Westerners have been fascinated with Indian culture since the time of Alexander the Great, who tried to convince a yogi to become his spiritual counselor. In the 1960s, the Beatles contact with meditation guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar sparked an early wave of modern popular interest that has yet to crest. These days, its not unusual to find people who want to spend their precious vacation time deepening their spiritual practiceand what better place to do so than at an ashram?

Visiting an ashram is more doable than it was in years past, and the ashram s themselves have worked to make the experience more attractive, offering workshops, seminars, and special events. Indeed, many of these temples of devotion and asceticism have taken on a whole new aura as travel destinations.

If youre considering an ashram stay, its worth noting that ashrams tend to have a distinctive rhythm and protocol. For one thing, while some have stricter rules than others, most still have mandatory daily schedules, often requiring you to rise before dawn. If you are fairly new to yoga, a day consisting of four compulsory yoga and meditation sessions could be overwhelming. Also, visitors are often asked to practice karma yoga (selfless service) by contributing to the upkeep of the facilityin the form of kitchen duties, gardening, cleaning, and other chores. In short, you should be comfortable with communal living to fully enjoy and benefit from the ashram experience.

A few tips: Most ashrams serve only vegetarian or vegan food; alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco are not permitted. Dont try sneaking in a bottle of Chiantiyoull be asked to leave if the contraband is discovered. Guests typically stay in dormitories with shared bathrooms. Modest dress is usually required at all times; shorts, short skirts, leggings, and sleeveless or sheer tops are not appropriate ashram attire. Instead, pack loose pants and a short-sleeved shirt for your practice.

The ashrams listed below are all in North America, and each has its own merits. To find the right one for you, be sure to visit each centers Web site and study its daily schedule before you go.

Mount Madonna Center Watsonville, California

The Mount Madonna Center is located on 355 acres of meadows and redwood forests in the Santa Cruz Mountains, with views of Monterey Bay. It is inspired by the teachings of Baba Hari Dass and sponsored by the Hanuman Fellowship, a community designed to nurture the creative arts and the health sciences within a context of personal and spiritual growth. The primary goal here is to attain peace. Community life is guided by the spiritual discipline of Ashtanga Yoga and karma yoga. The center hosts both personal and group retreats; weekend programs with visiting teachers are offered throughout the year. When not in yoga class, guests can hike, swim, relax in a hot tub, and play tennis, volleyball, and basketball. The on-site Kaya Kalpa Wellness Center provides massage, Ayurvedic treatments, facials, and acupuncture.

Lowdown: The center hosts nearly a hundred workshops, seminars, and intensives each year, attracting top teachers such as Jack Kornfield, Reb Anderson, Judith Lasater, and James Baraz.

More Information: mountmadonna.org

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Visit Your First Ashram - Yoga Journal

Charles Darwin and other early evolutionists were fascinated by religious phenomena and how they might be explained from an evolutionary perspective. Nevertheless, evolutionary theory became restricted to the biological sciences and excluded from the study of many human-related subjects for most of the 20th century. Only now is the theory being used to explain all aspects of humanity in addition to the rest of life. The new field of evolutionary religious studies is part of this larger trend.

This website provides an introduction to the study of religion from an evolutionary perspective. It includes the following features:

Please visit the EvoS web site for a more general introduction to evolution in relation to human affairs.

This website is funded by a TARP (Templeton Advanced Research Program) grant from the John Templeton Foundation, which is administred by the Metanexus Institute. It is directed by an evolutionist (David Sloan Wilson) and a religious scholar (William Scott Green), with the help of a diverse advisory board. Evolutionary theory includes a number of major hypotheses about religion that must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Our goal is for this website to reflect the full diversity of approaches within the field of evolutionary religious studies.

For questions and comments, contact the program director, David Sloan Wilson.

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evolutionary studies of religion - Binghamton University

BUDDHIST KARMA

"I am the owner of my karma . I inherit my karma. I am born of my karma. I am related to my karma. I live supported by my karma. Whatever karma I create, whether good or evil, that I shall inherit." The Buddha, Anguttara Nikaya V.57 - Upajjhatthana Sutta

The Sanskrit word Karma (or kamma in Pali) literally means action. In Buddhism however, karma mainly refers to one's intention or motivation while doing an action. The Buddha said:

It is volition that I call karma; for having willed, one acts by body, speech, and mind. AN 3:415, from In the Buddhas Words, p. 146.

