Rev. Danny Fisher
Just a Buddhist Minister Trying to Benefit Beings
August 27, 2009
A Statement from the International Campaign for Tibet on the Passing of Senator Edward Kennedy
This from the International Campaign for Tibet today:
The International Campaign for Tibet offers its condolences to the family of Senator Edward Kennedy on his passing.
Senator Kennedy was a long standing and faithful of friend of Tibet in the U.S. Congress. The Senator met with His Holiness the Dalai Lama on numerous occasions, and championed the rights and democratic freedoms of the Tibetan people. Senator Kennedy played a leadership role on the 1990 legislation that brought 1,000 Tibetans to live in the United States, as a response to the Chinese-imposed martial law in Tibet and the Tiananmen Square massacre in the late 1980s. This initiative led to the creation of thriving Tibetan communities in many states, empowering these new Tibetan-Americans to both preserve and share their unique culture in American society.
Senator Kennedy’s niece, Kerry Kennedy, founder of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights, serves on ICT’s International Council of Advisors.
August 27, 2009
Ullambana Observed at Hsi Lai Temple
The Whittier Daily News reports on Ullambana observances at Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, CA. (Both Hsi Lai Temple and my employer University of the West were founded by Grand Master Hsing Yun of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order of Taiwan.)
Taiwan’s Government Information Office describes Ullambana thus:
Ullambana is a transliteration of the Sanskrit word meaning “deliverance from suffering,” and specifically refers to the salvation of anguished souls in Hell. This concept originates from the story of “Mulien Saving His Mother from Hades.”
In this Buddhist legend, the protagonist Mulien learns that his mother’s ghost is being tortured in Hades by starvation and hanging and thus embarks on a grueling journey to the underworld bringing food to ease her hunger. When he finally succeeds in finding his mother, Mulien offers the food to her but it erupts into flames before she is able to swallow. Despairing, he begs Sakymuni to show him a way to bring salvation to his mother, and is answered by the Buddha, who tells him, “The past sins of your mother are too great for you alone to save her. You must thus find ten monks and pray together on the 15th day of the seventh moon.” Heeding Sakymuni’s instructions, Mulien begins a ritual Buddhist fast and chants the sutras until finally he succeeds in releasing his mother from hell. This legend has been passed down through the ages and is today is celebrated on Chung Yuan by Buddhists around the world, holding ceremonies of charity so that the outcast and famished ghosts may cross over to salvation. Thus, the 15th day of the seventh moon has become an occasion for teaching the virtues of filial piety.
[Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz. "Thanh Phu, of Los Angeles, visits the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights Saturday, August 22, 2009 during a week of prayer services for the deceased and ancestors at the temple for 'The Seventh Month.'"]
