By Scott Petersen, San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority

Investment in improved water storage, like the B.F. Sisk Dam Raise and Reservoir Expansion Project, is an important tool for increasing our resilience to changing rainfall and snowpack patterns, said Federico Barajas, Executive Director of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority.

During the last 10 years, the communities and ecosystems that rely on the water supplied by our member agencies have experienced water whiplash two of the driest three-year periods in Californias history and two of its wettest years. It is clear that we must store water when its available for use in the drier periods we know will come. We value the partnership we have with the U.S. Department of Interior and its agencies, including the Bureau of Reclamation, and look forward to advancing this project that will allow us to become more climate resilient.

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Statement by Federico Barajas on the Federal Investment in the B.F. Sisk Dam Raise Project - California Ag Today

TORONTO, Oct. 19, 2022 /CNW/ - Founder and Co-CIO of Sionna Investment Managers (Sionna), Kim Shannon, celebrated her firm's 20th anniversary last month. She started the firm in 2002 to provide institutional and retail investors an opportunity to work with an independent manager dedicated to the value investing style.

Sionna Logo (CNW Group/Sionna Investment Managers Inc.)

Kim joined the industry in 1983, and she recalls, "There were very few women in the investment world. Even today, a recent statistic out of the U.S. suggests that female asset managers own less than 3% of all asset management firms and manage only 1% of assets under management."

With the express purpose of being a trailblazer for women investors, throughout her nearly 40-year career Kim has been recognized with countless industry awards. These include the RBC Canadian Woman Entrepreneur (2007), Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award (2007, 2017), the Rotman Women in Management Association Top 10 Award (Entrepreneur Category, 2015) and the Rotman Lifetime Achievement Award (2021). This month, Kim will be inducted into the Investment Industry Association of Canada's (IIAC) Investment Industry Hall of Fame.

A few years ago, to broaden the global reach of women investors, Kim co-founded Variant Perspectives, a global group who advocate for better representation of women in asset management. Variant Perspectives' first conference in 2019 attracted Warren Buffett, who addressed the audience with his sage advice.

With a business that has evolved and improved over 20 years, Kim notes "I love what I do, and I'm not nearly done. I am fortunate to be surrounded by a uniquely talented and supportive team and am excited to lead the next chapter of Sionna's success story". Sionna's President and COO, Paul Spagnolo, noted, "When Kim started the firm, Sionna focused on Canadian Equities and is an expert in that space. However, for over a decade, we have been expanding our offerings in the non-domestic universe, and brought on value investing veteran, Co-CIO, Stephen Jenkins, to manage Sionna's U.S., Global and International strategies".

Story continues

Stephen joined Sionna more than three years ago and has a long history with Kim, "Kim hired me as a junior analyst back in the early 1990s and provided me with a solid foundation in value investing, so it was an easy decision to join such a well-respected firm and work alongside Kim again after all those years. Kim and I share a deep conviction in value investing and have been focused on making meaningful enhancements to our process over the last few years, which I believe has contributed to our strong returns."

With the recent turn towards value, Kim and her team have seen top quartile performance rankings over the one-year period to September 30, 2022. Kim noted, "We still have work to do for our clients. But, market history and the abundance of attractive value opportunities we are seeing today give us further confidence in our style of investing".

After the longest and deepest underperformance of value in a century, Sionna believes the value style has a promising future ahead.

About Sionna Investment Managers

Established in 2002, Sionna is an independent, investment management firm. Sionna oversees assets for institutional clients, mutual funds and high-net worth individuals.

Sionna is an active manager and uses a bottom-up, value approach to stock selection. With more than 100 years of industry experience among the portfolio managers, the team focuses on providing downside protection and strives to deliver long-term, above-average returns by applying a disciplined value investing process.

SOURCE Sionna Investment Managers Inc.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2022/19/c1457.html

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Sionna Investment Managers Celebrates its 20th Anniversary as one of the Largest Female-Founded, Independent Investment Management Firms in Canada -...

A viral image of Dalai Lama worshipping a Shiva linga with other monks around him is doing the rounds on social media. Social Media users have shared the photo claiming that Dalai Lama is renouncing his fake Buddhism while worshipping Lord Shiva.

A Facebook user posted the viral picture with a caption: (English translation: Real Buddhist Devadidev performing Jalabhishek to Mahadev and here swearing not to believe in fake Buddhist God)

You can check the post here.

NewsMobile fact-checked the viral picture, and found it to be misleading.

If Dalai Lama the highest spiritual leader of Tibet would have made any such claims, it would have made headlines all over the news. But our search to find out accuracy of the viral claim yielded no results.

However, running a Reverse Image Search of the viral image, we found a Pinterest picture, titled: Buddhist Spiritual Leader Dalai Lama paying tributes at Gupt Ganga Shiv Temple on Tuesday. Jammu Kashmir Latest News | Tourism | Breaking News J&K. The description as well as the title of the image indicate that it was taken during Dalai Lamas visit to Gupt Ganga Shiv Temple in J&K.

