Buddha Shakyamuni, creator of Buddhism

To bring you for this condition, Buddhism points you to enduring standards in this impermanent community, and provides you valuable information on just how issues are really. Through understanding the law of cause and effect, using practical apparatus like reflection to achieve awareness and build compassion and wisdom, we many of us can make use of all of our potential to understand the ultimate purpose of enlightenment.

Easily like a candle flame or gradually like a hill, perhaps the most solid circumstances transform. Obtained no genuinely long lasting essence.

All of our inner field of feelings and thoughts is in the exact same state of continual change. The greater amount of we understand just how all things are impermanent and influenced by most problems, the healthy a perspective we are able to keep on our everyday life, the relations, stuff, and prices targeting what matters.

If every little thing comes and happens, could there be whatever remains? Based on Buddhism, the one and only thing that will be usually current may be the consciousness in which all these experiences and phenomena look. This understanding isnt only eternal but in addition inherently happy.

To recognize this amazing understanding here nowadays means to being enlightened, plus its the ultimate goal of Buddhism.

Party meditation during the Berlin Buddhist center

Buddhism inspires all of us to get obligations for the own lives, without moralizing, by understanding cause and effect (karma). Just like the law of gravity, the law of karma performance, every-where as well as the amount of time.

Buddha discussed in big detail how we shape the potential future through all of our thinking, keywords and activities. What we manage today collects close or bad thoughts in our attention. Once you understand thus giving you big liberty and places all of us back command over our life. Karma isnt fate. We are able to determine to not ever carry out harmful steps, and so abstain from promoting the sources of future distress. To sow the the seed products for good outcome, we take part in positive actions.

Through Buddhist reflection, we can in addition get rid of the adverse thoughts currently gathered within our attention from previous measures. Even as we observe much suffering originates from not comprehending cause-and-effect, we naturally create compassion for other individuals.

Stupas tend to be bodily symbols of enlightenment, our very own minds organic potential

In Buddhism, compassion and knowledge get together. Exercising reflection frequently, we obtain extra space within our mind, and distance from difficult feelings and thoughts. This permits you to see that everyone comes with the same fundamental troubles as united states, therefore develop our thoughtful wish to just be sure to make a move to greatly help other individuals.

When we respond from compassion, focusing on rest in the place of our selves, we get much better opinions from the industry. The distressing feelings that individuals all bring, like rage, pleasure, connection, and jealousy, loosen their unique hold. Where there can be room that people dont quickly fill with the own problems anymore, knowledge enjoys a chance to appear spontaneously have a peek at the link.

Therefore, wisdom and compassion build and supporting each other on the road.

The Buddha ended up being unique because he was 1st person to attain full enlightenment in recorded history. But theres no important distinction between the Buddha and us. All of us have a mind, therefore can all attain liberation and enlightenment by working together with our thoughts. The body, views, and thinking are continually modifying. Buddhism panorama all of them as empty bare of every long lasting substance, and thus they might be no factor for a proper, split ego or self. The state of liberation arrives when we not just appreciate this intellectually but experiences it in an intense, long lasting way. With no good ego we quit getting activities actually. We acquire a massive room for joyful developing, without having to answer every unfavorable feeling that comes by.

Enlightenment may be the supreme goal in Buddhism. All positive properties specially joy, fearlessness, and compassion are completely mastered. Here, our awareness try all-encompassing, and not set at all. With no confusion or disruption in our minds, we benefits people in an instant and effectively.

If youre contemplating getting to know more info on Buddhism, you can check out a Buddhist center towards you, or read on with what this means to be a Buddhist.

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Whenever we really give consideration, we could observe that everything in the outside business is changing - ADOTAS

For the past year, China has imprisoned Muslims for displaying their faith, compelled Buddhists to vow devotion to the ruling coalition, and pressured Christian churches to remove their crosses. The unprecedented war on organized religion does not come as a surprise as China has been trying to eliminate religion for a long time. The ruling coalition party, which is ostensibly atheist, has for decades tried to influence religious organizations to maintain dominance. According to Chinas State Administration for religious affairs, the Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, Muslims and Taos have freedom of worship. Basically, these groups have freedom of operation so long as they are officially sanctioned by the government. In reality, anyone who believes in a higher power is considered an enemy of the Chinese Communist Party.

Although the constitution protects religious groups from violations, the presidency of Xi Jinping seems to have no respect for religion. Millions of Xinjiang residents who are mostly Muslim have been imprisoned by the state and others harassed by the massive police installed in the region recently. The detainees claim to have been imprisoned because they refused to abandon their Islam markers, such as refusing to drink and wearing a hijab. While Beijing reported having dealt with the matter and released the detainees, there is no evidence pertaining to their claim. In fact, the Chinese government is now accused of faking their situation on social media by forcing victims to give statements of their release. In practice, little has been done to ameliorate the situation in Xinjiang.

Similarly, organized religion is being intimidated by the government all over the country. More than 10 Halal restaurants have been forced to take down their Arabic scrips and symbols depicting Islam, claiming that it does not represent the Chinese culture. The communist party claims that it does not trust suspicious foreign forces in its state, therefore, interprets such symbols as non-allegiance. They want Islam and other religious groups to operate under the Chinese language, something that strips the whole meaning of the distinct religion.

The communist party has made sure children are not taught about their various religions from a young age. The children are only allowed to believe in communism and the ruling party. While the crackdown may seem to focus mainly on Islam, Christians have also been targeted in many ways. Catholics and Protestants have been threatened and harassed severally. Many Christians have reported burning of their Bibles, being forced to renounce their Christianity, and shutting down churches. The churches that have been allowed to operate must install facial recognition devices in their buildings lest they get closed. To make it worse, the communist party officials often add state propaganda to preachers sermons. Corrupting the word of God with the lies of communism.

