A wonderful 25 minutes interview with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
Published on Dec 19, 2014
Chinese
people are in need of the “peace, compassion and non-violence”
advocated by Tibetan Buddhist culture, the Himalayan region’s exiled
spiritual leader has said in a wide-ranging interview with FRANCE 24.
The
79-year-old Nobel Peace Prize-winner stressed the importance of
preserving Tibetan culture, pointing to the “gap between rich and poor
in China” and the country’s “immense corruption”.
China's
Communist regime invaded Tibet in 1950. Today, many Tibetans feel their
Buddhist culture risks being wiped out by Chinese rule and an influx of
settlers from the majority Han ethnic group.
The Dalai Lama fled
to neighbouring India in 1959 after Chinese troops crushed an attempted
uprising in Tibet. He has never been allowed back.
Chinese officials view him as a “separatist”, though he says he only wants autonomy for the region.
In
the interview aired on Wednesday, the exiled spiritual leader suggested
hardliners in Beijing were holding President Xi Jinping back from
granting genuine autonomy to the Himalayan region.
The Dalai Lama
said he had been encouraged by Xi's recent comments on the importance
of Buddhism in Chinese culture. "This is something very unusual," he
said. "A communist, usually, we consider atheist."
Asked if the
remarks led him to believe Xi was ready to discuss calls for genuine
autonomy, the spiritual leader said he thought there were "some
indications".
"But at the same time, among the establishment,
there is a lot of hardliner thinking still there. So he himself
sometimes finds it's a difficult situation," the Dalai Lama said.
Inform Winter Seminar
Innovation, Violence and Paralysis: How do Minority Religions Cope with Uncertainty?
Date - Saturday, 7 February 2015; 9.30am – 5.00pm Location – New Academic Building, London School of Economics
What
happens when groups lose control of their own destiny? Whether it leads
to violence, as in the case of Aum Shinrikyo’s response to a potential
police investigation in 1995, or to non-violent
innovations, as found in minority religions following the death of
their founders or leaders, uncertainty and insecurity can lead to great
change in the mission and even teachings of religious groups. What does
it take to bring back certainty? This seminar
will explore how minority religions and their members work with notions
of uncertainty and insecurity.
9.30 - 10.00 REGISTRATION
10.00 - 10.05 Eileen Barker (Founder and Honorary Research Fellow, Inform)
Welcome and Housekeeping
10.05 - 10.15 Kim Knott (Professor of Religious and Secular Studies in the Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion at Lancaster University)
Introduction
10.15 - 10.45 Graham Macklin
10.45 – 11.15 TBC
11.15 – 11.40 TEA/COFFEE
11.40 – 12.10 Suzanne Newcombe (Research Officer at Inform)
Certain Beliefs and Uncertain Evidence: The Case of Shugden
12.10 – 12.40 Lois Kendall
12.40 - 13.10 Dawn Marie Gibson (Lecturer, Royal Holloway, University of London)
Uncertain times in the Nation of Islam’s Past and Present
13.10 - 14.10 LUNCH
14.10 - 14.40 George Sieg (Adjunct Professor, University of New Mexico)
14.40 - 15.10 Anthony Fiscella (Doctoral Student, Lund University)
Moving Mountains: From Colonial Orders to Universal Change
15.10 - 15.40 TEA/COFFEE
15.40 – 16.10 TBC
16.10 – 16.50 GENERAL PANEL DISCUSSION
Registration is now open and can be done using a credit/debit card through PayPal or by posting a booking
form and a cheque payable to 'Inform' to Inform, Houghton
St., London WC2A 2AE. Tickets (including buffet lunch, coffee and tea)
paid by 19 January 2015 are
£38 each (£18 students/unwaged).Tickets booked after 19 January 2015 will cost £48 each (£28 students/unwaged).
Please access the attached hyperlink for an important electronic communications disclaimer: http://lse.ac.uk/emailDisclaimer
Zhongnan Mountains (AFP) -- His unheated hut is half way up a mountain with no electricity, and his diet consists mostly of cabbage. But Master Hou says he has found a recipe for joy.
