Buddhism experiences an extraordinary upswing in popularity in the British armed forces - DailyMail UK

Buddhism is experiencing an extraordinary upswing in popularity in the British armed forces; Since 2005, the number of servicemen practicing the religion has risen from 200 to 3,800.

Around 2,800 are Gurkhas, whose home nation Nepal has pockets of Buddhism.

But the other 1,000 are British, with many converting since they joined the military.

According to spiritual leaders, the reason behind the phenomenon is that Buddhism allows service personnel to escape the stresses and strains of military life.

Sunil Kariyakarawana, the Buddhist chaplain for the armed forces, said: ‘Buddhism has a different perspective about things.

'The military is a very stressful place. People go to war, that is one factor, and have to fight.

'Personnel see a lot of suffering in theatre. People are finding that Buddhism can help with these mental agonies.

'It is laid back and they can practise their own way.'

Dr Sunil said Buddha, who lived 2,500 years ago, never ruled out force: 'Sometimes you have to choose war as the least bad option.'

Lieutenant Colonel Peter Straddings, who heads up cultural diversity for the Army, said the society was 'hugely important'.

He said: 'British society today is hugely different from the Army I joined 25 years ago. Approximately 25 per cent of young people are no longer white Anglo-Saxon Protestants.

'They are the future. They are the people who represented the country at the Olympics, at football and they are the people we need for the Army, Navy and Royal Air Force of the future.'

In 2005, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh chaplains were appointed by the armed forces for the first time.

The appointments reflect the increase in ethnic minority recruitment to the Army, Navy and RAF in recent years.

In a message to the society’s conference, the Dalai Lama said: 'I believe that what makes a good soldier, sailor or airman, just as what makes a good monk, is inner strength.

'Inner strength depends on having a firm positive motivation.

'The difference lies in whether ultimately you want to ensure others’ well being or whether you wantonly wish to do them harm.'

Steve Jobs - a Buddhist visionary who changed the world of technology

Steve Jobs, the man who, with his inventions, transformed the world of computers, music, mobile phones, died yesterday at the age of 56 of pancreatic cancer, which he had been fighting for seven years.

In a statement, Apple - which Jobs co-founded with Steve Wozniak in 1976 - said that his "brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all our lives." U.S. President Barack Obama called him "brave enough to think differently; bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it... The world has lost a visionary."

The founder of the huge technology company has been praised as a visionary who transformed the lives of millions.

Jobs announced he was suffering from pancreatic cancer in 2004.

Jobs was born on February 24th 1955, but he was adopted and given the name Steve Paul Jobs.

In 1975 he launched Apple, and immediately became a billionaire.

Reports describe how in the 1970s, prior to founding Apple, Steve Jobs travelled to India in search of spiritual enlightenment and came back to the United States as a Buddhist.

In 1985 Apple sent him away, but in 1997 called him back and in 2000 he was once again CEO of the company.

His inventions while he was away from Apple include a new way of making animated films, but it is above all with the iPhone and iPad that he makes his mark, revolutionizing the world of communication.

In 2005, speaking at the inauguration of the academic year at Stanford University, Jobs said “Remembering I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life ... Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - all these things fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important."

US President Barack Obama said that with his death, the world had "lost a visionary and that he was brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.

Eurozone & US in crisis - Is it time for the 3rd World to rise?

The Eurozone countries and the United States of America who are alleged to be the key economies ruling the world, probably wouldn’t have known what it actually feels like to be bankrupt or settling debt. But during the past 18 months also the Eurozone has been suffering from debt and a diminished growth thus increasing its worries.

With European leaders also facing a potentially ruinous debt crisis, a leading Wall Street figure described the prospect of a US default as catastrophic. The US faces the prospect of a financial tragedy as President Barack Obama stands firm against Republican demands for deep spending cuts without any tax increases.

As an ordinary citizen of a formerly 3rd world country systematically moving towards a developed country, looking at this crisis situation I believe that it is an opportune moment for 3rd world countries to rise up, make use of the opportunity and to try manhandle giant economies.

