Did karma cause Cyclone Nargis to strike Burma (Myanmar)? According to Professor Ingrid Jordt of the University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee, Buddhists of Burma blame Burma's oppressive military regime for Cyclone Nargis. They believe the cyclone was a karmic consequence of the juntas' brutal oppression of monks last fall.

Jordt, who was once a Buddhist nun in Burma, said, "The immediate explanation was: This is retribution for killing monks."

I admit that collective karma is not something I understand clearly, but I've been taught it is wrong to think of karma as a cosmic retribution system. According to the Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw, not everything that happens in the world is the result of karma. Further, the Ven. Sayadaw writes, the Buddha refuted the notion that all fortune and misfortune are caused by previous action. What's important is to respond to suffering without blame or judgment.

Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman said,

The main thing about karma, what we might want to call collective karma, when there's a disaster where people haven't done anything and a terrible thing happens from nature, is that the bodhisattva, or the outside person looking at the situation, never invokes the karma theory and says, "Well, I don't have to worry about them because that was their bad karma and they got wasted and too bad--as if it were some sort of fate or a way of writing off the disaster. It should never be used that way.

See also two excellent essays on karma by Theravadin scholar Thanissaro Bhikkhu and Ch'an Master Sheng-yen

Photo Caption: Buddhist monks clean up at a Buddhist temple May 16, 2008, in a village on the outskirts of Yangon, Burma.

Photo Credit: Stringer/Getty Images

His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, arrived in New York yesterday for an 18-day tour that will include public events in the New York City area; Boulder, CO; and Seattle. His Holiness is the head of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. This is the 17th Karmapa's first visit to America.

I am preparing a background article about Kagyu and karmapas, including the controversy surrounding another claimant to the title of 17th Karmapa. I also have a ticket to His Holiness's public teaching in New York tomorrow afternoon, so I can bring you a first-person account. Meanwhile, you can visit the Karmapa's official U.S. tour blog for details on the trip so far. (Be sure to scroll down to the photos of children greeting His Holiness at the airport with flowers and scarves. Very precious!)

Photo courtesy of Karmapa's Office of Administration.

I want to call attention to a couple of items in today's New York Times. The first is Nicholas Kristof's column, "The Terrified Monks." Kristof gives us a glimpse of what life for the monks of Tibet has been like since the March demonstrations. It's very much worth reading.

The other article, by Leslie Kaufman, focuses on the spiritual partnership between Michael Roach and Christie McNally. Roach is a monk of the Tibetan Gelug school who has earned the title of geshe, the equivalent of a religious doctorate. McNally is his constant companion -- they have vowed never to be more than 15 feet from each other -- and co-teacher. They live together in what they say is a loving and romantic but celibate relationship. Roach continues to wear monk's robes. Apparently, this relationship is causing much consternation in Tibetan Buddhism.

I admit I don't know what to make of Roach and McNally. On the one hand, if this arrangement works for them, I'm happy for them. On the other hand, McNally calls sexual touching a "low practice," and that makes me terribly sad for them. And do I ever feel a forum discussion coming on!

Photo Credit: China Photos/Getty Images

The Red Cross is estimating the cyclone death toll in Burma (Myanmar) could be as high as 128,000. As many as 2.5 million Burmese remain in desperate need of food, water and shelter.

Tragically, the military junta in control of Burma continues to prevent foreign aid workers from reaching the disaster zone. The New York Times reports that aid is being delivered to Burma by many international organizations, but much of the food and supplies are being "stolen, diverted or warehoused by the country’s army."

The Buddhist Peace Fellowship asks that we direct our donations to the Foundation for the People of Burma (FPB), which has been using resources and contacts already in Burma to reach people in need.

Let us also direct our prayers and compassion to those who have lost loved ones in Monday's earthquakes in Sichuan Province, China. May Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva bring aid and comfort to wherever it is needed.

Updates: Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports today that the junta "is forcing homeless cyclone survivors out of the nation's monasteries, monks from the disaster zone said Thursday, as the junta rebuffed international pressure to allow in foreign aid workers."

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In "The Neural Buddhists," New York Times columnist David Brooks discusses developments in neural science and how these developments might impact religion. "In unexpected ways, science and mysticism are joining hands and reinforcing each other," he writes.

Brooks believes scientific understanding of the brain and body could lead to a new interest in mystical experience over doctrinal orthodoxy. Going forward, Brooks continues, the challenge to religion will not come from militant atheists but from "scientists whose beliefs overlap a bit with Buddhism." For example, neurological research suggests "the self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships," which is not a bad definition of shunyata.

(And note that I've begun a forum thread on Brooks's column if you want to discuss this.) Read more...

Bodhisattvas sometimes are pictured with multiple arms and heads. I didn't appreciate this symbolism until I heard this dharma talk by John Daido Loori, in which he said,

Every time there's a stranded vehicle on the side of the road and a motorist stops to help, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva has manifested herself. Those characteristics of wisdom and compassion are the characteristics of all beings. All Buddhas. We all have that potential. It's just a matter of awakening it. You awaken it by realizing there's no separation between self and other.

