Buddhist Jihad

Why Buddha Thought Ignorance Was the Worst of the Three Poisons

Really, one hardly knows where to begin!!

Moi, I SO prefer primary sources.

You just can't beat 'em.

Ergo -- voila this article!

It was written as a critique of a scary front-page story in the New York Times about teaching mindfulness to children in schools.  The NY Times piece mentioned that mindfulness training had a good effect on children's behaviors.

But this response points out all the horrid horrors of teaching mindfulness.  So, you know, watch out!

First you teach them mindfulness, next thing you know, they'll die from pyelonephritis!

And,  remember, boys and girls:  the following is not satire.

A juicy pack of Bubble Gum to the first reader who can name all the really stupid misconceptions this apparently-educated-therefore-ought-to-know-better writer falsely asserted to be true!

Meditation, self hypnosis and the flight from rationality (sic)

This post was written by Nancy Reyes on 17 June, 2007

In the good old days, we  started the school day by having the kids settle down and then saying a prayer and then a bible reading.  [I remember those days--and in public schools.  Whatever happened to the separation of church and state?  Why were they making me do that?]

Such acts of piety allow one to settle their mind into context, which is why books on organizing one’s life starts with taking a half hour of reading a great book or listening to music before you decide what is important and what is not important in making your daily schedule.   From Buddha under the tree to Elijah in the cave to Marcus Aurelius to Mother Teresa’s sisters spending an hour meditation each day, thoughtful people knew that quiet time was needed if you were to stay balanced in life.

Yet in our secular world, where even a “moment of silence” is forbidden, why are we lauding the teaching of Buddhist meditation techniques to students under the guise of medicine/therapy?

If I were a strict Christian, I’d sue them in court. [If I were a strict Buddhist, I'd lampoon you.  Oh right, hey, that's just what I'm doing.]

But as a more secularized Catholic, I have fewer theological problems with the technique (which resembles the ancient Jesus prayer or the five minutes of silence and calming we learned in parochial school prior to the prayer that started class) than with the philosophical underpinnings that go along with it. [Pray, lady, to be saved from horrid Buddhist philosophical underpinnings.]

“Meditation” is similar to mild hypnosis [asserts the author without any proof, knowing ZERO about meditation, and never having any experience of it herself, and no education on this subject]. Ninety percent of people can be hypnotized or be taught relaxation technique, but there are different levels for different people.   And ten percent of people [says who?] are prone to go into a very deep hypnotic state when they practice that technique  [What technique?  Which technique?  What misguided arrogance -- hm, well, arrogance generally misguides, does it not?]

The technique is to get the mind into the deep concentration that most of us have when absorbed in work or when we make art or music [Says who?].  This deep concentration allows us to think or process our feelings at a deeper level, and produce good things.  It is also (alas) similar [asserts the author minus any proof] to the deep concentration of a video game or movie . . .which is why some experts worry about kids learning the wrong lessons from video games.

So although the “gift” of creativity often goes along with the ability to go deeply into a trance state, the flip side is that this ability also correlates with the ability to be influenced by others to the extent that you start believing in all sorts of eccentric and sometime dangerous ideas . . .

And, as you practice self hypnosis, you can sometimes go into these deeper hypnotic states without realizing it.

When we doctors use the trance state, we don’t try to get them to believe in flying saucers or angels or that if they think correctly, they will become rich.  Our use is more limited:  To stop smoking, or to learn to relax, or more commonly to control pain without drugs.

But even then, we have to worry about the small percentage of the population that has a strict ego that keeps the bad inside  . . .  by “opening” it up, you can lead to a psychotic break [paranoid much?].   Psychologists, doctors, and even trainers in Transcendental meditation are taught to watch out for this rare but dangerous state.  But what if it happens at a school, with a semi- trained teacher?

Summary: It’s good and bad. Like all of life. [Aha -- writer discovers samsara?]

But my final question about it’s use in schools can be found in this statement:

“If we can help children slow down and think,” Dr. Haick said, “they have the answers within themselves.”

