A Christian Address Of Dalai Lama

A Christian contestant of a popular Australian cooking show, Kate Bracks refused to acknowledge Dalai Lama by his formal title when he was the guest star of the show last Sunday.

That was the religious test facing MasterChef mum Kate Bracks, who refused to acknowledge the religious leader by his formal title when he was the guest star of Sunday's episode.

The 36-year-old Christian from Orange was the only contestant who felt "uncomfortable" with the protocol, addressing him only as "Dalai".

His appearance created an emotion-charged challenge for the other five competitors, who all spoke of his "energy", "aura" and "amazing spirit".

But Bracks said she did not "see the Dalai as a holy man".

"My belief is that God is the only one that is perfectly holy," she said.

"So in terms of everybody calling him Your Holiness, that was probably the only aspect of the challenge I was uncomfortable with. I just called him Dalai Lama."

Interestingly, Baptist minister Tim Costello and Uniting Church minister Bill Crews, who joined the Dalai Lama for the lunch service, happily called him "Your Holiness".

While "privileged" to be part of the challenge, Bracks said, "To get down to the nuts and bolts, I don't see any difference if I'd cooked for (rival) Alana."

She questioned whether a Christian leader would have been "received so well" on TV, adding " ... probably not."

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Buddhist Festival In Australia

A Buddhist Festival is currently being held in Southland Park, Brisbane in Australia in conjunction with the Buddha's Birthday. The festival started on Apr 30 and will end today.

Below are some of the photos taken from the festival.

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Australian Baby Elephant Blessed By Buddhist Monk

On 24th February 2010, the newest star of the Melbourne Zoo, a six weeks old baby elephant named Mali was blessed by Buddhist monks. In the ceremony, three Thai monks splashed water on her face. As the Thai monks hummed and chanted, Mali ran circles around her mother, Dokkoon, who was brought to the from Thailand in November 2006.

Mali's name was chosen last week by 23,000 Victoria state voters from a list of several suggested by the Thai consulate. Mali is Thai for jasmine.
Elephants are a hallowed national symbol in Thailand, having been long linked with good luck.
"It's a beautiful name for a beautiful calf," said zoo keeper Dan Maloney. "She's growing very quickly, getting more coordinated every day and certainly exploring her world and getting to know her surroundings."
Mali already weighs 330 pounds (150 kilograms) and is gaining almost two pounds (1 kilogram) per day.
Having bonded with her mom, she is gradually being introduced to other females in the herd. Maloney said he hopes she will be integrated with the four other elephants in the next few months.

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Buddhist Personality : Tracy Mann

Name : Tracy Mann
Nationality : Australia
Profession : Actress

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Buddhist Personality : Brett Kirk

Name : Brett Kirk
Nationality : Australia
Date Of Birth : 25th October 1976
Height : 184cm
Profession : Football player

Brett is a professional Australian football player and is the co-captain of the team Sydney Swans , one of the top teams in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a devout and practising buddhist who wears a buddhist symbol tattoo on his back. In early 2008, he met Dalai Lama during the monk's trip to Australia.

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