Bhante Vimalaramsi awarded Sasana Tilaka

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mirco
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Re: Bhante Vimalaramsi awarded Sasana Tilaka

Post by mirco »

Ytrog wrote:Whoever this title comes from or how much prestige it carries doesn't really matter in my opinion.
It is a token of respect and a very nice thing to give.
This ios how I see it.
Ytrog wrote:Titles are also a good thing to let go of as well :)
Well, that is, what he practises. He never talks about his titles, although he also holds 'High Holiness' and 'Sayadaw Gyi'.

He wants everyone around him to call him 'Bhante' only.

It's just that people like me for instance, can't let go of that stuff an somehow need to mention it from time to time.

:-)
Last edited by mirco on Sat Jan 28, 2012 10:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Bhante Vimalaramsi awarded Sasana Tilaka

Post by mirco »

Cittasanto wrote:head of buddhism in America? good luck with that BV.
How could someone be that?

But he is the "first USA Representative for the World Buddhist Supreme Summit Council which meets every two years. Upon approval he was inaugurated into this lifetime position on November 1, 2008 in the New Royal Grand Hall of Buddhism in Japan. The Summit represents 32 countries where Buddhism is taught through the three main schools of buddhism. The summit was originally formed in 1998 when H.H. the Dalai Lama of Tibet, Ven. Dr. Enshinjoh of Japan, and the H.H. Sangha Raja of Thailand came together with this idea. The summit seeks to re-examine the fundamental teachings and practice of the Buddha in order to help the three schools of Buddhism to recognize their commonalities in this 21st Century."


May there be many holesome summits :-)
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Re: Bhante Vimalaramsi awarded Sasana Tilaka

Post by Brizzy »

Where is all the above anger coming from?
A Buddhist monk receives an obscure award and people become upset.
I could understand people becoming a little bit ratty regarding dubious winners of grander prizes like the Nobel peace prize (Obama?, Arafat?), but to get such strong reactions about this is strange. If people have problems with Bhante V, then I am sure that there are other threads in which one can take issue with him. Methinks some people have an agenda. :tongue:
As far as the award goes, good for Bhante V. One thing that is indisputable is that over the last decade Bhante V has generated debate and been the catalyst for some people to re-evaluate, re-read and reconsider the suttas/vinaya as the only Buddhavacana. Hopefully those people that reject anything he says outright have at least inquired into the suttas.

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Re: Bhante Vimalaramsi awarded Sasana Tilaka

Post by Viscid »

Brizzy wrote:Where is all the above anger coming from?
Well the OP presented it like it's some big deal. Bhante V holds 'controversial' views and a title which bestows him with authority deserves some scrutiny.

The title looks like a genuine gesture of gratitude from the Bangladeshi-American community for the dhamma and retreats Bhante V has hosted. Nothing wrong with that at all, good for him.
"What holds attention determines action." - William James
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Re: Bhante Vimalaramsi awarded Sasana Tilaka

Post by tiltbillings »

Brizzy wrote:Hopefully those people that reject anything he says outright have at least inquired into the suttas.
Hmmm. Any number of reasons not to be thrilled by Vimalaramsi, but one should not assume that those who might not find Vimalaramsi to be the cat's pajamas are not well versed in the suttas and one should not assume that Vimalaramsi had anything to do with that.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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Re: Bhante Vimalaramsi awarded Sasana Tilaka

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http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... clnk&gl=us" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; :
  • Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi December 23, 2006 (Seattle, WA) --- American Buddhist monk Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi Maha Thera accepts International position for Buddhism.


    Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi Maha Thera, American Buddhist Monk, preferring to be known today as Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi, received word Friday, December 15th that he was officially confirmed as the first Representative from the United States of America to the Buddhist Summit, World Buddhist Supreme Council. As part of his new position, he will coordinate U.S. representation at the 5th World Buddhist Summit Conference to be held in Kobe, Japan in the Spring of 2007. The goal of the Summit Conferences is to bring together the many traditions of Buddhism in the world, and unify them to produce a united position dedicated to working towards balance, harmony, and world peace. The Conferences occur every two years. Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi’s position on the World Buddhist Council will allow him to represent U.S. Buddhist interests and discuss a common point concerns of the various Buddhist traditions throughout the U.S. and the world. There are representatives from over 50 different countries on the World Buddhist Council. To be confirmed as a member, a monk representing each country has to be nominated by other World Buddhist Summit Council members. For the U.S. to be represented on the council, an American born monk with a sufficient sphere of influence was needed. Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi is the first American born monk to gain the attention of world Buddhist leaders.


