An American monk in Charleston Buddhist went from hippie life to spiritual awakening
Bill Lynch
1045 words
4 April 2008
Charleston Gazette
P1D
English
(Copyright 2008)
lynch@wvgazette.com
Over the telephone, Buddhist monk Bhante Yogavacara Rahula sounds a little like a stranger in a strange land. There's a faint accent that suggests he learned English later in life and, of course, there's his name.
Bhante means "venerable sir," and is the polite way to address a Theravedan Buddhist monk. Rahula is a common name in India and Nepal and refers to the historical Buddha's only son. He is not, however, a stranger in a strange land.
Bhante Rahula was born Scott Joseph Duprez in 1948. He grew up in California, attending a Methodist church with his parents. His first Buddha statue decorated the top of an old television set. He used to hang a hat on it.
He went to junior college, smoked marijuana, then joined the military. After his tour in Vietnam, he wore his hair long, grew a beard, chased girls and did just about any drug he could get his hands on.
"Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll," said the monk, who visits Charleston today through Sunday to give several public presentations.
Bhante Rahula's story of how he went from typical hippie to clear-headed Buddhist monk is chronicled in his book, "One Night's Shelter: Autobiography of an American Monk." Two versions of the book exist. There's the "green" version, which catalogs his extensive drug use and sexual escapades. It details his time as a drug dealer, mentions his time in the Army stockade for being AWOL, as well as his arrest and detainment in an Afghan prison after trying to smuggle drugs into India.
"That's the toned-down version," said the 59 year-old monk, laughing. "The other version is much juicier. More sex, more drugs, more rock 'n' roll."
Bhante Rahula doesn't celebrate who he was in the 1960s, but he's not afraid of it. He's at peace with it. If not for the constant craving for chemically induced experiences, he might not have found his way to the dharma, the teachings of the Buddha. Wishing now to have been different then is pointless.
"It's all just grist for the mill," he said. "Taking all of those drugs. I didn't know any alternative."
He acknowledges that he got off pretty easy. He made it out alive.
Becoming a Buddhist, then a monk started with his craving. He was always on the lookout for the next high, the next profound experience. While he was traveling in the mountains of Asia, he heard about a meditation course in Katmandu. He went looking for another experience, but stayed for the enlightenment.
"That was the turnaround for me," he said. "I had this very deep insight, and I just wanted to pursue meditation and the dharma."
It didn't happen overnight, but in 1975, he was ordained as a monk in Sri Lanka. He lived in caves and huts, avoiding wild animals and poisonous snakes. He meditated to train his mind to shed fears and to focus his attention.
In 1985, Bhante Rahula heard about another monk's plans to build a Therevadan Buddhist monastery in the hills of West Virginia. He saw it as an opportunity to come back to the United States and bring some of what he'd learned.
He wrote to the monk, an internationally known meditation teacher named Bhante Gunaratana, who told him he should come. Rahula began to help build the monastery in 1987 on a plot of land in the Hampshire County backwoods.
Life at the Bhavana Society Forest Monastery near Wardensville is not entirely different from the simple life he lived in Sri Lanka. He continues to live in a small hut - called a 'kuti' - without electricity or running water (the main hall does have both).
He meditates, studies the Buddhist Sutras and books related to Buddhist thought and helps lead meditation retreats to people who come from around the world to Bhavana.
"We study and read some of the contemporary readings," Bhante Rahula said. "How science is relating to dharma teachings and Buddhism. We could read other things, I suppose, but I do not. We don't want to fill our minds with anything not on the dharma."
Occasionally, he does read a little about hiking in the Himalayas. He's been to Mount Everest several times with friends and gotten as far as the Everest base camp. "I do it mainly for the exercise, but also to push the envelope of discomfort."
He hikes some in the United States and usually takes a camping trip to Dolly Sods about once a year.
Bhante Rahula isn't the only American-born Buddhist monk. He wasn't even the first. Although he stops short of calling the vocation rare in this country, he agrees there aren't many.
"There are perhaps several hundred," he said. "Some stay with it, as I have. Others dabble with it for a few years."
Living in the United States again, Bhante Rahula is better able to keep in contact with his family and a few old friends. He visits his mother in California, where he also sees his brother and sister. His sister is a fundamentalist Christian, he says, and visits with her used to be tense.
"She's mellowed out, and I think she accepts what I am and what I do."
Living at the monastery affords him more opportunities to travel. Groups from different parts of the country and around the world sometimes invite him to visit with them and lead retreats.
The Meditation Circle of Charleston has been host for Bhante Rahula's visits in Charleston a few times, including a visit this weekend at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Building. The visit will include talks about meditation, Buddhism and a slideshow of his spiritual trekking in the Himalayans.
He believes meditation is helpful for anyone, regardless of their particular spiritual path. Meditation helps people draw on resources they aren't even aware they have.
"It's a way to develop the mind," he said. "It can help you develop acceptance, patience, loving kindness toward others and deal with life on a more even keel."
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Deepak on spiritual healing
Religion
Deepak Chopra provides different take on Jesus ; Best-selling author looks at Jesus as a spiritual guide whose teachings embraces all humanity
Tania Fuentez / The Associated Press
803 words
5 April 2008
The Grand Rapids Press
All Editions
C6
English
© 2008 Grand Rapids Press. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights reserved.
NEW YORK -- Before he became known for promoting holistic health and spirituality, Deepak Chopra adhered to traditional Western medicine as an endocrinologist in Boston. He eventually questioned this approach, returning to the centuries-old Indian system of Ayurveda to find a balance between faith and science.
"I wanted to extend my idea of healing," Chopra said in a recent interview. "If you don't understand spiritual experience, you'll never understand healing."
Now, at 61, the physician and best-selling author hopes to extend conventional thought again -- even more controversially -- in "The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore" (Harmony Books). Chopra challenges Christian doctrine while presenting an alternative: Jesus as a state of mind, rather than the historical rabbi of Nazareth or son of God.
The third perspective -- which Chopra calls "a cosmic Christ" -- looks at Jesus as a spiritual guide whose teaching embraces all humanity, not just the church built in his name. Chopra argues that Christ speaks to the individual who wants to find God as a personal experience.
"I said to myself, 'Why not write a book that takes Jesus' teachings -- and it doesn't matter if you're Christian or not -- and learn from this and improve your life,"' he said at the Chopra Center and Spa in midtown Manhattan.
