Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia organises "Contemporary Buddhist Seminar"

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Petaling Jaya, Malaysia -- The 2012 Contemporary Buddhist Seminar will be organized by the Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia (YBAM) to discuss about various topics and issues that constantly concern Malaysian Buddhists. The seminar will invite prominent scholars and speakers from various countries, including the USA, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. The theme of this seminar is "The True Colours of Buddhism”. 

The seminar will be conducted in Mandarin and the details are as follows.

Date: 22nd to 23rd December 2012(Saturday, Sunday)
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 6:00p.m.
Registration: 22nd December 2012, 7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.
Venue: HOTEL ISTANA Kuala Lumpur

For more details, please goto:

You may download the brochure and registration form from the below links:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bx8yY66wwQgGSGF1cjBTRW5rc1U/edit?pli=1
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bx8yY66wwQgGbHJtaVVySVBfRW8/edit

On-line Registration:
http://cbs.ybam.org.my/regs/2012CBSRegistration.html

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Ancient tombs discovered in Swat valley

The Italian mission began digging in the 1950s at Udegram, a site of Buddhist treasures in Swat, the northwestern district formerly known as the Switzerland of Pakistan for its stunning mountains, valleys and rivers.

Archaeologists were aware of a pre-Buddhist graveyard site in Udegram, but only recently discovered the collection of almost 30 graves, tightly clustered and partially overlapping.

"Some graves had a stone wall, others were protected by walls and enclosures in beaten clay," Luca Maria Olivieri, head of the Italian mission, told AFP.

"The cemetery seems to have been used between the end of the second millennium BCE and the first half of the first millennium BCE," he added.

Olivieri said, "The tombs point to the culture that predates the Buddhist Gandhara civilisation that took hold in northwest Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan from the first millennium BCE to the sixth century AD.

"The presence of a few iron fragments might be amongst the most ancient traces of this metal in the subcontinent," he said. Bodies were first laid to rest in open graves, fenced in by wooden railings. Then the graves were re-opened and the bones partially burnt before the graves were sealed and a burial mound built. Men were buried with high quality flasks, bowls and cooking pots, and women with semi-precious beads, bronze hairpins, and spindles.

Taliban insurgents led by cleric Fazlullah terrorised the Swat valley from 2007 to 2009, beheading opponents and burning down girls' schools as part of their determination to implement their laws. An army offensive in 2009 claimed to have defeated the insurgency, but isolated attacks continue.

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Spiritual Guidance from the Far East

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Amherst, Massachusetts (USA) -- I am not a religious person. By no means am I a spiritual person whatsoever. When asked about my faith, I generally say that I am an agnostic; I’m completely open to possibility. I don’t live my life based on the will of some higher power, I simply try to be a good person, who does good things, for the sake of being good.

When I recently stumbled across the Buddhist faith, I had a sense of mystified wonder about me, like a child who has wandered into the back room of some department store. My curiosity took hold of me and I began to poke and prod at the countless boxes of various shape and size. Some had labels, some were simply monolithic and imposing, some were completely out of sight. As I meandered through the labyrinth of boxes I came across a section labeled ‘Buddhism’. For the most part their contents were completely unbeknownst to me, I had only heard of a few small aspects of Buddhism, so why not grasp that curiosity and go right in and open a few up?

Tibetan Buddhism is a specific branch of Buddhism geographically located in and around Tibet and the Himalayan Mountain Range (“Intro to”). It is a form of Buddhism focused on several core values and practices, the end goal being becoming a Buddha, that is, to achieve nirvana and absolute enlightenment(“Intro to”). Each and every person is born with the innate potential to achieve Buddhahood, and once that is attained, to help others achieve that very same goal (“Intro to”).

It is said that a Buddha fully embodies all disciplines of Buddhism and is in a state of bliss, free from all mental obstructions and able to understand the true nature of reality. Achieving enlightenment allows one to understand truths of the world and to unlock one’s personal spiritual identity; who and what one truly is as a person. Becoming a Buddha is no simple feat, but one that potentially takes lifetimes to accomplish, going through the process of reincarnation after death numerous times. Buddhists hold faith in the ‘Three Jewels’, the basis’ for their commitment and where they take refuge, those being the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha (“Intro to”). These jewels respectively represent the belief in the Buddha nature, the teachings of the Buddha, and the community of others who have achieved enlightenment (“Into to”). While all Buddhists seek to attain enlightenment, it is a long and arduous process, and requires incredible discipline and focus.

