Children given early introduction to Borobudur

In an endeavor to assist preserve the Borobudur Temple in Magelang, Central Java, UNESCO invited one hundred fifty youngsters to find out concerning the temple and also the varied arts and traditions of the encompassing areas. the kids, students at the English 1st language college from across Indonesia, were invited to affix a brief course on the cultural heritage of the temple on Saturday and Sunday. Assisted by native guides, the kids aged between 5 and eighteen years previous, were directed to numerous corners of the temples in teams. Equipped with brooms, the kids were created to wash the temple, that remains coated by a blanket of volcanic ash from last year’s eruption of Mount Merapi. “This activity is meant to introduce them at early age to the greatness of our culture,” EF country director for Indonesia Arleta Darussalam said Saturday. The activity, she added, was additionally expected to grant the kids comprehensive info on the condition of Borobudur. “[The children] can later be able to tell stories so next year, and for years once, they'll return to Borobudur with a way of belonging,” she said. UNESCO representative Masanori Nagaoka said Borobudur was a world cultural heritage and belonged to everyone. however following injury wreaked by the Mt. Merapi eruptions, this was the correct time for all Indonesians and also the government to try and do no matter they may to preserve it, he said. “Borobudur is ‘sick’ once the Mt. Merapi eruptions and that we play a crucial role in serving to to preserve it,” Surono, the traditional relics director at the Culture and Tourism Ministry, said. In order to stress the importance of preserving the positioning, the kids were later invited to plant trees at the 80-hectare temple advanced once cleaning up the temple. The event over the weekend was additionally attended by 3 representatives from Berkeley University and also the chairman of Friends of Borobudur, Warwick Purser, EF complete ambassador Choki Sitohang and Dutch archaeologist Toni Tack. The children and different guests are going to be introduced to the native culture around Borobudur on Sunday by visiting handicraft centers and experiencing the daily lives of space residents.

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Details emerge of woman's jailhouse decision as media pursue Strauss-Kahn

New York -- at some point future} once a shocking court revelation concerning an accuser's lack of honesty in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn sexual assault case, media across ny descended on the freed financier with a renewed sense of vigor. On Saturday, the previous head of the International financial Fund was pursued by photographers and news groups across Manhattan. once rising from his posh Tribecca townhouse, Strauss-Kahn and his security detail blazed through downtown town streets in a very black Mercedes sedan, darting in and out of roadways in a trial to outrun camera crews in pursuit. Ten vehicles from an array of various news groups gave chase, together with a minimum of 3 photographers perched atop motorcycles, in step with CNN producer Raelyn Johnson. Interest surrounding the scandal reached a fever-pitch Friday when a brand new York choose released Strauss-Kahn from house arrest once prosecutors presented proof questioning the credibility of his accuser. Also, but 2 days once the alleged victim said the attack occurred, she spoke over the phone with a boyfriend in a veryn Arizona jail in a recorded conversation. A supply with data of the investigation told CNN that she said that "she's fine and this person is made and there is cash to be created," as originally reported by The ny Times. The supply conjointly said the alleged victim had bank accounts in multiple states. "She was obtaining deposits of many thousands of greenbacks at a time from individuals she knew, doubtless concerned in drug dealing," the supply told CNN. The 32-year-old immigrant admitted to prosecutors that she lied concerning the specifics of her whereabouts following the alleged attack, the main points of an asylum application and data she placed on tax forms, in step with documents filed in court Friday by prosecutors. Meanwhile, in her native Guinea, residents within the nation's capital expressed their support for the alleged victim, despite her tainted testimony. "Really, you ought to have sympathy on her," said Mabity Boungoura within the Guinean capital of Conakry. "When you are doing one thing dangerous to a girl, you would like to acknowledge and settle for it." While the case has taken a dramatic flip, it's not been dismissed, Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said Friday. The indictment and charges -- together with criminal sexual acts and sexual abuse -- against Strauss-Kahn, 62, still stand, he said. Strauss-Kahn's lawyers said the alleged victim told "substantial lies concerning her own background and therefore the facts of this case." The development is especially gorgeous given previous statements by ny authorities, who spoke forcefully concerning the accuser's credibility. It seems to leaves the felony case against Strauss-Kahn seriously undermined, despite DNA proof of sexual contact recovered from the hotel suite. The choose said authorities can still withhold the French financier's passport, however that he's absolve to travel within the us. Prosecutors said Friday that the lady admitted to lying in her application for asylum within the us, claiming she had been a victim of a gang rape. She cried when she initial told prosecutors concerning the rape, however in a very subsequent interview admitted it never occurred. In angry remarks delivered outside the courthouse, the woman's attorney, Kenneth Thompson, admitted issues along with his client's credibility, however the lowest line, he said, is that she was attacked. "That was true the day it happened and it's true these days," he said, describing in chilling detail the account the lady gave of her attack and therefore the bruising on her body. "She has described that sexual assault over and over to the prosecutors and to me. and she or he has never once modified one issue that account."

