Famous Buddhists

last SG · 2007-02-20T07:59:53+00:00

Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei: Albert Einstein isn't a Buddhist, he's a non-practicing Jew.did he say to u? Quotations on religion The religion of the fu...

Ito_^ SG

With The Altruistic Wish To Achieve BuddhahoodSo I Pledge Here Before Everyone Who's Listening
- Beastie Boys

Shocked Shocked Shocked i almost choked on this one. Laughing

neutral_onliner SG

Courtney Love Says Buddhism Changed Her Life
Starpulse, Nov 29, 2006

Los Angeles, USA -- Courtney Love has credited Buddhism with turning her life around after practicing the religion saw her career and love life bloom.

Courtney Love

The singer recently turned to the ancient doctrines to overcome her drug demons, and she insists past experiences with Buddhism made it the first place she turned to when in trouble.

Love says, "This is my third attack at Buddhism. The first time I went for it, it got me off Hollywood Boulevard and got my band Hole to where it got. I ended up with a great husband and a wonderful child (Kurt Cobain and Frances Bean). Then I quit.

"I started chanting again and I ended up with this fantastic movie (The People Vs Larry Flynt) and a fantastic boyfriend (Ed Norton). Then I quit. So this time, I thought: 'You know what works?' For me, this particular Buddhist practice just really works."

Herzog_Zwei SG

So he's not buddhist ...

sinweiy SG

Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:
So he's not buddhist ...

not mentioned either...
i mean as long as your conduct is like real buddhist, you don't really need to be called/labeled a 'buddhist' to be a real buddhist.

/\

neutral_onliner SG

The Buddhist in the board room
By CHRIS ERIKSON, NYPost, February 12, 2007
New York, USA -- IM talking to executive uber-coach Marshall Goldsmith, and money is on my mind, for several reasons. First, as we chat over late-morning coffee, Im well aware that most of the people Goldman sits down with in the course of a workday can buy and sell me several thousand times before breakfast. Called a rock star by Forbes, and the country's premiere executive coach by Fast Company, he typically ministers to those at the highest reaches of the corporate ladder.

HELPING HAND: Top CEO coach Marshall Goldsmith helps improve workplace dynamics - and gets the Gordon Gekkos of the world to lighten up a bit.

Second, as you might imagine, Goldsmith, 57, commands a hefty fee for his efforts - some $250,000 per client. (Though he only collects it if its agreed hes produced meaningful results. Generally, he collects it.)

But mostly, Im thinking about money because my debt to this corporate guru is growing by the minute.

See, to operate according to Goldsmithian principles is to follow a number of simple rules. Things like: Be a good listener. Dont make excuses. Dont pass judgments or make destructive comments. Say Thank you and Im sorry, and learn to ask for forgiveness.

Whats getting me into trouble at the moment is one of Goldsmiths favorites: Dont start a sentence with But, No or However. He likes this one so much he charges his clients $20 every time they do it, a practice that over the years has raised $300,000 for charity.

These negative qualifi ers . . . secretly say to everyone, Im right. Youre wrong, he writes in his new book, What Got You Here Wont Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful.

As we speak, my habit of starting sentences with But is racking up a hypothetical debt so fast I might as well sign my paycheck over to him right now. He silently clocks it every time I do it, and occasionally interjects a tally. As in, "That's $160."

But if you'd assume that by now I feel like taking the aforementioned coffee and dumping it in Goldsmith's lap, you'd be wrong. A longtime Buddhist who has an easy laugh and favors khakis and moccasins, Goldsmith has an important gift for a man in his line of work: a jovial, almost goofy bonhomie that makes him impossible not to warm to even as he's gently busting your chops.

As a coach, Goldsmith doesn't sharpen clients' negotiating skills, or delve into their psyches. He just helps them get along better with the people they work with - to be seen as less judgmental, or more receptive to others' ideas, or just plain more civil and pleasant to be around.

Turns out, the coach to the industry stars just wants us all to get along.

Of course "civil" and "pleasant to be around" aren't always prized attributes in Fortune 500 boardrooms, and Goldsmith has a reputation for cracking some hard cases. One of his favorites started out with a percentile rating of 0.1 for personability, meaning that out of 1,000 people at his company, he ranked dead last. (He turned himself around, and after a year hit the 57th percentile.)