Fascinated with Jesus' life
Considered a pioneer of mind-body alternative medicine, Chopra is president of the Alliance for a New Humanity and he has been listed among Time magazine's top 100 heroes and icons of the 20th century. His books have been translated into dozens of languages, with topics that range from aging and sexuality to golf and Buddha's path to enlightenment. In 1995, he co-founded the Chopra Center for Wellbeing with Dr. David Simon, which officially opened the following year.
Fascination with Jesus' life began during his lessons while attending a Roman Catholic school in India, Chopra said. Though his parents were from Hindu and Sikh families, "if you were relatively affluent, education was always in the Christian school because of the missionaries."
He moved to the United States in 1970 after graduating from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Chopra did his internship in New Jersey, and residency and fellowship at various institutions including Boston, Tufts and Harvard universities. He also was chief of staff at Boston Regional Medical Center for two years.
His interest in Hinduism and medicine evolved while observing a mind-body connection in his research, and an encounter in 1985 with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at a conference in Washington, D.C.
"I first leaned toward Ayurveda medicine and then actually went on to study other wisdom traditions of the world ... this happened during my training in neuro endocrinology where I saw what happened in consciousness in biology," Chopra explained.
"I was just extending my understanding of healing from physical to mental to social to environmental," he said. "That's what the 'Alliance' is all about ... healing the body politic, healing the world."
Chopra devotes substantial time to his own spiritual development. He meditates and exercises daily, though he occasionally enjoys a triple hazelnut latte.
25 years in the making
During the interview, Chopra switches his Blackberry, covered in an orange case, to vibrate as he speaks on faith, politics and a list of projects like a new comic book launched with his son and Sir Richard Branson. The in-demand speaker is at ease quoting Scripture or talking quantum physics. He has studied the Bible closely, reading it hundreds of times.
Though "The Third Jesus" was on his mind for 25 years, it took him six months to complete once he began writing. The next book will be a fictional account of Jesus' missing years.
"Where else do you read a story of the Son of God being executed by their own?" he said. "It is dramatic. It's three years of his teaching and it has shaped the world for 2000 years."
In a review, Harvey Cox, Hollis professor of divinity at Harvard, said "The Third Christ" is "bound to provoke both admiration and condemnation." Chopra references the New Testament and Gnostic Gospels to deconstruct church doctrine and conservative Christianity on issues such as war, abortion and homophobia.
"I see blogs every day that are negative and very nasty because this is not a literalist interpretation of Jesus," Chopra said. "My book is about Jesus as a state of consciousness. If I can aspire -- maybe not achieve -- but aspire to be in that state of mind and if a lot of people were aspiring to be in that state of mind this would be a better world."
Deepak Chopra provides different take on Jesus ; Best-selling author looks at Jesus as a spiritual guide whose teachings embraces all humanity
Tania Fuentez / The Associated Press
803 words
5 April 2008
The Grand Rapids Press
All Editions
C6
English
© 2008 Grand Rapids Press. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights reserved.
NEW YORK -- Before he became known for promoting holistic health and spirituality, Deepak Chopra adhered to traditional Western medicine as an endocrinologist in Boston. He eventually questioned this approach, returning to the centuries-old Indian system of Ayurveda to find a balance between faith and science.
"I wanted to extend my idea of healing," Chopra said in a recent interview. "If you don't understand spiritual experience, you'll never understand healing."
Now, at 61, the physician and best-selling author hopes to extend conventional thought again -- even more controversially -- in "The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore" (Harmony Books). Chopra challenges Christian doctrine while presenting an alternative: Jesus as a state of mind, rather than the historical rabbi of Nazareth or son of God.
The third perspective -- which Chopra calls "a cosmic Christ" -- looks at Jesus as a spiritual guide whose teaching embraces all humanity, not just the church built in his name. Chopra argues that Christ speaks to the individual who wants to find God as a personal experience.
"I said to myself, 'Why not write a book that takes Jesus' teachings -- and it doesn't matter if you're Christian or not -- and learn from this and improve your life,"' he said at the Chopra Center and Spa in midtown Manhattan.
Fascinated with Jesus' life
Considered a pioneer of mind-body alternative medicine, Chopra is president of the Alliance for a New Humanity and he has been listed among Time magazine's top 100 heroes and icons of the 20th century. His books have been translated into dozens of languages, with topics that range from aging and sexuality to golf and Buddha's path to enlightenment. In 1995, he co-founded the Chopra Center for Wellbeing with Dr. David Simon, which officially opened the following year.
Fascination with Jesus' life began during his lessons while attending a Roman Catholic school in India, Chopra said. Though his parents were from Hindu and Sikh families, "if you were relatively affluent, education was always in the Christian school because of the missionaries."
He moved to the United States in 1970 after graduating from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Chopra did his internship in New Jersey, and residency and fellowship at various institutions including Boston, Tufts and Harvard universities. He also was chief of staff at Boston Regional Medical Center for two years.
His interest in Hinduism and medicine evolved while observing a mind-body connection in his research, and an encounter in 1985 with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at a conference in Washington, D.C.
"I first leaned toward Ayurveda medicine and then actually went on to study other wisdom traditions of the world ... this happened during my training in neuro endocrinology where I saw what happened in consciousness in biology," Chopra explained.
"I was just extending my understanding of healing from physical to mental to social to environmental," he said. "That's what the 'Alliance' is all about ... healing the body politic, healing the world."
Chopra devotes substantial time to his own spiritual development. He meditates and exercises daily, though he occasionally enjoys a triple hazelnut latte.
25 years in the making
During the interview, Chopra switches his Blackberry, covered in an orange case, to vibrate as he speaks on faith, politics and a list of projects like a new comic book launched with his son and Sir Richard Branson. The in-demand speaker is at ease quoting Scripture or talking quantum physics. He has studied the Bible closely, reading it hundreds of times.
Though "The Third Jesus" was on his mind for 25 years, it took him six months to complete once he began writing. The next book will be a fictional account of Jesus' missing years.
"Where else do you read a story of the Son of God being executed by their own?" he said. "It is dramatic. It's three years of his teaching and it has shaped the world for 2000 years."
