...will reap good results. Those who do evil will reap evil results. If you carefully plant a good seed, You will joyfully gather good fruit. The kind of seed sown will produce that kind of fruit. Those who do good will reap good results. Those who do evil will reap evil results. If you carefully plant a good seed, You will joyfully gather good fruit. The Zen buddhist temple 1214 Packard St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 The Zen buddhist temple 1214 Packard St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 I was born to a Muslim family and raised as a Muslim in a Muslim country. I had read about Buddha in history class and admired his teachings and the idea of rebirth and how Buddhist don’t harm any living thing as they believe humans can be reborn into animals. Buddhism was started by Prince Siddhartha Gautama, heir to the throne of the Shakyas. His father, said to be King Suddhodana, wishing for his son to be a great king and leader, is said to have shielded him from religious teachings and from knowledge of Human suffering. Siddhartha is said to have been provided with all the luxuries of life. Buddhist scriptures say that Buddha felt human satisfaction was the goal of life, not material wealth. At the age of 29 Sidhhartha left the palace to meet his subjects, despite his father’s attempts, Siddhartha was said to have seen an old man. When his charioteer explained to him that all people grew old, the prince went on further trips beyond the palace. On these he encountered a diseased...
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...For my Buddhist site visit, I visited Nichiren Shoshu Myosenji Buddhist Temple in Silver Spring, Maryland. I choose to visit this temple because it was relatively close to my house and the service was on Sunday, which is my only day that I have time not occupied by other commitments. From my site visit, I learned that Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism is different than Historical Buddhism and that chanting is an important part of reaching Enlightenment. They emphasis that all people can practice the religion, regardless of race, gender, age, or intelligence. The three essential parts of the religion that are important for achieving Enlightenment the are: faith, practice, and study. The representative with whom I conversed was Reverend Murata who...
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...allowed the communities to prosper. For other communities, power ultimately led to war and major changes. The main factor that differentiates the two above scenarios is the group which had the most power. For this reason, identifying which group has the most power is extremely important. In this essay, I will examine a ceremony that was performed at the Buddhist temple “Fo Guang Shan” in an attempt to determine which group is the most powerful. By examining the order in which members of the temple performed rituals using Louis Althusser theory of the ideological state apparatus, the monks who sit...
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...attended the Temple Buddhist Center in connection with Unity Temple on the Plaza to create this first person narrative on a Buddhist service. Unity Temple existed nearly 100 years before the Buddhist Center was founded at their current Plaza location in 1996.(Unity Temple) The director of the center Nima Janet Taylor added the Serenity Pause meditation to the center after founding Serenity Pause six years ago.(Temple Buddhist Center) Before going to the Buddhist center I watched Nima’s video Basics of Buddhism and was struck by the idea the the Buddha is not looked at as a deity of buddhism like revered people in other religions. Nima says in the video “Whenever I look at the statue of Buddha that inspires me, reminds me that I have that ability to be awake.” I include her quote here because it makes sense to me how a dead figure can be a teacher if they are seen as an inspiration. The buddha inspires generations of buddhists to meditate and practice his recorded teachings. The service I attended was a buddhist meditation and dharma talk led by minister Ronn Pawo McLane. The...
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...EALC 145 Professor Cheung 9 April 2010 Buddhism and Buddhist Characteristics of the Cave Chapels Along with Confucianism and Taoism, Buddhism is among China’s most influential religions throughout its history. Buddhism taught the Chinese to believe in the Four Noble Truths and to follow the Eightfold Path to achieve nirvana, or a state of complete understanding with the world. Buddhism’s influences stretched to all regions of the country; it became influential enough that Emperors even commissioned cave chapels to be dedicated to Buddhism and the Buddha. The cave chapels of Yungang, Longmen, and Dunhuang, although each different, are the most famous of the cave chapels and best capture the different styles and characteristics that were used throughout that time period. The Yungang caves in the Shangxi province of China are a series of caves, mostly carved into the cliffs. The Five caves of Tanyao are the most famous caved chapels in the Yingang area. Although they are each unique in their own matter, the five caves collectively are dedicated to the five previous Tabgatch rulers (Thorpe 164). The Five Caves of Tanyao (Caves 16-20), reflect the faith in a phase of reliance on lavish imperial patronage. The history of Wei, or Weishu, records that Fa Guo, the Administrator of Monks, required monks to pay homage to the emperor, declaring "the person who has the ability to advocate Buddhist faith is our sovereign. I am not paying homage to the Emperor...