"There is no happier way for a person to live on this earth," he declared, balancing on a hard wooden stool outside his primitive mud brick dwelling.
Hundreds of millions have moved to China's urban areas during a decades-long economic boom, but some are turning their backs on the bright lights and big cities to live as isolated hermits.
Their choice puts them in touch with an ancient tradition undergoing a surprising modern-day revival.
Summary of Michio Kaku’s Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st Century (1997) “There are three great themes in science in the 20th
century—the atom, the computer, and the gene.” – Harold Varmus, NIH
Director. Three centuries ago Newton said that he was a boy, playing on
the seashore while a “great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before
me.” Life in Newton’s time was, as Hobbes said, “nasty, brutish, and
short.” But Newton unleashed a revolution that he could never have
imagined. Within a few generations “the basic laws of matter, life, and
computation were … solved.” [3-4]
Revival of Buddhism In India : From Untouchables to Buddhists
Published on Dec 11, 2014
Synopsis
From
Untouchable to Buddhist - The Revival of Buddhism I India and its
Implications for the development of Buddhism in the World.
Buddhism
died out in India over 700 years ago. On 14th October 1956 500,000
Dalits (so-called Untouchables) converted to Buddhism inspired by their
great leader Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. Since then millions of Dalits have
followed them into Buddhism. Dr. Ambedkar's approach to Buddhism and the
new Buddhist movement he inspired have implications for Buddhists
throughout the world. In this presentation I shall be looking at the
following: A. The background - Dr. Ambedkar and Untouchablity B. The reasons that led Dr. Ambedkar to Buddhism as a solution to the question of Untouchability. C. The teachings of the Buddha that he emphasised. D. The situation regarding Buddhism and Dalits in India today.. E.
Buddhism had such a momentous impact on Asia in the past. In the last
part of the presentation I shall look at the implications of this new
Buddhist movement for the wider Buddhist community, especially, but not
exclusively in Asia, emphasising its democratic and egalitarian nature,
its humanistic approach, and the promise of a cultural renaissance.
About the Speaker
Born
in London 1947, he was ordained into the Western Buddhist Order (WBO)
in 1974 by Sangharakshita, a trusted associate of Dr. Ambedkar. He is a
well known figure in the Buddhist world. In 1977, he visited India as an
Anagarika to learn Yoga and visit holy Buddhist sites. He was deeply
affected by Deekshabhoomi sight in 1977 where he saw impact of
conversion movement launched by Babasaheb Ambedkar. Since then, he is
living in India and his life and mission is dedicated to movement of
Babasaheb Ambedkar. He was instrumental in initiating activities of
TBMSG in India. Lokamitra is the President of Nagarjuna Training
Institute (NTI) dedicated to train students from all over India in
"Buddhism and Social Work".
For more information: lokamitra@gmail.com www.nagaloka.org
La Repubblica Blog: The Pope and Dalai in the eyes of Beijing by Raimondo Bultrini
English Translation by Raimondo Bultrini & Francesca Paoletti of Papa e Dalai agli occhi di Pechino
“One thing is certain: that the commitment to peace by Pope Francis is indubitable. But for what reason did the pontiff not meet the Dalai Lama?” This is what Il Giornale [translator’s comment: this is a mainstream Italian newspaper] asks after the announcement that the Vatican is “snubbing” – to quote the words of the Guardian – the Tibetan leader. “There are no official reasons – writes Il Giornale – The background could be the relationships (which today are still very tense) between Beijing and the Holy See, with the claim by the [Chinese] government to nominate the bishops (this has become a common practice), totally ignoring the approval coming from the Pope. But negotiations are ongoing and, soon,relations could improve. For this, Tibet’s reasons can wait …”
I found this text in front of me while I was trying to answer the same questions. Why does the Pope, who is so inclined towards social outcasts and the victims of injustice, not receive a man who was forced to escape from his country as a refugee, one of the many that – according to Bergoglio’s words – are living on the sacrifice of Christ himself?
