Friday, April 15, 2011

Best Joke of the Year

Sharing the following email with you:

This was nominated for best joke of the year - worth sharing.

A Somali arrives in Vancouver as a new immigrant to Canada. He stops the first person he sees walking down the street and says... 'Thank you Mr. Canadian for letting me in this country, giving me housing, money for food, free medical care, free education and no taxes!'

The passerby says, 'You are mistaken, I am Mexican.'

The man goes on and encounters another passerby. ' Thank you for having such a beautiful country here in Canada!'

The person says, 'I not Canadian, I Vietnamese.'

The new arrival walks further, and the next person he sees he stops, shakes his hand and says, 'Thank you for the wonderful Canada!'

That person puts up his hand and says, 'I am from Middle East , I am not Canadian!'

He finally sees a nice lady and asks, 'Are you a Canadian?'

She says, 'No, I am from Africa !'

Puzzled, he asks her, 'Where are all the Canadians?'

The African lady checks her watch and says...'Probably at work'


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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

A beautiful coat!

Sharing the following email with you:

I bet most people will watch this a couple times!

A beautiful coat!

YOU ARE GOING TO WATCH THIS MORE THAN ONCE ...

Take a look... I wonder how I would have reacted?

Aller voir ce lien, c'est pas mal surprenant!

http://elrellano.com/videos_online/4624/circo-roncalli.html


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Tuesday, April 12, 2011

UT: April 15, The Limited Reach of Religious Doctrine Lecture

In case you are interested:

Reminder:

The University of Toronto/McMaster University Yehan Numata Buddhist Studies Program is pleased to announce a free, public lecture by Professor Gregory Schopen (UCLA): “The Limited Reach of Religious Doctrine: Debt, Slavery, and Who could Become a Buddhist Nun (or Monk) in Early India.”

Time and date: 5 pm, April 15, 2011

Place: Muzzo Family Alumni Hall 100, University of St. Michael’s College, St. Joseph Street, Toronto
Sponsored by the University of Toronto/McMaster University Yehan Numata Buddhist Studies Program

Professor Gregory Schopen (MA McMaster University, 1975; PhD ANU, 1979) has taught at the Universities of Michigan, Washington, Indiana, Texas, Stanford, and California. He was awarded a prestigious MacArthur “genius” fellowship (1985-1990) in recognition of his work in Buddhist Studies, which has been described as “Unquestionably the freshest, most exciting scholarship to have emerged in the field in half a century.” Professor Schopen’s numerous publications include:

Bones, Stones and Buddhist Monks. University of Hawai’i Press, 1997.
Buddhist Monks and Business Matters. University of Hawai’i Press, 2004.
Figments and Fragments of Mahāyāna Buddhism in India. University of Hawai’i Press, 2005.

For more information, contact Shayne Clarke: clarsha@mcmaster.ca



-- The content of this message does not represent the views or opinions of the University of Toronto.--

Friday, April 8, 2011

UT: May 1, Learning Event on Buddhist Education for Youth

In case you are interested:


Buddhist Education Foundation for Canada

and Buddhism & Psychology Student Union

present

Learning Event on Buddhist Education for Youth

Education for Compassion and Wisdom,

a holistic approach

Keynote address

By Professor Jack Miller

Professor, Curriculum, Teaching and Learning

The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto


Concurrent Workshops

Workshop Topics:

· Approaches to exploring Dharma with youth

· Expectation for Dharma learning in Buddhist communities in Toronto

· How are Dharma teachings relevant to the day-to-day life of children and youth in Toronto

Youth and adolescence/Parents/Teachers/Students/Educators/Community Organizers & Volunteers/Interested Members of the Buddhist communities & Public Welcome

When: Sunday, May 1, 2011, 1:30 p.m.