    This is an unprecedented honor for the Venerable forest monk who lives in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri and has dedicated his life to researching, studying, teaching, and writing about Buddhist Meditation for over 20 years. Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi became a Buddhist monk in 1986 because of his keen interest in meditation. He went to Burma in 1988 to practice intensive meditation at the famous meditation center, Mahasi Yeiktha in Rangoon. There he practiced meditation for 20 to 22 hours a day and completed their program. He remained in Asia as an active meditator for 12 years and was offered several chances to remain there as an Abbott of a Monastery. During this time, he was invited to live and teach at the largest Theravada monastery in Malaysia, giving talks each week to up to 500 people. While in Asia, he wrote a book on the Mindfulness of Breathing called “The Anapanasati Sutta-A Practical Guide to Mindfulness of Breathing and Tranquil Wisdom meditation,” which has nearly 1,000,000 copies in print and , to date, has been distributed in five different languages worldwide.


    - MORE -


    Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi is beginning the process of listening to all concerns during his U.S. tour which includes a three-week stop in Seattle in January of 2007. Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi is traveling with Buddhist nun, Ven. Sister Khema, who will also be giving dhamma talks while in the area in January. During their visit, they will be residing at the Atammayatarama Buddhist Monastery in Woodinville, WA. They will be giving dhamma talks on Loving Kindness-Vipassana or Tranquil Wisdom meditation at Nalanda West and various venues throughout the Puget Sound area. Ven. Bhante Vimalaramsi will also be offering a non-residential meditation retreat.


    “The Northwest Buddhist community is very honoured that Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi is beginning his journey of leadership and service with three weeks in the Northwest. We are filled with gratitude that he wishes to spend much of his attention bringing together the Buddhist leadership in this area so that he can bring their messages back to the Summit Conferences. Bhante is also very focused on reaching as many people as possible to spread his messages of love, peace and happiness” according to Kathleen Anderson, PhD, a member of the Seattle Buddhist Community who is providing coordination of the visit, “This is really a special and joyous time for all of us. Venerable Vimalaramsi is a most gifted and dynamic meditation teacher and a beautiful and loving human being. We are prepared to host many additional friends and visitors because he will reach far beyond our traditional community, especially when it gets out that in his new position he is basically the Head of Buddhism in our country now.”


    On November 7-14 Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi flew to Kobe, Japan to complete a nomination process for his seat as the first U.S. representative for Buddhism to the World Buddhist Supreme Conference. He toured a large portion of Southern Japan and discussed the state of Buddhism in the World with other leaders. This nomination was offered by the Venerable Nandisena, the Representative from Mexico. There were several other members of the Council who were supportive of this nomination including his late teacher Sayadaw U Silinanda who encouraged him over the years. Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi’s position as a Representative for the World Buddhist Supreme Conference representing the United States of America is a hallmark for Buddhism in this country.


    Additionally, the late Ven. K Sri Dhammananda who was a close friend and supporter, and his friend and fellow monk the Ven. Buddharakkhita the Representative for Uganda were instrumental.


    Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi is the Abbott of the Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center in Annapolis, MO. He is building a Buddhist Forest Retreat Center, which will become the first "American Buddhist Forest Tradition" meditation center on U.S. soil.
    As the US representative, Venerable U Vimalaramsi now joins other Nations in the task of re-examining the earliest Buddhist texts and practices, and clearly identifying how they are still relevant today and applicable in daily life.


    The Buddhist faith is the sixth largest religion in the world with over 375 million followers. In the United States, the Buddhist faithful number over 6 million with over 500 temples of various traditions across the nation. Buddhism is ranked among the fastest growing religions in the world with strongest growth occurring here and in Western Europe.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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Re: Bhante Vimalaramsi awarded Sasana Tilaka

Post by beeblebrox »

One of the things that I've started to try put in my practice is Ven Nhat Hanh's (admittedly liberal) interpretation of the fourth precept. I think Ytrog's post is a beautiful example. :anjali:
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Re: Bhante Vimalaramsi awarded Sasana Tilaka

Post by Virgo »

Viscid wrote:
Virgo wrote:Not to sound overly critical but for a document meant to represent the "Supreme Sangha Council of Bangladesh" (sounds important) and which in a way represents the Three Jewels in general, and which happens to be written in English, and is also meant to be presented to a native English-speaker, shouldn't the English on the document be... better?

Kevin
A lot of the text on the document is actually just plagarized from a press release that the Venerable's own community put out in 2006: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/12/prweb493822.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Interesting.

