XPost: alt.religion.buddhism.tibetan, soc.culture.china, soc.culture.indian   
   XPost: talk.politics.tibet   
   From: peter@dharma.dyn-o-saur.com   
      
   India owns copyright to Buddhism: Karmapa Lama   
   IANS, Dec 23, 2011   
      
   New Delhi, India -- Asserting that the noble land of India owned the copyright   
   to Buddhism, the 17th Karmapa Lama, Ogyen   
   Trinley Dorje, flagged off a grand three-day service in the capital on Friday   
   on the occasion of the Karma Kagyu school of   
   Tibetan Buddhism completing 900 years, and said the faith had made a symbolic   
   return to the land of its birth.   
      
   The Karmapa called upon people to use the ancient wisdom of Lord Buddha and   
   apply it to the contemporary world to   
   promote world peace.   
      
   The service began with a special homage to Lord Buddha?s relics at the   
   National Museum in the capital, followed by interfaith   
   prayers at the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. The prayers culminated   
   in a mega-discourse in the evening on the   
   relevance of Buddhism.   
      
   The day's celebrations also saw the revival of the tradition of the recital of   
   Buddhist doha (songs) - which was sung in its   
   original Sanskrit version after a millennium by Karnataka-based musician and   
   researcher Nand Kumar.   
      
   The doha composed by the great Buddhist master from Bengal, Tilopa, was   
   retrieved by the Dalai Lama, who commissioned   
   its musical composition for posterity.   
      
   Addressing the gathering of more than 1,000 delegates from 44 countries, the   
   17th Karmapa said there were 'many reasons   
   for holding the commemoration of 900 years of the Karma Kagyu lineage' - also   
   known as the Karmapa lineage - in India.   
      
   'Who owns the copyright to Buddhism - the noble land of India,?' the Karmapa   
   said.   
   "India was the birth place of the Buddha and the wisdom of the 'mahasiddhas' -   
   the early practitioners and scholars of the   
   faith - came from India to the snowy land of Tibet? And it (Buddhism) became a   
   true lineage of experience, realization and   
   freedom from confusion. The lineage has remained unbroken for ages- abiding   
   for hundreds of years in Tibet," the Karmapa   
   said in his keynote address.   
      
   "And now the noble lineage has returned to the noble land of India. It is a   
   special honour to show our noble guests (from   
   across the world today) as well as from the different regions of the Himalayas   
   that the occasion for which we have gathered   
   here is very meaningful to me," the Karmapa added.   
      
   "What should we refer to Buddhism as (in this modern world)? Just spiritual   
   guidance from long ago," he said.   
      
   The Karmapa, who is hailed as the 'most outstanding monk in the Karma Kagyu   
   sect led by the Dalai Lama', is believed to be   
   the 17th reincarnation of Dusum Khyenpa, a monk born in 1110 AD in Tibet.   
      
   Dusum Khyenpa is the founder of the Karma Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism.   
      
   History cites that just as Buddhism was waning in India, Tibetan monk Dusum   
   Khyenpa, knower of the past, present and the   
   future, instituted the practice of intentionally reincarnating in a way that   
   disciples could recognise.   
      
   According to Buddhist scholars, the practice (reincarnation) forms the   
   backbone of Tibetan Buddhism as it is known today.   
   Dusum Khyenpa founded three seats of learning in Tibet and is revered as the   
   first in the long line of Karmapas.   
      
   As a tribute to the monk, a statue of the Dusum Khyenpa, which is known to   
   have spoken in the past, has been brought to   
   the capital - to bless the congregation.   
      
   The statue, originally housed in the Kham region of eastern Tibet was brought   
   to India later by the monks of the Ripa   
   Bharma monastery and installed in Karnataka.   
      
   Highlighting the importance in Buddhist wisdom in modern times, secular   
   Islamic scholar, writer and National Minorities   
   Commission head Wajahat Habibullah said the unifying factor that connected the   
   diverse faiths of India was 'compassion'.   
      
   "But most of us over the centuries have not lived up to it. Jesus had preached   
   compassion (like Buddha) and the first page of   
   the Quran says 'in the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful'. Unless   
   we have love for each other, all our   
   achievements are not going to get us anywhere," Habibullah said.   
      
   http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=8%2c10636%2c0%2c0%2c1%2c0   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)