Tibet Isn't a Buddhist Litmus Test

As the violence in Tibet has continued, the Dalai Lama issued a stern statement that he could not align himself with insurrection in his home country. Buddhism rests on several pillars, one of which is nonviolence. Tibet quickly became a kind of Buddhist litmus test. How much pain and oppression can you stand and still exhibit loving kindness and compassion? I wonder if that's really fair. The Tibetans face a political crisis that should be met with political action. Whatever that action turns out to be, nobody should be seen as a good or bad Buddhist, anymore than defending your house from an intruder tests whether a Christian is living by the precepts of Jesus.

In India, where Gandhi preached nonviolence, or Ahimsa, he confronted a decaying British empire that was forced to give up its vast holdings. Historical luck was on his side, and as a result of Gandhi's pacifism, India gained its independence. The Dalai Lama, however, has had historical misfortune to contend with. The Chinese are an expanding empire, and their ingrained racism allows them to overrun the "inferior" native Tibetans without any moral qualms. Will pacifism work in this situation? A better question might be, Would anything work? It's not as though the Beijing regime can be defeated by force, either. One recalls that Gandhi combined pacifism with resistance, whereas the Tibetans up to now have sunk into an inert pacifism that could lead to their cultural extinction.

No doubt the entire conflict, now half a century old, is entangled in religion and other interwoven ingredients: Communist ideology, fantasies of restoring Chinese glory days, and much else. But Buddha, like Jesus, didn't start a religion. He was concerned with how to live in the world, and being entangled in the world's pain and confusion is an eternal dilemma. It didn't need ruthless bureaucrats in China. Over the centuries, failed crops, endemic disease, and poverty have been quite capable of bringing suffering. It would be superficial to say that Buddha and Jesus arrived at the same remedy -- to be in the world but not of it -- yet nobody needs to pass that test, either.

What Buddha and Jesus undoubtedly had in common was a sense that another realm of existence transcends the material world. Buddhists are asked to consider how to reach that realm. There are no dictates (as far as my limited knowledge goes) to engage the world and solve its tortured dilemmas. Indeed, Buddha is famous for teaching that such solutions don't exist. It is futile to apply Buddhism to a political crisis - or to the subprime mortgage debacle, for that matter - because wrestling with the material world never leads to freedom, fulfillment, or peace.

Someone may protest that the Dalai Lama is being an exemplary Buddhist in maintaining such perfect equanimity, and I completely agree. But he has achieved his level of consciousness for himself. This is a case where virtue must be its own reward. The world looks on and admires the Dalai Lama; it doesn't change for him. My intention isn't to give any Tibetan Buddhist advice, or to adopt a position superior to anyone else's. It just strikes me that Tibet shouldn't be a litmus test for religious purity while an entire people are slowly ground to dust. Nor should the peaceful countenance of the Dalai Lama become an excuse for the rest of us to stand by and do nothing, as if that proves how virtuous we are.

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3 Steps To Reclaiming Your Power and Happiness

Reclaiming your power and happiness can be accomplished easily, bringing joy, excitement and energy back to your body and life. Our power is gained when we speak the truth. To really be free and happy, we are called to speak the truth. Words are more important than we realize. In Jesus' original teachings, the word is creation itself. Just think how we create with the words we speak. What are we saying all day long, and how are these words creating in our life.

Speaking the truth can be challenging at times. Often, we are afraid of being rejected if we really let others know how we feel. Fear of hurting someone's feelings is often what stops us from speaking the truth. We may also be afraid of starting an argument if we speak the truth.

Unfortunately, when we don't speak the truth, we unconsciously create manipulative ways of dealing with our unexpressed emotions. We find ourselves saying or doing things that are not really our truth. In this way, we betray ourselves. Then, we will notice that depression is often the result of not speaking what we feel and think. Withholding our feelings leads to separation or distancing from others. We cannot experience the closeness and warmness that we truly desire. Often, we blame ourselves or the others for the lack of communication and guilt may be the result. We may find ourselves being angry and becoming agitated. All of this can be corrected easily when we are willing to step forward and speak the truth.

