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Showing posts with the label Buddhism

The Necklace

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  “SHE WAS one of those pretty, charming young ladies, born, as if through an error of destiny, into a family of clerks. She had no dowry, no hopes, no means of becoming known, appreciated, loved, and married by a man either rich or distinguished; and she allowed herself to marry a petty clerk in the office of the Board of Education. . . .  She had neither frocks nor jewels, nothing. And she loved only those things. She felt that she was made for them. She had such a desire to please, to be sought after, to be clever, and courted.” —THE NECKLACE Guy de Maupassant    France, 1884 (pic by Grok) Read this short story here:  https://americanliterature.com/author/guy-de-maupassant/short-story/the-necklace
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Book Review: "The Lost Sutras of Jesus"

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Reigert, R. and Moore, T. The Lost Sutras of Jesus: Unlocking the Ancient Wisdom of the Xian Monks.  Berkeley: Seastone, 2003. I read this short book sporadically then had a conversation with colleague, whose comments in context with his personal background caused me to go back and read the book again. When describing this book to him, this wise man spoke of challenges faced by Chinese Christians to this day; that is, the assimilation of Buddhism with teachings of Christianity. This book described the source of the challenge that, in effect, is centuries old. Moore and Reigery present the history, teachings and suggested meanings of a set of ancient Chinese scrolls containing spiritual teachings, a section of which is presently referred to as “The Jesus Sutras.” While this book would make it good “coffee table” read, some key elements are lost by it’s conciseness. For example, “sutra” is never defined so a good reader would be well served to find the Buddhistic applica...
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Meak Bochea (Cambodia)

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"Māgha Pūjā,  Makha Bucha, or the  Full Moon of Tabaung  . . .  is an important  Buddhist festival  celebrated in  Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos on the full moon day of the third lunar month (this usually falls in February). The third lunar month is known in the Thai language as Makha (Pali: Māgha); Bucha is also a Thai word (Pali: Pūjā), meaning 'to venerate' or 'to honor'. As such, Makha Bucha Day is for the veneration of Buddha and his teachings on the full moon day of the third lunar month." (source: Wikipedia) This is a day Buddhists strive not to sin, to do only good and purify the mind. This worldview is not understood with ease, being a kind of atheism that rejects the belief of a personal God yet is deeply concerned with maintaining purity with a non-personal Universe. Simply put (as much as one is able), the founder of Buddhism observed a world of suffering and evil under the watch-care of a personal God and he ...
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