Happy New Year 2011!

I hope everyone will have a happy and peaceful New Year. I attended our Joya-e (New Year's Eve) and Shusho-e (New Year's Day) services at the Buddhist Temple of San Diego. We did the 108 ringings of the bell, symbolically ridding ourselves of our blind passions for the past year and renewing our commitment to hear the Buddha-Dharma in 2011. May all beings awaken the Bodhi Mind and awaken to the peaceful bliss of Nirvana.
Namo Amida Butsu

Clint Eastwood Urges Veterans to Meditate

Here is an article from the Austalian news network; this is interesting. Although this article is about Transcendental (TM) Meditation, there are many other different forms of meditation out there. This is going to be a new field to explore, the links between Buddhist, and other forms of meditation, and trying to treat stresses. This is something chaplains have to deal with often. Any thoughts?

News link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/14/3092708.htm?section=justin
Hollywood A-listers, including Clint Eastwood, have joined US military veterans to promote what they called the near-miraculous powers of meditation in overcoming war stress.

The event in New York drew an unlikely alliance ranging from fashion designer Donna Karan to traumatised veterans of World War II, Vietnam and Iraq.

Uniting them was a belief that transcendental meditation - dubbed TM for short - is the cheapest, most effective and medication-free way of healing people who have suffered severe stress in war and any other extreme experience.

"I'm a great supporter of transcendental meditation. I've been using it for almost 40 years now. I think it's a great tool for anyone to have," said Eastwood, best known for playing hardened characters on screen.

The fundraising event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was organised by experimental filmmaker David Lynch, whose Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and Peace encourages meditation along the lines espoused by famed guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Lynch has launched a project, named "Operation Warrior Wellness", aimed to train 10,000 veterans in the art of finding inner peace.

Critics have cast doubt on the value of meditation for treating psychological disorders.

But Lynch says there are "a lot of misunderstandings about meditation".

He believes the technique can help everyone from disruptive school pupils to soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

PTSD is an increasingly high-profile problem among servicemen returning from Afghanistan and Iraq, a large number of whom are believed to fear revealing their disorder to military health staff.

Vietnam vet Dan Burks gave a moving account of the mental scars he carried after a battle in which he says he killed Vietnamese soldiers and lost many of his own troops.

"[PTSD] is a wound. It takes your life away, just like losing a limb," he said.

"But guess what - you can get rid of it."

He described his life after discovery of transcendental meditation as "the difference between heaven and hell".

Another veteran, World War II pilot, Jerry Yellin, told the fundraiser that for three decades after the end of the war against Japan he "found no satisfaction in life in anything I did".

At age 51, he took up TM and says he found peace.

"We have the ability to teach young people who are suffering tremendously ... young people who are in a foreign land," he said of today's veterans.

One of those, a former infantry soldier in Iraq, says TM "cleared the skies and I could tell where I was going".

"I felt this warm groovy feeling," he said.

"It just gets better and better."

The star-studded event saw testimonials from fashion designer Karan and British comedian Russell Brand.

Brand says he had suffered severe stress from his much-publicised sex and drugs addictions but found solace in TM.

"I felt love - sort of love for myself, but also love for everyone else," he said in a rambling speech delivered in his trademark hyper-energised style.

"I am a human being and it is applicable to all human beings. Someone, everyone can draw from it."

- AFP

Veterans Day 2010

Blessings on all our Nation's Veterans past and present! May they be well and happy.

This year witnessed several accomplishments in Buddhist Military Chaplaincy: two chaplains completed deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan respectively, and we have had several new chaplain candidates accepted into preliminary commissioning programs for the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy. Also a UK British chaplain visited Buddhist personnel serving in Afghanistan.

We still have more work to do: we still do not have any chaplain candidates for the U.S. AIr Force Chaplain Corps, and we still do not have Buddhist supplies registered in the Department of Defense supply system, due to various reasons. We have had difficulties in creating a Field Service Book; we had contacted several Buddhist organizations for assistance, but some have refused to work with us, due to our association with the Armed Forces. However, I believe there is significantly greater support for Buddhists serving in the U.S. Armed Forces than in the past now that many more people, including non-Buddhist chaplains, recognize the religious and ethnic diversity of the individuals serving, and the growing presence of Chaplains to serve their spiritual needs. Buddhists are in all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is my hope that this trend will continue in the future. We are also actively working with the dependents of Buddhist Servicemembers and Veterans, who also fall within the care of all military chaplains. We ask for and welcome your support and prayers.

