Pali Canon - Online

The idea is to go back to the root.  Find the beginning.  Who said what first.  And how do we know.  From a linear standpoint, what is the truth?

I have always had this thought in terms of my own practice - it doesn't matter who said what first, or how authentic it is because what comes your way is what is supposed to come your way.  Now that I am entering into the world of scholarship in Buddhist studies, and I find myself researching different foundational concepts in order to, not only present them to my students who may or may not have had exposure before, understand how ideas developed in a linear way. 

Why?  I am not sure - academia seems to be linearly (historically?) oriented.  Maybe this is my own education speaking, but when one is not presenting proper context (historic or otherwise), the class could be taken as "less serious" or "ungrounded." 

Thus, here is the Pali Canon online - supposidly the original words of the Buddha remembered by his deciples and passed down orally over generations.  Someone wrote it down (i'm not yet sure who) and now it is translated into English.  Lucky Us!

Empowerment

The three yanas, according to Tibetan Buddhism are three stages of one's path to enlightenment. 

Thinking about this, in relation to social engagement and activism, seems one can extract three stages there as well.  When thinking about how social action works with the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, a context needs to be created to frame 'engagement' effectively. 

Reggie Ray writes the following from a Tricycle article considering the concept of Empowerment:


We talk a lot about “empowerment” in the Vajrayana and it is important to understand exactly what that means. To receive empowerment doesn’t mean that someone grants you the power to escape from your life, or to override and control things you don’t like; rather, they help you tap into the power you inherently possess to surrender utterly to your unique life, which is the only gateway in the entire universe through which you can enter eternity.

Reginald Ray, "The Vajrayana Journey is an experience of love, power, and freedom"

The conversation overlaps in the world of development - it is quite popular to talk about women's empowerment, empowering others to take responsibility for their improvement or education, for example.  One can't deny the agency in this word - empowerment implies someone doing the empowering and someone receiving the empowerment.  Is it possible to empower oneself?  In the Vajrayana tradition, no.  In the conversation about the ethics of development, it has become popular to talk about empowerment as the receiver of resources taking responsibility for their own empowerment. 

I am not sure this concept actually works, but maybe is just something to tell ourselves as we attempt to create what we perceive as a better life for people who we perceive are living in poverty. 

Development remains a touchy issue - I don't pose that there are any solutions, actually, only that there needs to be constant questioning as "development" continues to happen in many parts of the world.  

Sulak Sivaraksa at the Garrison Institute's Satyagraha Event

Sivaraksa as one representative articulating one approach to "Engaged Buddhism."  He has had an interesting life filled with jail time and activism.  In this video, he calls says strongly that, "The West has been thinking too much."  This goes along with what Tsoknyi Rinpoche speaks about in many of his teachings regarding the subtle body problem that seems to be manifest in the western experience - too much thinking creates blocks, cultural blocks, in the body.

This is a good video to show in a discussion about the definition of Engaged Buddhism - what is it?  who is engaged or not engaged and how to we figure that out?  But, best to give some context about Sivaraksa's life and where his motivation arises to do the work he is doing. 

RSA Animate - Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us

Anil showed this in class the other day to highlight the concept of proper motivation in the workplace and to pose the question, "is there a proper motivation in the workplace?" The model presented here which is replicated in many places is -
1. Autonomy
2. Mastery of Skill
3. Purpose

He compared things to the Buddha's life in terms of the 8fold path.

Secret Powers of Time

Past Oriented - 1. past positive - focus on the 'good old times' 2. past negative - focus on regret/failure
Present Oriented - 1. Hedonistic - live for pleasure avoid pain.  2. My life is fated (by religion, poverty) Fatalism
Future Oriented - 1. We've learned to work rather than play, and avoid temptation.  2. Life begins after the death of the mortal body.

shared time perspectives characterize nations ---  culture too?

The Geography of Time - Robert Levine
Pace of Life - Time Perspective - How people divide their experiences into partitions
Time Duration - are you bored?  are you excited?

Different cultures have a different pace of life.

Education? Purpose of school is to make present-oriented beasts into future oriented adults (some cultures make them past-oriented).


Kids need to be in a situation where they feel like they are controling something (video games...)
all of our educational systems are designed toward future-oriented kids, yet, they already know the cultural time perspectives - future-oriented kids succeed in school as we have it set up.  How to teach present-oriented kids?

Kids are totally different than we were - revolution of time.

"Many of life's puzzles can be solved simply by understanding our own time perspective, and the time perspective of others.  Conflict we have with other people is simply conflict we have with each other's time perspectives.  Once we're aware of that, we stop making negative attributions like 'you're dumb' or 'you're childish' or 'you're pig-headed' or 'you're authoritarian'.  It's really the most simple idea in the world."

RSA Animate - The Secret Powers of Time

Malaria In Nepal

One teacher of mine often gives an "Intro to Nepal" talk that includes statements about pre-WWII malaria barrier that prevented the British from crossing the jungly Terai belt of southern Nepal and conquering the Rana regime in control of the Kathmandu Valley for the last 300 years. 

It is common knowledge that one of the first USAID projects in Nepal was the planned eradication of malaria in 1951.  The intended aim of which was to reduce mortality rates in this southernmost region.  Opportunity for hill tribes to move south to more arable, malaria-free land was an unforeseen consequence which leaves more than imprints of hostility on the Madeshi (native peoples) of this Terai area, complicating the constitution-writing process in various ways.

