The Buddha’s explanation as to ‘why’ suffering and dissatisfaction exist within the human mind and the material environment is as good an explanation as any other theory found in Social Science, Psychology or Psychiatry. Past and present lives, when viewed genetically and collectively then take on a new scientific meaning when detached from the dogma of religiously motivated individualism – a mistaken mind-set which perfectly mirrors the Bourgeois ideal state of unbridled ‘individualism’ defined as being the ‘perfect’ (and preferred) mode of predatory capitalism! Of course, from a dialectical position, what we experience today will inevitably dictate how material life will unfold in the future. This intprets the past, present and future existences as taught by the Buddha as coinciding with the past from which the present as emerged – and the ‘future’ into which the present will ‘develop’. Indeed, outside of the superstitious meaning often encouraged amongst the Buddhist laity – it is an established fact that the Theravada Sangha of ordained monks and nuns discuss past, present and future lives in exactly this manner (Abhidhamma) – clarify this issue further by specify the ‘past’ life equals the past moment, the ‘present’ life equals the present moment, and the ‘future’ life equals the life yet to come. Around two to three-thousand years ago, when very few people could read and write, the ordained Buddhist monastic seemed a world apart from the average lay-person. There was good reason for this separation which probably does apply to contemporary life in all but the materially poorest of places. Whatever the situation, the agency of theistic ‘faith’ should NOT replace materially-derived ‘wisdom’. Of course, where literacy is unknown, then faith tends to be the strongest. Ancient India was both poor and illiterate and so the Buddha’s Enlightenment offered a strand of awareness which required the open rejection of ordinary existence. This was, in effect, the rejection of religious-based ‘faith’ – and yet amongst the ignorant masses – ‘faith’ continued to function as a very powerful force and still does. This misinterpretation is encouraged in the West as the theistic religions that have historically dominated these countries have been ‘faith’ based. This is why Buddhism in the West is falsely presented as just another version of the Judeo-Christian religion – when it is clearly (dialectically) far superior to these theistic paths. The philosophy of ancient India, particularly that found within Buddhist ideology, intersects perfectly with the thinking that undermines modern science. India, even before ancient Greece, is well-known to have developed a system of material interpretation of reality. The Buddha seems to have developed his system of interpreting reality from within this system of understanding and explaining existence. The Buddha, whilst experiencing material reality, purified his perceptual understanding so that he realised the ‘essence’ of the human conscious ability – which is used to ‘sense’ the world through the six-senses that comprise the inner and outer body and the physical environment within which it exists. Worshipping the Buddha as a ‘God’ – or continuing to worship the ‘polytheism’ of India – was to miss the dialectical point that the Buddha was making. Perceiving the ‘essence’ of perception is an interesting challenge.
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DPRK: Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Sends Congratulatory Message to the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and the President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic! (29.3.2023)
Sangha Kommune (SSR) Blog: DPRK-Lao Relations - Flower Basket (112-2023) Vientiane General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party President of the People's Democratic Republic of Laos Tonglun Seesoul Comrade On the occasion of the 68th Anniversary of the Founding of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party - I send warm congratulations and Comradely greetings to the General Secretary and all members of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party! For the past 68 years since its Founding - the Lao People's Revolutionary Party has successfully organized and led the struggle of the Lao people to achieve independent development and prosperity of the country - while resolutely overcoming all kinds of challenges and difficulties at home and abroad! Today, under the precise leadership of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party headed by Comrade General Secretary, the Lao people are making new strides in the struggle to implement the decisions of the Party's 11th Congress. I wish for greater achievements in the responsible work of Comrade General Secretary for the strengthening and development of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and the welfare of the Lao people. In this aspiration I expresses a firm conviction. General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea - Kim Jong Un March 22, Juche 112 (2023) Pyongyang (End) www.kcna.kp (subject 112.3.22.) North Korean Language Article: http://www.kcna.kp/kp/article/q/35104d969cc6fb7cd36765b8ef06b3f8.kcmsf 경애하는 김정은동지께서 라오스인민혁명당 중앙위원회 총비서,라오스인민민주주의공화국 주석에게 축전을 보내시였다 비엔티안 라오스인민혁명당 중앙위원회 총비서 라오스인민민주주의공화국 주석 통룬 씨쑤릿동지 나는 라오스인민혁명당창건 68돐에 즈음하여 총비서동지와 라오스인민혁명당의 전체 당원들에게 열렬한 축하와 동지적인사를 보냅니다. 