In a review, Harvey Cox, Hollis professor of divinity at Harvard, said "The Third Christ" is "bound to provoke both admiration and condemnation." Chopra references the New Testament and Gnostic Gospels to deconstruct church doctrine and conservative Christianity on issues such as war, abortion and homophobia.
"I see blogs every day that are negative and very nasty because this is not a literalist interpretation of Jesus," Chopra said. "My book is about Jesus as a state of consciousness. If I can aspire -- maybe not achieve -- but aspire to be in that state of mind and if a lot of people were aspiring to be in that state of mind this would be a better world."
The next Dalai Lama?
Opinion
Tibetan Buddhism's next leader? After the Dalai Lama
By Barbara Crossette
The New York Times Media Group
776 words
8 April 2008
International Herald Tribune
1
6
English
© 2008 The New York Times Company. All Rights Reserved.
The recent outburst of Tibetan rage against the Chinese government not only demonstrated once again the fear and anger among Himalayan Buddhists living under the cultural insensitivity of Beijing, it also illuminated the crucial role of the Dalai Lama, navigating skillfully between restive Tibetan exiles and an Indian government under Chinese pressures to stifle their protests. What will happen when he is gone?
The West is about to get its first glimpse of that possible future.
In mid-May, a serious young man of 22 who is revered as the 17th Karmapa - now the second-most-important figure in Tibetan Buddhism - will make his first visit to the United States. The trip comes eight years after his dramatic flight to India from a monastery near Lhasa at the end of 1999, when he was just 14 years old. This is the first time that a skittish India has allowed him permission to travel abroad. His flight from Tibet was a considerable embarrassment to China.
The Karmapa Lama, spiritual head of the Kagyu order of Tibetan Buddhism, is now the only major Tibetan lama recognized as a reincarnation of his lineage by both the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government since it overran Tibet in the 1950s. The Panchen Lama, the third of a triumvirate and previously the second-highest ranking among the three lamas, vanished into Chinese custody as a boy in 1995 and has been replaced by Beijing's own political appointee.
In a thriller that is already a legend among Buddhists, the Karmapa and two fellow monks drove in secret from Tsurphu Monastery, north of Lhasa, to the remote and rugged border of Mustang, a former Buddhist kingdom now part of Nepal. From there he and his companions made a dash by horseback to the nearest Nepali airport, from which they were able to fly unnoticed via Katmandu to Delhi. The Karmapa, born Ogyen Trinley Dorji, arrived unannounced in Dharamsala, the Dalai Lama's base, in January 2000, and has remained under the watchful eye of the Tibetan leader since.
Because of fears in the United States that India, bowing to Chinese pressure, will prevent this trip abroad at the last moment, the Karmapa's visit is expected to be low-keyed and not political. His comment on a pre-trip video that ''The United States is one of the world's most powerful countries'' has been excised from an online transcription of his remarks, which dwell instead on his hope of meeting ''many American friends.'' The trip was planned before the protests in Tibet.
This is a significant milestone for Tibetan Buddhists and a momentous one for Western practitioners. The young lama's predecessor, the 16th Karmapa, visited the United States on numerous occasions and had established in the 1980s a part-time American seat in Woodstock, New York, at the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra center. After the young Karmapa's flight from Tibet, the Woodstock monastery immediately geared up to welcome him, even designing furniture to match his sturdy frame. Then they waited, and waited and waited. He will now finally get to see their work. The Karmapa's American followers would like to have him establish his base in the United States, making him the first Asian religious leader of that magnitude to live in the West.
The Karmapa could serve as a possible unofficial, transitional successor to the Dalai Lama, who is now in his 70s. Because the Karmapa leads a different order of Tibetan Buddhism - the Dalai Lama is a Gelugpa monk - the young Karmapa cannot inherit his title. A future reincarnate to that position has yet to be born after the Dalai Lama's death.
The young Karmapa, who is described by those who have met him as a serious, even stern, young man, is also recognized as a compelling religious teacher and budding literary scholar, even without the Dalai Lama's magnetic charm and sense of humor. The Karmapa could well be the stopgap spiritual leader Tibetan exiles will someday need to hold together their fragmented diaspora, while at the same time assuming a larger role as a religious teacher for Buddhists of all nationalities and schools.
For the moment, these two Tibetan leaders are a complementary pair, the wise older man and the vigorous young lama who now has the chance to show the wider world if he can muster a universal appeal.
Barbara Crossette, a former New York Times correspondent in Asia, is the author of ''So Close to Heaven: The Vanishing Buddhist Kingdoms of the Himalayas.''
Tibetan Buddhism's next leader? After the Dalai Lama
By Barbara Crossette
The New York Times Media Group
776 words
8 April 2008
International Herald Tribune
1
6
English
© 2008 The New York Times Company. All Rights Reserved.
The recent outburst of Tibetan rage against the Chinese government not only demonstrated once again the fear and anger among Himalayan Buddhists living under the cultural insensitivity of Beijing, it also illuminated the crucial role of the Dalai Lama, navigating skillfully between restive Tibetan exiles and an Indian government under Chinese pressures to stifle their protests. What will happen when he is gone?
The West is about to get its first glimpse of that possible future.
In mid-May, a serious young man of 22 who is revered as the 17th Karmapa - now the second-most-important figure in Tibetan Buddhism - will make his first visit to the United States. The trip comes eight years after his dramatic flight to India from a monastery near Lhasa at the end of 1999, when he was just 14 years old. This is the first time that a skittish India has allowed him permission to travel abroad. His flight from Tibet was a considerable embarrassment to China.
The Karmapa Lama, spiritual head of the Kagyu order of Tibetan Buddhism, is now the only major Tibetan lama recognized as a reincarnation of his lineage by both the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government since it overran Tibet in the 1950s. The Panchen Lama, the third of a triumvirate and previously the second-highest ranking among the three lamas, vanished into Chinese custody as a boy in 1995 and has been replaced by Beijing's own political appointee.
In a thriller that is already a legend among Buddhists, the Karmapa and two fellow monks drove in secret from Tsurphu Monastery, north of Lhasa, to the remote and rugged border of Mustang, a former Buddhist kingdom now part of Nepal. From there he and his companions made a dash by horseback to the nearest Nepali airport, from which they were able to fly unnoticed via Katmandu to Delhi. The Karmapa, born Ogyen Trinley Dorji, arrived unannounced in Dharamsala, the Dalai Lama's base, in January 2000, and has remained under the watchful eye of the Tibetan leader since.