Tibetan Buddhism is renowned for its advanced process of achieving enlightenment. Its unique method for transcending reality is remarkable in that it is at such an accelerated pace that it can be obtained within one lifetime. The combination of difficult yoga techniques and intensive meditations, along with visualizations of “meditational deities”, cause it to be a very unique path (“Intro to”).
The use of tantric literature, or more simply sacred Buddhist scriptures, instructs one on how to perform meditative visualizations among other practices (“Intro to”). Mantras, or chants, mudras, or hand gestures, and mandalas, or sacred art, are all implemented in order to hasten the process of achieving one’s enlightenment (“Intro to”). Another interesting facet of Tibetan Buddhism is its prizing of a lama, equivalent of the term guru, as a spiritual guide and teacher through the process of enlightenment. The lama is one who embodies all aspects of the Three Jewels and can be looked to for initiations and empowerments to help one through their spiritual journey (“Intro to”).

One of the core tenets of Tibetan Buddhism I have discovered is the concept of karma. Now, you probably have a basic understanding of the idea of karma, but what truly is it? Tibetan Buddhists deeply follow the philosophy of “you get what you give”, in generic terms, which is the underlying meaning of karma ("Karma.").

Karma is also looked at as the intention or motivation for performing an action. Tibetan Buddhists believe that good and bad actions in life produce “seeds” that will come to grow later in your life, or even in your next life ("Karma."). Good hearted actions will bring you good while corrupt actions will create just the opposite. It is exactly that, you get what you give. To improve one’s karma isn’t about getting something in return either. A random act of kindness may not merit one in return, yet does it not improve your own personal character? As stated by Mahatma Gandhi, you must “be the change you wish to see in the world”. 

Now you might not believe in any of that spiritual, religious mumbo-jumbo, yet the concept of karma should still be one that you can envelop into your life to better yourself as a person, regardless of your faith. Taking on the concept of karma into one’s life is not a difficult one. Many practices involving karma are as simple as thinking before you act and thinking about the greater consequences of your actions.

Meditation is used to study your own mind, realizing the flaws in previous decisions (“Karma”). In order to remove past negative karma, one must directly realize ‘emptiness’ and that you are no longer in control of the past (“Karma”). Recently, I have taken up the practice of meditating on the Four Powers of Purification. These Four Powers are the power of the object, the power of regret, the power of promise, and the power of practice (“Karma”). Essentially these four powers provide one with a set of guidelines for removing negative karma and assisting in the prevention of more negative seeds being planted on your behalf in the future (“Karma”). The practices and methodology of karma are not difficult to accept into a person’s life, and are nothing but beneficial.

Tibetan Buddhism holds a great deal of weight behind detachment from physical possessions. The concept of materialism is one that is absolutely lost to a Buddhist, as they feel that possessions in life are simply illusions (Dwyer). These are temptations that are in place to tantalize and capture your attention from your true goal in life, that is, to discover your true spiritual identity (Dwyer). One of the core tenets of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy is that material items cause pain and suffering and that one must detach oneself from these things in order to attain nirvana (Dwyer).

There is nothing on the planet that a Buddhist will cling to, as that prevents liberation of the soul.The greed and craving for objects comes with an innate sort of violence and competitiveness in controlling them (Dwyer).You may not think of it as violence, yet you go through great conflict simply for the sake of obtaining material possessions. You can be a hard-working adult and live the fullest life you possibly can without clinging to physical possessions (Dwyer).

The fact of the matter is, it is not in human nature is abstain from attachment to physical items. It is a Tibetan Buddhist practice because of just that, it takes practice. The Tibetan Buddhist practice in regards to materialism is not typical of all Buddhist sects. Rather than trying to destroy feelings of attachment and craving, they attempt to morph these feelings into wisdom and learn from them (“Intro to”).

They hold the belief that the physical world is different, yet still inseparable, from enlightenment (“Intro to”). Via meditation it is possible to detach oneself from the material world and in a sense ‘awaken’ from the mundane (Dwyer). While it is difficult in today’s revolution of new technology to extract oneself from cravings and possessions, I have begun to attempt this. In today’s society, we have proliferated our possessions, and yet value has still managed to degenerate. I have been meditating and considering the true values of things in life; what really is important in my life.

