Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Dalai Lama on Scientific Proof of Benefits of Meditation

By Terry Reis Kennedy

According to His Holiness, he has always enjoyed science. He had a telescope when he was a boy living at Norbulingka, his summer palace in Tibet, and he would look out from a rooftop perch staring at the “specimens” below, trying to understand them. 

At the time he did not know that he was revered as a “living god” by his people. His observations of birds and the nature that surrounded him, taught him about the impermanence of life, the renewal of what appeared lost, and he later came to see that the contemplative life often led to the same conclusions as the scientific life.

In 2005 when he spoke at the Mind and Life Institute in Boulder, Colorado, USA, he shared how meditation was a benefit to many, not just to people practicing the spiritual life.  

He said, “Another area where a critical perspective is required on the part of the scientists is the ability to distinguish between the empirical aspects of Buddhist thought and contemplative practice on the one hand and the philosophical and metaphysical assumptions associated with these meditative practices.


“In other words, just as we must distinguish within the scientific approach between theoretical suppositions, empirical observations based on experiments, and subsequent interpretations, in the same manner it is critical to distinguish theoretical suppositions, experientially verifiable features of mental states, and subsequent philosophical interpretations in Buddhism. This way, both parties in the dialogue can find the common ground of empirical observable facts of the human mind, while not falling into the temptation of reducing the framework of one discipline into that of the other.”

As a child I was fortunate to grow up surrounded by nature. I enjoyed four distinct seasons, bright starry nights when I could observe the movement of the moon across the sky and winter days when I could watch the clothes on the line stiffen into icy ghosts.  In my little way I learned about “Science” and loved it. 

I find Buddhism as broad and diverse in its interpretation of meditative states, as is science in its observations of functions of the mind..

Kundun, the Presence of the Buddha, said, “I believe, a close cooperation between these two investigative traditions can truly contribute toward expanding the human understanding of the complex world of inner subjective experience that we call the mind.”

Based on our own experiences with meditation, most of us who practice going deeply within and listening to the inner guidance, report that our lives improve.  We have better relationships and peace of mind, for instance.

“Already the benefits of such collaborations are beginning to be demonstrated,” the Compassionate One reported, “By invoking fundamental ethical principles, I am not advocating a fusion of religious ethics and scientific inquiry. Rather, I am speaking of what I call "secular ethics" that embrace the key ethical principles, such as compassion, tolerance, a sense of caring, consideration of others, and the responsible use of knowledge and power—principles that transcend the barriers between religious believers and non-believers, and followers of this religion or that religion.”

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Sai Baba on Jesus - A Christmas special

By Terry Reis Kennedy

The Christmas story I grew up on was Baby Jesus was born in a manger, a building used to house farm animals during the night.  His parents were on the way to pay their taxes when Mary’s time came for the baby to be born.  This was a side story in our home; it was Santa Claus who was the main star.

By the time I arrived at Sai Baba’s ashram, Prasanthi Nilayam in Puttaparthi India in 1990, I had given up on Santa Claus and had distanced myself from my religious roots.  However, it is Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba who brought me to a deeper awareness of Lord Jesus.   He led me to see a common theme in the stories of great masters, spiritual leaders, and saints.  At some point in their lives, they turn their backs on the worldly life.  They walk away from the mundane to demonstrate the power of the Divine within themselves.  Eventually, these spiritual revolutionaries become our guides and gurus through the challenging labyrinth of life. Even Saint Nicholas who became known as Santa Claus was a very rich man who spent his life serving the poor.  He spent his wealth and inheritance fulfilling the wishes of the destitute.

But frequently, because they step outside of the box of convention, spiritual revolutionaries are defamed.

According to Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, “As the name and fame of Jesus spread, opposition to him developed among a section of Jews.”


Later that opposition grew beyond his homeland and he was viewed as a dangerous radical by many.  Nevertheless, multitudes began to follow his teachings and the world welcomed a Saving Light.

