A Gift of Dharma for 2.2.10 February 2, 2010
Posted by Danny Fisher in A Gift of Dharma, Sulak Sivaraksa.Tags: Sulak Sivaraksa
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Today’s quote comes to us from the great Sulak Sivaraksa–Thailand’s preeminent social activist and one of the titans of the modern engaged Buddhist movement–whom I previously quoted and wrote a little biography for in this post. I also posted about his recent On Faith profile earlier today. This is today’s quote:
The concept of interdependent co-arising is at the crux of Buddhist understanding. Nothing is formed in isolation and like the jewel net of Indra, each individual reflects every other living being infinitely many times. An attachment to an atomized sense of self and the self-Other binary is the antithesis of interdependence and an obstacle to achieving the peace of enlightenment. A commitment to nature and a deep respect for all life can help foster a change from an individualized self to a self as interbeing. Thich Naht Hanh, the well-known Vietnamese monk, uses the term interbeing to describe a self made up entirely of non-self elements including conditions and relationships. To acknowledge these non-self elements is to realize how one’s survival and ability to flourish is entirely contingent upon the quality of engagement with other sentient beings.
University of the West Celebrates $1.1 Million in Scholarships for Buddhist Studies February 2, 2010
Posted by Danny Fisher in Buddhist Studies, University of the West.Tags: Buddhist Studies, University of the West
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This news from my workplace, University of the West:
Contact: Jason Kosareff
Enrollment Counselor
University of the West
1409 N. Walnut Grove Ave.
Rosemead, CA 91770Phone (626) 677-3311
jasonk@uwest.eduPress Release
University of the West Celebrates $1.1 Million in Scholarships for Buddhist Students
International Buddhist Education Foundation tops $1.1 million in scholarships with major donation
ROSEMEAD, Calif., January 27, 2010: University of the West, the only accredited Buddhist campus in Los Angeles County, will host the International Buddhist Education Foundation Scholarship Ceremony at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010 in Exhibition Hall.
“This will be a great occasion for students to meet and say thank you to the donors who have sponsored and supported our students at UWest,” said Grace Hsiao, UWest’s Admissions Officer.
As of last semester, IBEF has donated $1,111,580 in scholarships to University of the West students in the Buddhist Studies, Comparative Religions and M.Div. in Buddhist Chaplaincy program. IBEF is a group of Los Angeles area business owners and community leaders who are also Buddhists who developed the scholarship fund for UWest students in 2006.
IBEF has awarded 318 scholarships since spring semester 2006. Scholarships range from $4,000 per year for bachelor’s degree-seeking students to $8,000 per year for doctorate-seeking students.
IBEF awards roughly 50 of these scholarships to new and returning per semester. During the latest semester, fall 2009, IBEF donated $170,500 in scholarships to 47 recipients.
Students must be enrolled full time as well as have and maintain a minimum 3.5 grade point average, among other factors, to qualify for the scholarship.
For some students, particularly clergy members from Buddhist, Christian or other faiths, the IBEF scholarship is the only thing that makes a college degree possible.
Once a year, IBEF also provides 10 UWest students with free trips to Taiwan to visit the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple in Kaohsiung. Fo Guang Shan is the parent organization of University of the West and Hsi Lai Temple, the Western hemisphere’s largest Buddhist temple located in Hacienda Heights, Calif.
“The Activist Buddhist” February 2, 2010
Posted by Danny Fisher in Engaged Buddhism, Sulak Sivaraksa.Tags: Engaged Buddhism, Sulak Sivaraksa
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The Washington Post/Newsweek venture On Faith profiles the great Engaged Buddhist icon Sulak Sivaraksa. Don’t miss this piece.
Burma Awareness Week February 2, 2010
Posted by Danny Fisher in Burma, U.S. Campaign for Burma.Tags: Burma, U.S. Campaign for Burma
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Happy Groundhog Day! February 2, 2010
Posted by Danny Fisher in arts and entertainment, Buddhism and film, holidays.Tags: Buddhism, Groundhog Day
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Happy Groundhog Day, everyone! As expected, somebody produced the annual piece about the movie Groundhog Day and Buddhism. This time around, it’s the A.V. Club:
Though everyone from secular self-help therapists to Catholics have claimed it as their own,Groundhog Day is especially beloved by the Buddhists, who view it as an illustration of the notion of “samsara”—the endless cycle of birth and rebirth that can only be escaped when one achieves total enlightenment. In the film, Murray’s sarcastic, self-serving weatherman is forced to repeat a single day out of his life until he comes to terms with the Four Noble Truths: 1) Life is suffering (but that doesn’t mean you have to add to it by being a jerk). 2) The origin of suffering is attachment to desire (so don’t spend your days robbing banks, stuffing your face with danishes, and trying to bamboozle your way into Andie MacDowell’s pants). 3) There is a way out (by dedicating your time to bettering yourself), and 4) it involves following the “eightfold path,” which means revoking self-indulgence and becoming a “bodhisattva”—someone who acquires skills and uses them in the selfless service of others (like changing an old lady’s tire, saving kids who fall out of trees, and performing the Heimlich maneuver on a choking victim). As a result of Murray’s generous acts, he receives the love of the whole town—a oneness with the universe—and is allowed to evolve past the cycle of samsara to nirvana. In this case, “nirvana” means renting a house in rural Pennsylvania and waking up next to Andie MacDowell every day, but hey, whatever makes him happy.
For other good pieces about Groundhog Day and Buddhism, check out the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Huffington Post. I’ve also written more than a few posts about the film’s relevancy for Buddhists in the past. Check ‘em all out here.
Burma VJ Nominated for the 2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature February 2, 2010
Posted by Danny Fisher in arts and entertainment, Burma.Tags: 2010 Academy Awards, 82nd Annual Academy Awards, Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma, Burma VJ, Saffron Revolution
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Nominations for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards were announced this morning, and there is exciting news: The recent film Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country, which features the work of citizen journalists inside the title country’s 2007 “Saffron Revolution,” has been nominated for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar!
Here’s what the editors of the Guardian said in their powerful endorsement of the film earlier this year:
There is an awful lot of rough camera work in the just-released film Burma VJ. Heads missing, over-eager zooms, jumpy shots; that kind of thing. Hollywood directors sometimes do this to inject urgency into that otherwise-tepid thriller, but here the lack of cinematic polish is neither voluntary nor superfluous. A record of life inside totalitarian Burma, this documentary was filmed undercover by amateur video journalists (or VJs) on Handycams kept out of sight of the military junta. If the batteries gave out, the VJs used camera phones instead. The generals run Burma’s TV and radio, and they control most print media, so the anonymous VJs who are the subject of this film perform a rare and brave service. Called the Democratic Voice of Burma, this non-profit network gathers its footage in secret, before smuggling it out of the country. Burma VJ concentrates on the Saffron Uprising of September 2007, when thousands of Buddhist monks marched against military rule. This gesture of defiance soon swells into a mass protest. “Film them all! So many!” cries one marcher to a VJ, and the camera pans around balconies and rooftops crammed with cheering protesters. It is a moving scene, all the more so because the viewer knows that soon the uprising will be crushed, with thousands killed and arrested. Citizen journalism is much talked about, but this film shows it at its best – as a powerful force, allowing the world access to places and episodes that would otherwise remain hidden.
For more about Burma VJ, including where and when you can see it, visit http://www.burmavjmovie.com. A trailer is below.