As stated by an unknown author, “some people are so poor, all they have is money”. I will have more than money; I will have character. In accepting that there is nothing in the physical realm that I can cling to, the practice of detachment will help me live my life to the fullest.

Countless others have gone on spiritual journeys to attain enlightenment. One man, Eckhart Tolle, wrote a book in which he describes his life experience and how to achieve personal enlightenment entitled The Power of the Now. Up until he was 30, he lived a pointless existence, in a state of anxiety and suicidal depression, until he went through an inner transformation (Tolle).
Tolle is not a Buddhist, in fact, he affiliates himself with no particular religion in particular, being affected by numerous of them. He discusses how the key to enlightenment is to live in the now, stating “that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life” (Tolle, 28). His guidance to become connected to our own spiritual essence is in many ways extremely similar to that of Buddhism.

Detachment and karma are both discussed by Tolle on his path to finding in peace and living in the now. Many people have been able to find enlightenment or find themselves with or without becoming Buddhists. In closer examination of many of the main religions, there are similar themes (Nhá^t). From Christianity all the way to Tibetan Buddhism itself, and over-arching value is simply to be a good person. One does not require a religion to be a good person. It is not required of me to become a Buddhist in order to follow these few tenets. I will do it to better myself and in doing that, I hope to set an example for others to follow.

Karma and detachment from physical objects are just two tenets held in high esteem by the Tibetan Buddhist faith. These are among countless Buddhist values and practices that govern how they live.  I wasn’t a spiritual person before enveloping these qualities into my life, and I still do not consider myself to be one; I don’t need a religion to satisfy my goal.Opening up those boxes has not only made me a more educated person, but has expanded my outlook on the world and how I live my life. A critical exploration of the Tibetan Buddhist faith and practices has only left me curious for more; I think I might just go ahead and open a few more boxes.

Works Cited

"Basic Concepts of Tibetan Buddhism." Basic Concepts of Tibetan Buddhism.N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. .

Dwyer, John. "Protestant vs Buddhist Economics." Protestant vs Buddhist Economics.N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. .

"Intro to Tibetan Buddhism." Intro to Tibetan Buddhism.N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. .

"Karma." Karma.N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. .

Nhát, H?nh. Living Buddha, Living Christ. New York: Riverhead, 1995. Print.

Tolle, Eckhart. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. Novato, CA: New World Library, 1999. Print.

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Buddhists offended by sexy magazine spread

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Bangkok, Thailand -- Photos of lingerie models cavorting with Buddha statues published on the Internet by a men's magazine have caused an outcry among Thai Buddhists.

Posted on Maxim magazine's Facebook page, one picture shows a lingerie-clad model posed with her hand on a statue's head and on the statue's arm. Another photo shows the topless model with her hands covering her breasts and wearing only underpants posing among dozens of statues. A third photo shows the blonde "Hometown Hotties" model seated among the statues with her legs spread.

In response to complaints, Culture Ministry permanent secretary Apinan Poshyananda said yesterday he would contact the National Office of Buddhism (NOB), and, because the photos were published on the Internet, the Information Communication and Technology Ministry. He said he would also contact the Foreign Ministry because the photos were from another country.

The various Thai agencies would then notify the magazine about their objection to the inappropriate use of a religious symbol.

Apinan said there have been many cases of Buddhist symbols being used inappropriately and that the Culture Ministry would produce a handbook in Thai and English on the use of Buddhist symbols for commercial purposes in order to prevent future misuse.

Pornchai Pinyapong, president of the World Fellowship of Buddhist Youth, said he had seen the magazine photos and thought they were an insult to Buddhists. He planned to bring the issue to the Parliament's Committee on Religions, Arts and Culture, as well as talk to the Culture Ministry and NOB.

Pornchai also said he would send a letter to Maxim. "If they didn't know what they did was wrong, they can then change it, but if they already knew it was wrong, they will face a protest," he said.

The government should push forward the draft legislation on protecting Buddhism so there would be punishments for those who mistreated religious symbols, Pornchai added.

Pornchai also commented about the worldwide movement to save the 2,300-year-old Buddha statues in Mes Aynak, Afghanistan, from a copper-mining project and said he would bring that issue before the Parliament panel in addition to the magazine photos.

