Bush vows to press China on rights at Olympics

US President George W. Bush said Thursday he would attend the Beijing Olympics in August as a sports fan, but vowed not to be “shy” about pushing China on human rights as well as Darfur and Myanmar.

Bush also stopped short of saying Olympic athletes should be able to publicly criticize President Hu Jintao’s government, saying every country’s Olympic committee would set the rules for their competitors.

Thai community struggles to complete Buddhist temple

From The Miami Herald - Not far from tomato fields, surrounded by litchi, longan and avocado groves, an unlikely collection of concrete and clay-tiled buildings presides over a quiet corner of the Redland.

There are the small rooms where orange-robed monks sleep on spartan platforms; the classrooms where parents send their children for summer schooling in the hope they will hold on to their language and customs in a new country.

Japanese monk sings rap to bring Buddhism to youth

From Tajikistan News - A Japanese Buddhist monk is getting down with rap music. Kansho Tagai, aka Happiness Kansho or Mr Happiness, learned to rap at the age of 47, and is doing a pretty good job of opening the religious doors to young fans.

‘I came to this world to help you out of suffering. My name is Shaka Munibutsu (Gautama Siddhartha). Say baby, listen to me. Everyone’s my cute baby. I’m here to help you out of suffering and pain,’ Mr Happiness, the shaven-headed chief monk of Tokyo’s Kyooji temple, raps blending Japanese and English phrases.

Buddhist temple takes dispute over election to Ark. Supreme Court

From Associated Press - Buddhist temple unable to resolve a dispute over its leadership and members has sought out help from a higher power — the Arkansas Supreme Court.

Justices heard oral arguments Thursday in a lawsuit challenging a 2006 election for the leadership of a Fort Smith Buddhist temple. An attorney for a former abbot of Wat Buddha Samakitham argued that a judge violated the U.S. Constitution by deciding which members of the temple could vote in a 2006 election for the institution. Circuit Judge James Marschewski ruled that the temple’s 1989 bylaws were valid and ordered an election to pick a new seven-member board.

A Call From Burma!

A New Campaign Rallying One Million Citizens around the world to turn off their televisions and boycott the Beijing Olympics Unless China Ends Its Support for Burma’s Military Regime

A message from the US Campaign For Burma….

Nepal hands over Tibetan after late night raid on Tibetan refugee center in Kathmandu

From International Campaign For Tibet - Nepal handed over a Tibetan man in his twenties to Chinese authorities today after he was taken into custody during a February 23 late-night raid by 50 to 60 armed police on the Tibetan Refugee Reception Center. The center is administered by the Lutheran World Federation and funded by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. The excessive show of police force was unprecedented at the Kathmandu center, a place where emergency humanitarian assistance is provided to Tibetan refugees transiting to India after escaping from Tibet. Twenty-seven year old Tsering Dhundup from Qinghai Province was held in a cell by the Nepalese immigration department before being handed back to the Chinese authorities at the Tibet-Nepal border at 4:15 pm local time today (5:30 am EST).

Devotees unable to save Buddhist temple, but tree will be preserved

From The Earth Times - The Singapore High Court dismissed a bid to save a 65-year-old Buddhist temple site from government acquisition, but a Bodhi tree regarded as sacred will not be chopped down, news reports said Tuesday. Devotees of the temple had filed a suit against the acquisition, alleging a violation of the constitution.

The decision published in The Straits Times gave the trustees two months to move the Jin Long Si Temple to a temporary site. The government did not breach the constitution, said Justice Tan Lee Meng on Monday.

New Book Points to Spy Network Surrounding Beijing Olympics

From AFP - As athletes train for the summer Olympics in China, a new book claims that the country’s vast spy network is gearing up for a different challenge - keeping an eye on journalists and potential troublemakers.

French writer Roger Faligot, author of some 40 intelligence-related books, has penned ‘The Chinese Secret Services from Mao to the Olympic Games’, due out February 29.

Sri Lankan monks battle monkeys to save Buddhism’s holiest tree

From AFP - Buddhism’s holiest tree in Sri Lanka’s ancient capital, tightly guarded by monks and security forces after Tamil rebels attacked it 23 years ago, is under threat again — this time from monkeys.

Pilgrims are frisked and scanned by metal detectors before being allowed to worship the “Sri Maha Bodi,” grown from a sapling of a tree in India that sheltered the Buddha when he attained enlightenment more than 2,550 years ago.

Americans Switching Religious Affiliations

From CNN - The U.S. religious marketplace is extremely volatile, with nearly half of American adults leaving the faith tradition of their upbringing to either switch allegiances or abandon religious affiliation altogether, a new survey finds.

The survey found the Roman Catholic Church has lost more members than any faith tradition.

The study released Monday by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life is unusual for it sheer scope, relying on interviews with more than 35,000 adults to document a diverse and dynamic U.S. religious population.

Second Life Anyone?

I think I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m quite enthralled with Second Life. I’d describe it as a game of sorts, but it really isn’t a game at all. I’d compare it to The Sims but it’s not really like that. So the best way to describe would be to call it what it is, a Second Life.

You virtually create the world you choose to live in. There are people (and various other life forms) of all shapes and sizes. There are fantasy lands, realistic recreations of things and places in RL and tons more. There are live concerts by big bands (U2 once did an exclusive Second Life show).

Tibetan activists stage symbolic torch relay in Taiwan

From The Raw Story - Tibetan activists on Sunday staged a symbolic torch relay in Taipei ahead of their “Olympics”, a move sure to irk China after Taiwan refused to allow the torch for the Beijing Games on its soil.

Former Miss Tibet Tsering Chungtak, clad in a traditional robe, held the torch on the square in front of Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall, where a small group of Tibetans and Taiwanese had gathered, waving a “Tibetan Olympics” flag.

Keep Track of Right Now!

I don’t normally mention specific products here but I received an e-mail about something I think is great and could be very helpful to some, especially myself (we all have work to do right?).

Anyway, the item is called the Now Watch. Rather than having numerals all over the face, you get the small hand, big hand and in the background, a constant reminder of what time it really is, now!

Buddhist teachers train in Sarasota

From Herald Tribune - More than 40 Buddhist meditation teachers from throughout the state gathered here for training this month.

The Teaching Skills Retreat, which aimed to improve the qualifications of Kadampa teachers, was Feb. 8 to Feb. 10 at the Kadampa Meditation Center Florida, 2016 N. Lockwood Ridge Road in Sarasota.

BEWARE - Buddhist Viruses are Lurking on the Web

Professor Richard P. Hayes of McGill University in Canada has compiled a list of known viruses inhabiting Buddhist’s computers. These viruses have been around for thousands of years and they even defy the skills of McAffey. You can visit Professor Hayes at http://www.unm.edu/~rhayes and http://home.comcast.net/~dayamati

THERAVADA TERROR (often packaged in a seemingly innocuous file known as BHIKKHU.BUG): operates by giving ordination to your computer’s CPU. While relatively harmless during the morning hours, this virus has the effect of making your computer refuse to intake or process any hard data after noon.