Greece is openly in trouble, which has led to their leaders being forced to bring forth austerity measures to tackle their financial crisis. Its not only Greece, Italy is also in trouble and is expected to be the next country that would be hit badly after Greece. Ratings agency Moody's has cut the Republic of Ireland's debt rating to junk status. Moody's said its decision was based on the "growing possibility" that Ireland would need a second bail-out before it can return to capital markets.

The interesting fact is China – which the Eurozone and US looked at sarcasm a few decades back is the very same country which has come to rescue them, although its intentions may be vague. China is now a major buyer of Eurozone bonds thus signaling its attempts to probably be the savior of Europe – Wow!

With roughly 26 percent of its currency reserves invested in euro-denominated assets, China has a major interest in seeing the Euro remain stable.

Considering all these facts, one thing is evident, that is the USA headed Europe is no longer tackling matters on their own. And China could be the next global financial power to which everyone may have to turn to. All this time the so called world powers using their so called financial strength challenged others and extracted their resources be it human or other resources. But knowing that they are in trouble it is time for little dwarfs like us to rise up and attack their week points and have some good time of our own. How we are to do it? Well we need some new and shrewd plans, but the opportunity is there. We need to keep in mind that opportunities are very limited and if we grab them with both hands there is going to be a dramatic change in world financial arena.

42 million displaced by natural disasters in 2010

Throughout the past few months I have been constantly revealing details of not only natural disasters but also what we could expect in the future with the buzz about 2012. I really don’t conceive that the year 2012 will be the end of the world but I do assume that several mega scale natural disasters could hit country’s that are least expected to be struck and in the most unusual ways.

It was just recently that a series of tornadoes killed hundreds in the US and it was around 3 months back that the Fukushima disaster killed around 15,000 people in Japan.

It is with this backdrop that I wish to bring to you this report, courtesy of Associated Press. It shows that 42 million People were displaced in countries around the world only during the past year. Therefore I wish to reiterate the need to prevent the damage caused to the environment, which is the only possible way to save ourselves.

(AP) OSLO, Norway - About 42 million people were forced to flee their homes because of natural disasters around the world in 2010, more than double the number during the previous year, experts said Monday.

One reason for the increase in the figure could be climate change, and the international community should be doing more to contain it, the experts said.

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre said the increase from 17 million displaced people in 2009 was mainly due to the impact of "mega-disasters" such as the massive floods in China and Pakistan and the earthquakes in Chile and Haiti.

It said more than 90 percent of the disaster displacements were caused by weather-related hazards such as floods and storms that were probably impacted by global warming, but it couldn't say to what extent.

The number of people displaced last year — about 42 million — is roughly the size of Argentina's entire population, and the onslaught of natural disasters so far this year also has been grim.

The March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan left more than 10,000 people dead, some 17,500 missing and about a half-million homeless.

In the United States, tornadoes have wreaked havoc from Alabama to Massachusetts, while floods have inundated states from Montana to Louisiana. In the southwest Missouri city of Joplin, the U.S.'s deadliest tornado in six decades killed at least 141 people and destroyed more than 8,000 homes in a city of about 50,000 people.

Asia was the hardest hit region last year, with the largest number of displaced people seen in countries such as India, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia, China and Pakistan.

In China alone, more than 15 million people were forced to leave their homes following floods, while 11 million people were displaced in Pakistan, the report said. The large floods in India in 2009 also continued to force people to leave their homes in 2010.

Buddhism – Though some of us don’t really value it, these Celebrities do, with Great Interest and Respect

I am really proud to be a Buddhist and I guess even you, reading this are so. Although we are gifted with the opportunity to follow this greatest religion in the entire universe, only a few of us really practice Buddhism and follow it properly. However, we see people belonging to other religions that are in the list after Buddhism (no offence, but I being a Buddhist consider Buddhism as the only Religion which is True and Correct 100%) follow their religion with Great interest, but we having the Greatest and most pure religion don’t do so at times.

So it is time to devote ourselves even more towards Buddhism and direct others also towards it – the correct path to end suffering.