Conducting a Google Keyword Search to know more about his visit, we traced a YouTube video, dated July 19, 2012, on a channel Degeyang. The video, titled: The Dalai Lama Visits Shiv Temple Rainawari, shows Dalai Lama praying to Lord Shiva and offering milk to the Shiva linga.

Also, a news article in NDTV Online, titled: Dalai Lama visits religious sites in Srinagar, prays for peace, dated July 17, 2012, clarifies his motive behind the temple visit. The article informs that Dalai Lama not only visited a Hindu temple, but various religious sites of different faiths in Srinagar to pray for peace in the state and in the world. Some of the religious places that he visited were the Hazratbal shrine, the Gupt Ganga Shiv temple, and Gurudwara Chatti Padshahi.

We went through the entire article, but could not find any news of him renouncing Buddhism. Another article, titled: Dalai Lama Visits Religious Places, on the official website of Dalai Lama, dated July 18, 2012, corroborates the facts in the NDTV report.

We could not find a single credible source of information that would back the claim that Dalai Lama renounced his fake Buddhism while praying to Lord Shiva.

Therefore, we can conclusively say that the viral claims of Dalai Lama renouncing his fake Buddhism is misleading.

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Fact Check: Did Dalai Lama Swear to Renounce Buddhism While Praying to Lord Shiva? Heres the Truth - Newsmobile

Many might wonder why I decided to convert, especially at the young age of 20, and some might even try to draw a connection with the programme attended by former Delhi minister and AAP leader, Rajendra Pal Gautam, earlier this month. But my decision to convert is mine alone and is based on my engagement with Babasaheb Ambedkar. In a speech delivered in 1935, Ambedkar highlighted the importance of conversion and said, Untouchability is not a short or temporary feature; it is a permanent one. To put it straight, it can be said that the struggle between the Hindus and the Untouchables is a permanent phenomenon.

Growing up, I was fond of reading and my parents were supportive of this. They wanted me to have what they were deprived of a decent education, especially in English medium. I was very young when my mother told me about the Buddha. I was fascinated to hear of someone who had so much wealth and power, only to give it all up.

My introduction to Ambedkar and his work came much later, as my school textbooks had very little about him, usually only describing him as the architect of the Indian Constitution and leader of the Dalits overlooking his contribution to labour rights and womens rights. While studying about the RBI, I did some extra reading and found out that Ambedkar had been instrumental in its formation, leading me to wonder how little I had been taught about his work. Eventually, I came across Ambedkars work on Buddhism and made the connection.

When I heard about Yashica Dutts book,Coming Out As a Dalit and attended a discussion where she spoke of her experiences, I realised that I had been forced to hide my caste throughout my years in school for fear of being ostracised or treated as inferior to the behaviour of my peers and teachers underwent a perceptible change when they spoke of those belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.

During the pandemic, I started talking about caste-related issues to caste such as atrocities and unequal access to wealth. But to my dismay, people who I thought I was on great terms with gradually reduced their interactions with me. I decided to take refuge in books again, including Ambedkar and contemporary writers on caste. I began considering conversion when I realised that, as Ambedkar had said, no matter how much I study, the phenomenon of caste wont go away and that some people might be seen as superior to me solely due to the accident of birth, though any form of gradation or hierarchy is inherently problematic.

Any individual acquainted with Ambedkar and his life and work is aware of his attempts at reforming the caste system until his speech on May 31, 1936, in which he said that the path to salvation for the depressed classes lies in conversion. On October 14, 20 years later, along with his followers, Babasaheb finally converted from Hinduism to Buddhism at Deekshabhoomi, Nagpur.

I decided to follow in his footsteps on the same date and at the same place. When I spoke to my parents about everything I had on my mind, they were supportive of my decision. However, it was not easy to follow Ambedkars path. I kept postponing my decision owing to the stress of applying to colleges and the constant fear of Covid-19.

Moreover, travelling to Nagpur by train and arriving there on Dhammachakra Pravartan Diwas, and then leaving for home the day after sounded hectic. It ended up being a comfortable journey owing to the support of my friends and Dipankar Kamble, an Ambedkarite and a mentor, who encouraged me to not postpone my decision on account of the difficulties of travelling to Nagpur.

Late afternoon on October 14, I took the 22 vows that Ambedkar had taken 66 years ago. Prior to my conversion, as I was walking towards Deekshabhoomi, I looked at the stalls on both sides of the roads, filled with books and posters about Ambedkar and Buddha. There were blue and panchsheel flags all around, with people raising slogans of Jai Bhim. After reciting the 22 vows, I got myself a few books, two portraits one each of Ambedkar and the Buddha and some figures of Buddha for some of my friends back home. As Ambedkar said, the decision to emancipate oneself from the hierarchy of caste is an informed one. One of the things which attracted me is a passage from Ambedkars essay, Buddha and the Future of His Religion. The Buddha claimed no such infallibility for what he taught, he wrote. The followers of Buddha had the liberty to abandon any of his teachings if it was found that at a given time and in given circumstances they do not apply.