OK, the Dalai is a “refugee” holding a Peace Nobel Prize, he has had good fortune in terms of fame, not only as the representative of an oppressed culture, but also as a wise one coming from a different religion, Buddhism, who has so far given advice that was able to change millions of lives. Nothing compared to the multitudes of the followers of Christ’s message. But still he is the victim of a huge injustice, such as was the expropriation of his country, of his home, depriving him of the contact of those people that, after generations, still love him and are loved in return, despite all Chinese attempts to conquer minds and hearts of the Tibetans. If the Italian government, instead of the Lateran Treaty, had imposed on the Church the seizure of all goods and the submission of the Pontiff to the Party of the Duce [Benito Mussolini’s Fascist Party], it would not have been a nice thing. So out of mutuality, between persons who believe in the freedom of faith, an embrace of solidarity with the Dalai Lama, just like those given to leaders of other religions and to Muslims, would have been universally appreciated. But certainly not by China. Now, we can assume that the Pope might be moved by the compassionate intention not to hurt Beijing, especially – as Il Giornale reminds us – while there are currently delicate discussions going on, but for sure this leaves many others disappointed. Especially because the Catholics in China do not have much hope left for a treatment different from that reserved to the Tibetans, should they actually choose to go under the patronage of the Pope and not only or no longer under that of the United Front Department, Section for Religious and Ethnical Affairs of the Communist Party. We do not know what image Pope Francis has of the religious situation in China and the consequences that befall individuals and movements that may pose any threat to the power control of the Party and the State. The Falun Gong and its annihilation with torture, killings and mass arrests of followers are a warning from history. Since the Vatican well knows what the persecution of priests and devotees means in the same People’s Republic, it can therefore also imagine why, in turn, the highly spiritual Tibetans look for support, from an entity of perhaos moral and ethical “infallible compassion” such as the head the largest body in the Western Church. The Vatican only need observe the photos and videos on social networks where you can see the Chinese tourists entering the monasteries and temples with shoes on, throwing the butts of cigarettes around, taking selfies with two V fingers amidst devotees and monks who meditate or prostrate themselves to the Buddha. Sure, they are cting in a gentler fashion than the soldiers of the PLA did when they razed religious buildings and statues and trampled the rosaries and prayer wheels of the devotees, and sometimes still do, according to reports from human rights groups and Tibetan exiles. But in today’s China, there are more subtle ways to denigrate a religion and with it the love that binds the people to their current spiritual leader. To this end, China is supporting a group that accuses the Tibetan leader of committing injustices against the devotees of a certain deity of fierce aspect called Gyalpo Shugden or Gyalchen. This organization, which is headed by an old lamawho was expelled years ago from his monastery for “severe violations of religious bond with the Buddhist community,” is so rich they can ship hundreds of peoplearound the world in order to demonstrate in the street and accuse the Dalai Lama of being a liar. There is evidence of payments made by the followers of this erudite scholar and recognized heretic, Kelsang Gyatso, to organize the travel of the wandering protesters. Gyatso, the founder of the “New Kadampa Tradition”, whose aim is to revitalise the tradition of the original school to which the Dalai lama still belongs. With a luxurious seat in England and hundreds of centers in America and other countries where they practice the worship of Shugden, considered powerful and effective against all enemies inside and out, but that according to the Dalai Lama, is a source of discord and tension between the Tibetans from its origin to the time of his fifth predecessor, in the seventeenth century. The operational arm [of the NKT] in the current international anti Dalai campaign is the Western Shugden Society, laterly renamed the International Shugden Community, and their first public appearance, with the same tenor of those of today.was in 1996, during a protest in central London, It ‘s a story full of intrigue and mysteries, including a triple murder in Dharamsala in India the year after that first demonstration in England, near the residence of the present Dalai Lama. A group of Tibetans who belonged to the same cult and was – at that time officially – connected to the NKT, was investigated and has not yet been acquitted in the investigation based on the substantial evidence of a plot to assassinate the director of the local school of Tibetan