ICT

At the recently concluded Philippine Digital Convention (PH Digicon 2020) by PLDT Enterprise, Kazuhiro Gomi, president and CEO, NTT Research, shared the fundamental research milestones coming out of its three labs: the Physics and Informatics (PHI) Lab, the Cryptography and Information Security (CIS) Lab, and the Medical and Health Informatics (MEI) Lab, that are hoped to lead to monumental tech innovations.

The three-day virtual convention drew in more than 3,000 views during the live stream broadcast of the plenary sessions and breakout sessions covering various topics.

Gomi headlined the second day with his topic Upgrading Reality, a glimpse into breakthrough research that NTT Research is currently working on that could hasten digital transformations.

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In a discussion with Cathy Yap-Yang, FVP and head Corporate Communications, PLDT, Gomi elaborated on next-generation technologies, particularly the Bio Digital Twin project, that could potentially be game-changing in the medical field, quantum computing, and advanced cryptography.

Bido Digital Twin

The Bio Digital Twin is an initiative where a digital replica of a patients internal system functions first as a model for possible testing of procedures and chemical reactions and seeing possible results before actual application to the person.

We are trying to create an electronic replica of the human body. If we are able to create something like that, the future of clinical and medical activities will be very different, Gomi said. If we have a precise replica of your human body, you can predict what type of disease or what type of problem you might have maybe three years down the road. Or, if your doctor needs to test a new drug for you, he can do so onto the digital twin.

NTT Research is a fundamental research organization in Silicon Valley that carries out advanced research for some of the worlds most important and impactful technologies, including quantum computing, cryptography, information security, and medical and health informatics.

Computing power

However, to get there and make the Bio Digital Twin possible, there are hurdles from various disciplines, including the component of computing power.

Gomi explained that people believed that todays computers can do everything, but in reality, it might actually take years to solve complex problems, whereas a quantum computer could solve these problems in seconds.

There are different kinds of quantum computers, but all are based upon quantum physics. At NTT Research, Gomi revealed that their group is working on a quantum computer called a coherent Ising machine which could solve combinatorial optimization problems.

We may be able to bring those superfast machines to market, to reality, much quicker. That is what we are aiming for, he said.

Basically, the machine, using many parameters and complex optimization, finds the best solution in a matter of seconds which may take months or years using conventional computers.

Some examples where quantum computing may be applied include lead optimization problems such as effects on small molecule drugs, peptide drugs, and Biocatalyst, or resource optimization challenges such as logistics, traffic control, or using wireless networks. Gomi also expounded on compressed sensing cases, including use in astronomical telescopes, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and computed tomography.

Quantum computing

Apart from quantum computing, Gomi reiterated the issues of cybersecurity and privacy. Today, encryption is able to address those challenges but it would soon require a more advanced and sophisticated type of technology if we are to upgrade reality.

From the connected world, obviously we want to exchange more data among each other, but we have to make sure that security and privacy are maintained. We have to have those things together to get the best out of a connected world, he said.

Among next-generation advanced encryptions, Gomi highlighted Attribute-Based Encryption where various decryption keys define access control of the encrypted data. For example, depending on the user (or the type of key he/she has) what they are allowed to view is different or controlled by the key issuers.

He noted that in the next couple of years, we should be able to commercialize this type of technology. We can maintain privacy while encouraging the sharing of data with this mechanism.

Gomi reiterated that we are at the stage of all kinds of digital transformations.

Digital transformation

Those digital transformations are making our lives so much richer and business so much more interesting and efficient. I would imagine those digital transformations will continue to advance even more, he said.

However, there are limiting factors that could impede or slow down those digital transformations such as energy consumption, Moores law of limitation as we cannot expect too much of the capacities of the electronic chips from current computers, and the issues on privacy and security. Hence, we need to address those factors.

PH Digicon 2020 is the annual convention organized by PLDT Enterprise which gathered global industry leaders to speak on the latest advancements in the digital landscape. This years roster of speakers included tech experts and heads from Cisco, Nokia, Salesforce, NTT Research, and goop CEO and multi-awarded Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow who headlined the first virtual run.

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NTTs Kazuhiro Gomi says Bio Digital Twin, quantum computing the next-gen tech - Backend News

A Scoville Heat Scale For Emerging Technologies in 2021

A couple of years back I wrote an article in FORBES called a A Scoville Heat Scale For Measuring Cybersecurity. The Scoville Scale is a measurement chart used to rate the heat of peppers or other spicy food. For that article, I devised my own Scoville Scale-like heat characterizations of the cyber threats and rated the heat on the corresponding cyber security impact.

