Every spring and fall, enlightenment-seekers from all over come here to find out, converging for arduous weeklong retreats at the Bodhi Manda Zen Center in a red rock canyon among the thermal springs and Indian pueblos west of Santa Fe.
Dressed in black robes, they strive to live in the moment and awaken to the oneness of everything by rising at 3 a.m. for 18-hour sessions sitting lotus-style in the zenda, or meditation hall, eating communal vegan meals in silence, chanting and taking restorative dips in the hot pools.
But mostly they come to practice with an impish, smooth-faced Japanese monk, Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Roshi, a 100-year-old Rinzai Zen master, one of the oldest in the world, who tells followers, “Excuse me for not dying.”
Forty-five years after arriving in the United States at 55 with no English but two dictionaries tucked into his robe sleeves, Roshi, or “venerable teacher,” the honorific by which he is widely known, is still going strong, traveling from his base in California to more than a dozen Zen centers he opened or inspired around the country, ordaining priests — more than 25 to date — and challenging students with Buddhist-style tough love
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Sunday, 9 December 2007
Saturday, 8 December 2007
NEPAL: BUDDHISM TEACHES TO UNDERSTAND REALITY, MAHINDA
Delivering a passionate and thought provoking lecture on Buddhist philosophy, honorable Mahinda Thero said that the Essence of Buddhist philosophy emanate from the innate desire from one’s own soul for kindness to others.
Honorable Mahinda Thero made these observations at a program organized by the Sri Lankan embassy in Kathmandu this evening.
Honorable Mahinda who was ordained by a Sri Lanka high Monk further said that Metta-the loving kindness is a way, and a practice as well which demands that an individual expresses his kindness to his family members, neighbors, society, the country and the world at large.
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Honorable Mahinda Thero made these observations at a program organized by the Sri Lankan embassy in Kathmandu this evening.
Honorable Mahinda who was ordained by a Sri Lanka high Monk further said that Metta-the loving kindness is a way, and a practice as well which demands that an individual expresses his kindness to his family members, neighbors, society, the country and the world at large.
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Friday, 7 December 2007
Dalai Lama says successor could be a woman
The next Dalai Lama could be a woman, it emerged yesterday.
Although there are female lamas, - or living Buddhas - men are predominant and it is rare for reincarnated lamas not to share the sex of their predecessors.
However, at the start of a 10-day visit to Italy, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th and current Dalai Lama, said: "If a woman reveals herself as more useful the lama could very well be reincarnated in this form." The comment follows his surprising remarks last week that he might choose his successor before his death, or even hold a referendum on whether he should be reborn at all.
"If people feel that the institution of the Dalai Lama is still necessary, it will continue," he said.
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Although there are female lamas, - or living Buddhas - men are predominant and it is rare for reincarnated lamas not to share the sex of their predecessors.
However, at the start of a 10-day visit to Italy, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th and current Dalai Lama, said: "If a woman reveals herself as more useful the lama could very well be reincarnated in this form." The comment follows his surprising remarks last week that he might choose his successor before his death, or even hold a referendum on whether he should be reborn at all.
"If people feel that the institution of the Dalai Lama is still necessary, it will continue," he said.
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