Avalokiteshvara is the bodhisattva who hears the cries of the world and embodies the compassion of the buddhas. When we see and hear the suffering of others and respond to that suffering, we are the heads and arms of the bodhisattva. The bodhisattva has more heads and arms than anyone can count!

Today many arms are reaching toward the people of Burma (Myanmar). The military junta in control of the country continues to get in the way of aid. The Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF) and its affiliate group, the Foundation for the People of Burma (FPB) are accepting donations for Burma. FPB has the resources and connections in Burma to enable proper distribution of aid.

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Prajnaparamita is Sanskrit for "perfection of wisdom." In Mahayana Buddhism, the word wisdom usually points to "shunyata," or "emptiness." According to this teaching, nothing has intrinsic existence, and all phenomena are void of self-essence. However, it is incorrect to say that phenomena exist or don’t exist. Rather, things and beings have identity only in relation to each other.

"Prajnaparamita" is also the name of a collection of Mahayana Sutras that includes the Heart and Diamond Sutra. And it is the name of a goddess, sometimes called "Mother of the Buddhas," who represents wisdom. Through the wisdom of shunyata are buddhas born.

Personal note: I will be attending a weekend sesshin that begins Friday morning. In my absence please feel free to direct questions to the Buddhism forums, where there are wise forum participants who can provide very good answers. Happy Mother's Day to all us mothers! And don't forget Burma.

Photo Credit: Photo of 13th-century Java statue of Prajnaparamita from Indische Kunst (Berlin, 1925).

The military junta that controls Burma (Myanmar) continues to delay and frustrate efforts to bring help to the people of Burma. Although United Nations relief planes now are landing supplies in Burma, other aid is still on hold.

Of the aid organizations listed in the last post -- the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has landed four aircraft loaded with food and supplies. Likewise, the Red Cross managed to land its first planes in Burma today. UNICEF technical and operations staff are on the ground in Burma assessing need and delivering supplies. Small teams from Doctors Without Borders are delivering food and other supplies. Save the Children says it has reached 50,000 people.

However, the junta remains reluctant to receive help from some foreign governments. For example, as of this writing planes with supplies from the United States are still denied access.

In fact, according to Burma's state media, the situation in Burma is "returning to normal." However, bodies can be seen floating in floodwater, and millions of survivors are short of food, clean water, fuel, and medicine. The death toll from Saturday's cyclone is estimated by some to be as high as 100,000.

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The United Nations estimates that hundreds of thousands of people in Myanmar (Burma) are in desperate need of help. Most news media today reported that 22,500 people died as a result of a cyclone and tidal wave that struck Myanmar on Saturday, and many more are missing or injured.

The Times (UK), however, reports this evening that the death toll may be as high as 50,000. [Update, May 7, 4:40 pm -- The U.S. Embassy in Myanmar says the death toll may top 100,000.] The survivors face terrible deprivation. Rice and vegetable fields are drowned in brown mud, and two to three million are homeless.

The despotic military junta that controls Myanmar is not making it easy for aid to reach people. Still, international aid organizations have made assessments and are moving food and medical supplies to Myanmar. The United Nations World Food Programme has begun food distribution in Yangon.

These aid organizations are accepting donations on behalf of Myanmar:

The UN World Food Programme
UNICEF
Doctors Without Borders
International Red Cross and Red Crescent
Oxfam International
Save the Children
International Rescue Committee

Update: Avaaz.org is raising funds for the International Burmese Monks Organization.

Photo Caption: Burmese monks with alms bowls

Photo Credit: © Tiero | Dreamstime.com

Today President George Bush signed congressional legislation that awarded Aung San Suu Kyi the Congressional Gold Medal, America's top civilian honor. Yesterday the government of Canada named her an honorary Canadian.

Ms. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and pro-democracy activist, is currently under house arrest in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma). A Myanmar government official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) yesterday that she was not harmed by the cyclone that ripped through Burma on Saturday, but so far I have seen no corroboration of this report. Current reports say nearly 22,500 people died as a result of the storm.

Ms. Suu Kyi is a heroine of Buddhism as well as of Democracy. When her son Alexander Aris accepted her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize in her absence, he said she linked the quest for democracy to Buddhism.,

"To live the full life," she says, "one must have the courage to bear the responsibility of the needs of others … one must want to bear this responsibility." And she links this firmly to her faith when she writes, "...Buddhism, the foundation of traditional Burmese culture, places the greatest value on man, who alone of all beings can achieve the supreme state of Buddhahood. Each man has in him the potential to realize the truth through his own will and endeavour and to help others to realize it." Finally she says, "The quest for democracy in Burma is the struggle of a people to live whole, meaningful lives as free and equal members of the world community. It is part of the unceasing human endeavour to prove that the spirit of man can transcends the flaws of his nature."

Photo Credit: U.S. Department of State