As we enter a new decade of transformation, I am applying that same Scoville scale to the topic of emerging technologies. It could be surmised that all these emerging technologies are already hot on a heat scale as they are already facilitating exponential changes in our society. True but some areas of emerging tech are further along than others in how it will be impacting our lives in the coming year.

Health Technologies:

Medicine doctor and robotics research and analysis, Scientist diagnose checking coronavirus or ... [+] covid-19 testing result with modern virtual screen in laboratory, Medical technology and inhibition of disease outbreaks.

I will start my measurement activities at the hottest emerging tech measured on Scoville heat scale. Health and medical technologies are really a diverse area of tech that has been impacted by Covid19, especially in research, development and prototyping. Healthcare technologies include everything from biotechnology, nano deliveries of therapeutics, drug discovery, telemedicine (Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality), genomics, cybernetics, bionics, wearables, robotics, and the internet of medical things. All of these component technologies are now being fused with new capabilities in machine learning/artificial intelligence algorithms for better diagnosis and treatment of patients.

Heat Scale Rating: Trinidad Scorpion Pepper. Covid19 has pushed us to explore and bring to market new heath related technologies. We are on the way to smarter health and medical care and this technology area is both multidimensional and very promising.

Artificial Intelligence & Machine learning (AI/ML):

Conceptual background of Artificial intelligence , humans and cyber-business on programming ... [+] technology element ,3d illustration

The cognitive technologies AI & ML also have quite a hot measurement on the Scoville pepper scale. AI & ML are not necessarily new innovations, but they are ones that still have yet to reach full potential. In 2020, both AI & ML started to flourish and it will continue to do so throughout 2021. At its core, AI & ML are really about data integration, quality (image definition) and collection and processing of that data that allows for meaningful analytics. Applications for AI are increasing in variety and capability (especially automation)and are now being applied to almost every industry vertical, including finance, healthcare, energy, transportation, and cybersecurity. Most intriguing, but only in the earliest stages is AL/ML neural human augmentation. Neuromorphic technologies, and human/computer interface will extend our human brain capacities, memories and capabilities. Please see my recent FORBES article for a more in-depth analysis on the merging of human and machine:

Heat Scale Rating: Chocolate Haberno. AI & ML are certainly making significant impact to anything and everything tech related. Its very hot but will get hotter as we continue to aim higher for sentient capabilities in our machines. Of course that capability may turn into a double edged sword and we may end up having regrets in the not so distant future.

The Internet of Things (IoT):

Smart city and communication network concept. 5G. LPWA (Low Power Wide Area). Wireless ... [+] communication.

IoT refers to the general idea of things that are readable, recognizable, locatable, addressable, and/or controllable via the Internet. Essentially this connotes physical objects communicating with each other via sensors. The IoT networks include everything from edge computing devices, to home appliances, from wearable technology, to cars. In essence, IoT represents the melding of the physical world and the digital world. According to Gartner, there are nearly 26 billion networked devices currently on the Internet of Things in 2020, That actually may be a conservative estimate as more and more people are getting connected to the internet in a remote work oriented world. IoT is being boosted by edge computing combined with next gen microchips, and lower costs of manufacturing sensors.

Heat Scale Rating: Scotch Bonnet. IoT is still a work in progress, it is growing rapidly in size, and faces a myriad of regulatory and cybersecurity challenges. Eventually it will be the backbone of smart cities. The connectivity and operational expansion of IoT infrastructures and devices will be integral to the conduct of many business and personal activities in the near future.In 2021 the IoT roll out will continue.

5G:

5G (5th generation) communication technology concept. Smart city. Telecommunication.

In 2020 advanced 5G and wireless networks have started to bring benefits, including faster speeds, higher traffic capacities, lower latency, and increased reliability to consumers and businesses. As it grows, 5G will impact commercial verticals such as retail, health, and financial by enabling processing, communications, and analytics in real time. Compared to the last generation of 4G networks, 5G is estimated to have the capability to run 100 times faster, up to 10 gigabits per second making quick downloads of information and streaming of large bandwidth content a breeze. Although 5G is in the initial stages of deployment, connectivity is already exponentially expanding. The industry trade group 5G Americas cited an Omdia report that counted more than 17.7 million 5G connections at the end of last year, including a 329 percent surge during the final three months of 2019. Omdia is also predicting 91 million 5G connections by the end of 2020. In 20121, the 5G roll out will continue on a larger scale.

Heat Scale Rating: Tabasco Pepper. 5G is evolving but still only has limited deployments. Many compliance and security issues are still being worked out. No doubt that in the next few years as 5G is implemented and upgraded, the Scoville pepper rating will become much hotter.

Quantum-computing:

Abstract science, hands holding atomic particle, nuclear energy imagery and network connection on ... [+] dark background.

