2008 July 12 « Rev. Danny Fisher

Amnesty International: Join the China Debate

Take a look at the series of nine videos below, and visit http://www.thechinadebate.com.

Religion & Ethics Newsweekly: Profile of His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje

Via Sarah Todd over at the Tricycle Editors’ Blog: PBS’ Religion & Ethics Newsweekly did a profile tonight of His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje. The profile features an exclusive television interview with His Holiness, as well as comments from the Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche and Lama Surya Das. Read the transcript or watch the Quicktime video version of the report here.

July 12, 2008

A Request On Behalf of the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center

Our friend and past interviewee James Ishmael Ford over at Monkey Mind posts the below request from Shosan Victoria Austin of the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Tassajara is now seriously threatened by the wildfires burning in the Ventana Wilderness and Big Sur areas of the Central Coast of California. Shosan writes:

As of 2:15 today, the fire has entered Tassajara, and our improvised sprinkler system is protecting the buildings, with the help of the five well-prepared monks on-site. Please continue to check our website, www.sfzc.org, for information and updates. If you are willing and able, please call or e-mail California senators’ local offices in support of Tassajara. Their numbers are:
Senator Dianne Feinstein: (415) 393-0707

Senator Barbara Boxer: (415) 403-0100What you can say: You read the story in the Chronicle/our website/ your local newspaper. You consider Tassajara to be a national treasure. You understand that 5 Zen monks are defending the monastery. If there is anything they can do to provide support — by air or with a crew — please encourage them to do that.

Please continue to chant for the well-being of Tassajara, the monks there and there-in-spirit.

Everyone at SFZC and at Tassajara is nourished by your concern, and by your practice.

July 12, 2008

News Courtesy of the Buddhist Channel

Here are two items found today at the Buddhist Channel:

The Irrawaddy: The venerable newsmagazine offers a good write-up on the work of Sitagu Sayadaw, who is seemingly the most prolific Buddhist monastic working to aid his fellow Burmese in the wake of Cyclone Nargis. Sitagu Sayadaw and his work have previously been mentioned at this blog, here, here, here, and here.

Agence France-Presse: Reports are that thousands mourned dissident Buddhist patriarch Thich Huyen Quang at this funeral in central Vietnam today. I blogged about his death here.

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