Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe5rqqtz3t8

Alan Watts Discusses Origins of Buddhism and India (part 1)
Lecture on the Origins of Buddhism and India (part 1)

By: Glenn Frosty

See more here:
Alan Watts Discusses Origins of Buddhism and India (part 1) - Video

A New Zealander and two Burmese men are facingtrial in Burma after being accused of insulting Buddhism. The incident stems from anadvertisement foranevent at their bar in the city of Rangoon, which featured an image ofBuddha wearing a set of large headphones.

The image caused controversy after it was shared on thebar's Facebook page and soon triggered a complaint by a member thereligious department of Burma, according to the BBC. The country is also known as Myanmar.

While the bar has now beenshut down by authorities, its Facebook page was accessible as of Fridayafternoon.In an apology posted Wednesday, the managers and ownersstated:"We would like to express our sincere regret if we have offended the citizens of this wonderful city, who have welcomed us so warmly and generously."

"Ourignorance is embarrassing for us and we will attempt to correct it by learning more about Myanmar's religions, culture and history, characteristics that make this such a rich and unique society," the statement continued. "We thank the citizens of [Rangoon] for their patience and kindness and sincerely hope that our apology will be accepted."

In comments on the page,however, users argued that it wasan"unforgivable act," for which it was"too late to apologize."

After the image sparked outrage, the bar's general manager, Philip Blackwood, 32, owner Tun Thurein, 40, and manager Htut Ko Ko Lwin, 26, were arrested and now standaccused ofinsulting Buddhism a serious crime in the Southeast Asian country. Blackwoodwas denied bail Thursday, and a New Zealand foreign affairs ministry spokesperson said that assistance was being provided to his family.

This insults the religion," a Burmese police official was quoted as saying by AFP. "So we opened the case under theReligionAct. We will file a lawsuit.Among other things, the Religion Act prohibitsinsults and acts of destruction against religion as well asreligious symbols andspecifies that written insults are particularly severe.

The arrest comes amid proliferating reports about a growing Buddhist nationalism in the once-secretive nation that has been opening up to the world within the last years. In October, a Buddhist nationalist group in Burma called for restrictions on interfaith marriages in the country. Some are increasingly worried about Buddhist extremism that has taken on "assertive, strident and militant" dimensions in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Burma, according to an analysis by theReligion News Service. In Burma in particular, there has been violence against the country'sRohingya Muslim population.

The arrested New Zealander isnot the firstforeigner to be accused ofa lack of respect for Buddhist values in a Southeast Asian country. In April,a British woman was arrested and deported from Sri Lanka forhaving a tattoo on her arm featuringan image of Buddha without headphones.

Rick Noack writes about foreign affairs. He is an Arthur F. Burns Fellow at The Washington Post.

Read the original:
WorldViews: In Burma, its a crime to put headphones on the Buddha

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eZB573-D9c

APHG.Religion.Buddhism/SE Asian Religions

By: Carey Kilbourn

View post:
APHG.Religion.Buddhism/SE Asian Religions - Video

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

Revival of Buddhism In India Part 1 of 2 - From Untouchables to Buddhists
Synopsis From Untouchable to Buddhist - The Revival of Buddhism I India and its Implications for the development of Buddhism in the World. Buddhism died out in India over 700 years ago. On...

By: Poh Ming Tse Temple

Read more from the original source:
Revival of Buddhism In India Part 1 of 2 - From Untouchables to Buddhists - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiVWx81Lnfk

Which are the principles of the eightfold path of Buddhism?

By: Srikanth Radhakrishna

See original here:
Which are the principles of the eightfold path of Buddhism? - Video

Published December 12, 2014

Dec. 11, 2014: New Zealand citizen Philip Blackwood, center, is escorted by Myanmar police officers following a court appearance in Yangon, Myanmar(AP)

YANGON, Myanmar A New Zealand bar manager in Myanmar has been arrested for allegedly insulting Buddhism after posting an online advertisement showing a psychedelic image of Buddha wearing headphones, police said Friday.

The offense carries a penalty of up to two years in prison.

Police arrested Philip Blackwood on Wednesday along with two Myanmar nationals, including the bar's owner, Tun Thurein, and an employee. Authorities then shut the V Gastro Bar, a tapas bar and lounge, which had opened just two weeks earlier in an upscale Yangon neighborhood.

The image, which shows a neon pink Buddha wearing DJ-style headphones, was posted on the bar's Facebook page, and quickly spread online. An official from the Religious Department filed a complaint that led to the arrests, said a police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not permitted to speak to the media.

The image has been removed from the Facebook page and replaced by an apology.

"Our intention was never to cause offense to anyone," the apology says. "Our ignorance is embarrassing."

The arrests come amid a surge of religious nationalism in Myanmar following violence between Buddhists and Muslims in recent years.

The three men are due to appear in court next week.

