Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher
Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher
If you want something said, ask a man;
if you want something done, ask a woman.
13 October 1925 – 8 April 2013
Re: Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher
Anicca, dukkha, anatta
Re: Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher
"Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died, her spokeswoman has said." (BBC)
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During one of my visits to Wat Buddhapadipa, three young English visitors seemed anxious to understand the “position” of Margaret Thatcher in the temple’s murals. They believed her location in Chalermchai’s scene of the Three Worlds to be a bit high. I noted that Thatcher was, after all, prime minister at the time the murals were painted, from 1984–1992. Sitting in front of a cottage, she serenely overlooks “hell” (Plate 31). One fellow immediately responded with a question, "Why had the artists not painted Thatcher in hell?" Another Englishman, a longtime temple supporter and devout Buddhist who stood with us, replied that we are not to judge but instead to observe and reflect upon these issues of position.
Making Merit, Making Art: A Thai Temple in Wimbledon
By Sandra Cate
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=C8QD ... &q&f=false
Situated in Wimbledon, the Buddhapadipa temple was the first Thai Buddhist temple to be built in the UK. Inside the temple hall, the walls are covered with paintings showing the life of the Buddha—from his birth to his death. The murals were painted by artists Chalermchai Kositpipat and Panya Vijinthanasarn in a surreal style using brilliant colors that, at first glance, seems very unlike classical Thai painting. However, they revive the tendency found in traditional Thai mural paintings to situate episodes from Buddhist myth in scenes populated with figures and objects from contemporary life. The murals were started in the 1980s, and among the many figures in the scenes are portraits of Mother Theresa and Margaret Thatcher, as well as the temple's patrons and the artists themselves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Buddhapadipa
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During one of my visits to Wat Buddhapadipa, three young English visitors seemed anxious to understand the “position” of Margaret Thatcher in the temple’s murals. They believed her location in Chalermchai’s scene of the Three Worlds to be a bit high. I noted that Thatcher was, after all, prime minister at the time the murals were painted, from 1984–1992. Sitting in front of a cottage, she serenely overlooks “hell” (Plate 31). One fellow immediately responded with a question, "Why had the artists not painted Thatcher in hell?" Another Englishman, a longtime temple supporter and devout Buddhist who stood with us, replied that we are not to judge but instead to observe and reflect upon these issues of position.
Making Merit, Making Art: A Thai Temple in Wimbledon
By Sandra Cate
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=C8QD ... &q&f=false
Situated in Wimbledon, the Buddhapadipa temple was the first Thai Buddhist temple to be built in the UK. Inside the temple hall, the walls are covered with paintings showing the life of the Buddha—from his birth to his death. The murals were painted by artists Chalermchai Kositpipat and Panya Vijinthanasarn in a surreal style using brilliant colors that, at first glance, seems very unlike classical Thai painting. However, they revive the tendency found in traditional Thai mural paintings to situate episodes from Buddhist myth in scenes populated with figures and objects from contemporary life. The murals were started in the 1980s, and among the many figures in the scenes are portraits of Mother Theresa and Margaret Thatcher, as well as the temple's patrons and the artists themselves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Buddhapadipa
Bhikkhu Gavesako
Kiṃkusalagavesī anuttaraṃ santivarapadaṃ pariyesamāno... (MN 26)
Access to Insight - Theravada texts
Ancient Buddhist Texts - Translations and history of Pali texts
Dhammatalks.org - Sutta translations
Kiṃkusalagavesī anuttaraṃ santivarapadaṃ pariyesamāno... (MN 26)
Access to Insight - Theravada texts
Ancient Buddhist Texts - Translations and history of Pali texts
Dhammatalks.org - Sutta translations
- tiltbillings
- Posts: 23046
- Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 9:25 am
Re: Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher
A rather nasty and divisive individual who, while cozying up to the apartheid leaders of South Africa, called Nelson Mandela a terrorist, and this is not to mention the domestic policies that harmed the poor of Britian and her inflammatory policies in Northern Ireland and on and on.