Earlier this year, a group called Knowing Buddha was launched in Thailand, staging demonstrations to raise awareness about the misuse of Buddha images. The group's website lists "dos and don'ts" with regard to Buddha statues.

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Meditation can stave off cold and flu: Study

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London, UK -- Meditation can be extremely effective at preventing winter ailments like cold and flu, according to a new research.

<< Meditation as antidote for flu?

Adults who meditated or did moderately intense exercise, such as a brisk walk, for eight weeks suffered fewer colds than those who did nothing, according to a study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Previous research has found that mindfulness meditation may improve mood, decrease stress, and boost immune function.

Some of the earliest references to meditation are found in the Hindu Vedas. Around the 6th to 5th centuries BC, other forms of meditation developed in Taoist China and Buddhist India.

The new study divided 149 people into three groups. One performed mindful meditation, a type of meditation that essentially involves focusing the mind on the present, the Daily Mail reported.

Another group jogged regularly for eight weeks while the third group did nothing.

The researchers then followed the health of the volunteers through the winter from September to May, although they didn’t check whether or not people carried on exercising or meditating after the eight-week period.

The participants were observed for cold and flu symptoms such as a runny nose, stuffiness, sneezing, and sore throat.

Nasal wash samples were collected and analysed three days after the symptoms began.

The study, found that meditators missed 76 per cent fewer days of work from September through to May than those who did nothing. Those who had exercised missed 48 per cent fewer days during this period.

In addition, mindful meditation can reduce the duration or severity of acute respiratory infections such by up to 50 per cent, and exercise by up to 40 per cent.

According to the website Scientific America, those who had exercised or meditated suffered for an average of five days; colds of participants in the control group lasted eight.

In addition, tests confirmed that the self-reported length of colds correlated with the level of antibodies in the body, which indicate the presence of a virus.

“Nothing has previously been shown to prevent acute respiratory infections,” said lead author Dr Bruce Barrett, a family medicine doctor and associate professor at the University.

“A lot of previous information suggested that meditation and exercise might have prevention benefits, but no high-quality, randomised trial had been done,” Barrett said.

“Flu shots are partially effective, but only work for three strains of flu each year. The apparent 40 to 50 per cent benefit of mindfulness training is a very important finding, as is the apparent 30 to 40 per cent benefit of exercise training. If this pans out in future research, the impact could be substantive indeed,” Barrett said.

The study was published in the Annals of Family Medicine.

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Obama gets taste of Thailand at Buddhist temple

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BANGKOK, Thailand -- Leaving behind chants of "Obama, Obama" by adoring crowds on the streets, the president of the United States stepped into the serenity of Thailand's most famous temple compound to marvel at its centerpiece -- a gigantic, golden statue of a reclining Buddha propped up on one elbow before passing into nirvana.

<< U.S. President Barack Obama, left, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, rear, tour the Viharn of the Reclining Buddha with Chaokun Suthee Thammanuwat, the Dean, Faculty of Buddhism Assistant to the Abbot of Wat Phra Chetuphon at the Wat Pho Royal Monastery in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012. Photo: Carolyn Kaster / AP

The Temple of Reclining Buddha, formally known as Wat Pho, was the first stop on President Barack Obama's Asian tour that will also take him to Myanmar and Cambodia. Obama arrived at the temple, one of Bangkok's most famous tourist sites, straight from the airport after landing in Bangkok on Sunday. Visits to see the king and the Thai prime minister were saved for later.

Observing traditional custom, Obama took off his shoes as a saffron-robed monk led him and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton through the 18th century temple's stoned paved compound of multi-colored spires and chapels with hundreds of gilded Buddha images.

But the main attraction is the reclining Buddha statue that at 46 meters (150 feet) long, and 15 meters (50 feet) high, stretches half the length of a football field. The statue is made of bricks and plaster and covered in gold leaf with mother-of-pearl inlay decorating the feet.

The visit was meant to give Obama a taste of Bangkok. But one thing Obama did not get to see as he sped through Bangkok was the city's infamous traffic jams. All roads leading to Wat Pho and his other destinations were blocked and cleared of cars as part of security measures that included bomb squads and shutting the temple to the public hours in advance.

