My new Twitter handle is now live - check me out at @jackiewgibson!
CNN has posted a history of bias against Sikhs - more reason for people to learn about religions before they attack anyone:...
Sikh temple shooting unfolding, learn about Sikhism here: http://t.co/A0ltLLIm
Sikh temple shooting unfolding, learn about Sikhism here: http://t.co/l3KrAJZf
Hackers group Anonymous takes down Vatican website: http://t.co/B6lbGAVp
WGN-TV calls doomsday prophecies "an illusion": http://t.co/mv8Gzyw7
RT @graceishuman: Really,? Asking people JUST LEAVING the service how they felt about it? Tacky, tacky, inappropriate
Whitney Houston's funeral service really took the world to church. Love Pastor Winans' honesty, very moving.
#teacher ? Here are appropriate responses to situations with your Jehovah's Witness student: http://t.co/A6UfqcgH
#Teachers: Want to know why your Jehovah's Witness student won't say the pledge and how to respond? http://t.co/EIdlgDwW
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Buddhism
Could the violence in Tibet have actually caused the cyclone in Myanmar?
If you’re a follower of Buddhism or Hinduism, you might think so. According to Religion News Service, many in Myanmar believe the protests in Tibet over independence and the Olympic Games could have created negative karma – the result of which was the cyclone that killed some 30,000-100,000 people (depending on whose estimate you’re using).
But wait – what is karma? Are we just saying Myanmar was destined for a cyclone? Well, not really. And maybe.
Karma is the idea that our actions have consequences — both actions in this life and actions in past lives. All actions bear on consequences in this life. So, if you were a murderer in your past life, even though that life is over, it still has negative consequences for your present life. Or if you did a good deed in this life, it would have positive consequences in this life and in future rebirths. Thus karma becomes an entire system of action, reaction, over and over, lifetime through lifetime, something one cannot escape since every action will have some sort of reaction. (Thus, everything is related to everything else, a typical Buddhist concept.)
It’s more the idea of “what goes around comes around” than “this is your fate.” Fate does not come into play here. What’s in question is each choice each person makes and how natural justice ensures good or bad outcomes in the future.
Christians certainly have some understanding of karma, as it is understood that if you sin, there will be negative consequences; if you perform right action, you will be rewarded. However, it seems that karma in Eastern thought is a bit more tangible. If you do something bad, something bad will actually happen to you in this lifetime or the next lifetime, a tangible event. If you do something good, you will see rewards in this lifetime or the next, tangible rewards.
How good will the rewards be or how bad will the consequences be? According to one Buddhist site, it depends on everything from one’s intentions to how many times one has repeated this deed.
Do you believe in karma? Do you think the violence in Tibet could be to blame for the cyclone in Myanmar? Leave your comments and let readers know what you think.
If you’ve been living in a cave for the last few months, here’s a quick update on the Dalai Lama:
Tibetan Buddhism developed in India and Tibet. Its leader is called the Dalai Lama (“wisdom teacher”) and serves as both Tibet’s head of state and as its spiritual leader. However, Tibet is under Chinese rule. After attempting to overthrow the Chinese government in 1959, the Dalai Lama was exiled to Dharamsala, India, where he still lives today.
Because China is hosting the 2008 Olympic Games, many Tibetans saw this an opportune time to protest China’s rule — when the entire world was watching. In protest, Tibetans rose up, rioting against the Chinese within Tibet. While Tibetans claim hundreds have perished as a result of the Chinese backlash, China claims only a small number of Tibetan protesters were killed for their outbursts.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago — the Chinese government offered to speak with the Dalai Lama if he would concede that Tibet should, indeed, belong to China. The Dalai Lama refused. Now China is claiming that the Dalai Lama not only supports the uprising, but actually orchestrated the violence. The Dalai Lama claims he had nothing to do with the rioting. Read more here.
What do you think? Could the Dalai Lama have anything to do with the recent violence in Tibet? Would he support any type of violence? What do you make of the recent uprising?
To learn about another conflict between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government, click here.
My sincerest apologies for missing the Chinese New Year on February 7. (I know, it’s February 18 now. But if this were 2007, it would have been today. You know how hard it is to remember it’s 2008 this early in the year!)
Just a day after Christians acknowledged Ash Wednesday, Chinese religions (Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism) and those Chinese of no particular religion celebrated the start of a new year. Check out a succinct rundown of the day and the celebrations here.
BBC also created a great photo feature containing pictures of various celebrations throughout the world.
Here’s wishing you a happy new year!
On August 20, BBC News reported that China was going to try to pick the next Dalai Lama – or at least choose one by deciding whether the one chosen is valid. This week, BBC News is reporting that the Dalai Lama will try to choose his own successor, now realizing the Chinese government will try to interfere with the typical process. So what’s the problem? Let’s take a step back.
In Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama is kind of the equivalent of the pope in Catholicism; he is a successor in the line of the Buddha, as the pope is a successor in the line of Christ and his disciples, except that he is also considered a reincarnation of the Buddha himself. He is a spiritual head – but everyone knows he holds some political influence and has held much political power in the past. And like the group of cardinals who deliberate in Catholicism, a group of monks typically chooses a successor in Tibetan Buddhism. This group uses dreams and signs to guide them. (In a well-known story about the current Dalai Lama, he was identified as the reincarnated, living Buddha as a young child because he was able to recognize items that had once belonged to the former Dalai Lama.)
The problem begins when we look at the political environment in China and Tibet. China, of course, exiled the Dalai Lama to Tibet and has been trying to gain control of the Tibetan leader and religion ever since. Clearly, they don’t want the Dalai Lama to influence Tibetan Buddhists in a quest for independence from China. And while Tibetan Buddhists may keep their religion, China always has the final say. So what was their first step? Disregarding the Dalai Lama’s selection of his second-in-line, the Panchen Lama. The Dalai Lama chose a 6-year-old Chinese boy in 1995, but the boy has had to remain in seclusion in Tibet, more than likely to escape persecution from the Chinese government. Once the boy was quietly settled in Tibet, China chose its own Panchen Lama, one they could undoubtedly control.
Step two? Well if you’ve already tried to overstep the selection process and choose your own vice-lama, might as well move right onto the Dalai Lama himself. So, to keep China from attempting to pick its own Dalai Lama and disregard the monks, the Dalai Lama may decide to pick his own successor! That’s like the pope choosing the next pope! It would be a complete change from the typical system and would likely set the standard for future selection processes. Plus, does anyone think it’s weird that the Dalai Lama would be able to determine who he will be reincarnated as?
Want to delve deeper? Check out what the Dalai Lama has to say about his own recognition as the Buddha and what he sees for the future.