(In the west, the word karma is often used for the results of karma; the Sanskrit words for the effects or results of karma are 'vipaka' or 'phala'. )

The shortest explanation of karma that I know is: 'you get what you give'. In other words; whatever you do intentionally to others, a similar thing will happen to yourself in the future. Causing suffering to others will cause suffering to ourselves, causing happiness to others will result in happiness for oneself.

Perhaps our biggest to understanding or even believing in karma may be time. The 're-actions' or results of our actions usually show up with a big time delay, and it becomes extremely hard to tell which action caused which result. Actions done in a previous life can create results in this life, but who can remember their past life, and who can tell exaclty which action caused which result? For ordinary humans, the mechanisms of karma can be intellectually understood to some extent, but never completely "seen".

The idea behind karma is not only found in Buddhism and Hinduism; it seems that the Bible certainly conveys the same essence. although here God is the medium that links actions to their results:

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A person reaps what he sows. (Gal. 6:7)

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Karma - View on Buddhism

What is Zen?

by Derek Lin

"Zen" is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese character "chan," which is in turn the Chinese translation from the Indian Sanskrit term "dhyana," which means meditation.

Zen, like Tao, cannot be totally explained in words. Much of your grasp of Zen must necessarily depend on your own intuition. Bodhidharma (528 A.D.) had this to say about it:

Not dependent on the written word, Transmission apart from the scriptures; Directly pointing at ones heart, Seeing ones nature, becoming Buddha.

Given thats the case, the closest we can come to describing Zen in words may be as follows:

Paradox is a part of Zen and the teaching of Zen. A paradox nudges your mind into a direction other than the routine. It helps you disengage the rational mind and free up the intuition. It also points to a truth that cannot be rationally derived through the use of logic. Therefore:

It's easy for some to dismiss Zen as a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, devoid of real meaning. These would be the people who aren't yet ready to move up to this particular level of spiritual development. That's alright. Such things should not and indeed cannot be rushed. Michael Valentine Smith, the main character from Stranger in a Strange Land, would say that one must "wait for fullness" and that "waiting is."

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What is Zen - Taoism .net

The German-born and Vancouver-residing 60-year-old "spiritual teacher" and author has captured the imaginations of a whole host of celebrities since the publication of his first book, The Power of Now, which has since been translated into 33 languages. When in June 2007 Paris Hilton walked into the Century Regional Detention Facility in California, where she served a short sentence for a driving offence, she was clutching one copy of the Bible and one copy of The Power of Now; the former X-Files actress Gillian Anderson chose The Power of Now as her other book (apart from the Bible) on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs and Jeff Goldblum, the actor and fully paid-up member of LA spiritualistic nonsense, is a fan.

"I think he's truly exceptional," says Annie Lennox, another devotee, who also chose The Power of Now as her Desert Island Book. "But in saying that it's almost like I'm putting some kind of label on him, which could be misleading. Perhaps what I should say is that there are many people claiming to be teachers, coaches, guides and gurus, but he has some kind of special quality that I've never encountered before."

But Tolle's most influential celebrity supporter is Oprah Winfrey, whose endorsement of his latest book, A New Earth, on her book club, shifted copies faster than any other of her previous 60 book picks; 3.5 million copies were shipped from Amazon in the month after Tolle was selected.

It now tops bestseller lists across America with The Power of Now not far behind. In The New York Times, A New Earth is at number one in the mega-selling "Advice, How-To and Miscellaneous" section; The Power of Now is at number two.

But Oprah went further with Eckhart Tolle than she has ever gone with a previous author picked for her book club. She chose to present, with Tolle, a 10-week series of "webinars" online seminars with one chapter of the book (which she puts on the bedside table of all of her guest rooms) discussed each week. In the first webinar, transmitted on 3 March, Tolle led Winfrey and the millions of viewers who logged on in several different countries in silent meditation; viewers were then encouraged to submit questions to Tolle via Skype. By the third week, 11 million people were logging on.