Ummm…doctor, I thought that school was about having children find answers in books . . .and about learning about facts and logic, not about “finding the answers within themselves”.  [Oh?  I thought schools were to educate children so they could grow up to be thoughtful, reasonable adults.]

You see, this is magical thinking: I don’t have to learn, I just meditate and the answers just magically come to me.  Poof.

But where do the answers come from?  If you never learn facts, and you never learn logic, the problem might be that your subconscious id is making up the answers [uh, if you're going to use Freudian terms, and God knows why you would, why not check your, uh, facts before you make up a term that does not exist, like "subconscious id" ]. And the subconscious, although the source of creativity and beauty, is also the source of delusions and lies.

So encouraging children to “find their answers within” might sound good for postmoderns who believe reality is a “construct” , but a small percentage of these children might end up with the delusion of magical thinking:  The idea that if I think this way it will happen.”

Think I am going overboard with this worry?

Well, the popularity of such magical thinking, from “The Secret” to  prosperity theology is becoming more popular. Wish and you get it, think and it is so. Reality is what you make it.

As a result, I see patients who don’t “believe” they need vaccines because they “know” something from a book (but never saw a child die of polio or tetanus, or blind from measles), or when they refuse antibiotics for their child with an acute kidney infection and 105 fever (and never saw a woman die at age twenty from untreated pyelonephritis). [Take that, Mary Baker Eddy!]

And, of course, this magical thinking won’t really do them much good if a local volcano blows up, a typhoon hits, or terrorists nuke their city.

Reality tends to put an end to such fairy tales."

.

.

It's just so awful.

Mindfulness = hypnosis = death by volcano.

Clear as day.

.

Why does this person, supposedly a doctor, not know any better?

Because -- it's the stupidity, stupid?

(Check out "Don't Bite the Hook:  Teaching Mindfulness Training to Kids," a response to the NYTimes article at Abu Shri, here.)

Other Sentient Beings, Lacking Good Karma, Fail to Embrace Buddhadharma

Let's not forget what brought us here, people:  THE BUDDHIZATION OF AMERICA.

And remember:  whatever it is, it's all Bob Thurman's fault!!

"Robert Thurman, father of actress Uma Thurman (actress in the recent martial arts movie -- Kill Bill) who used to sit on the lap of the Dalai Lama, was ranked as among the 25 most influential opinion makers in America by Time magazine in 1997. Thurman, who was the first American Tibetan Buddhist monk, now teaches at Columbia University and predicts the Buddhization of America in his generation. In the last decade, Buddhism has grown by 170% compared to Christianity's 5%.

 

What is the significance of burying tantric vases?

It is the act of defiling the land and provoking God's judgment.

 

What damage does it do when they dump the mandalas off Newport Beach and Malibu?

It is the act of defiling the waters and provoking God's judgment.

 

When did this start, who could possibly have assisted them or allowed them access? "In the summer of 1981, the "iron bird year" of the Tibetan calendar, the god-king granted a public initiation for the first time outside of Asia. The date and the location (Wisconsin, USA) of the initiation were drawn directly from a prophecy of the Tibetan "religious founder", Padmasambhava, who introduced Vajrayana to the Land of Snows from India in the eighth century:"

When the iron bird flies

and horses run on wheels

The Tibetan people will scattered to the ends of the earth, and the

Dharma will come to the land of the Red Man

Full story here.

Red Chinese Blow Up Sacred Buddhist Statue at Samye

The Taliban demonstrated the nature of impermanence in Afghanistan by blowing up the Buddhas of Bamiyan.

Now the Communist Chinese have blown up a sacred statue of Padmasambhava.

What's a little more cultural genocide, when there's so much actual genocide in Tibet, eh?

More here.

And here.

And an excellent site with many fine translations on shunyata, here.

Osama Denounces "Pagan Buddhism": How Talibangelical of Him

Oh good.  Osama Bin Laden gets on the Al Mohler's anti-Buddhist bandwagon:  he doesn't call Buddhism "Satanic," he calls it "Pagan."

Thanks for the tip, Osama.  I feel so relatively enlightened by this news.

