INEB: Don’t allow religious and ethnic lines to worsen

Home Issues

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Isolation between races and cultures will lead to mistrust and fear as groups grow more separate, warns an international Buddhist group.

The chairman of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB), Dr Harsha Kumara Navaratne, from Sri Lanka, said isolation would happen if a country allowed religious and ethnic lines to worsen.

“The people in Sri Lanka live in separate areas, attend separate schools and speak separate languages. This isolation contributes to mistrust and fear,” he said, adding that other groups become abstract and were easily stereotyped.

Dr Harsha was speaking at the International Buddhist-Muslim Forum on Peace and Sustainability which was held at the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (Ikim) on Friday.

The other speakers included Ikim director-general Datuk Nik Musta­pha Nik Hassan and International Movement for a Just World (JUST) secretary-general Anas Zubedy.

“If Buddhist and Muslim communities can overcome the challenges that confront them, there is tremendous potential for the growth and development of ideas and values that may help to transform the region,” said Dr Harsha.

More than 200 people attended the forum held to promote Buddhist and Muslim relations in the region.

Ikim deputy director-general Prof Datin Dr Azizan Baharuddin, JUST president Dr Chandra Muzzafar, INEB founder Ajarn Sulak Sivaraksa and INEB advisory committee’s Rev Alan Senauke, who were also at the forum, discussed moderate ways of addressing social issues between the two religions.

Dr Chandra noted that in the South-East Asian region, Muslims and Buddhists made up 40% and 42% of the population, respectively.

“If we allow violence to erode relations between followers of the faiths, it could destabilise peace in the region. Thus, we must come together to maintain relations,” he said.

The INEB conference has been held every two years since its inaugural gathering in Bangkok in 1989.

The conference has since been hosted in countries such as India, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Taiwan.

This year’s conference also discussed the Buddhist and Muslim tensions that occurred in certain countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

View the original article here

Can Buddhists Be Time Travellers?

Home Dharma Dew

Singapore -- As we shall see, the Buddhist answer to this interesting question is complex and nuanced… When it comes to travel, we tend to think of it physically. However, it is possible to travel mentally as well. We only need to recall the most vivid memory to know what this means.

If time-travel is possible, there would be the eventuality of a traveller returning to the past to purposely or accidentally kill his then unmarried grandfather, which would annihilate himself, as his grandfather is a crucial cause, a link in the chain of events, towards the eventual effect that is him, his grandson. Yet, this self-destruction is impossible, because if he no longer exists in the present time, he wouldn’t be able to travel back in time, which means he would be alive, able to do the deed, yet unable too… In short, the paradox suggests that time travel is self-contradictory and thus impossible, as it violates the basic law of causality, rendering this pillar of reality malfunctional or even non-existent. There are theories of how time travel might still be possible. However, they necessitate that (1) the past cannot be changed at all, (2) or can only change in ways that do not alter the present, (3) or can only change in possible parallel universes, other worlds with similar attributes, which do not causally affect the one the traveller is from. Even if the last two are possible, we would have to wonder what is the point of actual travel if we are unable to change horrific history in this world that matters most to us. (Mirroring these considerations, they are equally applicable on ideas of time travel to the future.)

The truth is, the Grandfather Paradox is based on gross over-simplification of the vast complexities of reality. It speaks only of linear cause and effect breaking down, while the world operates, as the Buddha taught in the Avatamsaka Sutra, as an intricately interconnected web of interdependence, with each phenomenon linked to every other thing, in an one-in-all and all-in-one way. For instance, the traveller’s grandfather’s life and death have much larger implications than ever imaginable. Thus, interactive time travel would warp the fabric of reality so seriously that a single active trip by one person is enough to send lasting reverberations throughout the universe. That the text and images in our history books are not ‘magically’ and constantly morphing proves that history is not being rewritten as we speak!

Yet, as mentioned, time travel is still possible – albeit only mentally, via the supernormal power of recollecting past lives. The bad news is that, being a psychic ability, it is not a skill easily acquired. The good news is that, as stated in the fifth of his 48 great vows within the Sutra of Immeasurable Life, all who attain rebirth in Amituofo’s (Amitabha Buddha) Pure Land, among many other received blessings, will be empowered by him to ‘be aware of past lives, at least knowing all matters of a hundred thousand kotis of nayutas of kalpas.’ (1 koti is about 10 million; 1 nayuta is about 100 billion; 1 kalpa is about 1.28 trillion years) This astronomical number is only figurative, hinting of the limitless, that is equal to the inconceivable powers of Amituofo from his mastery of mind and boundless shared merits.

