Political Buddhism Newsroll

In Buddha’s Path on the Streets of San Francisco

2008-10-11T22:20:53Z

Just beyond San Francisco’s Chinatown begins a historical tour of a more spiritual nature.

Peshawar Museum displays largest collection on Buddha’s life

2008-09-15T03:37:00Z

Peshawar Museum displays largest collection on Buddha’s life
Daily Times, September 15, 2008

PESHAWAR: The almost century-old Peshawar Museum is unique for displaying the most important and world’s largest collection of architectural pieces.

The unique stone sculptures carved in Gandhara Art not only speak of the artists’ competence, but also tell a complete life story of Buddha from birth to death and his miracles.

In the main hall of the museum, the antiques and sculptures put on display represent the stories on the life of Buddha from his birth to death – all the episodes.

The Buddha’s life story in stones is beautifully carved with all details from the Queen Maya’s dream, interpretation of the dream, birth of Siddhartta (historic Buddha), bath scene, seven steps, going to school, writing lessons, wrestling matches, palace life, marriage scene, renunciation, great departure, ascetic life, fasting, first meditation, demons attacks, attaining enlightenment, first sermon, death scene, cremation of Buddha, distribution of relics and construction of stupas on the relics.

The collection includes different types of architectural pieces, relics caskets, stupa models of schist and bronze, stucco sculptures, terracotta figurines, toiletry objects along with life size Buddha statues.

“The life stories of Buddha, depicted in Gandharan Art, are an authentic document of the Mahyana text composed during the time of Kanishka (1st Century AD),” said Prof Fidaullah Sehrai, renowned archaeologist and former director NWFP Department of Archaeology and Museums,

Prof Sehrai said the cosmopolitan art of Gandhara, with influences from Indian Greek, Roman and Persian artists, appeared in this region in 1st century BC for propagation of Buddhism through stone carved as well as images in stucco, terracotta and bronze.

These images were placed in chapels of monasteries and in stupas across Gandhara region by Buddhist followers for worship.

“The current Buddhist religion in Korea and Japan is a wonderful example of extension of Gandharan Buddhism,” Sehrai said. “The sculptures were fixed to the bases, drums and stairs of the stupas, around which the worshippers gather and worships.”

Prof Sehrai said in the old Buddhist art the Buddha was not represented in human form but shown by symbols.

The four important events of Buddha’s are his birth at Lumbini Garden, his enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, his first sermon in the Deer Park and his death at Kusinara. All these events are symbolised by a lotus, a tree, a wheel or a deer and a stupa, respectively.

But in Gandhara Art, Prof Sehrai continued, the Buddha was represented in human form in these and other events in shape of sculptures.

The main focus of the art was Buddha’s life stories and individual images, his previous birth stories (Jatakas) and future Buddhas.

The devoted local artists, stimulated by the personality of Buddha, took advantage of contacts, motifs and technology from Greeks, Romans and Persians, which gave Buddha an eternal life.

The art, mainly a product of the land of Gandhara under the Kushan rulers, is more dynamic than the contemporary Mathura Art of India.

“Peshawar Museum has the largest collection of Gandhara art in the whole world, consisting of 4247 (936 on display and 3311 in stores) antiques of Buddhist stone sculptures and panels, architectural elements, stucco sculptures, terracotta figurines, relic casket and toiletry objects,” said Saleh Muhammad, NWFP Archaeology and Museums director.

The major poses of Buddha in Peshawar Museum were Dhayana Mudra or Medtation Pose, Abhaya Mudra or Reassurance Pose, Dharma Chakra Mudr or Turning of the Wheel of Law Pose and Bhumispersa Mudra or Earth Touching Pose, Saleh said.

The main Gandharan collection of Peshawar Museum came from excavations of the Archaeological Survey of India, Frontier Circle from 1902 to 1941 and donations from public and purchases, he informed.

