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Wisdom and Foolishness in Social Media

2012-05-14T21:39:14Z

Now that I've got a Facebook fan page to maintain I'm spending a lot more time on Facebook. I think about half of the posts from friends that scroll down my "home" page are pictures of babies or pets, or graphics with inspirational sayings. Sometimes they are pictures of babies/pets with inspirational sayings.

Most of these sayings are innocuous. Sample: "Be yourself. Everyone else is taken." Some are nice reminders -- "Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured." --Mark Twain. But occasionally I see a supposedly wise saying that rubs me the wrong way.

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Wisdom and Foolishness in Social Media originally appeared on About.com Buddhism on Monday, May 14th, 2012 at 21:39:14.

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Mothers and Children

2012-05-13T13:33:08Z

I'm ambivalent about Mother's Day. I'll be spending some time with my adult children later today, which I enjoy. But my own mother is long gone, and I miss her.

It seems lately that half the people I know are losing their parents. Of course, this is part of the natural progression. There was a time that half the people I knew were finishing school and starting careers. Then half the people I knew were getting married. Then they were having babies. Then the babies were graduating. Now half the people I know are losing parents to old age, disease, and death.

Of course, it must be harder when a parent dies while one is still young. But you're never really prepared for it. When one's elderly parents are fading, the world seems upside down. You are walking a strange path without a map. And when they are gone, it feels like waking up in a foreign country. Everything may look the same, but it all seems alien.

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Mothers and Children originally appeared on About.com Buddhism on Sunday, May 13th, 2012 at 13:33:08.

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On Criticizing Anybody

2012-05-10T11:03:59Z

Following up the last post -- a reader who appeared to know what he was talking about (although I have no way to know) said that Michael Roach's prohibition on criticizing clergy is based on the 6th Precept, not the 13th, as I had guessed. If so, this makes Roach's interpretation even more out of whack.

The Mahayana 6th usually is boiled down to "do not discuss faults of the assembly." Here is a rendering from Wisdom Quarterly:

"A disciple of the Buddha must not broadcast the misdeeds or infractions of bodhisattva-clerics or bodhisattva-laypersons, or of monks and nuns, nor encourage others to do so. One must not create the causes, conditions, methods, or karma of discussing the offenses of the assembly."

So, it applies to criticism of laypeople as much as to clerics, a point the alleged Michael Roach version leaves out.

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On Criticizing Anybody originally appeared on About.com Buddhism on Thursday, May 10th, 2012 at 11:03:59.

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On Criticizing Clergy

2012-05-08T15:19:12Z

Continuing some of the issues brought up in "Psychosis, Stabbing, Secrecy & Death at a Neo-Buddhist University in Arizona" by Matthew Remski. Remski was a student of Michael Roach some years ago, and while he does not have first-hand knowledge of the death of Ian Thorson, I assume he does have direct knowledge of how Michael Roach teaches.

Toward the end of the article Remski writes, "All students of Roach have taken initiation into the Bodhisattva Vows, one of which explicitly forbids criticism of the clergy. The Brahma Net Sutra gives a definition of this major vow."

Does the Mahayana Brahma Net explicitly forbid criticism of the clergy? I don't claim to be a scholar of the Brahma Net, but there are some translations online, such as this one. Per this translation, it says one should not slander the clergy. That's very different.

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On Criticizing Clergy originally appeared on About.com Buddhism on Tuesday, May 8th, 2012 at 15:19:12.

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Unspiritual Secrets

2012-05-07T13:36:33Z

There's been no media coverage of the death of Ian Thorson, which surprises me. Someone asked if there's a news embargo on the story. I can't imagine how there could be. It's more likely the story just hasn't caught anyone's attention outside of American Buddhist circles.

A long article at Elephant Journal provides the perspective of someone who studied with Michael Roach and knew Thorson and McNally years ago. I'm not necessarily endorsing this perspective as the "true" one, although I respect the author's opinion. I have no personal knowledge of what happened, so I'm trying to keep an open mind until more facts come out.

However, the article brings up issues that apply to spiritual practice generally, and these are worth discussing. One of these is the issue of secrecy. When does secrecy serve a useful spiritual purpose, and when does it serve to enable abuse?