I took my time to find some well known celebrities in the West who have embraced Buddhism with great interest and it has helped them reach great heights.

Tiger Woods (No 1 Golfer)

Tiger Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No. 1, he is the highest-paid professional athlete in the world, having earned an estimated $90.5 million from winnings and endorsements in 2010.

Tiger Woods said “Buddhism has been a major role in my life. It has given me an inner peace and calmness that I think I wouldn’t have achieved at such an early age.”
He is the world’s most famous celebrity Buddhist.

Orlando Bloom (star of The Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean)

The dashing star of The Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean turned to Buddhist practice because “The philosophies behind it are very current today and are a way of finding some sort of peace,” but also because it helped keep him from the self-destructive path he was always in danger of carving out for himself.

Bloom stresses that his practice is very practical: “The philosophy that I’ve embraced isn’t about sitting under a tree and studying my navel, it’s about studying what is going on in my daily life and using that as fuel to go and live a bigger life.”

Richard Gere

For many he’ll be the first celeb Buddhist to spring to mind. The Pretty Woman and Chicago heart-throb Richard Gere is a good friend of the Dalai Lama.

Gere is a passionate advocate for human rights in Tibet; he is a co-founder of the Tibet House, creator of The Gere Foundation, and he is Chairman of the Board of Directors for the International Campaign for Tibet. Because of his support for the Tibetan cause he’s banned from the People’s Republic of China. Richard, you’re always welcome here.

Gere scores high marks for sincerity of practice, and meditates daily. “It helps me set my motivation for the day,” he says.

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs is an American business magnate and inventor. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Apple Inc.

Steve Jobs' Apple company could be said to have a very Zen-like attitude toward design with it's pure lines and minimalist approach to user-experience. This might not be by accident. Jobs is in fact a follower of the Buddha.

It all began, as far as we know, in 1974 when Jobs, then 21, asked for a sabbatical from his employer, Atari, in order to go to India.

Today, Jobs is rumored to still practice Zen Buddhism and to be a vegan. He quotes from Zen masters and philosophy during his speeches, as when he spoke of the beginner's mind in an interview with Wired Magazine.

David Beckham

Victoria and David Beckham have turned to Buddhism.

The couple - who live in Los Angeles with their three sons - have "embraced" the mystical religion and are now chanting every morning in a bid to help them deal with their hectic lifestyles.
A source said: "David and Victoria have gone completely Californian! David has begun wearing health, prosperity and performance beads around his wrist. He has started yoga and stretching classes after a knee injury, and then a teammate suggested Buddhist chanting to soothe his mind.
"Now he and Victoria do a short five-minute chant when they wake up to start the day off on the right foot, repeating, 'Homage to the blessed one, the worthy one, the rightly self-awakened one.' "

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, fashion designer and television producer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color.
Jenny from the Block is studying the Eastern religion after Richard Gere, a devout Buddhist, gave her spiritual advice.

“I would say to Richard, ‘God, I’m always worried about being so strong.’ He said, ‘Maybe it’s time to be strong in a different way,’” Lopez said. “He didn’t say, ‘You need to convert,’ but he did give me some good advice.

Jenny from the Block, who grew up Catholic, believes its it is possible to recognize themselves as the creators of their own pain” as well as how to free “ourselves from the conflicting, unreasonable demands of the mind,”.

Kate Bosworth

Ms. Kate Bosworth was the star of Blue Crush and Superman Returns fame.
Are we being harsh in thinking Bosworth only started practicing because then-boyfriend, Orlando Bloom, was into Buddhism? Perhaps. And yet we’re happy to welcome Bosworth, even though she and Orlando broke up.

Still, while it lasted Bosworth’s affair with the Buddhadharma really seemed to mean something: “It’s just a really incredible state of mind. It’s just a beautiful place to try and be at. It’s basically about constantly growing and making yourself a better person and focusing on what you want for yourself and the world and really putting it out there. It’s amazing.” To which we can only say, “Awesome!”