Because of fears in the United States that India, bowing to Chinese pressure, will prevent this trip abroad at the last moment, the Karmapa's visit is expected to be low-keyed and not political. His comment on a pre-trip video that ''The United States is one of the world's most powerful countries'' has been excised from an online transcription of his remarks, which dwell instead on his hope of meeting ''many American friends.'' The trip was planned before the protests in Tibet.
This is a significant milestone for Tibetan Buddhists and a momentous one for Western practitioners. The young lama's predecessor, the 16th Karmapa, visited the United States on numerous occasions and had established in the 1980s a part-time American seat in Woodstock, New York, at the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra center. After the young Karmapa's flight from Tibet, the Woodstock monastery immediately geared up to welcome him, even designing furniture to match his sturdy frame. Then they waited, and waited and waited. He will now finally get to see their work. The Karmapa's American followers would like to have him establish his base in the United States, making him the first Asian religious leader of that magnitude to live in the West.
The Karmapa could serve as a possible unofficial, transitional successor to the Dalai Lama, who is now in his 70s. Because the Karmapa leads a different order of Tibetan Buddhism - the Dalai Lama is a Gelugpa monk - the young Karmapa cannot inherit his title. A future reincarnate to that position has yet to be born after the Dalai Lama's death.
The young Karmapa, who is described by those who have met him as a serious, even stern, young man, is also recognized as a compelling religious teacher and budding literary scholar, even without the Dalai Lama's magnetic charm and sense of humor. The Karmapa could well be the stopgap spiritual leader Tibetan exiles will someday need to hold together their fragmented diaspora, while at the same time assuming a larger role as a religious teacher for Buddhists of all nationalities and schools.
For the moment, these two Tibetan leaders are a complementary pair, the wise older man and the vigorous young lama who now has the chance to show the wider world if he can muster a universal appeal.
Barbara Crossette, a former New York Times correspondent in Asia, is the author of ''So Close to Heaven: The Vanishing Buddhist Kingdoms of the Himalayas.''
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Outstanding women buddhist awards
OUTLOOK
Outstanding Women in Buddhism awards; Twenty women from around the world will be recognised on Thursday for their achievements
1446 words
4 March 2008
Bangkok Post
O3
English
(c) 2008
Celebrity forensic expert Khunying Dr Porntip Rojanasunan, human rights activist Tuenjai Deetes and writer Orasom Sutisakorn are among eight Thai women to be honoured with Outstanding Women in Buddhism Awards.
The other Thai awardees are Bhikkhuni Silananda, Sikkhamat Phussadi, Maechee Pimjai Maneerat, Maechee Waree Chuethasanaprasit and nurse Angoon Wongcharoen.
They are among 20 awardees from various countries who will be honoured at the award presentation ceremony on Thursday.
Among them are: Bhikkhuni Mudita and Sylvia Wetzel from Germany; Nobuko Ono from Japan; Bhikkhuni Dr Myung Sung Sunim from Korea; Bhikkhuni Sik Jian Yin, Bhikkhuni Sik Wei Chun and Dr Li Hua Yang from Taiwan; Bhiksuni Pema Chodron, Jacqueline Kramer, Reverend Beth Kanji Goldring and Reverend Patricia Dai-En Bennage from the US; and Ajahn Anandabodhi from the UK.
Organised by the Outstanding Women in Buddhism Award Committee, the ceremony will take place at the Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women in Don Muang, from 8am to 4pm.
Here is the full list of awardees:
- Ajahn Anandabodhi, from the UK
Born in Wales, in 1968, she worked in environmental conservation before taking a Siladhara ordination in 1995 at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in Hemel Hempstead. Ajahn Anandabodhi is establishing a women's monastic centre in California.
- Angoon Wongcharoen, from Thailand
Inspired by the Bhodhisattva ethics as a Thai-Chinese, nurse Angoon Wongcharoen of the Thai Red Cross has dedicated herself for 16 years in disaster management and in assisting victims of natural disasters, including the Thai Red Cross response to the tsunami disaster of 2004. Her compassion has touched many hearts.
- Bhikkhuni Mudita, from Germany
Bhikkhuni Mudita worked as a school teacher for blind and deaf children and as a counsellor for troubled boys and sexually abused girls before being ordained. She has co-founded an interfaith community of social engagement. Focusing on spiritual healing, she has led three meditation retreats at the memorial of the World War Two Women's Concentration Camp Ravenbruck in Germany. She founded the Anenja Vihara Monastery for women in 2006.
- Bhikkhuni Silananda, from Thailand
Born in Bangkok, in 1972, she had many years of spiritual practice with various meditation teachers. Despite the strong resistance of the Thai clergy to female ordination, she decided to ordain as Bhikkhuni in 2006. She is currently studying for a master's degree at the International Buddhist College in Songkla.
- Venerable Dr Myung Sung, from Korea
Dedicated to the education of women, Ven Dr Myung Sung is Dean of Unmun Sangha College and Unmun Sangha Graduate School Cheongdo, South Korea. As an inspiration to Korean nuns and lay women Buddhists, she is currently president of the National Bhikkhuni Association of Korean Buddhism Jogye Order. She also contributed to the succession of the Bhikkhuni lineage by serving as a preceptor at ordination ceremonies in Korea.
- Bhikkhuni Pema Chodron, from the US
Born Deirdre Blomfield-Brown in New York, in 1936, she became a novice nun in Tibetan Buddhism in 1974. She received the full Bhikkhuni ordination in the Chinese lineage of Buddhism in 1981 in Hong Kong.
She was director of Karma Dzong in Boulder, Colorado, before serving as director of Gampo Abbey. Currently teaching in the US and Canada, her books include The Wisdom of No Escape; Start Where You Are; When Things Fall Apart; The Places That Scare You; No Time to Lose; and Practicing Peace in Times of War.
- Bhikkhuni Sik Jian Yin, from Taiwan
Born in 1960, she holds the post of abbess at the Zhi Cheng Monastery in Ping Tung. She offers dharma outreach, various social services while supporting cultural activities and the arts. Her dharma teachings and services have won her many awards in Taiwan.