Where: Main Activity Hall, Multi-Faith Centre (Koffler House), University of Toronto, 569 Spadina Ave. (south of Harbord Street)

The event will commence with Artistic Performances by youth from Buddhist communities, And end with a joint discussion on possible strategies and action plans for youth education in Toronto

Further information will be posted on http://www.buddhistedufoundation.com/news.htm

Contact: Buddhist Education Foundation for Canada 416-910-4858 (Chris Ng)

Buddhism & Psychology Student Union aaron.prosser@utoronto.ca


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Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Buddhism explains stoic reaction to disaster in Japan

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Buddhism explains stoic reaction to disaster in Japan

by John Longhurst,

Winnipeg Free Press,

April 2, 2011
Tokyo, Japan -- In the aftermath of the terrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan, much has been written and said about how the people of that nation have coped with the disaster -- how calm, stoic, patient and tranquil they are despite thetragedy that befell them.

Where do these attitudes come from? From their history, geography and culture, of course. But it also comes from their religion.

Although Japan is a thoroughly secular country, it is infused with Buddhist and Shinto thought. More than 90 per cent of Japanese claim to be adherents of one, or both, of these ancient religions, with most identifying as Buddhists. (Only about two per cent of the country is Christian.)

When disasters occur around the world, it is common to hear people who come from the Christian tradition asking why such a thing could occur -- how could God let something like the earthquake and tsunami happen?

But that isn't a question asked by adherents of eastern religions such as Buddhism and Shinto. For them, what caused the disaster isn't the important thing. What's important is to be positive, affirming and persistent in the face of adversity.

"Natural tragedies are part of living on the planet," says Fredrich Ulrich, senseiof the Manitoba Buddhist Temple. "Its geology and geography make such recurring tragedies inevitable. There is no need to think we have been targeted by a god of some sort."

What's important, he says, is how people respond to tragedies such as the earthquake and tsunami.

"It's what we do about them, and to each other, that's important," he says. "We face death with sadness, but not with terror. We bury the dead and honour them, then get about the work of rebuilding the community."

Similar thoughts were shared by Shravasti Dhammika, a Buddhist monk from Australia.

Reflecting on the 2004 Southeast Asian tsunami, he asked: "How does Buddhism explain natural disasters like the tsunami? In a sense it does not have to explain them. It is only belief in an all-knowing, all-loving and all-powerful God that compels us to try to explain and explain away all the evidence that seems to contradict this belief."

When God is taken out of the picture, he says, "the answer is really very simple. The universe does not conform to our desires and wishes. It takes no notice of us and our aspirations."

Earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, drought, disease, accidents -- all these things just happen, he states.

"We live in a dynamic universe and sometimes events are to our benefit, and at other times to our detriment. That's the way the world is."

Buddhism, he adds, "is not concerned with explaining why this is so. It simply makes the common sense assertion that the universe is sometimes at odds with our dreams, our wishes and our desires."

Its goal,he goes on to say, is to teach people "to modify our desires so we are less likely to be in conflict with the way things are, and how to remain calm and content when they do conflict with the way things are."

A poem that seems to capture these sentiments is Unbeaten by Rain by Miyazawa Kenji, one of Japan's best-loved authors and poets. The poem -- which is "almost the national poem of that country," according to Ulrich -- illustrates the Japanese attitude of calm stoicism that we are observing in the face of the disaster.

Unbeaten by rain
Unbeaten by wind
Unbowed by the snow and the summer heat
Strong in body

Free from greed
Without any anger

Always serene
With a handful of brown rice a day

Miso and a small amount of vegetables suffice
Whatever happens

Consider yourself last, always put others first
Understand from your observation and experience

Never lose sight of these things
In the shadows of the pine groves in the fields
Live modestly under a thatched roof

In the East, if there is a sick child
Go there and take care of him

In the West, if there is an exhausted mother
Go there and relieve her of her burden

In the South, if there is a man near death
Go there and comfort him, tell him "Don't be afraid"

In the North, if there is an argument and a legal dispute
Go there and persuade them it's not worth it

In a drought, shed tears
In a cold summer, carry on

Even with a sense of loss
Being called a fool
Being neither praised nor a burden

Such a person I want to be
Such a person many of us would likely want to be, faced with similar
circumstances.

Courtesy: Buddhist Channel


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