The writer is a student of sociology in Delhi

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A student writes: Why I converted to Buddhism - The Indian Express

Many years ago, when I was walking on the South Devon coastal path [in England] with my mother, I was suddenly struck by what it meant to walk on a path. For some reason, I became aware that while I was on a path, I was necessarily heading toward a destination. A path, all paths, have some sort of purpose. They get you somewhere. You have a sense of direction. At the same time, I realized that in walking along a path, I do so without impediment. Theres nothing getting in my way, no obstacles, which means that Im able to get into my rhythm or pace. So a path is a space of freedoma space where movement is possible.

A path is also something that connects us to a human, and even an animal, community because paths, particularly trails in the countryside, are there only because of people having gone before. Its the tread of their feet that keeps the path open, even though they are long gone and away from view. At the same time, as we walk that path in their wake, we are serving to keep that path open for those who will follow.

When we talk of the eightfold path, it is helpful to reflect on the very metaphor of path itself, which we find in all traditions. What is distinctive about the eightfold path in Buddhism is that it is also described as a middle path, or a middle way. We could even translate that as a centered path or a central way. Its understood as a path that avoids slipping into dead ends. In other words, the middle way is a path that actually will get us somewhere.

Of course many of the paths we follow in our lives are not actually paths at all because they dont get us to where we would like them to get us. They dont fulfill the desires that we hope they will. So often, we pursue a course in our lives, yet we find ourselves back where we started. So often, we go around in circles and keep meeting these dead ends. But the middle way and the eightfold path are also described with the metaphor of a stream. Theres something about this path that is dynamic, or flowing. The person who has entered the eightfold path is one who is said to have entered a stream. In other words, a stream is a flowing body of water that is held between its two banks that allows it that same sense of directionthat same sense of freedom of movement. In some ways, too, being water, [the streamor pathis] something that nourishes society, community, and sentient beings.

For me, the eightfold path is part of a much longer pathing process that I call the four tasks. The four tasks describe in detail how this eightfold path arises. The first task is to embrace life, to fully understand the condition were in, but in a nonreactive way to pay attention with mindfulness, awareness, or sensitivity. That opens up a far greater awareness of how we react. We start noticing how often we encounter a situation, and it feels a certain way to us. That triggers a reaction: We either want it, we dont like it, or were bored by it. So we begin to become aware of these reactive processes.

The second task is to let [our reactions] be or let them go, so we dont get caught up and entangled in their narrative. Instead, we just remain mindfully conscious that this is how were reacting. That awareness of reactivity, that letting it be, rather than jumping on board and following, is what opens up the possibility of experiencing a nonreactive space. That nonreactive space is of the nature of nirvana itself. Its the absence of greed, hatred, fear, or confusion. It may be momentary, but as we touch that openness, and that spaciousness, it makes us aware of our freedom to live differentlyto not just be driven by our habits, but to respond to life situations in a way thats not just a habitual reactive engagement with the situation, but one that allows for greater responsiveness. Its here, [in this third task,] that the eightfold path begins.

The fourth task is to cultivate this path and to bring it into being. Its not reducible simply to being a good meditator or to developing certain spiritual ideas, or to having certain mystical insights (although all of those things can well be part of this process). The eightfold path highlights very clearly that this practice is one that engages the totality of what it means to be human.

In understanding how this process of cultivating a path might work, theres a discourse in the early Buddhist canon called the Bhavana sutta, the discourse on cultivation. [In it], the Buddha illustrates this process of cultivation with the example of a chicken and her eggs. Clearly, the Buddha paid attention to ordinary farming activities that he probably would have encountered throughout his life, and would have been aware that when a hen is sitting on eggs in her nest, she is slowly turning and moving them around to ensure each egg is the same temperature and has the same possibility of being warmed in such a way that the little chick can then break out of the shell. This analogy is presented as a way in which to work with these different bodies of practices.