Buddhism and Taoism, the most ancient religious groups of East Asia, are not lucky either. Believers from these religious groups have gone through agony during Xi Jinpings Presidency. They have been limited from accessing some parts of the country, and some monks accused of terrorism for exercising their beliefs. The Shaolin Temple, among the most important Buddhist sanctuaries, hoisted the Chinese national flag recently. This is believed to be a part of the Chinese governments campaign to force religious groups into allegiance.

The Communist Party seeks to maintain its grip on power and can only do so by dismantling organized religious groups that seem to undermine its authority. This might also be a well-orchestrated strategy to limit foreign influence among the Chinese as the government has always had a concern with the extent of foreign influence over religion. According to the Chinese government, foreign forces can use religious bodies to manipulate societal thoughts that may lead to chaos and havoc.

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This is why China has declared war on organized religion - We Are The Mighty

Rice with tot (Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism)

Loaded with minerals, fusiforme (tot) is a seaweed that provides diverse nutrients in winter. The fragrance and flavor of rice cooked by adding plump seasonal tot is much better than when dried tot is used. If you add chestnuts, you will experience the harmony of the familiar and the unfamiliar as the prickly textured tot and sweet chestnuts come together in your mouth.

Ingredients

200 g fresh tot

5 chestnuts

1 cup rice

1 cup water

1 tbsp sesame oil

Sauce

1 handful chopped water celery (minari)

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp chili pepper powder

2 tbsp crushed sesame seeds

2 tbsp sesame oil

Directions

1. Wash tot, drain in a strainer, and cut into bite-sized pieces

2. Peel the outer shell and inner skin from chestnuts, and cut into quarters

3. Put in a pot with the rice, water, tot and chestnuts. Add 1 tbsp sesame oil and cook

4. Prepare water celery, mix the ingredients for the sauce together and serve with rice

Ma rolled in gim (Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism)

Harvested from late October onward, gim tastes best in winter. By finely grating Chinese yam (ma), which is full of vitamins and minerals, and mixing with chopped shiitake mushrooms and carrots, you can have a gim dish with a fragrant sea aroma to perk up your appetite.

Ingredients 6 sheets of gim

300 g Chinese yam (ma)

3 shiitake mushrooms

carrot

2 tbsp flour

1 tsp salt

cooking oil

Directions

1. Chop carrot and shiitake mushrooms that have been soaked in water. Finely grate yams

2. To the grated yams, add chopped shiitake mushrooms, and carrots to make batter

3. Pour the batter into a heated pan and top with two sheets of gim, folded in half. Roll just like making a rolled omelette

Provided by Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism

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Temple food is food of the ascetics who express gratitude for all forms of life and wish for peace for the whole world. The Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism operates the Korean Temple Food Center where guests can learn and experience temple food. -- Ed.

By Korea Herald (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

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[Temple to Table] Tastes of winter breeze - The Korea Herald

From Rebel Wilson to Chrissie Swan and Michael Clark, Australian celebrities shocked us with some of their inspiring transformations throughout the year.

Here's our pick of some of the most memorable ones from 2021.

The celebrities who inspire us to embrace a healthy lifestyle.

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Rebel Wilson started her 'Year of Health' in January 2020 and almost two years on, she is celebrating losing about 35kg and has a new outlook on life.

"Found this old photo in my emails and was like: whoa! I remember this was when I was at my most unhealthiest - being overweight and indulging way too much with junk food," Rebel said in her Instagram post in August.

Rebel was referring to a photo taken with Novak Djokovic during a difficult period when she was "using food to numb my emotions".

"My father had passed away of a heart attack and it was such a sad time," she said.

"I didnt think highly of myself and wasnt valuing myself how I should have."

Rebel Wilson's "Year of Health" marked a complete lifestyle change! Photo: Instagram/@rebelwilson

"I look back now at that girl and am so proud of what shes become and achieved ... and just wanted to send out some encouragement to everyone out there struggling with weight or body issues or emotional eating," Rebel said.

"I feel you.

"But its never too late to start improving yourself and trying to be the best version of YOU possible.

"Its not a race and its not a competition - its about respecting yourself and doing whats best for YOU."

Another key to her success, according to her personal trainer Jono Castano, was that she made long-term lifestyle changes.

"I'd say her consistency has been the most important thing," he told Yahoo Lifestyle.

Podcaster and comedian Meshal Laurie reveled in her 2017 book, Buddhism for the Unbelievably Busy, that she had chosen surgery to transform.

Story continues

"I decided to undergo weight-loss surgery (gastric bypass) in late 2016, and Im so glad I did," she wrote.

"Yes, its embarrassing to have to go to that length to rein my body in, but Id rather be embarrassed than unable to walk.

"In a way, I feel lucky to have had such clear signals from my body that I needed to turn my health burner back on, when I still had time to do something about it."

Meshel Laurie unveiled her weight loss and glow up this year. Photo: Getty Images and Instagram/@meshel_laurie

Her transformation may have begun in 2016, but her glow up this year hasn't gone unnoticed by fans.

"You look 12! Whats your secret?" one of her followers said on her Instagram post with Professor Richard Bassed.

"I was thinking the same! Looking so young Meshel," another added.

"Some people light us up dont they?" Meshel replied.

Indeed they do Meshel!

