By Shyamal  Sinha, New Delhi

From ted.com

Ogyen Trinley “appears to have been accepted by a majority of Karma Kagyu monasteries and lamas, there remains a substantial minority of monasteries and lamas who have not accepted Ogyen Trinley as Karmapa. In particular, these include the Shamar Rinpoche, who historically has been the person most directly involved in the process of recognition.

Thousands marched  to the streets of Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim, on 11 July to urge the Indian government to allow Ogyen Trinley Dorje, one of the two claimaints to the title of 17th Karmapa, to visit the landlocked Indian state. The key reason for the government’s refusal to allow Ogyen Trinley Dorje to visit Sikkim is the political sensitivity of Rumtek Monastery, the current seat of the Karma Kagyu leader, located 24 kilometers from Gangtok.

The institution of the Karmapa is the oldest tulku lineage in Tibetan Buddhism, dating back to Düsum Khyenpa (1110–93). Historically, the Karmapas were based at Tsurphu Monastery in Tibet, but the 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, rebuilt Rumtek Monastery (Rumtek had already been established as a center of learning in the mid-1700s by the 12th Karmapa, Changchub Dorje, but had since fallen into disrepair) to be his new seat in 1966 after leaving Tsurphu Monastery and Tibet.

The majority of Tibetan Buddhists have recognized Ogyen Trinley Dorje as the reincarnation of Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, while an influential minority holds that Trinley Thaye Dorje is the 17th Karmapa. The dispute has prompted India to prohibit both masters from visiting Rumtek. Neither candidate lives or has been enthroned there, and the movements of Ogyen Trinley Dorje, who is based at Sidhburi in India after fleeing Tibet at the age of 14, remain closely watched by the Indian government.

According to the website of Rumtek Monastery: “The Karmapa remains in temporary residence at Gyuto Ramoche Tantric University near Dharamsala, receiving teachings and transmissions from eminent Kagyu masters while the Indian government considers his request for asylum. Followers from around the world now travel to India to receive his blessings. One of His Holiness’s regents, His Eminence the Twelfth Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche, is overseeing activities at Rumtek Dharma Chakra Centre until His Holiness Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje returns.”

The rally on 11 July was encouraged by reports that the Sikkim government had made progress in organizing a visit by Ogyen Trinley Dorje. The exile Tibetan news portal Phayul reported that a memo had been sent from the state governor on 6 July appointing Acharya Tshering Lama, chairman of Sikkim’s Ecclesiastical Affairs Department, to welcome the spiritual leader. The circular also recommended that Ogyen Trinley Dorje be accorded a cabinet rank reception with the Sikkim government.

However, according to a report on 10 July from Indian newspaper The Tribune, “there was no official confirmation regarding permission given by the Government of India allowing Karmapa to visit Rumtek Monastery.” On the same day, Phayul identified an unnamed source close to the Karmapa as claiming: “the initiative from the State of Sikkim is a welcoming sign. However, the Karmapa office here [in Dharamsala] has not yet received any confirmation letter from either the Central Tibetan Administration or New Delhi.” (Phayul) The source added that the process has only just begun and it would depend on how and when the appointed official approaches the Indian government to initiate it.

“We the people of Sikkim, in conformity and continuity to our common aspiration and prayers, therefore unanimously resolve that the Government of India must immediately grant permission and necessary clearance to Gyalwang Karmapa to visit and bless Sikkim,” the rally organizers said in a statement. Prominent slogans on banners held high during the march included: “It’s time that our dharma guru visit Sikkim now,” “Please allow Karmapa to visit and bless Sikkim,” and “Government of India, you have sovereign power to allow Karmapa to visit Sikkim.” (Phayul) Ogyen Trinley Dorje’s mother’s name is Loga; his father’s name is Karma Döndrub Tashi, a name given to him by the 16th Karmapa. Both of Ogyen Trinley Dorje’s parents’ names were similar to the names in the letter produced by Tai Situpa. According to Michele Martin, the letter was interpreted to mean he would be “born … in the area of Lhathok, which translates as ‘divine (lha) thunder (thog).’ The name of the remote nomadic community where Ogyen Trinley Dorje was born is Bagor, of which ba means ‘cow.’ The next line indicates his parents, where the masculine principle method refers to his father Döndrub, and the feminine principle wisdom refers to his mother Lolaga. The one used for the earth points to an animal that plows, and Ogyen Trinley Dorje was born in the year of the Wood Ox (1985). The far-reaching sound of the white one indicates the sound of the conch shell that is said to have miraculously resounded in the sky for hours after Ogyen Trinley’s birth.

a Ready for Viewing

By Shyamal Sinha,New Delhi

The new stone Buddha in Mustang, Nepal. From huffingtonpost.comNepal’s largest stone Buddha is now open to the public. Situated at an altitude of 12,600 feet in Mustang’s Muktinath Valley, the Buddha was erected in the vicinity of Muktinath Temple, a pilgrimage spot for both Hindus and Buddhists, and has a height of 32 feet. The Muktinath Temple is considered to be a Shakti Peetha for a yatra. Shakti Peethas are sacred abodes of Shakti formed due to the falling of body parts of the corpse of Sati Devi, when Lord Shiva carried it and wandered.