Dialectics, who had sided with the Dalai [Lama] against this practice considered so “dangerous”. In the assault, three monks were killed by stabbing them. Among the nvestigation papers were seized a list of authorities of the then Tibetan government in exile, the Dalai lama at the head, to be eliminated. A risk that according to intelligence Tibetan exiles still exists today. Since there were no other “tracks” plausible, the culmination of the investigation of the triple murder focused inconclusively on the role of the association owned by a group of Tibetan monks and lay people of a district in New Delhi, the Dorje Shugden Devotee’s Charitable & Religious Society, passed into the background. Yet it would have been important to get to the bottom of this, as it was its adherents that opened up for the first time to the Chinese the opportunity to realize the benefits of their special version of Tibetan Buddhism, based on the worship of a spirit which, ideally, is on their side and not that of the enemy, the “separatist” Dalai. Starting in the days just after the triple murder in February of 1997, the Chinese authorities granted special privileges to practitioners of Shugden (the killers entered China via Nepal despite an arrest warrant being still pending), and invite them regularly to political and strategic consultations on how to reduce the influence of the Dalai Lama in Tibet. In exchange for this, they offer help in building yet more new temples dedicated to their “Buddha” Shugden, while Tibetans urging people not to follow this worship, as recommended the Dalai Lama, are even arrested as happened in these current hours to the 77-year old Jamyang Tsering. At the international level, the current media strategy of the International Shugden Community is much subtler and employs millions of posts on social networks and invitations to the followers to participate in the campaign “Dalai lama stop lying” via twitter or more directly in places where demonstrations that are taking place in several places in the world visited by the Tibetan leader. China naturally observes this, rubbing its hands together at this controversy which aims to undermine the figure of the Tibetan leader right on his personal strong point of human rights. The Dalai explained his position many times on this subject and there are hundreds of gigabytes of online documents and testimonials from his own voice as well as books by scholars such as Georges B.J. Dreyfus and the Dolgyal Shugden Research Society (‘Dolgyal Shugden: A History’). In this way, even the experts of the Vatican can investigate the background of this case and catch here and there a glimpse of the kind of strategy of defamation and denigration that China could take to downsize, just like the Dalai Lama, even the Pope of Rome. For example, some more recent history, and equally embarrassing for the Catholic Church as that Tibetan spirit-demon, could re-emerge, history which has as protagonists Pope Bergoglio and other priests during the darkest period in modern Argentine history. In 2000 a court in Buenos Aires wrote in the judgment against three former soldiers sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of two progressive priests, that the church hierarchy had “closed its eyes” to that double murder. Those were the years when the current pope was leading the argentines Jesuit order (1973-1979), at the top of the Catholic hierarchy who were asking the faithful to act as "patriots". Bergoglio remained officially silent even during the kidnapping of two other priests of his congregation, who were accused of conniving with the opponents of the regime while they were working in the slums. The Pontiff has always denied that he abandoned his men and instead always said that he helped several times the priests of the underground resistance. But he refused twice to act as a witness in related lawsuits, until in 2010 when he decided to appear in front of the judges and the lawyers said he had been overly “evasive”. The accusations, from which Bergoglio has always been acquitted, are relatively important in the past of a monk of flawless faithfulness to the ideals of the Church. But when making agreements with men of power, such as for sure are the Chinese politicians negotiating with the Vatican, there are many surprises to be encountered. Considering all this, St. Peter’s hierarchs would have been well advised to reconsider their decision to renounce the meeting with the Dalai Lama only in order not to offend Beijing. If one day it could deem useful, the mud of those years under the generals in Buenos Aires could come back to the surface and the Pontiff would find himself – just as the Dalai Lama –at the centre of a controversy built up by others and backed up by the religious Department of the Communist Party. For even in Chinese they say: “Defame, defame, something will remain”. Originally published at La Repubblica Blog: Papa e Dalai agli occhi di Pechino (14 Dec. 2014
Inform Winter Seminar Innovation, Violence and Paralysis: How do Minority Religions Cope with Uncertainty?