Goldsmith's method for helping such people is deceptively simple. "Simple, but not easy," he likes to say. First, he solicits "360-degree feedback" from colleagues, bosses and underlings to identify what they perceive as the client's negative traits. (Sometimes family members are consulted as well.) He presents the client with the results, and zeros in on the behaviors that are holding him or her back.

Then he trains the client to cease those behaviors and replace them with more benevolent ones - like, say, thanking an underling who presents an idea and promising to think about it, instead of shredding it on the spot.

More often than not, what holds people back, he writes, "are simple behavioral tics - bad habits that we repeat dozens of times a day in the workplace - which can be cured by (a) pointing them out, (b) showing the havoc they cause among the people surrounding us, and (c) demonstrating that with a slight behavioral tweak we can achieve a much more appealing affect."

In the book, he highlights 20 of the most annoying workplace habits; among them "clinging to the past," "playing favorites," "withholding information" and "failing to express gratitude." Such habits are "transactional flaws performed by one person against another ... that make your workplace substantially more noxious than it needs to be."

With his book riding high on the business best-seller lists, we sat down with Goldsmith to find out how the methods he uses on the country's top tycoons can help make your work life easier and your workplace happier.

Part of your job is to walk into the offices of very successful people and confront them with the divide between how they think people perceive them and the way they're actually perceived. What's the typical reaction to that?

Well, when we hear what we don't want to hear, our first reaction is, "They're confused. They don't understand, the problem isn't me, it's them." It's hard to realize that sometimes other people can see things in us that we can't see in ourselves.

Which traits tend to be the least recognized?

One I talk about, that's somewhat counter-intuitive, is the idea of winning too much. Because we're so geared to winning. And especially the people I work with. These are winners. The derby of life, they won. What's hard for them is to not always win everything.

Here's an example I give: Say you go out to dinner with your wife or significant other, and you want to go to X and she wants to go to Y, and you get into an argument. Then you go to her choice, and the food tastes like crap and the service is awful - what do you do? Do you critique the food, or do you shut up? We should shut up, but what do most people do? They critique the food and try to be right.

Isn't the need to win part of what got these people where they are?

Parts of it are, and parts of it are not. That's the classic problem: "I behave this way, I am successful, therefore I am successful because I behave this way." Wrong. That's the success delusion. They're where they are because they do many things right, and in spite of screwing things up. And what I try to do is help people sort out "because of" and "in spite of."

How much can you separate these things? Take "goal obsession," which you say underlies many of the negative behaviors in your book. That's something a lot of successful people share. At what point does it become a problem?

When the goal becomes more important than the mission. And that happens. People get so wrapped up in achieving a goal that they forget the mission.

I worked with a guy on Wall Street who was working 80 hours a week, and I asked him, why are you working 80 hours? He said, "Because I need money." I said, why do you need money? He says, "I've been married three times, and I need to pay alimony." Well, why have you been married three times? "My wife didn't understand how hard I had to work."

See what I mean? It's crazy. And stuff like that happens all the time. We're so wrapped up in winning and proving how smart we are that we forget that this battle is not worth winning.

If someone has a lot of natural aggression and drive, and that makes them good at what they do -

Let's stop there. Parts of that are probably making them good. Parts of that are probably not making them good. And by the way, I'm not saying you shouldn't try to win. Win big things, don't win trivial things.

An Eternal Now SG

(continued from above, separated due to limit)

Has anyone ever looked at you and said, "You're not listening"? You've had this experience at least once in your life. Let me guess what you did: You said "Yes I am," and you repeated what they said verbatim. And did that dramatically improve your relationship with the other human being? Not really. In fact it made it worse, didn't it? Next time someone says that, you know what you're going to say? "I'm sorry, please accept my apology, no excuses."

You're very big on "Thank you" and "I'm sorry."

You know why? We all make mistakes, it's OK. If you want other people to take responsibility, you go first. Let them watch you take some responsibility.

You suggest saying "Thank you" not only when it's appropriate, but even at times when you feel like saying -

"Just shut up." Look at it this way: I'm trying to help you. If you're going to argue with me, I'm going to quit talking to you. So what I teach people to do is just shut up and listen and say thank you. But it's very hard to do this. Because our first reaction is, "You're confused, you don't understand." It's so ingrained.