However, it seems that USAID was not successful - while malaria is not considered a risk in the higher-altitude areas of Nepal, including the Kathmandu Valley, there still remains risk in the terai belt. 

Democracy Is...

B&D - Course Content Resources - Thailand and Sri Lanka

Articles that may have relevance to course content....
Trying to develop more of a Theravadin perspective as we move along... starting from the begining (8-fold path, establishment of Buddhist Ethics... Maybe I should have started with that rather than jumping in to Ashoka.  But we can do this in a backward-buildup sort of way)

Susan M. Darlington -Rethinking Buddhism and Development: The emergence of Environmentalist Monks in Thailand.   This article might fit well with the book Greg gave: Socially Engaged Buddhism by Sulak Sivaraksa.

Tessa Bartholomeusz - In Defense of Dharma: Just-War Ideology in Buddhist Sri Lanka.
Also possible to draw more and more context - I need some resources on the history of the conflict rather than just throwing these articles out to the students. 

I need more grounding.  :/

Book Reviews: Socially Engaged Buddhsim

Here are some relevant book reviews that might be good for the course.

GLOF - Nepal

Information about geological happenings in the Himal including "Glacial Lake Outburst Floods" from IRIN. 

Good contextual information from ICIMOD and what has happened in the last 20 years or so in terms of preparing for natural disasters. 

"Speak With Conviction" Taylor Mali (Def Poetry)

Optimism for Kashmir?

Interesting photos of Kashmiri Pandits return to Kashmir.  Controversy is that, because they are Hindu, Pakistan sees them as a threat. 

An opinion article in the Times of India reports results from a recent survey about the Line of Control.  The article states that conflict was ready to be smoothed out before 11/26.  Since, the terrain for resolution, or at least compromise, has been rocky.

Shambhala

Nazi-Tibet connections... and some info about Mme. Blavatsky and Theosophy. 

I don't know this source, though.

Oil Leak. Uuhg.

This article from The Street explains how the top kill failed to contain the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  This is truly a disaster of epic proportions.  Criminal investigation?  Sure, but first things first, right?  How will the leak be stopped? 

I don't see how a criminal investigation is in order, actually.  We all hold a part in this - humanity's dependence on oil is a reality. 

Sinkholes. Ooh.

"Sinkholes form in places where the underlying ground layer consists of limestone, salt beds or other soluble rock, which dissolves in water. Groundwater coursing beneath the surface eats away at the rock, slowly eroding and destabilizing it. Often, new underground caves are created, which then collapse in catastrophic scenes like this one."

Article about this sinkhole in Guatemala here.

The Leonard Lopate Show: Kashmir - WNYC

The Leonard Lopate Show: Kashmir - WNYC

Two Women with different ties to Kashmir make a film about identity and conflict in the region.

Their film aired on May 18th.

Ex King Speaks

Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, Nepal's most recent king, finally spoke out about his being ousted two years ago.  The articles focus on the king living as an ordinary tax-paying citizen.  Gyanendra drops hints that he was betrayed by the political parties jockeying for power.  This betrayal ended his reign, also ending the 239-year Hindu monarchy rule of Nepal. 

Here's a Reuters article

Here's Sudeshna Sarkar's take from the blogosphere.

Looks like Facebook is a way the ex-king passes his time, in addition to walking his dog. 

Image from rednepal.com

Barry Schwartz on the paradox of choice | Video on TED.com

Barry Schwartz on the paradox of choice | Video on TED.com

Record Year for Everest Summits

It's the time of year for Everest summits - this month (and April, sometimes) is the best time for teams to try for a summit.  If teams go earlier, the weather is too cold and unpredictable.  The snow is too thick to cross the crevasses in the winter.  If they go later, the monsoon is an issue creating mudslides and more unpredictable weather.  

Times of India article talks about this seasons's summiters in this article. This year, a 13-year-old from the US broke the youngest person record. 

"However, while climbers continued to try to overcome human limitations on Mt Everest and make the impossible happen, in Nepal, the gateway to the magic mountain, its wizardry failed to make any impact on the greedy politicians who continued to push the country on the brink of disaster."- TOI


The article concludes with this and another paragraph addressing the political situation in Nepal these days.  It's not a pretty picture.

Buddhist-Muslim Relations in Ladakh

(click the title for the articles)

Something I have always been intrigued by, yet is so difficult to talk with anyone about.  Many deny there is any conflict. .

What EXACTLY did the Buddha say?

The world may never know.  But many scholars thinks he or she know.

Here's an article from an organization that I am not yet familiar with briefly explaining how teachings became text - three months after the Buddha passed away, a First Council happened deciding what should be preserved from his teaching.  The same source talks about how, even though Sanskrit was the language of the educated and priestly caste, Pali is the language of the region at the time when the Buddha lived, his native tongue is said to be closer to a village language called Magadha.

The Pali Cannon is the first collection of the Buddha's teachings, the result of the First Council. 

Grade Inflation Trends in US American Colleges and Universities

I find this fascinating as we just submitted grades for this semester and are bracing ourselves for grade appeals even though the grades were more than fair this semester. 

This guy from this site has been tracking trends since the 1920s in private and public institutions.  Gives an example of what a grade actually means these days. 

I have seen this in many places my last 5 years of teaching - teachers and administrators nervous about angry parents, grade appeals, and getting fired based on the option to grade honestly.  Many senior teachers I have worked with put together rubrics at the beginning of the year/semester and try their best to communicate those expectations to their students.  Only one teacher in 5 years that I have worked with has truly stuck to their rubric and skillfully helped the students take responsibility for their work, whether it was A work or C work.