His intention is to most efficiently facilitate beings in his Pure Land to attain the deepest possible insights through hindsights, by seeing the real and detailed operation of the laws of karma and such within and across many lifetimes – both theirs and others’. Basking in the ideal equanimous learning environment of Pure Land with a Buddha’s tutelage, it is the absolutely safest place to remember past lives as they really were, without the dangers of deluded imagination, or giving rise to attachment or aversion upon recall. With various beings’ existential back stories gleaned, these recollections will nurture the Bodhisattva path, as there will be natural compassionate empathy arising with wise knowledge of how each used to karmically suffer, and how to more effectively guide them towards liberation.

Perfectly aligned with causality as discussed, as travellers, we can only be observers; and not participants. However, with Amituofo’s meticulous empowerment, we can be immersed at our wills, to be within past ‘temporal channels’ with ‘live’ and super high definition 3D settings, with surround sound and such. Although we will not be physically there in the past at all, but psychically, we can be fully there! Despite being unable to change the past then, we can truly re-look and reinterpret it afresh and completely, to learn many missed lessons, recall forgotten lessons, resolve to make amends for the future, and most importantly, to stop letting negative histories repeat. This is how we can break free from the cycle of samsaric rebirth once and for all, and guide others to do the same!

View the original article here

Nalanda Buddhist Society opens JB outreach centre

Home Asia Pacific South East Asia Malaysia

WALK THE WALK: An organisation which believes in holistic education is doing its bit for underprivileged schoolchildren by offering free tuition classes

JOHOR BARU, Malaysia -- THE Nalanda experience has found its way to Johor with the opening of the Nalanda Education & Outreach (NEO) Centre in Taman Johor Jaya here recently.

<< Dr Tan Ho Soon gives dhamma talk to devotees at the shrine hall of the Nalanda Education & Outreach (right) in Taman Johor Jaya. Pix by Chuah Bee Kim

The event also coincides with the 10th anniversary of the Nalanda Buddhist Society founded in 2003 by Dr Tan Ho Soon.

NEO chairman David Yap said that the non-governmental organisation believes in giving knowledge and wisdom to achieve integral human development.

Yap said the centre is recruiting volunteers to tutor children in their school subjects.

"The children who can come here for tuition are from poor families regardless of race or religion," Yap said.

"At our centre in Taman Sri Serdang, Selangor, volunteers of different faiths tutor children from primary and secondary schools in various subjects for free," Yap said.

Tan, who was also present, said that the society had helped 1,200 students to-date.

"Nalanda introduces something new every two years. In 2005, we started the Nalanda Dharma School to provide knowledge, skills and values to teens aged 13 to 18.

"In 2007, the Nalanda Institute was established to offer courses on Buddhism and leadership training. More than 8,000 people have attended the free courses.

"Two years later, we opened the Nalanda Centre in Taman Sri Serdang, followed by the Pustaka Nalanda (Nalanda Library) in 2011.

"It is believed to be the only computerised Buddhist library where members can source books online.

"It has a collection of over 3,000 titles comprising Pali scriptures, Buddhist encyclopaedias and reference books," Tan said.

Nalanda has become one of several acknowledged centres of Buddhist education of the Theravada tradition in the country.

The NEO centre at 30, Jalan Dedap 26, Taman Johor Jaya, is open from 9am to 11am daily, with chanting sessions on Sunday mornings. For details, call 07-350-3870 or visit www.nalanda.org.my.

The two-storey venue offers accommodation to visiting monks, and has a library, shrine hall, meditation room and training rooms for volunteers.

View the original article here

Sibling synergy, Buddhism fuel start-up's success

Home Personality

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

View the original article here

Buddhist monks expand peace walk to Kennewick

Monks of the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist Temple on Bainbridge Island will be in the Tri-Cities on July 30 for a prayer walk for abolition of nuclear weapons.

The five-mile Kennewick segment will start at 9:40 a.m. at the Rite Aid on Highway 395 and Kennewick Avenue and proceed on Clearwater Avenue to Columbia Center Boulevard. It will end at Target.

The six-mile Richland segment will begin at 1 p.m. with a brief ceremony in John Dam Plaza. It will proceed north on George Washington Way to the 300 Area gate of the Hanford nuclear reservation.

The walk is open to the public. A support vehicle will provide rides for those who need a lift midwalk.