With his six-foot, six-inch (198cm) stature, heavy build and surname which, in French, sounds like "beast", it is understandable The Chase expert Mark Labbett was nicknamed "The Beast".

After shedding an incredible 63 kilos, he may need a new nickname.

"This is the lightest Ive been in 25 years," he told The Sun in March.

"I'm now under 20 stone (127kg), and I am really feeling the difference, as well as seeing it.

"My knees really feel the difference.

"I will never be athletic again, but I just move so much better for not carrying that extra weight."

The Chase's Mark Labbett has lost 63 kilos since contracting COVID last year. Photo: Getty Images and Instagram.com/markthebeastlabbett

The catalyst for his healthy change was catching COVID last year. He lost his sense of smell and taste - and his appetite.

After recovering, he upped his exercise and saw the weight come off. The changes didn't go unnoticed.

"When did The Beast from The Chase turn into an absolute dreamboat?! Marks had the glow-up of the century," comedian Jack Whitehall tweeted.

Since shooting to fame in the 2003 season of Big Brother, fans of reality star, turned radio personality, Chrissie Swan have watched her transform.

Melbourne's lockdowns encouraged Chrissie to give up alcohol and up her step count, with stunning results.

Chrissie Swan credits giving up alcohol and walking for her incredible weight loss. Photo: Getty Images and Instagram/@chrissieswan

"Ive never done anything about [exercise], until now," she revealed on Instagram regarding her new walking regime.

"Learning how to meditate kicked it off for me and I realised, after the first 10-minute block, that it was the first time in ages Id stopped and slowed down, with my own wellbeing top of mind,

"I dont put any pressure on myself, but I walk somewhere most days sometimes for 20 minutes, sometimes for an hour, sometimes three little walks, sometimes none!"

Michael Clarke opened up to Men's Health magazine after undergoing their 12-week challenge and showing off his incredible results.

"Ive always been quite fit, but as you can see from the before photo, I was still carrying a bit," he said.

"When you stop doing something that got you out of bed every single day, when you lose that structure and routine, you lose a lot and Ive seen people go downhill in those circumstances, physically and mentally," he said of his retirement.

Former Aussie cricket captain Michael Clarke revealed his slimmed-down look this month. Photo: Chris Mohen for Mens Health via Instagram/Jono Castano

"Trying to stay fit and healthy post-retirement was partly a defence against that.

"When I hit 40, something told me that I wanted to be fitter and healthier than Id ever been."

Clarke teamed up with celeb trainer Jono Castano for the 12 weeks, but he's continuing to use what he learned in the gym.

Casey Donovan was flung into the limelight at the tender age of 16 as the youngest winner of Australian Idol.

Her success on stage and with her music has continued. Since the pandemic struck, Casey has tried to use her time wisely and, like many others, get healthier.

She admits it's sometimes hard work.

Singer and performer Casey Donovan has been making little changes to get a big difference. Photo: Getty Images and Instagram/@caseydonovan88

"Its not easy," the performer said on her social media account.

"Some days I wake and go, Im not going for a walk today'.

"But its about getting up and pushing yourself and knowing that its okay if you dont get out there and go for a walk - do better tomorrow or the next day.

"Be kind to yourself. I find that a lot of people havent been too kind to themselves during the lockdown, and reach for the biccies and the chips.

"But for me, its been nice to be able to get out there and exercise and take in the fresh air and enjoy the small things in life, which weve now been given the opportunity to do."

For all the little things she's been doing, she looks fabulous!

Married At First Sight contestant Jules Robinson revealed all about her epic transformation on her Instagram account.

"It was my own kinda lockdown, working non-stop from home and (a) full-time mum. It happens! Familiar story right!" she wrote on social media.

Married At First Sight's Jules Robinson (with hubby Cameron Merchant) has shed 20kg since the birth of son Ollie. Instagram/@julesrobinson82

"I have lost weight and now Im back to my pre-pregnancy weight," she revealed on Instagram.

"I had help with @jennycraigausnz and it was so easy and ideal as a busy working mum.

"The postpartum quest back to your body for me was about patience, celebrating what my body just did and still rocking all outfits."

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Or if you have a story idea, email us at lifestyle.tips@yahooinc.com.

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Celebrities who looked almost unrecognisable after their 2021 transformations - Yahoo News NZ

For more information and to view other events happening this week, check the Vail Dailys events calendar in the print paper and online at http://www.vaildaily.com/entertainment/calendar/.

Queer Climbing Night, taking place the last Sunday of each month from 5 to 7 p.m., invites LGBTQ+ idenitfying and curious individuals to chalk up their hands and step into climbing shoes. All abilities are welcome. REservations are required and participants should be prepared to adhere to COVID-19 safety protocols at the gym. This months event is Sunday, Jan. 31.

More information: eagleclimbing.com

Longtime local yoga instructor Karen Anderson is offering a 12-session course, with recorded and live practices, in the basics of Buddhism. The course is donation-based with suggested $120, but Anderson urges, please dont let finances stop you from participating. The workshop runs from Feb. 1 to March 10.

More information: yogavail.com or karene@vail.net.

Whether youre taking the class in-person or virtually, an instructor at Alpine Arts Center will guide you through the process of creating your own painting. The $49 class price includes all the materials and instructions. Virtual participants can pay $25 for the class, not including materials, if they choose, though take-home kits are available. For in-person participants, $6 wine, beer and champagne is available for purchase. Be sure to reserve a spot ahead of time. The event is Wednesday, Feb. 3 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

More information: alpineartscenter.org

Walking Mountains half-day snowshoes take hikers into the wilderness surrounding the Vail Valley. This weeks event, on Thursday, Feb. 4 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., voyages to Tennessee Pass for an easy trek to learn about tracks and signs left by wildlife in the backcountry. Advance registration is required.