The inherent subjectivity in grading is undeniable.  But, if a good teacher is able to create rubrics and hold students accountable, then it does add some piece of objectivity to the mess.  And anyway, if they are hiring you to give the grades, then someone trusts that you will know what is good and what is awful, right?  Isn't that why we've all spent so much time in school? 

You have to do it yourself

"Others’ words can’t measure your practice, and you don’t realize the dharma because of what others say. I mean the real dharma. The teachings others can give you are to show you the path, but that isn’t real knowledge. When people genuinely meet the dharma, they realize it directly within themselves. So the Buddha said that he is merely the one who shows the way. In teaching us, he is not accomplishing the way for us. It is not so easy as that. It’s like someone who sells us a plow to till the fields. He isn’t going to do the plowing for us. We have to do that ourselves. Don’t wait for the salesman to do it. Once he’s made the sale, he takes the money and splits. That’s his part.That’s how it is in practice. The Buddha shows the way. He’s not the one who does it for us. Don’t expect the salesman to till your field. If we understand the path in this way, it’s a little more comfortable for us, and we will do it ourselves. Then there will be fruition."

- Ajahn Chah, "Meeting the Dharma Alone"

Freedom

When the Mind is Free of Grasping 

The outer world in all its variety and our inner world of thoughts and emotions are not as they seem. All phenomena appear to exist objectively, but their true mode of existence is like a dream: apparent yet insubstantial. The experience of emptiness is not found outside of the world of ordinary appearance, as many people mistakenly assume. In truth, we experience emptiness when the mind is free of grasping at appearance.

-Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, "The Theater of Reflection"

Good for Practice....

7 Tips for Giving up Gossip

1. Recognize that gossip doesn’t undo the situation you’re talking about. It only puts in motion another situation based on negative feelings.

2. Know that comparing yourself to others is useless. Everyone has his or her own talents. In this way, give up jealousy and the wish to put others down.

3. Be aware of and transform your own thoughts, words, and deeds rather than commenting on those of others.

4. Train your mind to see others’ positive qualities and discuss them. This will make you much happier than gossiping ever could.

5. Forgive, knowing that people do harmful things because they are unhappy. If you don’t make someone into an enemy, you won’t want to gossip about him.

6. Have a sense of humor about what you think, say, and do, and be able to laugh at all of the silly things we sentient beings carry out in our attempt to be happy. If you see the humor in our human predicament, you’ll be more patient.

7. Practice saying something kind to someone every day. Do this especially with people you don’t like. It gets easier with practice and bears surprisingly good results.

-Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron, "The Truth About Gossip"

Struggles in Nepal continue...

BBC Article on newest continuing strike in Nepal

 

 Maoists have been holding a strike (bandh) since May1st. They are trying to kick the current prime minster out on false pretenses stemming from Maoist Leader Prachanda's unskillful firing of the Chief of Police last May.  Though, that is only one point on the discussion table.

The reality that the deadlline (and the funding) for the constituent assembly to have finished their draft of the new constitution (May 28th) is rapidly approaching. 

People in Kathmandu are frustrated and fed-up with the political elites making decisions only to benefit them. 

Limits - Thoughts on WNYC's Radio Lab Podcast

"The act of forgetting is crucial to create preciousness."

how does this relate to desire and passion in the human experience? 
do we perpetuate not-knowing?

Storytelling

Collecting definitions of words and concepts that relate to storytelling (and thus applicable to lecturing, writing about storytelling, and getting more smrt). These are words I use all the time when I am speaking with students, or scholars, usually to sound more smrt, but I think it is time to start using them properly and actually understanding their meaning.  AND reading the works that are connected with the constructs as I know them in literary theory.

Allegory 

Monomyth

Semiotics


Rhetoric

metaphor

Top Grammar Reminders - Spring 2010

1. Know the difference between their, they’re, and there  
2. Eliminate your contractions (including they’re) – there are NO contractions in scholarly writing. 
3. Check your comma usage around quotation marks.    
4. Do not use single quotation marks as you would with your fingers in general speech.  Technically, the single quotation mark does not exist in scholarly writing.  
5. Possessive apostrophe usage: Ben’s sitar, Akbar’s tomb, Chelsea’s elephant.  The most common mistake this semester has been writing, “It’s,” when you mean, “Its.”
6. Proper colon and semicolon usage. 
7. Proper usage of italics - words in another language. 
8. SPELLING – especially names and places. 

Looking for a comic/graphic novel version of the Buddha's life story

Here are some good finds, but not exactly what I am looking for.  My target audiences are high school, gap year, and university students who are hearing about/learning about the story of the Buddha's life for the first time.  The aim is to help the students understand from an historical/mythological perspective who the Buddha was and why he is so important to the structure of South Asian history.

As Mary said today, "He must have been a cool dude if we are still talking about him 2600 years after he died."  The same could be said for all the prophets of all religions.  It is the same myth that is perpetuated, though Buddhists differentiate by clarifying the Buddha's teachings did not have the same focus of eternalism that the messianic religions had, or developed.  Nor did the complete opposite nihilistic view encompass what the Buddha said he discovered.  But the myth remains - the story of a prince who gives it all up to find a way out of suffering.