Read more:
Myanmar bar manager accused of insulting Buddhism - Indonesian cops name editor suspect in anti-Islam blasphemy case

The ascetic and moralizing movements that spawned the world's major religious traditions--Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Christianity--all arose around the same time in three different regions, and researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on December 11 have now devised a statistical model based on history and human psychology that helps to explain why. The emergence of world religions, they say, was triggered by the rising standards of living in the great civilizations of Eurasia.

"One implication is that world religions and secular spiritualities probably share more than we think," says Nicolas Baumard of the Ecole Normale Suprieure in Paris. "Beyond very different doctrines, they probably all tap into the same reward systems [in the human brain]."

It seems almost self-evident today that religion is on the side of spiritual and moral concerns, but that was not always so, Baumard explains. In hunter-gatherer societies and early chiefdoms, for instance, religious tradition focused on rituals, sacrificial offerings, and taboos designed to ward off misfortune and evil.

That changed between 500 BCE and 300 BCE--a time known as the "Axial Age"--when new doctrines appeared in three places in Eurasia. "These doctrines all emphasized the value of 'personal transcendence,'" the researchers write, "the notion that human existence has a purpose, distinct from material success, that lies in a moral existence and the control of one's own material desires, through moderation (in food, sex, ambition, etc.), asceticism (fasting, abstinence, detachment), and compassion (helping, suffering with others)."

While many scholars have argued that large-scale societies are possible and function better because of moralizing religion, Baumard and his colleagues weren't so sure. After all, he says, some of "the most successful ancient empires all had strikingly non-moral high gods." Think of Egypt, the Roman Empire, the Aztecs, the Incas, and the Mayans.

In the new study, the researchers tested various theories to explain the history in a new way by combining statistical modeling on very long-term quantitative series with psychological theories based on experimental approaches. They found that affluence--which they refer to as "energy capture"--best explains what is known of the religious history, not political complexity or population size. Their Energy Capture model shows a sharp transition toward moralizing religions when individuals were provided with 20,000 kcal/day, a level of affluence suggesting that people were generally safe, with roofs over their heads and plenty of food to eat, both in the present time and into the foreseeable future.

"This seems very basic to us today, but this peace of mind was totally new at the time," Baumard says. "Humans living in tribal societies or even archaic empires often experience famine and diseases, and they live in very rudimentary houses. By contrast, the high increase in population and urbanization rate in the Axial Age suggests that, for certain people, things started to get much better."

The researchers say that this transition is consistent with a shift from "fast" life strategies, focused on the immediate problems of the day, to those focused on long-term investments. They say that it will now be interesting to test whether other familiar characteristics of modern human society, such as high parental investment and long-term monogamy, might stem from the same historical change.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Cell Press. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Read this article:
Affluence, not political complexity, explains rise of moralizing world religions

Published December 11, 2014

In this Thursday, Dec. 11, 2014 photo, New Zealand citizen Philip Blackwood, center, is escorted by Myanmar police officers following a court appearance in Yangon, Myanmar. Blackwood, the manager of V Gastro Bar in Yangon has been arrested for allegedly insulting Buddhism after posting an online advertisement showing a psychedelic image of Buddha wearing headphones, police said Friday. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)(The Associated Press)

In this Dec.11, 2014 photo, Htut Ko Ko Lwin, center, an employer of V Gastro Bar, is escorted by Myanmar police officers following a court appearance in Yangon, Myanmar. The employee, a New Zealand bar manager and the bar's owner have been arrested for allegedly insulting Buddhism after posting an online advertisement showing a psychedelic image of Buddha wearing headphones. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)(The Associated Press)

In this Dec.11, 2014 photo, People, including Buddhist monks gather around a police vehicle to see a New Zealand bar manager and two-employers following a court appearance in Yangon, Myanmar. A New Zealand national, the manager of V Gastro bar in Yangon and two-employers of the bar have been arrested for allegedly insulting Buddhism after posting an online advertisement showing a psychedelic image of Buddha wearing headphones. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)(The Associated Press)

In this Thursday, Dec.11, 2014 photo, a Buddhist monk prepares to take a picture of New Zealand citizen Philip Blackwood, as he gets in to a police vehicle following a court appearance in Yangon, Myanmar. Blackwood, the manager of V Gastro bar in Yangon and two-employers of the bar have been arrested for allegedly insulting Buddhism after posting an online advertisement showing a psychedelic image of Buddha wearing headphones. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)(The Associated Press)

YANGON, Myanmar A New Zealand bar manager in Myanmar has been arrested for allegedly insulting Buddhism after posting an online advertisement showing a psychedelic image of Buddha wearing headphones.

Police say the V Gastro Bar in Myanmar's capital was shut on Wednesday after a complaint was filed against the advertisement, which was posted on the bar's Facebook page.

Bar manager Philip Blackwood and two Myanmar employees were arrested and are scheduled to appear in court next week to face charges of insulting religion, which carry a penalty of up to two years in prison.

