TIME World Burma A New Zealander Is Facing 4 Years in a Burmese Prison for Insulting Buddhism New Zealand citizen Philip Blackwood, center, is escorted by Burmese policemen after his hearing at a court in Rangoon on Dec. 18, 2014 Lynn Bo BoEPA His trial is the latest example of growing religious intolerance in the country

A bar manager from New Zealand and two Burmese nationals are spending Christmas Day in Burmas notorious Insein prison and will go on trial Friday, charged with insulting the Buddhist religion.

Phil Blackwood, 32, is the general manager of V Gastro, a bar and restaurant in the countrys commercial capital Rangoon. He, along with the bars owner Tun Thurein and manager Htut Ko Ko Lwin, were arrested on Dec. 10 after posting a promotional advert on the establishments Facebook page showing the Buddha wearing headphones.

Though the post was removed and an apology issued, it quickly drew scorn from local Buddhists who found the image offensive.

The trio were refused bail and have been in custody since their arrest. Blackwood has had trouble finding legal representation and is being kept in a separate cell to his colleagues. He is also not allowed to see visitors.

If found guilty, the three face up to four years in prison.

David Mathieson, senior Burma researcher at Human Rights Watch, criticizes the severity of the charges.

It shows a massive injustice the lack of access to lawyers and consular support, he tells TIME. Even by their own legal procedures, [the legal system] has completely failed to uphold the rule of law.

These charges are the latest example of rising religious chauvinism in the country. A group of hard-line Buddhist monks, called the Association of Protection of Race and Religion, or Ma Ba Tha in Burmese, is pushing hard-line Buddhism into politics and espousing an anti-Muslim rhetoric.

There is evidence indicating that Ma Ba Tha and 969 [another ultra-nationalist Buddhist group] have strong alliances with political parties including members of the ruling party. There is a visible pattern of bias in government departments acting in favor of these groups, says Htuu Lou Rae from interfaith group Coexist.

Original post:
A New Zealander Is Facing 4 Years in a Burmese Prison for Insulting Buddhism

A Kiwi bar manager charged with insulting Buddhism will be back in a Myanmar court today.

Philip Blackwood, 32, who hails from Wellington, and his two Burmese business partners are accused of religious offences after posting an image of Buddha wearing headphones on social media as part of a promotion for the newly opened VGastro Bar.

The three men had their first court appearance last week where the charges were upheld.

They were denied bail and have been held in a jail in Yangon.

In Myanmar anyone who attempts to insult, destroy or damage any religion can be sentenced to a maximum of two years in jail, with another two years for insulting religion through the written word.

Blackwood grew up in Tawa and studied commerce and science at Victoria University.

He worked as an engineer, including on the Supreme Court renovation, before the recession hit. He took a position at a Myanmar restaurant in 2010, before launching VGastro this month.

Follow this link:
Kiwi back in court over Buddha insult

MUNDGOD, December 24: His Holiness the Dalai Lama today said that the Tibetans must ensure the preservation of the precious tradition of Nalanda university, the foundation of the Tibetan Buddhism.

Wherever I go I keep telling people that the Tibetan Buddhism is based on the Nalanda tradition. But today if we ask ourselves who are the real guardians of the tradition it is difficult to answer, he told a gathering comprising of Gaden Tripa, former and serving abbots, teachers and administrators of the monastic universities.

He said though there are a few million Tibetans the actual custodian of the tradition of Nalanda are the few thousand monks studying the five major treatises (shungchen kaboe nga) in the monasteries, learning centres and other institutes which have done quite well for the last over 500 years.

The Tibetan leader said that it would be a mistake to just ignore our own drawbacks and pretend everything is going well. We have this habit in our community of not talking about our wrongdoings and ignore them as if to cover a stinking spot by dust. That is wrong, we must talk about our own mistakes while others will talk about our accomplishments, said His Holiness.

If you dont take responsibility at a time when I am getting old and nearing towards my last years then it is pointless to offer long life prayer (Tenshug) or mandala, His Holiness added.

He said the Buddha Dharma is based on truth and reality, not on mere formalities and that those who follow the Buddha Dharma must also be realistic.

Those who offer mandala wish for thousands and thousands of life but the one offering mandala and the one for whom the offering is made know very well that it is impossible. Then why are we fooling ourselves?

So if I have to worry about what might happen to the Dharma after I am gone then it is a matter of great sadness. So you must take responsibly to come out with ways to best preserve the tradition, said His Holiness.