Im selecting the eightfold path, one of the ones mentioned in that discourse, to show that the order in which we traditionally might have been presented with these ideas is open to modification. Indeed, perhaps, in our time, we need to rethink some of the elements of the eightfold path to highlight those which have been made more marginal, and to reconsider how this path could best be configured for our time and our world today. As an experiment with this egg-moving metaphor, Id like to suggest another way we could look at the eight branches of the path, starting with our perspective, what is sometimes called the right view, or our way of seeing ourselves in the world, and then seeing that perspective as what stimulates and opens up our imagination as we begin to move toward a response. [Then we move onto] how that imagination allows us to then engage ourselves with the tasks at hand through effort, through application itself, and how that can then lead us into a more refined mindfulness, or collectiveness, that enables us to be present and focused. And when we move into the actual response itself, we do so by communication, through our speech, voice, work, and those activities that really make our lives come fully alivewhether that work be one of a teacher, artist, carer, or businessperson. A person who feels a vocation for any particular way of life does so because that is what speaks to his or her needs most deeply. I feel that this way of living, outlined by these different branches, has, as its goal, in a way, the survival of life on Earth. And at our present time, this survival is not just about you, and me, and human beings, but all creatures whose lives have flourished on this planet, but whose lives are now understood to be under threat. So my sense of the eightfold path is that it allows this kind of thinking and questioning to have a framework and perspective.

Adapted from Reimagining the Eightfold Path, Tricycles newest online course, which launches November 14. Learn more here.

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Reflections on the Eightfold Path - Tricycle

In fact, the vows were designed to hurt Hindus.

Dr. Ambedkar had a justification for it.

He had repeatedly spoken about the need to reform Hindu society in a radical way.

Hindu society was (and is) surrounded by aggressively destructive forces. Hindus in vast regions that would soon become Pakistan were facing a definite Holocaust and extinction.

Yet, traditional Hindu leaders, who then had much more influence on Hindu society than they have now, were fighting tooth and nail the reforms that affirmed human dignity of the Scheduled Community Hindus.

In that context, Dr. Ambedkar had the right to offend Hindus. It was a Dharmic right.

But Hindu society has and had been reforming.

The Hindutva movement, particularly, has been able to take forward the fundamental reforms desired by Dr. Ambedkar in an unprecedented way.

Priests from the Scheduled Communities are today a reality. The RSS has contributed immensely to this social change. The toil of decades and the dedicated lives of seers of the Sangh like Dattopant Thengadi and activist-scholars like Ramesh Patange have brought perceivable changes.

Dr. Ambedkar knew that Hindu Dharma alone had the spiritual basis of democracy at its core, in the form of Upanishadic Mahavakyas.

Yet, Hindus did not derive the needed strength and courage to fight social stagnation from these Mahavakyas. A vast section of the Hindu population was oppressed by their own brethren who in turn were under colonial oppression of aliens.

Dr. Ambedkar realised that the Hindus oppressed by fellow Hindus in the name of Dharma, which was in fact pseudo-Dharma, needed a transformational alleviation both collective and individualistic.

A catharsis was needed for the Hindus oppressed and exploited by fellow Hindus and it was a religious transformation alone that could do that. Dr. Ambedkar understood this fundamental truth.

And at a time when people were searching for secular solutions, Dr. Ambedkar alone opted for a Dharmic resolution.

Given the scholar that he was, he would have known that Buddhism had not necessarily distinguished itself when it came to social justice.

Burakumin, the untouchable communities of Japan, were never a problem for Buddhism, including for the global spiritual fad, Zen Buddhism.

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From Hatred to Samanvaya: How Hinduism Can Render The 22 Vows Of 'Navayana Buddhism' Irrelevant - Swarajya

Here at Tricycle, we read a lot of Buddhist books, keeping our eyes peeled for any titles that may interest our readers. But like anyone with a Netflix (or Hulu, or HBO Max, or Disney+) subscription, we also end up watching a lot of shows. Although references to Buddhism in Western TV and film are typically scant or nonexistent, we still often find ourselves drawing connections to Buddhist wisdom. So we assembled a list of recently watched shows or films that called Buddhist themes or principles to mindsome more directly than others. Take them as suggestions the next time youre struggling to find something to watch.

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Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021)Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp

You may or may not be familiar with Marcel, the anthropomorphic one-inch-tall shell outfitted with a singly googly eye and pair of pink sneakers, who first captivated viewers in 2010 through a series of short YouTube videos that garnered millions of views. Now, hes the star of the recently released A24 film Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, which premiered in festivals in 2021 before its wide release in July of 2022. The stop-motion-animated film is shot as a mockumentary, with director Dean Fleischer Camp playing a fictionalized version of himself as a recent divorcee and documentary filmmaker who moves into an Airbnb and discovers that hes not its only resident. Camp stumbles upon Marcel (voiced by actress and comedian Jenny Slate) and his grandmother, Nana Connie, two tiny shell creatures who have lived unnoticed in the house for generations.

While the movie is both sweet and laugh-out-loud funny, it doesnt shy away from heavier themes of loss and death. Marcel reveals to Camp that his community of shells used to be much larger, but due to an unexplained tragedy, they have been missing for years. This loss of community drives the plot of the film as Camp and Marcel set out to find the shells family with the help of the internet. I could go on about how the film explores sensationalism in the digital era, astutely highlighting the difference between an audience and a community, but thats not what touched me the most about Marcels story. Rather, its how Marcel deeply understands and appreciates his place in the world, even as a tiny, one-inch mollusk. In the films final moments, Marcel shows us one of his favorite spots in the house, a quiet windowsill where the breeze flutters in. As he stands there, he notes how he can hear the wind blowing through his shell, showing him that hes a small but indispensable part of the worlds beauty. I like the way I sound in the world, he whispers.