These sculptures mainly recovered from the sites of Shari Bahlol (1906-26) in Mardan district, Shah Ji-ki-Dheri (1908-10) in Peshawar district and Palatu Dheri (1902-03), Mamane Dheri, Akhun Dheri, Ibrahimzai, Utmanzai, Hamid Garhi Turangzai, Bala Hisar and Sheikan Dheri in Charsadda district.

Saleh Muhammad said the true story of Buddha’s life was not known and what we had displayed was a canonised version of his life.

“It is the miraculous story that is narrated in stone. This story was developed in greatest detail in Gandhara Art while in other schools of art only a few events are told,” he added.

The Gandharan Art pieces in the museum can be dated back to 2nd century AD to the 5th century AD, except a few Hindu sculptures, which can be dated from the 9th century AD to the 11th century AD.

The story begins from his birth and continues through his human career until his death and even later when his relics and reliquaries became objects of worship.

Total collection of antique is reckoned at 14,156 items in five main sections; Gandharan Coins, Islamic, Ethnological and Iranian and due to unique and most extensive Gandharan collection, Peshawar Museum is famous worldwide.

Saleh Muhammad said earlier large number of foreigners, especially from Japan and Korea, visited Peshawar Museum to see Buddha’s unique sculptures. But now the number of visitors had reduced due to law and order situation.

He suggested for proper projection of Peshawar Museum at international level, in special reference to Buddha’s sculptures, with renewed spirit for attracting tourists and followers of Buddhism. app

For a Fee, a Thai Temple Offers a Head Start on Rebirth

2008-09-28T12:05:55Z

Buddhism in Thailand can take unexpected forms, embracing animist superstition, magical practices and the entrepreneurial spirit of many senior monks.

T. Norbu, Dalai Lama’s Brother, Dies at 86

2008-09-09T20:57:26Z

Thubten J. Norbu was the eldest brother of the Dalai Lama and was also regarded as a reincarnated saint.

Ancient Buddha Statue Is Discovered in Afghanistan

2008-09-09T20:57:18Z

Archaeologists have unearthed a 62-foot Buddha statue along with other relics in central Afghanistan.

A Study In Contrast

2008-08-29T07:01:00Z

Events in Korea of late could be seen as a study in contrast. The problem is not that the president, Lee Myung Bak, is a Christian but that he is a particular type of Christian – one of those types whose religious convictions drive them to overstep the borders of good manners and good judgment. When Lee was mayor of Seoul, he declared the city ‘a holy place governed by God’ and the citizens of the city ‘God’s people.’ Later he dedicated the city ‘to the Lord.’ Strangely, there was no subsequent drop in Seoul’s crime rate. In 2006, Lee also sent a video prayer message to a evangelical rally where the worship leader called on God to ‘let the Buddhist temples in this country crumble down!’ (Asia Times 1,2,2008) On being elected president Lee publicly announced that he intended to turn the president’s mansion into ‘a house of prayer,’ not a good start one would have thought in a country where more than half the population are not Christians. He filled his cabinet with evangelical Christians like himself, including several from his own church, and has since made a point of being seen at evangelical Christian functions. In early 2008, the Seoul metropolitan area transportation information system (Algoga), administered by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, deleted the names of major temples (but not churches) from their map. The ministry apologized, saying that it was an inadvertent mistake, but a similar thing happened again in August when the educational geographical information system, administered by the Education, Science and Technology Ministry made the ‘mistake.’ It should be pointed out that Buddhists are not the only ones who have problems with Lee. Amnesty International has severely criticized him for ordering police to use ‘excessive force’ against protestors who were demonstrating against his policies. He also faces a criminal inquiry into his alleged links to a 2000 share manipulation fraud, not the first time he has been investigated for fraud.

