Buddhism: Time to Catalyze World Peace

| by Ram Kumar Shrestha

Kindness, compassion and empathy are the synonyms of Buddhism. The eyes of Buddha are the insignia of love. Lumbini is the place where mind and heart take pleasure in for peace. This is the land when eyes are closed, heart opens. And Lumbini symbolized ultimate peace and harmony. This could be the right time to work together to declare Lumbini a World Peace City to catalyze World Peace in the present critical world situation.

( May 01, 2012, Kathmandu, Sri Lanka Guardian) While the world is preparing to celebrate 2556th Buddha Purnima (Vesak), it is facing Global warming, political instability, recession, terrorism, disaster etc. as major problems and the ultimate source of these problems is not external – it is us and only us, our current lifestyles, our historical choices, our way of thinking and doing with full of selfishness and our future ambitions. We ourselves, therefore, must be the solution. Now the world is already in very crucial moment and this provides opportunity as well to the world leaders, scientists and humanitarian activists to show their capability and broadness and prove themselves as historic persons. One of the most important questions we are facing today due to the reality we are facing in the name of development is: “Do we really love our generations or not?” This is already clear that just the continuation of existing development trend without drastic changes could destroy the world very soon and we, hence, must have new perspectives to bring everything in the right track. Irrespective of interest everybody has to read, see, watch and listen to unwanted news full of violence, crime, rape, hunger, accident, war, epidemic, disaster etc in everyday life. However, dedicated persons and organizations are still optimistic for a better and peaceful globe. Buddhism is considered not only as one of the world major religions but also as science and not facing any debate. This, therefore, could play important role in World peace in the present world context.

Problems do not arise from those who do not know, but from those who know and pretend not to know. Due to this attitude, the world is in crisis. Until we purge ourselves of these problems nothing will happen on the journey to create a wonderful and safe world for future generations. Most people think seriously about their responsibilities and rights but not about their duty to others. So many use their freedom to violate others and deny them of their freedom. This attitude could be the result of mediocre thinking, selfishness and not respecting others.

Kindness, compassion and empathy are the synonyms of Buddhism. The eyes of Buddha are the insignia of love.

Between two worlds in Nepal

By: August F. Villalon
Philippine Daily Inquirer

FORMER police outpost now used as an archaeological office shows the aura of benevolent neglect seen in many places in Lumbini.

On my first night in Lumbini, I woke up before dawn to the measured, deep sound of bells from the Tibetan monastery down the road,  calling monks to early morning meditation.

Following soon after came the distant sound of a single drum, becoming louder as it approached my window, until I saw a solitary monk in yellow robes beating his flat, paddle-shaped drum in cadence with his measured steps.

I met a wandering monk on a previous trip here who told me his sect vowed to give up a permanent home in exchange of wandering the world on foot, beating their drums while walking in search of enlightenment.

Despite the sound of jackals piercing the early morning silence, the stillness of Lumbini makes some pilgrims feel that enlightenment could be within reach. However in the villages outside the shrine, the local community has different priorities as it struggles to survive from day to day.

LUMBINI REBORN, NEPAL REBORN, BUDDHA REBORN

[Lumbini-Kapilvastu Day Movement does not endorse the opinions of the author.]

NEPAL: THE NEW RAINBOW NATION?

By Gabriel Lafitte

Among Tibetans and their supporters worldwide, Nepal evokes dread. The news out of Nepal is invariably bad. The 20,000 Tibetan refugees in settlements are prisoners, unable to move freely, unable to obtain certification of their refugee status, unable to find employment or get an education, stigmatized and excluded. They may not publicly vote, protest or even hold religious celebrations of the birthdays of their most revered lamas.

China’s power over Nepal extends to equipping and financing the armed forces to patrol the border with Tibet, to apprehend Tibetans using the only route of escape. China’s ability to get the Nepali army to do its security work is aided by the willingness of Nepali politicians to be seduced by the largesse of China’s aid program, no strings attached, no accountability auditing of where the money went. From the outside, it seems that Nepal, riven by revolution, is agreed on only one thing, right across the spectrum, from Maoists to royalists: no-one likes the Tibetans.