I asked a good buddy who knows comics to help me find what I am looking for.  These were some sites he found:

www.buddhanet.net has great teaching tools for primary and secondary students - I need to do some more digging to find out who these guys are and from where they are pulling their information.  This coloring book of the life story of the Buddha is quite detailed and cleared up a few of my questions and confused other facts I thought I knew e.g. in this book, it says that the first person to give the Buddha food after he fainted during his six years living and practicing as an aesthetic was a young nameless boy.  I had understood that Sudhana gave him rice and milk and this was enough to realize that the way of denial of physical needs was the opposite spectrum and there needed to be a balance to that.  Hm.

Deepak Chopra also has an illustrated book of the life of the Buddha - here's the cover.  I am not sure about this one.  I didn't know that Deepak Chopra was a Buddhist ? ?

Then, there is a famous Japanese graphic novel called Buddha by Osamu Tezuka in eight volumes.  People I talked with seem to know this one best.  I endeavor to read this as soon as possible.  Here's a review of the series.

Other suggestions are most welcome.  I leave you with this found here.

Hegemony

Italian activist/thinker Antonio Gramsci (1891 - 1937) introduced concept of cultural hegemony.  He was one of the most important Marxist thinkers of the 20th century.  He died at age 46 after being released from a prison sentence in conjunction with the accusation of an attempted assassination of Mussolini.
Gramsci expanded upon Lenin's ideals about hegemony with a thorough analysis of why the Marxist revolution of the proletariat had not yet happened despite the prediction of it

Need to read more about this.  Read Prison Notebooks. 

Relevance to FSS - Edward Said quotes Gramsci extensively in his introduction to Orientalism (1978).  Here, Said discusses Gramsci's theory of cultural hegemony (a process of moral and intellectual leadership through which both dominant and subordinate classes consent to their respective roles as opposed to being forced or coerced into that role) as a way to discuss the structure of the West's need to understand/dominate that which they view as Oriental. 

Seems to me that Said's use of Gramsci is a bit radical.  Especially because he is speaking about Orientalism as a construct of the West, and western thought/literature/imagery, that continues to perpetuate and inform the West's understanding of the Orient.  This relationship does not seem to be one where both parties are informed about their role and consenting.  In fact, Said expounds that this is not the case at all - that the occupants of the Orient in the eyes of the West fully created and controlled by Western observations as a fulfillment of some fantasy that defines the West as significant and powerful. 

Need to read more.

Sita Sings the Blues - "American" take on Ramayana

Attended a lecture today at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) that was part of a course taught by Drs. Robert and Sally Goldman of UC Berkeley's South Asian Studies Department.  They are here in Delhi working on their epic one-of-a-kind translation of the epic narrative The Ramayana composed by the poet Valmiki, which is an integral part of India's (and many other cultures') heritage. 

Today's course was framed from last week's (which I did not attend) where Sally focused on ideas of appropriation.  This carries a negative connotation for me as in 'cultural appropriation' of that which we perceive as exotic or different, holding some level of fantasy for us, be it savage, spiritually fulfilling, aggressive, or transgressive of our own cultural boundaries.  We identify this thing, e.g. Buddhist prayer beads, and we develop our own way of relating to it in the context of our own culture.  Appropriation means taking something which is not yours and owning or authoring meaning and significance to that thing outside of its original cultural context. 

We started watching Sita Sings the Blues under this premise - The Ramayana is an epic that 'belongs' to India (i actually don't know enough about the history yet to say this - I know it has traveled to many places and been retold in the contexts of many cultures, and today there was some reference to it being part of an extensive folk tradition in many countries as well).  Nina Paley used the story of Ramayana as a way to work through some bad things that happened in her own life.  She took this epic story, the basis of understanding of cultural structures for India, and looked at it not only through her US American lens, but the lens of a first time viewer of the epic.  We discussed many aspects of this after viewing including Nina's motive and her ability to capture what our audience thought were the true meanings/themes of the stories. 

What did I see while we watched?

What were the reactions to the viewing? (who made up the audience)

What did Sally and Bob want to talk about? (globalization and relevance of epic stories)

How is this relevant to my work as a cross cultural bridge for Americans in India?  I did speak up at the end - actually, I was put on the spot as one of the only two foreigners in the room other than the lecturers, and a US American as well.  People were interested in how someone would react to seeing this version as the first version of the Ramayana in their lives.  What an interesting question, especially in light of working with young US Americans who decide they would like to spend three or four months in India with the organization I work for.  I have often searched for accessible ways to introduce my students to Culture in a sensitive, non-overassuming way - a way in which I feel opens an ethical dialogue and creates understanding, relation, and curiosity about the experience the students might have. 

8-Fold Path

A result of Buddha Sakyamuni's first turning of the wheel of Dharma at Sarnath were the four noble truths.  Many have expoused, interpreted, explained, described, meditated upon and put into action these truths.

1. Suffering exits
2. Suffering is caused by desire and attachment
3. Release from suffering is possible
4. The 8-fold path is the way to work to be released from suffering

The 8-Fold Path is the main focus of the Hinayana or Theravada tradition of Buddhism, but the foundation for all other schools and practices.  Here is are two schematics from different schools (not sure which ones yet) that describe and try to quantify the 8-fold path -

This first one I like because its visual shows interaction between the steps on the path that seems to help the viewer understand the progress they might want to take.  I don't yet understand the sanskrit translations of the words, and why it is the format it is in. 