The image has been removed from the Facebook page and replaced by an apology.

The arrests come during a surge of religious nationalism in Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist country.

More:
New Zealand bar manager arrested in Myanmar for advertisement showing Buddha in headphones

YANGON, Burma (AP) A New Zealand bar manager in Burma has been arrested for allegedly insulting Buddhism after posting an online advertisement showing a psychedelic image of Buddha wearing headphones.

Police say the V Gastro Bar in Burmas capital was shut on Wednesday after a complaint was filed against the advertisement, which was posted on the bars Facebook page.

Bar manager Philip Blackwood and two Burma employees were arrested and are scheduled to appear in court next week to face charges of insulting religion, which carry a penalty of up to two years in prison.

The image has been removed from the Facebook page and replaced by an apology.

The arrests come during a surge of religious nationalism in Burma, a predominantly Buddhist country.

Read this article:
Burma: NZ bar manager accused of insulting Buddhism

Buddhaghosa is an emblematic figure as a scholar and commentator in the history of Buddhism. He was born at Buddha Gaya in North India in the early fifth century A.D. He was a Brahamin youth who became well known as an exponent of Veda and philosophy. He travelled extensively in India from one seat of learning to another. He was a great scholar keen in arguing with the other scholars in his time.

The biographic accounts of his life report that because his speech like that of the Buddha, was profound and his words spread throughout the world, he came to be called Buddhaghosa literally meaning Buddha utterance (Keown, 2003)

At Tamluk he met Maha Thera Revata and while discussing religious matters, he found Rev Revata to be superior to him in the doctrine of the Buddha. So he became a pupil and studied Buddhist philosophy under Rev Revata. At Rev Revata's vihara, he produced a treatise on Buddhism Nanoodaya. He also planned to compose commentries on Abhidhamma and the Sutras. On the advice of Rev Revata He decided to visit Sri Lanka where the Three Pitakas were preserved. In order to complete his task he came to Sri Lanka in the reign of King Mahanama. Ven Buddhaghosa was surprised to find quite a handsome collection of immensely valuable literary works preserved by the Mahaviharian Buddhist clergy. He stayed for three years chiefly at Mahavihara, Anuradhapura and Aluvihara where he re-wrote in Pali the Sinhalese commentries on the Buddhist Pitakas and composed philosophical treatises on Buddhist doctrine.

Buddhist literature

The Mahavihara, originally established as a monastery became a great seat of learning and turned into a national university. It played a conspicuous part in the history of Buddhism and Buddhist literature. Buddhaghosa, Buddhadatta, Dharmapala, Anuruddha, Sariputta and many other Buddhist teachers of extraordinary genius occupied its professional chairs and it was here that their priceless philosophical works were composed. Till the foundation of the Abhayagiri Vihara in the first century BC, it maintained its position as Lanka's unraivalled educational institution and cultural centre. (The Revolt in the Temple 1953).

Buddhaghosa translated Sinhalese Commentaries into Pali and wrote Vissudhi Magga (The Path of Purification) and other works including Commentaties on the Pitakas.

The Visuddhi Magga is a monumental commentry on the Pali Canon. It has been used for over 1500 years as a manual by meditation teachers. The structure of Vissudhi Magga follows the three divisions of the Noble Eightfold Path into morality (sila) meditation (samadhi) and insight (prajna). Its section entitled The Soil in which Understanding Grows is specifically taken as summary of the Abhidhamma. It is believed that Ven Buddhaghosa was inspired by the trietise Vimuttimaggo (The Path to Liberation), This work was authored by Upatissa, who may have lived in the 3rd century CE. Vimuttimaggo expounds the various aspects of the path to awakening (bodhi) as understood within the Theravada tradition.

Sinhalese commentries

In the compilation of Visuddhi Maggo he also made insightful use of the old Sinhalese commentries at that time. These were Maha Attakata, Maha-paccari Attakarha and Juringt Atthakastha respectively. Buddhaghosa's Atthasalini (The Expositor) is a commentry on the Dhammasangani the first book on the Abhidhamma Pitaka.

Buddhaghosa has identified ten impediments that should be completely dissected off before beginning meditation practices settled in a hospitable environment, free from disturbing elements. These impediments are abode (avasa), family (kula), gain (labha), group (gana), activities (kamma), travel (addhana), relations (jati), illness (abadha), study (gantha), and sup natural faculties (iddhi) respectively. On examining these impediment factors reveals that a busy person with family and economic burdens in an stressful mind would not be successful in initiating meditation. The emergence of supernatural powers (iddhis) has been discussed by Rev Buddhaghosa as a side effect of the attainment of higher stages of meditation. For this discussion a special chapter is devoted in the Vissudhi Magga. Buddhaghosa gives extensive coverage to wisdom (panna). There is no meditation without wisdom and vice versa.

Go here to read the rest:
Buddhaghosa the emblematic commentator on the Pali Canon