8,000 Menacing Tweets Sent to Leader of Buddhist Group

Here's a somewhat disturbing Buddhist related story from the New York Times concerning obsessive, hateful behaviour.

Even the Buddha of compassion might have been distressed to be on the receiving end of the diatribes that William Lawrence Cassidy is accused of posting on Twitter.

They certainly rattled Alyce Zeoli, a Buddhist leader based in Maryland. Using an ever-changing series of pseudonyms, the authorities say, Mr. Cassidy published thousands of Twitter posts about Ms. Zeoli. Some were weird horror-movie descriptions of what would befall her; others were more along these lines: “Do the world a favor and go kill yourself. P.S. Have a nice day.”

Those relentless tweets landed Mr. Cassidy in jail on charges of online stalking and placed him at the center of an unusual federal case that asks the question: Is posting a public message on Twitter akin to speaking from an old-fashioned soapbox, or can it also be regarded as a means of direct personal communication, like a letter or phone call?

Tibetan Master Visits London, September 2011

Chogyal Namkhai Norbu is one of the last great living Buddhist Masters. Trained in Tibet, Namkhai Norbu speaks English & has been teaching in the West for over 30 years. Legend has it that the Dalai Lama gave him a golden pen, stating he was to write as much as was humanly possible! His books on the Tibetan philosophy of Dzogchen are considered modern classics & have been translated into all the world's major languages. This is a rare opportunity to attend a series of unique London events, by a living Dzogchen master

Film:
'My Reincarnation' : Sneak preview of feature length documentary with Q & A's from Director Jennifer Fox
5-8pm, Sunday 4th September, Rich Mix, Bethnal Green Rd, E1 6LA

Lecture:
'The Light of Kailash: Tibet and Zhang Zhung'
6:30pm-7:30pm, Friday 9th September, University of London, The Brunei Gallery, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, WC1H OXG
Part of an all day SOAS Conference on 'Bon, Shangshung & Early Tibet'

Free Public Talk:
'Introduction to Dzogchen'
5.30-7pm, Saturday 10th September, Camden Centre, Euston Road, London NW1

Retreat:
'Dzogchen Atiyoga Teaching Retreat' with Chogyal Namkhai Norbu
10am - 6.30 pm Sunday 11th September - Monday 12th September, Camden Centre, Euston Road, London NW1

For more information, prices, tickets & further links see www.dzogchencommunity.org

For further press information contact Gaynor O'Flynn

gaynor@beinghuman.com mobile: 07968 759696

A Poem That a Sangha Member Likes, and so do I

May 2011 was the 150th anniversary of the Indian poet Tagore. I have just been reading this poem which I thought was apt for us:

Look to this Day;
For it is Life, the very Life of Life.
In its brief course lie
all the verities
And realities of your Existence:
The Bliss of Growth,
The Glory of Action,
The Splendour of Beauty.
For Yesterday is but a Dream,
And To-morrow is only a Vision;
But to-day well lived
makes every Yesterday
a dream of Happiness,
And every To-morrow
A Vision of Hope.
Look well to this Day.

With metta
Jackie

‘Invisible Snow’, Mopping up Radiation with Sunflowers

This is a short film (4.5 mins) about a Buddhist monk, Koyu Abe, who instigated the planting of millions of sunflowers and other plants, beginning at his temple,Joenji, and spreading out into the surrounding area. The flowers are believed to absorb the radiation coming from the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Letting Go

Here's an item from the New York Times Opinionator section by Abby Sher entitled "Selling My Mother’s Dresses". As she says in the piece, "The more I read about Buddhism while the stock market dips and flips, the more I feel like I have to practice non-attachment".

I moved from Chicago to Brooklyn in July of 2004, just in time to watch my mother die. That wasn’t why I moved back. She was supposed to be getting better; the chemo was working. I came because I’d rented an apartment with Jay, this cute guy I’d started dating, who was originally from New York too. But a week after pulling up in a U-Haul, I found myself cleaning out my childhood home with my siblings. Our parents were both gone now; anything that we couldn’t take with us had to fit in a 20-cubic-yard Dumpster.

I could barely squeeze the little I saved into the one-bedroom Jay and I shared. I didn’t even try to unpack the boxes of my parents’ books, the bags of my mom’s dresses. Jay (who held me up at the funeral and painted our place all my favourite colours and quickly proved to be much more than just a cute guy) had to shimmy sideways to get between my father’s easy chair and my mother’s broken desk.

I was claustrophobic from the mountains of photos and misplaced knick-knacks, and yet I found myself drawn to someone else’s cast-offs.

We hadn’t lived there more than a month and already I was claustrophobic from the mountains of photos and misplaced knick-knacks. So it made no sense when, out walking one Saturday later that summer, something caught my eye — a pale green scrap of fabric — and suddenly I was steering Jay toward someone else’s cast-offs. My first stoop sale.

Tibetan Monk Burns Himself to Death

Yet another Tibetan monk has burned himself to death in protest against the Chinese occupation and suppression of his country. 29-year-old Tsewang Norbu from a monastery in Tawu, south-west China, drank petrol, sprayed petrol on himself and then set himself on fire, shouting, 'we Tibetan people want freedom', 'long live the Dalai Lama' and 'let the Dalai Lama return to Tibet'

It was the second such act in the area in the past five months and appeared to reflect resistance to increased Chinese repression of loyalty to Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Security forces detained about 300 Tibetan monks in western China for a month amid a crackdown sparked by the previous self-immolation, according to exiled Tibetans.

"Today's news exposes how desperate some Tibetans feel," said Stephanie Brigden, the director of Free Tibet. After the self-immolation in March, she said Chinese authorities "deployed troops on to the streets, imposed curfews, undertook house searches and set up military road blocks."

Note

The latest Thought for the Day by Vishvapani has just been uploaded to our Audio section. In this reflection he speaks of the recent riots and of the dignity and humanity of Tariq Jahan.

14th Annual Buddhist Picnic only Three Weeks Away!

The next Island Buddhist Picnic is just three weeks away! We will all be meeting up on Sunday the 4th of September at the Botanic gardens in Ventnor. The picnic will start from 12:00 onwards so bring plenty of nice vegetarian food to share also Feel free to bring along family, friends, dogs (none of them have to be Buddhists!) oh, and games!

We will be in the picnic area next to the children’s play ground, those of you who couldn't make it last year may not be au fait with where in the gardens we'll be meeting.

No worries, the picnic area can be seen on the extreme left hand side of the map below.