In a democracy the president is elected by the people and is supposed to represent all the people. If he or she has a bias (and we all have some) it is good policy to either keep it well hidden or better, to try to compensate for it. Lee’s faith is so frenzied that he has proudly proclaimed and demonstrated his biases. Up to now there have only been rumbles amongst Buddhists, Confucianists and, one might add, mature socially conscious Christians as well. But in late July when the police rudely searched the car of the head monk of the Jogye Order, Venerable Jigwan, in the course of arresting Buddhist activists that were suspected of having sought refuge in the temple, Buddhists decided things had gone far enough. Some 55,000 people and about 3000 monks have held a demonstration in the centre of Seoul. In contrast to the unapologetic bias and discrimination of the Lee administration, the Buddhists’ protest has been dignified, measured and peaceful. Venerable Wonhak, one of the leaders of the protest said, ‘This gathering is not to declare a state of confrontation but to try to end social conflict and division.’ He also called for more tolerance and understanding between faiths. The venerable’s is attitude is in accordance with the Buddha’s words in Dhammapada 223; 'Overcome anger with love, bad with good, meanness with generosity, and falsehood with truth.'
Unfortunately, blind faith sometimes makes one deaf to such reasoned pleas.

From the 1st of next month I will discuss the positive emotions from the Buddhist perspective.

Sri Lanka Flips Out Over Fossilized Buddha’s Tooth

2008-08-22T16:22:03Z

Cannons explode and dancers backflip, while stilt walkers and fire swallowers march alongside a dazzling procession of jewel-cloaked elephants. Sri Lanka’s greatest event has has begun!

The Esla Perhahera, arguably Asia’s most spectacular festival, happened this month in Sri lanka during the late summer full moon (August 7th through 17th, 2008). The centuries-old celebration of Sri Lankan Buddhism brings a large chunk of the country’s population up to the lakeside capital city of Kandy. It also attracts over 10,000 foreign tourists.

The 10 day parade has the fire and flair of events like Carnival or Mardi Gras, minus all the alcohol and sexual energy. It is, in fact, deeply rooted in Buddhist traditions.

The holiest part of the festival is an elephant-mounted display of the Sacred Tooth Relic.

The Tooth Relic is said to be the left canine tooth of the Buddha, snatched from his funeral Prye over 2,500 years ago, and smuggled from India to Sri Lanka in the 4th century AD. While Sri Lankan Buddhists and historians believe in the authenticity of this sacred relic, some outsiders are more skeptical. The late English occultist Aleister Crowley writes in his autobiography that while studying meditation in Sri Lanka he was:

“permitted to be present at the annual inspection by the trustees. I believe the tooth to be that of a dog or crocodile, but though I got an excellent view at close quarters, I am not anatomist enough to be positive. I am, however, quite certain that it is not a human tooth.”

For centuries the actual tooth was paraded on the back of an elephant, but nowadays, a symbolic casket is paraded. Security is too tight to bring the national treasure into public crowds. Over 8,000 policemen patrol the area during the festival. Why? In 1998 the Temple of the Tooth was bombed by Tamil terrorists who want more power as a minority ethnic group in the country.

This year’s Perahera went over well with few incidents, except for an elephant that went bezerk and tried to rip out traffic signs until it was restrained, according to Sri Lanka’s Daily News.

Check out this video of the Perahera festival:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUsJeLFqM3k

Image credits: Chinthaka and kintransit.

—

Article by Brett Borders, a traveler who works as an online reputation management consultant in Boulder, Colorado. He visited Sri Lanka in 2002 and found it to be one of the most friendly and delightful countries in Asia.