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Kvitova claims tennis crown

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) - One would possibly fairly have expected Petra Kvitova, not Maria Sharapova, to be betrayed by nerves within the Wimbledon final. This was, after all, Kvitova's 1st Grand Slam championship match, whereas Sharapova already owned 3 major titles, together with one from the All England Club. therefore Kvitova set to faux she was heading out on Centre Court to play within the fourth spherical. That mindset worked. So, too, did nearly everything Kvitova tried once play began, significantly her massive, flat left-handed groundstrokes that pushed Sharapova back on her heels. in an exceedingly surprisingly lopsided final, Kvitova beat the higher-seeded, nevertheless shakier, Sharapova 6-3, 6-4 Saturday to win Wimbledon for her 1st Grand Slam trophy. "I was stunned how i used to be feeling on the court," Kvitova said, "because i used to be targeted solely on the purpose and on the sport and not on the ultimate." If there have been people who puzzled how the eighth-seeded Kvitova would handle the setting and also the pressure, her coach didn't. Indeed, David Kotyza had an inkling his new pupil possessed the correct stuff to win titles shortly when they began operating along regarding 2½; years ago. that is as a result of he was wowed by the many pages of handwritten answers Kvitova equipped for a questionnaire he gave her in the past - and has kept to the present day. "I was extremely stunned regarding how she cares tennis, how clever she is. She told me her blessings, disadvantages, what she needs to improve," Kotyza said, then pointed a finger to his temple and added: "Her brain could be a massive advantage for this game." When she was a child growing up in Fulnek, Czech Republic - population: six,000 - and practicing an hour or therefore when faculty every day, Kvitova did not count on turning into knowledgeable tennis player. She merely wasn't that sensible, yet. Clearly, she's a fast study. Before Wimbledon in 2010, Kvitova's career record on grass was 0-4. She is 16-2 on the slick surface since, together with a run to the semifinals here last year before losing to Serena Williams. At 21, Kvitova is that the youngest Wimbledon champion since - you guessed it - Sharapova was seventeen in 2004. Kvitova is additionally the primary Czech to win the tournament since Jana Novotna in 1998. Plus, Kvitova is just the third left-handed girl to win the grass-court Grand Slam tournament. The last was Martina Navratilova, who won her ninth Wimbledon title in 1990, many months when Kvitova was born. "I'm thrilled for her. She played brave tennis, and she or he deserved to win. She was by way the higher player," said Navratilova, who was born in Czechoslovakia and sat close to Novotna within the Royal Box on Saturday. Kvitova managed to create Sharapova look rather normal. Consider: till Saturday, Sharapova had won all twelve sets she played over the last 2 weeks. But, as Sharapova's coach Thomas Hogstedt summed up afterward: "One played well. the opposite did not play well. Maria did not play nearly as good as she will." That was, a minimum of partially, Kvitova's doing. She compiled nineteen winners, most by zipping her significant forehands and backhands from the baseline, where her 6-foot frame and long arms helped her get to seemingly out-of-reach balls. "She created offensive opportunities from robust positions on the court," Sharapova said. "Sometimes it's simply too sensible." Kvitova additionally broke Sharapova 5 times, anticipating where serves were headed. It helped that Sharapova double-faulted six times, though a minimum of those were fewer than the thirteen the Russian hit within the semifinals. "She performed unbelievable. Sometimes, once you do not know what to expect and you do not shrewdness you are going to feel, generally you play your best, as a result of you've got that feeling of nothing to lose," said the fifth-seeded Sharapova, who was enjoying in an exceedingly major final for the primary time since right shoulder surgery in October 2008. "She went for it, absolutely." What extremely was odd was seeing the experienced and normally gritty Sharapova bothered by distractions like the swarms of small greenflies that showed up Saturday or the occasional clap or yell that came from the stands throughout points. Even additional beautiful was the method Sharapova crumpled at key moments. One example: She double-faulted twice in an exceedingly row to lose serve and fall behind 4-2 within the 1st set. Sharapova turned her back to the court and gave herself a bit lecture, then smacked herself on her left palm together with her racket. Kvitova - currently 4-1 in tournament finals this year - broke once more to start the second set, capping that game with a running forehand that caught the rear fringe of the baseline. the ladies exchanged four consecutive breaks within the middle of that set, before Kvitova - not Sharapova - gathered herself. Ahead 4-3, however trailing 15-30 whereas serving, Kvitova hit 3 straight service winners to induce to 5-3. "She served quite onerous. Her second serve was pretty massive likewise. She was going for it, for the second serve," Sharapova said. "I felt like I may have reacted a bit bit higher." Credit Kvitova additionally for being at her steadiest within the most resolve-testing moments. She served out each sets at love, together with with a one hundred and five mph ace on match purpose. What was running through her head right then? "I got to do it currently," she would say later. After that last purpose - one last nerve-free purpose - Kvitova raised each arms, then dropped to her knees.

