Buddhist Jihad

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose -- Tibetan Genocide Edition

Full story here.

Dear Kev, Good Onya - Dalai Lama

By Mark Schliebs, The Age, February 15, 2008

 

KEVIN Rudd didn't only win over Australians with his apology to Aboriginal people: he earned the praise of one of the world's most respected spiritual leaders - the Dalai Lama.

Canberra, Australia -- The Dalai Lama was so tickled-pink with the new prime minister’s commitment to reconciliation, Mr Rudd’s office received a letter outlining the Buddhist leader’s approval.

<< High praise ... Kevin Rudd's apology to Aboriginal people has earned the approval of the Dalai Lama / Reuters

“I was very encouraged to hear on the news about the apology you made in parliament to all Aborigines for laws and policies that 'inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss' upon them,” His Holiness wrote.

“Overall, this was a timely, appropriate and civilised thing to do.

“Although, of course, this is not a matter in which I have any direct concern, because you and I know each other, I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate this kind gesture.”

This was not the first time the Dalai Lama has spoken to Mr Rudd about Australian issues.

Last year, both Mr Rudd and the then prime minister John Howard juggled their schedules around a visit by His Holiness.

They both eventually met with the Dalai Lama after initially saying they were going to snub his visit.

Yoga Reverses Metabolic Syndrome Changes

Yoga reverses metabolic syndrome changes?

Too bad it's so Satanic!

Full story here.

GORE WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE; Bush to honor Dalai Lama

Finally, a victory for the forces of good over evil.

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Full link here.

Not to mention:  George Bush will honor HH the Dalai Lama, well and truly pissing off the communist Chinese, who so well and truly deserve to be pissed off, not just because of their lead-painted toys, pet-killing exports, and their intentional destruction of their own cultural heritage at Three Gorges (I think that's the name).  Anyhow, yee haw, George.  Good for you.  Come away from the dark side, Mr. President.  Support S-CHIP.  Awaken to understanding the truth of pollution-based global climate change.  Bring the troops home (except from Afghanistan -- I agree with the Marines.)

Spend our hard-earned tax dollars on rebuilding America.

Full link here.

Former Officer: Slaughter of Laypeople, Monks in Burma

Burma: Thousands dead in massacre; monks' corpses dumped in the jungle

Last updated at 11:37am on 1st October 2007

Thousands of protesters are dead and the bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle, a former intelligence officer for Burma's ruling junta has revealed.

The most senior official to defect so far, Hla Win, said: "Many more people have been killed in recent days than you've heard about. The bodies can be counted in several thousand."

Mr Win, who spoke out as a Swedish diplomat predicted that the revolt has failed, said he fled when he was ordered to take part in a massacre of holy men. He has now reached the border with Thailand.

Meanwhile, the United Nations special envoy was in Burma's new capital today seeking meetings with the ruling military junta.

Need we continue to do business with this regime?

Full link here.

PM Brown on Burma Death Toll: "Loss of Life . . . Far Greater"

UK fears Burma toll 'far higher'

                                                                                    

       

                                 

Brown on Burma

        British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he believes the loss of life in Burma has been "far greater" than that reported by the authorities.

He was speaking after holding talks by phone with US President George W Bush and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.

Burmese officials said nine people were killed on Thursday as troops fired tear gas and bullets to disperse crowds of anti-government protesters in Rangoon.

Most internet links have been severed and mobile phone networks disrupted.

''I want to condemn absolutely the appalling level of violence against the people of Burma.

       

                                 

People seem to be determined to continue, despite the bullets, beatings and killings. I hear right now that shooting is still going on near our office                                                           Rangoon resident

       

"I am afraid that we believe the loss of life in Burma is far greater than is being reported so far," Mr Brown said.

Full link here.

Buddhist Monks in Burma Protest "Violent, Mean, Pitiless" Government

(I've been away, so I'm a little behind. )

      Burma's angry monks 'excommunicate' junta by refusing donations                                          

           

        By Andrew Buncombe, Asia Correspondent       

       

      Published: 20 September 2007    

                  

                                                                                                                                

 

                                   

                      

Thousands of Buddhist monks marching in defiance of Burma's oppressive military regime have decided to excommunicate the government and its supporters by refusing alms or donations from anyone linked to the junta.  At one of several ceremonies held before saffron-robed clerics marched peacefully through the former colonial capital, Rangoon, and other cities this week, the monks vowed to refuse offerings from the "pitiless soldier kings" in charge of the country now known as Myanmar.

                                        

"Reverend clergy, may you listen to my words," a Buddhist abbot told one such gathering.  "The violent, mean, cruel, ruthless, pitiless kings – the great thieves who live by stealing from the national treasury – have killed a monk at Pakokku and also arrested reverend clergymen by trussing them up with rope. They beat and tortured, verbally abused and threatened them.

"The clergy ... must boycott the violent, mean, cruel, ruthless, pitiless soldier kings. They must also refuse donations and preaching. This is to inform, advise and propose."

The behaviour of the monks could be crucial as the Burmese junta tackles its most serious challenge in more than a decade. Demonstrations led by civilians last month were easily broken up and their organisers were arrested. But, given their high status within Burmese society, the monks' actions could rally civilians against the regime.

Monks are highly respected in Burma and abusing them risks causing public outrage.  Physical suppression of the protests would also be sacrilegious for Burmese soldiers who, like most of the population, are devout Buddhists.

The Asia Human Rights Commission, which obtained a transcript of Tuesday's pre-rally ceremony, said: "The monks' decision to formally boycott the regime not only reveals the profound moral stance taken but also throws a sharp light on to the scale of crisis of authority the military is now facing in Burma.