"My favourite quote is in the first chapter," says Winfrey during one of these webinars. "Man made God in his own image. The eternal, the infinite and the unnameable reduced to a mental idol that you had to believe in and worship as my God or your God."

Confused? Most of Christian America seems to be. On an episode of her chat show, Oprah mused that Jesus "cannot possibly be the only way to God". Accusations immediately flew that Winfrey, who grew up a member of the Baptist Church, had rejected Jesus in favour of the New Age "hocus-pocus" of Eckhart Tolle.

"So sad, so tragic," complained jesus-is-saviour.com. "Oprah has in effect denied the teachings of the Bible and of Jesus Christ by asking her viewing audience, 'How can there be only one way to heaven or to God?'" reflected christiannewswire.com.

Tolle's theories are certainly seen by many as profoundly non-Christian, even though Tolle often quotes from the Bible. His idea is that our true selves are the formless Consciousness, which is Being, which is God. We are all One, and thus we are all God.

Strong stuff. But it all begs the question: just who is Eckhart Tolle? And what, exactly, is he up to?

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Eckhart Tolle: This man could change your life - Profiles ...

Here is a basic introduction to Buddhism.

Buddhism is a religion based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who lived about 25 centuries ago in what is now Nepal and northern India. He came to be called "the Buddha," which means "awakened one," after he experienced a profound realization of the nature of life, death and existence. In English, the Buddha was said to be enlightened, although in Sanskrit it is bodhi, "awakened."

In the remaining years of his life, the Buddha traveled and taught. However, he didn't teach people what he had realized when he became enlightened. Instead, he taught people how to realize enlightenment for themselves. He taught that awakening comes through one's own direct experience, not through beliefs and dogmas.

In the centuries following the Buddha's life, Buddhism spread throughout Asia to become one of the dominant religions of the continent. Estimates of the number of Buddhists in the world today vary widely, in part because many Asians observe more than one religion, and in part because it is hard to know how many people are practicing Buddhism in Communist nations like China. The most common estimate is 350 million, which makes Buddhism the fourth largest of the world's religions.

Read More: The Life of the Buddha Read More: What's a Buddha?

Buddhism is so different from other religions that some people question whether it is a religion at all.

For example, the central focus of most religions is God, or gods. But Buddhism is non-theistic. The Buddha taught that believing in gods was not useful for those seeking to realize enlightenment.

Read More: Buddhism: Philosophy or Religion? Read More: Atheism and Devotion in Buddhism Read More:Are There Gods in Buddhism?

Most religions are defined by their beliefs. But in Buddhism, merely believing in doctrines is beside the point. The Buddha said that we should not accept doctrines just because we read them in scripture or are taught them by priests.

Instead of teaching doctrines to be memorized and believed, the Buddha taught how we can realize truth for ourselves. The focus of Buddhism is on practice rather than belief. The major outline of Buddhist practice is the Eightfold Path.

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Buddhism Basic Beliefs and Teachings - About

Buddhism began in India 2,500 years ago and, although virtually extinct in India, it remains the dominant world religion in the East. There are over 360 million followers of Buddhism worldwide and over one million American Buddhists. There even a significant number of "Jewish Buddhists." Buddhist concepts have also been influential on western society in general, primarily in the areas of meditation and nonviolence.

The Buddha ("Enlightened One") was an Indian prince named Siddharta Gautama who lived around 500 BCE. According to Buddhist tradition, the young prince lived an affluent and sheltered life until a journey during which he saw an old man, a sick man, a poor man, and a corpse. Shocked and distressed at the suffering in the world, Gautama left his family to seek enlightenment through asceticism. But even the most extreme asceticism failed to bring enlightenment. Finally, Gautama sat beneath a tree and vowed not to move until he had attained enlightenment. Days later, he arose as the Buddha - the "enlightened one." He spent the remaining 45 years of his life teaching the path to liberation from suffering (the dharma) and establishing a community of monks (the sangha).

Over its long history, Buddhism has grown into a variety of forms ranging from an emphasis on religious rituals and the worship of deities, to a complete rejection of both rituals and deities in favor of pure meditation. Yet all forms of Buddhism share respect for the teachings of the Buddha and the goal of ending suffering and the cycle of rebirth. Theravada Buddhism, prominent in Southeast Asia, is atheistic and philosophical in nature and focuses on the monastic life and meditation as means to liberation.