More information: walkingmountains.org

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Happening this week: Queer Climbing Night, Basics of Buddhism and more - Vail Daily News

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The presence of Hindu gods in Central Asia is the evidence of cross-fertilization of local and Indian cultures during the pre-Islamic period. It also points to the migration of Indians to Central Asian cities, not only the Zerafshan Valley at Penjikent but also the valley of the Syr Darya (then known as Jaxartes) at Ferghana and the Amu Darya (then known as Oxus) valley at Arytam.

Any visitor to the Rudaki Museum at Penjikent in Tajikistan and the National Museum at Dushanbe can immediately identify the Hindu gods and goddesses on display. There are images of a goddess riding a lion at the Museum of Antiquities, Dushanbe, as well as others such as Siva and ParvatiSiva with a third eye and Siva with three heads, amongst others. At the Rudaki Museum, Siva is seen sitting in a vast arena that resembles wilderness with his trisul or trident next to him.

Among the images of local divinities found in Temple II, one was identified as that of Uma Maheshwar (Siva and Parvati) sitting on the Nandi bull. Incidentally, the Pharro-Ardoxsa image at Ayrtam in the Oxus valley is also believed to be closer to the portrayal of Siva and Parvati.

Renowned Indian scholar and archaeologist S.P. Gupta has noted the presence of Hindu deities, such as Brahma, Indra, Siva, Narayana and Vaisravana in Central Asia, who had their own local counterparts.

It is important to note that nearly 25 marble sculptures and other artefacts of Hindu art dated between the fifth and eighth century ad have been discovered in Afghanistan.

Also read: India was a land of dharma but Europeans reduced it to Hinduism, Islam. And we accepted it

When the Islamic armies attacked Afghanistan in seventh century ad, Buddhism was flourishing in the province of Ghazni. One of the monastic centres located on a hill at Tepe Sardar had richly decorated stupas, chapels and monk cells which were excavated by modern archaeologists in the early twentieth century.

The Tepe Sardar Buddhist sanctuary occupying a hill of the Dasht-i-Manara plain was excavated by the Italian Archaeological Mission led by Giovanni Verardi between 1960 and 2003. An inscribed votive pot found at the site attested to the name of the sanctuary as the Kanika Maharaja Vihara, meaning the Temple of the Great King Kanishka. It also said that it was built during the Kusana period in the second century ad. Following the attack by the Islamic armies, it was abandoned in the late eighthninth century ad.

The 22-metre square towering central stupa was the focus of the complex and could be the largest yet found in Afghanistan. The chapels surrounding the stupa contain evidence of the colossal statuary art in the form of murals and painted clay images of the Buddha and bodhisattvas. Their fragments have been recovered during excavations. Massive gilded images of the Buddha have also been found at the entrance of the sanctuary. A gigantic Reclining Buddha measuring over 15 metres was found in Chapel 63 of the Tepe Sardar monastic complex. Unfortunately, as per the notice put up by the National Museum, it has been completely destroyed in recent times.

Yet another notice by the National Museum of Afghanistan at Kabul states that although Buddhism had spread in the Ghazni area since the time of Asoka in the third century bc, this particular complex whose main stupa was the largest in Afghanistan was built in third century ad during the Kusana period, and thrived for nearly six centuries until the arrival of the Arabs.

A large head of the Buddha dated fifthseventh century ad from Tepe Sardar is an example of the beautiful statuary art from Ghazni, which can be seen at the museum in Kabul. The Buddha head must have adorned a life-size image of the Buddha in dhyan mudra. Made of clay, the Buddhas eyes are closed in meditation. The thin, long, curved brows and a high nose appear to be finely chiselled. Small volutes adorn the head and the hairline is sharply drawn.

Another image of grey-blue schist dated from the fifthseventh century ad is headless, and the throne or the pedestal depicts monks and disciples holding out a large tray of lotus flowers at the Buddhas feet.

Also read: We the people of Pakistan, irrespective of religion, are the true Indians

Interestingly, the complex also hosted a Hindu Shaivite shrine where an image of Durga Mahisasur Mardini was found during excavations. The size of the original image can be guessed from the colossal head of the goddess preserved in a glass case at the national museum. The image is evidence that female divinities were worshipped in Afghanistan.

In Chapel 23 at Tepe Sardar, excavators also found the decapitated body of Mahisasur, the Buffalo Demon, with his severed head lying beside it. This was once part of a composite sculpture depicting the victory of the many-armed Durga over Mahisasur, the demon and enemy of the gods. According to explorer-historian Nancy H. Dupree, Durga defeating Mahisasur was a popular cult theme under the Hindu Shahisthe Hindu dynasty ruling over Kabul Valley and Gandhara after having taken over from the Turki Shahis.

It is possible that the Hindu Shahis installed Durgas image in the Buddhist monastery. It is a good example of the absorption of Hindu deities in the Buddhist pantheon, and also points to the fact that Buddhist shrines were converted into Hindu shrines. This has been discussed by Indologist and art historian P. Banerjee in New Light on Central Asian Art and Iconography. In his interesting study, Banerjee explains that though subordinate in position, these Hindu deities made their original importance felt now and then even in the Buddhist framework.