3 Steps to Regain Your Power and Happiness

First Step: Begin to notice where in your life you are holding back from expressing your feelings and thoughts. Where are you holding back from asking for what you want? Now, get a notebook and begin to write your thoughts and feelings in great detail. In your journal, ask for what you want and then write why you think you deserve to have what you want. During this process you will get to know yourself very deeply and discover why you feel scared, frustrated, powerless and unhappy. In this process you begin to untangle all the built up emotions that get us bogged down and suddenly you have lost your joy.

Second Step: The next step will open your voice and your heart up. It will empower you. Your happiness will begin to rise up the scale as well as your self worth, which is directly related to your sense of power. When you are ready, go to a very private place; maybe this is your car with the windows rolled up. In your safe, private place begin to speak your thoughts and feelings to the universe, to the person who you have been withholding your feelings from. Speak as much of your true feelings out loud. This will get you in touch with the deep self. Next, surrender any hurt, anger, fear or resentment. Once you are clear of these emotions, your communications will be filled with a new energy.

Third Step: You are now ready to speak the truth and reclaim your power. There is no blaming in this communication because you are clear and have taken responsibility for your feelings and surrendered them to your Sacred Energy. You have been purified and now you will be empowering yourself by speaking the truth about your feelings and needs in a deep and profound way. The power you gain is the power of love. Remember the truth will set your free.

For more exciting tips on how to live from the center of your being using your Sacred Energy to create a life of joy, peace and love go to http://www.VirginiaEllen.net Virginia Ellen is an author and mystical teacher and healer.

The Scientists Have Made a Photo of Christ

World sensation: the secret of the "Turin shroud" is solved


Russian FSS (ex. KGB) experts the first proved authenticity of the Turin shroud, and their conclusions were confirmed by last researches in Oxford. For the first time the scientists have made an ultraprecise digital picture of the well-known Turin shroud, which is the most mystical and mysterious relic in the humanity history.

Christians name a piece of a linen cloth "the Fifth Gospel ", because the face and a body of Christ wonderfully were impressed on it, as on photo. Every wound of Jesus', every drop of blood spilled in rescue of humanity was embodied!

It’s the message of almost two thousand years age is visual evidence of everything that is written in the Gospel is true”, director of the Russian center of the Turin shroud, physicist Alexander Belyakov said, “it brings to people a good news about the Savior, about the victory over the death …”

“What have the militant atheists not done to try to announce the unique relic by a fake! Stupidly repeated, that it was only picture of the artist. Examination has denied this version: on a fabric really mirror impression of a body. Other sceptic argument has bust also with crash: as if the person, smeared by paint, was wrapped by cloth. There is not the ochre on the cloth, there is blood. Successes in finding out its components: hemoglobin, bilirubin and albumin. By the way, the raised bilirubin abundance testifies that the person has died in a condition of stress, under tortures. The group of blood was determined - IV (АВ). Male sex was defined by the set of chromosomes in leukocytes.

Digital technologies have allowed to recreate a face of Christ.

But the most heavy argument of the shroud authenticity proof was found by experts of Institute of criminalistics of FSS of the Russian Federation, they have established, that the radiocarbon analysis of fabric age which was made by laboratories in the Great Britain, the USA and Switzerland twenty years ago, to put it mildly, were inexact. It’s Dr.Sci.Tech. Anatoly Fesenko’s opinion, headed researches, that foreign experts "have rejuvenated" a relic more than on one thousand years, because haven’t considered the major circumstance. There was a terrible fire in a cathedral where the shroud was stored in the Middle Ages, and soot particles have settled on the fabric. Therefore devices have fixed not age of the fabric, and the carbon connections fragments which have stuck to it …

Picture

In Oxford the newest researches confirmed, that FSS experts were right - the shroud was really weaved in days of Christ life.

