The position of the BMA (UK) is that the Sangha includes (equally) the Laity and the Ordained - and that both constitute a spiritual vanguard in the progression of humanity toward Socialism and Communism! The latest article on the BMA (UK) site seeks to unite theistic monasticism (of the Judeo-Christian tradition and the Sufism of Islam) with the Buddhist equivalent: Of course, implicit in this exercise is the acknowledgement that many great evils have existed within religion - and it must be made clear that the oppression and ignorance that holds many religious teachings together is NOT being defended. To sit and meditate effectively is to breakup this "religious" ignorance and the internal pollution that the system of predatory capitalism imports into the interior of humanity! This is the premise of all further Revolutionary action in the (external) material world. Indeed, the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels is a rich and inspiring resource for self-purification. As is the work of Lenin, Stalin, Mao and Ho Chi Minh! Genuine religion must be purged of its worldly ignorance and greed! Only Marxist-Leninism-Maoism possesses the moral power to achieve this mighty and crucial task for humanity! It is the lies of the Bourgeoisie that sullies the deep spiritual waters of the Proletariat! The workers possess the only moral right to punish the corruption of the Bourgeoisie - and those who value meditation must assist every worker in this task! Marx never defined the state of "Communism" - simply because he could not! How could he? Basically, the only thing that can be said is that "It is NOT this!" The Enlightenment of the Buddha, I suspect, reflects the state of "Communism" inwardly realised in a material world that was not yet ready to manifest such a sublime (external) reality! Look within and find it for yourself and unite with the Proletariat!
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Author’s Note: What follows is a diary entry included in Alexander Werth’s epic 1947 book that records the events surrounding the momentous Battle of Stalingrad - which occurred in 1942. Werth spent much of the war-years between 1941-1945 ensconced as a BBC Journalist in the USSR and witnessed first-hand the brutality of the Catholic-supported Nazi German invasion - and attempted genocide - of that country’s population. Of course, the USSR was in fact fifteen diverse countries united in their joint other-throwing of the Bourgeoisie and the vicious capitalist system it practiced. At least three of these Republics, although ‘Socialist’, were nevertheless historically and culturally ‘Buddhist’. A number of Red Army regiments were formed containing ‘Buddhist’ men and women who fought bravely to defend the USSR from external attack! Of course, the West exercises a mixture of racially motivated ‘ignoring’, ‘disinforming’ and ‘misinforming’ when it comes to recording Soviet history. Soviet ‘Buddhists’ were good Communists – as Werth records. Furthermore, as we live in changing times in Bourgeois society - the manner in which Werth describes 'Tanya' is a product of his time and considered today as being 'insensitive' at best and 'discriminative' at worst. I certainly do not endorse this type of demeaning narrative. On the other hand, the historical data Werth conveys is infinitely valuable in the face of wall-to-wall US anti-intellectualism. Think for yourselves and make-up your own minds. As the (British-educated) Werth could read, write and speak Russian fluently, (he was born in Russia - but his family migrated to the UK when he was very young), he takes a rather stern and overly critical attitude toward the Soviet method of providing authoritative translation textbooks (conveying correct Russian to Asiatic language translations and vice versa) – which were then deployed amongst the non-Russian populations by specially trained Cadres of young people who could not necessarily understand the language of the non-Russian ethnicities to any great degree (as they did not have to). This Soviet method allowed a few genuine experts in all the included languages to centrally compile these textbooks - which were then printed in their tens of thousands and quickly distributed freely to the masses – thus enhancing communication and cultural exchange. In a very real sense, Cadres such a ‘Tanya’ featured below – acted as a proto-search engine – with the caveat that unlike the universal translators of the modern internet age, the translations she supplied were ‘correct’ and ‘sound’. Once again, if indeed another example is needed, we see the ‘corruption’ of the Lamaist system of landlordism which the Communist Party of China has thoroughly over-thrown in Tibet and China! Although John Snelling – of the Buddhist Society in London – once published a book about ‘Buddhism in Russia’, he did so by completely ignoring the English language evidence provided by Werth, a fellow Britain who had lived in the USSR for many years of his life! After-all, people like Snelling were pursuing the hidden agenda of conforming to the strictures of US anti-intellectualism during the so-called ‘Cold War’ and misrepresenting the USSR through the agency of Buddhism. For the record, I do not agree with the arbitrary ransacking of temples or stealing Buddha statues – as this is the behaviour of the Western imperialists (a process which can be clearly observed in the British Museum). Local people taking matters into their own hands, however, is an issue involving the self-governing of Revolutionary activities, and the situation explained below should be interpreted in this context. (25.9.2023) November 23 (1942) ‘The other day I got to know, through Ludmilla, an enormously fat girl, tall, red-cheeked, and ginger-haired, called Tanya – with legs like Doric pillars. She seems to be vaguely married to somebody – or divorced; I don’t know. Anyway, this formidable fat blonde is said to drive all the Caucasians and Asiatic crazy, whenever she visits their countries. She’s on a good racket. She translates into smooth Russian verse the works of Azerbaijan, Buriat-Mongol, Yakut and God knows whatever poets. She doesn’t know any of their languages, of course, but she is given a literal translation, and then concocts a poem with roughly the same idea, and it’s often called “Translated from the Buriat-Mongol,” etc. It’s a well-paid and well-encouraged racket, and she claims that Stalin himself was delighted with her Buriat-Mongol Poems. It’s done in the name of a closer acqiantance amongst the peoples of the Soviet Union, and these “translators” are given some wonderful facilities by the Writers’ Union. Thus, Tanya, has travelled by plane, ship, carriage, reindeer, sleigh, railway, and every other means of locomotion all over Western Siberia, and Yakutia, and right up to the Siberian Arctic coast, and all through Central Asia and Mongolia, and also the Caucasus. She is full of good stories about life in Yakutia, now quite a reasonably large town, and almost a metropolis in north-Siberian terms, and about all the remarkable adventurous characters one meets there – trappers, and sea captains who sometimes hibernate in the Bear Islands and Wrangel Island. She also tells stories of Buriat-Mongolia – of the secretary of the Obkom who as a youngster became famous for killing the most notorious bandit of the region; he came home one day and threw the bandit’s head on the family dinner-table, much to his mother’s horror. “He has an extraordinary face,” said Tanya, “very and pale, a perfect Mongolian face, with grey temples and black fiery eyes.” He had also led the young people’s revolt against the Lamas. When the Buriat-Mongolian Communists heard Stalin had expressed approval of Tanya’s translations from Buriat-Mongolian, they ransacked a distant temple and presented her with a whole trunkful of Buddhas. When I went to her flat the other day – she shares her house with some other people – I found that she still had a few Buddhas left; the rest had been looted by her friends, while some had been destroyed in the bombing of Moscow last year when there was a fire in the house where she was living. One of the Buddhas she carries around everywhere and seems to be very superstitious about it. She also owns a remarkable brass statue from a Buddhist temple – an unbelievably erotic affair.’ Alexander Werth: The Year of Stalingrad, Simon, (2001), Book III - The Defensive Battle – Chapter V - Moscow in October and November, Pages 327-328 English Language Reference:
2023-04-23 Xinhua Editor:Li Yan A Japanese civil group held a rally here on Saturday to call on the government to return Chinese relics stolen by Japanese soldiers during World War II.