Though it may come across as a childrens film, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On tempers its sweetness with deep wisdom. Marcel bestows upon audiences the importance of community, love for the little things, and quiet reflection on our interdependence.

Amanda Lim Patton

How to Change Your Mind (2022) Directed by Alison Ellwood and Lucy Walker, starring Michael Pollan

How to Change Your Mind is a four-part Netflix documentary series based on Michael Pollans 2018 book, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence. In the show, as in the book, Pollan aims to destigmatize psychedelics like LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, and MDMA, and investigates how they might be used to understand the mind and treat health conditions like depression and anxiety. Many of the shows interviewees describe their experience with psychedelics as deeply healing and spiritual. In the first episode on LSD, one researcher named James Fadiman explains how his first trip awakened him to the reality of our interdependence. I took LSD and that was the day that my life was transformed, where I realized that Jim Fadiman, for all of his benefits and flaws, was a subset of a larger being. And that larger being was connected to all other beings. In other words, a classical mythical experience of awareness of the unity and the interweaving of all things.

Though Pollan isnt Buddhist himself, he says that his personal experiences with these drugs led him to a regular meditation practice, and his research explores many Buddhist themes, including questioning consciousness, the ego, and the self.

Alison Spiegel and Amanda Lim Patton

The Midnight Gospel (2020)Created by Pendleton Ward and Duncan Trussell

The Midnight Gospel is not a casual watch. Or, I suppose it could be, but then youd either be missing out on all the absurd details of its animation or the nuances of the philosophical conversations. Granted, its often difficult to focus on both at the same time. Co-created by Adventure Time creator Pendleton Ward and comedian Duncan Trussell, The Midnight Gospel is an animated Netflix series that follows the cosmic adventures of a spacecaster (video podcaster in space) named Clancy Gilroy. In each episode, Gilroy (voiced by Trussell) travels to a new planet and interviews one of its inhabitants for his spacecast, often asking guests about their life philosophies as the pair navigate an impending apocalyptic disaster.

Uniquely, each episodes spacecast interview is adapted from earlier episodes of Trussells own podcast, The Duncan Trussell Family Hour. A Tibetan Buddhist himself, Trussells selected guests within The Midnight Gospel include an array of spiritual teachers, such as Tibetan teacher David Nichtern, Vipassana teacher Trudy Goodman, and the late American spiritual leader Ram Dass. My favorite episode of the series is the last one, in which Gilroy interviews his mother, voiced by retired psychologist and Trussells late mother Deneen Fendig. The two embark on an emotional journey through the cycle of birth, life, and death, which is made more acute given that Fendig had late-stage breast cancer at the time of the interview. Gilroy asks his mother what advice she would give to people who are dealing with heartbreak around death. She replies, I would tell them to cry when they need to cry. And to turn toward this thing thats called death Even if youre afraid to turn toward it, turn toward it. It wont hurt you. And see what it has to teach you. Its a tremendous teacher, free of charge. As I said, the show is not a casual watch. But its definitely worth watching.

Amanda Lim Patton

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (2019-)Produced by Ufotable

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is a thrilling, action-packed anime aboutyou guessed itslaying dangerous demons. Despite the gore, the show manages to be lighthearted and funny. This combination may be the reason its one of the most popular anime series running right now. In fact, the sequel film Demon Slayer: Mugen Train (2020) is now the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time.

When a demon attacks a rural family of charcoal makers, only two survive: Tanjiro and his little sister, Nezuko, who is tragically turned into a demon. To avenge his family and find a way to transform his sister back into a human, Tanjiro joins the Demon Slayer Corps, a group of elite swordsmen dedicated to protecting humans from their hungry demon adversaries.

Over the course of the series, both of the siblings develop a kind of bodhicittaa strong desire to alleviate the suffering of others and to deal with their demons (both internal and external) skillfully. Motivated by her own willpower and love for her brother, Nezuko learns to control her demon impulse to kill humans and instead fights alongside Tanjiro as a demon slayer. By envisioning all of humanity as her close family, shes able to use her own demonic powers to protect others. And, unlike his demon slayer comrades, Tanjiro develops compassion for even the most despicable, terrifying demons and maintains a gentle spaciousness in his heart amidst immense loss. Many of the demons that Tanjiro fights are moved by his kindness and are able to recall their past lives as humansalong with their trauma or conditions that led them to become a demon. Thanks to Tanjiros compassion for all beings, the demons are able to discover a sense of peace in their final moments.