Buddhism and Homosexuality

2008-08-21T17:51:54Z

Authority claims monks from Saffron Revolution are Impostors

2008-08-21T17:51:35Z

A New Breed of Monk Rises in Myanmar

2008-08-19T15:08:34Z

Sydney residents oppose Buddhist monastery development

2008-08-19T15:08:22Z

Prostitution

2008-08-17T07:24:00Z

Prostitution is the selling of one’s body for sexual purposes. Today as in ancient India, people considered prostitution to be ‘the lowest type of livelihood’ (antimajivaka, Mil.122). Because it involves sex and the exchange of money, prostitution pertains to the third Precept and also to the Buddha’s teachings of Right Livelihood (samma ajiva). The issue of prostitution has to be looked at taking into account the prostitute and the customer. Roughly speaking, we can say that there are two types of prostitutes: (1) those forced into prostitution by poverty or social deprivation and (2) those who choose to do it because they feel it is a convenient and easy way to make money. This first type of prostitute is called a harlot (vesiya) or a streetwalker (bandhakã) in the Buddhist scriptures while the second type is called a courtesan (ganika or nagarasobhini). The intention of the first is probably just to survive and is therefore kammically far less negative than the second whose motive might be greed, laziness or lack of self-respect. The first is not willingly involved in wrong livelihood while the second clearly is.
Now what of the customer? Customers of the first type of prostitute are definitely breaking both the first and third Precepts because they are sexually exploiting another person, taking advantage of their dire circumstances. The customers of the second type may not be breaking the third Precept, but they are hardly involving themselves in an activity likely to benefit themselves spiritually. Generally speaking, prostitution is a sordid and unedifying affair and sincere Buddhists would not involve themselves in it.
One of the Buddha’s supporters was a woman named Ambapali who was a wealthy courtesan of Vesali and who later gave up her trade to become a nun (D.II,95). In the scriptures we read of prostitutes charging 500 or even a 1000 coins a night for their company (Vin.I,268-9).

