Sexual Abuse Isn't Just a Catholic Issue.

I may be wrong on this but it seems rare to hear of a sexual abuse scandal in the Buddhist world but there has been one brewing for some time now in the American Zen circle:

"This article, among other revelations, presents a face of Zen not ordinarily visible to the general public. That is, how well known Zen rōshis and leading Zen figures spoke and acted; or failed to speak and act, in the face of deeply troubling allegations and really severe problems. Thereby, the article also points to the underlying interests of these rōshis.

The letter makes it clear that the teachers have heard first hand reports of Eido Shimano's activities directly from a number of the women involved. The repetitive nature of the allegations over a three decade period during which these alleged transgressions occurred without any formal public investigation or adequate resolution was so great that it motivated eight prominent Zen leaders from across America to sign the document, in the name of the greater North American Zen Maha-Sangha."

James: These are some of the allegations that really seem to show the Roshi as having acted highly inappropriately. If true, (and they seem true) he has also defaced and mocked the American Zen tradition. As well as Buddhism in general:

Over the past three decades, we have interviewed many former students of Shimano Roshi. Their stories are consistent: trust placed in an apparently wise and compassionate teacher, only to have that trust manipulated in the form of his sexual misconduct and abuse. Some of these students elected to continue their practice with us; most of them wanted nothing further to do with Zen Buddhism.

James: This is extremely serious. This trusted monk was supposed to show people how to liberate themselves from suffering--not increase their suffering!! What an appalling perversion of Buddhism!! And he allegedly did it multiple times over DECADES!! He not only allegedly abused them but he has also lead people astray from the path, which is a very egregious action in Buddhism. And if other Zen teachers knew of these transgressions and did nothing about it are just as culpable in my view. A lot of Buddhists believe it is rare to find the path of the Buddha and to lead people astray from it is to hold the enlightenment of fledgling beings in the palm of your hand and then tossing that into a deep, dark and muddy hole. The karma that such a false leader incurs must be enormous.

There is a saying in a Jataka which can be summarized as follows: “When a herd of cattle is traveling, if the leading bull strays, the whole herd goes astray. So it is with the people. If the appointed leader practices adhamma or unrighteousness, the multitude will also practise it. The whole nation will suffer if that one fails to abide by the Dhamma. When a herd of cattle is traveling, if the leading bull keeps to the proper course, the whole herd will do the same. So it is with the people. If the appointed leader abides by the Dhamma, the multitude will do likewise. The whole nation will be content if the leader upholds the Dhamma. This Buddhist saying is quite clear. The behavior of the leader is of great consequence to the masses as they will inevitably follow his example."

James: The Vinaya, which is a body of rules of monastics states, "Like a person, whose head is cut off, is unable to live with that mutilated body, a bhikkhu having associated with sex becomes a non-samana and non-sakyan-son (i.e. loses his monkhood and the membership among the Buddha’s sangha)." It might be tempting by some to ignore this uncomfortable issue but if we truly believe the essence of Buddha's message was to help others over-come suffering then we owe it to these victims, and even the Roshi himself to address this completely. It is so sad that this drove some people away from Buddhism but regardless, I hope that they find the peace and relief from suffering that they deserve.

~Peace to all beings~

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Cara Membuat Ringtone

Setiap orang pasti memiliki lagu kegemarannya sendiri-sendiri, namanya juga lagu kegemaran pasti ingin didengarkannya setiap saat bilah dibutuhkan. Selain lagu kegemarannya ada juga lagu yang disesuaikan trend saat itu dengan kata lain lagu yang sedang populer.






Artikel kali ini memberikan alternatif pilihan untuk membuat sendiri ringtone pribadi dengan instrumen lagu-lagu yang sedang

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Is our Universe inside a Wormhole?

A long time ago, in a universe much larger than our own, a giant star collapsed. Its implosion crammed so much mass and energy together that it created a wormhole to another universe. And inside this wormhole, our own universe was born. It may seem fantastic, but a theoretical physicist claims that such a scenario could help answer some of the most perplexing questions in cosmology.

A number of facets about our universe don't make sense. One is gravity. Scientists can't construct a mathematical formula that unites gravity with the three other basic forces of nature: the strong and weak nuclear forces and electromagnetism. Another problem is dark energy, the mysterious phenomenon that seems to be expanding our universe at an accelerating rate, even though gravity should be contracting it or at least slowing the expansion.

These conundrums may be a result of stopping the search for the riddle of the cosmos at the big bang, says Nikodem Poplawski of Indiana University in Bloomington. The big bang theory holds that our universe began as a single point—or singularity—about 13.7 billion years ago that has been expanding outward ever since. Perhaps, Poplawski argues, we need to consider that something existed before the big bang that gave rise to it. Such a scenario could address the quandaries about gravity and the expanding universe. If another universe existed before our own, gravity could be traced back to a point where it did unite with the nuclear forces and electromagnetism. And if our universe is now expanding toward the other end of the wormhole, this movement—rather than the elusive dark energy—could account for our expanding universe.

James: This reopens the door I feel to the "Cyclic Model" of the Universe, which basically states that our Universe (just like everything else) is impermanent and will be reborn again and again through a series of expansions and collapses.

