Rev. Danny Fisher

Just a Buddhist Minister Trying to Benefit Beings

Month: September, 2010

September 30, 2010

A Gift of Dharma for 9.30.10

Today’s quote is from Jack Kornfield, whose website pithily and perfectly describes him as “one of the leading Buddhist teachers in America” and “one of the key teachers to introduce mindfulness and vipassana meditation to the West.”  This is it  – from his piece in the latest issue of Shambhala Sun:

Dharma means both truth and the path to discover the truth. The dharma is kept alive by all who follow the path. In the forest monasteries of Asia, just before dawn, the monks and nuns gather in the Buddha hall to meditate and to chant “ehipasiko, opanaiko, paccattang veditabbho vinuhittii.” The dharma of liberation is “immediate, open-handed, timeless, visible to the wise, to be experienced here and now by each person in their own heart.” In every generation, this invitation is repeated in an unbroken lineage of voices, a call to live with the great freedom of a Buddha and to discover for yourself the path of virtue, compassion, and wisdom.

September 29, 2010

An Important Update/Correction to My Latest Shambhala Sun Space Post

The New York Buddhist Church. Photo by the author.

Yesterday, I posted about my latest Shambhala Sun Space post — an op-ed of sorts about anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S. from yours truly.  I’ve just added an important update/correction:

Despite having posted about it at my personal blog weeks back, I neglected to mention The New York Buddhist Church and Rev. T.K. Nakagaki’s stalwart support of the Cordoba Initiative. This was careless and forgetful on my part, and I apologize sincerely for leaving them out of this write-up. Their friendship should not be overlooked, especially considering the fact that the Cordoba Initiative itself has singled them out for special appreciation. To learn more about The New York Buddhist Church’s efforts, I recommend this write-up on The Huffington Post.

You can read the rest of the piece here.

Sincerest apologies and mad love to the good folks at The New York Buddhist Church!

4 comments
September 29, 2010

Religion News Service: “Buddhist Bhutan Bans Clergy from Voting in Elections”

This from the Religion News Service:

Officials in Buddhist-majority Bhutan have barred Hindu and Buddhist clergy from voting in upcoming elections in order to keep a clear distinction between religion and politics.

The landlocked Himalayan nation considers Mahayana Buddhism the state religion and funds a large monastic community, but also requires religion to be above politics.

The country’s regulatory authority on religious organizations is now busy identifying Buddhist and Hindu clergy who should be barred from voting.

Phurpa Dorji, the senior coordinator for the eight-member chhoedey lhentshog regulatory body, said the list of religious figures who should be above politics was yet to be finalized. The members have met four times since April 2009, and more meetings are being planned.

Dorji said the ban existed in Bhutan’s first democratic elections two years ago, but there was ambiguity at the time on who could vote and who could not.

The Bhutan Youth Development Fund, a non-profit group that sponsors monks who do not receive government assistance, estimates that almost 10 percent of the population is part of the monastic system.

Around 75 percent of the less than 700,000 Bhutanese are Buddhist.

Another 22 percent are Hindus, the only other officially recognized religion.

Read the rest here.

September 29, 2010

A Gift of Dharma for 9.29.10

Today’s quote comes from Siddhartha Gautama (circa fifth and/or sixth century B.C.E.) — the historical Buddha and de facto progenitor of the Buddhist religions. This is it:

These five are a person of integrity’s gifts. Which five? A person of integrity gives a gift with a sense of conviction. A person of integrity gives a gift attentively. A person of integrity gives a gift in season. A person of integrity gives a gift with an empathetic heart. A person of integrity gives a gift without adversely affecting himself or others.

September 29, 2010

BBC’s Heart and Soul on Right Livelihood

(Thanks to my pal Erica for the pointer.)