Lamentations

Key Buddhist figure visits

2007-12-20T18:22:03+00:00

ONE of the top figures in Buddhism will be in Swindon this weekend as part of his UK tour.

Tibetan Buddhist, the Venerable Lama Rinchen Phuntsok Rinpoche will be spending the weekend at the Stanton House Hotel, hosting sessions about meditation.

His lineage dates back around 1,000 years to one of the main Buddhist teachers to have brought the faith to Tibet, and he is a leader of the nyingma school of the faith

Lama Rinchen is regarded as the Buddhist equivalent of a cardinal in the Catholic religion, and in his youth was recognised as the reincarnation of one of the previous masters of the belief system.

Monks' mantras upset locals

2007-12-10T18:57:47+00:00

BUDDHIST monks seeking nirvana in the Gold Coast Hinterland have been accused of disturbing the peace of their neighbours.

Monks from the Hwazan Buddhist Association have been warned they can only pursue enlightenment on their own property between 7am and 7pm after being told their late night chanting on their Clagiraba property was disturbing their neighbours.

Their application to council to build a buddhist meditation centre at 131-139 Clagiraba Road earlier this year sparked the issue.

Since then neighbours have complained the monks' amplified mantras are more painful than peaceful.

In a letter to council, one resident likened the monks' broadcast chanting to 'annoying airport announcements'.

"It felt as if we were at Heathrow airport," wrote the neighbour.

"Each time they made an announcement it was exactly like being at the airport -- sound effects and all.

"It was not just very annoying but gave me a headache."

Other residents complained the night lighting and amplified chanting disturbed nocturnal wildlife and destroyed the area's ambience.

Changes to this blog

2007-12-09T12:19:52+00:00

I have thought for a while that I have been trying to include too amnt different subjects in this blog. For that reason I have decode not to include any articles on mnetal health on this site any longer.

As they made up a fairly high proportion of what I have been posting I will continue to blog these news stories but on a new site;

The mental Health News Blog.

Link from here or check out the link on the left hand side.

I can now concentrate this blog on my other interests such as human rights, buddhism etc.

A very old Zen Master and the art of tough love

2007-12-09T12:10:40+00:00

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

NEPAL: BUDDHISM TEACHES TO UNDERSTAND REALITY, MAHINDA

2007-12-08T18:00:52+00:00

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.

Dalai Lama says successor could be a woman

2007-12-07T19:28:15+00:00

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.

Drug commonly used to treat bipolar disorder dramatically increases lifespan in worms

2007-12-07T19:17:48+00:00

Nematode worms treated with lithium show a 46 percent increase in lifespan, raising the tantalizing question of whether humans taking the mood affecting drug are also taking an anti-aging medication. Results of the Buck Institute study, led by...

More information at: http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/information/news/?EntryId=51205&p=1

Inside Myanmar: Buddhism holds activists together

2007-12-06T17:00:46+00:00

Myanmar: When Nyamyo walked through the porous India- Myanmar border 12 years ago, he was just a 14-year-old, who dreamt of a better life and of future studies.

He was relieved to have left a country, where opportunities were non-existent.

However, soon that relief became a burden. His thoughts were with thousands of his countrymen, whose rights were suppressed by the junta.

“The dreams of the Burmese students have been lost for 20 years now,” says Nyamyo.

Today Nyamyo and his wife Mo Pyi manage refugee camps for people who have fled Myanmar. They help the cause of democracy in Burma clandestinely. They pray for their countrymen every day. The statue of Buddha gives them strength in their unfinished struggle.

Spirituality Aids Mental Health of Disabled

2007-10-24T19:44:03+01:00

Religion and spirituality are known to strengthen resiliency and coping skills for people with terminal or life threatening diseases.
A new University of Missouri study shows that religion can also help many individuals with disabilities adjust to their impairments and give a new meaning to the lives of the afflicted.According to the study, persons facing impending death may use religion to help them accept their condition, come to terms with unresolved life issues, and prepare for death.

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Sleep Problems Strongly Linked To Psychiatric Disorders

2007-10-24T19:40:44+01:00

If you do not get enough sleep your chances of developing a psychiatric disorder are much greater, say researchers from Harvard Medical School and the University of California at Berkeley. Brain scans revealed that the sleep-deprived brain becomes tired and abnormally emotional. You can read about this latest research in the journal Current Biology, October 23 issue. The researchers explain that sleep deprivation is known to undermine a range of functions, including immune regulation and metabolic control, as well as learning and memory. However, evidence so far on how sleep regulates our emotional brain-state is very limited.

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