Winking Wisdom #9: Reality #2

I have been through some terrible things in my life,

some of which actually happened.

— Mark Twain

Winking Wisdom #8: Reality

Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it.

– Jane Wagner

Carrie Bradshaw Will Be Thrilled!

Now devotees wearing shoes

can enter Bodh Gaya temple complex

 

IANS, November 20, 2008

Patna, India — The decades-old ban on entering the Mahabodhi temple complex in Bihar’s Bodh Gaya while wearing shoes has been lifted, an official said Thursday.The move was welcomed and lauded by Buddhist devotees, mostly Tibetans and tourists visiting Bodh Gaya temple, Buddhism’s holiest shrine.

However, shoes will not be allowed within the temple’s sanctum sanctorum.

The Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee (BGTMC) took the decision to lift the ban on entering the temples while wearing shoes.

“The BGTMC decided to lift the ban early this week in the wake of repeated demand made by devotees and tourists to allow them to enter the temple with shoes on,” said Nandji Dorjee, secretary, BGTMC.

Hundreds of Buddhist devotees and tourists, particularly foreigners, are now being allowed to enter the temple with shoes on, a big relief during winter and summer months.

Time and again, devotees and tourists complained to the officials about the discomfort they faced while walking bare feet within the temple complex.

“Bare foot entry to temple poses threat to health in chilly winter, particularly during early hours and hot summer season,” said another BGTMC official.

In winter, considered a tourist season, temperatures come down to as low as 2 – 4 degrees Celsius. During winter, bare feet entry to the temple to offer prayers was difficult.

The Tibetan Buddhists have been demanding the right to temple entry with boots on, as per their traditions. They do not see anything wrong in entering the temple with boots on.

In 2001 Ugyen Trinle Dorje, the teenaged chief of the Karmapa sect of Tibetan Buddhists defied the ban on temple entry with shoes on. Dorje entered the Mahabodhi temple sanctum with heavy boots, inviting loud protests from the neo-Buddhists.

The neo-Buddhists demanded the invoking of the penal clause in Mahabodhi temple management act, which says that a fine has to be imposed on anybody who entered the buddhist shrine with shoes on.

Then, Dorje made a bare feet entry to the temple to offer prayers.

The 1,500-year-old temple stands behind the sacred Bodhi tree under which Buddha attained enlightenment 2,550 years ago.

The Mahabodhi Temple, declared a World Heritage Site in 2002 by Unesco, is visited annually by thousands of tourists, especially from countries where there is a strong Buddhist community.

This article comes from The Buddhist Channel site

(http://www.buddhistchannel.tv)

Go to STORY

Winking Wisdom #7: Fashion

I base my fashion taste on what doesn’t itch.

— Gilda Radner

Blog Blahs

I didn’t even look at the computer all weekend!  Yes, non-attachment can be a blessing! But makes for lousy blog statistics!  🙂

One of my Buddhist teachers comes into town tomorrow for a couple days, so no blogs planned until later in the week.

Until then — peace and love!

Clap for the Koan: The Answers

A week ago we ran a blog entry about the famous Zen Buddhist koan “What’s the sound of one hand clapping?”  We included a multiple choice poll in search for  the “right” answer.

Now that the election hoopla is over, as promised, here are the koan poll answer(s):

KOAN POLL:

WHAT IS THE SOUND OF ONE HAND CLAPPING?

(a) whoosh, whoosh
(b) left or right hand?
(c) bear farting in the woods
(d) tree falling when nobody’s around
(e) one toe a tapping
(f) knee slapping
(g) an Aussie dog wagging tail
(h) Mu
(i) am I being graded on this?
(j) do I get a prize if I win?
(k) silence
(l) none of the above
(m) all of the above
(n) other (please include in comment section)

 

ANSWER:  

l

(and)

m

(and possibly)

n

Of course, I could be completely wrong!!!

Yes We Can!

A myriad bubbles were floating on the surface of a stream. ‘What are you?’ I cried to them as they drifted by. ‘I am a bubble, of course’ nearly a myriad bubbles answered, and there was surprise and indignation in their voices as they passed.

But, here and there, a lonely bubble answered, ‘We are this stream’, and there was neither surprise nor indignation in their voices, but just a quiet certitude.

— from Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei

Winking Wisdom #4: SVU

You know you watch way too much TV when you recognize actors in commercials from their bit parts on “Law & Order: SVU”

Buddhas For Barack

My God can beat your God. 

Vote Democrat and you’re a godless pagan.

How would Jesus vote? (Probably not for Romans)

John McCain campaigns in Iowa today trying to drum up votes in the state that kicked off Barack Obama’s presidential aspirations.

While Sarah Palin’s personal exorcist already expelled any incantations which witches may have snuck past the Secret Service, John McCain still remains vulnerable to all those left-winged Wiccans brewing October Surprises.

Thank goodness that theology trumps thaumaturgy on the campaign trail. Before McCain’s folksy talk in Davenport about the evils of his opponent with the non-Christian name, a minister delivered an invocation to send any politically incorrect deities packing:

“There are plenty of people around the world who are praying to their god, be they Hindu, Buddah [sic], or Allah, that (McCain’s) opponent wins. I pray that you step forward and honor your own name.” Ends with “in Jesus’ name.”  quote

 

Buddhas and Bramas for Barack! Allah for anyone with a Muslim sounding name. Never mind that the Hindu god Ganesha is an elephant, the symbol of the GOP, or that Buddha was not a god at all but an enlightened human (and not even that confusing father-son-spirit trilogy of Christianity). And never mind that the Judeo-Christian “God” delivers little political pandering aside from all that the Ten Commandment and “love thy neighbor as thy self” business — with no caveats if those neighbors display bumper stickers different from yours.

No, those “other gods” supporting Barack Obama be damned. And who cares that the Jewish Adoni, the Christian Father and the Muslim Allah are technically one in the same. The one true GOD of GOP has spoken and must be obeyed.

With GOP rallies sounding more like witch-hunts and Klan-hate fests, one wonders why any God would be interested in politics at all. Perhaps S/He confronts more concerns than mortgage bailouts (greed, after all, is one of those deadly sins) such as genocide in Darfur, AIDs in Africa, poverty, global warming and extinction of nearly one-fourth of the creatures S/He created. If politicos want Holy endorsements, maybe they need to respect God’s own position planks more.

Many teachings of the Tibetan Buddhist leader Dalai Lama (bless him in his recovery from surgery) talk about the proper role of leadership. However, two reflect the wranglings of this tiresome election:

 

Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

and 

It seems that when men become desperate they consult their gods. And when the gods become desperate, they tell lies!

 

© 2008 winkingbuddha.com

 

 

Winking Wisdom #3

Somewhere in the world, it’s dawn