Famous Buddhists
-
Buddhist Wynn Gets Primeval, Big Ideas
By Brian K. Miller, GlobeSt.com, May 23, 2006
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (USA) -- Casino-resort developer Steve Wynn is all about big ideas and happy people. Keynoting a luncheon Monday afternoon at the International Council of Shopping Centers annual trade exposition, the Buddhist billionaire touched on his religion and anthropology in explaining the creative process that led to his namesake resort, Wynn Las Vegas.
Steve Wynn
Before anything, Wynn says he started with a big idea. “If you start with the stuff, you’ll be in trouble,” he says. “You need to start with a big idea, a great idea, so if you are 70% successful you still have something.”
Wynn has had many big ideas. He is known as a trendsetter who reinvented Las Vegas Boulevard by developing Mirage and Treasure Island, the first of the mega-resorts to generate the bulk of their revenue from non-casino operations. His work jump-started a boom in casino-resort development that has kept Las Vegas in hyper-growth mode for more than 15 years.
In explaining his goal of making Wynn Las Vegas something that “resonates with human aspiration,” Wynn tapped into his anthropology studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He spoke of the Precambrian Explosion that created plant an animal life and made our species possible.
“Plants, water, the natural light of the sun, primordial stuff, that’s how the creative process began,” he says. “What sustains life on this planet; I started with that idea, and if you go through Wynn, you’ll notice skylights everywhere, sunshine filtering through etched glass, ceramic and mosaic tiles with flowers from Matisse’s Persian Robe.”
Architecture and design alone will not make a casino-resort competitively advantaged and enduring, however, he says. The other key ingredient is happiness—happy employees and happy customers--and Wynn takes it more seriously than most. As a Buddhist, Wynn believes that true satisfaction and enduring happiness is only gained by making a better life for other people.
There is evidence that his actions are in line with his belief. Nearly 100,000 people applied for the 10,000 jobs at Wynn Las Vegas because Wynn is known as a union-friendly boss who offers top pay and benefits in exchange for the attention to detail.
“I can’t get an advantage with a building, and neither can you, because everybody copies; you’ve got maybe 60 months, maybe 40 months before everybody sees it and does it.” he says. “You get competitive advantage because of people, and my leadership is defined by my ability to convince the eight-, nine-, 10,000 employees of the Wynn that they have the ability to change the course of the history every day.
“On the creative process, that’s everything I’ve learned,” he concludes. “Maybe you’re not too impressed, but I am.” -
Jackson, who has led the Bulls to numerous NBA titles and recently became the first coach to lead his team to 70 wins in one season, will surely be named as one of the most successful coaches in history. The Bulls most prominent players Michael Jordan, Scotty Pippen and Dennis Rodman, as well as an odd assortment of projects and castoffs, are managed through Jackson's new age philosophy. Using a mixture of American Indian philosophy and Zen Buddhism, Coach Phil Jackson has managed to keep the disparate elements of the team playing in harmony.
His approach emphasizes awareness, compassion and selfless team play to achieve victory. Jackson believes that the essence of teamwork is interconnectedness and selflessness in action. One of the most important characteristics of a leader, he concedes, is to listen without making judgments. In order to create a true team and build an acceptable level of trust, one must have intimacy and an open forum where every member can fully express his thoughts and feelings. Jackson uses this concept of mindfulness to assist his players in paying exact attention to what is happening on the court moment by moment. Jackson encourages his players to practice Buddhist philosophy off the court as well. He teaches players meditation so they can relax more fully. Meditation allows his players to make the correct decisions during extremely tense and chaotic times on the basketball court, Jackson contends. -
I just realised Goldie Hawn is also a Buddhist. Is it true?
-
More famous Buddhists and what they say about the faith!
‘is to become happier...it's about promoting a state. And it's not an action, it's a process...