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...WHY VISIT TEMPLES ? (Scientific Reason) There are thousands of temples all over India in different size, shape and locations but not all of them are considered to be built the Vedic way. Generally, a temple should be located at a place where earth's magnetic wave path passes through densely. It can be in the outskirts of a town/village or city, or in middle of the dwelling place, or on a hilltop. The essence of visiting a temple is discussed here. Now, these temples are located strategically at a place where the positive energy is abundantly available from the magnetic and electric wave distributions of north/south pole thrust. The main idol is placed in the core center of the temple, known as "*Garbhagriha*" or *Moolasthanam*. In fact, the temple structure is built after the idol has been placed. This *Moolasthanam* is where earth’s magnetic waves are found to be maximum. We know that there are some copper plates, inscribed with Vedic scripts, buried beneath the Main Idol. What are they really? No, they are not God’s / priests’ flash cards when they forget the *shlokas*. The copper plate absorbs earth’s magnetic waves and radiates it to the surroundings. Thus a person regularly visiting a temple and walking clockwise around the Main Idol receives the beamed magnetic waves and his body absorbs it. This is a very slow process and a regular visit will let him absorb more of this positive energy. Scientifically, it is the positive energy that we all require to have a healthy...
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...エレヂアリリリー 二千十四年十二月中さ五日 日本ごニ 五じかん目 はね 大みそか 大みそか is celebrated the last day of the year( December 31st) but their celebration is much different from America. Japanese people run around a lot to welcome a New Year with a clean state of mind. Therefor おそじ (big cleaning is to be done and finished by December 31st to remove clutter and dirt from the old year ant-to purify the home for the coming year. Behind this is that years are considered completely separate with each New Year’s providing a fresh start. 女や is the night of New year’s Eve. Just before the night, temples throughout japan strike their big bells 108 times, once for every human desire. The peal of a large bell on 女や is called 女やの金。Ringing the bell for the passing year and ringing the bell for the upcoming year after the busy work. Japanese people welcome New Year’s Day quietly with their families. A special dish is made before New Year’s; Japanese people eat during the New Year Celebration. A variety of ingredients such as fish, beans and rolled help are used. They are cooked in a way they can keep long and served in a set of layered lacquer boxes. モチ(rice cake) are also eaten during the new year celebration. ネオがじょare new year’s greeting postcards sent out for wishing their friends, relatives and customers a happy new year; This is similar to the western practice of exchanging...
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...Art in the dark: the ritual context of Buddhist caves in western China Robert Sharf Preamble One can imagine a simpler time, when art was ‘art’ because it engendered an ‘aesthetic experience’, a time when art was understood with reference to beauty, and beauty was something that could not be reduced to utility or function alone. Just as the New Critics approached a work of literature through ‘close reading’, the meaning of a work of art could be deduced, it was presumed, from a close critical analysis of the autonomous object. This approach is not without appeal: in giving prominence to beauty and aesthetic experience, one assumes some degree of congruence between the aesthetic intent of the artist and the affective response of the intended viewer, both of which are vested in the work itself. In other words, situating the import of an aesthetic work within the object itself, rather than, let’s say, in its cultural context, enables one to circumvent the complex issues of production and reception, not to mention the apparent gap that separates the two. The art-historical counterpart of New Criticism, perhaps best exemplified in the formalism of Heinrich Wölfflin, Roger Fry and Clement Greenberg, found itself on the defensive during the last quarter of the twentieth century.1 Following the historicist and postmodernist currents of the day, art historians were increasingly critical of approaches predicated on the presumed autonomy of the object. Moving...