Quantum Computing like AI & ML, has already arrived. IBM, Google, Intel, Honeywell, D-Wave, and several others are all in various stages of developing quantum computers. It is also a U.S. government priority. Recently, the Department of Energy announced the investment of over $1 billion for five quantum information science centers. Quantum computing works by harnessing the special properties of atoms and subatomic particles. Physicists are designing quantum computers that can calculate at amazing speeds and that would enable a whole new type of cryptography. It is predicted that quantum computers will be capable of solving certain types of problems up to 100 million times faster than conventional systems. As we get closer to a fully operational quantum computer, a new world of smart computing beckons.

Heat Scale Rating: Serrano Pepper. Quantum science is a new frontier and the physics can be complicated. Good progress is being made, especially on quantum encryption, but a fully operational quantum computer is still a few years away from fruition.

Big Data: Real-time Analytics and Predictive Analytics:

young asian woman uses digital tablet on virtual visual screen at night

Big Data: Real-time Analytics and Predictive Analytics flourishes in the world of software algorithms combined with evolving computing firmware and hardware. Data is the new gold but much more plentiful. According to Eric Schmidt , former CEO of Google, we now produce more data every other day than we did from the inception of early civilization until the year 2003 combined. It is estimated that the amount of data stored in the world's computer systems is doubling every two years, Therefore, the challenges of organizing, processing, managing, and analyzing data have become more important than ever. Emerging big data analytics tools are helping collapse information gaps and giving businesses and governments the tools they need to uncover trends, demographics, and preferences, and solutions to a wide variety of problem sets in many industries.

Heat Scale Rating: Thai Pepper. Solid heat but much room for more. Big data analytics ultimately will rely on the fusion of other technologies such as AL/MI and 5G. Fusion of emerging tech will be a growing factor in most future development and use cases. For a deeper dive, please see my FORBES article: The New Techno-Fusion: The Merging Of Technologies Impacting Our Future

Other Tech Trends:

Abstract pixelated digital world map silhouette in cold blue colors, with infographic icons, line ... [+] graph and year labels. Horizontal focused on the year 2021.

There are really too many emerging technologies to match with the heat peppers on the Scoville Heat Scale. I have only touched upon a few of them. Others include materials science (including self-assembling materials), enabling nanotechnologies, 3D Printing (photovoltaics and printed electronics), wearables (flexible electronics). The world of augmented and virtual reality is also exciting and paradigm changing. And, like 5G cloud computing is a vital network backbone for increased productivity and security moving and storing data and applications over the internet from remote servers. I would be remiss if I did not add cybersecurity as the all encompassing blanket for emerging technologies. Cybersecurity is a critical component for most tech, whether it be Health Technologies, IoT, 5G, AL/ML, Quantum, and Big Data that will allow for information assurance, privacy, and resilience. No matter how you view it 2021 will be a hot year for emerging tech and hopefully a safer, happier and more prosperous one for all.

A great idea changes the idea - today and tomorrow - with chalk on blackboard

About the author:

Chuck Brooks, President of Brooks Consulting International, is a globally recognized thought leader and evangelist for Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies. LinkedIn named Chuck as one of The Top 5 Tech Experts to Follow on LinkedIn. Chuck was named as a 2020 top leader and influencer in Whos Who in Cybersecurity by Onalytica. He was named by Thompson Reuters as a Top 50 Global Influencer in Risk, Compliance, and by IFSEC as the #2 Global Cybersecurity Influencer. He was named by The Potomac Officers Club and Executive Mosaic and GovCon as at One of The Top Five Executives to Watch in GovCon Cybersecurity. Chuck is a two-time Presidential appointee who was an original member of the Department of Homeland Security. Chuck has been a featured speaker at numerous conferences and events including presenting before the G20 country meeting on energy cybersecurity.

Chuck is on the Faculty of Georgetown University where he teaches in the Graduate Applied Intelligence and Cybersecurity Programs. He is a contributor to FORBES, a Cybersecurity Expert for The Network at the Washington Post, Visiting Editor at Homeland Security Today, He has also been featured speaker, author on technology and cybersecurity topics by IBM, AT&T, Microsoft, General Dynamics, Xerox, Checkpoint, Cylance, and many others.

Chuck Brooks LinkedIn Profile:

Chuck Brooks on Twitter: @ChuckDBrooks

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A Scoville Heat Scale For Measuring The Progress Of Emerging Technologies In 2021 - Forbes

This is the moment Piers Morgan erupted in anger at a Conservative commentator on Good Morning Britain today.

Ann Coulter was on the ITV1 daytime TV favourite dialling in via video link for an interview in the wake of the US Election.

