lotusinthemud

saving gas (or petrol, as we brits call it)

Save Gas, Save Money: 66 Ways To Spend Less On Gasoline:

While the rising cost of oil has the price of gasoline skyrocketing faster than global warming is melting glaciers, people everywhere are preparing for cross-country road trips to Grand Canyon National Park and summer camps in Maine. We can't really argue with that innate desire to get closer to nature and out on the open road, and whether you're a die-hard cyclist or a still driving an SUV, chances are you plan to get in a car to go somewhere this summer. So whether you're packing up the Prius for some close-to-home camping, towing the boat to far-away shores, or merely fighting the crosstown traffic, these money- and gas-saving tips are designed to help you squeeze every last bit of power out of that precious petrol--and cause fewer CO2 emissions, too. It's a comprehensive list--several tasks should be done before even starting your car; others require minor adjustments to your driving style. All of them aim to help you drive a little greener.

::read more here

it's a bank holiday and my children and grandchildren are going camping

Rain and delays set for weekend

Busy roads, disruption on the railways and wet and cold weather for some are predicted for the Bank Holiday weekend.

amida france retreat centre - events summer 2008

Details of events and booking information, what to bring with you etc to our wonderful retreat centre in the middle of France.

friends of amida social network

If you are interested in the work and activities of Amida Trust and would like to join the associated social network do check out this site and join. Once a member, there are a number of groups you can join, including Buddhist counselling and psychotherapy, Travel, Buddhist arts, Multi-faith discussion. The membership is world-wide and growing...

"my life in forbidden lhasa" (1955) republished by national geographic

As seen in the film 'Seven Years in Tibet',

Austrian soldier Heinrich Harrer escaped from a British POW camp in India in World War II and ended up as the young Dalai Lama's tutor in Tibet. Harrer wrote about his cultural immersion for the July 1955 edition of National Geographic. Republished in the May 2008 special issue on China.

::link to boingboing

::link to national geographic story (17 pages)

There's much interesting information in this article on the young Dalai Lama and life in Tibet before the Chinese invasion.

finally, could timing be right for tibet reforms?

Timing is everything, even in Tibet, a place where time used to stand still. Findlay's Phil Sugden and Carole Elchert believe this could be the year the world finally takes notice of the human rights injustices that have taken place in Tibet for nearly five decades.

Sugden and Elchert, frequent travelers to the Himalayan region, said they are not surprised by the current rioting in Tibet, considering the deep frustration many Tibetans feel living under China's rule.

Lhasa, a city once home to the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, and still considered the holiest city of Tibetan Buddhism, has been transformed into a shopping mall for the Chinese, who can travel there via high-speed train.

Today a sprawling city of 1.5 million people, Lhasa has more Chinese than Tibetans.

"The Chinese have attempted to destroy the Tibetan culture over the years, but the natives, despite that, have somehow managed to remain a very religious people," Elchert said.

zenn and the art of green driving

This is the way to go!

prasada and dharmavidya to give teachings at esalen 2008

Dates for your diary:

Dharmavidya David Brazier and Prasada Caroline Brazier are to give a five day seminar on Buddhist Psychology at Esalen Jan 27th Feb 1st 2008

Esalen is a place with a global reach. It is a place, as Thomas Wolfe said about America, where miracles not only happen but where they happen all the time.

See http://www.buddhistpsychology.info/ for more information on the Psychology programme, or email courses@Amidatrust.com

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a remarkable woman

From the FWBO blog there's an article by Lokabandhu about Zee-Zee and her astonishing exploits. I met her at the Bodhi Retreat at The Buddhist House last December. She's currently at Amida France with Modgala, de-briefing, before returning to the UK and giving talks. Good that she can get that breathing space and kind understanding in such tranquil surroundings, after her intense time away.

Lokhabandhu writes:

Her work has been a varied mixture of personal training, checkpoint watches, accompanying children to school past violent Israeli settlers, interviewing victims of military or settler violence, and sending news of what is happening to friends and contacts in the West.
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thinking about jesus

While Dharmavidya was flying back to the UK, he read The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions. This has prompted him to write, in answer to the question 'Do you have a theory about Jesus?' :

Quick answer: Jesus was a Jewish bodhisattva

QUESTION: Do you have a theory about Jesus from a Buddhist perspective? Was he just a good man, a prophet or what?

DHARMAVIDYA: Yes, I have a private hunch. I'd put it like this. In the career of an enlightened teacher one observes three phases which we may call preparation, renunciation and ministry. In the case of Shakyamuni Buddha the phase of preparation runs from his birth until he left home and the phase of renunciation runs from then until his enlightenment. His ministry then occupied the remaining forty plus years of his life.

Now my hypothesis about Jesus is rather unconventional.....
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And, re the similarities and differences beween Pureland Buddhism and the Lord's Prayer:

I have been thinking about the ways in which The Lord's Prayer could and could not be regarded as a Pureland Buddhist text...

Our Father
The Hebrew "Abba" that Jesus used to address God is rather close to th Japanese Oyasamma ("honoured parent") that is used to refer to Amida Buddha.....
::read more

Quick answer: Jesus was a Jewish bodhisattva