American Buddhist Net

Retreats can deepen spiritual practice or energize a stagnant meditation routine. Though the practice of meditation is personal, joining a group of like-minded individuals on a short retreat may provide the support and affirmation needed to stay focused. The following is a round-up of area temples or centers offering a peaceful refuge.

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Meditation classes: 10-11:15 a.m. Sundays and 7-8:30 p.m. Mondays at Vajrayana Buddhist Center, 13 Harrison St., in Oak Park. Everyone welcome. Drop in anytime. Visit www.meditateinchicago.org. Call Education Program Coordinator Fran Von Zee (708) 763-0132.

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Buddhist Meditation and Spiritual Support Group, 7:30-8:30 p.m., Arkansas Yoga Center, 1949 N. Green Acres Road, Fayetteville; 422-6526 or 521-2395.

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An American university student full of existent questions took off and got on a plane to Bangkok in 1972. He studied Hinayana Buddhism for a year in Thailand, met Korean Buddhist monks there and was attracted to Korean Buddhism. In 1974, he finally visited Korea, was given the Buddhist name of Hyemyeong at the Songgwang Temple in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province and trained and meditated for five years.

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The basis of Buddhism is the The Four Noble Truths and The Eightfold Path that the historical Buddha taught in his first sermon following his enlightenment. What is this Four Noble Truths?

Thus have I heard...

Now this, bhikkhus [i.e. monks], is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.

This is the First Noble Truth. All of life is suffering. At first this seems a horrible view but it is not intended to deny that there is joy and happiness in life. Far from it. Rather to point out that suffering is an inevitable part of all aspects of life.

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...[Dissidents] said [Rev. Braxton] called on worshipers to come forward and bear witness to their faith, favored the gospel choir over the church’s traditional choir, and preached at times what they considered a Riverside heresy: that Jesus and only Jesus was the way to salvation.

Some members of the congregation may believe that, said Constance Guice-Mills, a member of the church. “But his focus on personal salvation, on the individual, was diametrically opposed to the tradition of Riverside. Here, we believe you achieve salvation by doing social justice. Out in the world. And we have people from all backgrounds. Buddhists.”

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Nontraditional medicine taking hold slowly

When Barbara Sarah was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992, she followed the treatment that traditional medicine called for. She underwent a lumpectomy to remove the tumor, then further surgery to remove 17 lymph nodes. When her surgeon told her the next step was chemotherapy and radiation, she reflected on all the pain she had endured, and the nausea, fatigue and other side effects she could look forward to with the chemo, and said, "That's enough."

...Two years after her diagnosis, Sarah heard that Benedictine Hospital in Kingston was looking to hire an oncology social worker. She applied and got the job. She created an oncology support program drawn from Japanese therapy, a natural way of wellness based on Buddhist thinking.

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Toshio Sakai, a longtime Walnut Grove resident who helped lead a battle by Japanese Americans to overcome the vestiges of a historical racial ban on land ownership, died Thursday at age 95.

...He was a past president of Walnut Grove Buddhist Church and chairman of its 75th anniversary celebration in 2002.

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Anger may be caused by your unconscious interpretations

"She's always making me feel insecure."

Can others make you feel these or other emotions, including happy? If you say 'Yes' then you believe that at least some of your emotions are caused by outside forces. But it's typically not the event that makes you upset or happy. It's what you're thinking about the situation that determines emotional reactions.

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...This led him to further his practice with the Victoria Zen Centre by completing training and education seminars. The centre will recognize his commitment to the practice and ordain him as Victoria’s first Zen monk at the University of Victoria’s interfaith chapel at 10 a.m. July 19.

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J.D. Salinger, as you may have read over the last few weeks, is inveighing against "phonies" yet again. Fifty-eight years since the publication of "The Catcher in the Rye" -- indeed, 44 years since he published anything -- the famously reclusive and litigious author, now 90, recovering from hip surgery and totally deaf, has taken legal action to stop the U.S. publication of a Swedish novel called "Sixty Years Later: Coming Through the Rye." Subtitled "An Unauthorized Fictional Examination of the Relationship Between J.D. Salinger and His Most Famous Character." The novel depicts a 76-year-old Holden Caulfield, who meets his author and revisits various locations and characters featured in the original book.

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Center for American Buddhist Practice Sutra Study class meets this Tuesday at Eye of the Buddha starting at 6pm.

June 29 (Bloomberg) -- Steve Jobs, Apple Inc.’s chief executive officer, got a liver transplant quickly because of a U.S. system that favors patients with the means to rush to geographic areas where there is less competition for organs.