The other implication I considered in regards to this theory is that perhaps rebirth of our karmic energy could occur through smaller, similar wormholes or channels toward a new incarnation. "Lorentzian traversable wormholes [not yet fully proven] would allow travel from one part of the universe to another part of that same universe very quickly or would allow travel from one universe to another."

And that new form could be in a whole other world at the opposite end of the Universe, which would explain why the population on Earth is growing. Because if other life isn't possible somewhere else in our Universe or within a parallel one then how do you explain the growing population on Earth? Some of the expansion of human lives could also involve the billions of insects.

Obviously this is mostly conjecture on my part and some of it has still yet to be proven. It really doesn't have too much to do with living in the present moment but being an intellectual I can't resist but see how science might marry up with Buddhist cosmology and thought. In doing research for this post I came across a very concrete and scientific explanation of rebirth by Bhikkhu Pesala:

Light a candle with a match, or visualise doing it. Hold the wick directly above the lighted match, but not actually touching the flame. Watch carefully. The wick will begin to smoke, and will then burst into flame. Does the flame jump from the match to the candle? Is the candle flame the same as the flame on the match, or is it a different one? If we describe the process scientifically we will say that the heat from the flame on the match vaporised some paraffin wax from the candle, and the paraffin vapour ignited, producing a new flame. The two flames are separate and burn from different fuels, but are causally related.

Likewise, kamma done in one existence is like the heat. The candle is like the physical basis provided by the parents. The candle flame is like the newly born being that arises dependent upon previous causes and present supporting conditions. One important difference between rebirth and the two flames is that the last conscious moment of the previous existence ceases totally, then rebirth consciousness arises immediately afterwards. No mental or physical phenomena “transmigrate” or pass between the two existences. Rebirth is simple a process of cause and effect.

James: The compact potential energy within the match is like the energy of our consciousness and when the flame from the match dies out the transfer is complete and the match is tossed as our worthless carcass would be. The flame that was the match and the flame in the new form (body/being/form) of the candle are neither different from each other nor the same.

~Peace to all beings~

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Does Tiger Woods Practice Booty-ism or Buddhism?

Today is the day that Tiger Woods finally turns back to golf but of course the media won't stop talking about the scandal, so I figured I might as well take another crack at it myself. I'm not interested in the sexual escapades as that's his business. I try not to get involved with other peoples' sex lives. No, I'm talking about the Buddhist issue, which I guess in this instance sort of relates to the sexual issue but that's not my main point. My main point is about the use of Buddhist terms in relation to pop culture. Well, anyway, today someone thought it would be funny to fly a plane over the golf course with a banner that read, "Tiger, are you sure you didn't mean Booty-ism?"

Booty-ism of course being a mangling of the term "Buddhism." Booty, for all you none American English speakers is what some Americans use as slang for the butt. It's used in American street slang in the context of a "Booty call." That is a term referring to when one someone calls a "friend" on the telephone to meet up for sex. So, they're trying to be clever in making his religion, Buddhism sound similar to a sex term because of his past struggles with infidelity.

I'm not really offended over this one but the reason I am writing about it is to show how for all our intelligence, skills, education and rearing we humans are very childish. As I read on the great, "The Worst Horse," blog it's very sad that someone actually paid money to pay for that banner. This is the same kind of behavior I had to put up with in school with a last name like, "Ure." It's pronounced phonetically as, "Yewur" but the kids use to call me "Urine" as in the bodily fluid. Haha--very funny. I figured they were just jealous because I have a unique name with only three letters.

The point is that there are times to defend Buddhism and how it's used in our societies but we (or at least I) need to pick our battles. Otherwise, if we get upset over every bit of misuse of something Buddhist related we'd all be in the mental ward. That said, I enjoy dissecting a good "Dharma Burger." Speaking of which, Tiger is said to be getting Buddhist sayings on his Blackberry and asking for privacy in his hotel room for meditating. So, it's great to see Tiger walking the path again. I wasn't interested in his foibles as much as the Buddhist angle to the story. I'm not perfect, I have my weaknesses, I'm not a moral guide exactly so I leave that up to him and his wife. I mean, come on. Is his sex life really any of our business anyway?

~Peace to all beings~

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Lisa Simpson is a "Freakin' Buddhist!!"

James: Looks like Lisa needs to meditate more, but don't we all!! Hehe. Actually, despite the serene nature that the media paints Buddhism to be, we do get angry sometimes too. Just because we dedicate our lives to over coming such impulses--we're not perfect. Perfectionism is a sure way to burn out on your practice. As one fellow blogger put it, "We can both accept ourselves and want to change." When ever I find myself being self-critical of my practice I ask myself, "Would you be this critical toward someone else in your position?" And, invariably my answer is, "No, of course not."

So, we need to be more loving toward ourselves as much as toward others. It seems that sometimes it's easier to love others than ourselves. In the end, I see perfectionism as forgetting the Buddha's teaching of the middle-path. If we expect ourselves to be "perfect" in our practice then we're leaning too far toward aestheticism because perfectionism, like aestheticism, is unforgiving, not so compassionate and demands too much.

~Peace to all beings~

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