This second one from a transcendental awareness (what?) news journal gives a practical explanation of the path breaking down what I know to be the different categories of practice within each step of the path (from various Tibetan Buddhist sources).

The Path breaks down into three sections (as depicted above in the spiral) as practices of body, speech, and mind.  These aims are to then cleanse, over many many lifetimes, the negative karmic habitual tendencies each human being carries from lifetime to lifetime.

Understanding Tantra

The students this semester have found it difficult to come to an understanding of Tantra - rituals, practice, history, context, meaning - and of course, where it fits in relevantly to their academic study, as well as their developing spiritual lives and belief systems. 

I have been reading from different sources attempting to clarify definitions and construct my own understandings of these traditions from Indian Hindu and Buddhist and Tibetan Buddhist sources.  My knowledge remains limited to my small experience and tiny capacity for understanding, but maybe I can make some sense of these things in order to be a better guide for the students. 
 
What is Tantra?
Today from the Tibetan Buddhist Gelug perspective, there are two - First from Alexander Berzin, who has worked extensively with HH the 14th Dalai Lama on Kalachakra initiation.  Berzin also hosts an opensource website with layers of resources for those looking to study more deeply.  These quotes are from his book, Taking the Kalachakra Initiation, which is written to help the aspirant prepare for receiving the initiation. (1997, Snow Lion Publications: Ithaca, New York)

"Some people have odd notions about tantra and imagine, with great anticipation, that an initiation is an entranceway into a magic world of exotic sex and superpowers.  When they learn that this is not the case, but rather that tantric practice is complex, advanced, and requires seious committment and the keeping of many vows, they become frightened and are put off.  Neither of these reactions, of excitement of fear is appropriate."  (p.17)

"The word tantra means an everlasting stream of continuity... the everlasting stream is our mind - specifically its subtlest level know as primordial clear light - which provides continuity throughout all our lifetimes.  Like a pure laser beam of mere clarity and awareness, unadulterated by the gross oscillations of conceptual thought of disturbing emotions, it underlies each moment of experience, whether we are awake or asleep." (p.18)

Berzin goes on to describe the continuity like a radio that remains on through the process of finding the station to tune in to.  Through the station playing the music, the static between the stations, or how loud the radio is playing, the radio is still a radio - an open receiver for broadcast.  Tapping in to this continuity is the point of the practice - recognizing that it is there within each of us (each a different radio) and we all can recognize this potential. 

Lama Thubten Yeshe, one of the first visitors and teachers to the United State and the "West" from the Tibetan Buddhist Gelug tradition in the 1970s and 1980s, often gave teachings on the meanings and definitions of tantra in order to benefit his students.  He often said that the western mind was ripe for receiving and understanding these teachings and that, "The practice of tantra is so suitable for the modern West because it is 'scientific.'"  (p. xii)

Here are some quotes from his book Introduction to Tantra: The Transformation of Desire. Compiled by Jonathan Landow.  2001: Wisdom Publications, Sommerville, MA. 

(quotes below from Jonathan Landow's preface)

"Tantra, far from being a system of dogma to be accepted on faith or authority, is in fact a practical, step-by-step exploration of the human condition leading to self-discovery, and its results are verifiable through our own observations and experiences." (p. xii)

"The practice of tantra, which is designed to take advantage of this hidden inner resource and utilize it to the maximum extent, offers us the best opportunity to overcome these presures and transform our lives into the meaningful, integrated whole that we desire." (p. xii)

"Tantra is a path of joy and affirmation, qualities so sadly lacking in many of the currently depleted forms of what were once powerful spiritual traditions."  (p. xii)

"According to the Buddhist teachings, no matter how confused or deluded we may be at the moment, the underlying and essential nature of our being is clear and pure.  In the same way that clouds can temporarily obscure but cannot damage the light-giving power of the sun, so too the temporary afflictions of body and mind - our confusion, anxiety, and the suffering they cause - can temporarily obscure but cannot destroy or even tough the fundamentally clear nature of our consciousness." (p. 2)

"And the ultimate purpose of all spiritual practices, whether they are called Buddhist or not, is to uncover and make contact with this essential pure nature." (p. 2)

"When we have developed our own inner purity, inner compassion, and inner love, we can then see the reflection of this purity and loving-kindness in others.  But if we have not contacted these qualities within ourselves, we will see everyone as ugly and limited.  For whatever we see every day in our outer reality is actually nothing more than a projection of our own inner reality." (p. 2)

Lama Yeshe goes on to describe the difference between the two main approaches of Tibetan Buddhism - according to the sutrayana and tantrayana.  Sutrayana refers to the gradual causal path of purifying and cleansing the mind of its faults and limitations and replacing them with beneficial qualities of love and wisdom.  "This path consists of creating specific causes - behaving ethically, developing our powers of concentration, training in meditative insight, and so forth - for the future attainment of full awakening."  (p. 3)

Tantrayana is the faster method because one is trained to utilize the subtle energy of desire and negative emotions in order to more quickly and efficiently cleanse the mind of its faults.  "Although tantric practitioners do not neglect creating the same causes as the followers of sutra, they take the future result of full spiritual evolution as the very starting point in their path.  To put this in other words, the tantric yogi or yogini - as these supremely skillful practitioners are called in Sanskrit - learns to think, speak, and act now as if he or she were already a fully enlightened buddha." (p. 3)