Banerjee presents several examples of the popularity of Shaivism in Central Asia and about Buddhist scholars such as Asanga and Aryadeva who tried to assimilate Hinduism and Buddhism. It is generally believed that Asanga, the well-known Buddhist philosopher from c.ad 400, created an amalgam of Shaivism and Buddhism, as Aryadeva did in bringing Vaishnavism and Buddhism together. Banerjee, says that Asanga tried to reconcile two opposing myths by placing a number of Saiva gods, both male and female in the inferior heavens of the prevalent Buddhism as worshippers and supporters of Buddha and Avalokitesvara.

According to Banerjee, Asanga by reconciling Shaivism and Buddhism made it possible for:

[T]he half-converted and rude tribes to remain Buddhists while they brought offerings to their more congenial shrines and while their practical religion had no relation at all to the truth of the noble Eightfold path.

Bannerjee also suggests that the popularity of Shaivism continued in Afghanistan and other parts of Central Asia during the late Gupta and early medieval periods. In Afghanistan, a collection of Shaiva antiquities, attributable to the seventheighth century ad, has come to light from the regions of Togao and Gardez. These include a head of Shiva from Gardez and a smaller head of Durga overcoming Mahisasur. This is an evidence of the spread of Hindu worship during the seventh and eighth centuries when large parts of Afghanistan were under the rule of the Hindu Shahi kings. This list includes the inscribed Mahavinayaka or Ganesa with Urdhvamedhra or erect phallus, clad in a tiger skin from Kotal-i-Khair Khaneh, about 17 km from Kabul and dated to the seventh century ad. Banerjee mentions the inscribed Uma-Mahesvara image, also dated to the seventh century from Tapa Skandar.

Excerpted with the permission of Rupa Publications fromBuddha in Gandhara by Sunita Dwivedi.Hardback; 336pp with colour inserts; Rs 795

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India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises.

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How Durga images and sculptures showed up in Ghazni, Afghanistan - ThePrint

Written by Mehr Gill , Edited by Explained Desk | New Delhi | Updated: January 30, 2021 10:34:30 am

On Monday, Thailands Parliament voted to make abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy legal. Before this, abortion was illegal in the country, regardless of the duration of the pregnancy and was allowed only in limited circumstances governed by the countrys medical council.

This week, another country made an announcement dealing with abortion laws. On Wednesday, the right-wing Polish government said it will publish a court ruling that proposed a near-total ban on abortion in its journal. This ruling banned termination of pregnancies including of foetuses with defects. The governments sudden announcement has sparked countrywide protests in the country, where abortion laws were already very strict.

In India, the Union Cabinet cleared changes to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 early last year. These changes raised the legally permissible limit for an abortion to 24 weeks from the previously legal 20 weeks. The change also accepted the failure of contraception as a valid reason for abortion, not just in married but in unmarried women as well.

Opposition to abortion in Thailand

The opposition to abortion comes mainly from Thailands majority of conservative Theravada Buddhists who believe that abortion goes against the teachings of Buddhism.

This week, a Buddhist monk Phra Shine Waradhammo who is known for his support for LGBT+ rights sparked outrage among some conservatives after he supported decriminalisation of abortion, according to a Reuters report.

Even so, illegal abortions are not uncommon in Thailand before this. For instance, in 2010 dozens of white plastic bags were found on the grounds of a Buddhist temple. Each of these bags contained the remains of a foetus. At the time, Thai authorities found over 2000 remains in the temples mortuary, where the remains had been hidden for over a year. The countrys prime minister at the time, Abhisit Vejjajiva was opposed to legalising abortions and maintained that more should be done to stop illegal abortions.

In the book titled, Abortion, Sin and the State in Thailand, author Andrea Wittaker says that over 300,000 illegal abortions are performed in the country each year.

In the same year, the arrest of a 17-year-old girl after she attempted to perform an abortion on herself with drugs obtained over the internet reignited the debate on abortion in the country.

So, what changes for women in Thailand now?

In February last year, Thailands constitutional court called the provision dealing with abortion, which is under the countrys criminal code, unconstitutional. As per this provision, women who got an abortion could be imprisoned for up to three years and those who performed them could be imprisoned for up to five years. Following this, the court gave the Thai government 360 days to change the laws dealing with abortion.

As per the new amendments, women can get an abortion if the age of the foetus is up to 12 weeks. But if a woman gets an abortion after 12 weeks, she can face being imprisoned for up to 6 months and will be liable to pay a fine of 10,000 baht or face both.

Significantly, abortions can be carried out after the completion of the first trimester, but only if they are in line with the criteria established by the Medical Council of Thailand (MCT). As per these criteria, a pregnancy can be terminated beyond the permitted period of time if it poses a threat to the mothers physical or emotional health, if the foetus is known to have abnormalities or if the pregnancy is the result of a sexual assault.

How are these amendments being interpreted in Thailand?

While the amendments signal some progress, pro-choice activists in Thailand are still not convinced and continue to demand the complete decriminalisation of abortion. Human Rights Watch has also called for complete decriminalisation of abortion so that women can fully exercise their reproductive rights.

One of the faces of the pro-choice movement in Thailand is the gender equality and LGBT rights activist Chumaporn Waddao Taengkliang, who is the co-founder of a group called Women for Freedom and Democracy.

She also joined the pro-democracy or anti-government protests last year that demanded that the monarchy be reformed and Prime Minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha resign. The protests were some of the biggest seen in recent times and while they were broadly against the monarchy, other groups joined them with demands including expanding LGBT and womens rights, reforms in education and the military, and improvements in the economy.