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...The American Buddhist Society's presentation of "Agangamasor" as dance drama Saturday at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center was a treat. The society pulled together 37 first-rate, mostly U.S.-based musicians and dancers to mount the hour-long performance. The distinctly Eastern concept of an endless cycle of good vs. evil is best conveyed through a full-length story. In this country, classical Cambodian dance programs often present a scene from a longer drama, but rarely an entire story.

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More than 600 of Nashville's Lao Buddhists gathered on Sunday to pay their final respects to a beloved spiritual leader and one of the Southeast's leading Buddhist monks.

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BOULDER, Colo. — The University of Colorado and Boulder's Buddhist-inspired Naropa University are among the 700 schools nationwide voluntarily partnering with the Department of Veterans Affairs to offer scholarships to veterans.

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"Southern Fried Dharma, Paramitas and Beatitudes" by Billy Thomas is the topic for the Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

Both Christianity and Buddhism are well equipped to help shape values for the human condition. Both religions make their mark and are marked by whatever culture they are planted in. While on the mountain in North Carolina Thomas began to wonder what kind of faith system would be most helpful to the folks he saw going in and out of the grocery store, especially those who often had to leave items on the counter because they had put in their basket more than their budget would allow.

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Thinley Ningpo became a monk at a Buddhist monastery in northern Tibet. He has made pilgrimages to the sacred places of western Tibet, studied under the eminent scholars of his faith and earned the title of Drupon ("retreat teacher") and the honorific Rinpoche ("precious one") for the years he has spent teaching and seeking enlightenment.

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The Spokane Buddhist Temple, 927 S. Perry St., will host “Buddhism: A Theory of Cause and Effect,” on Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m.

Bhante Seelawimala, a Therevada monk from Sri Lanka and a professor at the Institute of Studies and Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif., will speak at the event.

For more information, call the temple office at (509) 534-7954.

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...“The significance of it is that we are honoring Mrs. Hojo’s contribution to the music of our temples and adapting it from Dharma School for use at the Obon,” Iwanaga said. “Usually, the songs come from Japan so I’m excited about this attempt to use a song that was created here and to recognize Mrs. Hojo’s contributions to American Buddhist music.”

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Thinley Ningpo became a monk at a Buddhist monastery in northern Tibet. He has made pilgrimages to the sacred places of western Tibet, studied under the eminent scholars of his faith and earned the title of Drupon ("retreat teacher") and the honorific Rinpoche ("precious one") for the years he has spent teaching and seeking enlightenment.

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PATASKALA -- Some area residents and religious leaders are worried about a proposed Buddhist development setting up shop along Blacks Road on the city's eastern edge.
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Residents and pastors recently approached the Pataskala City Council to express their concerns.

"I question where the funding comes from, and what their real intentions are and the impact on the community long-term," said Gale Road resident Glenn Graham, a pastor at a Kirkersville-area church.

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Join us this Wednesday for a noon gathering for the purpose of meditation and dharma discussion. We are a non-sectarian peer led group associated with the Wake Up to Your Life group of Columbus, OH. Each Wednesday at noon, we gather at the Buddhist Center of Ohio to for some shared silence and Buddhism discussion.

What: Meditation and dharma discussion
When: 12P to 1P each Wednesday
Where: Buddhist Center of Ohio, 1005 King Ave, Columbus, Ohio, 43212

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Venerable Huei Guang will be offering a free teaching on the Path to Liberation - Meditation and Discourse

Date and time: Tuesday, June 30, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Location: Dharma Bum Temple, 541 - 2nd Avenue, San Diego, CA 92101

Nikolai Grozni was a piano prodigy studying jazz performance and composition at Berklee College of Music in Boston when he had an epiphany. It was nothing dramatic; he simply woke up one morning, went to the bathroom to brush his teeth, and then, “somewhere between the bathroom and the living room,” he lost all sense of purpose.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Now that the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art is officially pedigreed -- it recently joined both the state and national Registers of Historic Places -- a little modernization is in order.

It's already under way, as it happens, with "Tibetan Portrait: The Power of Compassion," a two-part installation purchased by means of a $10,000 grant from the Staten Island Foundation.

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The Buddhist Temple of Salinas is seeking people interested in learning to perform the Obon Odori dance for the temple's Obon festival July 26. All are welcome to participate.

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"Clarity of Mind" takes place at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, June 24, at Spiritschild Metaphysical Center (3773 W. Ina Road). "Discovering the Root Mind" takes place at 7 p.m., Thursday, June 25. Free.

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BOULDER, Colo. — Only in Boulder: a Buddhist boxing gym.

The walls of Front Range Boxing are lined with Lao Tzo quotes, alongside photos of Dave Gaudette with famous boxers and trainers.

Gaudette was 16 years old when he fell in love with boxing. Another twist: At the time, he was studying to be a Franciscan priest.

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