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Dalai Lama |
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The Dalai Lama on "The Real Enemy"
Today’s Daily Dharma: When your mind is trained in self-discipline, even if you are surrounded by hostile forces, your peace of mind will hardly be disturbed. On the other hand, your mental peace and calm can easily be disrupted by your own negative thoughts and emotions. So I repeat, the real enemy is within, not outside. Usually we define our enemy as a person, an external agent, whom we believe is causing harm to us or to someone we hold dear. But such an enemy is relative and impermanent. One moment, the person may act as an enemy; at yet another moment, he or she may become your best friend. This is a truth that we often experience in our own lives. More » -
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Buddhist Teachers on Facebook
A 10-second history of the internet: First, there was a Big Bang (millions of individual little websites spewing out randomly into a vast virtual cosmos) followed by a Big Crunch (everybody slamming together onto social networking sites) then evolution (various websites fighting for survival and the top spot in a brutal Darwinian mess). In recent years, Facebook, having all but slain its feebler and shallower rival MySpace, has emerged the victor in this evolutionary struggle and now boasts over over 500,000,000 active users, about one eighth of the entire planet's population. Certainly, there are both benefits as well as dangers that come with the internet and social networking. Among the benefits is that we can now instantly share information and ideas and stay connected with vast numbers of people like never before, but this goes hand-in-hand with one the site's biggest dangers: It is a highly discursive place. More » -
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Dalai Lama: My Reincarnation Will Appear In Free Country
VIA P. Vijian at Bernama.com, DHARAMSALA, July 20 (Bernama) -- Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama believes his next reincarnation will be in a "free country", if the Tibetan crisis prolongs without a cordial solution. "If I die as a refugee and the Tibetan situation remains like this, then logically, my reincarnation will appear in a free country, because the very purpose of reincarnation is to carry on the work which began in my previous life. "And, there is some contribution, some fulfillment in work started in the previous life. Then, that is truly reincarnation," he told Bernama in a recent interview at his exile-base in Dharamsala in northern India. He said, if obstacles were created against carrying out the tasks of the Dalai Lama's previous life, than the "reality is not reincarnation." More » -
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Marking Buddhist time at the fringes
Last week the Economist ran an article entitled “Marking time at the fringes,” which was an overview China’s efforts to control ethnic tensions in Tibet and Xinjiang. The article points out that while China hopes that development in these regions will ease tensions and violent outbursts over time, there are still specific sensitive dates on the calendar that refresh memories and bring tension to the forefront. From the article: China seems to calculate that the eventual death of the Dalai Lama, a charismatic and internationally popular figure, will make its job in Tibet easier. Each passing birthday brings that day closer. But it also offers supporters of the Dalai Lama and his cause a chance to sing his praises. More » -
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Secret to Twitter success: Take the "I" out of your tweets!
I wouldn't' normally expect to find His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama quoted in the likes of the International Business Times, but nowadays the Tibetan sage is called upon everywhere for sound advice. And if social-media consultant Joshua Waldman, owner of Career Enlightenment, has it right, his advice may also be a shot in the arm for your Twitter strategy. In "There is No 'I' in Your Personal Brand," Waldman has this to say: The Dalai Lama said the root of all suffering is thinking about yourself. In Tibetan, the word for pride is literally translated as, "Me, the King" (nga gyal). More » -
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FB Page for Buddhist members of the military
A few days ago I reported that the Dalai Lama had sent his good wishes on Armed Forces Day to the UK's men and women serving in the military. Some took that report to be implicitly critical. It wasn't. If you want to read the Dalai Lama's entire statement, the Buddhist Military Sangha has posted it here. I also came across at an invitation to join a new Facebook group for Buddhist members of the Armed Forces at the BMS site. The page was set up by USMC LCpl Luke Jamison. If you are a Buddhist member of the military, you can join here. A few years back, an American soldier at Abu Ghraib wrote us asking for support in his practice. More »