Taengkliang told The New York Times last year that The male supremacy society has been growing since the coup. Taengkliang was referring to the way Chan-ocha came to power in 2014, which was through a coup. He is endorsed by the king and is alleged to have meddled with electoral laws during the 2019 elections, which has enabled him to remain in power. Thailand is a Buddhist-majority country of about 70 million and converted from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy in 1932. Following a coup in 1947, Thailand has been ruled by the military for the most part.

During the pro-democracy protests last year, many young women, many of whom were students dominated the protests. These women called for gender equality and endorsed issues specific to women, including abortion, taxes on menstrual products and school rules that force girls to conform to an outdated version of feminity a report in The New York Times said.

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Explained: What are the amendments in Thailands abortion law? - The Indian Express

Sukhavati, located in northern Germany, is a Buddhist center for the dying. Images courtesy of Oliver Peters

BERLIN (RNS) The man, a local baker, appeared onemorningat Sukhavati, a Buddhist center for the dying in the north German spa town of Bad Saarow.His friends said he never talked about being a Buddhist, Oliver Peters, head of spiritual care and volunteering at Sukhavati, said of the unexpected client, who died that evening. Only one friend knew his little secret, but his wish was to live and die the Buddhist way.

There is no single way of death in a faith that is the dominant religion across Southeast Asia and Japan, and rites vary greatly by region, culture, class and tradition. But Buddhism puts an emphasis on encountering death that is answering a call in the West for a more spiritual approach to palliative care, hospice service and chaplaincy programs.

In Buddhism, there are a lot of texts and sutras that emphasize death and dying, said Dr. Tuck Wai Chan, a physician in Singapore who has worked to bring Buddhist ideas about the end of life into hospitals. In certain traditions, the whole purpose of Buddhist practice is about death and dying. We know death well.

In the past decade and more, a Buddhist end-of-life movement has sprung up in Western Europe,Australia, New Zealand and theUnited States, testifying to a need for spiritual accompaniment at the end of life that is felt not only by an aging generation of Buddhist converts and immigrants but to those who only know that a secular, clinical approach is not enough.

Buddhanets Buddhist Hospice Directory lists about 20 such hospices in predominantly English-speaking countries, as well as Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. There are many more, such as Sukhavati, not listed on the site.

At Sukhavati, Peters said the center looks to the teaching of Tibetan Buddhist wisdom, particularly the bestselling Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, by Sogyal Rinpoche.

In practice, this means the regular chanting of mantras, guided meditations on death and instructions from Sogyal Rinpoches book on the passages and obstacles faced in what are known as thebardos the liminal states between death and rebirth.

Finally, the body is attended to for three days after death. Requiring special permission from the German health authorities, this time allows the deceased to be honored by family and friends, guided through thebardos, and for those left living to contemplate the separation of the body and mind at death.

A Buddha at Sukhavati. Image courtesy of Oliver Peters

A belief in Buddhism is not required, Peters said: We dont want to make people Buddhists. Everyone can come here Muslim, Christian, atheist.

We want to help the people to live and to die how they believe and want, he said. Its important for us, what someone believes. If someone is a Christian, we find a Christian priest. We try to be open.

To that end, Peters and his team have worked with a range of religious leaders to provide spiritual accompaniment for the dying. Recently, Peters sat by a Muslim mans bedside as an imam said prayers and recited verses from the Quran.

Peters tells of a client who came to spend his last day at Sukhavati despite never being interested in Buddhism. When Peters asked him why, he simply said, I am here that you pray for me.

People like this man, said Peters, dont really know where they are, but they like the environment or theyve heard something about the Dalai Lama or think that Buddhists are quiet and peaceful. Maybe they dont have a good history with Christianity and they think Buddhists are better with caring for the dying.

But in the rising popularity of places like Sukhavati is an implicit critique of conventional Western views of life and death. Frank Ostaseski, Buddhist teacher and co-founder of the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco, said that, in a consumerist culture often enchanted by youth, Buddhist hospice care is offering an alternative whose unvarnished view of death also offers a new perspective on living.

Author Frank Ostaseski. Courtesy of Ken Chitwood

It also suggests that people are realizing they dont want to end their lives in the company of medical professionals, said Ostaseski, author of The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully.

We dont want to just give this over to medicine anymore, he said. Death is much more than a medical event.

Medical professionals from a variety of backgrounds have echoed Ostaseskis point and are recommending that Buddhist principles be part of palliative and hospice care.

In a paper in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, co-authors Dr. Eva K. Masel, Dr. Sophie Schur and Dr. Herbert H. Watzke wrote, Buddhist teachings may lead to a more profound understanding of incurable diseases and offer patients the means by which to focus their minds while dealing with physical symptoms and ailments.

Courtesy of Ken Chitwood

Buddhist spirituality, said Chan, the Singaporean doctor, doesnt aim to alleviate fears about death by concentrating on an afterlife. Buddhists reflect on difficult things like death in order to deal with it, to make a better life in full view of the difficult facts.

One of the key principles of Buddhism is balance between compassion and wisdom, faith and facts. It is like a bird with two wings. The balance makes us able to fly, he said.

Nor does Chan advocate that medical professionals be involved in patients spirituality or use of Buddhism as a method of care. But he suggested that a basic literacy in Buddhism makes them able to provide compassion and comfort alongside medical insight.

Medical science isnt able to treat and cure everyone, he said, but they can provide comfort to everyone.

That comfort can transform caregivers as well as patients.

Courtesy of Ken Chitwood

Chenxing Han, author of Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists,spent a summer volunteering for the Brahmavihara AIDS Project in Cambodia, the country with the highest per capita concentration of Buddhists.

