THE
BROOKING STREET BUGLE
Issue No. 56
(New Series)
ISSN 1321
-1463
Publication
Date: 11 May 2001
Published and
Printed by:
The Buddhist
Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd.
A.C.N.
005 701 806 A.B.N. 42 611 496 488
33 Brooking
Street, Upwey, Victoria Australia 3158. Telephone and Fax +61 3 9754
3334
e-mail
address wbu@bdcu.org.au
World
Fellowship of Buddhists Regional Centre
Lifetimes of
Learning
websites
and the
cultivation of Friendliness, Practicality, Professionalism,
Cultural
Adaptability and Scholarship.
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www.bdcu.org.au |
www.companyontheweb.com/buddhatext |
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www.bdcublessings.net.au |
www.companyontheweb.com/buddhamap |
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www.bddronline.net.au |
www.skybusiness.com/j.d.hughes |
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www.bsbonline.com.au |
www.buyresolved.com.au |
Editor: John
D. Hughes Dip.App.Chem.,T.T.T.C., GDAIE
Vice-president,
World Fellowship of Buddhists
Assistant
Editor: Pennie White BA. Dip Ed
NAMO TASSA BHAGAVATO ARAHATO SAMMASAMBUDDHASSA
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The Venerable Dr. Viriyananda Bikkhu
Meditation Hall at 33 Brooking Street, Upwey.
The Purpose of this Publication
The purpose of this publication is to:
1. Advise Members
2. Monitor current activities
3. Improve Fundraising initiatives
4. Advise interested parties of our philosophy.
5. Infromation Technology News
6. Fundraising Appeals and Special Projects
8. Current Research and Development News
9. Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S)
10. Corporate Governance & Reporting (CGR)
11. International Dhamma Activities (IDA)
12. Local Area Planning & Asset Management (LAPAM)
Appendices:
Appendix 2: John D. Hughes Versak 2544 B.E. 2001 C.E. Address
Appendix 3: Minutes of the General Meeting held on 6 May 2001
Centenary - A space or duration of a hundred years
Prajna Paramita - Perfection of wisdom
Sumi-e - A style of brush painting
Versak - is sometimes spelt Vesak, the full moon in the fifth lunar month is celebrated
WYSIWYG - What you see is what you get
VCR - Video Cassette Recorder
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12-05-01 |
Sumi-e Painting Class taught by Master Andre Sollier |
10.00am – 3.00pm |
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12-05-01 |
Laine Smallwood's Birthday |
All day! |
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12-05-01 |
John D. Hughes and Julian Bamford attend Ch'an Exhibition at Chinese Museum |
2.30pm – 5.30pm |
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13-05-01 |
Buddha Chanting |
6.30am – 7.30am |
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13-05-01 |
John D. Hughes and Julian Bamford attend ceremony at Inh Young Temple |
11.00am – 2.00pm |
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13-05-01 |
Mothers' Day flower stall |
7.00am – 7.00pm |
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13-05-01 |
Hillside Radio Broadcast |
11.00am – 12.00 midday |
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14-05-01 |
Dhamma Teaching by John D. Hughes |
7.30pm – 8.30pm |
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15-05-01 |
Prajna Paramita Teaching by John D. Hughes |
7.30om – 8.30pm |
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16-05-01 |
Buddha Chanting |
6.30am – 7.30am |
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18-05-01 |
Dhamma Teaching by John D. Hughes |
7.30pm – 8.30pm |
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20-05-01 |
Hillside Radio Broadcast |
11.00am – 12.00 midday |
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20-05-01 |
General Meeting for Buddhist Discussion Centre(Upwey)Ltd. |
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21-05-01 |
Dhamma Teaching by John D. Hughes |
7.30pm – 8.30pm |
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22-05-01 |
Prajna Paramita Teaching by John D. Hughes |
7.30om – 8.30pm |
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23-05-01 |
Buddha Chanting |
6.30am – 7.30am |
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25-05-01 |
Dhamma Teaching by John D. Hughes |
7.30pm – 8.30pm |
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27-05-01 |
Hillside Radio Broadcast |
11.00am – 12.00midday |
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27-05-01 |
Ch'an Class taught by Julian Bamford and Jan Bennett |
2.00pm – 4.00pm |
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28-05-01 |
Dhamma Teaching by John D. Hughes |
7.30pm – 8.30pm |
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29-05-01 |
Prajna Paramita Teaching by John D. Hughes |
7.30om – 8.30pm |
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30-05-01 |
Buddha Chanting |
6.30am – 7.30am |
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01-06-01 |
Dhamma Teaching by John D. Hughes |
7.30pm – 8.30pm |
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03-06-01 |
Hillside Radio Broadcast |
11.00am – 12.00 midday |
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04-06-01 |
Dhamma Teaching by John D. Hughes |
7.30pm – 8.30pm |
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05-06-01 |
Prajna Paramita Teaching by John D. Hughes |
7.30om – 8.30pm |
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06-06-01 |
Buddha Chanting |
6.30am – 7.30am |
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08-06-01 |
June Five Day Bhavana Course commences |
All Day |
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08-06-01 |
Dhamma Teaching by John D. Hughes |
7.30pm – 8.30pm |
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09-06-01 |
Sumi-e Painting Class taught by Master Andre Sollier |
10.00am – 3.00pm |
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12-06-01 |
June Five Day Bhavana Course concludes |
All Day |
Centenary of Federation Celebration
John D. Hughes, Julian Bamford and Anita Svensson will be attending the Centenary of Federation Celebration at the Inh Young Temple on Sunday 13 May 2001 at 10.45am.
