Today’s quote comes to us from the great Tibetan saint Jetsun Milarepa (1052-1135), whom I previously quoted and wrote a little biography for here. This it–a translation of one of his dohas that I found while living in India:
Toss to the winds your concern for this life and impress upon your mind the unknown time of your death. Remembering the pain of samsara, why long for the unnecessary?
Photo by Don Farber.
This from the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (by way of NellaLou at Smiling Buddha Cabaret):
His Holiness will give five-day teachings on Nagarjuna’s In Praise of the Transcendental (jigten ley depar toepa), Atisha’s Lamp of the Path to Enlightenment (jangchup lamdron), Longchen Rinpoche’s Mind In Comfort and Ease (semnyid nyelso) & Tsongkhapa’s Short Version of the Stages of the Path To Enlightenment (lamrim dhuedhon) from January 5th to 8th, 2010. There will be two sessions of approximately 2 hours each day starting at 9am IST (Indian Standard Time) and 1:30pm IST.
Starting tonight, you can stream the whole thing live online right here.
Over at Shambhala Sun Space, our friend and editor Rod Meade Sperry posts reactions to the Brite Hume thing from Jon Stewart, Howard Stern, Dan Savage, and Don Imus. In particular, Imus’ comments are interesting: whereas most reactions have been about Hume’s proselytizing, Imus is more concerned with his misunderstanding of Buddhism. Olbermann also makes the amusing point that Hume should probably avoid making comments about redemptive abilities of one religion over another unless he has actually practiced all of those religions.
Elsewhere, the Washington Post‘s Pulitzer Prize-winning Tom Shales weighs in, saying that Hume owes Buddhists a public apology. Also, at the Post‘s On Faith section, Rabbi Brad Hirschfield offers an unusual reaction, in which he basically says (in the words of On Faith’s official “tweet” about the piece): ”What’s wrong with Brit Hume telling Tiger Woods to turn to Jesus? Nothing but liberal overreaction.” He misses what is the main point of this whole flap for me (and I presume many others), though: the denigration and misrepresentation of the Buddhist traditions by Hume.