We're all moving away from suffering and toward happiness.Â’
- Richard Gere
‘Through Buddhism, we could gain wisdom and see our values more clearly. We can learn to see material needs, fame and wealth from different points of view. ‘
- Jet Li
‘The bottom-line in Buddhism is love and compassion and kindness and happiness for all beings.’
- Keanu Reeves
‘ We are all Buddhists up here (Hollywood)!’
- George Lucas
‘ The philosophies and the principles within the Buddhist practice are something that have interested me for many years… I’m still learning about it.’
- Orlando Bloom
‘ (Buddhism is) peace and tranquility’
- Leonardo di Caprio
‘By overcoming anger, hurt and attachment�we become stronger; you bring these before the Buddhas, before the protectors, and purify yourself.’
- Steven Seagal
‘With The Altruistic Wish To Achieve Buddhahood�So I Pledge Here Before Everyone Who's Listening’
- Beastie Boys
‘Now I know there's a force in the world. There's an energy that if you put out good and you put out love it comes back to you. That's a basic thing that works for me.’
- Jennifer Lopez
‘His Zen beliefs are such that he has taught himself never to allow doubt to interfere in anything he does’
-Former French footballer, Tony Cascarino on Fabien Barthez
‘Do you know what the three terrible karmas in Buddhism are? … the three terrible karmas are beauty, wealth and fame. Meaning that they're traps. They're the things that stop you from finding true happiness.’
- Brad Pitt
‘… Buddhism has had a major effect on who I am and how I think about the world.’
- Uma Thurman -
It is interesting. Thanks.
I kinda like what was said by Uma Thurman.Originally posted by Iker-X-of-Bodh:
More famous Buddhists and what they say about the faith!
‘is to become happier...it's about promoting a state. And it's not an action, it's a process...
We're all moving away from suffering and toward happiness.Â’
[b]- Richard Gere
‘Through Buddhism, we could gain wisdom and see our values more clearly. We can learn to see material needs, fame and wealth from different points of view. ‘
- Jet Li
‘The bottom-line in Buddhism is love and compassion and kindness and happiness for all beings.’
- Keanu Reeves
‘ We are all Buddhists up here (Hollywood)!’
- George Lucas
‘ The philosophies and the principles within the Buddhist practice are something that have interested me for many years… I’m still learning about it.’
- Orlando Bloom
‘ (Buddhism is) peace and tranquility’
- Leonardo di Caprio
‘By overcoming anger, hurt and attachment�we become stronger; you bring these before the Buddhas, before the protectors, and purify yourself.’
- Steven Seagal
‘With The Altruistic Wish To Achieve Buddhahood�So I Pledge Here Before Everyone Who's Listening’
- Beastie Boys
‘Now I know there's a force in the world. There's an energy that if you put out good and you put out love it comes back to you. That's a basic thing that works for me.’
- Jennifer Lopez
‘His Zen beliefs are such that he has taught himself never to allow doubt to interfere in anything he does’
-Former French footballer, Tony Cascarino on Fabien Barthez
‘Do you know what the three terrible karmas in Buddhism are? … the three terrible karmas are beauty, wealth and fame. Meaning that they're traps. They're the things that stop you from finding true happiness.’
- Brad Pitt
‘… Buddhism has had a major effect on who I am and how I think about the world.’
- Uma Thurman[/b] -
Heaven and Halifax at Buddhist 'royal wedding'
by JANE ARMSTRONG, The Globe and Mail, June 3, 2006
Robes and kilts are all the rage as spiritual leader and bride celebrate
HALIFAX, Canada -- He runs marathons, writes poetry and is an expert calligrapher. She is a dancer and speaks five languages. He loves Nova Scotia. She's never been here.
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, the spiritual leader of the Shambhala Buddhist movement weds Tseyang Palmo in Halifax
They met in a Buddhist monastery in India last year. Her dance company was performing and he was teaching. He fell instantly for the graceful dark-haired beauty and arranged to meet her family the next day for tea.
Next Saturday, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, who is the spiritual leader of the Shambhala Buddhist movement, will wed Tseyang Palmo in Halifax in a lavish three-day wedding ceremony being billed as a "royal wedding" among Nova Scotia's Buddhist community.