The Japanese society should face up to and liquidate the crimes of cultural aggression during the Japanese war of aggression against China, according to the group. To reckon with Japan's responsibilities in its imperialist aggression and colonization means that the crime of looting cultural relics should also be exposed and criticized, said Atsushi Koketsu, emeritus professor at Yamaguchi University of Japan and also co-representative of the civil group which aims to promote the return of Chinese cultural properties. Since the establishment of the civil group a year ago, more and more Japanese have paid attention to and understood the call for returning looted cultural relics, said Takakage Fujita, another co-representative of the group. The civil group will continue to promote the return of Chinese cultural relics plundered by Japan during WWII through various activities, Fujita, also director general of a civic group dedicated to upholding and developing the 1995 Murayama Statement, told Xinhua. At the rally, Kazuo Morimoto, representative of a research association of East Asian history and cultural assets, said that in recent years, France and other European countries have returned looted cultural relics to former colonial countries in Africa and Asia. Noting the trend of returning looted cultural relics around the world, Morimoto stressed that Japan barely mentioned its wartime looting and destruction of cultural relics. It is necessary for Japanese society to face up to history, sort out historical facts together with relevant countries, and seriously consider the issue of returning looted cultural relics, he added. The founding purpose of the civil group is to encourage Japan to return Chinese cultural relics, achieve "historical reconciliation" between the two countries, and further promote the development of bilateral relations. Dear A
Thank you for your email requesting data regarding the historical CPC in Tibet. The ethnic Tibetans (prior to their conversion to 'Buddhism') were a very violent 'warrior' ethnicity and invaded large swathes of Western and Southwestern geographical China during the 10th century CE - and continued to re-settle these vast areas (such as Sichuan and Yunnan, etc_, although both 'names' and 'boundaries have changed over the centuries as Dynasties have come and gone. This is why millions of Tibetans (the Tibetan 'diaspora') today live outside of geographical Tibet - inside of geographical China. It is also why (and 'now') Tibet became (politically) part of China. Why Did Democratic Reform Take Place in Tibet in 1959? YOUNGER BROTHER OF THE DALAI LAMA: “WHEN THE 14TH DALAI LAMA IS GONE, WE ARE DONE!” INTERNAL DIVISIONS IN THE DALAI CLIQUE INTENSIFY TIBET: YOUNG COMMUNIST LEAGUE REACHES 160,000 MEMBERS WITH 6.700 ORGANISATIONS! (2012) Adapting to Socialist Society: Right Action - and the Development of Tibetan Buddhism When Serfs Stood Up in Tibet - Anna Louis Strong THE BRUTALITY AND BARBARISM OF FEUDAL TIBET (PRE-1949) BOOK REVIEW: EXPOSING ‘YOUNGHUSBAND’ BY PATRICK FRENCH (2022) Indeed, so unruly were the Tibetans in Southwest China under the 13th Dalai Lama (attacking and killing Westerners - as well as Chinese and Tibetan converts to Christianity whilst also destroying their Churches, etc) - that the new (post-1911) 'Nationalist' government gave-in to Western imperialist pressure and sent a substantial (punitive) field army (under the Command of one 'General Li') into the area only - to be diverted by the efforts of (Han) Chinese Buddhist Master Xu Yun (1840-1859) - who met with General Li and persuaded him to use peaceful means in quelling the Tibetan unrest. Note that this issue had nothing to do with geographical Tibet - which even then was considered 'remote', difficult to 'access' and culturally 'primitive' by comparison. However, although the British invaded Tibet a number of times during the late 1800s and early 1900s), the West in principle had no objection geographical Tibet being part of political China whilst under the political control of the Western-friendly Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and the Western-friendly and Christian-friendly Nationalist Administration (1911-1949). The CIA-generated myth of 'Tibetan Independence' probably dates to the late 1950s - even though the 14th Dalai Lama was an ally of Nazi Germany both before and during WWII - continuing to grant asylum to Nazi War Criminals into the late 1950s, etc. Just as the Qing and Nationalist governments maintained a sophisticated political administrative network throughout geographical Tibet and the Tibetan diaspora living within Southwest China, it logically follows that there existed (at different times - centred in different places) numerous 'mirroring' branches of the 'Communist Party of China' (CPC) which were kept secret for security reasons, but which were often found-out and/or betrayed by bourgeois or imperialist spies and ultimately 'liquidated' from time to time. All we have left is a few very old Red Flags, and perhaps one or two 'written' reports in the National Archives of China. A similar situation exists with the Communist Party branch that once thrived in Taiwan - although it is 'illegal' today with all vestiges of it destroyed by orders of the occupying Japanese (1895-1945) and subsequently the Americans (1945-present)! We have included a link above to the work of US journalist - Anna Louis Strong - who witnessed first-hand the time periods you are interested in - namely before, during and after the peaceful (and by all accounts 'enthusiastic') Liberation of Tibet (c. 1959)! Best Wishes BMA (UK) Admin By Yang Chengchen LHASA, March 27, 2022 (CNS) -- March 28 is the 63rd anniversary of the liberation of millions of serfs in Tibet. The book "When Serfs Stood up in Tibet" was written by American writer Anna Louis Strong in 1965 and is still one of the best books for anyone to understand the history of Tibet’s democratic reform.
