i’m very lucky to be living on one of the world’s most multicultural places. this week, we celebrate diwali, the indian festival of light. it’s similar to western christmas (and carries a similar baggage!)
image by joshwah
so … here’s part 2 of this month’s buddhist carnival. you can find part 1 here.
buddha’s birthday
talking about carnival, here are some pictures of buddha’s birthday festival in perth put on by the buddha light international association (i know it from my husband’s family, who are japanese pure land buddhists, as hana-matsuri). here’s a picture.
a buddhist monastery in india
and while we’re traveling, let’s go with maneesh to india. he has a really nice description of namdroling monastery in kushalnagar. on the outside it looked quite ordinary, he says, but inside, one room had so much of positive energy that after standing there for ten minutes he felt completely refreshed.
inner smile
… and somehow i can just imagine leaving there with a big smile! gia combs-ramirez (what a neat name!) talks about the inner smile
this is a smile that is created by very slightly raising the corners of your lips while adopting the inner stance of a smile.try it … first smile big, lifting the corners of your mouth way up. feel the corresponding shift inside of you with this smile. now just slightly smile and put more emphasis on the shift inside of you.
one of the biggest proponents of the inner smile is thich nhat hanh. go to gia’s blog and you’ll see a picture of him – smiling.
letting go of blame
great to see a submission by matthew spears, who always contributes well thought-out (and well … in-heart?) articles, like this one, the flame of blame. he comments, “by assigning responsibility to anyone or anything for a given result, you are assigning blame. it is the need to look for a cause for an experience that is the major factor in blame. so if you want to let go of the blaming process, you must let go of a need to assign responsibility.”
i and we
finally, an interesting little reflection piece about the word “i”: “try to use the word “we” instead of “i” for one day. while saying it feel all the ancestors behind you, and all people in the future.”
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thank you, friends, for a really good buddhist carnival, thanks for the honour of hosting these great posts. let’s all come together again next month, on june 15. please, if you have an article you’d like to see featured here, use this submission form.
dear reader friends, here is the new buddhist carnival. i feel very fortunate to do this service to the – buddhosphere?
and dear blogger friends, thank you so much for all the excellent submissions to the buddhist carnival. in keeping with the suggestions in our first post featured here, i have decided to break the carnival up into three sections. piling on lots of information is just as un-buddhist as piling on lots of material goods or overextending oneself during the holidays.
here is the first part, presented by bloggers who speak very specifically about buddhist practices.
zen for the holidays – 10 tips – holidays and family drama
this was submitted by wayne c. allen at the phoenix centre blog. he starts out by quoting good old r. buckminster fuller “how often i found where i should be going only by setting out for somewhere else.” wayne goes on to say that
nothing ups the ante for family drama better than “going home for the holidays.” typically, past dramas are minimized as people play the “this year it will be different” game. people expect normal rockwell gatherings, when “those gathered ’round” more closely resemble the bunkers. there are ways to change the game, but only if you decide to end the old game and replace it with something new.” for example:
instead of having an “i’ve sacrificed the most for the holidays’ contest,” give it all up. then, put back the bare minimum. with all of the hours you free up, spend some quality time, peacefully, with your nearest and dearest.
tibetan shamanic qigong
chris offers qi dao – tibetan shamanic qigong: book review posted at martial development. qi dao – the art of being in the flow is a new book written by buddhist monk somananda tantrapa.
the signature element of qi dao as a qigong style is its emphasis on physicality, unadulterated by the choreography of strictly defined forms. just as jesus christ was no christian and shakyamuni was not a buddhist, lama tantrapa teaches that we should not expect to attain self-realization by staring at the ground and tracing another person’s footsteps.
thich nhat hanh and breaking through the chains of identity
matthew spears, on his blog loving awareness observes that having a strong identity is greatly emphasized in this culture. this article explores what identities are, how they’re limiting, and gives an exercise from thich nhat hanh on how to move beyond some limitations.” it begins like this:
when you meet something, instead of a label which implies separation such as “tree”, “house”, or “road”, state instead that you are what you see. “i am this” is a good phrase, or a statement of “i am a tree” when you meet one. rather than this be something enforced on your mind, expand outward to breath in the essence of what you are seeing.
sand mandalas as therapy
my stumbleupon friend megan bayliss talks about sandplay therapy – mandalas and integration at her blog imaginif…,. she explains that “tibetan buddhist monks create mandalas that are considered a dwelling place for a deity. have a look at one mandala produced by the gyatso monks when his holiness, the dalai lama, visited australia in june of this year.”
this concludes part 1 of this month’s buddhist carnival. the other two parts will be posted before christmas. in the meantime, if you have a post that talks about buddhism, please submit it here on this carnival submission form.
(image by james young)