- Bhiksuni Sik Wei Chun, from Taiwan
She founded the Daksinavana Bhiksuni Sangha Ashram (Yuchih), the Dakinava Temple (Kuoshing), the Dakinava Buddhist Cultural Society (Canada) and the the Daksinavana Institute of Buddhist Studies (1993) to provide places for nuns and upasikas to learn, practice and to be ordained. She is also active in social welfare, education and disaster relief.
- Dr Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan, from Thailand
Dr Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan is the acting director of the Ministry of Justice's Department of Forensic Science. She is highly respected for her courage in pursuing truth and justice in the face of a corrupt police system. She was also among the key figures in Thailand's relief efforts during the 2004 tsunami disaster.
- Dr Li Hua Yang, from Taiwan
As a dharma teacher, psychiatrist and acupuncturist Dr Li Hua Yang's dedication to community service has earned her the title Humanistic Bodhisattva. In addition to focusing on children, youth and people deeply locked in suffering such as prisoners, she is also active in palliative care.
- Jacqueline Kramer, from the US
Jacqueline Kramer has been studying and practicing Theravada Buddhism for 30 years. She is the author of Buddha Mum: The Path of Mindful Mothering and 10 Spiritual Practices for Busy Parents.
She has also developed online lay Buddhist practice classes on subjects ranging from relationships, illnesses, death and dying. The Hearth Foundation was created to house these classes and to create a spiritual community for mothers interested in developing a Buddhist family lifestyle in the West.
- Maechee Pimjai Maneerat, from Thailand
She is director of a residential educational project that assists poor ethnic children in Kanchanaburi province. Many of them are stateless. Despite obstacles and a lack of resources, she is determined to give the children dharma and proper education.
- Maechee Waree Chuethasanaprasit, from Thailand
As a leader of the nuns' movement in Thailand, Maechee Waree Chuethasanaprasit has empowered countless women to become dharma teachers, social workers, and to stand on their own financially through self-initiated projects. She has established a national network of laywomen, and began empowering ordained women leaders one-by-one. Her personal dharma teachings have met the needs of women, at-risk youths, young people in prison, people living with HIV/Aids and drug addicts.
- Nobuko Ono, from Japan
As head of the Amagase Community Centre, she has been active in deep-listening counselling and other community services. She is a living example of a life of service a lay person can live through deep-listening counselling.
- Orasom Sutisakorn, from Thailand
Orason Sutisakorn has written more than 30 books on social issues related to children, women and family violence. Her writing bears witness to suffering, gives a voice to those silenced, and offers a reflection in hope for a better tomorrow. Her books include Rust Flowers: The True Lives of Women in the Dark Corners of Thai Society, Child Criminal? and Youth of the X Generation.
- Reverend Beth Kanji Goldring, from the US
She founded the Brahmavihara/Cambodia Aids Project in 2000 to meet the spiritual and emotional needs of destitute Aids patients in Cambodia. Since then the project has grown to include not only spiritual and emotional support, but also social services and some material needs. The staff of nine, including her, work with some 200 patients in their homes, in hospices and in hospitals. Its web site is http://www.brahmavihara . cambodiaaidsproject.org/.
- Reverend Patricia Dai-En Bennage, from the US
Trained in Zen Buddhism, she is Abbess of Mt Equity Zendo, Jihoji in Pennsdale, Pennsylvania. Apart from teaching meditation to women in prisons and colleges, Rev Patricia also translated female meditation master Roshi Aoyama's book Zen Seeds into English.
- Senator Tuenjai Kunchon na Ayutthaya Deetes, from Thailand
A former teacher of hill-tribe children, Tuenjai is a strong advocate of environmental conservation, human rights and the community's right to manage its own natural resources. As a senator, she has had a hand in many laws benefiting women and the needy. She draws inner strength in the face of obstacles from meditation.
- Sikkhamat Phussadi, from Thailand
Highly respected as a meditation master, she is the first 10 precept nun of the Santi Asoke community. At the age of 83, she still teaches dharma and gives counselling three days a week. She has written three books, The Principles of Practicing Oneself for Purity, The Path for Life, and Blessings and Errors That Can Be Seen in This Life.
- Sylvia Wetzel, from Germany
Sylvia Wetzel is at the forefront of Buddhism in Europe and offers reflections on gender issues and cultural conditioning. She is also one of the key figures in setting up the Women Dharma Teacher's Peer Group, the network of Buddhist centres in Berlin and Brandenburg and the Buddhist Academy in Berlin. She has also contributed to the introduction of Buddhism to the curriculums of schools in Berlin.
Outstanding Women in Buddhism awards; Twenty women from around the world will be recognised on Thursday for their achievements
1446 words
4 March 2008
Bangkok Post
O3
English
(c) 2008
Celebrity forensic expert Khunying Dr Porntip Rojanasunan, human rights activist Tuenjai Deetes and writer Orasom Sutisakorn are among eight Thai women to be honoured with Outstanding Women in Buddhism Awards.
The other Thai awardees are Bhikkhuni Silananda, Sikkhamat Phussadi, Maechee Pimjai Maneerat, Maechee Waree Chuethasanaprasit and nurse Angoon Wongcharoen.
They are among 20 awardees from various countries who will be honoured at the award presentation ceremony on Thursday.
Among them are: Bhikkhuni Mudita and Sylvia Wetzel from Germany; Nobuko Ono from Japan; Bhikkhuni Dr Myung Sung Sunim from Korea; Bhikkhuni Sik Jian Yin, Bhikkhuni Sik Wei Chun and Dr Li Hua Yang from Taiwan; Bhiksuni Pema Chodron, Jacqueline Kramer, Reverend Beth Kanji Goldring and Reverend Patricia Dai-En Bennage from the US; and Ajahn Anandabodhi from the UK.
Organised by the Outstanding Women in Buddhism Award Committee, the ceremony will take place at the Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women in Don Muang, from 8am to 4pm.
Here is the full list of awardees:
- Ajahn Anandabodhi, from the UK
Born in Wales, in 1968, she worked in environmental conservation before taking a Siladhara ordination in 1995 at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in Hemel Hempstead. Ajahn Anandabodhi is establishing a women's monastic centre in California.