Steven Seagal

The Buddhist world was, to put it mildly, in a state of deep, deep bemusement when Hollywood star Steven Seagal announced in 1997 that he had been recognized as a Tibetan incarnate lama, or tulku. Steven Segal - the action-movie hero who specializes in toting powerful guns and blowing stuff up is indeed a surprise but it turns out that Segal has a long history of practice. He moved to Japan at age 17 to study martial arts, acupuncture, and Zen, and he spent 15 years there before returning to the US.

While in Asia he had significant contact with Tibetan lamas escaping China, whose torture-induced traumas he treated with acupuncture. Seagal himself tends to be a little coy about his practice: “I have been doing serious meditation in my own pitiful way for probably twenty-seven years.”

Tina Turner

The “Queen of Rock and Roll” has an instantly recognizable voice, a career dating back to 1960, unbelievable legs, and a serious Buddhist practice. As shown in the biopic What’s Love Got to Do With It, it was Turner’s Buddhist practice that gave her the strength to leave her abusive marriage to Ike Turner in the 70′s, which in turn made her an icon for abused women everywhere. Turner is another practitioner of Buddhism and famously chanted Nam Moho Rengye Kyo on Larry King Live.
Turner said: “I had to teach myself because I didn’t have the freedom to go to actually go to meetings or for people to come to me … and it changed my life.”

Ricky Martin

Singer Ricky Martin may be a Christian, but when it comes to religion it is the Buddhist philosophy that he admires. “I believe that everybody has the right to decide what makes him/her happy. I am not one to say what is better and which is worse in terms of faith,” says Martin.

Harrison Ford

Born in 1942 he is best known for his roles in Star Wars (made by George Lucas – another Buddhist) and the Indiana Jones’s Series of movies. In fact he came to George’s attention as he was also as a struggling actor working to pay the bills by being a talented carpenter and was hired by the director to build some wooden cabinets in his Hollywood home where he promptly cast him in his film America Graffiti (1973).

His faith inspires him to do community work and he volunteered to serve food at Ground Zero following the 911 attack and regularly helps out in one of the homeless shelters in Los Angles every Thanksgiving. He is a follower of the Tibetan Dalai Lama and a passionate advocate for a Free Tibet.
“The focus and the concentration and the attention to detail that flying takes is a kind of meditation. I find it restful and engaging, and other things slip away."


Keanu Reeves (star of Matrix)

Keanu Charles Reeve is a Canadian actor, born in Lebanon , and raised in Canada. He is well known for playing Neo in the action film trilogy The Matrix . He is also well known for playing Ted in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey .

A Buddhist in real life, Reeves is reported to be very generous with his time and money, lending both to a variety of causes.

He was also the star in the film “Little Buddha”.

Jet Li

Jet Li is famous for his fists and kicks but he'd like his compassion to be a hit, too.
"I would like to spend more of my energy practising Buddhism and helping younger Chinese people to understand life," he told the San Francisco Chronicle.

"The Buddhism idea is to look back, to look into yourself. It's a feeling," he said, "the feeling is different from the material. You need to make yourself happy from inside your heart."

Leonard Cohen

Doyen of despair, godfather of gloom, master of misery, Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen’s oeuvre could be seen as an ongoing exploration of the Buddhist teaching that life is inherently suffering. But there’s much more to Cohen’s practice than that.

Following an interest in Buddhism that started in the early 1970′s, Cohen was ordained in 1996 as a Zen monk at the Mount Baldy Zen Center, on a mountain-top overlooking San Bernadino, California, and was given the Dharma name, “Jikan.” Because his teacher doesn’t know much English Cohen is a bit vague about what the name means. Apparently it’s something to do with silence — “ordinary silence, normal silence” — something like that anyway.


Uma Thurman

Uma Karuna Thurman, daughter of Robert Thurman and Nena Thurman, was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the first westerner to become a Tibetan Buddhist monk. Uma was named for a Hindu goddess.

Her father Robert was the first American ordained as a Tibetan monk here in the United States. She was raised Buddhist, and her name means “Great Middle Way”.

