One More Thing....

While looking for information about Ayya Khema, I ran across a wonderful documentary photo collection on Flickr: Sangha: Munks [sic] and Nuns in the Buddhist Community by Friedrich Reg. There are several of Ven. Khema, but there are also many others including both the thought-provoking and lovely. Here's one:

Starting Off Lightly

Thought I'd begin a real return to blogging with some interesting tidbits.

First off, did you know that k.d. lang is Buddhist? I've known for quite a while, but it's only recently that I've seen a lot of press on the matter. As a matter of fact, Shambala Sun has a recent (03/08) interview with her:

Melvin McLeod: What type of Buddhism do you practice?

k.d.lang: About eight years ago I met a teacher here in Los Angeles from the Nyingma lineage of Tibet, Lama Chödak Gyatso Nubpa. The great teacher Chagdud Tulku asked him to come here and work on stabilizing dharma in the West. Lama Gyatso quickly became my teacher. I have been practicing and studying with him since.

She and her partner (Jamie Price) are on the board of directors of Ari Bödh, the American Foundation for Tibetan Cultural Preservation. Also amongst their small sangha's current projects is "a children’s camp called Tools for Peace."

(Please note - image is from her website - no infringement is intended, but it seemed highly appropriate for the entry.)

Also, I was reading in last month's Shambala Sun that the 17th Karmapa* has a love of comic books, especially the X-men:

In your talk earlier today, you mentioned that you used to read X-Men and other comics. Is that something you still do?

I would continue reading comic books, but not many people give them to me anymore! When I was young, all kinds of people would give me comic books, but now they don't. As you know, they made a movie of the X-Men, and I enjoyed that very much. When I went to Universal Studios, I thought about buying some X-Men comics while I was there. But it was very crowded and I thought, "Well, maybe it wouldn't be so appropriate for an adult to purchase such things."

I am totally thinking about putting back a stash of comic books to send to him, when I can. ^_^

* I am not going to weigh in on this, but there is some controversy as to who the 17th Karmapa is - see this article for more. I see no reason, regardless of one's position on this controversy, to not refer to him by his appropriate title.

And last, but not least, via Venerable Konchog of Dreaming of Danzan Ravjaa, comes a fun invitation to provide a caption to this fab image:


You know you wanna. Rev. Danny Fisher has weighed in already. ^_- Drop by and weigh in!

The Sangha Metta Project

This film looks to be (as far as I can tell from the trailer) a really good look at the Sangha Metta Project of Southeast Asia, "which which engages monks in HIV/AIDS prevention and care." To learn more about the film project and also to find links relevant to this issue, check out http://aidsfrontline.org/.

Brother Karma Needs Help

With no money in their hands and little or no help coming from the state, family of 23-year old Karma Lama is finding it very difficult to save their young son.

DIAGNOSED WITH Nephrotic Syndrome a year back, the condition of the young monk has now worsened and he has progressed into the End Stage Renal Disease. Doctors need to replace Karma’s kidneys fast or else he is staring at certain death and in between he needs to have regular dialysis sessions to keep the system working.

For more information, there is a blog about his situation. Let's pass this on, y'all, and spread the word. I'll bet between all of us, we can help Karma out....

Car-ma

OK, this is a car commercial, but I love this:

(Found at Awakening the Buddha in us - thanks!)

The Mindful Way Video

This is an older BBC film. It's a thoughtful look at the life and philosophy of being a Buddhist monk, filmed in Thailand.

More about Rinchen Gyatso

For the curious, you can learn more about him here, and his blog ("A Monk Amok") is here.

"We can move mountains with a single breath."

So, I was reading Rinchen Gyatso's booklet "You Can Move Mountains: An Introduction to the Mind-Science of Dharma" and found this quote:

People don’t like to talk about suffering.... We don’t like to think about the ways in which we cause our own and other’s suffering, because that would mean we would have to change our lives.

He also writes:

[...] we can dramatically change not only our experience of the world, but also ultimately the experience of all beings that share this world with us, if we begin to make small changes in our own minds. With each breath, we turn a little to the right, a little bit closer to fully embodying the wisdom and compassion that exists within us.

I take from this that a constant move towards love and compassion will ultimately leave (when I/we die) the world a better place. Rinchen Gyatso continues:

We are not the victims of circumstance: we create our circumstances. Within each of us lies the power to change our lives, and to positively affect the people around us. Like ripples in a pond, we can change everything and create the world we truly want; a world filled with people who work for peace and the benefit of others.

As war and strife continue around us, as violence bubbles up in our world, we must keep from feeling helpless, that nothing we do matters. Everything matters. In The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, Thich Nhat Hanh writes:

In the year 255, Vietnamese Meditation Master Tang Hoi taught that our consciousness is like the ocean with the six rivers of our senses flowing into it. Our mind and our body come from consciousness. They are formed by ourselves and our environment. Our lives can be said to be a manifestation of our consciousness.