20/04/2010 03:14 (GMT+7)
In most countries music has developed in close affinity with
religious observances. But the Theravada ideology does not encourage
sensual arts like music and dancing. That when Buddhism was not only a
religion. but the way of the life for the people. such performing arts
received little patronage from the temple. |
18/04/2010 09:31 (GMT+7)
Music gives us the capacity
to
express the deepest feelings of the human soul. Whether through
holy hymns
or sincere chants of praise, it is capable of lifting our minds to
an almost
sublime state, and, as such, is regarded as having an important role
in the
promotion of religious teachings. |
18/04/2010 09:31 (GMT+7)
Buddhism
in the West has reached its second century. If the Asian
experience of Buddhist history is any judge, it may be another hundred
years before a truly indigenous Western Buddhism flourishes here in the
Americas and Europe. |
22/04/2010 04:07 (GMT+7)
The theme of this study, Buddhist ceremonies and rituals, may not appeal to the self-styled Buddhist purist who wishes to restrict the designation "Buddhism" exclusively to the teachings of the Buddhist scriptures, which he usually interprets in a narrowly intellectualist manner. The fact remains, however, that the practices and observances to be described here justly claim an integral place within the stream of living Buddhism as practised by its adherents. |
22/04/2010 04:07 (GMT+7)
Today, Visakha Puja, is an extremely important day in the Buddhist tradition, for it was on this day that the Buddha was born, and 35 years later awoke to the unexcelled right self-awakening, and another 45 years later passed away into total nibbana. In each case, these events took place on the full-moon day in May, when the moon is in the Visakha asterism, which is why the day is called Visakha Puja. |
22/04/2010 04:06 (GMT+7)
NEWMARKET — The Laotian community here will experience tomorrow one of the most elaborate ceremonies of their Buddhist faith. |
22/04/2010 04:06 (GMT+7)
Marysville -- Inside the walls of the Buddhist Church in Marysville Saturday, more than 150 people gathered to remember and appreciate their loved ones who have passed on and to self-reflect during the ancient Japanese Buddhist festival, the Obon. |
22/04/2010 04:05 (GMT+7)
Today we have been engaged in a series of programme that are part of Kathina robe-offering ceremony. It is important that we understand about what we are doing -- in this particular case, about Kathina ceremony; to be aware of some thing we are undertaking is Buddhist way of doing things which is technically called Right Understanding. |
27/05/2010 21:08 (GMT+7)
Since 1840, being faced with the so-called “greatest change of Chinese
history and civilization in the millenniums”, Chinese intellectuals
strived hard for the reconstruction of social order and cultural value.
Against this background, the traditional religion cultures like
Confucianism and Buddhism had been revived, and foreign trends of ideas
imported into China, Christianity as one of them. |
27/05/2010 21:19 (GMT+7)
If we define the word “nation” we
discover that there exist many concepts about it. But all these
concepts about a group of people called “nation” are based on the
limited experience and view of a certain place and time. In the same way
as an individual identifies with a “self”, a nation identifies with its
characteristics and typical features it proclaims. |
16/06/2010 05:30 (GMT+7)
From
the
deafening silence that the Buddha experienced during the moonlit moment
beneath the Bodhi tree, flowed the teaching of the Dharma.
2,500 years has since passed, and the accumulations of the
Teachings into various versions of the Tripitaka have swelled into
monstrous proportions. |
21/12/2010 03:58 (GMT+7)
The Chinese Institute of Buddhist Cultural Studies(CIBCS) was established in 1987. It is.a Buddhist cultural research institute under the Buddhist Association of China and a window for Buddhist cultural exchange and activities within and outside China. |
13/12/2010 10:44 (GMT+7)
Chan is the Chinese word for
dhyana(meditation).The culture of Chan tea stems from the Bailin Temple (the
Temple of Cypress Woodsy), which is a Buddhist holy land, which dates back more
than 1,700 years, in Zhaoxian County, Hebei Province |
12/05/2011 03:27 (GMT+7)
Above
is the picture of Kwan-Yin of Thousand Arms and Eyes. The real statue
was 3.6 meters tall, carved from wood and painted and inlaid with gold,
and is displayed at the Ancient Arts Museum in Hanoi, Vietnam. It is the
replica of the original statue still in use at the Ninh Phuc Temple –
also known as the “Pencil Stupa” temple because of its pointed
construction – in Bac Ninh, North Vietnam. |
04/07/2011 23:47 (GMT+7)
In most countries music has developed in close affinity with
religious observances. But the Theravada ideology does not encourage
sensual arts like music and dancing. That when Buddhism was not only a
religion. but the way of the life for the people. such performing arts
received little patronage from the temple. The Buddhist clergy, who
constituted the main literati of the country. |
04/07/2011 23:49 (GMT+7)
My
experience with Chinese Buddhist music exemplifies the hybrid
principle. Having immersed myself in Chinese Buddhist sacred music for
three decades I have learned that at heart, in terms of music
appreciation, I’m deeply a product of my Western upbringing. But I have
discovered riches in Chinese sacred music that I intend to carry across
the bridge into the West. |
04/07/2011 23:48 (GMT+7)
Chanting
plays an important role in the practice, preservation and continuation
of the Buddha Dharma throughout the centuries. Various Buddhist
traditions have developed Buddhist chanting over time either in Pali or
other national languages in harmony with their cultural and ethnic
traditions |
05/07/2011 00:06 (GMT+7)
In the ancient city of Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka stands the world’s oldest recorded tree – a sacred Bodhi tree planted in the 3rd
century BC. This tree, planted from a sapling of the original Bodhi
tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment in India more than
2500 years ago, is a representation of the deep roots that Buddhism has
in Sri Lanka.
Like this sacred Bodhi tree, the Buddhist Sinhalese tradition is the
oldest living Buddhist lineage in the world, and the only religious
culture that had managed to survive for more than 2300 years. |
15/06/2012 04:46 (GMT+7)
In Tibetan Buddhism, the mandala is
a ritual instrument, much like a mantra, used to assist meditation and
concentration. Throughout history, these pictorial temples--intricate,
two-dimensional, multi-colored patterns of concentric circles, squares, and
other shapes--have signified the human need for wholeness, order, and balance.
But while many people of the West accept mandalas as representative of a cosmic
force, few understand they are meant to be blueprints as well. Indeed, a
Tantric Buddhist meditator studies a two-dimensional mandala like an architect,
building up in his mind the image of a palace encompassing the sacred
principles of Buddhist philosophy. |
12/07/2012 05:13 (GMT+7)
One of the popular features of the Anglican Church in Japan
is the memorial service. At every Sunday eucharist, in almost every parish, the
names of the departed whose memorial day falls during the week are cited and a memorial
prayer is said. In every parish, there is a monthly memorial service for
departed members. Even irregular communicants ask the priest to hold an annual
memorial service for a departed Family member which a number of relatives and
friends attend. |
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