You say you don't care why people change, just as long as they do, and by the same token, the question of why somebody behaves the way they do -

I don't deal with that at all. Not only don't I care about it, I don't discuss it at all. To me, that's just excuse, excuse, excuse. I have a theory - once you pass 50, blaming Mommy and Daddy is weak. So, you know, "Poor me, Mommy was mean," or "Daddy was mean" - I mean, you're 50 years old. It's time to grow up now.

You're a Buddhist. How does that influence your approach?

All my stuff is Buddhist stuff: Let go of the past. Anybody can change. And another very Buddhist idea, which I always practice with my clients - Buddha said: Only do what I suggest in my teachings if it makes sense in the context of your own life. That's exactly what I say. So let's say you're the future CEO. I say: Mr. Future CEO, now I'm going to give you my ideas. Let's say I give you the dumbest idea in the whole world. What do you say? Thank you. Just don't do it. Why waste your time and mine proving I'm wrong?

You warn people about passing judgments. But isn't that the job of the decision maker?

Sure. Decision makers have to make judgments all the time. But here's what they do wrong. Let's say you're the boss and I report to you. I've got idea X, you've got idea Y. What we do too much as a boss is to think, "Let me prove to you why you're wrong." Instead of just saying, "We disagree." And I try to get people out of that.

You take it further than that, and say that even adding your two cents is something to avoid.

Well, it's something you have to watch. Because the thing there is adding too much value. It's very hard for smart people not to constantly add value. Like: "That's a great idea, but ... let me add this to it." And the problem is, the quality of the idea goes up 5 percent, but my commitment to its execution goes down 50 percent, because you've taken the idea away from me.

Do people underestimate the importance of interpersonal relationships in the workplace?

No. 1, I think people do. No. 2, the educational system does. The biggest rap on MBA programs is they're not training leaders, they're training technicians, and I think the educational system grossly underprepares people for people issues - leadership issues, teamwork issues.

You're big on sentence completion as a technique, so let me throw one at you: "The average workplace would be a happier place if ..."

If the manager regularly asked people how he or she could become a more effective leader. And if the people regularly asked each other how each person could be a more effective partner or team member, and listened and followed up on a regular basis.

What are some ways to determine what your own annoying habits are?

Ask. Get in the habit of asking people.

Is it fair to say you're less concerned with changing people's attitudes than changing their behavior?

Yes. To give you an example: Everybody gets mad sometimes. There's nothing wrong with that. But that doesn't mean you need to scream at people. So, the point is not "Did you stop feeling things?" but that you have to watch how you act.

The other thing that's very important today is to watch what you e-mail. People get angry in e-mails, and it's almost always a mistake. But it's hard not to do it. One of my clients, the CEO of a bank, held a BlackBerry up in front of a group of people and said, "This can be our death."

How often do you hear from people that the things you teach them spill over into their home life?

Eighty percent. Some things I might work on, like building better relationships across the organization, may not have any connection to anything at home. A lot of this stuff, though, is like, be a better listener, give better recognition. And by the way, if we're stubborn and opinionated at work, what are the odds we become excessively open-minded when we get home? So for most of us, the same stuff at work is at home.

The Marshall Plan

Want to improve at work, the Marshall Goldsmith way? In his new book, "What Got You Here Won't Get You There," Goldsmith offers four exercises. He calls them "stealth techniques" that will "identify the main problems in your workplace behavior."

1. Make a list of people's casual remarks about you. For one whole day, write down all the comments that you hear people make to you about you. At the end of the day, review the list and rate each comment as positive or negative. If you look at the negatives, some patterns will emerge. Do this again the next day and the next. Eventually, you'll compile enough data about yourself to establish your challenge.

2. Look homeward. Your flaws at work don't vanish when you walk through the door at home. If you really want to know how your behavior is coming across with your colleagues and clients, stop admiring yourself in the mirror. Let your colleagues hold the mirror and tell you what they see. If you don't believe them, go home. Pose the same question to your loved ones-the people in your life who are most likely to be agenda-free and who truly want you to succeed.

