Buddhism

Sakya Trizin, Tibetan Buddhist Leader, to Visit United States

June 10, 2000

Source: The New York Times

On June 10, 2000, The New York Times reported that the 41st Sakya Trizin, supreme head of one of Tibetan Buddhism's four traditions, has embarked on a three-month teaching visit to the United States and Canada. The Sakya Trizin is second only to the Dalai Lama in importance to the Tibetan people and this is the first time in a decade that Trizin has visited the United States. He is making this trip to meet and encourage people involved in Sakya Buddhist practice. Asked about how one should begin a serious study of Buddhism,...

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Dagmola Jamyang Sakya, Female Tibetan Buddhist Teacher in the U.S.

May 27, 2000

Source: Los Angeles Times

On May 27, 2000 the Los Angeles Times ran an article about Dagmola Jamyang Sakya, one of Tibetan Buddhism's rare women teachers, who teaches about "Tara, the Great Wisdom Mother and female emanation of the Buddha of Compassion," to audiences in Los Angeles and in Seattle, where she has set up the Sakya Monastery. As a girl, she studied in an otherwise all-male Buddhist monastery, then fled Chinese persecution in Tibet, became a refuge in India, and finally moved to Seattle in 1961. She began teaching in 1985, after years of...

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Minnesota Paper Reports on Sikh and Buddhist Holidays

May 13, 2000

Source: Star Tribune

On May 13, 2000, the Star Tribune reported on the Sikh commemoration of "the Martyrdom Day of Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth guru in Sikhism. He assembled the Adi Granth and built the famous Golden Temple at Amritsar." The article also noted that "Thursday begins the Buddhist celebration of Visakha Puja Day, or the full moon day of the sixth lunar month. Buddhists of the southern tradition celebrate this as the day Buddha was born, attained enlightenment and died."

Hsi Lai Temple

April 29, 2000

Source: The New York Times

On April 29, 2000, The New York Times published an article on the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, California, the largest Buddhist monastery in the United States. Hsi Lai Temple has been only minimally distracted from its goal of promoting spiritual education and culture by the negative publicity due to illegal contributions to the Democratic National Committee. The Venerable Man Yee, one of the nuns at the temple, stated: "Our responsibility is to the dharma...That is the main purpose of our Master Hsing Yun, to...

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Vietnamese Celebrate Buddha's 2,544th Birthday

April 17, 2000

Source: Los Angeles Times

On April 17, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that more than 5,000 Vietnamese gathered Sunday, April 16th at Santa Ana College in Southern California to celebrate the 2,544th anniversary of the Buddha's birth. The celebration, which is now in its sixth year at Santa Ana, was one of the largest in Southern California, with more than 100 Buddhist monks and nuns from as far away as Canada attending the event.

Buddhist Ritual Saito Homa Performed for First Time in United States

April 16, 2000

Source: Los Angeles Times

On April 16, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Shinnyo-en temple in Yorba Linda, California hosted the first Saito Homa fire ritual in the United States on Sunday, April 16th. Temple official Naruhiko Yoshida stated: "It is a great opportunity for people who live here to be a part of this...It is wonderful to see people from this country, Europe and Japan, from all over the world, harmonizing in front of Buddha." Dating back to the 9th century, Saito Homa is a fire ritual and prayer for world peace that is conducted...

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Celebration of the Buddha's Birthday

April 1, 2000

Source: Los Angeles Times

On April 1, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that the largest temple in the West, Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple in Hacienda Heights, California, will begin a week-long celebration of the Buddha's birthday starting this Sunday, April 2nd, including the creation of an artistic rendering in colored chalk of the "Buddha Universe" on the temple's courtyard.

Buddha Statue from Thailand to be Placed in Augusta, Missouri

April 1, 2000

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On April 1, 2000, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Mid-America Buddhist Association's 60-acre retreat center will place a 10-foot-tall brass statue of the Buddha on their property on a hill along Missouri Highway 94 in Augusta, MO. The statue will be dedicated on May 21, 2000 during the Buddha's birthday celebration and many of the more than 1,300 Buddhist devotees in the St. Louis area are expected to attend. Members of region's eight Buddhist organizations are contributing to the statue, which was molded in...

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Impressive Renovations to the Rocky Mountain Shambhala Center

March 19, 2000

Source: The Denver Post

On March 19, 2000,The Denver Post reported on the massive expansion of the Rocky Mountain Shambhala Center, which will develop the center into a "top flight spiritual retreat that will draw faithful Buddhists and business executives alike." The centerpiece of the renovations is a temple called the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya which will be open to the public. It will be the largest and most intricate stupa in the United States. "The structure, which represents the crowned Buddha seated in meditation, now needs its finishing touches. An...

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Buddhist Bonfire Ritual to be Conducted in U.S. for the First Time

March 11, 2000

Source: Los Angeles Times

On March 11, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Shinnyo-En Buddhist temple in Yorba Linda, California will be host to the Sito Homa, a Buddhist bonfire ritual, on April 14th and 15th. About 5,000 people from all over the world are expected to attend the ritual, which will be the first time the Sito Homa is performed in the United States. The ritual will be conducted by priests from Tokyo and it will take place outside the temple for most of the day in order to accommodate the crowds. Naruhiko Yoshida, the temple's...

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Tibetan Monastery in New York Prepares for Lama

February 18, 2000

Source: The New York Times

On February 18, 2000, The New York Times published an article on the hopeful arrival of the 14-year-old monk Ugyen Trinley Dorje, the 17th Karmapa, to the Woodstock, NY monastery Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Center. The Karmapa is the leader of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Dorje was officially recognized as the 17th Karmapa in 1992 by not only a majority of the school, but also the Dalai Lama. The 16th Karmapa, in a visit to the Woodstock monastery in 1981, declared it to be his home away from Tibet. The 17th...

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