>> 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
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
- imagemarie
- Posts: 420
- Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2009 8:35 pm
Re: Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher
Thanks.. I've been biting my tongue. As genkaku used to say "Silence is golden - and sometimes it's just plain yellow"tiltbillings wrote:A rather nasty and divisive individual who, while cozying up to the apartheid leaders of South Africa, called Nelson Mandela a terrorist, and this is not to mention the domestic policies that harmed the poor of Britian and her inflammatory policies in Northern Ireland and on and on.
- James the Giant
- Posts: 791
- Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 6:41 am
Re: Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher
Farewell Margaret, may you reap what you sowed, whether that be good or ill.
Then,
saturated with joy,
you will put an end to suffering and stress.
SN 9.11
saturated with joy,
you will put an end to suffering and stress.
SN 9.11
- tiltbillings
- Posts: 23046
- Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 9:25 am
Re: Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher
Oh, gawd. Even I could not wish that upon her.James the Giant wrote:Farewell Margaret, may you reap what you sowed, whether that be good or ill.
>> 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
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
Re: Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher
I remember Ajahn Sumedho speaking about Mrs. Thatcher on several occasions. He said that she was the sort of person that some people claimed to be unable or unwilling to feel metta towards. But he gently urged them to try. Here is what he said when she was still Prime Minister:
http://www.abuddhistlibrary.com/Buddhis ... umedho.htmMetta is something we can spread every day: sending goodwill to the government, to Mrs. Thatcher, to the Members of Parliament, House of Commons, House of Lords; willing good to them so that as we approach each other with goodwill, then all the fears and anxieties and threats diminish. If we just look at Mrs. Thatcher with a critical eye and hate her because she doesn’t agree with our views, and want to get rid of her, and complain, then of course she reacts very strongly to that kind of treatment. Just as if I just criticise you and pick away at you all the time, then what happens? You dig in your heels and become more stubborn; unless you’re really mindful, you become more difficult. Because even if I’m right about it – even if you are doing things wrong – if I’m always on your back nagging away at you, it’s not providing you with any kind of opportunity to rise up to a situation. All you’re doing is feeling worse and worse, and then your rebelliousness is just a reaction, so you might do even worse things just to spite me! This tendency to dwell endlessly on what’s wrong and blame others, creates the very conditions for the increasing of misery.
- tiltbillings
- Posts: 23046
- Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 9:25 am
Re: Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher
That is all very nice and all very true what Ven Sumedho had to say, but we still need to be honest about what this person, while wielding a great deal of power, did, the significant harm she caused.Sam Vara wrote:I remember Ajahn Sumedho speaking about Mrs. Thatcher on several occasions. He said that she was the sort of person that some people claimed to be unable or unwilling to feel metta towards. But he gently urged them to try. Here is what he said when she was still Prime Minister:
Metta is something we can spread every day: sending goodwill to the government, to Mrs. Thatcher, to the Members of Parliament, House of Commons, House of Lords; willing good to them so that as we approach each other with goodwill, then all the fears and anxieties and threats diminish. If we just look at Mrs. Thatcher with a critical eye and hate her because she doesn’t agree with our views, and want to get rid of her, and complain, then of course she reacts very strongly to that kind of treatment. Just as if I just criticise you and pick away at you all the time, then what happens? You dig in your heels and become more stubborn; unless you’re really mindful, you become more difficult. Because even if I’m right about it – even if you are doing things wrong – if I’m always on your back nagging away at you, it’s not providing you with any kind of opportunity to rise up to a situation. All you’re doing is feeling worse and worse, and then your rebelliousness is just a reaction, so you might do even worse things just to spite me! This tendency to dwell endlessly on what’s wrong and blame others, creates the very conditions for the increasing of misery.
>> 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
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
- retrofuturist
- Posts: 27858
- Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:52 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Contact:
Re: Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher
Greetings,
If people do evil in this life, I don't believe they deserve a free pass simply by virtue of becoming dead. I think it's important for society to speak out against evil (live or dead) so that it is known that evil will not be tolerated... whether it's war criminals, paedos, oppressors, murderers, or whatever.