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...Incredible India 1. “Only those species survived which collaborated and improvised,” Justice Khan points out. 2. “And in our understanding of where we go from here, we must take our cue from how the country responded in the immediate aftermath of the verdict — dignified, sober, restrained, and mostly, eager to move on... the judges showed enough innovation in their decision to divide the property between the communities... a reminder that in Ayodhya, the flower-sellers outside the Hindu temples are all Muslims, as are the men who craft the Hindu icons that the devout worship. That is the India we know and love. That is the India we must preserve”- Barkha Dutt, NDTV 3. “Removal of the idol is certainly a legal possibility, but it's a political impossibility, just as the forcible removal of any object of worship of any faith from any shrine is difficult”- Sagarika Ghosh, CNN-IBN 4. “The question everybody is asking is, can a mosque and a temple coexist? India is full of such places. My favourite is Kanchipuram, where the mutt of the Shankaracharya has a sizeable mosque next to it. What makes this spot so unique is that right across the street, sternly overlooking the mutt and the mosque, sits a bust of Periyar, the great atheist, iconoclast and the founder of the Dravida movement. An inscription under it reads: There is no God, There is no God, There is no God at all, The inventor of God is a fool, ...
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...off to other idea's not of their own God's. Atheists reject all ideas other than we are a freak of nature and once the brain dies, we cease to exhist. Buddhism can be seen all throughout our society from movies like “Seven Years in Tibet”, to nightly sitcoms like “Darhma and Gregg”. You can type Buddhism into google and thousands of titles of books, and thousands of internet titles pop up. Buddhism can also be seen in the entertainment industry with such entertainment icons such as Tina Turner. Al Gore found money for campain from a Buddhist temple located in the United States.(http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,136680,00.html) Buddhism appears to be one of the most widley accepted philosophies around the world. According some brief research online, the majority of discrimination found amidst Buddhists is from within—discrimination against women members. (http://www.examiner.com/article/discrimination-against-buddhist-nuns-and-other-women-of-faith) After spending some time reviewing information about Buddhism, I have come to realize that I hold many of the same ideals close to my heart. My information in regards to Buddhism is very limited, but I think that I have a much better grasp on the wisdom of Buddhism. I...
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...I will be talking about sculptures of the Gupta period and my focus will be in the northern and central sites. The main sites that I will be talking about are Udayagiri, Mathura, Sanchi and Sarnath. What i’ll be trying to show through my presentation is the kind of transition that took place from the Kushana style to what is referred to by some historians as the Gupta style. Whether there is something called “Gupta style” is a matter of debate among historians. Some are of the view that dynastic labels should not be used. However, art historians like Harle say that in some cases, Gupta period. HINDU ART When it comes to Hindu art, Vidisha and Udayagiri were important art centres. Art seemed to have flourished in Vidisha during the reign of Ramagupta and Chandragupta II. The caves of Udayagiri constitute the earliest body of Hindu art in India. We can be sure about the dates for these caves because there is an inscription on the facade that refers to Chandragupta II and the year 82, which is corresponding to CE 401. The doorway of Cave 6 is decorated with jambs (vertical portion of the frame onto which a door is secured), lintels (load-bearing buiding component, a decorative architectural element), half-length pilasters (gives the appearance of supporting column, only ornamental fashion) and representations of 2 goddesses standing on makaras. In this case, the vahanas of both the goddesses are the same. The distinctiveness of the goddesses is apparent by the use of trees above...
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...1 All in One One in All The Nature of Interbeing hic Nha Hanh hat T hic h Nhat Hanh For Free Distribution 2 Published for Free Distribution Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery Publications, Arts & Design Department 88 Bright Hill Road, Singapore 574117. Tel : ( 65 ) 552 7426 Email : publication@kmspks.org Copyright © 2001 by Thich Nhat Hanh All Rights Reserved. 3 Content Taking Good Care of Our Habit Energies 6 All in One, One in All 31 Going to the Shore of Non – suffering 60 Overcoming the Fear of Death 92 Five Mindfulness Trainings 129 4 Dear Reader, if you wish to share in the printing cost of this and many other beautiful Dharma Books for free distribution, so that more people could be touched by the beauty of Dharma and be inspired to live a happy and meaningful life, please photocopy the Contribution Slip at the end of this books, fill in your particular and return to us. “ The gift of Dharma excels all gifts” 5 Taking Good Care of Our Habit Energies Dear friends, welcome to the Summer Opening in Plum Village. Who is three years old? Who is less than three years old? I would like to introduce to you Bao-tich who is four years old. He just celebrated his birthday two days ago. Here is Bao-tich. This is his second year in Plum Village to practice. Can you turn around? He came last year and he practiced very well. He was so happy, so this year he came again. Bao-tich is his name...
