"Thoughts" on Our Environments

We've recently had a crop of new postings on the "Thought for the Day" page of our Audio Section and, in the broadest of ways, they have all been related to our environment, both in terms of the outer natural world and our inner mental world.

Our first "Thought" back in January was by Vishvapani and spoke of Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenage climate change activist. Then there were no more Buddhist Thoughts until the 11th of May when Vishvapani this time addressed the issue of so many species going extinct and the loss of biodiversity. On the 18th of May, in his talk for Vesak, Vishvapani spoke of the story of Kisagotami as a model for how we might respond to others’ mental health struggles. And on the 22nd we featured a piece by Professor Tina Beattie because of the reference to picking up and disposing of just one piece of litter a day as in our Daily Mindfulness Exercise.

Boris, Labour and Wise Speech

Following the Boris Burqa article and Labour's on-going Anti-semitism problem, in his latest "Thought for the Day" Vishvapani discusses the Buddhist concept of Wise Speech in relation to diversity.



You can download the talk from our Audio Section...........

Vishvapani and Vesak

I've just posted Vishvapani's "Thought for the Day" from Friday onto our Audio Section.

This is the first talk from Vishvapani since the 14th of May which is a little curious. In the past Vishvapani has usually offered a "Thought" on the occasion of Vesak, the celebration of the Buddha's birth, awakening and death which are all considered to have occurred on the first full moon of May which this year fell on the 29th.

Now he's missed a couple of Vesaks over the years and there could be any number of reasons that he's missed this one, but that is not my point, why are there no other Buddhists who can provide a "thought" on such an important occasion?

On Thought for the Day the majority of contributors are Christian, although there are regular Muslim and Jewish contributors and occasional Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists.

The BBC allocates the number of slots roughly in line with the proportion of each affiliation according to the latest census (2011). So, in terms of faith background, 78% of presenters were Christians, 8% Jews, 4% Muslims, 4% Sikhs, 3% Hindus and 2% Buddhists. Relative to the 2001 census of the population of the UK, and excluding those with no religious affiliation or none stated, Christians were under-represented as presenters (93% being their expected share, given Thought for the Day’s current brief).

By contrast, Jews, Sikhs, Hindus and Buddhists were over-represented in leading Thought for the Day, with the representation of Muslims nearly right in terms of the census (although their numbers have increased considerably since that time).

So, we are not going to get many slots, in fact from when I started posting "Thoughts for the Day" back in 2010 Vishvapani has averaged 8 talks a year but, coming back to my point, it is only ever Vishvapani who supplies a Buddhist Thought for the Day, surely the BBC can find another Buddhist or two to take up the slack and provide some variety of presentation.

Wesak - Buddhism's Relevance in the Modern World

Listen to Vishvapani's Thought for the Day from our Audio Section,

Wesak - Buddhism's Relevance in the Modern World

Note - Latest Vishvapani Talks Now Available

The latest "Thought for the Day" talks by Vishvapani are now available in our Audio Section.

"Education"

The Buddhist ethical precepts telling people to avoid killing, lying and so on, are described as ‘training principles’ that invite us to adopt the underlying attitude the rule expresses...................................


"Shakespeare and the Buddha"

"For me, Shakespeare is more than a poet or a playwright. Of course, he isn’t a teacher as the Buddha is. But I see them both, in different ways, as heroes of consciousness who offer new ways of seeing and open up new ways of being".

Note - Latest Vishvapani Talk Now Available

The latest "Thought for the Day" talk by Vishvapani on "Our Assumptions and Biases" is now available in our
Audio Section.

........ Looking at these seemingly intractable issues as a Buddhist, I reflect, firstly on the importance of self-scrutiny. Buddhism stresses that we tend to see the world in a way that confirms our assumptions and biases. What's more, belief systems and ideologies can objectify and justify those assumptions, presenting them as the objective truth and creating fixed, dogmatic views of ourselves and the world. 

