Every second week, with the waxing and the waning of the moon Buddhist monks hold the uposatha meeting. If there are enough monks available then we will confess our offenses and the Pātimokkha will be chanted by one of the monks, while we sit together in unison.
Godwin Samararatne: Why We Should Meditate
When you read the Buddhist texts you are so amazed at the Buddha’s profound and deep statements about the human mind. It is amazing that he should have made these statements 2,600 years ago.
Reprint of The Gentle Way of Buddhist Meditation
We published 1,700 copies of the book at the time. Now this year, the original publisher of The Gentle Way, Inward Path in Penang, have reprinted the work again, this time in a print-run of 1,000 copies.
Adivasi Culture and Civilization by Lobsan Payat
Adivasi traditions and practices pervade all aspects of Indian culture and civilization, and the extent and import of Adivasi contributions to Indian philosophy, language and custom have often gone unrecognized.
Sakyamuni in a Modern City
This is a poster I made earlier in the year. I had the photograph for quite some time, and the idea to make it into a poster, but couldn’t find an appropriate verse until I came across this one again from the Dhammapada which fits perfectly with the idea I had.
Thich Nhat Hanh: Mindful Movements
Recently I attended a talk by Thich Nhat Hanh, and while looking for material to post here I came across his 10 Mindful Movements, which are very similar to the practices I have developed myself.
Introduction to The Silk Road Series
Tomorrow I start posting the 12-part Silk Road series. I found this series about 2 years ago, and have watched it all the way through three times by now, and individual episodes at other times.
Publication of a Reading of the Exalted Utterances on CD
My reading of the translation I made of the Udāna, entitled Exalted Utterances, has just been published on mp3 CD in Singapore. Most of the discourses run for around 5-10 minutes so they make for a good short contemplation of the teaching.
One Page Dhamma Website
After his retirement Swas Tan started summing up the Dhamma talks he was attending for his own better understanding, and producing a one page summary of the event going under the title of One Page Dhamma.
Animated Film: The Way
Here is an animated video in the sumi-e style of painting. The film is inspired by Toaist thought and includes drawing of the Yin and Yang symbols as well as the I-ching.
HOME: The Statistics
Here I have collected together some statistics from the film HOME in a sequence which is worthwhile spending some time contemplating.
Colour Spectrum Photography 2: Hubble’s Universe
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.