In 12 chapters, Strong makes an important observation about Tibet, the snowy plateau, as part of the foreign press in 1959, when the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) suppressed a rebellion seeking to overturn democratic reform. In the preface of its English version, Israel Epstein, the Polish-born journalist, commented that Strong’s narration was “close to the facts” and her "approach and the actual development of reality are in harmony." The book’s perspective is still valuable today 60 years after Tibetan serfs were emancipated. However, the description of Tibet has been distorted more or less from reality by some western media, converting Tibet into an imaginary and idealized place that never existed. Uncritical thinking, lazy reporting, and even deliberate misreading of Tibet are still prevalent in Western media sources. These are arm-chair writers who hold the view that Tibet is the one that exists only in their imagination, refusing to recognize or willing to admit "actual development" in the real Tibet. Since the 1990s, with the development of criticizing Orientalism, post-colonialism, and cultural hegemony, the impression of Tibet under the influence of the western context has aroused extensive reflection. People should realize that the so-called spiritual Tibet, like Shangri La, does not exist. This land, which was in the grip of the feudal serfdom for thousands of years, was never a spiritual land for most of its people. Exploitation, oppression and material concerns could be frequently witnessed here in the old society. The title "When Serfs Stood up in Tibet" was true for the vast majority of people in Tibet in 1959. According to Strong’s personal observations, Tibet was undergoing a dramatic reform, which rejuvenated this snowy plateau. The author witnessed youth coming back to the land, which had been unchanging for hundreds of years by the feudal serfdom. At that time a new vision was shared among the people, the fate of the land was in their own hands and a democratic Tibet was being built. In fact, this vision has largely been realized by the people of all the various ethnic groups in today’s Tibet. The people on this snowy plateau can see all of the possibilities, which are now revealed in the full development of the unique, mysterious, and rich Tibetan culture. Just a casual investigation into the history of Tibet would reveal that primitive feudalism controlled the land until the middle of the last century. Serf owners in Tibet, who accounted for less than 5% of the population, possessed all cultural and educational resources and monopolized material and spiritual wealth due to their control of political and religious power. Women, even of the upper class, and monks who were in charge of important temples such as Jokhang Temple, in Lhasa, were deprived of the right to education, and were not allowed to read newspapers or any modern books. The vitality of Tibet, which had been suppressed by this antiquated social system, found new life in this land due to socialistic democratic reform. Today, a new inclusive cultural system has been established in Tibet, with new shared wealth created with a value of more than 6 billion yuan. The illiteracy rate in the old Tibet was as high as 95%. After the establishment of a modern educational system, ordinary people can enjoy 15 years of free public education, and the average length of education has been increased to 13.1 years. To over romanticize, even "exoticize", Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism will not help anyone to understand Tibet or its place in the larger Chinese national community. "To build a paradise on the roof of the world" was a slogan hung on the streets of Tibet in 1959. At the time, the 10th Panchen Erdeni Lama, Chökyi Gyaltsen, told the press, which included Strong, "the Tibetan people are walking towards happiness from now on". Today, 63 years later, the actual development of Tibet demonstrates the truth in these words. The Chinese government is sparing no effort in continuously improving the roof of the world, which can be witnessed and welcomed by all people. A better Tibet belongs to China and the world. Update: Directive Number 13 – The BMA (UK) Supports Russia’s Anti-Fascist ‘Special Operation’3/8/2022 I have spent several months translating into English this (Chinese language) academic paper forwarded to me by the Chinese Buddhist Association - with the instruction of providing to the West an authoritative text concerning the history of Chinese Ch'an Buddhism that ALL can benefit from. The Chinese Buddhist Association would like it known that ALL Westerners are welcome to come to China and study in educational or religious institutions and to submit their own thoughts and understandings regarding Chinese Buddhism, Chinese culture, Chinese culture and Chinese philosophy, etc. I am please to fulfil this Bodhisattva task!