Aidan Speckhard

Bouddhisme, La Loi du Silence (or Buddhism: The Unspeakable Truth) (2022)Directed by Elodie Emery and Wandrille Lanos

On September 13, Arte, a European public service TV network, released a documentary called Bouddhisme, La Loi du Silence (or Buddhism: The Unspeakable Truth), made by filmmakers Elodie Emery and Wandrille Lanos. The film is currently available to watch in France until December 11, 2022, and the Tricycle editorial staff recently watched the film together. La Loi du Silence spotlights patterns of abuse by Tibetan Buddhist teachers around the world, as well as the insufficient condemnation of such abuse by leaders like the Dalai Lama. In the process, the film raises many questions: How do teachers and communities distort Buddhist teachings in harmful ways? Who is responsible for teacher-student abuse or systemic abuse within a community? How has the Dalai Lamas dual role as a political and spiritual leader compromised his ability to call out abuse and his effectiveness in stopping it? Why were Westerners drawn to Buddhism in the first place, and what led some to leave their children under the care of leaders like Robert Spatz, who is a central figure in the documentary? How can senior teachers and members of Buddhist communities expose, speak out against, and work to prevent this kind of abuse from occurring in the future? Although the documentary may introduce unspeakable truths to new audiences who were not previously familiar with the assault and manipulation that has occurred within some Buddhist groups, ultimately the film leaves many questions unanswered.

Alison Spiegel

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What We're Watching: Buddhist TV Shows and Movies - Tricycle - Tricycle

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat has caused yet another storm by calling for the caste and the varna systems to be thrown out of Hinduism lock, stock and barrel.

At a book release event in Nagpur on October 7, Bhagwat criticised the inhuman treatment meted out to some of our own people. He declared, This sin has happened and it must be atoned for.

The speech drew a variety of reactions. Some have welcomed it, some are looking at it with circumspection and others are dismissing it as yet another smokescreen to cover up the disturbing situation in which India finds itself.

Of course, there is much to agree with in Bhagwats statement. Should we abolish the caste system? Yes sooner than later.

So, why view it with scepticism? Here was an opportunity for Sangh supporters to showcase Bhagwats statement to silence the critics who accuse the organisation of being Brahminical.

Ironically, the speech has already resulted in a case being filed against Girish Kuber, the editor of the Marathi daily Loksatta, and the papers Nagpur reporter Rajeshwar Thakte by Sangh members angry that the publication had said that Bhagwat mentioned Brahmins in his speech though he had not specified any caste.

It is true that Bhagwat did not single out any group when he called for the atonement of sins committed in the name of caste and varna but the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief could not have been referring to anyone other than members of the upper castes.

By raising a hue and cry over the misreporting of Bhagwats speech, the followers of the Sangh have unwittingly fallen into a trap. If they say he was not referring to Brahmins, they must explain to whom he was referring.

There could be two proximate causes for Bhagwats decision to attack casteism and at this time. The Sangh has specific inputs about growing unrest among Dalits about the attempt to enfold members of the lower castes into the saffron vote bank. The Sangh also fears a possible surge in religious conversions of Dalits, particularly to Buddhism.

An event in Delhi on October 5, attended by Rajendra Pal Gautam, a minister of the Aam Aadmi Party in that state, saw 10,000 Dalits embrace Buddhism.

BR Ambedkars great grandson Rajratna Ambedkar told a television channel that at the annual Dhammachakra Pravartan Din programme at Nagpur on the same Vijaydashami day, over five lakh Dalits had converted to Buddhism.

While new adherents embrace Buddhism every year in Nagpur on Vijaydashami day in commemoration of BR Ambedkars conversion to Buddhism there in 1956, the number of five lakh new adherents seems like an exaggeration. Generally, the Nagpur event sees a few thousand people converting to Buddhism.

Still, as if that was not enough, Rajratna Ambedkar claimed that about 10 crore Dalits will convert to Buddhism in 2025, the year when the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh celebrates its centenary.

Dalits have much to be angry about. Over the past few years, there have been prominent instances of atrocities against Dalits across the country, from Dalit tanners being flogged in Gujarats Una town to the rape and murder of a Dalit girl in the town of Hathras in Uttar Pradesh.

The National Crime Records Bureau reported that crimes against Dalits had increased by 9.3% in 2020 over the previous year. In March, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale told Parliament that 1,38,825 cases related to crimes against Dalits were filed across the country between 2018 and 2020.

While atrocities on Dalits have been occuring from much before the Narendra Modi government took over at the Centre, what is markedly different in the post-2014 incidents is the complete silence from top Bharatiya Janata Party and Sangh officials about these crimes.

If the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was sincere about improving the lives of Dalits, it would have focused on caste equality if not on caste annihilation from the beginning. However, instead of equality (samata), it kept emphasising cohesion (samrasta). Many in the Sangh parivar defend the varna system as a scientific way to ensure the smooth functioning of society.