The happy event is a coming-out party, of sorts, for Nova Scotia's Shambhala Buddhists, who number about 600 and arrived here in the early 1980s, mainly from the United States, on the urging of their teacher, Chögyam Trungpa, the groom's late father. In the late 1970s, Mr. Trungpa picked Halifax to be the world headquarters for Shambhala Buddhism.
Mr. Trungpa, who is credited with introducing Tibetan Buddhism to the Western world, died in 1987. His U.S.-raised son, the Sakyong, has continued his father's work. Although based in Halifax, the Sakyong travels most months of the year, holding seminars on meditation and promoting his books.
Next week's elaborate wedding ceremonies will be an amalgam of Asian and Celtic-Canadian culture; purple-robed monks will mingle with kilted bagpipers from Nova Scotia's fabled 78th Highlanders. A Japanese bow maker will perform an archery presentation just before the daily firing of the noon gun atop Halifax's Citadel fortress.
The boomer-aged Buddhist wedding planners in Halifax lend a New Age twist to the tradition-steeped ceremonies.
"We're trying to remember to breathe," said Shambhala practitioner and Haligonian Richard Peisinger.
Over the week ahead, Mr. Peisinger and fellow planners must also remember to pick up the 40 dozen Digby scallops and 40 dozen curry chicken tikka skewers for the reception dinner on June 10.
The wedding has mushroomed to 1,100 from 500 guests, who will be arriving from India, Nepal, Tibet, Europe and the United States.
The wedding is the talk of this foggy East Coast city, and organizers are praying -- or meditating -- for good weather for the first ceremony next Thursday, a lhasang, in which juniper is burned to purify the environment. It's to be held outdoors at Halifax's historic Citadel and will be open to the public. The wedding ceremony is in a downtown convention centre.
Among the guests will be Buddhist monks from Tibet, Nova Scotia MP Alexa McDonough, Lieutenant-Governor Myra Freeman and comedian Cathy Jones, who practises Shambhala Buddhism.
Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly has joined the Buddhist wedding bandwagon, declaring June 10 Blossoming of the Sun Day.
Mr. Peisinger and fellow planner Wendy Friedman are organizing cars, hotel rooms and billets for the foreign guests. They say it's the first public event Buddhists have held since arriving in Nova Scotia a quarter-century ago.
"For us, it's an offering to the couple, but also to the community," Ms. Friedman said. "To share it with everyone in Nova Scotia." Ms. Friedman, who owns a clothing store, is a native of South Carolina. Mr. Peisinger is from Westchester, N.Y.
"It's just been fun to have a big celebration," Mr. Peisinger said. "Everyone is getting a big charge out of it. There's a great sense of sharing."
Ms. Friedman added that the wedding is also a way for Halifax's Buddhists to express affection for Nova Scotia.
"It's a way for us to say, 'We're not mysterious. We're open. If you want to know more about us, just come on down.' "
Relations between residents of Halifax and the Buddhists weren't always rosy in this Maritime province, where Nova Scotia's renowned friendliness is extended to tourists but not necessarily to outsiders with unfamiliar beliefs.
"There has always been a thin line between Nova Scotia's famous hospitality and xenophobia," said David Swick, who wrote a book about Nova Scotia's Buddhists.
"We are now less xenophobic and more confident," Mr. Swick said. After arriving in Halifax, Buddhists opened ethnic restaurants, cafés, bookstores and other businesses.
Mr. Swick said that the Buddhists and Nova Scotians benefited from the influx. The Buddhists made Halifax more cosmopolitan and Haligonians helped Buddhists "achieve what they wanted, which was to rub off some of the more aggressive and unsavoury aspects of American culture." Halifax also gave them "a sane place to practise."
The groom's father fled Tibet in 1959 after the Chinese invasion, settling first in India, then England. The Shambhala tradition, which he followed in Tibet, emphasizes meditation and urges people to work for an enlightened society.