"Speaking generally we can say that all the many practices of tantra involve the principle of transformation.  As modern science has demonstrated, the physical universe with its infinite variety of phenomena - from the smallest subatomic particle to the largest galaxy - is in an unceasing state of transformation and evolution from one form of energy to another.  Our own body and mind are also energy, and whether we are healthy or ill, mentally balanced or berserk, depends on whether our mental and physical energies are harmonious or not.  Through the proper practice of tantra all of our energies, including the subtle yet very powerful energies we are not ordinarily aware of, are harnessed to accomplish the greatest of all transformations.  This is our evolution from an ordinary, limited and deluded person trapped within the shell of a petty ego into a fully evolved, totally conscious being of unlimited compassion and insight." (p.5)

From these quotes we can understand - tantra is about transformation of our deluded mind into the inherent clear and luminous lazer beam that is our primordial nature.  Methods and techniques of tantric practice are of a resultant nature, taking this truth to be, philosophically, all one needs to accomplish enlightenment. 

"Instead of viewing pleasure and desire as something to be avoided at all costs, tantra recognizes the powerful energy aroused by our desires to be an indispensable resource for the spiritual path.  Because the goal is nothing less than the realization of our highest human potential, tantra seeks to transform every experience - no matter how 'unreligious' it may appear - into the path of fulfillment."  (p. 9)

A major feature about the rise of tantrism in India (Hindu and Buddhist) was its reactionary nature to the social taboos of the time - Buddhist tantra emerged from the Hindu tradition being practiced at the time of Sakyamuni, but its base is deep in the Hindu system of religious practice.  We cannot take this out of its context.  Brahmanical Hinduism 2500 years ago (this information needs more understanding.... ) set up a social caste system which supported the civility of the time.  Social taboos such as eating meat, drinking alcohol, and having sex were embraced by tantric practitioners not necessarily in order to transgress social boundaries, but rather to liberate themselves from the social structure.  Social taboos being forbidden became the cause of desire for many.  Using the energy of desire in a proper way was thought to facilitate spiritual enlightenment.

The historical Buddha Sakyamuni took this a step further by developing a philosophy of finding a balance between desire and aversion.  He denied his desires for six years to the extent that toward the end of this time he was not much more than a skeleton. "Instead of bringing him closer to his goal of transcendence, it was only making him too weak to think and meditate clearly." (p.12) 

Lama Yeshe continues to explain the first teaching on tantra by Sakyamuni Buddha was given to a king who requested such a teaching that would allow the king himself to take care of his subjects properly but he would not be able to do as Sakyamuni himself had done and renounce his worldly existence to find spiritual enlightenment.  The Buddha gave the Kalachakra Tantra to the king as a way to balance the responsibilities of a ruler, but also offer the potential of realization on the spiritual level.  This is seen as a noble act; the king is able to fulfill his responsibilities as a ruler but also accomplish personal realization. (p. 13)

Questions remaining: 
Where did the Buddha come up with Kalachakra teachings?  How did they fit into the Hindu context at the time?  How old are Hindu tantra teachings and how are they different than the tantra teachings of Sakyamuni Buddha?  How did Hindu yogis view Siddhartha and his path?  How different are Buddhism and Hinduism, actually?  What is the difference?  How did the teachings at the time of the Buddha change or develop into the teaching we are able to find from different Buddhist traditions today?  Example: Tibetan and Japanese Buddhism.  If Sakyamuni taught different tantric practices during his lifetime, how have they all been preserved and disseminated - who understands these things and how are they taught?  How does one explain all of this subtlety to university students who have misconceptions about tantra based on flashy cultural images of sex and candy?

Outline Maps

Outline maps of different regions of the world - good for teaching, training, testing knowledge.

I'll use this in the fall to help students understand the context of south asia and central asia - we all need to understanding the interconnectedness of the region in order to see from where the influences have emerged.  For example, the silk road involved trade on myriad levels and involved invaders and cultural appropriators from all sides.  To start to understand and unpack motivations of these merchants, we need to know what understanding they function under.

This site is the best one I've found for blank maps for testing current political boundary knowledge.

Nepali Passport Issues

Every year, many Nepalis risk their lives to find work outside of Nepal in countries around the world.  Nepal shares an agreement with India for hiring Nepali workers to shoulder the labor concerns of India's development - it is common to see Nepalis (newly arrived or living in India for a number of generations) building roads and cooking in restaurants, for example.  Nepalis can make good money doing the work that many Indians do not want to do themselves.

A popular out migration destination for Nepalis is the Gulf region where oil money and huge development in places like Dubai have created a job market for low-skilled labor such as drivers, house guards, housekeepers, and nannies.  Nepalis can get work in these regions easily, but job security, safety, and human rights issues surface as a result of the semi - legal nature of the employment.   The Nepali government has been trying to formalize some of these relationships with popular out-migration destinations, but given the dysfunctional nature of political situations in Nepal, not much has been accomplished.

One attempt has been ongoing in relation to official passports for Nepalis traveling out of Nepal for work.  Here's an article describing the current issues with these official passports and efforts to formalize these working relationships with other countries.   Seems that the Maoists have ideas about how they would like things to go and, as usual, are prepared to protest and march to get their side of the story heard.

At least this is a pertinent issue affecting the lives of many Nepalis currently rather than more sensationalist news regarding the ruling elite. 

Three Idiots

Hit Hindi Film staring Bollywood star Aamir Khan is still all the rage in India - It's called 3 Idiots and tells the story of Aamir's character and his two buddies as they bumble through engineering school. 