- Angoon Wongcharoen, from Thailand
Inspired by the Bhodhisattva ethics as a Thai-Chinese, nurse Angoon Wongcharoen of the Thai Red Cross has dedicated herself for 16 years in disaster management and in assisting victims of natural disasters, including the Thai Red Cross response to the tsunami disaster of 2004. Her compassion has touched many hearts.
- Bhikkhuni Mudita, from Germany
Bhikkhuni Mudita worked as a school teacher for blind and deaf children and as a counsellor for troubled boys and sexually abused girls before being ordained. She has co-founded an interfaith community of social engagement. Focusing on spiritual healing, she has led three meditation retreats at the memorial of the World War Two Women's Concentration Camp Ravenbruck in Germany. She founded the Anenja Vihara Monastery for women in 2006.
- Bhikkhuni Silananda, from Thailand
Born in Bangkok, in 1972, she had many years of spiritual practice with various meditation teachers. Despite the strong resistance of the Thai clergy to female ordination, she decided to ordain as Bhikkhuni in 2006. She is currently studying for a master's degree at the International Buddhist College in Songkla.
- Venerable Dr Myung Sung, from Korea
Dedicated to the education of women, Ven Dr Myung Sung is Dean of Unmun Sangha College and Unmun Sangha Graduate School Cheongdo, South Korea. As an inspiration to Korean nuns and lay women Buddhists, she is currently president of the National Bhikkhuni Association of Korean Buddhism Jogye Order. She also contributed to the succession of the Bhikkhuni lineage by serving as a preceptor at ordination ceremonies in Korea.
- Bhikkhuni Pema Chodron, from the US
Born Deirdre Blomfield-Brown in New York, in 1936, she became a novice nun in Tibetan Buddhism in 1974. She received the full Bhikkhuni ordination in the Chinese lineage of Buddhism in 1981 in Hong Kong.
She was director of Karma Dzong in Boulder, Colorado, before serving as director of Gampo Abbey. Currently teaching in the US and Canada, her books include The Wisdom of No Escape; Start Where You Are; When Things Fall Apart; The Places That Scare You; No Time to Lose; and Practicing Peace in Times of War.
- Bhikkhuni Sik Jian Yin, from Taiwan
Born in 1960, she holds the post of abbess at the Zhi Cheng Monastery in Ping Tung. She offers dharma outreach, various social services while supporting cultural activities and the arts. Her dharma teachings and services have won her many awards in Taiwan.
- Bhiksuni Sik Wei Chun, from Taiwan
She founded the Daksinavana Bhiksuni Sangha Ashram (Yuchih), the Dakinava Temple (Kuoshing), the Dakinava Buddhist Cultural Society (Canada) and the the Daksinavana Institute of Buddhist Studies (1993) to provide places for nuns and upasikas to learn, practice and to be ordained. She is also active in social welfare, education and disaster relief.
- Dr Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan, from Thailand
Dr Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan is the acting director of the Ministry of Justice's Department of Forensic Science. She is highly respected for her courage in pursuing truth and justice in the face of a corrupt police system. She was also among the key figures in Thailand's relief efforts during the 2004 tsunami disaster.
- Dr Li Hua Yang, from Taiwan
As a dharma teacher, psychiatrist and acupuncturist Dr Li Hua Yang's dedication to community service has earned her the title Humanistic Bodhisattva. In addition to focusing on children, youth and people deeply locked in suffering such as prisoners, she is also active in palliative care.
- Jacqueline Kramer, from the US
Jacqueline Kramer has been studying and practicing Theravada Buddhism for 30 years. She is the author of Buddha Mum: The Path of Mindful Mothering and 10 Spiritual Practices for Busy Parents.
She has also developed online lay Buddhist practice classes on subjects ranging from relationships, illnesses, death and dying. The Hearth Foundation was created to house these classes and to create a spiritual community for mothers interested in developing a Buddhist family lifestyle in the West.
- Maechee Pimjai Maneerat, from Thailand
She is director of a residential educational project that assists poor ethnic children in Kanchanaburi province. Many of them are stateless. Despite obstacles and a lack of resources, she is determined to give the children dharma and proper education.
- Maechee Waree Chuethasanaprasit, from Thailand
As a leader of the nuns' movement in Thailand, Maechee Waree Chuethasanaprasit has empowered countless women to become dharma teachers, social workers, and to stand on their own financially through self-initiated projects. She has established a national network of laywomen, and began empowering ordained women leaders one-by-one. Her personal dharma teachings have met the needs of women, at-risk youths, young people in prison, people living with HIV/Aids and drug addicts.
- Nobuko Ono, from Japan
As head of the Amagase Community Centre, she has been active in deep-listening counselling and other community services. She is a living example of a life of service a lay person can live through deep-listening counselling.
- Orasom Sutisakorn, from Thailand
Orason Sutisakorn has written more than 30 books on social issues related to children, women and family violence. Her writing bears witness to suffering, gives a voice to those silenced, and offers a reflection in hope for a better tomorrow. Her books include Rust Flowers: The True Lives of Women in the Dark Corners of Thai Society, Child Criminal? and Youth of the X Generation.
- Reverend Beth Kanji Goldring, from the US
She founded the Brahmavihara/Cambodia Aids Project in 2000 to meet the spiritual and emotional needs of destitute Aids patients in Cambodia. Since then the project has grown to include not only spiritual and emotional support, but also social services and some material needs. The staff of nine, including her, work with some 200 patients in their homes, in hospices and in hospitals. Its web site is http://www.brahmavihara . cambodiaaidsproject.org/.
- Reverend Patricia Dai-En Bennage, from the US
Trained in Zen Buddhism, she is Abbess of Mt Equity Zendo, Jihoji in Pennsdale, Pennsylvania. Apart from teaching meditation to women in prisons and colleges, Rev Patricia also translated female meditation master Roshi Aoyama's book Zen Seeds into English.
- Senator Tuenjai Kunchon na Ayutthaya Deetes, from Thailand
A former teacher of hill-tribe children, Tuenjai is a strong advocate of environmental conservation, human rights and the community's right to manage its own natural resources. As a senator, she has had a hand in many laws benefiting women and the needy. She draws inner strength in the face of obstacles from meditation.
- Sikkhamat Phussadi, from Thailand
Highly respected as a meditation master, she is the first 10 precept nun of the Santi Asoke community. At the age of 83, she still teaches dharma and gives counselling three days a week. She has written three books, The Principles of Practicing Oneself for Purity, The Path for Life, and Blessings and Errors That Can Be Seen in This Life.