It was a humbling summer, she said. I did not speak Khmer and my undergraduate degree had not taught me how to be present with people who are severely ill and dying. Many times I wanted to run away, to flinch from the reality before me.

Her mentors at Brahmavihara helped her by modeling a spiritual care suffused with steadiness, love, faith and compassion, she said.

After her time in Cambodia, Han not only deepened her own Buddhist practice, but volunteered at the Pathways hospice in Californias Bay Area, then enrolled for formal training as a Buddhist chaplain at the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies in Redwood City, California.

As a chaplain, she said, my work was not the same as hospice, though many of the patients I met died.

For me, Buddhism isnt all gloom and doom, she said. I appreciate Buddhisms lessons for life and living as much as its insights on death and dying.

Through her experiences, Han said, she learned that the chaplains role is in many ways countercultural to the biomedical model of care.

In the chaplains view, death is not a failure, but a sacred transition that awaits us all.

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Dying 'the Buddhist way' gains in hospice centers in the West - Religion News Service

Its surprising how important Buddhist beliefs and practices have been to evolving world communities and their ability to live together in peace and mutual respect. I first learned about Buddhism during the 1960s VietNam war, when Buddhist monks led non-violent protests against American aggression. At its height, the US committed 500,000 American soldiers to the war. Every man in my college class had to face Vietnam one way or another.

Back home, at my Jesuit college, we studied Catholic philosophy and Jewish philosophers like Martin Buber. My non-Catholic roommate was allowed to take a World Religions course, which we dorm mates envied. At dinnertime, we plied her with questions about what she was learning.

As the world has become more connected by news, online exchanges and travel weve learned more about the histories of world religions. We can study how they are practiced today, including their collaborations with or opposition to other religions in their societies and in ours. Organized religions periodically gravitate towards, or are coopted by, secular political power and ambitions. Many warring factions and much political oppression in our own times are undergirded by religious conflict.

Im drawn to Buddhism. Its not easy to study it alone, living in a rural Christian community. We need fellowship, to share learning and insights and yes, disagreements, with others on spiritual paths. In the 1980s, I made a life-long friend, a writing teacher and Buddhist activist, who has taught me much of what I understand. Among other practices, she joined the Buddhist Peace Fellowship and participated in the late 1990s Interfaith Pilgrimage of the Middle Passage, walking from Boston to the many sites of slavery urban slave markets, former plantations -- down the eastern seaboard, actions that helped prompt a reconsider of southern monuments that is still bearing fruit to this day.

Buddhism is practiced in many forms and countries. My explorations rely heavily on the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanhs work. Hanh, a young activist in the Vietnamese opposition to the 60s war, engaged with others in nonviolent protest. Eventually he settled in France, creating and leading his Plum Village, writing books, and establishing retreat and residential centers around the world including in New York State and in the San Diego area. Among his many books, my favorite is Being Peace. In it, he shares a poem he wrote, Call Me By My True Names, in which he imagines himself as a mayfly, a bird, a frog, a snake, a child in Uganda, a refuge girl in a boat, a member of the politburo, and a man dying in a forced labor camp. I weep every time I read this poem.

Compassion forms a central theme in Buddhism. Buddhists do not see the living world as a top-down hierarchy, with humans on top and some humans on top of others. All creatures, even the most noxious or dangerous, are respected. I try hard not to kill even the peskiest little mosquito. Im not all the way there yet. Its a powerful challenge to begin seeing oneself not as an individual who will be saved by being good and/or believing in religious dogma. Buddhism encourages us to see ourselves as part of a larger world, animal and mineral, a wonderful relief from the narcissism so rampant in our culture.

Buddhist practices vary by community. All prioritize meditation, alone or with others. Its not that easy. The idea is to focus on the breath and to empty the mind of all other thoughts. At Deer Park near San Diego, I once spent a day on a slow walking meditation, led by monks in silence. Forty of us formed a beautiful single-file procession up and down the dry hills. We ate in silence. It was remarkably restorative.

The version of Buddhism to which I am drawn embraces compassion as a central behavioral prescription. You can explore this in its many forms - stories, how-to accounts, Buddhist retreats - in your own meditative practice. My favorite go-to books, besides Being Peace, are His Holiness the Dalai Lamas The Heart of the Buddhas Path; theologian and religious historian (and former Catholic nun) Karen Armstrongs Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life; and Thich Nhat Hanhs wonderful reconstruction of Buddhas life: Old Path, White Clouds.

Prominent Buddhists have engaged in fellowship with Christians and vice-versa. For instance, in Christine Bochen, in her edited Thomas Merton: Essential Writings, recounts the Trappist monks week-long encounter with the Dali Lama in the Himalayas. They shared insights from each others traditions, focusing especially on meditation and on monastic life in their respective communities.

Its liberating to feel in communion with many people around the world by sitting quietly reading, meditating, and walking silently and mindfully. Especially at a time when our nation and our world are so torn and challenged. Id love to join a sangha, the Buddhist term for a group that convenes frequently to meditate, share ideas and challenges. I cherish opportunities to share thoughts and insights from other spiritual paths, respecting others beliefs as well as fears, discouragement, and criticism.

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Buddhist thought and practice: an exploration | Columnists - Herald Review

In 2003, Venerable Dhammananda came back from a trip to Sri Lanka that challenged Thailand's Theravada Buddhist beliefs. She had become the first Thai bhikkhuni a fully ordained nun in modern history. To this day, full ordination and the privileges that come with it are usually only reserved for male monks.