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Unspiritual Secrets originally appeared on About.com Buddhism on Monday, May 7th, 2012 at 13:36:33.

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Vesak!

2012-05-04T21:24:13Z

Vesak is May 5 in many traditions, especially in most of southeast Asia. Here is a Buddha from Thailand, in honor of the birth, enlightenment and Parinirvana of the Buddha.

Photo: © Preuk13 | Dreamstime.com

Vesak! originally appeared on About.com Buddhism on Friday, May 4th, 2012 at 21:24:13.

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Sad News From Arizona

2012-05-02T08:30:04Z

Last week a man was found dead in a cave in Arizona. The local newspaper reported that the man was Ian Thorson, 38, who was the husband of Christie McNally.

If the names are not familiar -- Christie McNally was once the spiritual partner of Michael Roach, an American man who was ordained in the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. I believe Roach still considers himself to be a monk, although Gelugpa would disagree. His Holiness the Dalai Lama considered Roach's relationship with McNally to be a breach of his monastic vows and barred Roach from further involvement with the order.

Not quite a year ago McNally's retreat center was threatened by wildfires, which is when I learned that McNally had left the much older Roach for Thorson, someone closer to her own age. Yes, this news possibly triggered my mother instincts -- I felt this was probably for the best and hoped the two young people would have a long and happy life together.

So I was sad to hear that Thorson had died. But what happened in the cave?

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Sad News From Arizona originally appeared on About.com Buddhism on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012 at 08:30:04.

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Lost in Translation, or There Be Dragons!

2012-05-01T14:24:47Z

I've said before that it's perilous to try to understand Buddhism just by reading about it on your own. It's like finding your way in the woods without a guide. Here's a great example, from Dosho Port.

Dosho quotes something Dogen said about mindfulness: "The root of mindfulness is the red flesh ball of a decayed tree."

That's the sort of thing that gives people the impression that Zen is some weird Japanese version of Dada. Some days I think the same thing. But Dosho goes on to explain that the "red flesh ball" is a reference to Mater Lin-chi's (who is called Rinzai in Japan) "true person of no rank."

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Lost in Translation, or There Be Dragons! originally appeared on About.com Buddhism on Tuesday, May 1st, 2012 at 14:24:47.

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Buddhist Chauvinism in Sri Lanka

2012-04-30T11:12:00Z

For the past several days there have been news stories from Sri Lanka about Buddhist monks attempting to tear down a 50-year-old mosque. This morning I read that the government of Sri Lanka plans to relocate the mosque. Muslims are saying they will not relocate.

I've been trying to sort out exactly what is happening, and why it is happening. I'm still not sure I've got the story straight, but here's my best guess:

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Buddhist Chauvinism in Sri Lanka originally appeared on About.com Buddhism on Monday, April 30th, 2012 at 11:12:00.

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The Two Panchen Lamas

2012-04-25T10:31:21Z

As I wrote Monday, today the third World Buddhist Forum, hosted by China, began in Hong Kong. It is also the 23rd birthday of His Holiness Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, who is either a political prisoner of China or dead.

Predictably, news of the forum has focused on China's puppet Panchen Lama, whose name appears in press releases as Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu rather than the more common Gyaltsen Norbu. I don't know why the name changes from here to there, but it's clearly the same guy in the photographs as the one named Gyaltsen Norbu.

An official in the Press Section of the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi told Phayul that the real 11th Panchen Lama "...is currently in mainland China along with his family and he doesn't want to be disturbed." And why doesn't he want to be disturbed? Because the Dalai Lama is "fabricating the truth." Right.

We were told a couple of years ago that His Holiness and his family were living a "very good life in Tibet," which of course Beijing considers to be part of China. It's hard to believe the family could be anywhere in Tibet without somebody noticing, though.

Meanwhile, Whozits the Pretender today attended a relic-worshiping ceremony (China says the relic is the historical Buddha's parietal bone). I believe he is scheduled to address the assembled Forum today.

The Two Panchen Lamas originally appeared on About.com Buddhism on Wednesday, April 25th, 2012 at 10:31:21.

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