A telling example of the Sanghs ambiguous attitudes to Dalits is its ambivalence on the policy of reservations for members of marginalised groups in educational institutions and government jobs. It has, at times, very magnanimously called for the reservation policy to be continued as long as Dalits themselves dont call for an end to it.

But Bhagwat himself was in the news when he purportedly called for a review of the reservations policy just before Bihar Assembly elections last year.

The Sanghs equivocation about Dalits is also evident in the disjunction in the the positions it has taken on members of marginalised castes compared to Muslims. While it has long demanded that Muslims set right the so-called historical wrongs committed by their forefathers against Hindus, this is the first time that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh called for atonement of sins committed against Dalits in the past.

Still, as some have pointed out, if Muslims must pay for historical atrocities against Hindus, perhaps this demand must also be extended to members of the upper castes for repressing Dalits for centuries.

As a consequence, it is difficult to view the atonement call as anything beyond a safety valve to let out the growing pressure of Dalit disenchantment with the Hindutva project.

Clearly, it will take concrete implementation on the ground of the Sanghs ideas for sceptics to believe that Bhagwat is speaking from the heart.

If the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghs intentions are sincere, all doubts will vanish.

Vivek Deshpande worked with The Indian Express and is now a freelance journalist in Nagpur.

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Why RSS chief Mohan Bhagwats call for caste system to be discarded has been met with scepticism - Scroll.in

The second Lotsawa Translation Workshop, titled Celebrating Buddhist Womens Voices in the Tibetan Tradition, was held at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, from 13-16 October.

The event was organized with the support of the Tsadra Foundation and Luce/ACLS, two private foundations based in New York, and in cooperation with Northwesterns Department of Religious Studies, and the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures.

The Lotsawa Translation Workshop was designed to provide an opportunity for translators and scholars to work together in a hands-on setting on translations-in-progress. Among the goals of the workshop are: connecting theory and practice in crafting literary translations of Buddhist literature from Tibetan into English; forging a community of practice around translation through experimentation, dialogue, and feedback; and making short works of Tibetan Buddhist literature available to practitioners, undergraduates, and the general public by publishing thematic anthologies of translations.

The thematic focus of the workshop is an exploration of issues around translating the voices and experiences of Buddhist women from Tibetan sources into English. This includes works from different genres and time periods, ranging from classical Buddhist texts to the writings of modern Tibetan women.

The workshop is inspired by the groundbreaking compilation of 52 volumes of writings by, for, and about Buddhist women in the Tibetan language called kins Great Dharma Treasury (Tib: mkha groi chos mdzod chen mo), published in 2017 by the rya Tre Publishing Committee and combining the writings of Buddhist nuns from Larung Gar in eastern Tibet.

The first Lotsawa Translation Workshop was held at the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2018 under the theme Tibetan Songs (mgur) and Affect in a Buddhist Devotional Framework.

The organizers hope that this second Lotsawa Translation Workshop will offer practical support to newer translators and graduate students, provoke fresh approaches to the translation of Tibetan Buddhist texts, and cultivate a greater sense of community among those engaged in translation.

The workshop organizers are four accomplished female scholars: Sarah Jacoby, associate professor of Religious Studies at Northwestern University; Padma tsho, a professor in the Philosophy Department of Southwest University for Nationalities in Chengdu, China; Holly Gayley, associate professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder; and Dominique Townsend, assistant professor of Buddhist Studies at Bard College in Annandale on Hudson, New York.

The format for the four-day event combined keynote lectures, panels, and breakout sessions in the mornings. The afternoons were dedicated to working on translations-in-progress in small groups.The program started on 13 October with a keynote dialogue between Sarah Harding and Tenzin Dickie.

There were breakout sessions over the following three days divided into three themes: Politics of Translation, Gender and Genre, and New Directions, along with panels and workshops. A panel dedicated to Reflections on Translating Womens Lives and Teachings in the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition with Karma Lekshe Tsomo, Choela Tenzin Dadon, Ani Choyang, Damch Diana Finnegan, and Janet Gyatso, was organized on 14 October, followed by three breakout groups: Womens Voices in Tibetan Texts, Power Dynamics in Fe/male Literary Dialogues, and Translating Voices from the Margins.

Evening events included readings by renowned Tibetan authors, organized with the cooperation of the Tibetan Alliance of Chicago and titled A Celebration of Tibetan and Himalayan Women Writers. It featured readings by Kunzang Choden, Tsering Yangzom Lama, Nyima Tso, Kelsang Lhamo, and Tenzin Dickie.