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Sulawesi's Mount Soputan Erupts, No Evacuations Ordered

Sulawesi, Mount Soputan in North Sulawesi erupted on Sunday morning at around 6:03 a.m. local time, sending searing gas half dozen,000 meters into the air, however officers said it posed no danger nevertheless. There were no reports of casualties as of 8:00 a.m. and therefore the spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said there was to date no got to order an evacuation. "They nearest residents live thusme eight kilometers from the mountain and so evacuation isn't nevertheless necessary," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Sunday. Iing Kusnadi, a scientist at the volcano's monitoring post, told AFP that the counseled evacuation zone was set at a six-kilometer radius round the volcano however there is solely forest in that vary. Sutopo said heat clouds from the mountain were heading west. "Last night, at around eleven p.m., the mountain entered its eruption part," he said, adding that the native BNPB and therefore the Indonesian Red Cross were collaborating closely so as to forestall damages. Soputan, one among Sulawesi's most active volcanoes, last erupted in 2008 with no fatalities recorded.

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蓮鳴上師於〈白雲雷藏寺〉紅財神護摩法會開示

有很多人覺得，在家裡修行比較好，有好多時候在家中靜坐會覺得比較舒服，但在廟靜坐時，前後左右都有人，有時正要進入狀態時，旁邊有小孩哭或有人咳嗽，有種情況出現。所以有好多人覺得，在家中修行比較好，不需要到寺廟同修。其實，自修和同修可由幾個層面去看有何不同！
完全個人單獨去修行，應該是在自己已經完全明白修行的方向和修行的方法之後，才自己單獨去修行；同時在單獨修行當中，要明白如何化解在修行上遇到的問題，如果在修行上完全沒有遇上任何問題，那表示修行沒有進步，這點必須要明白。