It  took me some time to track down his actual statement;   I don't recall reading about any new Osama messages in the paper.

Reading it, it took me a while to sift through his dense language sprinkled with constant criticism of Denmark in order to figure out what his beef was -- he was talking about how really bad it is to have "Pagan Buddhism" running the UN security council, and I'm like, since when is there a Buddhist, pagan or not, on the UN  security council?

Silly me.  Turns out that it's China!  Osama Bin Laden thinks that Communist China is run by pagan Buddhists.  Or by pagans and Buddhists.  Whatever.

O-kay.

Oh, and some Al Qaeda group now wants to assassinate the Dalai Lama. Well, that makes sense.  The pagan Buddhists who are running Communist China have always had His Holiness in their sights, have they not?

File under "passion, aggression, and ignorance."

Concern over death threats against Dalai Lama
by Prakash Dubey

 

Lumbini (AsiaNews) – Nepal’s three million Buddhists are alarmed over death threats made against the Dalai Lama, allegedly by Islamic extremist group Lashkar-e-Toiba. In Lumbini, Buddha’s birth place in southern Nepal, monks and lay people are praying for him.

A local monk, Bhante Jaydeo, told AsiaNews that the Dalai Lama “is an apostle of non violence and peace. In spite of being a victim of Chinese Communist violence, he has never preached for a violent uprising in Tibet and has always called for reconciliation” with Beijing. “Here in town monks and the faithful have prepared special prayers for his safety.”

When an Indian paper reported the threat on April 1, police in Dharamsala (India) where the Dalai Lama lives in exile stepped up security arrangements.

Lashkar-e-Toiba is based in Pakistani-held Kashmir and is among the most powerful Islamic terrorist groups in South Asia. It is thought to be tied to al-Qaeda and it has been held responsible for many attacks in India.

For experts, the threat made against the Buddhist leader is probably connected to a recent statement attributed to Osama bin Laden against all religions other than Islam, including “pagan Buddhism. . .”

The report has raised eyebrows because the Dalai Lama has never had any problems with Muslims.

Abdul Dewan, a Muslim member of the Nepali Forum on Inter-faith Dialogue, is surprised that a believer in Allah would “want to kill a religious person without any faults like the Dalai Lama”.

Shambhu Dewan, a Hindu from the Tharu tribe and also a member of the Forum, told AsiaNews that the report is reason for concern to believers of all religions, including Muslims.

The Forum itself has decided to organise “a moment of inter-faith prayer for the life of the Tibetan spiritual leader and calls on the Nepali government to intervene with Pakistan to get this group to abandon this odious crime.”

More here.

Morally Corrupt Iranian Court Approves Killing the "Morally Corrupt"

Not the best way to give your religion a good name.

But at least someone's angry about it.

Iran Exonerates Six Who Killed in Islam’s Name

TEHRAN, April 18 — The Iranian Supreme Court has overturned the murder convictions of six members of a prestigious state militia who killed five people they considered “morally corrupt.”

     

Morteza Nikoubazi/Reuters

     

The reversal, in an infamous five-year-old case from Kerman, in central Iran, has produced anger and controversy, with lawyers calling it corrupt and newspapers giving it prominence.

“The psychological consequences of this case in the city have been great, and a lot of people have lost their confidence in the judicial system,” Nemat Ahmadi, a lawyer associated with the case, said in a telephone interview.

Three lower court rulings found all the men guilty of murder. Their cases had been appealed to the Supreme Court, which overturned the guilty verdicts. The latest decision, made public this week, reaffirms that reversal.

“The objection by the relatives of the victims is dismissed, and the ruling of this court is confirmed,” the court said in a one-page verdict.

The ruling may still not be final, however, because a lower court in Kerman can appeal the decision to the full membership of the Supreme Court. More than 50 Supreme Court judges would then take part in the final decision. . .

According to the Supreme Court’s earlier decision, the killers, who are members of the Basiji Force, volunteer vigilantes favored by the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, considered their victims morally corrupt and, according to Islamic teachings and Iran’s Islamic penal code, their blood could therefore be shed.