Many have said this film was written about Sonam Wangchuk, founder of SECMOL in Ladakh, education reformist, activist, and brilliant human being.  The film is actually based on a novel, but it is undeniable that the character portrayed by Khan resembles Wangchuk's life very closely. 

Wangchuk was awarded a "Real Heros of India" award (sponsored by Reliance Networking) two years ago.  Aamir Khan presented the award to Wangchuk and 19 of his peers who have set the bar high for Indian standards of reform, development, and all-around goodness. 

Here's a link to an article written by an old SECMOL volunteer from India.  Though SECMOL wasn't featured in the film (it was another similar school), the talk of Ladakh has been Wangchuk's resemblance to the main character of the film. 

Right Speech

"The pillar of skillful speech is to speak honestly, which means that we should even avoid telling little white lies. We need to be aware of dishonesty in the forms of exaggerating, minimizing, and self-aggrandizing. These forms of unskillful speech often arise from a fear that what we are is not good enough––and that is never true. Honesty begins at home, so the practice of skillful speech begins with being honest with ourselves."

- Allan Lokos, "Skillful Speech" (Winter 2008)

Constitution Process and Support for Nepal

It's hard to watch from afar.  Maybe even harder to watch at all.  A colleague just returned from KTM this weekend saying how shocking the living conditions are there: garbage in the streets piled high (the waste management system workers have been on strike since last may), loadshedding up to 18 hours/day (not enough time to charge a converter to get power).

Here are two articles -

First about STILL having no concensus on the constitution that is due to be finished on 28 May of this year.
Second about India and Nepal relations in times of difficult economy - will India support Nepal through this crisis spring?

The Jewel in the Crown is India

Often, when we, from the United States, begin to talk about colonial imperialism, the topic presents a conundrum not easily sorted out.  Examples from Franciphone Africa, China and its occupied territories, the mess left in South Africa, Brits in India, and (if we are brave enough to talk about it honestly) British in the US resulting in the genocide of Native Americans.  The topic overflows with examples of brutality, racism, oppression, servantry, power, control, and economic development.  If we're lucky, the discussion doesn't stop at the floodgates of guilt that quickly bubble up depending on how much one has thought about the topic of one's social identity and come to terms with these dynamics.  Isn't it?

One of the books (or sets of books) the students can choose to read before coming to India is the Raj Quartet by Paul M. Scott.  Jewel in the Crown is the first, but also the title of the miniseries that has been called the best miniseries of its time. 

Literary works of art - novels of the best storytelling and intrigue.  What makes a good story?  Lots of characters that you can identify with - characters with tragic flaws, ones that you fall in love with along with the storyline, ones that you hate because you see them one dimensionally until the secret behind them is revealed, and even then, you hate them a little bit for their cruelty.  Historical fiction works in this way - giving context of the time period (In JITC's case, 1942 - 1947 in India) by following characters along their journeys.  Characters that may or may not have actually existed at the time, but it doesn't matter.  The characters are telling the story of the history. 

Themes: Social commentary - Brits in India, or the history of Brits in India juxtaposed with India's own history, or the powerlessness to interact with it - power dynmaics and how they play out - WWII - Independence - Muslim/Hindu conflict -privilege - 'home' - graciousness/manners - drinking - love and how quickly or slowly the interaction takes place - taboos of sexuality -trust -...

I noticed how the characters never call each other out on their shit.  They just kind of bear it, sometimes to 'vent' to someone else about the behavior or decide what to do about it, but never to their faces.  (Example, Merrick, Susan's insanity)  Misunderstandings frustrate the viewer.

Colonialism is like a bad marriage - filled with frustration, angst, abuse, exploitation, joy, and sometimes love. 
Most of the Indians portrayed in the series are servants, sometimes cunning and stealing, sometimes supporting their Memsahibs perfectly.  Lady Chatterjee, Nawab and his family, and Hari Kumar have substantial roles.  It is quite skillful of the writer/director to spend such a time with Hari and Daphne creating an intense connection with them, then tragedy strikes.  They are not in the series physically for the rest of the episodes, but they hover in the storyline as a reminder of the ambiguity of disaster, unfortunate events, questions of identity and love; they ARE the main storyline, even though we finish with the Laytons and Ahmed's fate.  Hari and Daphne are the ominous bookends to the story, reminding the viewer that complications and dissapointment are the themes of the work.

Each episode includes actual wartime footage from WWII telling the story from the Indian/British perspective of the time.  Sarah, Merrick, Guy, and other characters are fully engaged in the security forces at different levels.  The footage brings reality to the stories of the characters and helps the viewer understand what the context is for their lives during each episode.  Another technique used is the ambiguity of the ending of each episode, sometimes in flames, sometimes just quietly ending without fanfare sneaking up on the viewer creating a feeling in me of expectation, tragic anticipation, or frustration at times.  There is no happy ending.  This solidifies the view that colonialism is like a bad marriage.

Pandit Baba, Gandhi/Nehru,

First Draft.

Using Metaphor as a teaching tool...

As an observation of the students that I am working with this semester, my boss and I have have many chats about the fact that the students don't understand metaphor.  Makes it quite difficult to understand poetry, art, and interpretations of history for that matter.  The students seem to be constantly staring at us with blank looks when we use metaphors to explain concepts in music, dance, and history.