Mr. Trungpa is credited with introducing Tibetan Buddhist principles to the Western world. In 1970, he moved to Colorado, where in Boulder he established North America's only Buddhist university.
By the late 1970s, Mr. Trungpa was dissatisfied with U.S. society. On a trip to Nova Scotia, he found a down-to-earth people who valued friendships and family, Ms. Friedman said.
Mr. Trungpa urged Shambhala practitioners to follow him, and hundreds did.
The Shambhala movement has about 175 learning centres in the Western world, with about 7,000 members.
The Sakyong and his wife will live in Halifax, in Kalapa Court, a waterfront home owned by the Shambhala Buddhists. It's undergoing a $370,000 renovation in preparation for Ms. Palmo's arrival. Wedding guests have been asked to donate $100 each to the new home. -
"Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." - Albert Einstein
didnt knew he was vegetarian till few days ago, when i saw a poster at a Bugis vegetarian area.
/\ -
Steven Seagal is very Oriental in person
He is also a some black belt in aikido
-
In Memory: Grace McLeod, world traveler, potent advocate for Buddhism
By Keith Ervin, Seattle Times, Aug 27, 2006
Seattle, WA (USA) -- Grace McLeod didn't know exactly what she was in for when a Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader summoned her to Rumtek, India.
Grace McLeod was born in Anacortes in 1907.
When she appeared before Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa, then head of the Karma Kagyu tradition, "He looked at me and looked at me," Mrs. McLeod later wrote. "I could tell he knew me through and through.
"Then he clapped his hands and called in eight nuns and said to them, 'This is your mother. She will build you a home.' "
Build a home she did. As the karmapa's new American secretary, she raised $21,300 — enough to build a convent, which opened in Rumtek in 1985.
Mrs. McLeod, who converted to Buddhism in the late 1940s, was a leader for three and a half decades in producing English-language study materials for Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Church and other temples in Buddhist Churches of America.
She died at 98 on Aug 12.
Born in Anacortes on Nov. 9, 1907, as Grace Vivian Clem, Mrs. McLeod was the granddaughter of Charles William Beale, who was among the first permanent group of white settlers in the Anacortes area.
She was raised a Catholic, graduating from St. Ann's Academy in Vancouver, B.C., Pius X School of Liturgical Music at College of the Sacred Heart in New York, and Holy Names Academy and Normal School in Seattle.
From age 17 to 20, Mrs. McLeod routinely sat on the edge of her chair in order to leave room for her guardian angel, her daughter, Rosalie Jacobson, wrote.
For 11 years Mrs. McLeod taught at Sacred Heart Villa (now Villa Academy) in Laurelhurst and wrote a curriculum for elementary education in Catholic schools. Daughter Rosalie, who now lives in Southern California, was born in 1938.
advertising
Mrs. McLeod converted to Buddhism in 1948 after she and her husband, Hugh McLeod, a longtime Buddhist, studied world religions together through the Theosophical Society. Mr. McLeod died in 1978.
By 1950, as a member of Seattle Betsuin Church, also known as Seattle Buddhist Temple, she had begun writing stories, poems and articles about Buddhism for the church's predominantly Japanese-American children whose first language was English.
Jacobson recalled her mother working late into the night on publications such as "Buddhist Reader" and "Teen Tempest" and "Dharma School Teacher's Handbook." Her publications were circulated for 36 years to every U.S. temple in the Jodo Shinshu branch of Buddhism.
Mrs. McLeod also taught in the dharma school, trained teachers, and developed a course of study for the Karuna Award for Buddhist members of Camp Fire Girls.
She was in her seventies when she met the 16th Karmapa in Portland and he asked her to visit him in India, saying, "I have work for you."
During that visit to Rumtek she agreed to raise funds for the nunnery. She traveled to India four times as she raised money to build schools and to assist projects for lepers and the poor. She also visited Thailand, Japan and Nepal.