Namo Amida Butsu

U Student Finds Place for Buddhism in the Army

Just found this article today in the Daily Utah Chronicle! Article can be found here.

U student finds place for Buddhism in the army
By Marie Lenihan-Clarke

Published: Thursday, October 21, 2010
Updated: Thursday, October 21, 2010 13:10


Christopher Reeves
ROTC Cadet Jeffery Gilbert stands in front of the Buddhist temple, the Zen Center.
Cadet Jeffery Gilbert, a junior in philosophy, was accepted to be the first Buddhist chaplain from Utah. He will be one of 1,967 Buddhist chaplains in the acting Army nationwide, according to Sgt. First Class James Benn, special categories chaplain recruiter.
Earlier this year, Gilbert completed a higher part of the ROTC's Leaders' Training Course, becoming a Military Science Three, or third-year equivalent.
Gilbert will work with the chaplain core for the U.S. Army. In order for Gilbert to become a Buddhist chaplain, he must obtain a master's degree in divinity and have the approval of another Army-recognized Buddhist minister.
From a military perspective, Gilbert captures the diversity found within the Armed Forces, said Lieutenant Aaron Weyburn, a gold bar recruiter for the ROTC. The ROTC is raising awareness that practicing religion as well as serving your country is possible in today's society.
"Protecting and serving are quite compatible with Buddhism," Gilbert said. "The use of force or violence is to be avoided, but to what extent differs among some schools of Buddhist thought."
Holding a pacifist role in Buddhism and observing hurt could cause indirect damage and harm, he said.
Understanding that there is more to the Army than force or violence is important too, Gilbert said.
"If you speak to anyone in the Army, they have a strong mentality towards service and protection," he said. "They see their position within the Army as serving the people of the U.S."
Gilbert is furthering his insight into Buddhism as well as other religions through the study of philosophy.
"I take philosophy because it is a personal interest," he said. "Understanding the core issues at the very heart of human existence through philosophical perspectives will allow me to better serve the needs of my community." Since he is a chaplain, a philosophy degree will assist Gilbert to serve all denominations, with a specific focus on Buddhism.
Colonel George Johnson, commander of the U's senior ROTC program, said Gilbert is an asset to the ROTC.
"Cadet Gilbert has the leadership characteristics needed to provide spiritual guidance to our cadets and future soldiers," Johnson said.
m.lenihanclarke@
chronicle.utah.edu
[CORRECTION: The author clearly made a typo in the article above: we do not have 1,967 Buddhist chaplains in the Army - that's nearly the total of the chaplains in all the Armed Forces!]

Buddhist Chaplains Returned from Deployments

Just a note that I have returned from my deployment with Combat Logistics Regiment 15Forward to Afghanistan, and will be resuming my ministry, at Camp Pendleton. Likewise, Chaplain Dyer has returned from his deployment to Iraq. We will use our experiences to help develop resources for American Buddhist military servicemembers. As I stated in previous posts, Brian Nagata of the Numata Center is working on a prototype of a service book and The Teaching of Buddha - Military edition. We can also use our experiences to help new chaplain candidates in developing their own form of Buddhist ministry in the field. More good news to follow!

Namo Amida Butsu

Another U.S. Navy Buddhist Chaplain Candidate

Congratulations to Brett Campbell who also entered the U.S. Navy's Chaplain Candidate Program (CCPO)! Brett will be doing his seminary work at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. Naropa University was founded in 1974 by the Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Bravo Zulu!

Second Buddhist Chaplain to Enter U.S. Navy

Congratulations to SH3(SW) Aroon Seeda who will be commissioned this week as a U.S. Navy Ensign in the CCPO (Chaplain Candidate Program)! So soon we will have two Buddhist chaplains in the U.S. Navy! SH3(SW) Seeda is a former Thai Theravada monk who immigrated to the United States; he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served with distinction aboard the USS Kidd. As a CCPO he will complete his seminary work at the University of the West in Rosemead, California, where several of our Army Chaplain Candidates are studying. He will make a great addition to the Navy Chaplain Corps. Bravo Zulu!