Versak Celebrations 2544 B.E. 2001 C.E.
Members and friends of the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. celebrated Versak 2544 B.E. on Monday 7 May 2001. We started in the morning by chanting during the full moon which occurred at 3.52am.
Members and friends chanted from 3.30am - 4.30am and John D. Hughes gave a Dhamma talk after chanting. We launched the “International Year of Metta (Loving-kindness).
We offered Dana to two Venerable Monks and two Members of Parliament were in attendance on this day.
We opened a Ch’an painting exhibition by Ch’an Master John D. Hughes and opened the Emerald Pavilion.
We thank Julie Hedjes for the following article about our Versak celebrations printed in the local “Free Press” Newspaper:
"Versak Festivities:
Last Monday, Buddhists from around the world joined in Vesak festivities to commemorate and pay respect to the life and teachings of Buddha. In Upwey, about people gathered at the Buddhist Discussion Centre for celebrations from 3.30am with chanting, followed by lunch offered by members of the centre to visiting Buddhist monks. An exhibition of paintings and calligraphy was opened. Vesak is celebrated on the day of the first full moon on May."
Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd - Website No.8
We are now planning for an eighth website, which will be a dedicated site for the
Buddha Dhyana Dana Review.
The cost of the website hosting will be $360 for one year. The hosting company is Oznet One. Oznet One is also the website hosting company for www.buyresolved.com.au owned by John D. Hughes and Associates Pty. Ltd.
Thank you to Frank Carter, Rilla Oellien, Lenore Hamilton, Stuart Amoore, and Jan Bennett for donating monies toward the cost of BDDR website hosting fund. If you would like to donate towards this fund please see Julian.
Our webmaster Evelin Halls has suggested that the site be called: www.bddronline.org.au
Prajna Paramita Images
Three Prajna Paramita images have arrived at our Centre in Upwey, Victoria, Australia.
The three Prajna Paramita Image locations are:
1. The Bodhi Tree
2. In the JDH Collection Library - near the Western altar
3. The Sariputta room - next to the Dragon King altar.
All Prajna Paramita Images were placed on bases and numerous offerings have been made to these images.
Thank you to Lyne Lehmann for organising this project and to all those who contributed to the cost.
** Photo available
Training on Statistics and Time Planning
The third CGR Statistics Training session will be held on 20 May at 4pm. All CGR Task Unit Members must attend these training sessions. The session will start at 4pm and run for one hour. Julian Bamford will conduct the training.
5. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Installation of ISYS Version 6.0
ISYS Version 6.0 is now installed on PC13A. To use it, double click on the left button on the mouse, with the arrow on the Q icon on the bottom right screen and the program will load. This new ISYS version was installed on 22 April 2001.
ISYS indexed 3,264,546 words out of 5,645,241 words in 1212 folders. It did not yet index Lotus Word Pro files, but other than that, the entire network including all sub folders and the e-mails is searchable.
We are working on finding a way to make the Lotus files searchable as well.
The John D. Hughes Collection library catalogue On Line
The John D. Hughes Collection library catalogue was uploaded to the www.bdcu.org.au website on 5 April 2001. The catalogue containing 3728 references took 9 minutes and 56 seconds to upload.
Visitation figures for our websites.
As at 9.12pm on Wednesday 9 May 2001 total visits to our websites since 18 January 2001 were , 2468 an increase of 446 from Monday 16 April 2001. The visitation figures for each are as follows:
www.bdcu.org.au 819
www.skybusiness.com/j.d.hughes 63 from 11 February
www.buyresolved.com.au 56 from 6 March
www.companyontheweb.com/buddhatext 109
www.companyontheweb.com/buddhamap 175
www.bdcublessings.one.net.au 1246
“How to guidelines for future Webmasters”
This is the first of a series of 'how to' guidelines for our future webmasters, to assist them in learning how to build and maintain our Dhamma websites.
Topic: Inserting Graphic files into html documents.
When inserting graphic files into a html document with a html WYSIWYG editor, such as Star Office, you must check the path in a code editor, such as First Page 2000, as all WYSIWYG editors tend to insert their own codes (these are nick named 'spaghetti codes).
Sometimes these codes are incorrect, for example if you work on editing one file from two different PC's, that may have a different file structure, and inadvertently insert the wrong file path. Another example is that the WYSIWYG editor will delete the meta tags and insert its own meta tag set.
