After flowing-on for a hundred thousand ages, she evolved in this Buddha-era among gods and men in a poor family in Sāvatthi. Her name was Gotamī-tissa, but because her body was very skinny she was called 'Skinny Gotamī'. When she went to her husband's family, she was scorned [and called] 'daughter of a poor family'. Then she gave birth to a son, and with the arrival of the son she was treated with respect. But that son, running back and forth and … [Read more...]
Full Ordination for Nuns Restored in Sri Lanka
Ani Jutima
After a hiatus of one thousand years, Theravadin women once more have the opportunity to ordain as bhikkhunis and thus become full members of the Sangha. Traditionally the Sangha is composed of fully ordained nuns (bhikkhunī), fully ordained monks (bhikkhu), novice nuns (sāmaṇēri), and novice monks (sāmaṇera). From the 3rd century BCE when King Ashoka’s son, Mahinda, and daughter, Sanghamitta, brought the ordination lineages of both monks and nuns from India to Sri Lanka, there was a long, … [Read more...]
Dharma Rain
Andrew Olendzki
Mother Rain S 1:80 vuṭṭhi alasam analasañca mātā puttaṃ va posati vuṭṭhibhūtā upajīvanti ye pāṇā pathaviṃ sitā ti The rain pours down on weak and strong As a mother nurtures her child. The spirits of the rain sustain All creatures who dwell on the earth. * Slipping Away Heraññakāni Thera Thag 145 accayanti ahorattā, jīvitaṃ uparujjhati, āyu khīyati maccānaṃ kunnadīnaṃ va odakaṃ. Days and nights go hurtling by Till our lifetime comes to an end. the life of mortals slips … [Read more...]
A Beautiful Paradox
Paula Green
Paula, I know you would not describe yourself as a dharma teacher, and yet you have deep connections to IMS, don’t you? Yes, I do have a long and significant history with IMS. I would say I am a teacher and practitioner of peacebuilding, who has been deeply inspired by the dharma for about 20 years. I was a psychotherapist at the time I began sitting, drawn to meditation to understand my inner life at a deeper level than I had access to through psychotherapy. I became involved in the … [Read more...]
The Buddha Taught Nonviolence, Not Pacifism
Paul Fleischman
Paul Fleischman is a psychiatrist and a Teacher of vipassanā meditation in the tradition of S.N. Goenka. He is the author, among other works, of Cultivating Inner Peace and Karma and Chaos. In the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, I have found myself musing about nonviolence, its contributions, its limits, and its place in the Buddha’s teaching. I have also been surprised to hear many of my acquaintances confuse the Buddha’s teaching of nonviolence with pacifism … [Read more...]
Zazen Is Not the Same as Meditation
Issho Fujita
These remarks are excerpted from course handouts given by Rev. Fujita at a workshop called “The Lived-Body Experience in Buddhist Meditation" he taught at BCBS in March, 2002. There seems to be a common misunderstanding about zazen, which some people think of as a technique for reaching a state of “no thought.” Such an understanding of zazen assumes that a certain state of mind can be reached by manipulation, technique or method. In the West, zazen is usually translated as “Zen meditation” … [Read more...]