It is not just the elite that is prejudiced. The Tibetans, like the landless urban poor in the Kathmandu slums along the riverbanks, are considered sukumbasi, a term so broad it includes all the excluded, the displaced, landless, unacknowledged refugees, with no means of subsistence, suspected of thievery, gold smuggling and an inclination for criminality. Sukumbasi are feared and sneered at, especially by the upper caste Bahun Hindus who depict them as dangerous outsiders, despoilers, polluters of the rivers, a threat to the nation. The slum dwellers are seen as puppets of the Maoists, a rent-a-mob willing to swarm into the city on command to fill rallies with their shouts. The sukumbasi are said to have toppled the king, and that behind the scenes, they are tools of foreign meddlers or get undeserved help from NGOs.

Lumbini’s Latest Discovery: the Birth Spot of the Buddha

Ven. Bhikshu Sudarshan Mahasthavir

Lumbini (Lummini) 2 is the birthplace of Sakyamuni Buddha. At the age of 29, the Buddha-to-be (Bodhisattva) renounced in Kapilavastu (present-day Tilaurakot), and at the age of 35, he became the Buddha. For forty-five years the Buddha wandered teaching the Dhamma. At the age of 80, he arrived at Upavattana where between two Sal trees (Yamakasal), he lay down in the Mahaparinibban position with his head pointing to the north. The Venerable Ananda, the Buddha’s personal secretary (upatthapaka) for twenty-five years, asked the Buddha: “Generally, at the end of every rains-retreat (vassavasa), venerable monks from everywhere come to have an audience with you and I always enable them to have this opportunity. What will happen after the Tathagata’s (Buddha) demise (mahaparinibbana)?”

The Buddha answered: “Persons of devotion will continue to visit and see the four holy places: the place where Tathagata was born; the place where he attained enlightenment; the place where he turned the wheel of Dhamma; and the place where he passed away (or attained anupadise mahaparinibbana).” In fact, the actual meaning of making the pilgrimage to these four places was to have an audience with the Buddha and to attempt to acquire mental serenity. 

China’s $3 Billion Investment in Buddhist Mecca Sparks a Row

By Jane Poretsis

On the 9th August, China declared that it had just signed a USD 3 billion deal with Nepal to develop Lumbini, the birth place of Buddha, sparking a row of lack of transparency.

The investment will see China leading the project, to transform the small town of Lumbini into a Buddhist Mecca and place of pilgrimage for Buddhists from around the world. A huge building project situated in the Southern region adjoining India. Seeing the construction of a new airport, highway, hotels, convention centre, temples and a Buddhist university; plus, the water, electricity and communication lines it currently lacks.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, in July, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Hong Kong based – Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF), signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) in Beijing.

This was met by concern in certain quarters of the Nepalese Government, which felt that it had been left in the dark and not consulted; prompting a dismissal from China on reports in the media of a secret pact with certain Maoist sections of the Government.

Laxmi Prasad Devkota: Nepal’s Greatest Poet

Bhuwan Thapaliya (Bhuwan)

He has fallen from the black clouds and is living in the shadows. Do we see a god in him, or do we see a beggar? - Laxmi Prasad Devkota The jewel of Nepali literature, poet laureate Laxmi Prasad Devkota, who began to show poetic genius from a very tender age, is regarded as the creator of romanticism — a progressive trend in Nepali literature. With his literary radiance, he has elevated the literary stature of Nepal in the eyes of the world and was perhaps the first writer in Nepal who rose to majestic heights, where no others had ever been before. But perhaps his greatest possession was his heart — for it is said that on one cold winter day he gave the coat he was wearing to a beggar shivering at the roadside. Devkota’s poetry, in its simplest definition, is his heartbeat expressed in the form of verse. Laxmi Prasad Devkota ©2005 Ketaketi.org Devkota was a versatile and voluminous writer, who left no branch of literature untouched in the course of his brief career. He has numerous epics, long narrative poems, essays, stories, plays, novels, songs, criticisms and short poems in his stocks of literature. At the same time, he was a great prose writer and is regarded as the founder of the modern prose style. Moreover, he was the first to begin writing epics in Nepali literature and his magnum opus “Muna-Madan” remains the highest selling book ever in the history of Nepal. There are several famous lines in “Muna-Madan,” which have become catchphrases in the literary world. For instance, “A man is great by his heart, not by his caste.” Today, many years after he said this, the truth of these words cannot be denied. Devkota had the ability to write poems very quickly — he wrote the Shakuntal in three months, the Sulochana epic in 10 days and Kunjini in a single day. Nepali poetry soared to new heights with Devkota’s groundbreaking poetry. “Muna-Madan,” challenged Sanskrit scholars who dominated the Nepalese literary scene before Devkota burst onto the mainstream scene. He had command of Nepali, Sanskrit, Hindi, and English languages and volumes of Devkota’s poems are written with sophisticated language, which precisely describes the diverse moods of life. Often to give life to his poetry, he did not even mind borrowing words from other languages including Sanskrit and Hindi. It is said that Devkota’s poetry is a torrent of emotions that does not rain, but pours.