You can check the new or edited html file off-line with the preview function which exists in both Star Office and First Page. But, be aware that the PC will search for file paths, and find a path which may not necessarily be the one you inserted. This can occur, for example, where files are inserted from a floppy disk.
Alternatively you may open Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator and go to the file menu, left click on mouse on “open” then left click on mouse on “browse” and then type in the website address.
Note that all files, including photos are uploaded separately to the server, and must therefore have the correct path name to enable the server to find them when the website is being downloaded for someone to view on their PC.
Be aware you cannot work on a website html file as if it is a word document. The operating rules for html documents are more involved and complex, requiring that the user pay careful attention to each step. It is important to work systematically, recording your steps, checking your actions and being patient.
Copying Digital Video Footage to VCR
Method of operation for copying the digital video footage to VCR in the Sariputta Room.
1. Connect the digital video camera leads to the video player.
2. Attach the corresponding coloured leads from the camera to the back of the VCR, in the 'line in' sockets.
3. Turn on the television and select channel 4 and press the AV button twice, for the 'AV2' to appear on the tv screen.
4. Switch the camera to 'VCR mode' and press play and check to see if what appears on the camera viewfinder appears on the tv screen as well.
5. If the above steps have been successful rewind the camera tape, then press the play button again on the camera, while at the same time pressing the record function on the VCR and let it play for two minutes.
6. Then stop the camera and the VCR, rewind the VCR then press play on the VCR to check if the recording is successful.
7. If OK rewind both the camera and the VCR and follow the same process.
6. FUNDRAISING APPEALS AND SPECIAL PROJECTS
PhotoLAN Network Opportunity To Multiply Merits
The Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd needs to complete planned work on the PhotoLAN network. We request the kind generosity of our Members and friends to help achieve our goals and take the opportunity to multiply merits. To do this the following hardware is required:
1. 2 X100 Megabites per second network switches (approx. $150 each)
2. Good quality computer for an e-mail server (less than $300 )
3. A Keyboard Video Mouse (KVM) switch (less than $100 )
Garage Sale
Lenore Hamilton has started collecting for the next Garage Sale, which is scheduled for a few weeks after Mother’s Day.
Film Night
Sunday 20 May 2001 at 6.00pm is the date for the next BDC(U)Ltd film night fundraiser. The film is “The Mummy Returns”.
The screening will take place at the Cameo Cinema, Burwood Highway Belgrave. Adults $15 and children $12. Supper will be served after the film.
New Dana Jars
A new format for the Dana Jars has been designed by John D. Hughes, Julian Bamford and Rilla Oellien. Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu.
Chord Zither & Classical Guitar Recital
John D. Hughes attended a 'Chord Zither & Classical Guitar Recital at the Dandenong Ranges Community Cultural Centre, Glenfern Road Upwey, on Saturday 28 April at 7.30pm.
He was accompanied by Lisa Nelson and Julian Bamford. We thank Etienne for the beautiful recital.
‘A New Australian Industry’ by John D. Hughes
On day one of the Five Day Bhavana Course Tim Browning and Evelin Halls worked on editing the 140 page working paper ‘A New Australian Industry’ (short title) written by our Teacher John D. Hughes over the last six months.
The document was edited into five working papers over a period of eight hours.
The major aim of the website project is to provide a public Geology program based on sound Buddhist principles. The Museum has two parts, one ‘actual’ and the other ‘online’.
This new Australian industry will open windows on the world for persons around the world. (this paragraph is an excerpt from the home page of www. buyresolved.com.au - owned by John D. Hughes and Associates Pty. Ltd.)
It was uploaded to www.buyresolved.com.au by site webmaster Julian Bamford on the morning of Monday 16 April 2001.
SADHU SADHU SADHU
8. CURRENT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INTERESTS
John D. Hughes will continue to add to the Paper on the Geology Museum operations entitled ‘A New Australian Industry’. This represents a new industry for Australia.
Exploration of ways to generate standby electricity for our LAN
CGR will train Members in statistical software packets and Time Planning as these will be used as Key Performance Indicators for Corporate Governance and Reporting
Mapping of the pH of the garden site
Program PHOTOLAN using Linux
Because the new Canon FB00P scanner scans photographs three times faster and with better resolution than the earlier model we have, we will be using this as our standard for our PHOTOLAN and website feeds
The digital camera works better with new batteries according to experiments conducted by Julian Bamford. We intend to obtain a second digital camera to set up in Suite 10A which is the IT service Centre. Brendan Hall estimates he should be processing 50 digital images per week from archive photographs. He needs two persons to help him.