The full ordination had always been in my head, Dhammananda, now 76 years old, told VICE. I just waited for a realization. And when I had it, I knew it was my time to become a bhikkhuni."

A bhikkhuni is a status given to fully ordained female monastics in the three different branches of Buddhism Mahayana, Vajrayana, and Theravada. Their male equivalents are called bhikkhus. Being fully ordained means one has achieved the highest level in the Sangha, the Buddhist assembly.

Dhammananda with other bhikkhunis in Thailand. Photo: Courtesy of Venerable Dhammananda

Unlike modern branches of Mahayana Buddhism, many Theravada authorities still question whether full ordination of women is valid. This was not always the case, with records of these female monastics dating back to Buddha's death, around 400 BCE. This was practiced for over 1,500 years but eventually disappeared.

"Monks want to be able to trace everything back to The Buddha," Brenna Artinger, president of Alliance for Bhikkhunis, told VICE. "They think that, if lineage has died, they cannot revive it."

With no wish to revive the Theravada bhikkhuni order, the only status left for Theravada Buddhist women were 'laywoman' or 'novice,' leaving all the highest positions to monks.

To this day, the bhikkhuni ordination ceremony is prohibited in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar, where violators could face imprisonment. Dhammananda believes the prohibition of full ordination for nuns is a misunderstanding of the religion's beliefs. Referring to the Maha Parinibbana Sutta scriptures, she said The Buddha created a gender-balanced monastic order composed of both fully ordained monks and nuns bhikkhus and bhikkhunis at the highest level of the Sangha.

"The Buddha gave women permission to be fully ordained. If you respect him, you should try to revive what he established."

Dhammanandha has been challenging Buddhism in Thailand for over two decades. In the 2000s, she left Thailand and joined a Theravada temple in Sri Lanka to practice, study, and receive her full ordination before turning 60.

"The Buddha is my first feminist," she said.

"In a very traditional society, he opened the space for women by recognizing they can achieve a highest spiritual goal. He was a revolutionist."

Following this mentality, Dhammananda pioneered a modern revolution in Thai Buddhism. By advocating for full ordination of women, she's challenging an order that, she says, lets social and gender expectations take over religious rights.

Dhammananda and fellow bhikkhunis. Photo: Courtesy of Venerable Dhammananda

"Socially, if you allow the ordination of women, everything has to change because monks have been in power for 2,500 years," said Karma Lekshe Tsomo, former president of the Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women. "Theravada Buddhists differ in their attitudes toward full ordination for women, but those in positions of power generally oppose it."

Despite 70 percent of its population practicing this branch of Buddhism, Sri Lanka is the first and only Theravada Buddhist country that allows the full ordination of women. Since 1998, the government has allowed local and foreign nuns to receive the ceremony on its soil.

As Mary Kate Long, a doctoral candidate in Asian Studies at Cornell University, explained, this decision could have been motivated by various reasons: the rise of female monastics in Sri Lanka, the complex historical link between Theravada Buddhism and East Asian Mahayana Buddhism in the country, and the ongoing contests for symbolic capital between different religious and monastic authorities. By being the first Theravada country to allow full ordination, hundreds of nuns have flown to Sri Lanka since the 2000s. However, these new bhikkhunis are not always welcomed when they return home.

About 89 percent of Myanmar's population is Theravada Buddhist. It is also one of the most conservative Buddhist countries, with a religious authority that believes the full ordination of women is a crime.

In 2005, ex-bhikkhuni Saccavadi was sentenced to five years in prison for having been fully ordained in Sri Lanka. She was released 76 days after her conviction,after her story was highlighted in international media. Fearing more repercussions, she quickly left the country and has not returned since. She flew to Sri Lanka, then to the United States, and disrobed in 2008, because of the traumatic experience.

In Thailand, bhikkhunis are in a gray zone. They cannot be fully ordained in the country but dont face imprisonment if they do so abroad. Over 94 percent of Thais are Theravada Buddhists. Dhammananda, as the first officially recognized bhikkhuni in the country, initiated changes in the society.

"When I came back from Sri Lanka, I was a lone voice in this big world of monks."

"I was rejected, but wasn't punished legally. Today, there are 285 bhikkhunis spread out in at least 40 provinces. Weve come this far. But we are still facing a lot of legal issues."

Unlike their male equivalents, bhikkhunis have no legal status in Thailand and thus remain marginalized. They don't have any clerical advantages or recognition, which means they suffer financially. They pay taxes to the government for their temple, receive less donations from the people, and pay the full fare for public transportation.

"Nuns, as monks, are technically not allowed to use money, and neither to ask for it. It makes their everyday life more complicated. Sometimes, bhikkhunis can't even afford going to lectures or ceremonies," Artinger, from the Alliance for Bhikkhunis, explained.

"Because we don't have our religious status on our IDs, all the prices are really decided by the person in front of us," Dhammananda said. "If they recognize us as ordained monastic, we'll get half price. But if they ask for our ID, we'll pay full fare. Its up to them."

A bhikkhuni ordination in Los Angeles in March 2018. Photo: Courtesy of Alliance for Bhikkunis

However, she remains hopeful that things will improve as more nuns from around the world are opting for full ordination. She believes there's strength in numbers, and in staying true to what it means to be a bhikkhuni.

We didnt [get] fully ordained to be accepted, said Dhammananda. We did it because we respect The Buddha. If we do proper work, if the people accept us, then eventually the Sanghawill have to recognize us.

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Buddhist Nuns and Their Crusade for Recognition in Southeast Asia - VICE