The statue is reportedly made from a special stone from Pharping, a sacred site to the southwest of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu. (The Huffington Post)

The Buddha was built by brothers Dharmaraj Shakya and Uttam Shakya and funded by social worker and entrepreneur Sonam Lama and his wife Nima Lama. Sonam Lama is the owner of restaurant and grocery businesses in New York City. Work on the statue began in 2013 and cost more than 15 million Nepalese rupees.

The largest Buddha statue in Nepal that is made of cement stands at 67 feet and is located in Amitabha Buddha Park, to the west of Swayambunath Stupa in Kathmandu.

At a weight of 60,000 kilograms (132,277 lb), the Mustang stone statue joins the ranks of some of the world’s largest Buddhas—although it does not quite match up to Scribol’s stone competitors from around the world. The destroyed standing Buddhas at Bamiyan in Afghanistan, for example, are ranked at number 16 (180 feet and 121 feet).

The Leshan Giant Buddha. From worldheritage.routes.travel

The Usuki Buddhas. From Fromjapan-guide.com

At 233 feet, the stone Leshan Giant Maitreya Buddha in China is considered to be the largest stone Buddha in the world. It was constructed by a Chinese monk, Master Haitong, in 713 and completed in 803. Carved out of a cliff at the confluence of the Minjing, Dadu, and Qingyi rivers in southern Sichuan Province, it faces Emei Mountain, one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains in China and dedicated to the bodhisattva Samantabhadra.

The Buddha at Bingling Temple, China. Fromabsolutechinatours.com

Even when size isn’t taken into account, stone Buddhas are easily some of the most beautiful and striking Buddhist landmarks in the world. The Usuki Stone Buddhas in Kyushu, for example, are the only stone Buddhas in Japan to be designated a National Treasure, the most precious category of Japan’s tangible cultural properties. They were sculpted sometime during the late Heian era (745–1185) out of the soft volcanic rock of Mount Aso, an active caldera at the center of Kyushu (japan-guide.com). In China, the Bingling Temple is a series of 183 grottoes, with the earliest cave being excavated in 420, the year the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317–420) collapsed. At the complex is a Buddha with a height of 88 feet. It is in a similar sitting pose to the Maitreya Buddha of Leshan.

From en-thousand-trees.blogspot.hk

Another extraordinary stone Buddha is the Buddha head lodged in a tree at the temple of Wat Mahatat in Ayutthaya Historical Park, Thailand. According to Ten Thousand Trees, a blog specializing in trees, “It is told that in 1767 the Burmese attacked and destroyed Ayatthuya. In the process they chopped of the heads of all of the Buddha statues. This particular head must have fallen among the prop roots of a bodhi tree. Over the centuries the roots have grown around the head in such a way that almost seems intentional.” (ten-thousand-trees.blogspot.hk). It is considered to be one of the holiest places of pilgrimage for Hindus and Buddhists.

By Shyamal Sinha,New Delhi

By Shyamal Sinha,New Delhi 

Vajrayana, ( Sanskrit: “Thunderbolt Vehicle” or “Diamond Vehicle”)form of Tantric Buddhism that developed in India and neighbouring countries, notably Tibet.

The three-day international conference on Vajrayana Buddhism titled “Tradition and Innovation in Vajrayana Buddhism concluded on sunday. A Mandala of 21st Century Perspectives.” This unique and broad-ranging forum brought together more than 65 speakers from 17 countries, each of whom offered insights and experiences, thoughts and ideas on various aspects of Vajrayana and related disciplines for consideration and discussion among the attendees.

“This conference is not only about sharing ideas, but about discovering something at the core of our being that we all hold in common,” said Dasho Karma Ura, president of event organizer the Centre for Bhutan Studies & GNH Research (CBS & GNHR). “This is the heart of the Vajrayana Buddhist vision, and the conference will help international guests and Bhutanese alike to apply their innate qualities of compassion, wisdom, and creativity in all aspects of their lives.”