Locate financial software suitable for five-year planning projections
Provide Members with selling techniques for our web sites
9. OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY NEWS (OH&S)
10. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE & REPORTING (CGR)
Colour Code: Red
CGR Manager: Anita Svensson
CGR Task Unit Members: Pam Adkins, Julian Bamford, Tim Browning, Vincenzo Cavuoto, Leanne Eames, Evelin Halls, Lenore Hamilton, Isabella Hobbs, Clara Iaquinto, Rodney Johnson, Lisa Nelson, Rilla Oellien, Amber Svensson, Anita Svensson and Lainie Smallwood
CGR Task Unit Responsibilities: To handle correspondence; to adhere to legal requirements of corporate affairs, accounts, meetings, Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S); to schedule events; to organise attendants for staffing the Centre; to maintain data bases; to maintain office supplies; and to communicate with government departments.
Buddhist Discussion Centre(Upwey) Ltd. Memberships for 2001- 2002
All financial Members are reminded to pay their Membership fees by 1 July 2001 to
retain their ‘Financial Member’ Status.
$33.00 for Annual Membership fees
$33.00 for Annual Library Membership
Next General Meeting
The next General meeting of the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd., will be held on Sunday 20 May 2001 at 2:00pm.
Style Manual
The Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey)Ltd. Style Manual 2000, abstract document, file reference i:/ida/wfbradio is located in the CGR Office in the Centre’s filing, cabinet FCA7 Drawer 1, under Master Copy.
11. INTERNATIONAL DHAMMA ACTIVITIES (IDA)
Colour Code: Yellow
IDA Manager: John D. Hughes
IDA Vice-President: John D. Hughes,
IDA Joint Vice President: Julian Bamford
IDA Task Unit Members: Pam Adkins, Vince Cavuoto, Leanne Eames, Evelin Halls, Jocelyn Hughes, Vanessa Macleod, Julie O’Donnell, Rilla Oellien, Maria Pannozzo, Orysia Spinner, Amber Svensson and Anita Svensson.
IDA Task Unit Responsibilities: to maintain WFB liaison; to arrange Dhamma and Prajnaparmita Teachings, chanting, pujas, translations; to maintain and preserve the John D. Hughes Collection; to organise audio and video recording of teachings and events; to develop and maintain the Centre’s IT systems, data warehouse, LAN and web sites; to train Members to become webmasters; to develop e-commerce; to produce, edit, publish and distribute the BDDR and BSB; to write and broadcast “Buddhist Hour” Hillside radio scripts; to organise and teach Ch’an classes.
Australian Prime Minister
Most Honourable John Howard
Versak Message to our Centre
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The following is a message from the Most Honourable John Howard, Prime Minster of Australia, received via facsimile transmission, at the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. on Friday 4 May 2001 at 9.31am (local time).
“MESSAGE: CELEBRATION OF VERSAK, THE LORD BUDDHA’S DAY - MONDAY, 7 MAY 2001
It gives me great pleasure to provide this message in support of the celebration of Versak, the Lord Buddha’s Day.
Buddhists are renowned for the value they place on peaceful co-existence and the importance they attach to their search for harmony between the physical and spiritual aspects of life. This festival commemorating the birth, enlightenment and death of Sakyamuni Buddha is a wonderful opportunity to further promote these beliefs and to honour the memory of Lord Buddha’s compassion.
Over the past century, Australia has fostered a truly multicultural society that respects and encourages communities to pursue their individual cultures and beliefs within an Australian context. It is my hope that Australia continues in this direction and maintains a society in which equality, mutual understanding and respect remain as fundamental tenets of our way of life.
I send my best wishes to all members of the Buddhist community participating in this festival and congratulate the organisers on what I am sure will be a highly successful event.
John Howard” |
Versak Greeting
from the
Honourable Phillip Ruddock
Australian Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs
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Message from the Minister of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, the Honourable Phillip Ruddock MP, to be read by the Hon Andrew Olexander MLC at
VERSAK 2544 BUDDHIST DISCUSSION CENTRE (UPWEY) LTD MELBOURNE, MONDAY 7 MAY 2001
My sincere thanks to Mr John Hughes and members of the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) for inviting me to attend this year’s Versak celebrations. Although prior commitments have prevented me from attending, I welcome the opportunity to send my very best wishes on this most important occasion for your Centre, and indeed, for Buddhists everywhere.
No one is certain when Buddhism was introduced to this continent. Some anthropologists have suggested that it may have been as early as the fifteenth century, when the Ming emperors sent their ships to explore this region. We do know, however, that during the 1800’s, Buddhism was practised by the Chinese on the goldfields, and then by the Sinhalese, who came to work in the sugar cane industry. What we can say, without fear of contradiction, is that Buddhism is one of the fastest growing religions in Australia today. And this is due, not only to the influx of Immigrants refugees from Asia during recent decades.
In fact, it is apparent that undoubtedly due to the fact that the teachings of Buddhism are universal and transcend cultural and social boundaries. I also believe its popularity in Australia reflects the special significance that Buddhism increasingly attracts adherents from a wide variety of backgrounds. This is has for people living in a multicultural society. The qualities and values espoused by Buddhists are very much in tune with the virtues of tolerance and understanding that are so important in a culturally diverse community such as ours.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) for your services to the Buddhist community of Australia. As you celebrate the life and teachings of the Lord Buddha in the spirit of friendship today, I join with you in the hope that these actions, in honour of the Lord Buddha’s 2544th Birthday, will indeed benefit all sentient beings, and bring more beauty, harmony, compassion and wisdom to the world.