The last victims, for example, were a young couple engaged to be married who the killers claimed were walking together in public.

Full story here.

"Honor" Killings, now it's "Honor" Kisses? -- and more

The Hindu world is up in arms about -- no wait, that would be the racist sexist fundamentalist right-wing crackpot portion of the Hindu world (scions of the Gandhi-shooting subsect) --  American actor Richard Gere kissing Indian actress Shilpa Shetty. 

Like that's their business?

Some called for a public apology.

Some called for the actors' deaths.

Oh?

What-everr.

The perceived "connection" between the ego of some fundamentalist males and the sexual behavior/experiences  of females is what accounts for so-called "honor" killings.

I'm sure you're all well aware of that charming tradition.  Sort of like clitoridectomy, but more extensive.  And permanent.

(Don't they know that ego is essenceless?  Why not? Have they not read the stuff at the top of this page?  Kamalasila?  But he's, like, Indian!).

The current fracas probably will not cost Ms. Shetty her life, but she is being burned in effigy.  That can't be fun.

And I'd think that the mob mentality fueled by passion, aggression and ignorance (oh -- would that be the 3 poisons?) is not much fun, either.   (Remember the "Roses of the Prophet Mohammed" kerfuffle?)

Anyhow, there's all this attention to a shocking kiss (on the cheek!) that should be no one's business but Ms. Shetty's and Mr. Gere's,  but it does serve to overshadow the epidemic of AIDs among India's truckers and hookers.  Mr. Gere and Ms. Shetty were, you see, trying to get the truckers to use condoms.  A good idea.

So that's dumb stuff from India.  And there's sad stuff from America, at Virginia Tech.

Adhering to the classic dictum, "If I can't have you, no one can" -- sexism plus guns plus rage plus opportunity equals massacre.  [plus serious clinical issues, noticed by others, specific nature not known at this time].

Here we learn it was all the victim's fault, according to the shooter.  ("You caused me to do this.")

Here we learn that the helpful "Christians" from the Westboro Baptist Church are planning to protest at students' funerals, blaming the massacre on God's wrath due to our failure to burn homosexuals at the stake.

Here, "Domestic Violence and Virginia Tech:  It's all about power & control."  Let's note that security failed to followed up the first two murders because they were characterized as just a "domestic dispute."  And, you know, we don't care much about that.

Have a nice day.

Another Scary Sand Mandala? Wait, Wait, They Were Invited!

What's the world coming to?

Here come more of those funny Buddhists with their horrible Satanic sand mandalas.

You know what comes next!  Earthquakes, fires, and floods!  Wow-wee.

Why aren't these Christians -- who invited the Tibetan monks to create their sand mandala -- and then ritually de-create it --all freaked out about sand mandalas like these Christians are?

  Um, mayhap because they're real Christians, and not the crappy kind?

More Crap from Cultycrappychristists

Lovely site in which passion, aggression, and ignorance result in mean-spirited misinformation about the dreadful horror of sand mandalas, peace vases, and non-violence.

A site NOT to be missed.

Link here.

And don't miss their horrific tale of the Dalai Lama, a Tibetan Buddhist being so powerful that his mere presence wrought death and destruction, aaaaaaaahh!

Remember, people, someone really wrote this, and really thinks this:

A California Senator sponsored a bill to honor the Dalai Lama, who won the Nobel PEACE Prize, and comes saying "Peace, Peace" -- read the Bible -- and received great support from many of the other states as well!  Wake UP!!! A few examples from the month of September 2003:

The day [the Dalai Lama] arrived in San Francisco, the city was hit by a 3.9 earthquake!!         

Shortly after [the Dalai Lama] opened an interfaith center in Bloomington, the governor (a  Christian) had a stroke and died!!

After the Dalai Lama worshipped with five Lamas and was the featured guest speaker at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, Hurricane Isabel hits our Nation's Capitol!

Yes, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is truly a force unto himself! His mere Presence causes strokes, earthquakes, AND hurricanes!  Woo-HOO!

Crappy-Christians better get even more panicked than they already are!