Held from 1–3 July in a specially erected “glass tent” in the verdant, forested campus of the Royal Institute for Tourism and Hospitality in the capital Thimphu, the ambitious undertaking played host to more than 300 guests, delegates, and dignitaries from Bhutan and around the world. The conference speakers included lineage holders, spiritual leaders, Buddhist scholars, academics, and scientists, all of whom offered unique perspectives on continuity and change within the contexts of historical and contemporary Vajrayana Buddhism, which has existed in Bhutan as an unbroken spiritual tradition since the 8th century.

Presentations during the course of the three-day forum ranged from perspectives on the historical evolution of Vajrayana Buddhism to art, ceremony, and tantric practices, and to visions and initiatives aimed at preserving the Vajrayana tradition and teachings of engaged compassion and adapting them to the challenges of the 21st century.

The Royal Institute for Tourism and Hospitality. Photo by the author

At the conference’s opening ceremony, Bhutanese prime minister Tshering Tobgay observed: “This conference is not only about what we Bhutanese can share with all of you who have come from across the world to experience Vajrayana Buddhism in its living context. We ourselves will benefit greatly by learning more about the forms that Vajrayana Buddhism has adopted in Mongolia, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Russia, Australia, Brazil, Japan, China, Europe, and the United States.”

The first day opened with welcoming addresses from senior monastic leaders, including His Holiness the Je Khenpo Trulku Jigme Chhoeda, the supreme head of Bhutan’s Central Monastic Body, His Eminence Khamba Lam Gabju, supreme head of the Centre of Mongolian Buddhism, and Venerable Lama Lobzang, secretary general of the International Buddhist Confederation. The themes for the day, “Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Vajrayana Buddhism” and “Vajrayana Buddhism and Mind-Body Practices,” brought speakers from Australia, Bhutan, Hong Kong, Italy, India, Taiwan, Thailand, the UK, and the US. Among the speakers, Dr. Geoffrey Samuel, professor at the Department of Indian and Subcontinental Studies at the University of Sydney, gave an overview of Vajrayana’s evolution with respect to its understanding of healing and medical science, the sacredness of the environment, and death and dying. David Verdesi, founder of Human Potential Research and Development, addressed advanced yogic and tantric practices, urging that such teachings be promoted to ensure that they are not lost to future generations. Dr. Omanand Guruji, chief disciple of His Holiness Yugpurush Mahamandaleshwar Swami Shree Paramanand Giriji Maharaj, and yoga instructor Dr. Jean Lim explored the role of Kundalini in awakening Buddha nature.

The second day was structured around the role of women in Vajrayana, notable historical and contemporary figures, and Vajrayana’s tradition of active social engagement. Among the 20 speakers for the day, Canadian nun Venerable Ani Chozom discussed the intensive yogic and meditative practices of the nuns at Gebchak Gonpa in Tibet, and noted the contrast with an increasing emphasis on scholastic pursuits over traditional Vajrayana practices in many contemporary Tibetan monastic communities. Dr. Tashi Zangmo, executive director of the Bhutan Nuns Foundation, emphasized the vital role of women in communicating wisdom and enlightenment, underscoring the progress still to be made in accepting female Rinpoches in the traditionally male-dominated monastic environment. Speakers from Bhutan, China, India, Italy, Nepal, Taiwan, and the UK, meanwhile, discussed various expressions of Buddhism’s role as a powerful force for positive transformation through social engagement.

A monk gives food to a Muslim woman. From dhakatribune.com

The writer claimed to be an Islamic militant, although didn’t mention an affiliation or allegiance to any extremist organization. However, the individual seems to have made a similar threat before. South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) reported that earlier, on 15 June, Dhaka’s Hindu Ramakrishna Mission received a similarly worded letter signed AB Siddique, with the difference that the letter claimed to be from Islamic State of Bangladesh (ISB).

The name “Islamic State of Bangladesh” seems to imply that AB Siddique is affiliated with the so-called Islamic State (known as Daesh to mainstream Muslims), or ISIS/ISIL. While there are conflicting reports about the relationship between the extremist factions in Bangladesh and IS, it is clear that a wave of Islamic extremism has swept Bangladesh over the past few years. Since January 2014 alone, more than 40 people, including people of non-Islamic faiths and agnostic or atheist bloggers and intellectuals, have been killed in extremist violence. Two organizations, a Bangladeshi militant group affiliated with al-Qaeda, and IS, have claimed responsibility for some of the murders. Bangladesh’s government has denied the presence of both IS and al-Qaeda in the country, attributing the acts to native radicals.In the Chittagong Hills, Buddhist tribes formed the majority of the population, and their religion appeared to be a mixture of tribal beliefs and Buddhist doctrines. According to the 1981 census, there were approximately 538,000 Buddhists in Bangladesh, representing less than 1 percent of the population.