He said that the real progress over the years should be evaluated in terms of the Tibetan peoples knowledge of the Nalanda tradition and not in terms of expansion of monasteries and building structures or ritualistic things.

The Gaden Tripa, abbots of monasteries, monastic administrative staff, and teachers will meet here tomorrow to discuss ways to improve the status of Buddhist Studies in the monasteries.

Read more from the original source:
Dalai Lama tells monastic community to be true custodians of Dharma

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKcH-Wh0pvI

REL 133 Week 3 Learning Team Assignment Buddhism Presentation
Follow the link to get tutorial - http://homework-tutorials.com/ All delivered materials are projected for reference purposes only.

By: oleg nikiforov

Excerpt from:
REL 133 Week 3 Learning Team Assignment Buddhism Presentation - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpPhfoaIQuc

Six Urban Legends about Karma in Buddhism

By: Robert Walker

Continued here:
Six Urban Legends about Karma in Buddhism - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f51nkBi7xg

Humanist Community Forum (2014-11-23): Existential Buddhism (Manuel Manga)
Existential or Secular Buddhism is a philosophical approach based on the teachings of Buddha, without the cultural and religious narratives that historically...

By: Brian Davis

View post:
Humanist Community Forum (2014-11-23): Existential Buddhism (Manuel Manga) - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h33mcOzdOQg

Gelek Rimpoche - World Peace and You - Essence of Tibetan Buddhism 73
http://www.jewelheart.org/digital-dharma/ Violence never conquers violence. Guns will never conquer violence.There is talk that the good guns should meet the...

By: Jewel Heart Channel

Read the original here:
Gelek Rimpoche - World Peace and You - Essence of Tibetan Buddhism 73 - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIT8wgfe7eY

#39;Insulting Buddhism #39; Gets You Jail Time In Myanmar
A New Zealander and two Burmese men have pleaded not guilty to charges of insulting Buddhism in Myanmar. The trio, who ran a bar in Yangon, are accused over a flyer promoting a drinks event...

By: Secular Talk

Read more:
'Insulting Buddhism' Gets You Jail Time In Myanmar - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCnosHsvdVo

Karma at its most ordinary level in Buddhism - just saying actions have consequences (
Continuing talking about the "urban legend" as I call it, equating Karma in Buddhism to physics.

By: Robert Walker

See the original post:
Karma at its most ordinary level in Buddhism - just saying actions have consequences ( - Video

Adherents of Tibetan Buddhism believe the Dalai Lama, the religions highest spiritual authority, has been reincarnated in an unbroken line for centuries. But the current Dalai Lama says he may be the last.

In an interview with the BBC this week, the 79-year-old Nobel Peace Prize recipient said that he may not reincarnate after he dies.

"There is no guarantee that some stupid Dalai Lama won't come next, who will disgrace himself or herself, he said. That would be very sad. So, much better that a centuries-old tradition should cease at the time of a quite popular Dalai Lama."

But what does reincarnation mean, and why would the Dalai Lama not want to have a successor?

How do Tibetan Buddhists believe reincarnation works?

Tibetan Buddhism teaches that after death, nearly all of us are flung back into the world of the living under the influence of harmful impulses and desires. But through compassion and prayer, a few can choose the time, place and the parents to whom they return. This affirms Buddhist teachings that ones spirit can return to benefit humanity; it also serves to maintain a strong theological and political structure based around monasticism and celibacy.

The process through which reincarnated Buddhist masters, known as tulkus, are discovered is not uniform among the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism. But generally, through dreams, signals, and other clues, senior monks identify candidates from a pool of boys born around the time the previous incarnation died. The current Dalai Lama is the 14th in the line of the Gelug school. The son of a farmer, he was recognized in 1950 after he correctly picked out objects owned by his predecessor, such as a bowl and prayer beads, jumbled among unfamiliar items.

So why would the Dalai Lama refuse to reincarnate?

Almost certainly to prevent the Chinese government from inserting itself into the process for political ends. Tibet was incorporated into China more than 60 years ago; the Dalai Lama went into exile in India in 1959 amid a revolt. Chinas government has denounced him as a separatist, but the Dalai Lama currently says he only seeks a high degree of autonomy for Tibet.

In the mid-1990s, the Dalai Lama identified a 6-year-old boy as the Panchen Lama, a position second only to the Dalai Lama himself. But Chinese authorities took custody of the child, and his whereabouts remain unclear. Meanwhile, Chinese authorities identified another youth as the Panchen Lama, but he never won the trust of Tibetans.

Read the rest here:
Why the Dalai Lama says reincarnation might not be for him