One of the flamboyant entrepreneurs making it big in booming Vietnam unveiled a massive precious stone on Monday that he plans to transform into the world’s largest jade Buddha.

Dao Trong Cuong, the owner of a Vietnamese gem mine, purchased the 35-ton stone in Myanmar last year for $2 million and imported it to Vietnam in October. By the time a team of 50 artists and sculptors finishes chipping away at it, the finished Buddha is expected to weigh nearly 20 tons.

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From About.com

Twenty-five centuries ago, King Suddhodana ruled a land near the Himalaya Mountains.

One day during a midsummer festival, his wife Queen Maya retired to her quarters to rest, and she fell asleep and dreamed a vivid dream. Four angels carried her high into white mountain peaks and clothed her in flowers. A magnificent white bull elephant bearing a white lotus in its trunk approached Maya and walked around her three times. Then the elephant struck her on the right side with its trunk and vanished into her.

When Maya awoke, she told her husband about the dream. The King summoned 64 Brahmans to come and interpret it. Queen Maya would give birth to a son, the Brahmans said, and if the son did not leave the household he would become a world conqueror. However, if he were to leave the household he would become a Buddha.

When the time for the birth grew near, Queen Maya wished to travel from Kapilavatthu, the King’s capital, to her childhood home, Devadaha, to give birth. With the King’s blessings she left Kapilavatthu on a palanquin carried by a thousand courtiers.

On the way to Devadaha, the procession passed Lumbini Grove, which was full of blossoming trees. Entranced, the Queen asked her courtiers to stop, and she left the palanquin and entered the grove. As she reached up to touch the blossoms, her son was born.

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From RealBollywood.com

Hollywood star Richard Gere met the Dalai Lama in Bodh Gaya in Bihar where the actor is attending a five-day long religious discourse on Buddhism by the Tibetan spiritual leader, an official at a Tibetan monastery said Wednesday.

A senior official associated with the Tibetan monastery in Bodh Gaya where the Dalai Lama is staying, said that Richard Gere is in Bodh Gaya to attend a religious discourse on Buddhism by the Tibetan spiritual leader.

“Richard Gere arrived in Bodh Gaya Monday evening. Gere is like any ordinary devotee of Dalai Lama. He may be busy in offering prayers, worshipping at the Mahabodhi temple and listening to religious discourses,” another official at the Tibetan monastery said.

Hollywood star Richard Gere met the Dalai Lama in Bodh Gaya in Bihar where the actor is attending a five-day long religious discourse on Buddhism by the Tibetan spiritual leader, an official at a Tibetan monastery said Wednesday.

A senior official associated with the Tibetan monastery in Bodh Gaya where the Dalai Lama is staying, said that Richard Gere is in Bodh Gaya to attend a religious discourse on Buddhism by the Tibetan spiritual leader.

“Richard Gere arrived in Bodh Gaya Monday evening. Gere is like any ordinary devotee of Dalai Lama. He may be busy in offering prayers, worshipping at the Mahabodhi temple and listening to religious discourses,” another official at the Tibetan monastery said.

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama prayed for world peace here on Tuesday.

Hundreds of Buddhists and followers of the Dalai Lama converged at the Kaal Chakra Maidan (Wheel of Time Ground) in Bodh Gaya, the place where Buddha attained enlightenment, as the five-day-long ‘Geluk Monlam puja (prayers)’ began.

“He (Dalai Lama) has given a lot of practical advise on being nice to the people and being transparent to yourself in your life so that you don’t have to hide things from people because you’ll have better relations with them and being open to them you’ll have more friends,” said James, a devotee from London.

Around 50,000 people from across the world are expected to assemble in Bodh Gaya over the five days to hear the Dalai Lama’s discourses.uring his stay the Dalai Lama would inaugurate a multimedia museum and visit new stone carvings on Buddha’s life erected in the Mahabodhi Mahavihara premises.

The 1,500-year-old holiest Buddhist shrine Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya is where the Buddha attained enlightenment 2,550 years ago.

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Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has penned three songs for a forthcoming documentary film about Tibet, When The Dragon Swallowed The Sun.

Director Dirk Simon, who has spent seven years making the film, said Damien Rice and composer Philip Glass have also contributed music.