3. Turn the sound off. When my clients get bored in meetings, I ask them to pretend they're watching a movie with the sound off. They see how people physically maneuver and gesture to gain primacy. They lean forward toward the dominant authority figure. They turn away from people with diminished power. They cut rivals off with hand gestures. You can do the same for yourself: turn the sound off and watch how people physically deal with you. Do they lean toward you or away? Are they trying to impress you or are they barely aware of your presence? If the indicators are more negative than positive, you'll know you aren't making the right impression.

4. Complete the sentence. Pick one thing you want to get better at. Then list the positive benefits that will accrue if you achieve your goal. For example, "I want to get in better shape. If I get in shape, one benefit to me is that . . . I will live longer." That's one benefit. Then keep doing it. "If I get in shape, I'll feel better about myself." That's two. Keep going until you exhaust the benefits. As you get deeper into your list, the answers become less corporately correct and more personal. That's when you realize you've hit on an interpersonal skill that you really want and need to improve.

neutral_onliner SG

Actress starring Lin Daiyu becomes nun
Eastday, Feb 27, 2007
Changchun, China -- Former Chinese actress and business celebrity Chen Xiaoxu has taken the tonsure at a Buddhist temple in Changchun, capital of Jilin province in northeast China, her husband told a newspaper Sunday.

Chinese actress Chen Xiaoxu rose to fame playing the character Lin Daiyu from the Qing Dynasty literary classic "Dream of the Red Mansion"

Chen Xiaoxu became a household name in China in the 1980s after being cast the lead role as Lin Daiyu in the TV soap opera "Dream of the Red Mansion", an adaptation of the Chinese Qing Dynasty literary classic of the same name.

{GAD)Following this popular role, however, Chen Xiaoxu did not pursue an acting career. She disappeared from public view for several years until re-catching people's attention, this time, as a successful businesswoman and billionaire in advertising.

The news of her tonsure was first disclosed by some "well-informed" fans online and was confirmed by her husband, Hao Tong, who, he has himself said, will soon follow his wife's suit to become a monk in another monastery. Hao said such decision, which however sounds much striking to the public, is their ideal.

Chen Xiaoxu was reported to still be at Baiguoxinglong Temple, the Buddhist monastery where she received the tonsure ceremony. Chen will no longer take part in business from now on as she concentrates on Buddhist studies at the monastery, according to staff from her company.

An unconfirmed source adds that Chen Xiaoxu has been following the Buddhist life credo for seven years.

An Eternal Now SG

Originally posted by neutral_onliner:
Actress starring Lin Daiyu becomes nun
Eastday, Feb 27, 2007
[b]Changchun, China -- Former Chinese actress and business celebrity Chen Xiaoxu has taken the tonsure at a Buddhist temple in Changchun, capital of Jilin province in northeast China, her husband told a newspaper Sunday.

Chinese actress Chen Xiaoxu rose to fame playing the character Lin Daiyu from the Qing Dynasty literary classic "Dream of the Red Mansion"

Chen Xiaoxu became a household name in China in the 1980s after being cast the lead role as Lin Daiyu in the TV soap opera "Dream of the Red Mansion", an adaptation of the Chinese Qing Dynasty literary classic of the same name.

{GAD)Following this popular role, however, Chen Xiaoxu did not pursue an acting career. She disappeared from public view for several years until re-catching people's attention, this time, as a successful businesswoman and billionaire in advertising.

The news of her tonsure was first disclosed by some "well-informed" fans online and was confirmed by her husband, Hao Tong, who, he has himself said, will soon follow his wife's suit to become a monk in another monastery. Hao said such decision, which however sounds much striking to the public, is their ideal.

Chen Xiaoxu was reported to still be at Baiguoxinglong Temple, the Buddhist monastery where she received the tonsure ceremony. Chen will no longer take part in business from now on as she concentrates on Buddhist studies at the monastery, according to staff from her company.

An unconfirmed source adds that Chen Xiaoxu has been following the Buddhist life credo for seven years.
[/b]

More info here: http://waynedhamma.blogspot.com/

concerned_man SG

Very interesting piece of news. Smile

neutral_onliner SG

Gere introduces J.Lo to Buddhism
By Jeannette Walls
MSNBC
Updated: 12:41 a.m. PT Oct 11, 2004
Will J. Lo go Buddhist?