“After his father's death, young Jesus considered it his duty to help his mother and revere her as Divine,” Puttaparthi Swami taught.  He said, “Jesus preached the primary obligation of everyone is to show one's gratitude to the parents. Jesus came with his mother to Jerusalem when he was 11 years old. His mother was worried about the activities of Jesus.”

With a mother’s foresight, Mary wanted to protect her son.  She knew that his thoughts, words, and deeds were not those of an ordinary young man.

Our Beloved Baba explained, “Jesus was critical of the ways of the Jews in the temple in Jerusalem. He came out against the harmful practices in the temple and preached the omnipresence of God in all living beings. He exhorted the people not to cause harm to anyone.”

That an uneducated son of a carpenter would speak with such authority on matters going on in the temple infuriated many elders.  Yet the words he spoke were also what so many others would have liked to have said themselves.  But they feared what they would reap from the “Big People” who ran and controlled their lives.  “Little people” had no say.  Jesus became a spokesperson for the poor, the oppressed, the sick and the suffering.  

“What he preached was in accord with the basic teachings of all religions.” Sathya Sai said. “He engaged himself in a mission of mercy to the sick and the poor. He offered food to the hungry. Seeing his acts of love and kindness, people declared that he was a Messenger of God."

In his short 33 years on earth, Jesus changed from a kind hearted, responsible son to someone who recognized the God within himself.  

Christmas, according to Sai Baba is more than a season; it is a way of life.

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

MUNDGOD MONK POWER

By Terry Reis Kennedy

Little lama Lobsang lives at Gajang Tsawa Monastery in Mundgod, Karnataka, South India.  He was born in Mon Tawang, India in the Himalayan region neat Bhutan.  He looks about five years old.  But no one can say for certain.  He is an orphan.

Now, little lama Lobsang is a full-time student of Tibetan Buddhism.  He was brought to one of Gaden Monastery's many shelter homes by elder monks for his protection.  He, like hundreds of other impoverished refugee children have survived by the loving action of senior monks.  Orphans or those whose families simply cannot afford to feed them are given to monks to take care of. Initially, the children were given over to monasteries in northern India, regions with climates similar to Tibet.  However, these monasteries too are  suffering financially strapped conditions and are jam-packed already. So, shifting the boy monks to Mungod is the present option. (Little Anis, girls nuns, are also received by convent communities.)

Lobsang may not understand why he now lives in a flat land of many farms, dry winds, intense heat and a few distant hills. Whether he remembers the alluvial plains beneath the snow-capped peaks of his homeland and the crisp, fresh air is irrelevant, perhaps.  For little he may not ever be going home to Montwang or to his culture homeland, Tibet again.  Communist Chinese continue to rule with a heavy hand and regard His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, the god-king and spiritual leader of Tibetans as a "demon".

GajangTsawa Kangtsen is one of many Tibetan houses associated with monasteries in Mungod--a Tibetan refugee settlement about an hour’s drive from Hubli and a six-hour bus trip from one of India’s zaniest seaside tourist attractions--Goa.

Once ruled and, some say, savaged by the Portuguese, Goa with its western-style homesteads, churches and cathedrals, appeals to foreign tourists.  But the talcum-powder-like sands and warm-water swimming make the beaches of Goa even more appealing.

Over the years, Goa has gained a reputation--warranted or not--as a place where «anything goes.»  The anything allegedly includes nude bathing, lots of wild parties, plenty of drugs, brothels and no police hassles.

Juxtapose this scene against the prayer-filled atmosphere of Mundgod where about 4,500 Tibetan monks live in exile, detached from wine, women and weed, but with plenty of police surveillance, and you get an idea of the duel images of India that befuddle foreign visitors.

We can party hearty anytime at Goa, » said James from U.K.  « And we never have to show our papers to the police.  But we’re deterred from visiting the sacred gompas and monasteries of Mungod honoring Lord Buddha.  Why?  The government of India has declared Mundgod a restricted area.  It’s schizophrenic! » James complained.

