I doubt if there are many people around who haven’t seen the beautiful photographs of our universe taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. The telescope camera measures not only visible light, but also the infrared and ultraviolet spectrums.
Colour Spectrum Photography 1: Russia, in the early 20th Century
Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863-1944) was commissioned to document the Russian empire, and he did so in an ingenious way and managed to get what are effectively colour photographs of his subjects by using a form of spectrum photography.
Thich Nhat Hanh: This is A Happy Moment
A video of a talk given by Thich Nhat Hanh in Penang, which I attended together with around 2,500-3,000 other people! It starts with some chanting before the talk proper begins.
Leonard Rubenstein and Stephen Xenakis: Doctors Without Morals
After five years of investigation, the Justice Department has released its findings regarding the government lawyers who authorized waterboarding and other forms of torture during the interrogation of suspected terrorists at Guantánamo Bay and elsewhere.
Safeguard Recitals now going for Free Distribution
My major 300-page chanting book, Safeguard Recitals, has now been bought up from the Buddhist Publication Society and will go for free distribution. The book is the complete overnight chanting that is used in the Sri Lankan tradition.
Kazu Shimura: Buddha Meditation Ink Drawing
In this wonderful video of Sumi-e ink and wash drawing of the Buddha we see both the tension and the flowing movement of the young artist Kazu Shimura as he manages to bring a Buddha to life on his canvas.
Bhante Anandajoti: The Perfection of Generosity
Here is another Saturday Dāna talk on the subject of Generosity. This time I look at it from the point of view of the role it plays in the Perfections (Pāramī).
The Buddha goes to War
Although the story recorded here is not found in the Pāḷi Canon, nor to my knowledge, anywhere in the Canonical texts of the other schools, it has a certain verisimilitude that gives it some authenticity.
Arundhati Roy’s Speech: Come September
I include here a full transcript of Arundhati Roy’s speech, extracts of which provided the commentary to yesterday’s film. “The things I have to say are complicated, dangerous things in these dangerous times.”
Republication of Daily Chanting
One of the first books I worked on was a text and translation of the chanting we used to make in the evening at my ordination temple. We had a good chanting schedule but very inadequate texts to work with, and seeing the need I prepared the book.
Jātaka Tales of the Buddha – The Goat that Laughed and Wept
It was while staying at Jetavana that the Buddha told this story about a Feast for the Dead. One day, some bhikkhus asked the Buddha whether there was any benefit in sacrificing goats, sheep, and other animals as offerings for departed relatives.
Jātaka Tales of the Buddha – Review
Ken and Visakha Kawasaki have been using the Jātaka Stories in their English teaching activities amongst the Buddhist monastic and lay communities in S.E. Asia for more than 3 decades.
Bhante Anandajoti: Generosity (Dāna)
Here is a combination of two short talks I gave at the Saturday Lunchtime dānas at the Vivekavana office in Berapit in August.
Mural Walls at Bayon 3: Soldiers and Elephants at War
The video is made from three murals from the East Wall at Bayon at Angkor Thom. Scenes: the 1st mural shows the Khmer army marching from East to West; the 2nd from West to East; and the 3rd shows the Chams marching to meet them and engaging in battle.
Metta for the Victims of 9-11
The video is a scan of photographs of more than 2,500 out of the nearly 3,000 people who died on that fateful day in September 2001.
The Buddha’s Journey from Uruvilvā to R̥ṣipatana
The translation that follows is from a section of the Mahāvastu (Great Story) dealing with the period after Lord Buddha left the area where he had attained Awakening until he arrives at the place where he will give his first recorded teachings.
Appeal for Young Novice in Sri Lanka
Update January 2011:
Here is some more news about the novice who recently had open-heart surgery in Sri Lanka. He is back at his monastery but still needs monitoring.
Kṣitigarbha Pūjā with Ven. Sonam Tenzin Rinpoche
The puja that day was the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva Pūjā. Kṣitigarbha is believed to look after the dead and visits the lower regions in order to save living beings. Indeed he has made a vow not to attain Nirvana until the hells are empty.
Moral Uplifting Society, Bukit Mertajam
This is a collection of photographs from the Moral Uplifting Society in Bukit Mertajam. The Society is ecumenicist in outlook, and there are pictures of Confucius, Buddha, Lao-Tze, Jesus and Mohammad hung over the main shrine.
