Taktsang Palphug Monastery (“the Tiger’s Nest”) is a renowned Buddhist sacred site in the Himalayas. The temple complex is located in a steep cliffside in the upper Paro Valley (Paro District) in Bhutan. In its locality, the people celebrate Tsechu, a popular folk festival in honour of Padmasambhava sometime during March or April.
BMD
We live in the “now”… not in the past, for that’s gone… not in the future, for it hasn’t come yet… we live NOW. If we can internalise that, we’ve gone a long way to defeat pride. However, the road to that is neither short nor easy… mistrust all “young elders”. As St John of the Ladder said, “If you see a young monk advancing by his own efforts, pull him down, for his own good!” A young priest of my acquaintance would do well to take that to heart…
BMD
Ani Choying Drolma sings the Heart Sūtra
Ani Choying Drolma sings the Great Compassion Mantra
Buddhism is one of the Big Three Traditional Religions in Russia (the other two are Orthodox Christianity and Islam). Judaism and the Evangelical Church (Lutherans, NOT non-Christian American Radical Sectarians) are minor traditional religions, with real Russian Protestants (not American Sectarian wannabes) being acceptable too. Buddhists make up about 1 percent of the Russian population (1.5 million), with about a third of these actively practising to some extent or other. Buddhist friends tell me that the Heart Sūtra is the most popular sūtra amongst believers, more popular than Om mani padme om (“The jewel is in the lotus”) is. I know next-to-nothing about Buddhist theology, so, I can’t comment on that. However, this is part of Russia, too. It’s all ours or none of it’s ours… simple as that…
BMD
The crowd gathered to hear the Dalai Lama in Tallinn‘s Town Hall Square
Tenzin Gyatso (1935- ), His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, seen during his recent visit to Estonia
On Wednesday, a large audience gathered for a public speech of the Tibetan spiritual leader in the Estonian capital. Our Interfax correspondent reported that Town Hall Square, the largest square in Tallinn {75 x 75 metres = 246 x 246 feet = 5,625 square metres = .5625 hectare = 60,516 square feet = @1.39 acres: editor}, was full of people, many carrying the flag of Tibet. Pointing up its universal significance, the Dalai Lama emphasised the importance of the Tibetan flag. “The Chinese authorities claim that Tibet has separatist yearnings. Well, during a meeting in 1954, Mao Zedong asked me if Tibet had a flag. After slightly hesitating, I replied that, yes, we do have one. Then, he said that we could keep it (the flag). If you have any problems, you can say that you have Mao Zedong’s permission [to fly your flag]”, the Dalai Lama said. He laid stress on the fact, “Tibet doesn’t wish to weaken the Chinese state; we only want the opportunity to develop our own culture”.
Parliamentarians from the Baltic states also met with the Dalai Lama, who expressed the hope that these countries would support Tibet. “Don’t forget about our fate”, he said. In particular, Lithuanian MPs stated that they doubted that senior officials in their country were willing to accept a visit from the Dalai Lama. Dalia Kuodytė {a Neoliberal “conservative” pro-American pro-“Free Market” lickspittle: editor}, the head of the interparliamentary relations section of the Lithuanian Seimas, after a meeting with the Dalai Lama, told the news agency BNS that if one supports Tibet, it leads to pressure on the part of the Chinese authorities. “I could issue an invitation on my own initiative, but it’s a great responsibility, it depends on other people’s approval, not only mine… I’m not even sure that it’d be taken seriously, so, I’d be irresponsible, at least, to issue such an invitation”, she said. Ms Kuodytė mentioned that the Lithuanian leadership would consider this very question in September. She went on to say, “There was much intimidation and pressure deployed against Estonia, but give them credit, they stood up to it”.
17 August 2011
Interfax-Religion
Voices from Russia 
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