That's why Buddhism stresses holding our views lightly and listening, openly and with compassion, to those we might otherwise dismiss. But it also warns that the past can be a trap. We can't change history, and dwelling on grievances can in fact reinforce them.

Note - Latest Vishvapani Talk Now Available

The latest "Thought for the Day" talk by Vishvapani on the "Good Children Report" is now available in our Audio Section.

A Buddhist Response to the Peshawar Massacre

I wondered whether or not to respond to the mass slaughter of children in Peshawar and indeed how to without engendering even more reactivity but then I listened to Vishvapani's Thought for the day on the BBC this morning. He said it so much better than I could so here is what he had to say............

Of all the horrors we’ve seen in the international conflict with radical Islam, Wednesday’s massacre at the army school in Peshawar must be among the most ghastly. When defenceless women and children are targeted on this scale, we’ve reached a new level of barbarism.

How did we get here? Without detracting from the attack’s distinctive horror, it stems from a spiral of violence and escalating conflict. When did it all start: the Pakistani army’s campaign against the Taliban? The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? 9/11? The legacy of occupation and empire that stretches back over centuries? The causes are endless: perhaps that’s the nature of conflicts. And the solutions are doubtful. The Pakistani army may be victorious, but at what cost, and with what consequences? Perhaps this war will spread, or merge into the region’s other conflicts; or perhaps the barbarism will just continue to escalate.

Reflecting on the conflicts of his own time, the Buddha alighted on a singular term for what he observed: proliferation. Causes multiply into diverse effects, especially when ideology and beliefs magnify them. He made sense of this by noting the parallel with what happens in our minds: one irritable thought begets another, which becomes a compelling narrative about what’s happening; and, soon enough, we act.

This psychological approach led the Buddha to locate the ultimate causes of war and conflict in the minds of individual human beings. We’ll do anything to banish unpleasant feelings and put things right when we feel they’re wrong, even if that leads us to act in ways we’d otherwise condemn. That’s how otherwise decent people come to justify the use of torture. 

In the Buddhist view, nothing good can result when we’re driven by hatred, anger and the desire for revenge. Blood will have blood. This doesn’t mean that force should never be used or that wars are never justified; but it’s a strong caution to check the impulse to act out of anger, to note the moral distortion that rigid ideology can bring, and to allow space for other wiser responses that come when we put anger aside. 

Proliferation ends, the Buddha suggested, when we learn to tolerate pain, rather than reacting to it, and when patience and forgiveness give us the mental space to act with love. For me, that’s the ultimate challenge of the barbarity in Pakistan. The world is good at creating warmongers. Peacemakers have to make themselves. 

(You can listen to Vishvapani's talk and download it HERE)

Another Thought for the Day talk by Vishvapani

Buddhist Thought for the Day talks by Vishvapani are like buses, you wait for ages and then TWO turn up! Here is the second of the latest batch, "Sangha and Health".

Note - Latest Vishvapani Talk Now Available

The latest "Thought for the Day" talk by Vishvapani on Buddhist compassion is now available in our Audio Section.

Wesak with Vishvapani

This morning to, acknowledge Wesak, BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day was by Vishvapani.

This week Buddhists around the world celebrate the Buddha’s Enlightenment in the festival of Wesak or Buddha Day. Buddhists believe that on night of the May full moon he sat beneath a spreading fig tree and entered a state of deep concentration.........................



DOWNLOAD

Two New Buddhist Thoughts for the Day

It's a rare occurrence, a Buddhist Thought for the Day, on Radio 4's Today program, so when two come along in the space of a week it's something to note.

Both the new talks by Vishvapani can be heard on the Thought for the Day page of our Audio Section. You can also download them directly from the page.

Talk by Vishvapani

Talking about talks, the latest Thought for the Day by Vishvapani, the first this year, has arrived.

You can access it here, "The Winter Olympics, Tennis, Sport and Meditation" or go to our Audio Section, Thought for the Day page for more by Vishvapani and other speakers.