Metta,
Retro.
tiltbillings wrote:Oh, gawd. Even I could not wish that upon her.James the Giant wrote:Farewell Margaret, may you reap what you sowed, whether that be good or ill.
If people do evil in this life, I don't believe they deserve a free pass simply by virtue of becoming dead. I think it's important for society to speak out against evil (live or dead) so that it is known that evil will not be tolerated... whether it's war criminals, paedos, oppressors, murderers, or whatever.
Metta,
Retro.
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Re: Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher
Personally I would rather not see her death marked on this site. She will be remembered by me as a warmonger and as an enemy of the working class.
Re: Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher
Hello all,
Perhaps members could state particulars about which of Baroness Thatchers' legislation and policies they disagreed with, and why - rather than writing disparaging remarks with no supporting substance.
With metta,
Chris
Perhaps members could state particulars about which of Baroness Thatchers' legislation and policies they disagreed with, and why - rather than writing disparaging remarks with no supporting substance.
With metta,
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
- retrofuturist
- Posts: 27858
- Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:52 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Contact:
Re: Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher
Greetings,
I thought Morrissey summed it up pretty well...
Morrissey: ‘Thatcher Was a Terror Without an Atom of Humanity’
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... anity.html
Retro.
I thought Morrissey summed it up pretty well...
Morrissey: ‘Thatcher Was a Terror Without an Atom of Humanity’
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... anity.html
Metta,Morrissey's open letter wrote:"Thatcher is remembered as The Iron Lady only because she possessed completely negative traits such as persistent stubbornness and a determined refusal to listen to others.
Every move she made was charged by negativity; she destroyed the British manufacturing industry, she hated the miners, she hated the arts, she hated the Irish Freedom Fighters and allowed them to die, she hated the English poor and did nothing at all to help them, she hated Greenpeace and environmental protectionists, she was the only European political leader who opposed a ban on the ivory trade, she had no wit and no warmth and even her own cabinet booted her out. She gave the order to blow up The Belgrano even though it was outside of the Malvinas Exclusion Zone—and was sailing AWAY from the islands! When the young Argentinean boys aboard The Belgrano had suffered a most appalling and unjust death, Thatcher gave the thumbs-up sign for the British press.
Iron? No. Barbaric? Yes. She hated feminists even though it was largely due to the progression of the women's movement that the British people allowed themselves to accept that a prime minister could actually be female. But because of Thatcher, there will never again be another woman in power in British politics, and rather than opening that particular door for other women, she closed it.
Thatcher will only be fondly remembered by sentimentalists who did not suffer under her leadership, but the majority of British working people have forgotten her already, and the people of Argentina will be celebrating her death. As a matter of recorded fact, Thatcher was a terror without an atom of humanity."
Retro.
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Re: Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher
Chris is there really any need?cooran wrote:Hello all,
Perhaps members could state particulars about which of Baroness Thatchers' legislation and policies they disagreed with, and why - rather than writing disparaging remarks with no supporting substance.
With metta,
Chris
Re: Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher
What happend to Genkaku? He used to post here there and everywhere. Haven't seen him in years. I bought his book, it was a wonderful read.imagemarie wrote:Thanks.. I've been biting my tongue. As genkaku used to say "Silence is golden - and sometimes it's just plain yellow"tiltbillings wrote:A rather nasty and divisive individual who, while cozying up to the apartheid leaders of South Africa, called Nelson Mandela a terrorist, and this is not to mention the domestic policies that harmed the poor of Britian and her inflammatory policies in Northern Ireland and on and on.
"For a disciple who has conviction in the Teacher's message & lives to penetrate it, what accords with the Dhamma is this:
'The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I." - MN. 70 Kitagiri Sutta
Path Press - Ñāṇavīra Thera Dhamma Page - Ajahn Nyanamoli's Dhamma talks
'The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I." - MN. 70 Kitagiri Sutta
Path Press - Ñāṇavīra Thera Dhamma Page - Ajahn Nyanamoli's Dhamma talks