By the order of Vatican the most precise picture by the permission in 12, 8 billion pixels were made from it for the first time. On it silhouette of the body of the Savior and his face is impressed in the smallest details on it. The advanced technologies have allowed familiarizing the greatest relic in details.
Scientists photographed thousands of fabric fragments, and then picture of a shroud was spreaded from them on computer as if from puzzle parts.
The strong magnification allowed to see spots of sacred blood of Jesus.”We connected 1600 picture areas together, everyone has size with a credit card, and then we created a huge picture. It’s in 1300 times more, than a photo, which was made by the digital camera with the permission in 10 million of pixels”, explains Mauro Gavinelli, “Owing to new technologies it is possible to consider every thread, all details …”



Trepidation

Funeral cloth of Christ is unwrapped before believers extremely seldom. The shroud is stored in silver casket in the curtailed kind. For all last century it was got only five times! Last time it was exposed before pilgrims in Turin in 2000. And at the next time - in 25 years.

Now everyone can look at repeatedly magnified face of the Savior, which was wonderfully impressed on a linen cloth, and scientists plan to upload the digital photo into the Internet. And each person can join its familiarizing; it will be tremendous day for humanity! People by own eyes will see impressed body of Jesus Christ.

The Turin shroud was started to study exactly 120 years ago and owing to a photo. At that time the linen cloth was removed on a photographic plate by the Italian lawyer Sekondo Pia. After developed it, he looked at a negative. Also he instantly understood, that the objective embodied that eyes did not see - a impress of bearded person body, which had pierced wrists and feet. And his face was as on icons of the Christ!

The cloth, which was weaved of the Mediterranean flax with a touch of the Egyptian cotton, has kept on itself wrapped image of Jesus' – to his full height, in front and behind. Here is the description of the picture, which was made by scientists: "There are hair, which are confusedly sprawled on the cloth, a small beard and moustaches. The right eye is closed, left is poorly slightly opened. There is a drop of blood above the left eyebrow. The nose bone is interrupted from cuff from the left side. From the left side of face a cheekbone is broken, there are signs of a hypostasis. There is a spot from blood to the right of a mouth.”

Analysis

Scientists from the Oxford University in the Great Britain again try to determine age of the Turin shroud, already considering amendments of the Russian criminalists. The brigade under direction of Professor Christopher Ramsi spends analyses of disintegration of cloth hydrocarbon for the first time for last 20 years. The purpose of researches is to correct a scandalous mistake of twenty years' prescription about dating the shroud.

At that time it was declared, that provisional age of this relic seven-eight centuries, a cloth it is weaved from 1260 for 1390.

20 years ago three independent groups simultaneously researched the shroud in Zurich, Arizona and Oxford by method of the hydrocarbonic analysis and have made the conclusion, that it existed in the Middle Ages.

At that time Oxford professor Edward Hill said: " Someone bought a piece of flax, drew outlines of a body on it and strongly torn " …

The figures was presented by experts, pushed Turin cardinal Anastasio Alberto Ballestero to tell then, that the shroud indeed can be a forgery!

This pastor doubt revolted feelings of believers. They refused to trust a science. Hasty applications of the Oxford researchers was denied then in Russia, and in the most serious structures, such as FSS!

"The shroud is the original, which is concerning by the first century of our era, it’s not later fake ", that was the conclusion of experts commission under direction of director of Institute of criminalistics of FSS, Dr.Sci.Tech. Anatoly Fesenko.

“The reason of an error is the natural polymeric covering, which has formed on fabric fibres after monks cleared its vegetable oil in Middle Ages. It also has rejected analysis indications", experts counted.

Film

The professor from Oxford Christopher Ramsi, recognized reasons of Russian criminalist Fesenko, and he declared, that there could be a mistake at analyses 20 years ago.

“The age could be certain incorrectly because of pollution which have accumulated on a shroud”, he said, “besides in 1988 almost nothing was known about carbon-14 which we have well enough studied now. Probably, something unusual will open in it, that will help to reveal a secret the most mystical relic of Christianity”.

The newest researches will be shooted on video for channel BBC in Oxford. The project director doctor Rolf said, that is enough to remove from a shroud only two percent of pollution, to obtain true data.

Believers are assured, that till the end of March, when results of researches will be promulgated, it will be absolutely precisely proved, that a shroud is that fabric by which the the Savior body has been covered almost two thousand years ago!

In Russia the photo of the Turin shroud is stored in Sretensk monastery in Moscow, according to blessing patriarch Alex II . Believers pray to this picture, as to an icon. “We feel by hearts, that the Savior is on a picture”, believer said, “In fact they are filled with love …”