Date - Saturday, 7 February 2015; 9.30am – 5.00pm Location – New Academic Building, London School of Economics
What
happens when groups lose control of their own destiny? Whether it leads
to violence, as in the case of Aum Shinrikyo’s response to a potential
police investigation in 1995, or to non-violent
innovations, as found in minority religions following the death of
their founders or leaders, uncertainty and insecurity can lead to great
change in the mission and even teachings of religious groups. What does
it take to bring back certainty? Bringing together
past and current members, as well as academics and practitioners this
seminar will explore how minority religions and their members work with
notions of uncertainty and insecurity.
Registration is now open and can be done using a credit/debit card through PayPal or by posting a booking
form and a cheque payable to 'Inform' to Inform, Houghton
St., London WC2A 2AE. Tickets (including buffet lunch, coffee and tea)
paid by 19 January 2015 are
£38 each (£18 students/unwaged).Tickets booked after 19 January 2015 will cost £48 each (£28 students/unwaged).
On behalf of the Dharma Primary School in Brighton, UK, we are writing to let you know that the school is extending its international search for a new Head Teacher, as our initial recruitment drive did not result in a permanent appointment. We would be grateful if you could spread the word by sharing the following post with your network of contacts, and have attached a .pdf document for this purpose:
Vacancy: Head Teacher, The Dharma Primary School, Brighton, UK
The Dharma Primary School was the first school in the UK to be founded on Buddhist principles, with the practice of mindfulness at its heart. As we celebrate our 20th Anniversary, with a thriving community of 75 children and 27 staff, we are embarking on a global search for an exceptional individual to lead our school into the next exciting phase of its development.This opportunity comes at atimewhentheBuddhistvaluesofmindfulnessand compassion are at the forefront of educational thinking.
In line with our ethos, we will be running an innovative Mindful Recruitment process which we hope will allow for a much deeper engagement with potential applicants and provide a positive experience regardless of whether they decide to progress with a formal application.
Find out more by visiting our Head Teacher Recruitment page, where potential applicants can register and download an information pack.
Thank you for helping us spread the word about this unique opportunity. We also invite you to subscribe to our forthcoming Mindfulness Newsletter, which will go out quarterly from January 2015, with news about our school's ethos and activities.
Gautama Sees the Morning Star: a Rohatsu Meditation
by James Ford, Dec 8th, 2014
It’s hard to know anything with certainty about antiquity. Okay, perhaps that’s true for today, as well. But, history blends with myth much more completely with the old stories. Sometimes myth completely overtakes history
Ofqual update today to confirm dates for reformed exams: Aut 16: First teaching of new GCSEs and ASs Sum 17 First AS exams Sum 18 First A level and GCSE exams
Pope, World Religious Leaders Pledge to Fight Modern Slavery
Reuters
December 02, 2014 3:10 PM
VATICAN CITY— Pope Francis and Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and Christian leaders pledged on Tuesday to use their religions to help stamp out modern slavery and human trafficking by 2020.
In his outreach to leaders in the subcontinent and Asia, from Nepal to Japan and China to Myanmar, Modi has projected Buddhism as one of India’s bridges to these nations.
Associated Press: Mindfulness helps teens cope with stress, anxiety
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — As the morning school bell rings and students rush through crowded corridors, teenagers in one Portland classroom settle onto mats and meditation pillows. They fall silent after the teacher taps a Tibetan “singing bowl.”
As you wake up each morning, hazy and disoriented, you gradually become aware of the rustling of the sheets, sense their texture and squint at the light. One aspect of your self has reassembled: the first-person observer of reality, inhabiting a human body.
As wakefulness grows, so does your sense of having a past, a personality and motivations. Your self is complete, as both witness of the world and bearer of your consciousness and identity. You.