Jenny from the Block is studying the Eastern religion after Richard Gere, a devout Buddhist, gave her spiritual advice on the set of their new flick, Shall We Dance?

I would say to Richard, God, Im always worried about being so strong. He said, Maybe its time to be strong in a different way, Lopez said, reports World Entertainment News Network. He didnt say, You need to convert, but he did give me some good advice.

Jenny from the Block, who grew up Catholic, also revealed while promoting her new movie that shes reading Ekhart Tolles The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment a new-agey best seller thats inspired by Buddhism. The book shows readers how to recognize themselves as the creators of their own pain as well as how to free ourselves from the conflicting, unreasonable demands of the mind, according to a description on Amazon.com.

neutral_onliner SG

Orlando Bloom's time out for Buddhism
By Ryan Parry, Mirror, April 19, 2007
Los Angeles, USA -- HOLLYWOOD star Orlando Bloom is taking a break from acting to embrace life as a Buddhist. The Lord of the Rings star made the decision after admitting his life had turned into a "white knuckle ride".

Actor Orlando Bloom

Orlando, 30, who chants daily, said: "The philosophy I've embraced isn't about sitting under a tree and studying my navel.

"It's about studying what's going on in my life and using the fuel to go on and live a bigger life."

He added: "I've been white knuckling it for so long. Between the first Lord of the Rings and the last Pirates of the Caribbean, I've been going non stop.

"So now I just want some time and space from everything and the phone and the communication."

Orlando credits a recent trip to South Africa for changing his life. He said: I felt so isolated and vulnerable and I had time to think."

neutral_onliner SG

Famed Chinese actress dies after conversion to Buddhism
Xinhua News, May 17, 2007
SHENZHEN, China -- Chen Xiaoxu, a famous Chinese actress who converted to Buddhism earlier this year, has died of breast cancer in south China's Guangdong Province, local sources confirmed on Thursday.

This undated photo features former Chinese actress Chen Xiaoxu in famous Chinese TV series "Dream of the Red Mansion" back in 1980s. (File Photo)

Chen, 42, passed away at 6:57 p.m. Sunday in Shenzhen, according to an announcement on the website of the newly founded charity foundation named after her.

Her farewell ceremony will be held on Friday, said the announcement.

Wang Yuanfeng, Chen's aunt, recalled Chen pressing her chest in pain. "She was strong-willed and refused to go to hospital," she lamented.

Despite being diagnosed with cancer, Chen spurned western medicine, preferring to use traditional Chinese medical treatment, Wang said.

Born in Anshan City in northeast China's Liaoning Province, the comely Chen beat other contestants in 1985 to act the role of Lin Daiyu, heroine of the novel "A Dream of Red Mansions". A poem she wrote at the time brought her national fame.

Quiet and fond of literature, she has always been regarded as a "real Lin Daiyu" even after she quit the stage in 1991 and established her own advertising company in 1996.

"The character (Lin Daiyu) opened a window for me, but shut a door," Chen said -- the fame of the character was such that it was very difficult for her to get other roles in other TV series.

Chen was successful in business and was listed as an economic celebrity in 2005.

Even as actors and actresses began auditioning for a remake of "A Dream of Red Mansions", the low-key star stirred up a media buzz in February when she was tonsured and became a nun in Baiguoxinglong Temple in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province. Her husband later converted to Buddhism as well.

"Lin Daiyu is not a worldly person, and neither is Chen Xiaoxu," said netizens on sina.com.

After Chen's death, over 9,000 netizens expressed their condolence on sina.com by press time, and some even composed poemsin memory of her. "Your soul journeyed west to listen to the chanting of sutras, who will bury the flowers now that the most gracious flower has left us?," said one netizen referring to a scene in the novel when the sentimental Lin buried withered flowers.

Contestants auditioning for the remake placed bouquets of white flowers in front of Chen's photo.

Other actors and actresses who had worked with Chen expressed their sorrow via phone calls or on their blogs.

Deng Jie, another actress who rose to fame in "A Dream of Red Mansions" TV series said that she would hold a gathering to mourn for Chen. "She will always be our sister Lin," Deng said.

