Last year, I blogged about poetry written by the late Cambodian Buddhist monk Ly Van Aggadipo recalling his homeland during the Khmer Rouge years. Arun at Angry Asian Buddhist has more, including info about a presentation tomorrow at the Mark Twain Library in Long Beach, CA. Check it out.
"Demonstrators hold hands while protesting a new immigration law outside the Arizona State Capitol building on April 23, 2010, in Phoenix." Photo by Getty Images.
This from Human Rights Now – The Amnesty International USA Web Log:
Amnesty International is extremely disappointed that Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law SB1070, a bill that will significantly increase the likelihood of racial profiling, arbitrary arrests, and detentions in the state. By forcing Arizona police, the vast majority of whom opposed this law, to implement it or face lawsuits is bad policy and will drastically undermine communication between communities of color and the police who are supposed to keep them safe.
As the governor said when signing the bill, national immigration legislation is desperately needed, but the absence of it does not abdicate the governor’s own responsibility to preserve, promote, and protect the human rights of every individual in Arizona, whether citizen, resident, or visitor. Human rights exist regardless of nationality, ethnicity or immigration status. In passing SB1070, Arizona public officials have ignored this truth to the detriment of every individual who passes through the state.
Agreed.
Today’s quote is from the Third Jamgön Kongtrul, Karma Lodrö Chökyi Senge (1954-1992), who “became one of the foremost holders of the Kagyu Lineage, and wore the mantle of regency with humility and great dignity” following the death of His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa in 1981. He was involved in the search for the 17th Karmapa when he was tragically killed in car accident in 1992. This is the quote:
The Tibetan word for Buddhism, nangpa, has the meaning of internalizing, indicating that we need to turn inward and work within ourselves. By doing so and gaining a clearer sense of who we really are, we develop a sense of our existence as it relates to all that surrounds us. If we look outside and try to figure out what is out there based on confused mental projections, we will never recognize who we are. What is fundamentally true is that the experience of pain or pleasure is not so much what is happening externally as it is what is happening internally: the experience of pain or pleasure is mainly a state of mind. Whether we experience the world as enlightened or confused depends on our state of mind.
Photo by the author.
Today’s quote is from the Sakyong Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche, son of the Vidyādhara, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and the current head of the Shambhala Buddhist lineage and Shambhala International. This is it:
We might think that helping others will drain us. But when we use prajna and compassion to extend our lives to others in this way, our own suffering actually becomes relieved. Just placing our mind on others is a kind of meditation. Mind is like a muscle that relaxes that way. When we begin to think about ourselves it tightens up, until we can’t even help ourselves properly. But working for the happiness of others brings lightness of mind. When we know this truth, extending love and compassion is all there is to do. Then everything we encounter becomes part of our journey as practitioners of meditation. We can look at each other, at our children and at the world, and see it all as an opportunity to experience the joy of the bodhisattva path. We see this joy in the faces of great spiritual teachers and other bodhisattvas. The most basic thing is having the open and curious mind of prajna, because that’s what shows us how to move forward. Bodhisattva activity is how we move forward into enlightenment.
Image via http://dpr.info/.
My wonderful Naropa University prof The 7th Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Karma Sungrap Ngedon Tenpa Gyaltsen, whom I previously produced a little biography for here, writes today for Buddhist Geeks on the subject “Finding Your Buffalo.” Take a look!