"I think she was captivated by Tibetan Buddhism initially and then she came to realize there's as much politics in Tibetan Buddhism as anyplace else. In talking with her later on in life, she realized it's all human nature," said the Rev. Don Castro, a minister at Seattle Betsuin Church.
When a new acquaintance asked if she found it difficult to travel to India at her age, her longtime friend Tom Strickland recalled, "She just looked up at him and said, 'Oh, my, no, I found it very relaxing.' "
Mrs. McLeod discussed religion and the state of the world with a Jehovah's Witness who showed up at her door regularly for 40 years, her friend Sue Aran recalled. "She embraced everything. Toward the end of her life she saw it all as being a piece of the same thing," Aran said.
Besides daughter Rosalie, Mrs. McLeod is survived by stepson Robert McLeod of Southern California; grandchildren Kenneth Jacobson of Seattle, Richard Jacobson of England, Darlene Nützmann of Southern California, and Thomas Jacobson of Southern California; 14 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Sept. 23 at Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Church, 1427 S. Main St., Seattle 98144. Gifts may be made to the church. -
The Zen professor
by PHYLLIS McGUIRE, Bennington Banner, September 5, 2006
Bennington, VT (USA) -- Over a span of 16 years, Thomas Redden earned the titles of doctor, professor and priest. "But people just call me Tom," said Redden, with a smile, during an interview in August.
With fair skin, a full head of brown hair, dressed in slacks and sport shirt with open collar, Redden was not the stereotype of a Buddhist priest, as pictured by many Americans.
Redden, the oldest son, second of eight children, was raised a Catholic.
"I was very much into religion. I liked going to church," said Redden. The Redden family lived in Connecticut near a Catholic church and school. "My mother is a devout Catholic."
His eyes misted as he added, "My father died when I was 11."
Now Redden, 51, lives in Newfane with his wife of 24 years and their two daughters, 14 and 10. On school days, he drives to Southern Vermont College, where he teaches history and politics. He holds a bachelor of arts degree from Williams College; two masters degrees, one from Central Connecticut University, one from the University of Geneva, Switzerland; and a doctor of philosophy degree from the University of Connecticut.
Redden was about the same age as his students when he became interested in Buddhism.
"I studied religion - Hinduism, Buddhism ... at Williams College," Redden said. "And at a winter study program, I took a course in Zen Buddhism. We skied and swam to develop mindfulness."
When people engage in a repetitious activity, their ability to focus is heightened, Redden said.
After graduating from Williams College in 1977, Redden lived in Japan about two years and traveled around the world.
"I was able to go to Japan because I had gotten a job teaching English there," Redden said. He considered himself very fortunate to have that opportunity because he had wanted to live in Japan ever since he had taken a Japanese history class in high school.
In Japan, Redden went to a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, the religious center of the country, and started a meditation practice.
When he returned to the United States, he began to practice at the Zen Community of New York, located in the suburbs of New York City, which later became the Zen Peacemaker Order.
"I was ordained a priest there," Redden said. "People came from New York City. They were thrilled. And my mother was very happy for me."
At the ordination ceremony, Redden undertook the 10 precepts.
"Some are a bit obscure, but the five core ones are: not killing, stealing, lying, misusing sex, or misusing intoxicants like drugs and alcohol. The presumption being that if you live an ethical life, you will be able to develop spiritually to be loving and kind," Redden said.
The teacher at the Zen Peacemaker Order moved west with the bulk of the community and Redden eventually went to the Zen Mountain Monastery in the Catskill Mountains of New York.
"I became a formal student of (Zen Master) John Daido Loori there," said Redden. "You have a teacher all your life."
A year and a half ago, Redden became a formal member of the Mountains and Rivers Order, an American order founded by Loori in 1980.
Redden goes on retreat several times a year for three to seven days.
"It's very rigorous," he said. "You get up about 3 a.m. There is total silence for 12 hours a day." Retreats usually begin with meditation to "still the mind."
