Royal Baby For Halifax

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and the Sakyong Wangmo Khandro Tseyang, the king and queen of Shambhala, a worldwide network of urban Buddhist meditation centers, retreat centers and monasteries are expecting their first child in August in Halifax, Canada.In 2006, almost 1,500 people gathered at the Cunard Centre on the Halifax waterfront to witness the couple’s marriage.Rinpoche is the eldest son of Trungpa Rinpoche, the founder of Shambhala Buddhism. His marriage to his Tibetan princess represented a significant linkage of lineages for Buddhists around the world.The couple have decided to have the birth in their adopted home of Halifax, the spiritual capital of the worldwide Shambhala community.


His Eminence the Sakyong, Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche, is one of Tibet’s highest and most respected incarnate lamas. He is unique in that he bridges two worlds. The eldest son of the Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who was instrumental in bringing Buddhism to the West, he is the incarnation of Mipham the Great, who is revered in Tibet as an emanation of Manjushri, the buddha of wisdom.


A series of motivational videos by the King







For other videos ( topics ), please visit Youtube or here

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Monkey Terrorists

This is irrelevant here but i think it is rather amusing or even scary and would like to share with the readers of this blog.

I have heard of monkeys being trained to pluck coconuts, guarding farm animals and to steal but it seems like they can actually be trained to do much tougher tasks. Last week People's Daily, a newspaper in China reported that Afghanistan's Taliban has been training monkeys to use weapons to attack American soldiers. It was reported that monkeys have been seen being trained to handle AK-47 rifles in the Waziristan tribal region in Afghanistan. According to the report, bananas and peanuts are used as 'incentive' for the monkeys during training.

Analysts believe that Taliban is planning to use monkeys as 'replacement killers' against American troops after having exhausted their other combat resources and methods. However NATO officials have publicly stated that the story is false. A spokesman of NATO said that they have not received any credible and reliable information to prove that the Chinese report is true.

Ironically, the initiators of "monkey soldiers" are the Americans. Between the 1960s and the 1970s, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) trained massive "monkey soldiers" in the Vietnam War and dispatched armed monkeys to dangerous jungles to launch assaults on Vietnamese soldiers. Today, the Taliban forces have given the American troops some of their own medicine.

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Ugandan Buddhist Monk

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Miss Tiffany Universe 2010

Two months ago, i made a post on Buddhist views towards transgender ( katoey ) and in one part of the post i featured contestants of a transgender beauty contest in Thailand, the Miss Tiffany Universe 2010.

Earlier last month, one of the contestants was crowned as Miss Tiffany Universe 2010.The winner was Nalada Thamthanakorn, aged 19 and a university student from Bangkok. She won BT100,000 cash, a Honda Jazz and an honorary Miss Tiffany Universe statue.
Her courts were Chanya Denfanapka, 21 ( 1st Runnersup ) and Namphet Prasopchak, 21 ( 2nd Runnersup )

( Nalada flanked by 1st Runnersup, Chanya on the right and 2nd Runnersup Namphet on the left )

Many pageant observers claim that Miss Tiffany Universe 2010 is more beautiful than Miss Thailand Universe 2010, Fontip Watcharatakul. Let's see if you agree with them.























This is Fontip, who will represent Thailand in the upcoming Miss Universe pageant.
















The first runnersup, Chanya (left )is not a pushover either. (S)he is said to resemble Miss Universe 2007, Zuleyka Rivera from Puerto Rico. Compare both of them yourself




















This is Zuleyka Rivera





















The videos

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A Convert's Regret

Today's post is about this 54 years old Malaysian man who converted to Islam 10 years ago. He was born and brought up in Buddhist environment. He works in the government service. According to him, he was influenced by his friends to convert to Islam. This is not suprising because in Malaysia, more about 90% of the government staff are the Malay Muslims. He was probably one of the very few or perhaps the lone non-Muslim in his work place at that time.