New Talks by Vishvapani

Over the last five weeks the BBC’s Today program has featured a series of Thought for the Day talks by the Buddhist author, Vishvapani, who is a member of the Triratna western Buddhist group. The talks are all available to listen to and download in our Audio Section.

Wesak, Saturday, May 25th
The May full moon, the festival of Wesak. Vishvapani spoke of the recent violence in Woolwich and around the World and the relevance of the Buddha's enlightenment.

Following the News, or Not. Saturday, June 1st
In this talk Vishvapani discusses how we can become obsessed with following "the news" and what our reactions can be.

The Divine Messages of Old Age, Disease and Death. Saturday, June 8th
The Divine Messengers lead us to trust in those things that bring lasting fulfilment.

"Buddhist" Nationalist Violence. Saturday, June 22nd
Vishvapani discusses the phenomenon of "Buddhist" nationalist violence.

You can also see the video 'Seeking The Buddha Through History' by Vishvapani in our Video Section.

Note - New Vishvapani Talk

I've posted the latest Thought for the Day by Vishvapani onto our Audio Section.

In it, Vishvapani talks of the misery of serious depression, the commercialisation of this illness by the drug companies and how Buddhist meditation and mindfulness practice can significantly help in addressing the condition.

You can listen to it by following this LINK.

Note - New Vishvapani, Thought for the Day

In this talk Vishvapani talks of our connection to nature and how it’s essential for the planet that, one way or another, we all cultivate our "gardens".

Listen to it here in our Audio Section.

Note - Vishvapani on Wesak and Munch's "The Scream"

In his latest talk, Vishvapani contrasts the image of Edvard Munch's "The Scream", which recently sold for £74 million, with images of the Buddha and his enlightenment.

This was broadcast on Saturday, the night of which marked Wesak. It can be heard at the "Thought for the Day" page of our Audio Section.

Note - New "Thought for the Day"

Vishvapani Discusses Cameron's Meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi.

How Western Buddhism has Changed in 50 Years

Here at the West Wight Sangha we describe ourselves as being "non-denominational", it would be just as valid to use the term "multi-denominational". This is the stage that Western Buddhism has reached in it's evolution towards distinctiveness.

The following is an article from the Guardian by Vishvapani Blomfield on precisely this theme.......

A western Buddhist shares 10 insights into how the religion and its followers have moved on since its arrival in the west....

It's 50 years since Buddhist teachers started arriving in the west in the early 60s and Buddhism crash-landed into the counterculture. So what have we learned about western Buddhism?

1. It's not all about enlightenment. Many who found Buddhism in the 60s saw nirvana as the ultimate peak experience. A decade later these recovering hippies were painfully finding out that Buddhism is more concerned with reshaping character and behaviour than big, mystical experiences. Younger Buddhists are often more fired by social action than mysticism.

2. It doesn't focus on monks. In most Asian countries Buddhist monks are the real practitioners, focusing on meditation and study while lay people support them. Distinctions between monks and lay people does not fit in with modern society and western monastic orders are relatively scarce. Non-monastic practitioners are often very serious and they power the various Buddhist movements.

3. Tibetan Buddhism has baggage. Tibetan lamas arriving in the 1970s seemed to fulfil our Shangri-La fantasies. But, along with inspiration and wisdom, they also brought sectarian disputes, shamanism, the "reincarnate lama" (tulku) system, tantric practices and deep conservatism. Westerners love Tibetans, but we notice the baggage.

4. The schools are mixing together. Most Asian Buddhist teachers assumed they would establish their existing schools in western countries. Hence we have western Zen, western Theravada etc. But the boundaries are breaking down as western Buddhists, motivated by common needs, explore the whole Buddhist tradition. The emerging western Buddhist world is essentially non-denominational.

Note - New "Thought for the Day" Talk by Vishvapani

I've just posted the latest "Thought for the Day" Talk by Vishvapani onto our Audio Section.

In this talk he warns of applying labels and how becoming a Buddhist reinforced his belief that we’re all human beings first, and fundamentally the same, whatever our culture.