The ICBI seeks to bring together the international community around the subject of Chinese Ch'an Buddhism - and its many strands of development that have spread across the world - often into very different cultural milieus, historical epochs and socio-economic categories! China is the historical and cultural epicentre of this type of Buddhism (which is a form of Indian Buddhism integrated with Confucian and Daoist influences), and due to politics, world history and different views of the destiny of humanity - the 'disconnect' between the academia of China and the West must be a) acknowledged and b) striven to be over-come. In the very interesting Conference on Ch'an Buddhism translated above - no Western scholars attended even though many were invited with all-expenses paid trips and free accommodation provided, etc. This did not stop the Conference from going ahead - as the work of Western scholars was discussed in their absence. A major achievement of this Conference can be seen in the fact that Mainland Chinese scholars sat in the same room as Japanese and Taiwanese scholars and a civilised and highly beneficial debate unfolded. Chinese Ch'an Buddhism never died-put in China (a common myth that still circulates like Halley's Comet), and is thriving today! Furthermore, Chinese Ch'an is a 'living-tradition' that has spread throughout the world and into many different places! I have made the point that suitably qualified Indian scholars need to do more in 'proving' the existence of 'Dhyana' Buddhism within South India - and isolate the strand of this Buddhism that Bodhidharma brought to China. This development would move the debate forward and counter the assumption that Ch'an is a purely Chinese invention that possesses no Indian roots. Peace in the Dharma Given that the inner content of the mind is a reflection of the external world, then all religiosity is false in that it is a misreading of that external stimuli. For any spiritual path to be effective, it must ‘see through’ the fog of religion and the confusion of the inner mind. None of the images constructed in the inner fabric of the mind represents anything other than what they are – namely ‘disconnected’ and ‘disparate’ phantoms of light and shade. Religion is constructed from this jumble of nonsense when the capacity for logical thought is applied to it. The logic capacity of the mind chops and resizes all this mad kaleidoscopic light show and generates a type of ‘plausibility’ that fills in the huge gaps of credibility through mindless ‘faith’. None of it is real, but due to a cultural and historical lack of clarity of thought, even the most intelligent of individuals still consider it a possibility that the irrationality this religiosity represents might well be ‘true’ when viewed in the right light, or given the right conditions, etc. The fact that none of it ever makes any independent sense, is lost even on the greatest of minds! Meditation, when uncoupled from its associated religiosity becomes a vehicle through which the empty nature of the inner mind can be perceived. This is achieved by the ‘attention’ capacity ‘detaching’ itself from the ‘thought content’ so that it is no longer experienced through the illusion of some kind of substantiality. When detached, these thoughts no longer present anything than what they are – phantoms and light shows within the inner mind. Instead of the ‘awareness’ capacity being limited to the thought constructs themselves, it ‘spreads’ to encompass the entire physicality of the inner mind itself, generating an ‘expansion’ of awareness. This is a very real experience. Furthermore, as the awareness is now fully extended throughout the terrain of the inner mind, it is emphasised and extended through the six senses so that the awareness also permeates the inner body. This appears to extend into the physical environment through the sense-organ – sense data dichotomy. This is how the ‘awareness’ capacity when freed from attachment to thought constructs and the misreading of inner (irrational) phantasms as cogent religion – appears to ‘expand’ into and ‘through’ the physical environment. This is not a mysterious event but rather an evolutionary necessity that has become lost through the complexities of modern living. The point is that it is possible to free the awareness from the tyranny of constructed and conditioned thought forms and thought patterns, etc. When this happens, the thought capacity appears to manifest as if in a deep pool of silver-like water, which ‘reflects’ inwardly all it encounters in the external environment. Despite the accuracy of this reflection, religiosity derives from the natural distortion of this capacity (which appears to be a by-product of human evolutionary adaptation). Whether accurate or inaccurate, however, none of these reflections are ‘real’ in the material sense. Thought forms are the creations of bio-chemical interactions that ‘cease’ at the point of physical death. It is possible to understand all these processes prior to death, and to free the awareness of attachment to form following a relatively straightforward course in meditative self-development. Not only is the awareness capacity ‘freed’, but so is the logic capacity which evolved to ‘order’ thoughts. When freed from the rigid thought constructs conditioned throughout history, this type of enhanced logic can be used to strengthen and develop Socialist science to an ever-greater degree! Physical death then becomes an exercise in the logical closing-down of the bio-chemical processes of the body which sees the perception capacity quite literally ‘folding-in’ upon itself. There is nothing to fear and everything to gain!