Mahayana Buddhism, prominent in China and Japan, incorporates several deities, celestial beings, and other traditional religious elements. In Mahayana, the path to liberation may include religious ritual, devotion, meditation, or a combination of these elements. Zen, Nichiren, Tendai, and Pure Land are the major forms of Mahayana Buddhism..

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Buddhism - Religion

What is Buddhism? Buddhism is a religion to about 300 million people around the world. The word comes from 'budhi', 'to awaken'. It has its origins about 2,500 years ago when Siddhartha Gotama, known as the Buddha, was himself awakened (enlightened) at the age of 35.

Is Buddhism a Religion?

To many, Buddhism goes beyond religion and is more of a philosophy or 'way of life'. It is a philosophy because philosophy 'means love of wisdom' and the Buddhist path can be summed up as:

(1) to lead a moral life, (2) to be mindful and aware of thoughts and actions, and (3) to develop wisdom and understanding.

How Can Buddhism Help Me?

Buddhism explains a purpose to life, it explains apparent injustice and inequality around the world, and it provides a code of practice or way of life that leads to true happiness.

Why is Buddhism Becoming Popular?

Buddhism is becoming popular in western countries for a number of reasons, The first good reason is Buddhism has answers to many of the problems in modern materialistic societies. It also includes (for those who are interested) a deep understanding of the human mind (and natural therapies) which prominent psychologists around the world are now discovering to be both very advanced and effective.

Who Was the Buddha?

Siddhartha Gotama was born into a royal family in Lumbini, now located in Nepal, in 563 BC. At 29, he realised that wealth and luxury did not guarantee happiness, so he explored the different teachings religions and philosophies of the day, to find the key to human happiness. After six years of study and meditation he finally found 'the middle path' and was enlightened. After enlightenment, the Buddha spent the rest of his life teaching the principles of Buddhism called the Dhamma, or Truth until his death at the age of 80.

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A Basic Buddhism Guide: 5 Minute Introduction

Siddhartha Gautama: The Buddha

Historians estimate that the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, lived from 566(?) to 480(?) B.C. The son of an Indian warrior-king, Gautama led an extravagant life through early adulthood, reveling in the privileges of his social caste. But when he bored of the indulgences of royal life, Gautama wandered into the world in search of understanding. After encountering an old man, an ill man, a corpse and an ascetic, Gautama was convinced that suffering lay at the end of all existence. He renounced his princely title and became a monk, depriving himself of worldly possessions in the hope of comprehending the truth of the world around him. The culmination of his search came while meditating beneath a tree, where he finally understood how to be free from suffering, and ultimately, to achieve salvation. Following this epiphany, Gautama was known as the Buddha, meaning the "Enlightened One." The Buddha spent the remainder of his life journeying about India, teaching others what he had come to understand.

The Four Noble Truths comprise the essence of Buddha's teachings, though they leave much left unexplained. They are the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering. More simply put, suffering exists; it has a cause; it has an end; and it has a cause to bring about its end. The notion of suffering is not intended to convey a negative world view, but rather, a pragmatic perspective that deals with the world as it is, and attempts to rectify it. The concept of pleasure is not denied, but acknowledged as fleeting. Pursuit of pleasure can only continue what is ultimately an unquenchable thirst. The same logic belies an understanding of happiness. In the end, only aging, sickness, and death are certain and unavoidable.

The Four Noble Truths are a contingency plan for dealing with the suffering humanity faces -- suffering of a physical kind, or of a mental nature. The First Truth identifies the presence of suffering. The Second Truth, on the other hand, seeks to determine the cause of suffering. In Buddhism, desire and ignorance lie at the root of suffering. By desire, Buddhists refer to craving pleasure, material goods, and immortality, all of which are wants that can never be satisfied. As a result, desiring them can only bring suffering. Ignorance, in comparison, relates to not seeing the world as it actually is. Without the capacity for mental concentration and insight, Buddhism explains, one's mind is left undeveloped, unable to grasp the true nature of things. Vices, such as greed, envy, hatred and anger, derive from this ignorance.

