One method of meditation that many people find useful is to rest the mind lightly on an object. You can use an object of natural beauty that invokes a special feeling of inspiration for you, such as a flower or a crystal. But something that embodies the truth, such as an image of Buddha, or Christ, or particularly your master, is even more powerful. Your master is your living link with the truth, and because of your personal connection to your master, just seeing his or her face connects you to the inspiration and truth of your own nature.
Sogyal Rinpoche

Monday, May 7th, 2012 in Magelang, Indonesia: Buddhists walk around the Borobudur temple while carrying candles during Vesak Day, commonly known as ‘Buddha’s birthday. 

Photograph: Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images

March 14th, 2012 in Beijing, China: A Tibetan monk delegate arrives for the closing ceremony of the Chinese People’s political consultative conference.

Photograph: Vincent Thian/AP

March 10th, 2012 in Minamisoma, Japan: Buddhist monks offer prayers for victims of the 11 March 2011 earthquake and tsunami at Kitaizumi beach.

Photograph: Yuriko Nakao/Reuters

March 4th, 2012 in Rangoon, Burma: a boy gets his head shaved before living the life of a Buddhist monk for seven days.

Photograph: Reuters

Tibet situation grim, needs global intervention, say exiles

DHARAMSHALA: An 18-year-old monk immolated himself in front of a monastery in Tibet. While in flames, he was praying, “May His Holiness the Dalai Lama live thousands of years” and “Freedom for Tibet”. Reported last week, it is the latest incident to have occurred in Tibet against Chinese policies and in support of freedom, said the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the exiled Tibetan community’s elected body based in this north Indian hill town.

“The situation inside Tibet is extremely grim. Tibet is virtually sealed off. The military build-up is very heavy,” said Thubten Samphel, secretary of the department of information and international relations of CTA. The Chinese have launched a massive crackdown on Tibetans who visited India for the Kalachakra teachings presided over by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in Bodh Gaya in Bihar in January. Several hundred Tibetans who had returned from India have been detained and are being forced to undergo political re-education, said the CTA quoting a New York-basedHuman Rights Watch (HRW) report.

HRW said it believed it was the first time since the late 1970s that the authorities had detained Tibetan lay people in such large numbers, and comes as China frets about unrest in Tibetan areas. The Chinese government should immediately investigate the shootings of Tibetan protesters by security forces, open Tibetan areas to international observers, and engage with Tibetan representatives address grievances and growing violence, HRW said. It said the Chinese security forces opened fire on protesters January 23 and 24, killing at least two people and injuring dozen more.

“In the current very volatile situation, it is especially important for Chinese forces to refrain from using disproportionate force,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at HRW. In the past year, 23 monks, nuns and other Tibetans set themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule, according to the CTA. It has procured footage of Chinese police brutalities on Tibetans. Some 140,000 Tibetans now live in exile, over 100,000 of them in different parts of India. Over six million Tibetans live in Tibet. 

February 22nd, 2012 in Langmusixiang, China: A monk participates in a debate as part of Tibetan new year celebrations.

Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters

February 20th, 2012 in Rangoon, Burma: Buddhist monks queue up to collect alms and donations.

Photograph: AFP/AFP/Getty Images

February 19th, 2012 in Rangoon, Burma: Buddhist nuns pray during a farewell ceremony for Ashin Pyinyar Thiha, the head of the Shwenyawar monastery. Ashin Pyinyar Thiha was ordered out of his monastery by Buddhist elders who said he had given an inappropriate speech at an office belonging to pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party.

Photograph: Soe Than Win/AFP/Getty images

Fresh Ink. Left side means Compassion and the right side means Love in Tibetan Sanskrit. My Religion :)

February 16th, 2012 in Kathmandu, Nepal: a Buddhist monk holds a bowl asking for alms, as pigeons fly in the background at Boudhanath Stupa.

Photograph: Niranjan Shrestha/AP

February 8th, 2012 in New Delhi, India: Elderly Tibetan women sit outside a Buddhist temple at the Tibetan refugee colony.

Photograph: Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images

FREE TIBET!

Click HERE Too Donate too the International Campaign of Tibet. Your Donation will help…

• Support the Dalai Lama’s efforts to establish peace and self-determination for Tibet.


•  Ensure safe passage and secure humanitarian assistance for Tibetan refugees.


•  Advocate for the release and humane treatment of all monks, nuns and laypeople that have been detained. Monitor and report on the human rights abuses inside Tibet.


•  Maintain political pressure on the US and international governments to make real progress on Tibet.


•  Build long term, worldwide support for the people, culture and heritage of Tibet.

I donate $50 every pay period, too me it will be worth it and my offerings in for the people and culture that i absolutely love and admire. Please help save Tibet.

Our inability to stand someone results from our lack of cultivation. Having a wider heart and mind is more important than having a larger house. Happiness does not come from having much, but from being attached to little.
 Venerable Cheng Yen

Happiness does not come from having much, but from being attached to little. Remember always that you are just a visitor here, a traveler passing through. Your stay is but short and the moment of your departure unknown. None can live without toil and a craft that provides your needs is a blessing indeed. But if you toil without rest, fatigue and weariness will overtake you, and you will denied the joy that comes from labour’s end. Speak quietly and kindly and be not forward with either opinions or advice. If you talk much, this will make you deaf to what others say, and you should know that there are few so wise that they cannot learn from others. Be near when help is needed, but far when praise and thanks are being offered. Take small account of might, wealth and fame, for they soon pass and are forgotten. Instead, nurture love within you and and strive to be a friend to all. Truly, compassion is a balm for many wounds. Treasure silence when you find it, and while being mindful of your duties, set time aside, to be alone with yourself. Cast off pretense and self-deception and see yourself as you really are. Despite all appearances, no one is really evil. They are led astray by ignorance. If you ponder this truth always you will offer more light, rather then blame and condemnation. You, no less than all beings have Buddha Nature within. Your essential Mind is pure. Therefore, when defilement’s cause you to stumble and fall, let not remorse nor dark foreboding cast you down. Be of good cheer and with this understanding, summon strength and walk on. Faith is like a lamp and wisdom makes the flame burn bright. Carry this lamp always and in good time the darkness will yield and you will abide in the Light.
    Dhammavadaka