- Sylvia Wetzel, from Germany
Sylvia Wetzel is at the forefront of Buddhism in Europe and offers reflections on gender issues and cultural conditioning. She is also one of the key figures in setting up the Women Dharma Teacher's Peer Group, the network of Buddhist centres in Berlin and Brandenburg and the Buddhist Academy in Berlin. She has also contributed to the introduction of Buddhism to the curriculums of schools in Berlin.
Tribute to Dalai Lama by a music band a big hit in Youtube
Dalai Lama tribute big hit on You Tube
284 words
3 March 2008
Morpeth Herald
English
© 2008 Johnston Publishing Limited
A NORTHUMBRIAN rock band's tribute song has become a huge hit on the video sharing site 'You Tube'.
The film for the song 'Dalai Lama' by The Age ? a tribute to the man who has lived in exile following his flight from Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1949 ? was filmed in India at Dharamsala where he now resides.
It has attracted huge interest across the world from Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike and it is about to chalk up its 50,000th viewing.
The Age's film-maker and song-writer Carl Cape, from Hadston, said the Dalai Lama had thanked him for his "most thoughtful gesture" and for a copy of his album featuring spoken word extracts by the former Tibetan government minister TC Tethong.
He added: "We're not a Buddhist band but the teachings of the Dalai Lama make a lot of sense to The Age and we think a safer, more peaceful world can be achieved right now.
"We also wanted to highlight the destructive stance of some multi-national corporations on green issues like pollution, waste and the incessant use of scarce resources."
The song 'Dalai Lama' was released in 2007 on Chevstar Records as part of a remix of the band's first rock album A Peak Experience which features cult writer Colin Wilson (The Outsider).
Part of the video was footage of Tibetan opera at the Tibetan Institute of the Performing Arts and The Age were grateful to the Tibetan government-in-exile for the use of stock video footage of the Dalai Lama.
For more information about The Age and other Northumberland bands, visit www.chevstar.com .
284 words
3 March 2008
Morpeth Herald
English
© 2008 Johnston Publishing Limited
A NORTHUMBRIAN rock band's tribute song has become a huge hit on the video sharing site 'You Tube'.
The film for the song 'Dalai Lama' by The Age ? a tribute to the man who has lived in exile following his flight from Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1949 ? was filmed in India at Dharamsala where he now resides.
It has attracted huge interest across the world from Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike and it is about to chalk up its 50,000th viewing.
The Age's film-maker and song-writer Carl Cape, from Hadston, said the Dalai Lama had thanked him for his "most thoughtful gesture" and for a copy of his album featuring spoken word extracts by the former Tibetan government minister TC Tethong.
He added: "We're not a Buddhist band but the teachings of the Dalai Lama make a lot of sense to The Age and we think a safer, more peaceful world can be achieved right now.
"We also wanted to highlight the destructive stance of some multi-national corporations on green issues like pollution, waste and the incessant use of scarce resources."
The song 'Dalai Lama' was released in 2007 on Chevstar Records as part of a remix of the band's first rock album A Peak Experience which features cult writer Colin Wilson (The Outsider).
Part of the video was footage of Tibetan opera at the Tibetan Institute of the Performing Arts and The Age were grateful to the Tibetan government-in-exile for the use of stock video footage of the Dalai Lama.
For more information about The Age and other Northumberland bands, visit www.chevstar.com .
Monday, February 11, 2008
Trauma and mindfulness
Trauma and mindfulness
Freelance Writer
766 words
10 February 2008
Winnipeg Free Press
b7
English
All material copyright Winnipeg Free Press, a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership. All rights reserved.
Gerry Kopelow "In this fathom-long body, subject though it is to death and decay, I will show you the beginning and end of the universe." With these words the Buddha introduced "The Four Foundations of Mindfulness," a contemplative method for the investigation of reality that has flourished for some 3,000 years. Seekers rely on the Buddha's techniques to probe the spiritual world in the same way that physicists use electron microscopes to investigate the physical world.
Mindfulness is "non-judgmental awareness of the present moment." Trauma is "a serious injury or wound to the body and/or mind." To most people, the conjoining of these two conditions would be extremely unpleasant, something to avoid or repress.
Some months back I was hit by a car near Steinbach and suffered extreme damage to both lower legs. I was not at all clear if my legs could be saved, but several sessions of skilful surgery put me back together, and 14 weeks after the accident I walked out of the hospital on crutches, two months ahead of schedule, according to my doctors.
I attribute my rapid comeback to the compassionate care of an army of health-care professionals and to the involvement of family and friends, but also to a mental attitude that promoted healing. This attitude was sustained by maintaining "mindfulness," as best I could, from the moment I was struck down, right through all the surgeries and subsequent medical procedures.
If mindfulness is attention to the present moment, then logically there are only two alternate modes of experience: One is reflection on the past, and the other is speculation about the future.
Typically, reflection on the past is fraught with regret, especially if this reflection is triggered by physical injury. Thoughts of "if only" and "why me?" and the constant replay of the traumatic events are natural. Similarly, speculation about the future is often unpleasant: We fear a multitude of possible negative outcomes.
I am a teacher of Buddhist meditation and have been learning how to be "mindful" for 35 years. This work allows me a measure of control of my mental processes, and so I decided to "mindfully" compare the three experiential modes with a view to determining which felt better.
Clearly, lying in a hospital bed in pain and unable to move was, to say the least, unpleasant. But, due to the modern approach to pain management, I had access to narcotics that moderated the physical discomfort. I also had the company of a caring family and supportive friends, and I was the focus of intense medical attention as well. All this existed in the present.
If I allowed my mind to slip into reflection on the past, I relived the accident and the events that led up to it over and over. I experienced continuous grief -- metaphorically speaking -- the non-stop wringing of hands and the gnashing of teeth. These thoughts and feelings triggered a river of scary speculations: anxiety about future physical suffering, the possibility of infection and the loss of my legs, worry about work and money and my family's security, etc.
I quickly abandoned the experiment because the present moment, however difficult it might be, was less unpleasant than the multitude of griefs and anxieties my own mind was capable of generating.