Kevin
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Re: Bhante Vimalaramsi awarded Sasana Tilaka

Post by Brizzy »

Virgo wrote:
Viscid wrote:
Virgo wrote:Not to sound overly critical but for a document meant to represent the "Supreme Sangha Council of Bangladesh" (sounds important) and which in a way represents the Three Jewels in general, and which happens to be written in English, and is also meant to be presented to a native English-speaker, shouldn't the English on the document be... better?

Kevin

A lot of the text on the document is actually just plagarized from a press release that the Venerable's own community put out in 2006: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/12/prweb493822.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Interesting.

Kevin
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Re: Bhante Vimalaramsi awarded Sasana Tilaka

Post by Cittasanto »

Virgo wrote:
Viscid wrote:
Virgo wrote:Not to sound overly critical but for a document meant to represent the "Supreme Sangha Council of Bangladesh" (sounds important) and which in a way represents the Three Jewels in general, and which happens to be written in English, and is also meant to be presented to a native English-speaker, shouldn't the English on the document be... better?

Kevin
A lot of the text on the document is actually just plagarized from a press release that the Venerable's own community put out in 2006: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/12/prweb493822.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Interesting.

Kevin
I find it more interesting that it isn't in the bangladesh language.
any certificate I have seen from the Thai Sangha has been in Thai, I know it maynot be a hard and fast rule but I don't know of any group which give out certificates in a language where they are not based. These have been to my knowledge pretty standard certificates, like a diploma from a school, they are all the same except the name etc....
But there could be a simple explanation for this.

Also the claim that he is now essentially the head of Buddhism in the US, forgive me if I am wrong, but wouldn't that involve some form of sangha consensus within the US? not just a lay follower claiming such?
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Re: Bhante Vimalaramsi awarded Sasana Tilaka

Post by mirco »

Cittasanto wrote:Also the claim that he is now essentially the head of Buddhism in the US, forgive me if I am wrong, but wouldn't that involve some form of sangha consensus within the US? not just a lay follower claiming such?
I don't get it, either. He is the US-representative at the World Buddhist Summit, but I don't understand why that should be equivalent to US-Sangharaja.

:-)Regards
Last edited by mirco on Mon Jan 30, 2012 4:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Bhante Vimalaramsi awarded Sasana Tilaka

Post by mirco »

Cittasanto wrote:I find it more interesting that it isn't in the bangladesh language.
Well, in Bengali only few native english speakers would understand it.
He is American, he teaches in english and he like's things to be easy understandable.
I think, that's why it is not in Begali.

:-)regards
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Re: Bhante Vimalaramsi awarded Sasana Tilaka

Post by tiltbillings »

mirco wrote:
Cittasanto wrote: I find it more interesting that it isn't in the bangladesh language.
any certificate I have seen from the Thai Sangha has been in Thai, I know it maynot be a hard and fast rule but I don't know of any group which give out certificates in a language where they are not based. These have been to my knowledge pretty standard certificates, like a diploma from a school, they are all the same except the name etc....
But there could be a simple explanation for this.

Also the claim that he is now essentially the head of Buddhism in the US, forgive me if I am wrong, but wouldn't that involve some form of sangha consensus within the US? not just a lay follower claiming such?
I don't get it, either. He is the US-representative at the World Buddhist Summit, but I don't understand why that should be equivalent to US-Sangharaja.
The comment was likely made by an overly enthusiastic follower of Vimalaramsi. Getting Buddhists in American to agree to something like having a Sangharaja is less likely than successfully herding a 1,000 cats.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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Re: Bhante Vimalaramsi awarded Sasana Tilaka

Post by Cittasanto »

mirco wrote:
Cittasanto wrote:I find it more interesting that it isn't in the bangladesh language.
Well, in Bengali only few native english speakers would understand it.
He is American, he teaches in english and he like's things to be easy understandable.
I think, that's why it is not in Begali.

:-)regards
so he dictated to the Bangladesh sangharaja then?
The certificates I have seen were to westerners who are in the west, who teach in English, are English, do not speak Thai Fluently, do not read Thai..................

The Certificates were not in English but Thai, they were official Thai Sangha Certificates.
not a cut & paste job off a website.
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He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
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Re: Bhante Vimalaramsi awarded Sasana Tilaka

Post by mikenz66 »

Not making a judgement on any other aspect of this, but based on my admittedly rather scant knowledge of the use of language in the Indian subcontinent and Thailand, I'd guess that the situation is rather different in that English is widely used as a de facto common language in the subcontinent. That's very different from Thailand...

:anjali:
Mike
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