Manage Your Anger - The Buddhist Way

1.) Recognition and acknowledgment of anger is the first step of dealing with it. Mindfulness is the teaching of Buddha that helps manage anger by being aware that it exists and needs patience to face the problem. Then it will lead to practical ways to cease the anger.

2.) Practice patience. In Buddhism patience is one of the foundations in the attainment of enlightenment. Anger can be best avoided through the practice of patience. Having patience means having tolerance. Can you test your patience? Try to get at the end of the long line at an ATM on a weekend.


3.) Meditation and reflection. This is the most effective way to manage anger. When you meditate anger stops. Meditation needs patience, effort and continued practice. It does not produce sudden changes; there will be noticeable results after months or years of dedication to practice it.

4.) Have Compassion. If you have a warm heart that feels the need to help others, serve, respect and share, you can experience a feeling that makes you happy and eventually transform heart with a purpose that's to live with compassion and love which makes your life more meaningful each day.

5.) Stay away from provocative situations that trigger anger. A situation that made you angry should not be pursued but try to divert your attention to other things that can pacify anger. Get some cold drinks to refresh and come to your cool senses.

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Daikokutoe

There are many religiuos festival celebrated in Japan every year and some of them are celebrated in very unique ways. One of them is the Daikokutoe festival.

Daikokutoe is an ancient festival celebrated in Kamakura City , Japan. The festival is celebrated on the February 11 every year. During the ceremony Buddhist monks who have completed one hundred days of severe ascetic training will stand in the cold wind at the water basin within the precincts of Chosho-ji temple and pour cold water all over their bodies while chanting sutras to pray for world peace and human happiness.

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Buddhist Stoy - The Legend Of The Sparrows

You don’‘t need to be worried about my illness. I believe I will recoverg radually."
Laying in bed, Mrs. Fan, who had been very sick for months, was saying in a weak voice to her husband. Mr. Fan patted her with his hand and comforted her,
"You’‘re my wife, I must think of a way to help you recover from the illness. And I still hope that you will give birth to a son for me."

"Ge! Ge! Ge!"
Mrs. Fan kept coughing for a few times.
"See! Your illness is getting worse, how can I not be worried about you? Right, yesterday I requested a prescription from Taoist Fang (people who practise Taoism). Let us try it."

Mr. Fan stood up and went to get the prescription as soon as he had said that.
"What prescription?"
"Em! The prescription says that we need to keep 100 sparrows. Everydaywe have to feed them infused-herb rice. After 21 days of feeding them we kill them and eat their brains."

"What? Eat the brains of 100 sparrows? No! No way! This is too savage, I cannot eat them." Mrs. Fan shook her head to imply her disapproval.
"What is savage or not savage? You have to eat anything to recover. Furthermore Taoist Fang told me this prescription is very effective."

Mr. Fan did not agree with Mrs. Fan’‘s opinion. He went downtown alone and brought back 100 fat sparrows. He kept them in a cage. Then Mr. Fan quickly went to the Chinese herb shop to buy the infused-herd rice.


Laying in bed, Mrs. Fan heard the twittering of the sparrows. She knew of her husband’‘s determination. She could not help sighing, "Alas!" Mrs. Fan continued to think, "No! Normally I couldn’‘t be hard-hearted enough to carelessly step on an ant. Now we’‘re going to kill 100 sparrows just to save my life, how could I have the heart to do it? 100lives!!"

As Mrs. Fan was thinking, she made an effort to walk and crawled to the courtyard. She opened the sparrows’‘ cage, and set the 100 sparrows free. When Mr. Fan took the herbs back home and saw the empty cage, he knew that his wife did not want to eat. So he could not help but let it go.

Strangely enough, however, since Mrs. Fan set free all of the 100 sparrows,her mind was unusually calm and comfortable. So she started to recover slowly. Even more extraordinary, one year later Mrs. Fan gave birth to a fair and fat baby boy. Mr. Fan could not help but keep laughing and holding the baby and showing it to his wife,
"See, our son is so lovely!"

To their astonishment, at the same time both of them discovered - that there were many black spots on their baby’‘s both arms. And the shapes of the spots resembled to the shapes of the sparrows exactly. Apparently, Mrs Fan had saves the lives of 100 sparrows and was "rewarded" with a new life, a son. The black spots on their son's arms reminded the couple of the good deed that the wife had done in the past.

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Boddhisattva In Metro

The title of this post is actually the title of this video. I do not know why it is given such a title but i do enjoy watching this video. If you are moody, this video will make you feel better. Just enjoy it.