라오스인민혁명당은 창건후 지난 68년간 내외의 온갖 도전과 난관들을 과감히 극복하면서 나라의 자주적발전과 번영을 이룩하기 위한 라오스인민의 투쟁을 승리적으로 조직령도하여왔습니다. 오늘 라오스인민은 총비서동지를 수반으로 하는 라오스인민혁명당의 정확한 령도밑에 당 제11차대회 결정관철을 위한 투쟁에서 새로운 전진을 이룩하고있습니다. 나는 라오스인민혁명당의 강화발전과 라오스인민의 복리를 위한 총비서동지의 책임적인 사업에서 보다 큰 성과가 있기를 축원하면서 우리 두 당,두 나라사이의 전통적이며 동지적인 친선협조관계가 앞으로도 끊임없이 강화발전되리라는 굳은 확신을 표명합니다. 조선로동당 총비서 조선민주주의인민공화국 국무위원장 김정은 주체112(2023)년 3월 22일 평 양(끝) www.kcna.kp (주체112.3.22.) LANZHOU, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- More than 76,000 believers and tourists from home and abroad attended a grand Tibetan Buddhist event, known as the "sunning of the Buddha" ceremony, held Friday at the Labrang Monastery in northwest China's Gansu Province.
Buddhists, Tibetan residents, and tourists gathered in the square in front of the monastery at around 9:00 a.m., waiting for the ceremony. Around one hour later, about 100 lamas carried a huge thangka scroll bearing the image of the Buddha to a nearby hill, where the thangka was unrolled at around 10:30 a.m. for believers to worship. After sunbathing for around an hour, the portrait was rolled up with loud cheers from the audience. The annual event is one of the most important ceremonies at Labrang Monastery, one of the six great temples of the Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, which was built in 1709. The centuries-old ceremony is held each year on the 13th day of the first lunar month. It is not only a grand festival for Buddhists, but also a platform to showcase the unique Tibetan culture and customs to tourists. The ceremony had been suspended since 2020 due to the COVID-19 epidemic. 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. As the world slowly emerges from 'lock-down' and the threat of Covid-19 reduces (despite being far from over), people start to get back to the normal patterns of everyday life! Last year, during 2021, the Communist Party of China celebrated one-hundred Years of existence! The CPC has existed for one-hundred years and has held power since 1949! As Buddhism fundamentally 'rejects' greed, hatred and delusion, and given that predatory capitalism is premised upon greed, hatred and delusion, it logically follows that genuine Buddhist philosophy - when not subject to distorting human ignorance - is obviously and inherently 'anti-capitalist'. Indeed, to adjust Buddhist thinking so that it 'supports' predatory capitalism, entire sections of the Dharma in ALL traditions would have to be removed so as to 'purge' all the teachings that describe in detail how to uproot greed, hatred and delusion! Of course, there has been the odd distortion away from the Buddhis Suttas (or 'Sutras') which emphasis 'greed' and 'material' accumulation instead of deepening penetrative insight and seeking to 'uproot' taints from the mind - but these are obvious aberrations often linked to everything that is bad within human nature and human endeavour! In other words, such perversions of the Dharma are easy to spot because they surround most of us much of the time! The primary distortion lies in the books shops all around us in the West - where smiling Buddhist monks attempt to 'sell' you peace of mind, or attribute all kinds of miraculous cures to 'mindfulness' - providing you can afford the fee! Bourgeois Buddhism is essentially Proletariat Buddhism kidnapped by the middle-classes and distorted to suit its own ogre-like image! May Day reminds us that we are all workers and that we are not only important - but through are collective labour - we build and sustain the modern world! London held the first May Day march in three-years yesterday - after the Covid-19 emergency! We must physically march holding the Red Flag of Freedom aloft - but we must also 'march' whilst 'looking within' so that we free ourselves from the greed, hatred and delusion that inspires and sustains the middle-classes! Onward - we have a world to win!
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AuthorAdrian Chan-Wyles PhD - Political Commissar and BMA (UK) Historian & Researcher. Archives
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