Joe Biden won the Election, it was confirmed on Saturday, after days of President Donald Trump alleging voter fraud.

"There may have been a little funny business with the ballots," Ann said.

Susanna hit back: "There is no evidence yet is there, though?"

Piers said: "The truth is this. There is no hard evidence of widespread fraud and the truth is there have been thousands of appeals at all levels into fraudulent voting.

"Only on three occasions have they found any substance.

"There is currently no substance on this claim."

Ann hit back: "I don't think it will change the result of the Election. Once it is baked into the cake, it is baked into the cake.

"But just looking at it, it is perfectly obvious. That is absolutely not true there is no substance.

"Just looking at it, it is obvious - 4am election night and there is four states Trump had won, in big urban areas where there are big Democrat political machines.

"I am not saying it will change the result of the election. I kind of like the result of the election.

"I do not think Kamala will be very hard to beat in four years."

GMB continues to air each weekday from 6am on ITV1.

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Piers Morgan erupts in fiery clash with GMB guest over US Election 'voter fraud' - Birmingham Live

With President Trumps chances of staying in the White House dwindling, the Republican Party potentially faces a vacuum as it works out who might be the GOPs new leader and standardbearer in 2024.

The departure of Trump from the scene opens the door to a number of potential candidates who have come up under the mercurial billionaire and who will vie to inherit the movement he created.

Never Trumpers lost, MAGA won, Ann Coulter an original Trump booster, who later soured on the president told The Post. We need Trumpism Without Trump.

Governor of Florida

Age 42

The governor of Florida went all in with Trump during his 2018 race and defied the polls to beat his Democratic opponent, Andrew Gillum. Defying dire warnings from liberals, the Florida populist has also moved aggressively to reopen his state and has managed to avoid devastating new surges of COVID-19.

With a population larger than New York state and a lot older under DeSantis, Florida had fewer deaths without destroying the economy, said Coulter, a DeSantis fan. He prevented BLM protests from turning into destructive riots by vowing to bring felony charges for toppling statues or blocking traffic Hes articulate, but not prissy, like [Mitt] Romney.

Senator from Texas

Age 49

If there was a second-place finisher in the 2016 Republican primary, it was Ted Cruz. The Texas senator won the Iowa caucus and was the only Trump rival who even came within running distance of the billionaire. Though famously disliked and not endorsed by any of his GOP Senate colleagues at the time, Cruz has worked hard on his image and playing nice with his fellow senators.

Cruz has also developed a vibrant Twitter account, with 4 million followers and growing, where he regularly feeds red meat to the base and has been a champion of free speech online. Where Trump was often volatile and thin-skinned on the platform, Cruz is controlled and often indulges in self-deprecating jokes that he might be the Zodiac killer.

I think Ted Cruz is the likely front-runner and will be very difficult to beat in Iowa. He will be a formidable candidate, GOP strategist Luke Thompson told The Post.

Fox News opinion host

Age 51

The Fox News primetime host is the most watched cable news star on television right now. His program Tucker Carlson Tonight was supposedly regular viewing in the White House. In March, it was Carlson who went to Mar-a-Lago to give Trump a stern warning about COVID-19 just days before the president declared a state of emergency.

A telling harbinger of his future? The enemies of Trump now view Carlson with fear. In September 2019, the New York Times produced a whole column imagining a Carlson administration, with the host himself featured above the story as the literal terminator.

Come, take a stroll with me through my recurrent nightmare: Its the sweltering summer of 2029, and the man in charge is Tucker Carlson that is, President Tucker Carlson now in his triumphant second term, after having defeated the incumbent Joseph Recession Joe Biden back in 2024, wrote Farhad Manjoo.

Rick Wilson, a founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, told The Post that Carlson was among the most likely choices his former party could rally around in 2024. Carlson (so far) says hes not interested.

Former US Ambassador to the United Nation

Age 48

Many who have despised Trumps more isolationist tendencies have been drawn to the possible candidacy of Nikki Haley. Many are hopeful the former South Carolina governor and US ambassador to the United Nations could rebuild trust in NATO and other US alliances around the world.

Shes a favorite of billionaire Republican mega-donor Ronald Lauder, who honored her last year with an award at the World Jewish Congress, where he serves as president.

You will not be able to rest because we expect even greater things from you, Lauder told Haley during the ceremony, where he also called her perhaps the most courageous woman in America today.

As a woman of color, electing Haley in 2024 would shatter many glass ceilings.

President of the United States

Age 74

Theres nothing stopping Trump himself from staging a political comeback. He wouldnt be much older than Biden now in 2024. He earned more votes than any Republican presidential candidate in history and few GOP aspirants would likely seek out a direct challenge a la 2016.