(Phillip Ruddock) |
A Message from
Helen Shardey, Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs
to the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. on the occasion of
Versak Day, May 7 2001
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Please accept my apologies for not being able to be with you all here today to celebrate the Buddha’s Birthday.
Without doubt Buddhism is one of Australia’s fastest growing religions. During the last decade the number of Buddhists in Australia has grown by almost 300 percent. There are now some 65,000 people of the Buddhist faith in Victoria and about 200,000 in total around Australia.
This community forms a valuable and widely respected part of Victoria’s cherished multicultural way of life. However, the Buddhist community’s recent growth belies the religion’s long history in Victoria.
Buddhism was first introduced during the Victorian Gold Rush of the 1850’s when Chinese miners arrived in their thousand bringing their faith with them. In fact, Chinese Buddhists were among the first multicultural community to come to Victoria following European settlement.
Since then, Buddhism with its universal message that the solution to the problems of existence lie within each individual, has inspired many Australian politicians, thinkers and artists. Three times Australian Prime Minister Alfred Deakin was one of those impressed by the faith.
In 1880, Deakin wrote about the “infinite tenderness and boundless compassion” of Buddhist doctrine. In 1951, the first formal Buddhist Society was founded in Sydney but real growth did not begin until the increase in Asian immigration during the 1980’s.
This influx of practicing Buddhists firmly established the faith in Victoria where there are now more than 100 Buddhist groups or associations.
As Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs it seems to me that Buddhism and the concept of Multiculturalism have much in common. Both call for harmony, acceptance and respect as a means to creating a better and richer society but perhaps the broader community still has something to learn from the tenets of Buddhism.
We must all work to maintain our diverse and happy community. This should not be an onerous duty but rather one that we all accept with joy and pride.
On behalf of the Leader of the Opposition and the Victorian Liberal Party I wish you all the best for today’s celebrations.
Helen Shardey Shadow Minister for Aged Care, Housing and Multicultural Affairs. |
International Year of Metta (Loving-kindness) - 7 May 2001 - 26 May 2002
Target for the Year B.E. 2544-2545.
Commencing on Vesak, 7 May 2001, Buddhist Regional Centres of the World Fellowship of Buddhists will have a target to observe the year, 7 May 2001 to 26 May 2002 as the International Buddhist Year of Metta (Loving Kindness).
After the end of all our meetings / seminars and/ or religious performances, the diffusion of Metta ( Loving Kindness) will be observed by reciting the following Pali and English versions.
Diffusion of Metta or Loving Kindness :
Sabbe Satta;
(May all sentient beings),
Avera Hontu ;
(Be free from enmity),
Abyapajjha hontu ;
(Be free from ill will ),
Anigha hontu ;
( Be free from suffering ),
Sukhi attanam pariharantu ;
(Live a happy life ).
At our Centre, this will occur every Monday, Tuesday and Friday nights after meditation, Morning Chanting and other special occasions and functions.
Centenary of Federation and Buddha’s Day Multicultural Festival
On Saturday 5 May, representing our Teacher John D. Hughes and Members, our President Julian Bamford and Director Clara Iaquinto attended the opening ceremony of the Centenary of Federation and Buddha's Day Multicultural Festival by the Yarra River in the City of Melbourne.
Our Teachers love and best wishes were extended to Venerable Man Chien, Abbess of Fo Guang Shan Melbourne Temple, with a gift of flowers, our Teachers business card and our Centre's Versak Press Kit including the Prime Ministers Versak message.
This is the program for the opening of the Buddha's Day:
1. Lion & Dragon Dance (10.50am)
2. Opening Ceremony (general welcome to the day in English and Chinese)(11.00am)
3. National Anthem
4. Blessing Ceremony - Flower Offerings
Bathing the Buddha Dharma Function
1. Incense Anthem
2. NA MO BIEN SHI SHI JIA MO NI FO (3 times) Blessed be our own Mast
Shakyamuni Buddha
3. Heart Sutra (Prajna-paramita Sutra)
4. Prayers and Wishes at the Buddha's Birthday Festival (by Fo Guang Shan Melbourne)
5. Bathing the Buddha Verse
6. Transfer of Merits
7. Address
A welcome speech was delivered by James Yang, President, Buddha's Light International Association of Victoria Australia Incorporated., followed by speeches from Distinguished Guests.
Messages of support were delivered by the following Distinguished Guests:
Speech by the Honourable Peter Batchelor, Minister for Transport, representative for the Honourable Steve Bracks, Premier of Victoria & Minister for Multicultural Affairs.
Speech by Honourable Helen Shardey, Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs, representative for the State opposition leader the Honourable Dennis Napthine.