"Only under the most compelling moral circumstances will a monk refuse the alms that have been offered, as to do so is to refuse to acknowledge the alms-giver as a part of the religious community. It amounts to an act of excommunication. However, the view of monks in Burma today is that such an extraordinary moment has arrived."

Full story here.

NAACP Supports Vick Return to Football

OK, so they do.  Shame on them for doing so.  (Full link here.)

But I don't don't support their position.  Not at all.  Quite the contrary.
 
I'm not ok with the cruel sport of dogfighting thing.

But I'm way more disturbed about the Vick hanging dogs to kill them thing, and about the Vick drowning dogs to kill them thing.

That's just . . . despicable.

Who do you have to be to not know that that's just not right?

Really.

Makes Mitt "Mutt" Romney look like the Preznit of the ASPCA.

I'm Not Making This Up

Here's a fellow who believes America would benefit from another terrorist attack.  He thinks it would restore America's "righteous rage."  (As if we don't have enough already).

I'm not making this up.  I don't have to.

Stu Bykofsky isn't kidding, either.  He says we need another attack in order "to save America."  Honestly.

Please read:

Stu Bykofsky | To save America, we need another 9/11

"ONE MONTH from The Anniversary, I'm thinking another 9/11 would help America.

What kind of a sick bastard would write such a thing?

A bastard so sick of how splintered we are politically - thanks mainly to our ineptitude in Iraq - that we have forgotten who the enemy is."

     

Hey, Stu.   Last time I checked, the most recent terrorist attack here killed about 3K innocent people.  The response to it, while failing to bring to justice those persons responsible for that criminal act -- who still walk free on this earth -- killed more than 3K American troops, and killed 600K+ Iraquis.  None of whom was responsible for 9/11.

Afghanistan remains weak and unstable, Pakistan (an actual nuclear power, people) is becoming weaker and less stable, and it is is the new home of the actual criminal mastermind of 9/11 (who?  him? who?) who would like to have his people replace Musharraf's people, which eventually they probably will.

Iraq is a total bloodbath, ready to become another medievalist Islamic republic -- the only question being, will it be a Sunni medievalist Islamic Republic, or a Shi'a medievalist Islamic republic?

Our bizarre, ego-fueled interventions in the Middle East have only helped bring Osama Bin Laden's dreams of establishing a medievalist Islamic caliphate closer to fruition.

And here at home, there are millions of nutcases like this guy who write crackpot columns and believe their crazed content with all of their hearts.

Oy.

Samsara.

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BREAKING NEWS: COMMUNIST CHINA CLAIMS GATEKEEPER PRESENCE IN BARDO AFTERLIFE -- REBIRTH FORBIDDEN WITHOUT ASKING "MAO, MAY I?"

     Here's a nice article.  Keep in mind, of course, that the Dalai Lama long ago said he would not take rebirth in China, and that he did not wish formal lineage to be continued.

  One great lama in exile has been of the opinion that the Dalai Lama should call together all recognized tulkus and formally dissolve this system, ending any further conflict forever.

China tells living Buddhas (sic) to obtain permission before they reincarnate

 

Tibet’s living Buddhas (sic) have been banned from reincarnation (sic) without permission from China’s atheist leaders. The ban is included in new rules intended to assert Beijing’s authority over Tibet’s restive and deeply Buddhist people.

“The so-called reincarnated living Buddha without government approval is illegal and invalid,” according to the order, which comes into effect on September 1.

The 14-part regulation issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs is aimed at limiting the influence of Tibet’s exiled god-king (sic), the Dalai Lama, and at preventing the re-incarnation of the 72-year-old monk without approval from Beijing.

It is the latest in a series of measures by the Communist authorities to tighten their grip over Tibet. Reincarnate lamas, known as tulkus, often lead religious communities and oversee the training of monks, giving them enormous influence over religious life in the Himalayan region.  Anyone outside China is banned from taking part in the process of seeking and recognising a living Buddha, effectively excluding the Dalai Lama, who traditionally can play an important role in giving recognition to candidate reincarnates.

For the first time China has given the Government the power to ensure that no new living Buddha can be identified, sounding a possible death knell to a mystical system that dates back at least as far as the 12th century.

China already insists that only the Government can approve the appointments of Tibet’s two most important monks, the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama.  The Dalai Lama’s announcement in May 1995 that a search inside Tibet — and with the co- operation of a prominent abbot — had identified the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, who died in 1989, enraged Beijing. That prompted the Communist authorities to restart the search and to send a senior Politburo member to Lhasa to oversee the final choice. This resulted in top Communist officials presiding over a ceremony at the main Jokhang temple in Lhasa in which names of three boys inscribed on ivory sticks were placed inside a golden urn and a lot was then drawn to find the true reincarnation.

The boy chosen by the Dalai Lama has disappeared. The abbot who worked with the Dalai Lama was jailed and has since vanished.

Full link here.

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The Communist Chinese have quite the ego, have they not?  Imagine thinking their permission is needed for beings to take rebirth.  Really.

Here's the thing.   The true nature of this story is somewhat hidden by several clumsy translations (fueled by 19th-century theosophy with a sprinkle of Hollywood New Ageism) into English which distort the tulku tradition, such "god-king," "living buddhas," "reincarnation," etc.

One must keep in mind that since ego/self is regarded as not truly existent (see Kamalasila quote, above), there is no "reincarnation" per se as in the Hindu tradition, for there is no soul/self/ego/atman as a truly existent entity.

Hindu viewpont:  atman.  Buddhist viewpoint:  anatman.

Best metaphor I've heard of is that one's  individual existence is like the flame of a candle -- the passing of the flame from one candle to another is  similar to the process of rebirth.  And the flame is a process, not some 'thing.'

We are all tulkus -- everyone takes rebirth, like it or not.  Time, place, circumstances are dependent upon accrued karma.

Nobody needs China's permission.

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