Camera-clad tourists who came to visit the temple or glimpse the American leader were initially dismayed. They were kept hundreds of meters (yards) away as his armored Cadillac pulled to a stop inside a white tent erected at the temple's entrance, which obscured him from sight.

But those who waited an hour for his temple tour to end were elated. A smiling Obama waved from the backseat of his car, which drove slowly alongside cheering crowds as he headed to a royal audience with Thailand's revered, ailing monarch, 84-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

"Yes! I saw him! And he was waving at us!" said 72-year-old American tourist Elizabeth Simon visiting Thailand with her 74-year-old sister. They were at the beach in Pattaya two hours away but rushed to Bangkok just to see him. "I'm so thrilled that he won the election. When we heard he was coming, we decided to get here."

Parts of the temple date to Thai King Rama I in the 1700s. The king's ashes are kept beneath the pedestal of one of the huge seated Buddha statues in the complex, which is located along the banks of the Chao Phraya river near the Grand Palace. It is in the quiet, historic old quarter of Bangkok, outside the skyscraper-and-traffic clogged downtown.

"It's meaningful that Obama came straight to Wat Pho," said Pradab Supradit, a 67-year-old Thai grandmother who took a bus, a river ferry and then walked up roads closed for security hoping to glimpse the man or just see his convoy. "It will bring him blessings because temples are at the center of Thai people's hearts."

"I want to see him with my own eyes," she said. "I like Obama because of his charisma and personality. He's a smart guy. I love the way he talks."

------
Associated Press Writers Jocelyn Gecker and Todd Pitman contributed to this report.

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Kung fu nuns teach cosmic energy to CERN scientists

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GENEVA, Switzerland -- A dozen kung fu nuns from an Asian Buddhist order displayed their martial arts prowess to bemused scientists at CERN this week as their spiritual leader explained how their energy was like that of the cosmos.

<< The 12th Gyalwang Drukpa, Jigme Pema Wangchen, (left) poses with kung-fu trained nuns accompanying him at CERN in Meyrin near Geneva November 15, 2012. - Reuters pic

The nuns, all from the Himalayan region, struck poses of hand-chops, high-kicks and punches on Thursday while touring the research centre where physicists at the frontiers of science are probing the origins of the universe.

“Men and women carry different energy,” said His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa, a monk who ranks only slightly below the Dalai Lama in the global Buddhist hierarchy. “Both male and female energies are needed to better the world.”

This, he said, was a scientific principle “as fundamental as the relationship between the sun and the moon” and its importance was similar to that of the particle collisions in CERN’s vast “Big Bang” machine, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

The nuns, mostly slim and fit-looking teenagers with shaven heads and clad in flowing burgundy robes, nodded sagely.

But the 49-year-old Gyalwang Drukpa, head since the age of four of one of the new independent schools of Tibetan Buddhism centred in India and Nepal, stressed that their visit to CERN was not just scientific in purpose.

Gender equality

By taking the nuns around the world and letting people of other countries enjoy their martial displays, he told physicists and reporters: “I hope to raise awareness about gender equality and the need for the empowerment of women.”

The group visits the universe of particles exhibition at CERN. — Reuters pic
The nuns themselves — who star on YouTube videos — have benefited from this outlook, he said.

For centuries in Tibet — incorporated into communist China since 1951 — and its surrounds, women were strictly barred from practising any form of martial art.

In his homeland Himalayan region of Ladakh, the Gyalwang Drukpa said, women were mainly servants, cooks and cleaners to monks.

About three years ago he decided to break out of this pattern and improve the health and spiritual well-being of women by training them in kung fu and even allowing them to perform sacred rites once also restricted to men.

“And a very good thing too,” declared CERN physicist Pauline Gagnon, who recently wrote a blog study pointing to the low, although growing, proportion of women in scientific research around the world.

The visit to CERN, whose director general Rolf Heuer recently sponsored a conference of scientists, theologians and philosophers to discuss the tense relationship between science and religion, was not the first by a top religious leader.

In 1983 the sprawling campus on the border of France and Switzerland hosted the Dalai Lama, Buddhism’s most revered figure, who argues that most scientific discoveries prove the truth of the view of the cosmos expounded by his faith — sometimes dubbed by outsiders an “atheistic religion.”

Pope John-Paul II preceded him in 1982 and the present Pope Benedict has a standing invitation from Heuer.

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