किन बनायो भारतले आफ्नै लुम्बिनी ?

By डा.विनिता

नेपालको लुम्बिनी र बुद्धको देश नेपाल भन्ने भनाईबाट कसैलाई बढी आपत्ति छ भने त्यो विश्वकै एकमात्र देश भारत हो। अहिले लुम्बिनीमा ३ अर्ब लगानी गर्न आएका चीन लगायतका बौद्धमार्गीलाई कसैले अप्ठेरो पार्दै आपत्ति प्रकट गरेको छ भने त्यो भारतले हो। भारतकै दबाब झेल्न नसकेर संस्कृति सचिव मोदराज डोटेलले राजीनामा समेत दिएका छन्। एपेक टोली नेपाल आएर राजनीतिकर्मीहरुलाई भेट गरेको छ र लुम्बिनीसमेत भ्रमण गरिसकेको छ। लुम्बिनी विकास कोष र सरकारले आफूले खर्च गर्न नपाएपछि हामीलाई थाहै नदिएको भन्ने आरोप लगाएका छन्। बुद्धको आसन भनेर लुम्बिनीको बोधीबृक्ष काटेर पिर्का बनाउँदै डलरमा बेच्ने र बुद्धका नाममा विदेश भ्रमण गरेर व्यक्तिगत स्वार्थपूर्ति गर्नेहरु चीनको यो लगानी प्रकरणबाट आत्तिन पुगेका छन्। 

Old Weapons Sale: Have we really lost all of Nepal’s history

Deepak Shimkhada, Ph.D.

Claremont, California, USA

A recent revelation of the sale of Nepal’s 200-year-old weapons to an American antique dealer has sparked a debate in Nepal as well as in the Nepali Diaspora. I have read some of the emotionally-charged postings. There is nothing wrong with being patriotic and I respect those individuals who express love for their country in a positive way. However, if we examine the sale of the antiquated weapons to the American dealer objectively we will realize that we may have overreacted to an issue that really has not much merit.

Symbolically, these weapons stand for destruction. They are not objects of art that the maker took his time, energy and imagination to make. Nor are they the products of Nepalis whether of the past or the present. They do not reflect cultural, religious or even philosophical aspects of Nepal. Except for the Khukuris, Bhalas, Talwars, Khundas, Chakkus and Kardas, Nepalis never made guns or cannons. They were produced by Europeans as weapons of oppression, and were used and are still being used for killing. And Nepal in the last decade has seen much of that in the name of “Revolution of the People.”

What is the justification for taking national pride in weapons? The only positive value I see is that many of our brave Gorkha brothers—even using these antiquated weapons in World Wars I and II against would-be imperialists and oppressors—were able to shine, earning the title of brave race. As a result, many have been decorated with the highest orders of bravery. That is our only history associated with these weapons. Beyond that, they are simply weapons of destruction no matter who has used them against whom.

The eye of the Buddha

Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia. By Thant Myint-U. Faber and Faber; 358 pages; £20. To be published in America next month by Farrar, Straus and Giroux; $27. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT did not have much time for Burma or the Burmese. The sympathy he felt for Indian demands for independence from Britain did not extend to that other piece of the British Raj now known as Myanmar. In 1942 he wrote to Winston Churchill: “I wish you could put the whole bunch of them into a frying pan with a wall around it and let them stew in their own juice.”

In this section

• »The eye of the Buddha
• Home to the world
• A burning imagination
• Migrant tales
• The known and the unknown

Reprints

In unforeseen ways, the American president largely got his wish. The military dictatorship under General Ne Win that seized power in Burma in 1962 erected a virtual wall around the country, sealing it off from almost all outside influence. The junta that succeeded him after nationwide protests in 1988 has tried to open up the country. Viewed from the West, its efforts seem vain. Despite a farcical election last year, Myanmar remains subject to Western economic sanctions and its leaders are still largely shunned by their American and European counterparts. The only Burmese politician widely known in the West is Aung San Suu Kyi, an opposition leader who has spent most of the past two decades in detention and whose party is now technically illegal.