Speech by Cr. Clem Newton-Brown, Deputy Mayor, City of Melbourne.
Speech by the Honourable Kay Patterson, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs - representing the Minister - the Honourable Philip Ruddock.
Speech by the Honourable Anna Burke, Federal Member for Chisholm, representative of the Shadow Minister of Immigration, the Honourable Con Sciacca.
Speech by Abbess Venerable Man Chien.
Group Photo, Opening Ceremony end.
John D. Hughes Collection
The following document was written by John D. Hughes about the John D.Hughes Collection.
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A tool for Buddha Dhamma Researchers
Our Global Aspirations to improve our research tools by changing to E-Information Delivery of our Data.
Our Management Team has access to the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey)Ltd’s Dhamma Reference works, The John D. Hughes Collection.
Developed over four decades the collection continues to grow as a heritage multilingual reference library for Buddha Dhamma Scholars and Practitioners.
Access is also granted for Key Members to a Business Library, an I.T. Library and an Education Research Library owned by John D. Hughes.
We have a superior collection of Dhamma reference works.
Our Key Members have set our benchmarks for delivering e-information on-site in terms of retrieval time.
For management purpose we operate e-information as an adjunct to our Buddha Dhamma Collection.
We use a logarithmic scale (base 10) to define delivery speed.
Second class delivery is defined as 20 seconds retrieval time. First class delivery is defined as 2 seconds retrieval time.
Our new President, Julian Bamford B.A. App. Rec has stated he is adamant and determined to drive this initiative of improvements to give first class involvement of cataloguing what we have.
This month, we have upgraded to the new ISYS 6.0. This runs eight times faster than ISYS 5.0.
Our new software, can search our library databases for key words in the titles or abstract of books and journals, with bubbling joy in our heart, our President is adamant we can form catalogue raisonaire of books of interest on a given topic for research purposes.
Our Local Area Network entries, email, radio talks and company reports are searchable on this new system. Also, Corporate Governance and Reporting and Local Area Planning and Asset Management records can be searched at the same time.
The plan is to scan into e-information extra historical material from our records.
Will it make a difference to our credibility?
We are in the process of forming a group of active scholars in accordance with our World Buddhist University (W.B.U.) charter.
Our senior Managers develop themselves as better administrators. They need development as authorities on sound doctrine for Buddha Dhamma projects based on good canonical references must be attained.
Our Key Members need to know the Buddha Dhamma from our references.
A practical training program on Boolean Algebra use is our prime target this year.
We estimate within four months scanning of new material we can flush out 200% more references in half the time on a given topic.
The indexing pace of current book holdings is increasing under the supervision of Vanessa Macleod. We are overcoming the backlog accumulated over the last two years.
Key words in book titles will show up in the next generation of detailed searches.
As our search capacity for detail increases by the addition of ISYS 6.0, we can make known more transparent information bridging our strategic and operation plans to help senior managers towards best practice in project management.
To bring about the necessary focus we intend to produce case studies of organisations at home and abroad.
When we write and produce the amount of good work that has to been done from here, constitutes a bridging stage along the road towards wider cooperation with other Buddha organisations we networked in the past.
We may be able to supply some Buddhist organisations with a case study of their history that present Members do not know.
The torments of our past research will not be wasted. The ambiguity of the state of historical knowledge of Buddha Dhamma Centre’s operations needs much bridging research to consolidate the processes of whether to renew or not renew networks.
It may be that some organisations today do not wish to recall their Theravadin foundations. We do not intend to disparage the intellect or motives of organisations when we say this fact.
For example, we could produce histories of our past contacts. But the history we would like to write does not merely wish to editorialise our contacts and dismiss uncertainties of direction when they arise. These case histories should be made with risk management in mind if we think a network organisation is at risk. If requested, we can advise them of suitable solution sets we have used.
Twenty-three years ago, our Teacher was funded by the Australian Schools Commission. To date, such important history research and photographs are not on our websites.
We must take steps to include this early Australian Buddhist history for scholars.
Our focus is on what our International Dhamma Activities (IDA) policy should be to help others avoid mistakes by remembering their Vows when they started their organisations.
Our scholarship must not be too trite, and be just comment. It should be practical to awaken in others of European culture a sense of their cultural dependence on the most advanced minds that have been employed in writing about Buddha Dhamma over the last few millennium.
Historically since the olden days of schisms in the Sangha there has been some separationism. For example, Theravada, Mahayana and their doctrinal sub-division like Vajrayana, Sahajayana, Kalacakrayana, Sarvastivada, Madhyanika, Vijnanavadin and so on among the Indian and Nepali Buddhists. In China, Japan, Korea and Tibet several factions appeared. In Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand, Vietnam also similar divisions prevail. Even in Europe, America, Australia, South Africa, continents the Buddhists preserve their Nikaya identity strongly. So, the globalisation of Buddhism in pluralistic manifestation becomes a weak force to face the challenges of one worldism time to the new world order in our Age.