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Buddhist Personality : Methee Amornwuthikul

Name : Methee Amornwuthikul
Nationality : Thailand
Date Of Birth : 18th May 1971
Profession : Actor / Former nude model for gay magazines

This former Thai actor who is a member of the Red movement was arrested by the police on April 22 for possession of military weapons belonging to the government. The weapons were confiscated from the army during the April 10 clash between the Reds and the soldiers. He had admitted that he was keeping the weapons for "future use" and had distributed some of the weapons to his comrades. He also confessed that he was on the frontline during the April 10 clash which left 25 deaths and 800 injured and that the direction to shoot came from the Reds. The Red refuted his allegation. Today he is still under the custody of the police and could face death penalty if convicted for possession of heavy war weapons taken from soldiers. The police said that the actor would not be given any leniency despite him giving many confidential informations on the Red movement to the police. The Reds accused the police of fabricating his confession but according to the police he was not actually confessing but was proudly acknowledging his and the Reds involvement in the April 11 deadly clash.























Last year he was also arrested for assaulting the leader of a political party

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Praying For Peace

With the protest in Bangkok continues into the 2nd month, a mass prayer ceremony was held last Sunday ( April 25 ) in Bangkok. Thousands of Bangkokians in white clothes prayed for the return of peace to Thailand in a mass prayer session at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

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Buddhist Personality : Jeff Wang

Name : Wang Jian Fu
Nationality : Taiwan
Date Of Birth : 7th October 1976
Height : 176cm
Profession : Actor ( Singapore based )

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Buddhist Tourism Forum

Cambodia is hosting a regional Buddhist tourism forum which starts today until April 29. This forum is aimed at raising the interconnection between Buddhism and tourism in the region.

A total of 20,000 participants including 3000 Buddhist monks are expected to attend this forum. Out of the 3000 monks expected 181 will come from the 13 participating countries in the region.

The event is called "The Trail of Civilization and Art Performance" and is held at Bayon temple, one of the many temples built in Angkor Wat area in northern province of Siem Reap.

The three-day event will show religious processions and artistic performances about Biography of Buddha, the Supreme Teacher, while he was born, achieving Enlightenment and attaining Nirvana, by Cambodian and foreign artistic performance groups.

It is also to mark the eminent event to fulfill great merit during the Visakh Bochea Day.

A 27-member Chinese delegation headed by Wang Jian, general- secretary of the Buddihist Association of China will participate in the event. Meanwhile, Buddhist performance group from Hangzhou Lingyin Monastery of Zhejiang province will give their Buddhist performance.

This is the 4th time the forum is being held, but the first time held in Cambodia--is held annually with a rotative format among the six signatory countries of Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

The six countries agreed in the Borobudur Plan of Actions (BPA) which was held in Borobudur, Indonesia in 2006.

The BPA has a five-year timeframe covering the period from 2007 to 2011.

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Dalai Lama On Larry King Live

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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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Buddhist Personality : Sharon Prabakar

Name : Sharon Prabakhar
Nationality : India
Date Of Birth : 9th April 1967
Profession : Public speaker and singer

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Buddhist Story - A Stupid Son

Alas! What a stupid son I have! I am worried that he will not be able to preserve all of the property if I handed down to him. There was a wealthy man who was very astute and capable. However, he had a son who was very stupid and good-at-nothing. Hence the wealthy man had been very distressful.

One day he again sat down in the living room and sighed. His son was sitting opposite to him and was just mindlessly giggling, "Hihi, hehe!!" "Ai", the wealthy man could not help making a sigh. Then the family old maid came in and said,

"Master, there’‘s a monk looking for you for donation."

The wealthy man had been a person who knew how to respect the Buddhists. Therefore upon hearing that, he said,

"Please invite him in immediately."

Soon an old monk who looked very compassionate came in. The wealthy man very politely requested him to sit down. The old monk did not sit down. Instead he directly walked towards the stupid son and looked at him. Then the old monk slowly touched his head for a few times and said,

"In fact,this child is very clever and is good at studying. It’‘s a pity that there’‘s too much killing in your home. And this prevent him from being clever."

He left without looking back when he finished the remarks. There left the wealthy man to think of the remarks of the old monk.

"The old monk was right. Truly our family have been consuming big fishes and much meat without stopping. Also we always throw dishes away when we cannot finish them. And every festivals we will have delicacies from land and sea. Perhaps it has been because we have been slaughtering many animals at home that resulted in having an idiotic son."

From then onwards, the wealthy man changed himself completely - The whole family started to become vegetarian. He banned anyone to take all live animals into the kitchen. In addition, he spent much money to buy animals to release them in the wild as a work of merit. Thus he had been doing for many years.

Suddenly one day the stupid son of the wealthy man ran to the father held his stomach and shouted,

"Papa, my stomach’‘s aching and I want to vomit."

The wealthy man was very worried. He was just about to invite a doctor to treat his son when the son started to vomit some "black liquid". Everyone was astonished upon seeing it. However, the stupid son became very intelligent since then. No longer an idiot any more, he mastered anything he learnt in no time. The wealthy man was very happy so he let his son studied. Finally the son attained the best results in the government examination. This confirmed what the old monk had said before.

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Buddhist Personality : Wen Sheng Hao

Name : Wen Sheng Hao
Nationality : Taiwan
Date Of Birth : 22nd February 1978
Profession : Actor

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