The charity foundation, set up on Wednesday with an initial fund of 50 million yuan (6.4 million U.S. dollars), will help students from impoverished families and patients who cannot afford medical treatment.

neutral_onliner SG

Actress brings third annual Buddhist retreat to Rockport
by Gail McCarthy, Gloucester Daily Times, July 23, 2007
Gloucester, MA (USA) -- Lindsay Crouse, a film and television actress with roots in Annisquam, found a spiritual path that she wanted to share with Cape Ann residents

Lindsay Crouse, a film and television actress with roots in Annisquam, found a spiritual path that she wanted to share with Cape Ann residents. Ben Laing

Nearly three years ago, she organized a Buddhist educational program to spread the knowledge and serenity Buddhism has brought her.

Her efforts met with a greater community response than she imagined. Now she is preparing for the third annual retreat at Windhover in Rockport from Aug. 20 to 26.

Only about 30 people had signed up three weeks before the first retreat in 2005.

I had no doubt that there were many who would love the retreat, but I needed to get the word out. After an article in the local newspaper, 250 people called me in the next week and a half, she said. It was an incredible response. But what really moved me were the stories that poured out of people to a complete stranger.

They shared with Crouse tales of family difficulties, the death of someone close, their inability to hold on to relationships, their confusion about what their lives meant, their need for a timeout.

From that seed, a growing local movement has blossomed to include people of all faiths. Crouse is quick to say that practicing Buddhism can be just a piece of someones spiritual practice and in no way excludes those who follow a particular religion. There is room for both, she said in a recent interview in Gloucester.

I have often said that Buddhism took my Christianity out of the attic and shined it up, she said.

Crouse, an Academy Award-nominee for best supporting actress in 1984s Places in the Heart, knows about stress, in part, from life as an actress in Los Angeles and Hollywood, and raising a family.

The first retreat sought to clear up any misunderstandings about the practice of Buddhism. Last years retreat focused on compassion. The subject this year is happiness.

Quite a lot has happened in the wake of the first two retreats, Crouse said. Lama Brian Smith and folks on Cape Ann are now a mutual admiration society. He enjoyed his time teaching here so much, and holds his students with such high regard, that he has promised to come here three times a year. People responded with great enthusiasm to his warm, witty and masterful teaching style, and have found what he has to say immediately useful to their lives.

Smith is a renowned Tibetan Buddhist monk and a published Sanskrit scholar who has served as professor of comparative religion at Columbia University and professor emeritus of the same subject at the University of California at Riverside.

When Smith returned last December to teach for four nights at the Rockport Community Center, almost 400 people attended, a surprise considering the busy time of year.

After these teachings, Crouse hosted a salon at her house for those who wished to talk further about how to apply Buddhist principles to their lives.

Sixty people crammed into my little living room in Annisquam, she said.

Paul McPherson of Gloucester, who is not a Buddhist, nonetheless was interested in the retreat and attended some of the events organized by Crouse.

This is absolutely about learning, he said.

McPherson said he enjoyed the teachings by Smith, who could share his knowledge with a sense of humor and teach about finding happiness in life.

Crouse said her life has changed in the wake of her work here.

For me personally, this is the fulfillment of a dream. Four years ago, I was sitting in a class in what was then the unordained Brian Smiths small apartment in Venice Beach, and it struck me that the place that I loved most in the world Cape Ann would be a wonderful place for him to teach, she said. I love the people here and I love the spirit of the place, which has a particular sensibility that comes from living with the harsh winters, the rocks, the woods, the glorious summers, the light, the sea.

Crouse, a lifelong Annisquam summer resident, believes perhaps the austerities of this area make for a hard-bitten discipline in the residents here and render them frank and real.

But when summer wins out, or the light travels across the bay, there is a sense of magic. No one on Cape Ann would deny it, she said. Everyone who lives here feels a deep devotion to this place. Discipline, devotion and a sense of magic are the most powerful elements of any spiritual path. So Cape Ann and Venerable Brian Smith have come together easily.

For information on the retreat, call 310-990-1425 or 978-282-4996, or email: [email protected]

sinweiy SG

Madonna's wedding to have 'Buddhist feel'

London - Madonna is to insist on a "Buddhist feel" at her wedding ceremony later this month, the Sun newspaper reported on Friday.

