Purpose and Now

Forget about the "after-life", now is what matters!

Dr. Michael Shermer is the Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine, a monthly columnist for Scientific American, and Presidential Fellow at Chapman University.

Bodh Gaya: The Seat of Enlightenment

A Documentary Film on Buddhism & Awakening by M.S.N. Karthik

70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

An interview with Wole Soyinka and Karima Bennoune.

Human rights are universal - they apply to everyone, everywhere. Yet today an increasing number of people and governments claim that human rights are relative.

More on The First Island 'Plogger'

Further to our post The First Island 'Plogger' where Neil McCall said how he was inspired by a TV piece on the subject I've located this BBC clip which I suspect is the one he was talking about.

Wat Samphran Temple

Now here's an interesting video I've just come across, I was particularly fascinated by all the symbolism embedded in the structure and its design.

Mirror of Zen - A Day in the Moment of a Modern Zen Monk

I have just been sent this fascinating video by one of our Sangha members.

Zen's ancient teachings seem a mystery to many. But actually, Zen is very simple: Zen means attaining my true self -- "What am I?" In this revolutionary film by acclaimed filmmaker Christine Schmitthenner, we see a Western Zen monk in his daily activities in the world: chanting, meditating, preparing breakfast, riding public transport, meeting with friends, even shaving his head -- from moment to moment, not attached to conceptual thinking, everything is Zen, which just means everything is "moment." The subject of this unusual film, Hyon Gak Sunim, allowed filmmakers to follow his daily living and teaching activities for a week as he met with students and organized his daily activities.

Optimise Your Brain

Once it was widely believed that the brain was incapable of changing. Now we know that’s not the case, and that our thoughts and other mental activities almost literally rewire and sculpt our brains. One of the most potent tools for changing the brain—and thus our ability to live happy and fulfilling lives—is meditation.

Zen - The Story of Dogen

Our copy of this video has gone walk about from our library so I'm posting the Youtube version here................

The Buddha in the Falklands

Gus Hales served with the 9th parachute squadron, the Royal Engineers in the Falklands. Following the trauma of war he became a Buddhist.

This is the story of him placing a Buddha statue on Mount Longdon scene of a bloody battle in which the Paras lost 23 men.

Genius of the Ancient World, the Buddha

Historian Bettany Hughes travels to India, Greece and China on the trail of three giants of ancient philosophy. To begin, she investigates the revolutionary ideas of the Buddha.

Alms by Boat

Monkey Mind

I am indebted to one of our Sangha members for sending me this beautifully succinct video of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche explaining how to meditate.

History of the Entire World

This is great for a bit of perspective on "Life, the Universe and Everything".

Diana Winston - The Practice of Mindfulness

Teach Your Brain Compassion

Stephen Batchelor and Ven Brahmali debate in Melbourne 2014

Stephen Batchelor and Ven Brahmali debate the relevance of the early Buddhist texts for the modern world at event hosted by Melbourne Insight Meditation Group in conjunction with the BSV. The event took place at the Augustine Centre in Melbourne, VIC, Australia on 14 Feb 2014.

Opening the Eyes

A short video of a Nepalese sacred-art master and his journey of patience and time. Shot in Nalanda Monastery, a monastery of a Tibetan Buddhist tradition in the southern part of France, it shows the final steps in completing statues of followers of the historical Buddha, and especially reveals the crucial point and rarely seen of opening the eyes…

G. Yamazawa - "Elementary"

In this powerful slam performance, award-winning poet George Yamazawa recounts his earliest memories of teasing classmates by calling them “gay,” and the reaction he got from his Buddhist father. In rhythmic verse, Yamazawa talks about the power of words as insults and poetry, and the love that Buddhism inspires.

As the Zombie Population Rises

Population Matters (previously known as the Optmum Population Trust) have launched a three-minute video about overpopulation for Halloween. The humorous, faux-documentary style provides a number of key statistics and includes references to population dynamics, biodiversity loss, climate change and water, energy and housing constraints.

Simon Ross, chief executive of Population Matters, said, “We believe that zombies are a perfect metaphor for humanity’s blind growth in numbers and heedless exploitation of resources. The film is set in London but references global population growth and could be set anywhere. It is our first foray into filmmaking for young people, who are a key audience for our message of the benefits of small families. We hope that it will be well received and are planning to produce more short films in the near future.”

Samsara - Anicca

The word "more" has never carried more weight or sadness than in this beautiful animated short from Alan Holly. This was shortlisted for the Academy Awards and nominated for the Annies — watch and you'll know why.