Meanwhile, Lobsang is oblivious to police, tourists, and the problems the monastery officials are facing trying to keep up with the influx of new refugee arrivals and the alarming financial strain this is causing.

His days are full of new learning experiences: Washing dishes, washing his clothes, doing his school work, arriving on time for 6 a.m. daily group prayers, and keeping his tiny shoes properly tied.

The tasks may be endless, but it becomes obvious as you watch him from a distance that he is very pleased with his surroundings.  He laughs frequently and smiles at you engagingly--in a way that tugs at your heart strings.

A fair child, with darting, warm brown eyes that look up at you framed by long, soft lashes, he stands out as special.  Perhaps he is the reincarnation of a tulku (Divine Being) whose true identity will be revealed later--in the Tibetan Buddhist way.  Or maybe he’s just a kid, happy to have a roof over his head and food in his tummy.  At any rate, you could say he’s an angel.


At Gajang Tsawa, Lama Camp Number One, P.O. Tibetan Colony , Mundgod, North Karnataka, 581441, South India, there are no TVs, no bicycles, and no cricket fields.  Yet approximately 350 monks, ranging in age from five to 75, make this their home.  Conditions are over-crowded with up to seven monks sharing a single room.  There are no servants, no washing machines, no hot-water heaters  and sometimes no water at all.  The electricity is off most of the day.  And yet, though their lives are devoid of every material luxury--not to mention necessity--these monks radiate an ineffable strength, a sort of collective monk power that causes joy to erupt inside you when you are around them.

As busy as they are: Prayer work, school work, scripture studies, household chores, evening debates on philosophical issues of Tibetan Buddhism, chanting, meditating, performing special religious ceremonies such as prayers for the dead, and teaching, the monks at Gaden Jangtse Tsawa Monastery still find time to take long walks in the green meadows and pastures behind their home.  At sunset you can see them walking, their maroon capes fluttering like flags on the wind.

Likewise, Lobsang finds time for quiet contemplation.  At intervals throughout the day you can find him standing on the veranda of the second floor of the monastery outside the room he shares with four other boy monks and their teacher.

He contemplates the horizon, staring out across the yard where cows are pulling up clumps of grass, staring out across the eucalyptus trees to the faraway hills that can sometimes be seen when the wind blows just right and the branches bend just enough.

In this moment, the hilltops meet the skies and the racing white clouds wrap themselves around the peaks like katas--the white scarves of Tibetan Buddhism used for honoring the deities and for gifting devotees.

It’s a lovely sight to behold,  And little lama concentrates on this vision.  Perhaps he is ruminating on the long-ago, snow-capped Himalayas of his former life.

Relatively speaking, however, the intervals of reverie are short, for Lobsang--in addition to his chores and studies— must also learn to read and write  his native language.  Like scores of others, he meets the challenge with enthusiasm.

This phenomenon--displaced or orphaned Buddhist children being  brought to Tibetan monasteries as a sort of life-support system--has put a strain on the various khangtsens ( monastic homes) in Mundgod.  At Gajang Tsawa Khangsten, the situation is critical.

According to Geshe Dorjee Riochen, Geshe Thupten Wangyal, and the Venerable Dawa Gelek, in charge of the khangtsen, about 70% of the new arrivals face problems of health.

Since they have come mostly from poor families, these youngsters are often not in good physical condition when they arrive.  It is even difficult, sometimes, to provide tooth brushes, paste and soap, » one monastery letter of appeal stated.

Meantime, there are bigger problems to overcome.  According to the monks in charge, bore wells need to be dug to increase the water supply.  A solar system would alleviate some of the strain, they say.  And a couple of generators would keep the electricity flowing.  But the fact that the monastery has no medical facility, dispensary, or even a medical person on duty makes the administrators uncomfortable, they agree.