It wouldnt even be unprecedented, as President Grover Cleveland famously served two non-consecutive terms, from 1885 to 1889 and again from 1893 to 1897.

As many on the left have pointed out, the 2020 election was less a repudiation of Trump than a narrow loss for a man who proved just unpalatable enough for a critical sliver of his coalition.

Sean Spicer, a former Trump press secretary, told The Post his ex-boss would be an instant front-runner in a 2024 primary. He has a rock-solid base, I just dont think that there is anyone else who even comes close.

Teasing a potential run in 2024 would at the very least ensure Trump stays relevant and in the press for years to come.

If Trump himself passes on the opportunity, his two very political children Don Jr. and Ivanka Trump could also potentially pick up the mantle. Trump Jr. has long acted as an outside surrogate for his father online and in the press and connects strongly with his base. Ivanka, meanwhile, has years of administration experience under her belt as a White House adviser to her father.

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Here's who could be the Republican presidential candidate in 2024 - New York Post

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

This is the third essay in The Angsty Buddhist, a series about being Chinese American, nonbinary, and finding my own relationship with Buddhism, in a country where so many of its ideas have been whitewashed.

I usually think of 23 as when my body started to rebel, but it could have been earlier. Before that, there was the drive between San Francisco and LA where I felt like my entire body was being contorted by the seatbelt. There was the way I couldnt understand how other people carried shoulder bags didnt that make them feel lopsided? There was the way I flinched when other people tried to touch me. My mom always said I was tense, even when I was a little kid. Shed squeeze my shoulders, and theyd be like cement. When I tell people about this, I laugh. Isnt it funny that Ive never been able to relax?

But 23 was when my body and its tension became the center of my life how I scheduled my day, chose what I wore, and spent most of my critical thinking skills trying to figure out how to manage. More than my angst about gender, what propelled me towards mens clothing was that the pants have pockets and it hurt too much to carry a purse.

I also thought I was making it all up and didnt mention it to my friends, even ones that I saw almost every day. Youre just doing this for attention, I told myself, even though I wasnt getting any attention because I refused to talk about it. The couple of times, I did bring it up vaguely, people dismissed me by saying I probably spent too much time on the computer, which Im sure I do, but not more than anyone else my age.

In the midst of this, or maybe because of it, I started going to meditation sessions at an acquaintances Zen Center. The Zen Center practiced a type of Buddhism that a Korean monk had started in Providence, Rhode Island because he thought Brown students would be the most receptive to his teachings (And they have money, I thought). This type of Zen gained popularity in the U.S. and Europe before making its way back to Asia. At the time, I was living in Hong Kong, and even though I didnt connect with this version of Buddhism and chafed at the fact that many of its leaders were white men, I reserved my biggest judgments because there were many people I met there whom it seemed to be helping.

What surprised me was how much meditation soothed my chronic pain. Afterwards, I walked back to the minibus feeling light, reveling in the fact that I was not thinking about the knots in my back, at least for the moment. I started researching mindfulness after that, trying to see if there were other things I could do to manage my pain. Yoga was something that always came up.

I started doing those white lady yoga videos everyday. Sometimes, when the teacher would start chanting or say namaste: at the end, I would groan performatively or mutter fuck you

I felt conflicted about this. I didnt want to be like a white yoga lady whose life centered around cultural appropriation. As someone who grew up with Buddhism and feels pretty pissy about white Buddhism, it felt hypocritical to try yoga. In the end, though, my own self-interest won out, and I found a short yoga video on YouTube. The teacher was a white lady who liked to talked a lot about self-love. I followed her instructions about when to inhale and exhale grudgingly.

Afterwards, my muscles did feel looser, and I could go a few hours without really thinking about my body. I started doing those white lady yoga videos everyday. Sometimes, when the teacher would start chanting or say namaste at the end, I would groan performatively or mutter fuck you, which made me feel a little less embarrassed about how much this was helping me.

Two of the most common questions I get when I tell people about my chronic pain are Have you seen a doctor? and Have you tried yoga? I hate both of these questions.

I have seen a doctor, many times. Because Im privileged to have insurance, I feel bad complaining about the care Ive received. Whenever my doctor doctor finishes examining my spine or the x-ray comes back clear, I feel like a fraud. You should just take more breaks when youre working, she says, misgendering me often during our conversations because Im too wimpy to tell her my pronouns and the intake sheet only offers two options for gender. When I say that I do take breaks, something that always makes me nervous because I dont want my boss to think Im slacking off, my doctor says, Are you stressed? Its probably stress. Try getting a standing desk.

