.

The unrest has brought out horrendous atavistic emotions. When Irrawady, the independent magazine based in Bangkok that opposes the generals and is cautious about the current reforms, reported the riots, its message board began looking like the worst of the no-holds-barred comments against the Rohingyas. They’re not Myanmar citizens, said one; other epithets and comments were more pejorative. (Myanmar citizens who object to give citizenship to Rohingyas apparently don’t seem to mind Chinese nationals acquiring citizenship in their country. China has invested heavily in Myanmar, creating tens of thousands of jobs - for Chinese migrants in Myanmar. But let that pass.

It is in that context that Bangladesh’s decision to close its border, and turning back Rohingyas leaving Myanmar for Bangladesh, is cruel and unjustified, and possibly a violation of international obligations to refugees. Meghna Guha Thakurta, a peace and reconciliation expert in Dhaka told me at the time of the April by-elections which, Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy won, that dealing with the Rohingya issue will be a real challenge for her. That challenge has arrived sooner than she may have wanted.

And yet, Bangladesh’s response flies in the face of its own history. In 1971, nearly 10 million people from the land that became Bangladesh fled for India, as Pakistani troops unleashed brutality on an unprecedented scale, to suppress Bangladeshi nationalism. At that time, India opened its doors. Bangladesh has sought humane treatment of Bangladeshis who continue to cross the Indian border illegally since then. Surely its leaders know, then, that they should open their border with Myanmar, so that those who have well-grounded fears of persecution can feel safe.

More than that, Myanmar’s president Thein Sein has to use his imagination and political capital with the same skill with which he is guiding the country’s return to democracy. Aung San Suu Kyi can help, but the government has to reassure the victims first.

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Bhikkhuni ordination in Vaishali to be historic event

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Vaishali, India -- About 2,600 years ago, the Buddha initiated the Order of bhikkhunis or nuns in Vaishali with the ordination of his aunt and step-mother, Maha Pajapati Gotami in the town of Vaishali, now in the state of Bihar, India.

<< The Vietnam Mahaprajapati Gotami Nunnery in Vaishali

This July, the event will occur again for the first time in modern times when several samaneris or novice nuns take ordination to become bhikkhunis in the Theravada tradition at the Vietnam Mahaprajapati Gotami Nunnery in Vaishali .

The event is the brain-child of Ven Lieu Phap Viditadhamma, a Vietnamese Theravada bhikkhuni and a lecturer with the Department of Buddhist Studies in the University of Delhi, who has been staying in India for almost 14 years.

The ordination ceremony will be held in the Nunnery in Vaishali in recognition of the town's historic connection with the birth of the bhikkhuni sangha more than two millenia ago.

The event is also part of a worldwide effort by Buddhists of the Theravada school to rebuild its order of bhikkhunis after the lineage was discontinued centuries ago in this school of Buddhism, although it continued to thrive in the Mahayana school.

Ven Lieu Phap has already received applications from samaneris from India as well as other countries giving this event an international flavour.  Bhikkhuni ordinations require the participation of both bhikkhus and bhikkhunis. 

In this regard, senior bhikkhus and bhikkhunis from India and Sri Lanka have been invited to the event. Ven. Nyaninda, a much respected and the most senior Burmese monk of Bodh Gaya is also expected to attend.

The new bhikkhunis are required to stay for at least 3 months to study the Vinaya, or rules of the order, before leaving for their home countries.

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