Redden has meditated an hour or two every day since 1978. "I have an altar at home," he said.
"A high percentage of converts in America meditate because that's how they were introduced to Buddhism. And they do not have the support of the cultural milieu in which Buddhism is recognized as an integral part of life. In Japan, they observe the holidays ... they live Buddhism. It is a religion based on what Buddha argued is the nature of life; suffering (dukha) is mainly caused by clinging to ourselves - being very caught up in our own ideas, opinions, preferences, etc. These very subjective views of the world lead to frustration, resentment, anger ... We all know a lot of people who cling so dearly to their own ideological positions, be they liberal or conservative, that they really get worked up just at the thought of some things," said Redden.
Scientists have evidence that Buddhists are happier and calmer than other people, as reported in New Scientist magazine.
Redden has found that Buddhism allows him to create stability and equilibrium in his life. "It's a great gift," he said.
"I come to school in a good state of mind. I can bring forth the compassion and deep affection I have for the kids and my job. It is a huge responsibility to create a positive educational environment for the kids. Compassion, patience and clear thinking is what it takes to be an effective teacher." -
Just to add:
Sharon Stone
Goldie Hawn
Naomi Watts
Jackie Chan
William Hung
Boy George
Tiger Woods
Michelle Yeoh
Chow Yun-Fat -
since u mention Sharon Stone here's the latest news...Originally posted by concerned_man:Just to add:
Sharon Stone
Goldie Hawn
Naomi Watts
Jackie Chan
William Hung
Boy George
Tiger Woods
Michelle Yeoh
Chow Yun-Fat
Sharon Stone's Dalai Lama meeting
(femalefirst)
Sharon Stone is to snub the Venice Film Festival to meet with the Dalai Lama.
The 'Basic Instinct' actress has reportedly pulled out of the prestigious event this weekend, where she was supposed to be promoting her latest film 'Bobby'.
Stone's representatives have so far been vague about the reason behind the star's absence and only revealed she will be meeting the Buddhist spiritual leader in Los Angeles.
Her representative, Cindi Berger, said the 'Casino' star "never committed" to the festival and is "doing something with the Dalai Lama in Los Angeles" instead.
However, rumours are rife the Stone decided to pull out of the festival because organisers' refused to accommodate her diva-like demands
Updated: 2006-08-31 10:15
-
Dalai Lama cured Brit TV star of panic attacks
Asian News International, September 13, 2006
London, UK -- British TV star Zoe Lucker has credited the Dalai Lama for bringing peace into her life and curing her of her panic attacks.
British actress Zoe Lucker - credits Dalai Lama's book for curing her panic attacks
The actress, who plays the role of a sex-mad superbitch on the hit British show Footballers' Wives, revealed that reading the Dalai Lama's book The Art Of Happiness, had changed her stress-filled life for the better.
"As soon as I started reading the Dalai's words I felt this sense of reassurance and comfort. It was almost immediate. Before reading the book I had felt I was on my own....The main message I got out of the book was that in order to make myself happy, I have to make other people happy. It's all about trust, friendship and the fundamental things in life we take for granted. They're the only way we can find true happiness," the Daily Mail quoted her, as saying.
"Once you strip down the other things that bother us - society and the way we live - it's very materialistic. Don't get me wrong, I love having a nice house and being able to pay my mortgage. But it's dangerous if they become the main focus in life, because how can that ever lead to, you know, nirvana?" she said.
And though the book brought a sense of peace into her life, Lucker said that it was her encounter with the Dalai Lama that had the most profound effect on her.
"When I first saw him my whole body just went into this weird state. We'd just trekked the Himalayas and there was this huge sea of people waiting to see him. Yet it was incredibly serene. Then he walked past us, about 3ft away, and waved. It's the first time I've ever been starstruck," she said.
"Essentially, it comes from the people I met - people who have nothing, but who are constantly smiling. It's very humbling," she added.