Angelina Jolie

Naomi Watts

Leonardo Dicaprio

Mark Wahlberg

Sting

Oliver Stone

Buddha’s Path to Enlightenment

I earlier told you how Price Siddartha understood reality – that all of us get old, sick, and eventually die.

At the age of 29, Siddhartha came to realize that he could not be happy living as he had been.

He had discovered suffering, and wanted more than anything to discover how one might overcome suffering.

After kissing his sleeping wife and newborn son Rahula goodbye, he snuck out of the palace with his squire Chandara and his favorite horse Kanthaka. He gave away his rich clothing, cut his long hair, and gave the horse to Chandara and told him to return to the palace. He studied for a while with two famous gurus of the day, but found their practices lacking.

Gautama studied under various teachers and followed their practices until he mastered them all. His first teacher was Alara Kalama who taught a form of meditation leading to an exalted form of absorption called "state of no-thingness", a state without moral or cognitive dimension. Gautama saw this was not going to solve suffering, and continued his search.

The next teacher was Udraka Ramaputra who taught him meditative absorption leading to “the state of neither perception nor non-perception”. Again, Gautama realized this was not the state he was looking for.

Next, he tried extreme ascetic practices at Uruvilva, with five other ascetics who turned into his followers. In the end, Gautama nearly died of starvation.

After about six years of searching, he realized that just wearing down his body did not generate new insights, but rather leads to weakness and self-destruction. When he decided to give up extreme asceticism, his students left him.

He then sat down in a place now called Budhdhagaya under a Bo-tree and decided not to get up anymore until he discovered the truth. Just a short time later, he became a fully enlightened Buddha.

This means that he actualized all positive potentials of a sentient being and rid himself of all negative qualities. With this, he realized the true nature of existence and suffering (emptiness), and how suffering can be ended.

After he became the Enlightened One, he preached the sermon of the Middle Path, which shows the way to a balanced and harmonious life.

Lord Buddha’s Life as Prince Siddhartha

I earlier brought to you details on the birth of Lord Buddha, who was named Siddhartha.

King Shuddodana – the Father of Prince Siddartha, eager that his son should become a king like himself, was determined to shield the child from anything that might result in him taking up the religious life.

And so Siddhartha was kept in one or another of their three palaces, and was prevented from experiencing much of what ordinary folk might consider quite commonplace.

He was not permitted to see the elderly, the sickly, the dead, or anyone who had dedicated themselves to spiritual practices. Only beauty and health surrounded Siddhartha.

Siddhartha grew up to be a strong and handsome young man. As a prince of the warrior caste, he trained in the arts of war.

When it came time for him to marry, he won the hand of a beautiful princess of a neighboring kingdom by besting all competitors at a variety of sports. Yashodhara was her name, and they married when both were 16 years old.

As Siddhartha continued living in the luxury of his palaces, he grew increasing restless and curious about the world beyond the palace walls.

He finally demanded that he be permitted to see his people and his lands.

The king carefully arranged that Siddhartha should still not see the kind of suffering that he feared would lead him to a religious life, and decried that only young and healthy people should greet the prince.

As he was lead through Kapilavatthu, the capital, he chanced to see a couple of old men who had accidentally wandered near the parade route.

Amazed and confused, he chased after them to find out what they were. Then he came across some people who were severely ill. And finally, he came across a funeral ceremony by the side of a river, and for the first time in his life saw death.

He asked his friend and squire Chandaka the meaning of all these things, and Chandaka informed him of the simple truths that Siddhartha should have known all along: That all of us get old, sick, and eventually die.

Siddhartha also saw an ascetic, a monk who had renounced all the pleasures of the flesh. The peaceful look on the monks face would stay with Siddhartha for a long time to come.

Later, he would say this about that time: When ignorant people see someone who is dead, they are disgusted and horrified, even thought they too will be dead some day. I thought to myself: I don’t want to be like the ignorant people. After than, I couldn’t feel the usual intoxication with life anymore.

Tomorrow I will bring to you details on how Prince Siddhartha left the Palace seeking an end to the suffering of mankind and how he attained enlightenment eventually becoming the greatest savior of humanity.