This intuitive sense of self is an effortless and fundamental human experience. But it is nothing more than an elaborate illusion. Under scrutiny, many common-sense beliefs about selfhood begin to unravel. Some thinkers even go as far as claiming that there is no such thing as the self.
In these articles, discover why "you" aren’t the person you thought you were.
We’ve been settling into Portland, ME, since our move here in July. For one thing, Bodhi sure looks comfortable on my zafu, no?
For another, people don’t sound as “different” as they did when we moved. Heck, the other day I called my old health insurance company in Minneapolis and talked to a nice lady there about an issue that I was having. OMG, did she have a Fargo accent! We don’t talk like that around here, that’s for gall darn sure!
From the Tricycle archive: 10 Misconceptions about Buddhism
In the new series 10 Misconceptions about Buddhism, scholars Robert E. Buswell Jr. and Donald S. Lopez Jr. will expand on one of these popular misconceptions on the Tricycle blog every Thursday.
ON ASPECTS OF THE REFORMATION OF SOTO ZEN BUDDHISM IN NORTH AMERICA
An Open Letter to the Leadership and Membership Of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association
And all care about the Zen Dharma in the West
James Myoun Ford, Osho Senior Guiding Teacher’s Council Boundless Way Zen
Inform Autumn Seminar - Minority Religions and Schooling
Saturday, 6 December 2014; 9.30am - 4.45pm New Academic Building, London School of Economics.
State multiculturalism has failed’, declared David Cameron in 2011. Yet there is a continued expansion in state-funded religious schooling in Britain. This expansion has gone hand-in-hand with legal rulings that have placed minority religions on stronger footing next to the more established faiths. After exponential growth of Academies operating outside of local authority control since 2000, and three years after the first Free Schools opened their doors (a programme which has assisted the expansion of a diversity of faith-based schools), it is a good opportunity to take stock and reflect on the nature of minority faith schooling in Britain.
Provisional Programme
The presence of speakers on an Inform programme does not mean that Inform endorses their position. The aim of Inform Seminars is to help participants to understand, or at least recognise, different perspectives.
9.30 - 10.00REGISTRATION
10.00 - 10.10Eileen Barker (Founder and Honorary Research Fellow, Inform)
Welcome and Housekeeping
10.10 - 10.35Amanda van Eck Duymaer van Twist (Deputy Director, Inform) and Suzanne Newcombe (Research Officer at Inform)
Minority Religions and Schooling
10.35 - 11.00Farid Panjwani (Director of the Centre for Research and Evaluation in Muslim Education at the Institute of Education, University of London)
Muslims and Faith Schools: identity and social aspiration in a minority religion
11.00 – 11.25Damon Boxer (Assistant Director, Academies and Free Schools Policy, Department for Education)
Government Policy on Minority Religions and Schools
11.25 – 11.50TEA/COFFEE
11.50 – 12.15Ozcan Keles (Executive Director of the Dialogue Society)
Fethullah Gulen-inspired Hizmet schools from an alumnus: basics, characteristics and critique
12.40 - 13.05Richy Thompson (Campaigns Officer (Faith Schools and Education), British Humanist Association)
A Humanist Perspective on Minority Religions and Schooling
13.05 - 14.15LUNCH/BOOK LAUNCH
14.15 - 14.40Graham Kennish
Vision as Mediator between Faith, Belief, Experience and Knowledge
14.40 - 15.05Jonny Scaramanga (Doctoral student at the Institute of Education)
The History of Accelerated Christian Education in the United Kingdom
15.05 - 15.30TEA/COFFEE
15.30 - 15.55Jo Fageant (SIAMS inspector and Principal RE Adviser, Oxford Diocesan Board of Education)
Faith and Inspection in Church of England schools
15.55 – 16.45GENERAL PANEL DISCUSSION
Registration is now open and can be done using a credit/debit card through PayPal or by posting a booking form and a cheque payable to 'Inform' to Inform, Houghton St., London WC2A 2AE.