Being Pro-Nepal is not being against India

Prof. Dr. Khagendra Thapa

Just as a man would not cherish living in a body other than his own, so do nations not like to live under other nations, however noble and great the latter may be.  - Mohandas Gandhi

On March 3-6, 2011 Public Diplomacy Division of the Ministry of External Affairs of India arranged a meeting supposedly to discuss and exchange views on bilateral issues on Indo-Nepal relations. The meeting was attended by members of the legislative body, political analysts, bureaucrats, journalists, retired army generals, and others. All the costs including travel and hotel of the Nepalese participants were paid by the Government of India. One of the objectives for the meeting was for India to find out as to why there is so much anti-India feeling in the minds of average Nepalese people.

India\’s political leaders should understand the fact that the following factors come into consideration when it comes to the feelings of an average Nepalese person about India:

1. It is never about the people to people relation. Indians and Nepalese people get along fine since we have been neighbors forever.

2. One cannot deny our cultural, religious and historical relation. Buddha was born in Nepal but achieved enlightenment in India. Nepalese people do not appreciate when India blatantly claims that Buddha was born in India.

3. India\’s building of dams close to the Nepalese border without Nepal\’s permission and in clear violation of international norms and regulations is unbearable to Nepalese people no matter where they live especially keeping in mind the fact that the farmers living in Nepal lose their crops due to flooding caused by the dam. It shows India\’s insensitivity and arrogance towards Nepal and her people no matter whether they come from Terai, mountains or the valleys.

4. The treatment poor Nepalese people receive in India especially right in border crossings is very inhuman. Every year many of our people are looted off their meager savings which they earned after working hard as a laborer. They are ripped off at the border just when they are about to reach their home to see the loved ones after more than a year of absence. Just imagine how it feels if you were one of those who have been cheated of a year’s savings. One cannot even think about the immense pain both mentally and physically it causes to the victims.

Lumbini World Peace City: A vision and perspective

By Karna Sakya
Second World Buddhist Summit. 2004
Lumbini Nov.30-Dec.2.2004

Abstract –

Lumbini is a peerless landmark of the Buddhist world. This is the only active religious place that has been listed in the World Heritage Site by the UNESCO. Lumbini symbolized ultimate peace and harmony. The eyes of Buddha are the emblem of love and worship and kindness and compassion are the synonym of Buddhism. While the world is getting restless and tensed because of various conflicts, the desire for peace in Nepal also has become almost like an obsession. At this critical juncture, declaration of Lumbini as a World Peace City is very appropriate and perhaps this is the only suitable place in this region for it. Establishment of a World Peace City in Lumbini is a important and timely task to be performed; not that we would, but we should, and we could.

The purpose of the Lumbini World Peace City is not to create a mega-city of the world or does it have any intention to deface the existing villages into a shanty town. Its aim is to set-up a quintessential self-contained town of the Buddha’s era in a 21 century format. Think globally and act locally is the strategy of Lumbini World Peace City. The vision is to build a small, traditional and low cost but conventional, comprehensive and innovative city system that carry a nostalgic ambiance of Kapilbastu revisited. Declaring Lumbini as a World Peace City contributes significantly in strengthening national peace process in the country. 

Lumbini may be an intellectual playground for few, a religious site for some and a birthplace for many. But a place like Lumbini cannot be a prerogative to any casts, creeds and intellectuals. Peace doesn’t prevail in the island of the sea of poor. While developing infrastructure and undertaking poverty alleviation program in Lumbini, the World Peace City should initiates peace education simultaneously. Peace education prepares local communities to voice their realities, experiences, understandings biases, commitments, hopes, despair, and at the same time to fulfill the rights and duties.. The synergism of religion, wisdom and action is the formula to make the peace equation work. Lumbini World Peace City will be a ‘gift to the Earth’ from Nepal and from the Nepalese people.

