Rev. Danny Fisher

Just a Buddhist Minister Trying to Benefit Beings

Month: March, 2009

March 27, 2009

His Eminence Penor Rinpoche (1932-2009)

Go Beyond Words: Wisdom Publications’ Buddhist Blog, Shambhala Sun Space, and Phayul are all reporting that His Holiness Kyabjé Drubwang Pema Norbu Rinpoche (Penor Rinpoche) has died. I posted yesterday about his hospitalization. Phayul writes:

    The head of the oldest school of Tibetan Buddhism, His Eminence Penor Rinpoche, breathed his last today around 3.30 PM (Indian Standard time) at a hospital in Bangalore, Karnataka, India, sources told phayul.

    Penor Rinpoche held the position of the head of Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Rinpoche had not been keeping well lately, according to sources.

    Kyabjé Drubwang Pema Norbu Rinpoche was born in 1932 in Powo region of Kham, Eastern Tibet. He was the 11th in the Palyul lineage of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism.

I am sad to hear about the passing away of this important teacher, but know that his life and work did much to contribute to the flowering of the Buddhadharma in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. I bow in his direction with gratitude.

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March 27, 2009

Burma News (3.27.09)

“Myanmar’s junta supremo Senior General Than Shwe attends the Armed Forces Day parade in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw March 27, 2009.” Photo by Aung Hla Tun for Reuters.
Here are today’s headlines about Burma:

  • According to Voice of America, Thailand’s government has offered to mediate talks between the junta and opposition leaders.
  • Reuters reports that the junta is open to such talks.
  • That said, the Associated Press reports that the junta’s chief, General Than Shwe, set “ground rules” today for the elections scheduled for 2010, “calling on political parties to avoid smear campaigns and to remember it will take awhile to establish a ‘mature’ democracy.”
  • The AP also reports that “an explosion at a guest house in Myanmar’s biggest city has killed a man and wounded three other people.” There’s not much more information at this time.
  • The Times of India reports on a new deal between the junta and the Chinese government to build cross border oil and gas pipelines.

    • March 27, 2009

    Tibet News (3.27.09)

    [This post has been updated as of 7:30 p.m. EST on 3.27.09.]

    Here are today’s Tibet-related headlines:

  • Reuters reports on the launch Saturday of the annual “Serf Emancipation Day” public holiday in Tibet. “China’s Communist leaders say they abolished a feudal, theocratic system that would have been familiar to the peasants of mediaeval Europe,” they write. “But critics say China has exaggerated the cruelty of traditional Tibetan life to disguise a power grab, swept away much that was good along with the bad, and destroyed an indigenous government that was attempting more sensitive reforms.”
  • The Agence France-Presse profiles the illegitimate Panchen Lama appointed by the Chinese government in an attempt to control the Tibetan populace. The actual Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, was recognized by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1995 and “immediately disappeared from public view and is believed to have been under a form of house arrest ever since.”
  • The New York Times reports that “The China Daily, the official English-language newspaper of China, published two editorials on Thursday denouncing the Dalai Lama and saying that ‘any attempt to split Tibet is doomed.’”
  • USA Today cuts through the BS and offers a stong editorial about “Serf Liberation Day.” They end saying:

      The Chinese can physically crush Tibetan protests this weekend. They will have more trouble imposing their Big Brother narrative.
    • March 27, 2009

    Express Your Concern about Google China

    This from Amnesty International:

      Early in 2006 Google launched a self-censoring Chinese search engine, google.cn, that blocks search results for topics such as human rights, political reform, Tiananmen Square and Falun Gong, among others. Amnesty International is concerned about the ways Google is aiding the repression of freedom to information and expression in China, and the implications this may have for the way the company operates everywhere in the world.

    Express your concern to Google via email here.

    You can also contact the Google Help Center with your complaint here. Select “I have a general question about Google.” In the next menu, select “Reporting a problem,” “Suggesting a new feature,” or “Other.” You can also express your concern to Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt directly here:

      Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO
      Google Inc.
      1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
      Mountain View, CA 94043
      Tel: (650) 253 0000
      Fax:(650) 618 1499
    March 27, 2009

    "Death’s Chaplain" by Steve James

    I’ve previously blogged about an astonishing film I saw last year called At the Death House Door by filmmakers Steve James and Peter Gilbert (of Hoop Dreams fame). The documentary is about the life and work of Huntsville prison chaplain Carroll “Bud” Pickett. From 1982 to 1995, Rev. Pickett accompanied 95 prisoners to their executions at Texas’ “Death Capital.” (Texas executes more prisoners than any other state and all of those executions happen in Huntsville.) When he had serious doubts about the guilt of the final prisoner with whom he walked the last mile, he quit his job and became an anti-death penalty crusader.

    As part of CINELAN’s Three-Minute Stories series, James has put together a three-minute short about Pickett using footage shot for the film. You can watch it for free at Hulu or below.