Tickets (including buffet lunch, coffee and tea) paid by 10 November 2014 cost £38 each (£18 students/unwaged). Tickets booked after 10 November 2014 will cost £48 each (£28 students/unwaged). A limited number of seats will be made available to A-Level students at £10 before 10 November 2014 (£20 after 10 November).
7th February 2015 London School of Economics, London, UK
This is advance notice for theFebruary Inform seminar.
Innovation, violence and paralysis: how do minority religions cope with uncertainty?
What happens when groups lose control of their own destiny? Whether it leads to violence, as in the case of Aum Shinrikyo’s response to a potential police investigation in 1995, or to non-violent innovations, as found in minority religions following the death of their founders or leaders, uncertainty and insecurity can lead to great change in the mission and even teachings of religious groups. What does it take to bring back certainty? Bringing together past and current members, as well as academics and practitioners this seminar will explore how minority religions and their members work with notions of uncertainty and insecurity.
More information will follow shortly. Please forward this information to your contacts and networks as appropriate.
----------------------------- Inform Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE 020 7955 7654
The Adventurous Life of Alexandra David-Neel (1868-1969)
Published on Nov 5, 2014
The Adventurous Life of Alexandra David-Neel (1868-1969)
Readers of Alexandra David-Neel’s early books knew nothing of her life before she became a celebrated traveller, explorer, and pioneer of the esoteric practices of Tibetan Buddhism.
Born in Paris, Alexandra was a debutante, bohemian of the Belle Epoque, opera singer in Indo-China and wife of a railway engineer. She researched occultism, travelling in India, Japan and Korea, crossed the Gobi Desert and journeyed to Lhasa in disguise – all unheard of for a woman of her time. Her name is synonymous with Tibet and the secrets of Tibetan magic and mysticism. Asked if she believed in miracles, Alexandra replied, “Of course, I perform them all the time.” Alexandra David-Neel died in France, aged 100, in 1969.
Alexander Maitland explores Alexandra David-Neel’s life and travels and her fascinating sojourns among magicians on the Roof of the World.
About the speaker: Alexander Maitland’s interests include music, painting and architecture. He first met Marco Pallis in 1966, while researching a life of the explorer John Hanning Speke. Later he wrote biographies of Freya Stark and Sir Wilfred Thesiger with whom he collaborated on other books including Freya Stark’s Rivers of Time and Wilfred Thesiger’s Among the Mountains. Alexander Maitland is married and lives in London.
Rather than think about faith as "conscious assent" when referring to
Buddhism, it is more closely related to notion of trust - the kind of
trust that any listener must have to listen to a teaching.
Credit: shutterstock
Inform Autumn Seminar Minority Religions and Schooling
Date - Saturday, 6 December 2014; 9.30am - 4.45pm Location – New Academic Building, London School of Economics
‘State
multiculturalism has failed’, declared David Cameron in 2011. Yet
there is a continued expansion in state-funded religious schooling
in Britain. This expansion has gone hand-in-hand with legal rulings
that have placed minority religions on stronger footing next to the more
established faiths. After exponential growth of Academies operating
outside of local authority control since 2000,
and three years after the first Free Schools opened their doors (a
programme which has assisted the expansion of a diversity of faith-based
schools), it is a good opportunity to take stock and reflect on the
nature of minority faith schooling in Britain.
Registration is now open and can be done using a credit/debit card through PayPal or by posting
a booking form and
a cheque payable to 'Inform' to Inform, Houghton St., London WC2A 2AE.
Tickets (including buffet lunch, coffee and tea) paid by 10 November
2014 are
£38 each (£18 students/unwaged).Tickets booked after 10 November 2014 will cost £48 each (£28 students/unwaged). A limited number of seats will be made available to A-Level students at £10 before 10 November 2014 (£20 after 10 November).
Provisional Programme The presence of speakers on an Inform programme does not mean that Inform endorses their position.
The aim of Inform Seminars is to help participants to understand, or at least recognise, different perspectives.