ANGLO-NEPAL War with East India Company

By Mira

ANGLO-NEPAL WAR (Gorkha &; British East India Company war):-
By the end of the 18th century, the British East India Company was firmly established in India. The East India Companyhad occupied almost all the princely States of India. They were looking for an opportunity to enter Nepal. The British were welcomed to Nepal during the Malla rulers. But Prithvi Narayan Shah did not allow them to stay in Nepal and a troop of British soldiers under the command of General Kinloch was badly defeated by the army of Prithvi Narayan Shah at Sindhuli in 1765 A.D. So, the British were aware of the strength and courage of the Gorkha soldiers. During the regency period of Bahadur Shah, East India Company put forward a proposal that the British might be allowed to tradein the boarder areas between Nepal and Tibet. But Bahadur Shah rejected that proposal. In 1792 A.D., a commercial treaty was concluded between Nepal and British India, but that was not enforced. Later, when Rana Bahadur Shah was in Banaras, Damodar Pande concluded a commercial treaty in 1801 A.D. That treaty did not favour British interest. East India Company always tried to maintain friendly relations with Nepal.

History of Indian Conspirator Intervention in Nepal (1950-2011)

By Dirgha Raj Prasai

Nepal is a landlocked nation. It borders China in the north and India in the south. Defending its sovereign identity from these two giant nations is Nepal’s nationalistic strategy.

The unfortunate fact is that a majority of our political leaders are Indian agents. It is worthless to expect from these leaders to save our nationality and independence. Unless the traitors and corrupt leaders dominating the big parties (Congress, UML, and Maoists) are chased away, democracy and nationalism will not be secured.

There is no alternative to parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy in Nepal. But it does not mean that we follow Indian orders and perish Nepal’s identity. The definition of Nepal’s nationality is to maintain balanced bilateral diplomatic ties with both countries, China and India, based on democracy and by protecting its pride.

Cordial people to people level relations between Nepal and India has existed since ancient times. We have to keep friendly relations with India due to our similar cultural and religious traditions. But sadly Indian congress, ever since coming to power has been striving to destabilize Nepal. India, through its intelligence agency ‘RAW’, has been found continuously involved in destabilizing our national identities – royal institution, Hindu Kingdom and national language, which were developed along with the ideology of national unity, security and national identity. RAW through its agents in the Nepali Congress, UML and Maoist parties is now pressing for autonomous federal states on communal basis.

Why is Darjeeling Burning?

IN THE BEGINNING

To answer this question I’ll have to tell you a little about Darjeeling’s history and its inhabitants who are essentially an indigenous people called the Gorkhas or Gurkhas as the Brits would like to spell it. In the beginning, they happened to be the most formidable adversary for the British during their campaign to conquer the world as it were, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. After having taken much of India, now their eyes fell upon a smallish hill kingdom known as Nepal which had a record of not having been under foreign rule ever and it is still true today as it had been then. This makes the Nepalese a proud people. During one of the British campaigns to subdue the Nepalese, the latter with a force of just two hundred soldiers and their families, are known to have held the fort of Nala Pani, near today’s Dehradun in India, for two years. It was during this siege, the British General Gillespie was killed. After cutting off the fort’s water supply, the British waited some more time for the Nepalese to surrender. When no such thing happened, they stormed the fort to find everyone had disappeared without a trace. It was a moral victory for the Nepalese. There were no more wars between the British and the Nepalese but only truces during which Nepal had to concede much of its territories to the British Empire. The British Raj in turn left them at peace and being impressed by their fighting skills, they began to induct able bodied men into their army. Thus was born the British Gurkha Regiment.

Danger! Still Existing in Nepal

By D.R. Prasai

We, the Nepalese people are fighting against the naked intervention of India’s RAW and CIA. The Republic, secularism and federalism are agendas of India-RAW & the CIA but are not the actual issues of Nepal.

Nepal is a country which has a long history of communal harmony where all castes, religions and languages have survived and flourished with tolerance and co-existence. The Nepali language establishes the unity and collective identity of the diverse ethnic groups of Nepal. The Nepali Language has been both the official and the Lingua Franca between ethnic groups of Nepal (as well as abroad). Because it is the international language, we respect English language too. We regard the Hindi Language also but not as an official language, because everybody has their own mother languages. If Hindi also is accepted as an official language that will mean the domination of India. And we’ll never support the suicidal demands of Indian agents.

Now, it’s because of our corrupt leaders we have to be dependent on India. There was a time in Nepal about 15 to 20 years back, where food were cheaper in Nepal than in India. We even had good factories for cloth, cement, leather etc. In the name of privatization our corrupt leaders fell prey to Indian conspiracy and sold the factories to Indian brokers by the traitor’s regime.