Spirit Rock Meditation Center is dedicated to the teachings of the Buddha. We provide silent meditation retreats, as well as classes, trainings, and Dharma study.
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Tiny Steps Forward
It was a pleasant surprise to see that fast-food giant Burger King has decided to give preferential treatment to providers of cage-free eggs and cruelty-free pork. It doesn't take much exposure to the horrors of how animals are raised for food to make even the most carnivorous human take pause. I've heard that farmers and those who deal with the animals while they are alive, and while they are being killed for our dinner plates, are (generally speaking) very strongly supportive of more humane ways for these animals to live and die. Of course, those of us walking by the tidy shrink-wrapped packages in the refrigerated section of the local supermarket don't have to think about this much if we don't want to. And not all of us have the luxury of choosing to pay more for organic / cruelty-free / cage-free whatever... More » -
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Thailand lurches toward Chaos
Bad news keeps piling up in Thailand. Three (Buddhist) women were shot in what some headlines call an "ambush" yesterday in (80% Muslim) southern Thailand. They were in a truck travelling to work. As a response the (Buddhist) government has sent security forces south, and where there are troops there will be abuses. The government denies it is "disappearing" Muslims and blames the mess on the previous government. Human Rights Watch is keeping an eye on this situation. More » -
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Buddhist chaplain thrown out of jail
Buddhist chaplain Frank Tedesco was kicked out of the Pinellas County Jail recently for allegedly breaking jail rules and bringing contraband behind bars. (Pinellas County is in the Tampa Bay area and contains the city of St. Petersburg, Florida.) From The St. Petersburg Times: Tedesco, 60, an unpaid volunteer, thinks the blowup stems at least in part from a Christian bias. Prison authorities disagree, claiming Tedesco tried the patience of prison personnel and flouted the rules. Among his offenses were bringing in a calligraphy pen and books that were considered contraband. Tedesco, who got interested in Zen as a teenager, was described as "annoying" and "problematic" by those he worked with. He also wrote obituaries for the Clearwater desk of the paper that printed this story. Now that's an interesting job. More » -
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Railway brings "huge surge" of visitors to Tibet
The People's Daily Online reports that the rail link to Lhasa allowed many more Buddhist pilgrims to attend the December 27th Sera Bengqin Festival at Sera Monastery than in previous years. As the People's Daily put it, "Tibet ended its history without a railway in July 2006," but the railroad has brought more concern than jubilation for Tibetans, who understandably would rather diminish than strengthen their ties with "mainland" China. When the railway first opened I read about the Tibetan plateau's fragile ecosystem, home to several unique species, and rather like an island in biological terms. More » -
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The Soul as a Rainbow
The Christian Post, a website providing daily coverage of Christianity all around the globe, is preparing its readers for the Dalai Lama's upcoming U.S. visit with an article called, "How to Evangelize Tibetan Buddhists in the West," by Michelle Vu. "'The Dalai Lama’s visit to the U.S. this spring is certain to heighten awareness about Buddhists,'" says David Householder, author of Jesus in a New Age, Dalai Lama World. (Householder writes under the nom de plume Marku Tsering. More » -
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Dalai Lama says new rail link bringing trouble to Lhasa
Speaking in Mumbai on Wednesday, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama reportedly said the new rail link to Lhasa was bringing prostitutes and beggars to Tibet: Beggars and the handicapped are coming to Lhasa in huge numbers. China is also forcing prostitutes to go to Lhasa, leading to the increased danger of AIDS. More »