9.30 - 10.00
REGISTRATION
10.00 - 10.10
Eileen Barker (Founder and Honorary Research Fellow, Inform)
Welcome and Housekeeping
10.10 - 10.35
Amanda van Eck Duymaer van Twist (Deputy Director, Inform) and
Suzanne Newcombe (Research Officer at Inform) Minority Religions and Schooling
10.35 - 11.00
Farid Panjwani (Director of the Centre for Research and Evaluation in Muslim Education at the Institute of Education, University of London)
Muslims and Faith Schools: identity and social aspiration in a minority religion'
11.00 – 11.25
Damon Boxer (Assistant Director, Academies and Free Schools Policy, Department for Education)
Government Policy on Minority Religions and Schools
11.25 – 11.50
TEA/COFFEE
11.50 – 12.15
Ozcan Keles (Executive Director of the Dialogue Society)
Fethullah Gulen-inspired Hizmet schools from an alumnus: basics, characteristics and critique
12.15 – 12.40
Nitesh Gor (Chief Executive, Avanti Schools Trust)
Inclusivity and Fidelity
12.40 - 13.05
Richy Thompson (Campaigns Officer (Faith Schools and Education), British Humanist Association)
A Humanist Perspective on Minority Religions and Schooling
13.05 - 14.15
LUNCH/BOOK LAUNCH
14.15 - 14.40
Graham Kennish Vision as Mediator between Faith, Belief, Experience and Knowledge'
14.40 - 15.05
Jonny Scaramanga (Doctoral student at the Institute of Education)
The History of Accelerated Christian Education in the United Kingdom
15.05 - 15.30
TEA/COFFEE
15.30 - 15.55
Jo Fageant (SIAMS inspector and Principal RE Adviser, Oxford Diocesan Board of Education) Faith and Inspection in Church of England schools
15.55 – 16.45
GENERAL PANEL DISCUSSION
Please access the attached hyperlink for an important electronic communications disclaimer: http://lse.ac.uk/emailDisclaimer
CHINA LAYS CLAIM TO LEADERSHIP OF THE BUDDHIST WORLD
Posted on October 25th, 2014
Kalinga Seneviratne in Baoji, China
With an impressive display of Chinese Buddhist culture and hospitality, China laid claims to giving leadership to the Buddhist world, by hosting over 600 international delegates for the 27th General Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) at this historic city in north western China from 16th-18th October.
How Would the Buddha Handle North Korea?
Mindfulness in diplomacy
by Seok-Hyun Hong, The Huffington Post, Oct 24,
2014
Seoul, South Korea -- Today's diplomacy is dysfunctional,
and it seems as if the more we try to fix things without negotiations, the more
serious the problems become. Recently the challenges in places like Iraq or
Syria have grown so dire that we have to wonder whether we simply have the
fundamentals wrong.
Anagarika Dharmapala, A Hero of Our
Time – by Dr Desmond Biddulph, President of The Buddhist Society, at
UK’s 150th Birth Celebrations of Anagarika Dharmapala, the founder of
London Buddhist Vihara, held in London on Sept 21, 2014. The Buddhist
Society was founded in 1924, by a great personal friend of Anagarika
Dharmapala, the late Christmas Humphreys, building on the pioneer work
of the Buddhist Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1907 to 1926). A
lay organisation it is one of the oldest Buddhist societies in Europe.
From its inception it has not been attached to any one school of
Buddhism, remaining non-sectarian in character and open in principle to
the teachings of all schools and traditions. http://www.thebuddhistsociety.org/abo...
Happier, healthier and better rested: that's what 20 minutes a day of meditation has done for one writer. And as a resolute sceptic, she couldn't be more surprised
(1997) “There are three great themes in science in the 20th
century—the atom, the computer, and the gene.” – Harold Varmus, NIH
Director. Three centuries ago Newton said that he was a boy, playing on
the seashore while a “great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before
me.” Life in Newton’s time was, as Hobbes said, “nasty, brutish, and
short.” But Newton unleashed a revolution that he could never have
imagined. Within a few generations “the basic laws of matter, life, and
computation were … solved.” [3-4]