He is single and has been disowned by his family due to his conversion. Now he wants to convert out of Islam and returns to Buddhism. According to him, he has always been following the Buddhist faith even after his conversion to Islam. Unfortunately for him, it is next to impossible for him to convert out of Islam, never mind if one who calls himself a Muslim but never live a life as a Muslim at all. He will have to face the uphill task of going to the Sha'ria court ( Islamic court ) to file a case to revert his conversion. He will also most probably has to do it alone without a lawyer because no lawyer ( must be a Muslim ) would want to take up his case, fearing possible intimidation from other Muslims.

In Malaysia, majority of the non-Muslims who convert to Islam, do it for the purpose of getting married with their Muslims partners. The laws in Malaysia require a non-Muslim MUST convert to Islam before allowed to marry a Muslim ( foreigners are not excempted ). It's like buying a one way ticket because once converted, he/she has almost no chance to convert out from Islam for whatever reasons at all. The only very rare case where a Muslim convert was allowed to leave Islam happened in 2008 ago where a local Chinese woman was allowed to leave Islam and returned to Buddhism. She converted to Islam in order to marry her Iranian boyfriend then but decided to leave the religion after her marriage failed.

In Malaysia, there has been several controversies over Islam conversion in the past. There were cases where men converted without the knowledge of their famiiies ( fearing rejection by family ). The families only came to know about this conversion after they died when the Islamic authority snatched their bodies from their mourning and shocked families to be buried according to Islamic rites.

Most recently, it involves a case where a Hindu man converted not only himself but all his young children without the permission of the mother. Read this case here

As for the man above, if it was true that he has been a Buddhist all this while, then he had made the biggest mistake of his life. He claimed that ( in the video ) that at the time of his conversion he was young ( supposedly an immature decision ) but at 44 then, he was definitely not young but old enough to make a wise decision. I believe the reason why he wanted to leave Islam is because he is still single and will be retiring in a year time and has started to feel lonely. He now wants to return to his family but his family refuse to accept him. Well, good luck to him. He'll need lots of that.

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Britian's Got Talent

A 10 members team from London who call themselves Team Shaolin has made it to the semfinals of the latest season of Britain's Got Talent.

The members (not real monks) are Matthew Metin Ahmet (21), Glenn Lillie (17), Jacob Davis (15), Sohail Badat (30), Iyanu Ogjunobi (12), Oni Ogjunobi (9), Jake Chisnell (9), Wiktor Glowacz (8), Adrian Glowacz (16), Lucas Crystal Campos (11)

Team Shaolin performs the martial art form ‘Shaolin’, which is an ancient 1500yr old form of Kung-fu involving channelled Buddhism (Zen). Buddhist monks practise it and are the ultimate masters of this form of Kung-fu. All members have shaved heads which represent the philosophy of the art form; the hair is seen as a cover which stops energy being let out. Moves in their routine consist of breaking iron bars (achieved through breathing and meditation), 2 finger handstands and many more.

The 1st of the 5 semi-finals starts tonight.

Watch the team's performance during the audition here

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Top Prize For Thai Film

After going through months of chaos and violent caused by political problems, Thais have something to celebrate today. Last night a Thai film won top prize, Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, a feat achieved by Thailand for the first time.

The movie " Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives " is an horror movie directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. According to Apichatpong, the movie is inspired by a book written by a Buddhist monk, Phra Sripariyattiweti who is from his hometown in Khon Kaen, northern Thailand. The book is about people who are able to recall their past lives.

The horror movie is about a man dying of kidney failures returns to his hometown in northeast Thailand and is visited by his late wife and his missing son, who has turned into a monkey. The movie has scenes among others featuring monks, ghosts, red eye monkey and even a disfigured princess having sex with a catfish.

The director almost failed to make it to Cannes on time as his passport which was sent to the British Embassy for stamping was "stucked" there because the embassy was closed due to the protest. In his winning speech, he thanked not only his parents for introducing him to cinema by bringing him to one when he was a little boy but also all the spirits and ghosts in Thailand for making it possible for him to be at the festival.