One way I have addressed this in the past is to see it from their shoes - what metaphors make sense in their lives?  There is flat understanding when a teacher uses a metaphor from his/her own life that the students just haven't experienced yet.  Example - having kids, being married, graduating, turning 30, spending 5 years working on a degree that you never end up using in your work.  Is it the teacher's responsibility to come up with the metaphors that work for the students?  Can the teacher know the students' experience well enough to do that?  As the teacher gets older and the students stay the same age, does this process become more and more difficult?

I am looking for some research that my old boss told me about sometime that I always use as an example but can never remember who did the research - that our brains develop fully by the age of 25.  Something about the corpus callosum being the last part of the brain to fully develop?  So juniors and seniors in college still have a difficult time navigating things outside of their worldview - i.e. they process things through their own lens and have a difficult time empathising with others' experiences because some part of the brain is not developed fully yet.  It is a difficult world for them because at the same moment, they are expected to understand how to manage their time, be socially savvy, excellent writers and processors of information, build their resumes with heartfelt humanitarian work, and mind their manners.  That's a lot when you are doing it from one perspective.

That's not to say that holding them to committments and expectations isn't important - if you've been aware of a paper that is due on Friday at 5 pm for three weeks (and it is one of those papers that you have to do a lot of work on for three weeks rather than something you can write in two hours), don't ask for an extension at 2 pm on Friday afternoon!  And teachers, it's our responsibility to say NO to the extension.  Of course, in a skillful way that builds your relationship to the student - asking the right questions (rather than telling them, or putting them on the defensive) to help the student understand how they have been managing their time.

OI - so this come back to metaphor?  somehow.  Nuance.  More than taxonomic understanding.  making connections.  I've always been a visual learner - I notice myself, when a lecturer or facilitator is presenting a metaphor to help me understand some concept, I visualize it in my mind.  I draw the picture in my mind of a cave, a fire, a huge wall, and people looking at the wall and feeling fearful of what they see when someone is describing Plato's allegory.

I do my best when I am the one presenting the metaphor to actually picture it in my head while I describe, or tell stories in hopes that the image comes across through my words. Would the Matrix (Morpheus explaining the matrix to a newly awakened Neo) work better for these guys?

Bringing it Home:
Buddhism is filled with allegory and seemingly mythical stories that one can interpret at many levels - stories and hagiographies telling of powerful beings, manifestations of the compassionate mind, legendary diligence, and boundless wisdom.  These stories serve to inspire us to engage - to search for our own relationship to meaning.  It's our responsibility to figure this out.  (Here are some examples in a recent IDP blog...) The point that these metaphors serve is to wake us up.  To shake us from our habit.  To help us recognize our nature through identifying and then detaching from that identification, for we can see that way how strongly we identify, if we pay attention.

I need a metaphor to explain it.  :)

Hindu rajya jai ho! (?)

From Times of India, a Hindu saint with supernatural powers has taken up a seat at Pashupatinath in Kathmandu to pray for Nepal to resume its status as a Hindu state, with all the rights and privileges thereto appertaining.  . 

Seems politicians who voted in 2006 during the end of the people's war to recreate Nepal as a secular state (a decision which actually reflects the religious and ethnic beliefs as as country and is in line with socialist agendas of the Maoists) are taking time to visit with Kalidas Dahal at Pashupatinath.

It is unclear from the article how long these pujas (prayers) will go on.  Depending on patronage, it could be an effort of activism on the part of the Hindu rightwing to answer to Prachanda and the prepubescent Maoists' bid for total power. 

All this while the Constituent Assembly continues to drag its heels...

Good Russian Words

Pochemuschka: someone who talks too much. 

As in...
"Stop being such a pochemuschka and mind your own business."

Uprising 2010

Short article from Global Times site regarding arrest of Thinley Gyatso, a said 'ambassador' of HHDL, in Nepal two days ago. 

The article seems to be written from a Chinese nationalist perspective citing conservative views regarding Tibet Autonomous Region.  Never clearer is the understanding that Nepal is for One China. 

Today I learned...

that Gandhi and Nehru could have agitated the British further during the beginning of WWII potentially executing their campaign for home-rule while attentions were distracted with fascist regimes in Europe.  Not the case - They decided, along with the Bengali intellectual contingent (Tagore, Coomaraswamy and Nandalal Bose) that the fight against fascist regeimes was more important at the time than independence. 

Others such as Subhas Chandra Bose did not agree.  He wanted to take advantage of the weakened British state to gain independence.  He spent time with Hitler looking to connect on the "aryan" thing - meaning the Aryans origninated in the Indus river valley civilization, thus Bose saw himself as an Aryan, yet, Hitler didn't know what to do with him - he had dark skin and didn't fit the bill.  Hitler sent him to Japan.  Japanese didn't know what to do with him, so they sent him in to Burma to fight the Brits.  That lasted for a bit and then he was killed (more info needed).  There are some that think he is still out there in a cave somewhere waiting until the time is right when he will emerge as a messianic figure to lead India on to global domination.

The dangers of developing a national identity - seems Gandhi and the Bengalis had their feet on the ground and were able to balance their inspiration from the Russian and European idealist identity writers (Hegel, Tolstoy...) with the understanding of human empathy and Truth.  Bose missed the boat on that one. 

One can draw an argument here from looking at the development of the nation-state theology in the late 18th c. and take Hitler's third reich as an example of how destructive (yet mesmerizing) developing national identity can be.  The other example are the Indian nationalists in the middle of the 20th c. 

hm.