The apparent pluralistic approaches can be homogenised through the exposition of the Four Noble Truths. A Vajrasattva with a strong view of self-determination believes retroversion to be unified with the Wisdom (Prajna). To achieve this Members have been taught Prajna Paramita.
We are interested in arousing Buddha Awareness on a massive scale.
Then as the true history of Buddhist influence in the world must be made clear, others can learn.
For our Centre the golden age of Buddha Dhamma information in the English language has arrived. We must exploit our gold mine of history for the benefit of the Many.
Our Information on History Explosion will give a Leading Edge in future History.
Since, John D. Hughes has documented events since 1977, there is much World history for our websites. Original documents will be scanned and displayed to guide others.
There are approximately two billion pages on the World Wide Web.
Yet most of the true history of Buddha Dhamma is not available.
As yet such information in our archives is not available.
Some other websites contain useful data but our records have fuller data than most.
As we write case studies, we, will build our organisational consensus as a practical supplier of case studies to help. We had several good projects in the past.
Our need is for speed to sort history to e-information suitable for our training requirements.
The Usefulness of Base Studies
Once we have some of the history case studies of Australian Buddhists on the Web, persons can benefit.
When we write we must consider key search words.
Today, various search engines are available. Web search engines have a component called a spider or crawler that is always searching for new additions or deletions.
The task is massive when you consider how they might miss our history in two billion pages.
Once the search engine has indexed the new history page, it is not yet indexed.
The search engine lists the pages found in the index with the first entry being what its algorithm calculates as being the most relevant.
Use a different search engine and you get a different result we must supply Webmasters with search topics.
Information on various search engines is available in Communiqué April 2001 pp. 23-24.
Our next IDA six month development is to provide a training resource of how to write case studies for our history requirements.
The ISYS Version 6.0 is leading edge in the world and can put our case study references into historical date order.
Our International Dhamma Activities requires we get a name as a BUDDHIST CENTRE OF INFORMATION FOR RESEARCH AND LEARNING HISTORY.
These new history case studies resources are required for the state of transition from print to electronic media. We, must not ..... persons or organisations.
Many of the changes offer enormous potential for our Librarians to upgrade to become case studies Historians. Or they can be Information Officers and Information Officers can become Knowledge Managers.
If we do not document the case studies of history today we will regret it tomorrow.
The persons who can help us will soon pass away.
We will create new insights for Buddhist history to be understood as a culture.
The recent destruction of Buddha Rupa overseas flags up this need.
We have expanded our client expectations at the WFB and we ought to be able to provide more historical integration between organisations of Internet.
Our number one priority is to make sufficient causes for this case study of history to happen.
An overall improvement in history processing is to get our Library catalogue on to the Internet with 6000 book titles available for viewing. This step will raise the profile of our Library and increase staff satisfaction. Evelin is making this her number one priority this month.
The John D. Hughes Collection includes our Library. A new series of information sources and Internet access together with ISYS allows us access to new knowledge resources. They can add new products when they have designed new databases, new networks and new communication technology.
WHAT WE WANT TO DO
THE NEED FOR MORE TRANSPARENT CASE STUDY INFORMATION BETWEEN STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL PLANS AT OUR CENTRE.
We are looking for the provision of a manual having case study core skills training for use on our Information Centres. We want 80% of our Members to complete core skills training in our case studies in the next two years.
May you be well and happy.
John D. Hughes Vice-President, International Dhamma Activities. |
Autumn Bell Puja
On Saturday 14 April 2001 at 4.00pm a Bell Puja was held. Orchestrated by John D. Hughes and Julie O’Donnell.
During the First Bell Puja, the Goddess of Autumn visited. The second Bell Puja, John D. Hughes requested Vajrayogini to dance. The Bell Puja’s are created to bless sentient beings, to create the conditions for long life and good health.
Thank you to Brendan and Jeanette Grainger for making an audio recording of the Bell Pujas. Both Puja’s were played at the Buddhist Hour Radio Program on Sunday 15 April 2001.
SADDHU SADDHU SADDHU
Buddhist Hour Radio Broadcast
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Broadcast Date |
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Sunday 6 May 2001 |
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Report on the progress of our Spiritual Training Centre Activities for the World Buddhist University
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Sunday 29 April 2001 |
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In praise of Fifty Years of flavours and interests generated by the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB)
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Sunday 22 April 2001 |
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The purpose of Learning
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Sunday 15 April 2001 |
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The demise of the Prosaic Person
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Sunday 8 April 2001 |
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Which cetasikas are you cultivating
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To read previous Buddhist Hour radio scripts please visit our website at www.bdcublessings.net.au/radio.html.
The weekly “Buddhist Hour” radio broadcasts can be heard on Hillside Radio 87.6FM and 88.0FM and 1620 AM in Victoria, Australia.
The 'Buddhist Hour' radio show is broadcast live on Internet radio at www.gbradio.com on Sundays from 11am to 12pm. This means that persons from all around the world are able to hear the Radio Broadcast that consists of chanting and Buddha Dhamma texts.