Here's the official trailer

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Bangkok Aftermath - The Music Video

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Buddhist Personality : Chen Shu Ju

Today's post is on a Taiwanese woman named Chen Shu Ju. She is 60 years old, single and is a vegetable seller in a market in Taitung, Taiwan. She only studied up to primary 6 because she had to follow her father to the market to sell vegetable at 13, after the death of her mother. At home she took over her mother's role to look after 4 younger brothers and 2 younger sisters. Due to her tough life since her teenage years, she is very frugal in her spendings. She is a Buddhist and a vegetarian. Today, she spends on average NT100 (USD3) only for her daily two meals. You may be wondering why is this woman featured here afterall she is just an ordinary vegetable seller.

Well, an ordinary vegetable she may be but she is definitely not an ordinary woman. She puts most of us to shame with what she had done in the past years. She is an extrodinary woman. She was named by Time Magazine as one of 100 most influential person in the world for 2010. Forbes Asia also named her as one of the Heroes in the field of charity.

She was given recognition for her selfless philantrophy contribution. Over the years, despite her modest income, she has donated a total of NT 10 million (USD320,000 ) to help orphans and to build library in a rural school she used to attend. This year, she plans to donate another NT 1 million (USD32,000) for education and healthcare of poor students. In an interview she said that " Life is short, we should go after virtue, not wealth"

Being on the Time Magazine list, she was invited to the US to attend the citation dinner there. Initially she was reluctant to go because she has never travelled overseas before. Infact she has only been to Taipei, the capital of Taiwan only once for medical reason which was a few decades ago. The mayor of Taitung encouraged her to go to New York but it was after she received a phone call from the President of Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou who told her that she is the pride of Taiwan that she agreed to fly to New York. Since time was running out, a team of Foreign Ministry officials worked on Sunday to process Chen's passport application and the Taipei Office of the American Institute in Taiwan offered her VIP treatment by granting her a visa within half an hour in the morning of May 3, so that she could catch an EVA Airways flight to New York in the evening on the same day.

She flew to New York on May 3, 2010 for a three day visit. There she had the honour to walk on red carpet and shared the same stage with well known celebrities and politicians. She was even introduced to Sarah Palin. She has shown to us that an ordinary person living an ordinary life could still bring changes to the lives of the others who are less fortunate than us and to become the pride of the country. She has become a celebrity in Taiwan since her listing on the Time Magazine was announced but most importantly, her story has triggered a lot more donations from the Taiwanese public in recent days. In recognition for her selfless good deeds, the Taiwanese government is planning to make a movie which will be based on her life.















In Central Park, New York














In a market in San Francisco

















At her vegetable stall in Taitung






In New York. There was a little controversy over her interviews. During media interviews, she was asked to say that she was representing the President and Foreign Affairs Minister and officials. In this video ( during the red carpet interview ), she repeatedly mentioned the President and Foreign Minister ( her escort, Simon Sung from the Taiwan's represntative office in the US, was heard whispering to her " Foreign Affairs Minister ". Many parties in Taiwan slammed the move, accusing the government of using Chen Shu Ju for publicity. They said that Chen was asked to say the same thing from the day before her departure to the US. The government disputed the claim saying that Chen was shy and did not know how to answer the media, she often turned to her escort for assistance. Whatever their answers, Chen was there to represent herself and not anyone else.


Despite her celebrity status now and not feeling well due to irregular sleep during her trip to the US, she did not waste much time to resume her business after her return. She said that after closing her business for few days, she had a lot to do to set up her stall again. She also asked not to be photographed again so that she could do her business as usual

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Thai Ladyboy

and this one is Nong Poy, the winner of the international version of Miss Tiffany in 2004 who is now a TV drama actress

In most of societies, homosexuals and transgenders are very much frowned upon but not in Thailand. In Thailand transgenders are known as either "kathoey" or "ladyboy". Transgenders enjoy acceptance and much more respect in Thailand than their counterparts elsewhere. Why is this so ? Studies conducted on this have concluded that tolerance towards transgenders in Thailand could be attributed to Buddhism.