Homosexuality

2008-08-18T07:03:00Z

Homosexuality is the tendency to be sexually attracted to persons of the same rather than the opposite gender. According to the ancient Indian understanding, homosexuals were thought of simply as being ‘the third nature’ (trtiya prakti), rather than as perverted, deviant or sick. With its emphasis on psychology and cause and effect, Buddhism judges acts, including sexual acts, primarily by the intention (cetana) behind them and the effect they have. A sexual act motivated by love, mutuality and the desire to give and share would be judged positive no matter what the gender of the two persons involved. Therefore, homosexuality as such is not considered immoral in Buddhism or against the third Precept, although this is not always understood in traditional Buddhist countries. If a homosexual avoids the sensuality and licence of the so-called ‘gay scene’ and enters into a loving relationship with another person, there is no reason why he or she cannot be a sincere practising Buddhist and enjoy all the blessings of the Buddhist life.
None of the legal codes of traditional Buddhist countries criminalized homosexuality per se, although of course there were penalties against homosexual rape and homosexual acts with minors just as there were for similar offences committed by heterosexuals. In most Buddhist countries today, homosexuality is usually considered strange and laughable although not wicked or evil. Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Mongolia, Japan and South Korea have no laws against homosexuality between consenting adults. Homosexuality is illegal in Burma and Sri Lanka mainly because their legal codes were in part drawn up during the colonial era. Recently in Sri Lanka, the penalty for homosexuality was increased in an ill-considered response to the growing problem of sex tourism in the country.
The Dalai Lama and Homosexuality
At a press conference in 1997 the Dalai Lama said; ‘From a Buddhist point of view (lesbian and gay sex)...is generally considered sexual misconduct.’ He very soon found that he had stumbled into a pink minefield when some Western Buddhists, a significant number of who are gay, loudly expressed their outrage. Together with promoting the Dhamma, the Dalai Lama’s main purpose in touring the West is to win support for his cause, and to this end he defiantly does NOT want to alienate anyone. As soon as he realized what he had done he immediately back-peddled. He called a meeting with gay and lesbian representatives, during which he expressed the ‘willingness to consider the possibility that some of the teachings may be specific to a particular cultural and historic context’. Dawa Tsering, spokesperson for the Office of Tibet released a suitably politically correct and safe statement; ‘His Holiness opposes violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation. He urges respect, tolerance, compassion and the full recognition of human rights for all.’ Ruffled feathers were smoothed, gay Western Tibetan Buddhists left convinced that the Dalai Lama approved of their sexual orientation and the Dalai Lama continued believing that homosexuality is wrong - only now making a careful note never to say so again in public.
The truth is that while the Dalai Lama is one of the kindest people imaginable, he is also a very traditional Tibetan in many ways – and traditional Tibetan culture, like most cultures, has very skewed and confused ideas about homosexuality. Tibetan Buddhism does not derive its ideas about homosexuality from the earliest teachings of the Buddha but from Mahayana sutras and sastras, the earliest of which dates from approximately 500 year after the Buddha. By this time Indian Buddhists were being influenced by various popular Indian notions and incorporating them into their understanding of the Dhamma; sometimes with not very happy results. One such notion was the idea that sexual acts could be judged right or wrong depending on ‘place, person and orifice.’ Thus having sex anywhere near a temple or stupa was a wrong place, with anyone other than one’s spouse was a wrong person and anywhere other than the vagina was a wrong orifice. To be frank, this is a rather good example of the numbering, sub-dividing, categorizing mentality that became dominant in Buddhist clerical thinking. I do not know when this strange idea evolved but I think the earliest mention of it that I know of is in the Ugrapariprccha (or maybe it is the Upasakashila Sutra) which may date from about the 2nd century CE. And it doesn’t take much sense to see how unfounded it is from the Buddha’s point of view. Exactly how does the law of kamma distinguish one orifice from another? Other problems arise when we realize that many male homosexuals practice intercural sex and mutual masturbation rather than penetrative sex. And exactly which sexual organ do lesbians use to penetrate the vagina of their partner? The Dalai Lama is also reported to have said that he had difficulty imagining the mechanics of homosexual sex, saying that nature had arranged male and female organs ‘in such a manner that is very suitable…Same-sex organs cannot manage well.’ With all due respect to the Dalai Lama, and I do have the highest respect for him, this statement shows both his ignorance and naivety concerning sex, and I might add, of some aspects of the Dhamma as well. What on earth have Buddhist ethical judgments got to do with two body-parts fitting together ‘properly’ or not? I often clean my ear with my finger despite it not fitting into my ear canal very well. Does mean I make negative kamma every time I clean my ear? Also, the old argument ‘It’s unnatural’ is both unsound and irreverent as far as the Dhamma is concerned. If homosexuality is ‘unnatural’ then celibacy is more so and all Gelupa monks are breaking the fifth Precept by abstaining from sex. The Buddha’s criteria of right and wrong is not based on ideas of ‘natural’ or ‘unnatural’ which are usually social constructions, but on the intention behind the act. I am sorry to say that the Dalai Lama’s ideas about homosexuality are on a par with his (and other Tibetans’) belief that turning a prayer wheels will ‘pray’ for you, that the Tibetan state oracle gets messages from gods, that seeing the Karmapa’s black hat will get you enlightenment within seven lifetimes and in the existence of wrathful deities like Dorje Shukden. In short, it is medieval.

The two most sensible things on the issue of homosexuality and Dhamma I have found on the internet are Homosexuality and Theravada Buddhism by A. L. De Silva at http://www.buddhanet.net/ and Kerry Trembath’s Buddhism and Homosexuality at http://www.yawningbread.org/guest_1997/guw-010.htm. And if you would like to know what some Tibetans other than the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan monastic hierarchy think about homosexuality, have a look at gaytibet.blogspot.com. This website and particularly its posting on the rapping rimpoche would have to be the last nail in Shangri La’s coffin.

Vietnam dissident Buddhist church appoints new leader

2008-08-18T22:10:03Z

The ‘bulldozer’ and the Buddha: Korea’s dangerous middle

2008-08-18T22:09:52Z

Korea: Buddhists Threaten Anti-President Rally

2008-08-18T22:09:37Z

Minister to Fight Religious Discrimination

2008-08-15T14:50:55Z

After the Games, Tibet

2008-08-14T22:07:20Z

It is now up to China to accept the Dalai Lama’s visit this fall and engineer a deal to resolve Tibet’s future.

Airman initiates Buddhist group

2008-08-13T12:23:57Z

Singapore: Many seekers drawn to Buddhism

2008-08-13T12:22:46Z