The Third Noble Truth, the truth of the end of suffering, has dual meaning, suggesting either the end of suffering in this life, on earth, or in the spiritual life, through achieving Nirvana. When one has achieved Nirvana, which is a transcendent state free from suffering and our worldly cycle of birth and rebirth, spiritual enlightenment has been reached. The Fourth Noble truth charts the method for attaining the end of suffering, known to Buddhists as the Noble Eightfold Path. The steps of the Noble Eightfold Path are Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. Moreover, there are three themes into which the Path is divided: good moral conduct (Understanding, Thought, Speech); meditation and mental development (Action, Livelihood, Effort), and wisdom or insight (Mindfulness and Concentration).

Contrary to what is accepted in contemporary society, the Buddhist interpretation of karma does not refer to preordained fate. Karma refers to good or bad actions a person takes during her lifetime. Good actions, which involve either the absence of bad actions, or actual positive acts, such as generosity, righteousness, and meditation, bring about happiness in the long run. Bad actions, such as lying, stealing or killing, bring about unhappiness in the long run. The weight that actions carry is determined by five conditions: frequent, repetitive action; determined, intentional action; action performed without regret; action against extraordinary persons; and action toward those who have helped one in the past. Finally, there is also neutral karma, which derives from acts such as breathing, eating or sleeping. Neutral karma has no benefits or costs.

Karma plays out in the Buddhism cycle of rebirth. There are six separate planes into which any living being can be reborn -- three fortunate realms, and three unfortunate realms. Those with favorable, positive karma are reborn into one of the fortunate realms: the realm of demigods, the realm of gods, and the realm of men. While the demigods and gods enjoy gratification unknown to men, they also suffer unceasing jealousy and envy. The realm of man is considered the highest realm of rebirth. Humanity lacks some of the extravagances of the demigods and gods, but is also free from their relentless conflict. Similarly, while inhabitants of the three unfortunate realms -- of animals, ghosts and hell -- suffer untold suffering, the suffering of the realm of man is far less.

The realm of man also offers one other aspect lacking in the other five planes, an opportunity to achieve enlightenment, or Nirvana. Given the sheer number of living things, to be born human is to Buddhists a precious chance at spiritual bliss, a rarity that one should not forsake.

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Basics of Buddhism - PBS

This manual provides introduction to Zen Buddhism. Check out the history and the basics of Zen Buddhism.

The Mahayana sutras that were written in India and China form the basis of Zen Buddhism. Of these, the most prominent ones are the Lankavatara Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, the Samantamukha Parivarta, the Heart Sutra, a chapter of the Lotus Sutra and the Platform Sutra of Huineng. The fundamental elements of Buddhist philosophy consist of the basics of Zen Buddhism also. These include the Eightfold Path, the five precepts, the Four Noble Truths, the five skandhas, three dharma seals, etc.

The teachings in Zen philosophy are restricted to the Mahayana Buddhism. The major religious figures in Zen include Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, Majusri Bodhisattva, Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, Sakyamuni Buddha and Amitabha Buddha. Zen Buddhism has been influenced by Chinese philosophy to a great extent, especially Taoism. This is because of the fact that Zen emerged as a distinct school in medieval China. However, the degree of influence of Taoism on Zen Buddhism is still open to debate.

As per a number of modern scholars, the influence was quite shallow, while others contend a deep influence of Taoism on Zen philosophy. It is a mistake to understand Zen as an intellectual philosophy or a solitary pursuit. Rather, it is more of a practice or a way of life. The temples dedicated to zed lay emphasis on a thorough practice of meditation on daily basis. They also advise practicing along with other people, as it helps in preventing the traps of ego. The students of Zen Buddhism are required to perform some of the tedious tasks that one performs at home.

This is because Zen Buddhists believe that a person should acquire knowledge from all the aspects of life. This knowledge will help him in the process of enlightenment. The textual hermeneutics have been severely condemned in Zen teachings. The pursuit of worldly treasures is looked down upon. They advise people to focus on meditation, which will ultimately lead them to unmediated consciousness of the processes of both the world as well as their own mind.

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Zen Buddhism - Introduction to Zen Buddhism - History of ...