(1) Throughout the Theravada Buddhism 'Tipitaka', from the beginning right to the end, there are many references as to what or who are deemed good or bad but there was no mentioned at all on homosexuals. This could imply that the proper behaviour of heterosexuals and homosexuals are to be judged on the same basis. In other words, both groups are to be treated as "equal". The Tipitika recognizes 4 sexes. In addition to male and female, there are two other genders namely " ubhatobyanjanaka " and "pandaka".

The term "ubhatobyanjanaka" has different interpretations within the Tipitika but generally it refers to hermaphrodite.

The Pali-English dicitionary - describes "ubhatobyanjanaka" as "having the characteristics of both sexes, hermaphrodite"

A reformist Thai writer Phra Ratchaworamuni describes "ubhatobyanjanaka" as "being with the genital organs of both sexes"

Bunmi Methangkun, head of the traditionalist Abhidhamma Foundation in Thailand considers the physchological factors in his intepretations. He describes two types of hermaphrodite namely

" itti-ubhatobyanjanaka" ( physically female but physically attracted to another woman ) and "purisa-ubhatobyanjanaka" ( physically male but physically attracted to another man )


Like "ubhatobyanjanaka", the term "pandaka" also has different interpretations by different writers but the basic concept appears to be that of a deficiency in male sexual capacity. Subsequently, the denotation of the term appears to have expanded to incorporate notions of non-normative male sexuality. Pandaka may be derived from anda, which variously means `egg' or `testicle' in Pali, and probably originally denoted male reproductive deficiency or incapacity. The Pali-English dictionary describes "pandaka" as "a eunuch".

In Thailand both "ubhatobyanjanaka" and "pandaka" have been translated as "kathoey (ladyboy)"

(2) Buddhists believe in Karma. where we are reborn into a type of being that is based on our past deeds. Kathoeys are thought to be predetermined from birth as the direct result of karma. Being born as something as a result of past actions / deeds is not perceived to be due to one's fault. Therefore it is not the fault of Kathoey to be born as Kathoey and they should be treated with compassion.

The above two reasons will probably best explain why transgenders are accepted and respected in Thailand. Though like their counterparts in other countries, many kathoeys in Thailand join the sex industry but there are as many who are successful in other industries such as entertainment, beauty and fashion. A number of movies have been made on the kathoeys in Thailand but interestingly they were potrayed positively in those movies rather than the stereotype roles of prostitutes or undesirable characters. As much as they want to be recognised as women, many are willing to leave their "feminity" to enter the monkhood to make merit for their parents. Once there, they will wear what the rest of the male monks wear.

In a school in Thailand, the Kathoeys even have their own toilets ( separated from the girls and boys toilets )


Some transgenders have undergone sex-change operation but many have not but everyone would agree that most of them like real women and even more beautiful than some real women. It is not easy to distinguish a kathoey from a woman in Thailand but you won't be laughed at if you fail to do so. Just take a look as the following photos. Hard to believe that they were born as boys.

Everyone in the photos are kathoeys and they are the contestants for Miss Tiffany Universe 2010, a pageant meant for them and all of them are Thais.

and this one (above) is Nong Poy, the winner of the international version of Miss Tiffany in 2004 who is now a TV drama actress

And this one ( above video ) , Nong Toom is the most famous ladyboy in Thailand. She was a boxer who fought with real male boxers. A movie based on her was made in 2003.
This is the trailer of the award winning movie "Beautiful Boxer" which was based on her life

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Chinese Buddhist Song

A Chinese Buddhist song for your listening pleasure. A very nice song.

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Buddhist Personality : Anggun

Name : Anggun Cipta Sasmi
Nationality : French ( Origin : Indonesia )
Date Of Birth : 29th April 1974
Profession : Singer

She is one of the few Indonesian singers who has made it big in the west. Anggun is a well known singer both in Indonesia and Europe, in particularly France. Officially a Muslim, Anggun has deep interest in Buddhism and has taken effort to learn about the religion in order to understand Buddhist teachings better



































Her hit song "Snow On The Sahara"

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