"Madonna is a devout follower of Buddhism and she wants the whole thing to have a Buddhist feel. The venue is very peaceful and she wants it to have an air of tranquility," a friend of the US pop star told the British tabloid.

A spokesperson for the Buddhist Society said a wedding blessing could follow the official marriage ceremony. A monk would put up a shrine to Buddha and the couple would then light candles and incense and offer flowers to the icon. They subsequently exchange Buddhist vows.

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=9&click_id=5&art_id=qw97628190184B216

sinweiy SG

found:

Britney Spears practicing Buddhism and non-attachment to hair consults mentor the Dali Lama

Britney Spears, who has recently been making strides to turn her life around, admitted today that shaving her head and pubic hair was part of her Buddhist spiritual training.

"I'm trying to live the life of non-attachment," the weary Spears said. "I want to become a Buddha."

A Buddha, according to Wilikipedia, in the generic sense, is a person who discovers the true nature of reality through lifetimes of spiritual cultivation, investigation of various religious practices and meditation.

Recently, Spears took a flight on Spread Eagle Airlines to Nepal to visit her mentor, the Dali Lama. He gave her four thoughts to meditate on:

1.The first thought was that everyone, every artist in the world was born to suffer.

2.The second was that everything in the world is subject to impermanence, even youth, good looks, popularity and hair.

3.The third was that the human personality, "soul", or Self, is a conventional appellation, or grape arbor where vats of wine are stirred and each individual soul is squished beneath the feet of migrant laborers with athletes foot.

4.And the fourth was peace, or Nirvana and assured the impressionable Spears that Nirvana was not only the name of a West coast grunge band from Seattle, but also a Buddist mark of existence.

"These are the four marks of existence," he said, "suffering (dukkha), impermanence (anicca) and non-Self (anatta) and peace (Nirvana)."

"I want to fly to Bodhi," said the impetuous Spears. "Then I will be awakened from this nightmare I call my life."

Bodhi is a little town in Italy where all the food is grown and produced locally without pesticide and there are no cars to ride in and pollute the air.

Spears began practicing non-attachment back in November after filing for divorce from her husband, Kevin Federline. Recently, the distraught Spears took an American Spread Eagle flight to Nepal to consult with her mentor the Dali Lama about her life.

"He told me to shave everything, even my career," the beleaguered Spears said. "He said it was too fast and would end up killing me and taking me away from my boys. He advised me to just put my money in a savings account and live off the interest. I think that I'm going to take his advice."

In other news today, a cameraman broke his ankle today trying to follow Britney Spears on her path to enlightenment through a rough passage in the Himalaya Mountains on her way to Nepal.

http://www.killerfun.com/71367_Britney_Spears_practicing_Buddhism_and_n.html

sinweiy SG

John Lennon.
Tom cruise?

/\

An Eternal Now SG

I posted this in this forum before, but this is actually a joke if you haven't realised it Laughing

An Eternal Now SG

John Lennon I remember shld be into Buddhism.

But Tom Cruise? I thought he's a famous scientologist? Razz

sinweiy SG

ok, some of them might had set bad example. hmm..

yeah.

Tom Cruise, who stars in Edward Zwick's "The Last Samurai", Friday praised eastern religion saying "Buddhism is the grandfather of scientology" and climbed up on a chair to show off his new-found strength and flexibility in the making of the film.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/10/1073437506235.html

wait, one more :
David Beckham(?)

http://sg.search.yahoo.com/search?p=david+beckham+buddhist&sp=1&fr2=sp-top&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-web&x=wrt&ei=UTF-8&SpellState=n-733082785_q-Q.OHVb4WMFEikoKanQTUfwAAAA%40%40

/\

cycle SG

Madonna is not a Buddhist. I think she's into Hinduism or something else, can't remember. It was reported a few yrs back that she went to India and jumped, diva style, into the Ganges River to purified herself. But maybe she has changed path, again. Smile

As for Brintney, it wld be great if she really put into practice what the Dalai Lama has taught her. Many youngsters still see her as their "role model".

Tom Cruise? Shocked NOOOOO. Unless he has changed path too.

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