Christening and baptising are Eurocentric acts of psychological and physical destruction of non-European culture that has evolved to interpret the world in entirely different ways. The act of ‘Christening’ and particularly ‘baptising’ - exist as a means for the recipient to actively participate in the historical and existential ‘rejection’ of their religious and political understanding of the world as if it were ‘inferior’ and of a ‘lesser’ value than that of the Eurocentric ignorance encountered. When non-White people arrived into 14th and 15th century England, they were automatically freed from a state of institutional slavery and transitioned into a state of wage slavery. This transition is merely a legal rearrangement of the relationship of the individual to the prevailing economic forces extant in the external world. This rearrangement is often (mindlessly) termed 'freedom' but wage slavery is just another form of economic slavery eulogised by the bourgeoisie. It may be a preferable state to that of institutional slavery, but it is a lesser state for the working class than the freedom and self-determination found within the state of Socialism. To accept ‘Christening’ and ‘baptising’ is in effect the ‘forcing’ of the accepting of predatory capitalism, and bizarre idea that Europeans are spiritually, physically and culturally ‘superior’ to every other non-White person, either singularly or collectively. Therefore, by ‘rejecting’ christening and baptising the individual is remaining free from accepting the (inverted) spiritual essence of the modern, capitalist system!
Although I do not believe in the literal reality of any religious teaching – my academic speciality is that of ‘religious thought’ and ‘religious practice’. This follows on in the Soviet tradition and the current situation in Mainland China. As various ethnic groups are required to be ‘integrated’ into the Socialist System, an expert knowledge of religious knowledge at the political level is required to implement this transition. A Socialist or Communist academic living in a Marxist-Leninist State, must be free of any religious ideology in the primitive sense, and be able to objectively study, understand and predict the behaviour of those who ‘literally’ believe in religious mythology. Such an academic is an advanced dialectical human-being who understands Marxist-Leninism (and its variants) exactly, and is no longer inhabiting the ‘inverted’ mind-sets that propagated religious ideology in the first place! The rational human mind must be brought into play to clear the ‘fog of religion’ as Lenin called it – whilst still understanding why religious groupings think and act as they do. This understanding is crucial to predict problems before they start, and to guide the religious communities into thoughts and behaviours more complicit with life in a progressive, Socialist society! Religion is transitioned into a ‘private’ affair for the masses, and is removed’ from the ‘public’ space. Religion is moved from all positions of political power and business interference! As religion was originally a vehicle for personal salvation in an indifferent world – these changes must be explained to the religious groupings in a manner that they understand without conflict or resistance! This is not always an easy task, but it is an essential task. Religion, like philosophy, can be fully understood by the secular and atheistic mind. Once it is understood, it can be guided and moulded so that it benefits from being within a Socialist States, and yet does not interfere in the political process. Furthermore, as the ‘classroom’ is separated from the ‘Church’ - religious leaders must be taught to understand the ‘new’ rights that his community now possess. Conservativism is now no longer required or allowed, and so a religious leader must take responsibility in guaranteeing that his community is able to register for welfare, housing, medical employment and education opportunities – offered either free of charge or highly subsidised by the Socialist State! All religions must now support the Socialist System and have no relationship with the bourgeois community or reactionaries of any kind. Should a religious leader enquire ‘how’ he or she is supposed to present these requirements to his or her community – a Political Commissar tasked with integrating religious groupings into the Socialist System must be ready with a profound and relevant answer that can be clearly explained and put into action!
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AuthorAdrian Chan-Wyles PhD - Political Commissar and BMA (UK) Historian & Researcher. Archives
April 2024
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