View the original article here

Sri Lankan Buddhist monk begins fast unto death demanding clean drinking water

Home Asia Pacific South Asia Sri Lanka

Colombo, Sri Lanka -- A Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka has begun a fast unto death on Tuesday demanding the government to provide clean drinking water to the residents in an area in Gampaha district.

The chief incumbent of the Galoluwa Buddhist Temple, the venerable Siridhamma Thero has launched the fast as a last measure after the discussions held with the government officials failed to resolve the issue of contaminated water.

The monk and the area residents say that the water in the area is contaminated with the effluents from a glove factory in the area and demand the government to close the factory.

Venerable Siridhamma Thero had said that he and the public representatives held talks with the government officials to resolve the issue but the talks weren't successful.

He has requested the police to ensure security for the area residents and maintain law and order during his fast.

View the original article here

Japan’s Buddhist Temples keeping up with the times using DJs, apps, video games, booze and more

Home Asia Pacific North Asia Japan

Tokyo, Japan -- While religions of all stripes have something to offer in terms of support and advice, they also share a common detriment: they’re all really, really old. While age brings with it wisdom and experience, if religion can’t relate to modern society it runs the risk of getting left behind.

To help prevent this, several monks across Japan have been adopting new technology and trends or have tried simply reaching out to people differently, in less orthodox and more human ways.

Higher Tech Attainment

Walking around and looking at the masses of people with eyes looked on their smartphone it’s hard to ignore the pull of digital media. Higan Temple has been at the forefront of tapping into cyberspace to expose the masses to Buddhism.

What started as a blog chronicling Kosuke Matsumoto’s journey to becoming a monk has blossomed into a virtual online temple. Now several Buddhists and monks contribute articles offering their viewpoints on business, parenting, food, and more. The monks also answer questions asked via Twitter.

There is a small English section too where Mr. Matsumoto occasionally writes articles. The temple also released an app for iPhone and Android called Undo to assist in meditation.

Another website called Tera Koya Buddha works as a calendar of events for Buddhist related activities running the gamut from yoga classes to jazz festivals. Buddhist Temples have also be stepping up their game in the entertainment field as well.

Sutra Hero

One way to get recognition is to put out an interesting and entertaining product for people to latch onto. A few of our readers are likely familiar with Ryoho Temple, otherwise known as Moe Temple for its liberal use of moe characters all around the grounds.

A while back we reported on their video game Sutra Master, a rhythm game using traditional Buddhist “instruments”, characters and symbols.

Well, it seems as if Moe Temple was just getting started in the video game business. Now they have released an RPG game for use on iPhone and Android called Welcome to Ryoho Temple [Free Training Yokai Card Game]. The game is a strategy-based card game which uses moe versions of about 1,000 different traditional Japanese creatures such as tengu and akaoni.

Parties

Another way to lure people with technology is to throw a kick-ass party. Earlier this year Gokokuji Temple held the Tibet Festival Tokyo with the participation of Tibetan monks.  At the festival the temporary beauty of a sand mandala being made in-person could be seen.

However, after sunset the beauty of the temple gets kicked up a notch thanks to some projection mapping. Here’s a time lapse video of the event.

Also earlier this year was Kohgen 2013, which held various religious events at four temples and shrines in Gunma Prefecture. In particular the Joko Temple event was a feast for the senses. Inside the main hall of the temple, incense was lit to mellow the audiences sense of smell, vegetarian food was served to tingle taste buds and a DJ and live band played along with cryptic projections on the wall. Perhaps next year the musical stylings Tariki Echo could be worked in.

Heartbreak and Hard Drinks

While flashing lights and websites are all well and good, they’re a dime a dozen these days. Perhaps to really get in touch with people you have to get out of the temple and into the real world.

That’s what a group of monks from various Buddhist sects did when they set up a bar. Geting away from all your worries sure would help a lot, so why not go where everyone knows a sutra – Vowz Bar in Tokyo. Listed as one of weirder theme bars in Tokyo with their Buddhist inspired cocktail names, it’s the best place to go for some sagely advice after a hard day.

If drinking’s not your thing you might be able to find one of the growing trends of sutra readings popping up around the countries. Here you can join a monk as they give you their own interpretations of sutras with interaction from the audience. It can be enlightening to see how those cryptic chants can apply to real life situations such as a break up or family dispute.

This is just a taste of what Buddhism is doing to stay active and relevant in Japan. Surely there will be more moe video games and electronica to come from this 2,500-year-old religion.

View the original article here