A keynote address on Feminist Translation and Translation Studies: In Flux Toward the Transnational was offered by Luise von Flotow on 15 October, followed by three breakout groups: Inclusive/Feminist Approaches to Buddhist Translation, Literary & Liturgical Representations of Women & the Feminine, and Yab Yum Symbolism, Heteronormativity, and Translating Sexual Yoga, as well as a conversation ontranslating the Khandro Chdz Chenmo.

The program concluded on 16 October with a panel on Literary Perspectives from Tibetan and Himalayan Women Writers with Kunzang Chodon, Tsering Yangzom Lama, Nyima Tso, Kelsang Lhamo, and Tashi Dekyidand, and with three breakouts groups: Translation Fidelity or InterventionWhen Should Translators Sanitize Misogyny, Explain It, Reproduce It, or Refuse to Translate It?, Translating Contemporary Womens Writing, and Buddhist Tropes of Masculinity.

The Second Lotsawa Translation WorkshopThe 2018 Lotsawa Translation WorkshopProgram of the workshop

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Northwestern University Hosts Lotsawa Translation Workshop on Buddhist Womens Voices in the Tibetan Tradition - Buddhistdoor Global

When I was a child, the autumn months used to make me sad. The weather would become colder, the days grew shorter, and it seemed like everything was changing for the worst. The icing on this terrible situation was that the trees were dying.

At least, I thought they were dying as their leaves changed color and fell to the ground. The adults in my life told me the trees were just sleeping but I didnt believe them. How could a tree lose all of its leaves and stay alive? I wondered.

As I grew older, and I had a few more autumns under my belt, I realized that the adults were partially correct. Yes, the trees were sleeping, withdrawing nutrients from their branches, and storing up sugars for the winter months. But there were other things happening as well.

I learned that leaves arent actually green. They only look that way because they are filled with chlorophyl. Its only in the fall when the chlorophyl dries up and the leaves are about to die that we see their true colors.

I learned that when the leaves fall on the ground, they provide habitats for a host of insects that need a resting place for the winter. And they insulate the ground so that earthworms in the soil dont freeze. Finally, when the leaves break down and decompose, they fertilize the soil, adding nutrients to support the growth of the trees and other plants in the spring.

As I learned more about the natural processes of the world, my childlike ignorance was replaced with wisdom and I gained an appreciation for the impermanent nature of trees. And when I grew older, Buddhism helped me gain that same appreciation for the impermanent nature of people.

As humans, we are of a nature to be born, to grow old, to fall sick, and to die. In the beginning, growing older is a good thing. Its a transition that adds more richness and complexity to our lives. At 16 we can drive, at 18 we leave home for college, at 25 we can rent a car! But as we age there inevitably comes a tipping point at which life stops giving us things and it starts to take them away.

As we grow older our bodies start to break down, illness becomes more frequent, and we may struggle to keep up with new technology. To be frank, these changes are unpleasant at best, and at worst they can be a source of immense suffering.

And this suffering is multiplied by a secular world that is rooted in ignorance, a world that tells us our bodies should never change. According to the advertisements that appear on our digital devices, every 50-year-old should look like theyre 25 and every sick person just needs to adopt a more positive mindset.

In contrast, Buddhism teaches that change is a natural, inescapable part of life. Everything in the universe, including people, is in a constant state of transition. If we can learn to accept lifes transitions, we can appreciate them in the same way that a child might appreciate the beauty of fallen leaves.

When we approach the aging process with this newfound wisdom, we find beauty in the midst of achy joints and gray hairs.

We notice that our youthful vigor has been replaced with a host of life experiences that help us make better, more considered choices. We realize that a quiet evening with good friends can be more enjoyable than a night out on the town surrounded by strangers. And we find more time for spiritual practice as we let go of our juvenile desires.

More than that, as the autumn leaves fall from our proverbial tree, we realize that theyre making room for new growth to emerge. This may look like taking up a new hobby or deepening our relationship with our partner.

When we do this, when we approach the aging process with a mind of acceptance, the world opens up to us. And the suffering thats normally associated with the process of birth, aging, sickness, and death disappears. Instead, its replaced by a feeling of joy and quiet contentment as we look over the fallen leaves of our past and look forward to the new growth that will emerge in our future.

Like a child who looks at the orange and red leaves of autumn and understands that they are harbingers of good days to come, we experience aging as evidence that life has new, exciting challenges in store. And when the day finally comes, and our human shell stops its worldly function, we can let it go without fear because we know that the end of one life leads to the beginning of another in the same way that the end of one season leads to the beginning of another.

Namu Amida Butsu

Dance for a Passing WorldGratitudeConnecting the Past and Present of Shugendo The Revival of Japans Ancient Mountain Ascetic Tradition, Part FourSowing the Seeds of Light and Life, Harvesting the Fruit of RebirthBodhimandalaPandemics and Inner PeaceAt the Dog Park: Rejoicing in our Common Roots of Good and Evil

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Acceptance and Autumn Leaves - Buddhistdoor Global