The film is about the ongoing fight of the Free Tibet movement.

Richard Gere, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and The Dalai Lama have all been interviewed for the film.

The film offers a perspective on the Tibetan community in exile and their struggle to gain autonomy from Chinese rule.

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so I’m not naïve enough to believe that Fox news or  Brit Hume are likely to issue an apology to the world’s Buddhists.  I mean there is only about 1.5 billion.  So it’s not like he really offended anybody.  I wonder if we would have experienced the same non-reaction if Mr. Hume had suggested that it was time for Tiger Woods to let go of his Jewish faith?  Not likely. And one can only imagine the uproar in the radical Islamic community over such a pronunciation.  But Buddhism by its very nature is ripe for just such a dismissive attitude.  Buddhism is so focused on the self, we often forget that the true purpose of religion is to force it unsolicited on others who don’t share our views.  That’s what it’s really all about…right?

Brit Hume seems to be ready to offer Tiger Woods a “get out of Hell free card.”  All just for signing up to endorse Christianity. I’d offer Tiger this thought…

“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.”

-  Buddha

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Sikkim which is situated amidst Himalayan Hills is a paradise for tourists. Now the state Government has stepped up its efforts to promote many Budhist sites and festivals as tourist’s destinations.

Kagyad chaam is the one of the four forms of masked dances in the state.

Performed by Lamas of Buddhist monastery on the every 28th and 29th day of Tibetan calendar, the dances symbolize exorcizing of evil spirits of previous year and welcoming the good spirits at the dawn of New Year.

During the dance costumed Lamas with gaily-painted masks holding the ceremonial swords jump and swing to the rhythm of resounding drums.

The vibrant dance not just enthralls locals, but foreign tourists as well.

Kagyad dance enacts various themes from the Buddhist mythology and culminates with the burning of effigies made of flour, wood and paper.

A congregation of local Buddhist followers and tourists gather once a year to witness this extraordinary dance.

The Buddhist festivals, which reflect centuries-old tradition of Buddhism in State also contribute to the growth of tourism industry.

According to Sikkim Travel Agent Association General Secretary Lukendra Rasily, “Tourists finds it very very interesting, very different and when they come to Sikkim they go back with lot of memories which are not available easily anywhere in the world.”

“The tour operator is marketing; the Government of India is also marketing through their Incredible India slogan,” he added.

Sikkim has a lot more to offer to the visitors-snow clad mountains, thick green forests and monasteries.

Peace and normalcy have brought in many visitors to the state. Over 3 lakh tourists visited Sikkim this year alone.

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Tibetan Buddhism is considered as the guardian of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, a paradise for diverse species, with its rigorous doctrines.

“The Tibetan Buddhism stresses the harmony between humans and the nature. Despite harsh natural conditions, however, Tibet has done a good job in environmental protection. This has much to do with the Tibetan Buddhist dogmas requiring quietness during self-cultivation in order to better merge oneself with the nature,” said Cao Ziqiang, 75, former vice president of the High-Level Tibetan Buddhism College of China.

The plateau has offered this religion an ideal environment for its expansion. There, all lamaseries have luxuriant woods, vast pastures and fertile land.

“To cherish the land has naturally become a mission for those Buddhist followers,” Cao said, adding: “Meanwhile, some Buddhist disciplines and taboos have helped protect the ecological environment as well. For example, the precept of no killing is actually regarded as a respect to life and conducive to the protection of both animals and plants.”

Tibetans have internalized these disciplines into self-awareness and have been pursuing them to the letter in their daily life. “Tibet’s weak ecosystem has been protected to the utmost this way,” he said.

According to China Meteorological Administration, the growth rate of temperatures in Tibet is four times the national average. Consequently, Tibet has become a big victim of climatic changes. Its Buddhism, closely tied up with the nature, has no choice but to accept this reality.

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A demonstration takes place in Delhi for the release of Tenzin Delek, the Panchen Lama and all of Tibet's religious and political leaders. Beijing's response has been the deployment of troops in Nyagc…

Rait village (Himachal Pradesh), Jan 4 : Tibetan Prime Minister in exile Samdhong Rinpoche attended a peace ceremony in Rait village of Himachal Pradesh.