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...the participents and the elephants. Esala perahara holds in July or August .It has become a unique symbol of Sri Lanka. It is a Buddhist festival consisting of dances and nicely decorated elephants. There are fire-dances, whip-dances, Kandyan dances and various other cultural dances. The elephants are usually decorated with lavish costumes. The festival ends with the traditional 'diya-kepeema'. History The Esala procession is believed to be a combination of two separate but interconnected "Peraheras"– The Esala and Dalada. The Esala Perahera which is thought to date back to the 3rd century BC, was a ritual enacted to request the gods for rainfall. The Dalada Perahera is believed to have begun when the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha was brought to Sri Lanka from India during the 4th century B.C.The Tooth Relic was brought to Sri Lanka by Princess Hemamala & Prince Dantha. Modern Perahera The Modern Perahera dates back to the reign of the Kandyan King Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe (1747–1781). During these times, the Tooth Relic was considered private property of the King and the public never got a chance to worship it. However, King Rajasinghe decreed that the Relic be taken in procession for the masses to see and respect. After the Kandyan Kingdom fell to the British in 1815, the custody of the Relic was handed over to the Maha Sanga (the Buddhist Clergy). In the absence of the king, a lay custodian called the "Diyawadana Nilame" was appointed to handle routine administrative...
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...one’s ears doesn’t have to wait much for hearing about a temple that doesn’t claim a historic past like most of other temples of vicinity-PREM MANDIR.It was advised that the sprawling temple should be visited after the sunset to which I complied obediently. As I reached the temple,I got stunned by its beauty.The changing colour of the temple’s lighting, seemed like changing costumes of Krishna ji, in his abode-Vrindavan.There were lights all around-the ones enhancing the beauty of the temple,the ones bringing life to non-living moving statues and that of human phones trying to encage this heaven like scene.With every passing glance,the feeling of surprise and pride in human craftsmanship reached new heights.The architecture blended well with the scene.It was only when I came out of this dream-like feeling that present triggered me-the present that was not so comforting. The thought of the half-naked beggars at a negligible distance from the temple served as an eye-opener.It reminded me of the statue creation where vasudeva protects Shri Krishna from the odds by carrying him over his head in a basket.Similarly,the money that had been used to sing of ‘’abstract religon’’,glories of god could have been used to provide hearty meals to hundreds for a hundred days!This remains a story of numerous places of worship in India.God definitely doesn’t need a lavish temple to “reside”.How about multiplying the soothing effect from...
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...Buddhists believed in order to reach a state of cessation, or nirvana, steps must be taken to achieve elimination of all suffering. These steps are considered to be the Noble Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path consists of eight steps that lead to arhatship, the “state of one who has awakened” (Noss, pg. 182). These steps do not need to be completed in order, but can be obtained simultaneously. The eightfold path was created from the fourth truth of the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, one of the most important teachings of Buddhism. A contemporary Buddhist would be able to live a life in our modern times, and be able to follow the eightfold path. The first step is right belief. This path simply means to believe in the Four Noble Truths, and view life in its simplicity. A modern Buddhist would simply need to have a straight- forward way of life, to be able to see the true nature of their environment. The second step is right aspiration or purpose, also called right intention. This is considered to be a commitment to self- improvement, and a commitment to understanding the path to nirvana. This includes resisting the pull of desire, resistance to ill will and bad feelings, and resistance to violence and aggression. This path can be practiced by being kind to others and not having any bad thoughts or feelings towards others. The third step is right speech. Right speech is considered not speaking ill of others, always being honest, and to be genuine with others. This is an easy step...
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