How does all this facilitate healing? The answer lies in the nature of mind. We humans are born helpless. Our great evolutionary advantage is not strength or speed, but adaptability. We are creative entities. This creativity requires a sophisticated brain. Because a complex brain is a big consumer of energy, the fabrication of past and future alternate universes -- populated with life-like people, landscapes, buildings, even weather -- is a resource-intensive endeavour. Rather than engaging in fruitless imaginings, it is better to hold the mind in the present and free up its creative power for more productive activities. In the case of the trauma victim, the most obvious use for this energy is healing.
The body is the repository of four billion years of accumulated biological wisdom, all of which is dedicated to maintaining life as long as possible. Unburdened by the energy drain associated with worry, the body spontaneously sets to work repairing itself. So mindfulness is not just the least unpleasant way to experience trauma, but also the most efficient. And because healing is beautiful to witness, mindfulness practice increases joy at the same time as it diminishes anxiety.
Our fragility is sobering to contemplate, but the intelligence of the body is exhilarating to experience directly.
Freelance Writer
766 words
10 February 2008
Winnipeg Free Press
b7
English
All material copyright Winnipeg Free Press, a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership. All rights reserved.
Gerry Kopelow "In this fathom-long body, subject though it is to death and decay, I will show you the beginning and end of the universe." With these words the Buddha introduced "The Four Foundations of Mindfulness," a contemplative method for the investigation of reality that has flourished for some 3,000 years. Seekers rely on the Buddha's techniques to probe the spiritual world in the same way that physicists use electron microscopes to investigate the physical world.
Mindfulness is "non-judgmental awareness of the present moment." Trauma is "a serious injury or wound to the body and/or mind." To most people, the conjoining of these two conditions would be extremely unpleasant, something to avoid or repress.
Some months back I was hit by a car near Steinbach and suffered extreme damage to both lower legs. I was not at all clear if my legs could be saved, but several sessions of skilful surgery put me back together, and 14 weeks after the accident I walked out of the hospital on crutches, two months ahead of schedule, according to my doctors.
I attribute my rapid comeback to the compassionate care of an army of health-care professionals and to the involvement of family and friends, but also to a mental attitude that promoted healing. This attitude was sustained by maintaining "mindfulness," as best I could, from the moment I was struck down, right through all the surgeries and subsequent medical procedures.
If mindfulness is attention to the present moment, then logically there are only two alternate modes of experience: One is reflection on the past, and the other is speculation about the future.
Typically, reflection on the past is fraught with regret, especially if this reflection is triggered by physical injury. Thoughts of "if only" and "why me?" and the constant replay of the traumatic events are natural. Similarly, speculation about the future is often unpleasant: We fear a multitude of possible negative outcomes.
I am a teacher of Buddhist meditation and have been learning how to be "mindful" for 35 years. This work allows me a measure of control of my mental processes, and so I decided to "mindfully" compare the three experiential modes with a view to determining which felt better.
Clearly, lying in a hospital bed in pain and unable to move was, to say the least, unpleasant. But, due to the modern approach to pain management, I had access to narcotics that moderated the physical discomfort. I also had the company of a caring family and supportive friends, and I was the focus of intense medical attention as well. All this existed in the present.
If I allowed my mind to slip into reflection on the past, I relived the accident and the events that led up to it over and over. I experienced continuous grief -- metaphorically speaking -- the non-stop wringing of hands and the gnashing of teeth. These thoughts and feelings triggered a river of scary speculations: anxiety about future physical suffering, the possibility of infection and the loss of my legs, worry about work and money and my family's security, etc.
I quickly abandoned the experiment because the present moment, however difficult it might be, was less unpleasant than the multitude of griefs and anxieties my own mind was capable of generating.
How does all this facilitate healing? The answer lies in the nature of mind. We humans are born helpless. Our great evolutionary advantage is not strength or speed, but adaptability. We are creative entities. This creativity requires a sophisticated brain. Because a complex brain is a big consumer of energy, the fabrication of past and future alternate universes -- populated with life-like people, landscapes, buildings, even weather -- is a resource-intensive endeavour. Rather than engaging in fruitless imaginings, it is better to hold the mind in the present and free up its creative power for more productive activities. In the case of the trauma victim, the most obvious use for this energy is healing.
The body is the repository of four billion years of accumulated biological wisdom, all of which is dedicated to maintaining life as long as possible. Unburdened by the energy drain associated with worry, the body spontaneously sets to work repairing itself. So mindfulness is not just the least unpleasant way to experience trauma, but also the most efficient. And because healing is beautiful to witness, mindfulness practice increases joy at the same time as it diminishes anxiety.
Our fragility is sobering to contemplate, but the intelligence of the body is exhilarating to experience directly.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Monks' wish came true: mosquito-proof robes
BANGKOK - A THAI fabric designer has unveiled a new line of saffron-coloured robes infused with bug repellent to keep mosquitoes from biting Buddhist monks, a company announced on Wednesday.
The robes, which have been soaked with a herbal bug repellent, will eventually be sold for export to other Buddhist countries around Asia, said Wisan Wanasaksrisakul, managing director of Thai Covenant Co Ltd, which manufactures the garments.
'We have experimented with four kinds of mosquitoes, and when monks wear our robes, the mosquitoes can't detect that their food (human blood) is near,' he said.
The robes cost about 10 per cent more than normal ones, he said, adding that his company hopes to sell them to countries like Myanmar, Sri Lanka and India.
The market for robes for Buddhist monks in Thailand is worth about two billion baht (S$85 million) a year.
Thailand has between 350,000 to 400,000 Buddhist monks at any given time.
Most Thai men are expected to enter the monkhood at least once in their lives. -- AFP
The robes, which have been soaked with a herbal bug repellent, will eventually be sold for export to other Buddhist countries around Asia, said Wisan Wanasaksrisakul, managing director of Thai Covenant Co Ltd, which manufactures the garments.
'We have experimented with four kinds of mosquitoes, and when monks wear our robes, the mosquitoes can't detect that their food (human blood) is near,' he said.
The robes cost about 10 per cent more than normal ones, he said, adding that his company hopes to sell them to countries like Myanmar, Sri Lanka and India.
The market for robes for Buddhist monks in Thailand is worth about two billion baht (S$85 million) a year.
Thailand has between 350,000 to 400,000 Buddhist monks at any given time.
Most Thai men are expected to enter the monkhood at least once in their lives. -- AFP
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