Being asked if Ive seen a doctor annoys me because I feel like the people asking think that Im being lazy or silly for being in pain just go see a doctor, as if this will fix everything. When people ask if Ive tried yoga (or meditation or acupuncture), its usually because they dont know what else to say. I think it freaks people out to have to sit with someones pain and not be able to do anything. It freaks me out, too. That doesnt make the questions about yoga any less irritating.

I find it interesting, though, that many of the miracle cures that people offer up when there isnt a clear diagnosis are from the East. It feels connected to the ways we are always trying to find healing in the Other.

I find it interesting, though, that many of the miracle cures that people offer up when there isnt a clear diagnosis are from the East. It feels connected to the ways we are always trying to find healing in the Other. So much of the way we characterize Eastern medicine in this country, regardless of what culture or spirituality it comes from, is as something spiritual and holistic, collapsing the divide between body and mind. Probably this is sometimes true and someone will whitesplain why this is so in the comments. But I think a lot of this is orientalism Asia is too big of a place, with so many different and conflicting peoples and cultures, to make sweeping generalizations like that.

I think that these ideas do not tell us anything about what defines Eastern cultures and does tell us more, at least subconsciously, about what were lacking. What do we do with pain that is ongoing? What is the connection between emotions and the physical body? How do we talk about this in a way that is not gaslighting and dismissive of the often very physical causes of pain? I dont know, and I see how it seems so easy to look to the Other the Buddhist nun, the Hindu goddess, that incense burner on sale at Ross and ask them to hold that for us.

Healing is a buzzword in queer and trans spaces. This makes sense, given how much there is to heal from. The first people I felt comfortable talking to about chronic pain were other trans Asian Americans. They seemed to understand, without explanation, the way that the body is shaped by everything it has experienced, its traumas and its joys.

I hear a lot of people talking about ancestors a lot, about lineage and intergenerational healing. Ive been told I should try to reclaim my ancestral healing practices, and this is something I would like to do. When I try to learn about Chinese things, it feels performed. I wonder if me learning qigong is any better than yoga, and the other day while my partner and I were trying to learn how to make an herbal soup, we were more amused by the fact that one of the herbs was called Semen Euryales than anything else.

Sometimes, these practices helps relieve the pain in my body, and sometimes they also help quiet my anxieties. Other times, they dont do anything at all. It always seems like a bit of a crapshoot. But even when I dont feel the immediate effects of these practices or if Im not doing them correctly, theres something healing about learning practices that were taken away from me and my family because of the violence of white supremacy and assimilation. For me, this makes learning Chinese healing practices feel different than doing white lady yoga, at least just a little.

Once, in a BIPOC writing group that I am part of and love, we had a guest host, who led us through some exercises that were definitely culturally appropriated from yoga, before instructing us to free write. The host didnt mention the cultures that these practices came from or from whom he had learned them. I dont think he was South Asian, but I could be wrong. I reluctantly did his breathing exercises and felt the muscles in my neck ease.

There was one point where he led everyone in chanting Om. When this started, one person left the Zoom call. I am assuming that this person was South Asian because of their name, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe they just left because they had something else to do. Maybe I was just projecting how uncomfortable I was feeling. I should private message one of the hosts and tell them this is a little weird, I thought but didnt.

At the end of the session, many people thanked the guest host, including me. I was grateful that hed taken the time to be at our group. I was thinking about how so many BIPOC spaces are held together by people giving their labor for free. Other people liked the exercises. This is the first time Ive been able to be in my body, someone said, and I felt guilty for being judgy because BIPOC folks are so often cut off from the resources they need to heal. Why would I want to take this away from anyone?

Still, I think its important to connect to our own ancestral practices, even if this process is imperfect. I dont want to become a white yoga lady.

During a recent pain flare, I tried taking a new medication, but all it did was make me drowsy. I tried to meditate but after a few minutes got frustrated and crawled back into bed. I went through my normal procession of unhelpful thoughts, youre faking this, youre lazy, get up, but this time, it seemed like it was more out of habit than anything else. Instead of spiraling, I let the thoughts pass. Instead of trying to get up, I let myself cry until I fell asleep.

I think a lot about my own body, whose pain I often try to aggressively breathe and stretch away. What would it mean to stop trying to find a way around this?

I think a lot about how disability justice activists critique the idea of cure. That it is ableist to treat cure as the end goal, that the disabled body is not something to be fixed. I think a lot about my own body, whose pain I often try to aggressively breathe and stretch away. What would it mean to stop trying to find a way around this? This is not to say that I enjoy being in pain. I want to be in less pain but not in a way that only makes me better at capitalism or that allows me to dissociate from the histories and traumas that caused me to be in pain in the first place.