在單獨修行的時候，如果在身心知見上產生了問題，是需要請示根本傳承上師，或請示弘法人員，來解決遇到的困難。如果平時一個人去修，修得非常精進；比如有些人一日修兩、三壇法，或一日修四壇法，可能反而因為太精進而產生襌病，或會產生因為太精進所產生的障礙。
如果遇到禪病或障礙的時候，要如何去超越呢﹖這是單獨修行會遇到的困惑。所以，每當單獨修行到某一個境界時，是需要回來請示根本傳承上師，看看問題出在什麼地方？然後怎麼去化解？
修行本身非常需要正知正見。講到正知見，好多人會覺得自己已經好有知見，或者覺得自己在修法方面上已經懂得很多。我們首先需要明白，知識、智慧和聰明的分別在那裡。
知識！就是懂很多東西，知識淵博、多聞。但是否「多聞」便代表「能幹」呢？其實不是！「智慧」和「知識」並不相同，比如一個人懂很多佛法，懂很多修行儀軌，懂很多關於「空、有」的理念，懂很多名詞，這個是知識，是多聞，如果不能應用在身心之中，這個就是沒有智慧。
比如一個人明白什麼是「十八界空」，但功德受用卻生不起來，不能將「十八界空」運用在自己身上，那麼得到的只是知識，而不是智慧。沒有這個功德受用生出來的時候，一個人單獨修法，如何能超越「十八界空」？
第二個例子，有人懂得很多東西，知道什麼是「十二因緣」，知道什麼是「四聖諦」，但當在日常生活之中，卻不能超越「十二因緣」，不能將「四聖諦」運用在日常生活中，功德受用不能生起，這個人所懂得的只是一些名詞，就是我們所講的多聞，並不是智慧。
所以有一句話講：「多聞不如實修。」意思是說，你懂得很多知識，但必須要如實去修行，這樣才真正屬於你自己的。如果不能如實去修行，那麼你懂得的佛學名詞，只是別人口中的「說話」，永遠不會變成自己的。所以知識和智慧是不相同的。
聰明和智慧的分別在那裡？聰明的人不一定有智慧，但有智慧的人一定聰明。基本上來講，聰明的人是比較取巧，取巧的意思是—不能憑著其聰明才智而能了脫生死。所以，聰明是「入世法」中的一種投機和取巧。
智慧就不同了，有「入世智慧」和「出世智慧」。在儒家來講，道德與智慧是一體兩面的講法。換句話說，在儒家孔夫子學說，道德、倫常、智慧是非常相似的。因為我們明白因緣果報，所以每做一件事就會顧慮到因果、道德、倫常的理念在其中。所以儒家學說，道德是包含智慧在內。
但在佛門來說，智慧的講法並不相同。佛的智慧是「三無漏學」，是超越道德、倫常和一切入世的智慧，佛的智慧是出世間的智慧，能夠將八識田的識種轉化成為佛智，就是「般若」。
所以，佛的智慧是妙智慧，是般若，般若智慧是能夠了脫生死，超越三界輪迴，不單令人成為多聞、有知識的人，更能令人成為擁有大智慧的修行人，所以「般若智慧」是佛門所講的智慧，我們修行人所追求的就是這種佛智。
單獨修行，在不能提升佛智的時候，可以建議參加同修。為什麼參加同修可以幫助增長佛智呢？舉例來說，有時候看一本書，或一句說話，這本書每個字都看得懂，但加起來就看不懂。這一種情況是經常發生的，不單是在佛教有這個問題，在一般讀書或做其他事時，都會有這種情況出現。但是，當把書本放在一邊，之後做了很多不相干的事，譬如去持咒、禪定、做大禮拜，過了三個月、半年、一年之後，再回頭來看這句話時，會忽然明白！
其實很多人都有這種經驗。因為當我們去做大禮拜，佛菩薩會消除我們的業障；當我們去持咒、唸經、唸佛的時候，佛菩薩會加持我們。在我們做與這一本書完全沒有相干的佛事時，比喻到寺廟去打掃，多到寺廟參加同修，得到佛光的注照，這些和看書沒有關係，但是因為佛菩薩加持，令我們的智慧增長，所以再重看那句話時，就看得懂了。
這是因緣的問題，也是智慧開發和未開發的關係。每一個人都有圓滿的智慧，問題是智慧開發了沒有？所以，多來同修，是能夠得到佛光的加持，能夠轉化不好的緣分成為好的緣分；令本來不是很有智慧的身心，能具足成為有智慧的身心。所以，同修的功效非常好。 　— 待續 —

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