A thoughtful new year; Faiths IN OUR CITY.Byline: BUDDHIST JOHN BEARD John Beard may refer to:
CHRISTMAS is over and most of our New Year resolutions will be fading fast as we move back into our hectic day-to-day lives. For all Tibetan Buddhists early next month is the Losar celebration. "Losar" is a Tibetan word for New Year. "Lo" means year and "sar" means new. This year it is on February 18 and the year will be 2880 - the year of the Female Earth Pig earth pig: see aardvark. . The celebration of Losar can be traced back to the pre-Buddhist period in Tibet. The festival is said to have begun when an old woman named Belma introduced the measurement of time based on the phases of the moon. Later when the rudiments of the science of astrology, based on the five elements five elements, n.pl fire, water, earth, wood, and metal; in Chinese medicine, each of these five components is used to organize phenomena for use in clinical applications. Each of the elements corresponds to a specific function (i.e. , were introduced in Tibet, this farmer's festival became what we now call Losar. The calendar is made up of 12 lunar months and Losar begins on the first day of the first month. Gutor is a pre-New Year festival which is a time to put to rest all the negative accumulations of the past year. It is also a time to clean and prepare for the approaching New Year. It is at this time that all Tibetan Buddhists are reminded of the Buddha's teachings and two in particular - Attachment and Impermanence im·per·ma·nent adj. Not lasting or durable; not permanent. im·per  ma·nence, im·per .
These are great struggles, not just for Buddhist but for all human beings of all faiths. Attachment will eventually bring negative feelings. Not having attachment does not mean that you cannot love or have passion - it is just the opposite. It is because we love or have passion about things that we should share them and take care of them, but we do not own them. The other great struggle is impermanence. This is not just a philosophical argument, but is a fact. We are all familiar with the sayings "things are always changing" and "nothing lasts for ever". If your New Year resolutions are flagging, take a little time out and reflect on the past year. I am sure if you control your attachment and take into account impermanence then maybe all our tomorrows could be bright new days. John Beard, Birmingham Karma karma or karman (kär`mə, kär`mən), [Skt.,=action, work, or ritual], basic concept common to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Ling, Tibetan Buddhist Karma Kagyu. |
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