This is similar to how I think about culture. Even if I am trying to connect to my own cultures and histories, I dont want to return to an identity that existed before imperialism and diaspora. It would be impossible to erase the ruptures that have already occurred. Im not sure what the end point of this kind of healing is, or if I should even be thinking about this in terms of end points. I dont think anyone knows for sure. I still think I need to try.

Excerpt from:
The Angsty Buddhist: Chronic Pain & Trying Not To Be A White Yoga Lady - Autostraddle

The life of Thich Nhat Hanh has come full circle. Two years ago, the government of Vietnam quietly allowed the revered Zen master to return to his homeland and live out his remaining days at Tu Hieu Temple, near the city of Hue, where he became a monk at the age of 16.

Thay, or teacher, as he is affectionately known, is 94 and continues to suffer the effects from a severe stroke in 2014, which left him unable to speak and in a wheelchair. Because of his opposition to the Vietnam War, he had lived in exile for more than 50 years, during which time he established several monasteries and practice centers from Plum Village in Southern France to three in the United States, including Deer Park in Escondido. Hes written more than 100 books many of them best sellers as he spread the gospel of mindfulness around the world.

As with the Dalai Lama of Tibetan Buddhism, he amassed widespread popularity. The late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. President Barack Obama quoted him. And last year, a congressional delegation visited him in Vietnam.

During his visits to Deer Park, I interviewed him on topics ranging heaven to happiness. Here is some of what he had to say.

Heaven: The kingdom of God is really available in the here and now. This is important, he says, because once you understand that, you will behave better. If you have the kingdom of God, youll not have to search for happiness in sex, wealth or fame anymore.

Mindfulness: Mindfulness is the capacity to live deeply in the moments of your entire life. There is freedom from worries, anger and forgetfulness. Forgetfulness is the opposite of mindfulness.

Proselytizing: When Christian missionaries came to Vietnam when he was young, they tried to convert Buddhists. When Nhat Hanh brought his spiritual practices West, he did just the opposite, urging people to use mindfulness and meditation to deepen their own faiths. People are free to take from Buddhism as much as they want. Buddhism is inclusive, not exclusive.

America: Americans are not as accepting as they used to be. The war on terrorism, for example, has put an entire religion under suspicion. When a culture goes like that, it goes wrong. It only serves to create more hate and terrorists. In Buddhism, every person is looked at as a potential Buddha an attitude and a perception that he prefers.

Happiness: The art of happiness is to learn how to be there, fully present, to attend to your needs and to attend to the needs of your loved ones. And if you dont do the first step, its very difficult to do the second. Stop running and begin to make steps.

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Meet Thich Nhat Hanh, the man behind Escondido's famed Deer Park Monastery - The San Diego Union-Tribune

In Vietnams Red River, navigating the space between environmental conservation and cultural preservation can be trickier than it first appears.

November 11, 2020

On a chilly, gray January morning in Hanoi, Vietnam, a local development worker named Anh Ngoc Thi Nguyen volunteered at a river clean-up at the Red River near Chuong Duong Bridge. Keep Hanoi Clean (KHC), a nonprofit funded by USAID, had organized a crew of nearly two dozen volunteers to form a human chain, passing sack after sack of trash from the riverbank to a small parking lot beneath the bridge. KHC organizers planned to remove over 11 tons of garbage.

But when Nguyen noticed that some of the sacks contained ceramic incense bowls and urns, and waterlogged bits of wooden altars, she refused to take part. I didnt want to touch them, she says. It was scary.

In Hanoi, almost every house and storefront has its own wooden altar. Twice a month and on special occasions, residents offer food, alcohol, and cigarettes in the altars as a gift for their ancestors. When homeowners move, tradition dictates they must discard that house altar in a large body of water. Many in Hanoi choose to throw the altar and its contents from one of the many bridges that span the Red River.

Nguyens family members rigorously follow the many customs and traditions passed down to them by their elders. When Nguyens fathers body was reinterred, for example, her mother threw the ceramics that sat on top of his former grave into the river not far from where they lived. Nguyen and her family believe that those ceramics belong to the spirits of their ancestors and the water helps to carry them away.

The altars and offerings represent just one small part of the pollution picture on the Red River. Once the lifeblood of Hanoi, the river, through years of unfettered dumping of plastic waste, illegal sand mining, and industrial runoff, has become a symbol of the degradation caused by rapid industrial development.

At the KHC cleanup site, a debate ensued among volunteers on whether or not the discarded urns and altars represented spiritual artifacts to leave alone, or if they should be disposed of alongside the trash clogging the river. Ultimately, the events coordinator and KHCs founder, James Kendell, decided that these artifacts would be removed.