The nearest hospital is about 10 kilometers away, and there is no special vehicle to bring sick or injured monks there.  With more than half of the population of the house comprised of children, it’s a risky situation, the administrators said.

During the day Jeeps can be hired for transport and the walk to the Jeep stop is only about a quarter of a mile.  However, the Jeeps meant to seat five or six comfortably, often carry up to 12 or 14 passengers.  And late at night there is no way to get to the hospital without calling someone for help.

Tibetans, having been given asylum in India is something His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama always gives thanks for in his public discourses.  Without this boon, who knows what could have happened?  More than one and a half million Tibetans, nearly one third of their people, were entirely destroyed as the result of Mao Zedong's and continuing Chinese occupation of their country. Tibetans still in Tibet are continuing to be killed, maimed, tortured and imprisoned on a daily basis. 

It was when the Chinese invaded Tibet in 1959 that they nearly destroyed the Buddhist University, Gaden, which was founded by Je Tsonkapa Lobsang Dakpa in 1409, and from which the present Mundgod Gaden Monastery originates.

At the time of the invasion, there were approximately 800 monks living, studying, and practicing their religion at Gaden Monastery in Tibet.  Of those 800 monks, approximately 200 had already mastered the Five Great Texts of Tibetan Buddhism which, according to tradition, is the goal of all monks.  It takes up  to 30 years of study to become a master of these texts and to gain the revered title of « Geshe » which translates as something close to, but not exactly, a double doctorate in Philosophy.

Unfortunately, during the Chinese invasion, only 10 of the Gaden Geshes managed to flee to India. The remaining Geshes and the thousands of other monks continued to suffer torture and affliction.  Some were imprisoned.  Some died.  Some are still missing and unaccounted for.

Once the 10 Geshes arrived in India, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama re-established monasteries for them.  It is due to their efforts that Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, dialectic, and the methods of debating used by the monks has been preserved at Gaden  Monastery in Mungod.

Lobsang will eventually learn about the Chinese invasion and takeover of Tibet.  He will eventually come to understand how the tradition of his monastery was upheld.  For now, he can study simpler things.

At night, for example, he sometimes sits on the dilapidated wooden chair with the sawed off legs on the veranda near his room.  With the moon as his lamp, he holds his prayer book in his two hands and recites the words in the traditional Tibetan Buddhist method of chanting.  Out of his approximately three foot, two inch body boom melodious prayers thousands of years old.  In time he will be able to chant this book and many others from memory.  Such is the power of the monks of Mungod.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Feed the Hungry

(Terry’s New Signboard) 

Even the rich and healthy can be starved for happiness. Add to the World Bank of Joy. Deliver home-baked items to those who no longer bake. For every muffin you give to a feeble soul, give two to an able-bodied person. Watch the Love interest compound daily!

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Dalai Lama on His Next Incarnation

By Terry Reis Kennedy

Perhaps you have heard the threats of the communist Chinese administration that they will be the ones who choose the next Dalai Lama.  His Holiness the 14
th Dalai Lama has at various times announced that his next Incarnation might even be a western woman.  Or, that he could likely be the last Dalai Lama.

Referring to the current communist administration in China, His Holiness said, “… they say they are waiting for my death and will recognize a 15
th Dalai Lama of their choice. It is clear from their recent rules and regulations and subsequent declarations that they have a detailed strategy to deceive Tibetans, followers of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and the world community. Therefore, as I have a responsibility to protect the Dharma and sentient beings and counter such detrimental schemes, I make the following declaration.”


 “As I mentioned earlier, reincarnation is a phenomenon which should take place either through the voluntary choice of the concerned person or at least on the strength of his or her karma, merit and prayers. Therefore, the person who reincarnates has sole legitimate authority over where and how he or she takes rebirth and how that reincarnation is to be recognized. It is a reality that no one else can force the person concerned, or manipulate him or her.”