The trip was documented for a two-part ITV show titled ‘Date With The Dalai’, and will be broadcast in the UK during the week. -
A few more:
Laurie Anderson
Oliver Stone
Phil Jackson
Courtney Love
Theresa Teng (Teng Li Jun) -
Buddhism can help end suffering, Jet Li says
The Record, Sept 23, 2006
San Francisco, USA -- Jet Li is famous for his fists and kicks, but he'd like his compassion to be a hit, too.
Li, who noted that a quarter of a million people committed suicide in China in 2003, said he hopes that he and his latest film, Jet Li's Fearless, can help make a difference.
"I would like to spend more of my energy practising Buddhism and helping younger Chinese people to understand life,'' he told the San Francisco Chronicle. "When people commit suicide, they cause 10 people to suffer. So this is causing millions and millions of people to suffer.''
"The Buddhism idea is to look back, to look into yourself. It's a feeling,'' he said. "The feeling is different from the material. You need to make yourself happy from inside your heart.'' -
Courtney Love turns to Buddhism to overcome addiction
Contact Music, Oct 31, 2006
Los Angeles, USA -- Rock star Courtney Love has been sober for a year and three months and credits Buddhism with helping her get her life back on track.
The Malibu singer has just released a new book, Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love, which includes old photographs, scribbled song lyrics and even an email exchange with Lindsay Lohan regarding dealing with negative press coverage.
Love insists her hard-partying days are behind her and claims her conversion to Buddhism helped her remain sober. She explains, "I'm a Buddhist now and I chant every day. I chant for a long time.
"Some people that chant, I'm just going to out them, Orlando Bloom chants, Tina Turner, they do half an hour a day. "But I was doing four and five hours a day sometimes. With smoke breaks!" -
Albert Einstein isn't a Buddhist, he's a non-practicing Jew.Originally posted by sinweiy:"Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." - Albert Einstein
didnt knew he was vegetarian till few days ago, when i saw a poster at a Bugis vegetarian area.
/\ -
Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:
did he say to u?
Albert Einstein isn't a Buddhist, he's a non-practicing Jew.Quotations on religion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein
The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend personal God and avoid dogma and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things natural and spiritual as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that could cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.[38]
I came — though the child of entirely irreligious (Jewish) parents — to a deep religiousness, which, however, reached an abrupt end at the age of twelve.[39]
I do not think that it is necessarily the case that science and religion are natural opposites. In fact, I think that there is a very close connection between the two. Further, I think that science without religion is lame and, conversely, that religion without science is blind. Both are important and should work hand-in-hand.[40]
A Jew who sheds his faith along the way, or who even picks up a different one, is still a Jew.[41]
/\ -
Go read his biography.Originally posted by sinweiy: -
Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:
which sentence? read, but didn't mentioned he's buddhist or not. just mentioned Albert's family members were all non-observant Jews.
Go read his biography.
/\ -
‘With The Altruistic Wish To Achieve Buddhahood�So I Pledge Here Before Everyone Who's Listening’
- Beastie Boys
i almost choked on this one. 
-
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." -
So he's not buddhist ...Originally posted by sinweiy:which sentence? read, but didn't mentioned he's buddhist or not. just mentioned Albert's family members were all non-observant Jews.
/\ -
Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:
not mentioned either...
So he's not buddhist ...
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.
/\ -
The Buddhist in the board room
By CHRIS ERIKSON, NYPost, February 12, 2007
New York, USA -- I’M talking to executive uber-coach Marshall Goldsmith, and money is on my mind, for several reasons. First, as we chat over late-morning coffee, I’m 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 itÂ’s agreed heÂ’s produced meaningful results. Generally, he collects it.)
But mostly, IÂ’m 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. Don’t make excuses. Don’t pass judgments or make destructive comments. Say “Thank you” and “I’m sorry,” and learn to ask for forgiveness.
What’s getting me into trouble at the moment is one of Goldsmith’s favorites: Don’t 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, ‘I’m right. You’re wrong,’ ” he writes in his new book, “What Got You Here Won’t 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.