Watching KHC remove these artifacts from the river made Nguyen feel unsettled. Why couldnt they just leave them where they were? she asked later. They werent hurting anyone.

This debate on the Red River is a microcosm of a much larger question of how we balance environmental activism and cultural traditions. A 2013 paper in the Journal of Cleaner Production estimates that each year, more than 2 million pilgrims to Mecca emit 60.5 kilograms each of carbon dioxide per day (as opposed to a global average of just under 14 kilograms per person per day) during their pilgrimage as a result of transportation and lodging.

During the Lunar New Year, the Chinese set off fireworks to ward away evil spirits. In 2018, Beijings air quality soared above 500 on the Air Quality Index due to this tradition. Anything over 50 is considered unsafe.

And each year, during Christmas time, the United Kingdom produces 30 percent more waste than usual, air travel around the world spikes, and 540,000 tons of wrapping paper fill Canadian landfills.

In Hanoi, Keep Hanoi Clean has been trying to figure out how to navigate its programs with consideration to cultural practices on the Red River. According to Doug Snyder, KHCs general director, up until the January volunteer event, the nonprofits policy has always been to leave spiritual artifacts where they lay.

In previous years we did not touch the urns because one of the people on our team told us not to, he says.

But now, the organization is changing course.

Diep Ngoc Bui, chief operating officer at KHC, says complaints against river clean-ups mostly come from older people for whom the custom of immersing altars, ashes, and other sacred items in rivers is heavily ingrained. Bui says in these situations she tries to explain why the ceramics and altars should not be thrown into the river in the first place. But that tactic is not always successful.

Its really hard to tell the older generation you shouldnt throw these things into the river, she says. [They believe] its going to affect their business or health of the family, the rest of the year. Its really a delicate issue.

We really have to get on the education side, says Snyder. Unless we put out some information about giving them an alternative thats less destructive, then theyll just keep doing it.

Snyder says there are plans to consult with members of the local Buddhist community to help to initiate a public education program.

Thich Tinh Giac is a Buddhist monk and reformist who runs Chua Phuc Son, a buddhist pagoda just outside of Hanoi. He says that people throwing religious artifacts into Hanois waterways have got it all wrong. He says the idea that this practice brings good fortune is all superstition.

It does not, he says, have any significance in the Buddhist faith.

Giac also makes one other important observation: He notes that the Vietnamese people have historically been poor. They could not traditionally afford to make sacrifices the size and scope of those they make now.

The GDP per capita of Vietnam has increased six-fold since the year 2000. As a result, per-capita consumption has also increased, and Vietnam is now the worlds fourth largest contributor to ocean plastic waste, producing an estimated 730,000 tons each year.

Snyder has made a similar observation. At one cleanup event, he and a Vietnamese volunteer confronted two women who had been throwing plastic flowers into the river. Snyder and a Vietnamese volunteer then collected the flowers.

It was kind of like a comedy skit, Snyder says. But then one of them got really upset.

A conversation about the origins of the practice for this woman ensued.

What did you put in the water in the past? asked the Vietnamese volunteer.

Well, we didnt put this kind of stuff in, the woman replied. We were too poor but now were rich.

In other words, a big issue that Snyder and the KHC staff are dealing with is how plastic waste has infiltrated a cultural practice.

Of course, this may seem a minor issue given the bigger problems facing the Red River. Admittedly, KHCs work is somewhat piecemeal given the size and scope of the environmental challenges facing Vietnam, such as mining, urban and industrial runoff, and rampant corruption and top level apathy toward environmental issues that hinder any form environmental activism that goes beyond picking up rubbish.

This is particularly true when money is involved. For example, in May, a local newspaper called Phu Nu TPHCM (HCMC Women) tried to expose a local developer for damaging Vietnams natural heritage. As a result, the newspaper was fined and its website taken offline for a month. Advocacy can be risky when it jeopardizes profits.

So KHC is doing its best to clean up the river by picking the safer option: working with local traditions to find a solution that helps the river.

Luckily, Giac says that support for these practices is waning, particularly as Buddhist leaders occupy an important role in society.

Because I am a monk, they believe me, they respect me, Giac says. At his pagoda he has urns he has retrieved that he now uses to grow plants. He says repurposing rather than destroying the bowls makes a lot more sense.

In this vein, Giac says he has an important role to play in helping to save Hanois waterways. He often confronts worshippers in the process of making their offerings and counters that Buddhist doctrine actually supports protecting the environment.

In Buddhism, we say, you reap what you sow, he says. So the environment, you look after it and over time you get good results.

More:
One Man's Trash, Another Man's Tradition - Earth Island Journal