As ‘gbradio’ is a very popular station, it may happen that you cannot get a connection. In that case, just keep trying until you get through.
Thank you Brendan and Jeanette Grainger at Hillside Radio and to Great Britain Radio and their technicians and webmasters.
Lisa Nelson and Julian Bamford share the position of Program Producer.
Preservation of the Radio Broadcasts
It is important that we preserve the Dhamma that is why we need good quality tapes to record our radio broadcasts. Only BASF Chrome audio cassettes will be used to record our precious Buddhist Hour Radio Programs as they are much stronger and have a longer life expectancy.
74 Minute Digital Mini Disks and Storage Case.
Disks and storage case can be purchased from JB Hi-Fi in Ferntree Gully at a cost of $18.75, or $3.75 each (including GST) including the disk case which can store up to 10 minidisks.
Ch’an and Sumi-e Classes
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CH’AN CLASSES 1pm - 4pm
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SUMI-E CLASSES 10am - 3pm |
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Under the guidance of Master John D. Hughes the classes are taught by Julian Bamford and Jan Bennett |
Taught by Master Andre Sollier |
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Autumn |
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Autumn |
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Saturday 12 May 2001 |
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Sunday 27 May 2001 |
Winter |
Saturday 9 June 2001 |
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Winter |
Sunday 24 June 2001 |
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Saturday 14 July 2001 |
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Sunday 30 July 2001 |
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Saturday 18 August 2001 |
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Sunday 27 August 2001 |
Spring |
Saturday 15 September 2001 |
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Spring |
Sunday 24 September 2001 |
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Saturday 13 October 2001 |
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Sunday 29 October 2001 |
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Saturday 10 November 2001 |
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Sunday 26 November 2001 |
Summer |
Saturday 9 December 2001 |
Please contact Julian Bamford on 0400-267-330 for further information or to make a booking for all Ch’an Academy classes.
Our Websites
www.bdcu.org.au
www.bdcublessings.one.net.au
www.skybusiness.com/j.d.hughes
www.companyontheweb.com/buddhamap
www.companyontheweb.com/buddhatext
www.johnhughes.citysearch.com.au
www.buyresolved.com.au
12. LOCAL AREA PLANNING & ASSET MANAGEMENT (LAPAM)
Colour Code: Green
LAPAM Manager: Frank Carter
LAPAM Task Unit Members: Stuart Amoore, Julian Bamford, Jan Bennett, Frank Carter, Brendan Hall, Lenore Hamilton, Isabella Hobbs, David Igracki, Leila Lamers, Lyne Lehmann, Lisa Nelson and Philip Svensson,.
The LAPAM Task Unit Responsibilities: To maintain and develop the buildings and gardens of the Centre; to undertake new construction works; to refurbish the Centre’s buildings; and to look after equipment and supplies.
The Emerald Pavilion
The new Emerald Pavilion, also known as suite 3A - Sundeck, was completed on Sunday 6 May 2001. The Emerald Pavilion only took 22 days to complete.
The new Emerald Pavilion (Suite 3A - sundeck), located at the rear of the CGR office was constructed with a base of 24 redgum stumps in 4 rows of six stumps.
In order to increase the space available for the new Pavilion the caravan was moved approximately 2 metres towards the rear fence of the property.
Geological specimens have been installed in the filing drawer and the dexion filing shelves. Plants that had been made at the Centre were placed along the green railing.
A temporary guard rail has been installed for the opening of the Emerald Pavilion and will be replaced by a standard railing.
Dandenong Ranges Cultural Community Centre (DRCCC) Car parking Tuesday Evenings
Members are reminded not to park their cars in the Centre’s driveway or in Brooking Street on Tuesday evenings.
The purpose of this policy is to reduce traffic and noise and its impact on our neighbours.
We have permission from the Dandenong Ranges Cultural Community Centre (DRCCC) Management to park in the lower of the two car parks located off Matson Drive. Please do not park in the parking spaces in front of the DRCCC as this is used for evening visitors to the DRCCC. Drive past the DRCCC building (old Council building) to the second lower carpark (unsealed).
The exceptions to this policy are for John D. Hughes attendants staying at the Centre overnight, Members driving the Sangha to and from the Centre, or special guests.
Lisa Nelson has enrolled to do one undergraduate unit of Mathematics for Sciences and Technology 1A in study period two and will study two undergraduate units of Measurement in Laboratory Science and Introductory Microbiology in study period three through Open Learning. Lisa has a commitment to organise her time and allot some of it to help our Centre.
Lenore Hamilton has been transferred to a new Sofa Workshop store. For the month of April she was given a budget that was not expected to be achieved and the reasons for this were: unknown to area, limited advertising, half stock only available to view at the showroom, 2 staff when 3 were required which meant 6 working day rosters were necessary, no Eftpos facility or banking services(this was done by phoning other Sofa Workshop stores)However the premium importance was to open the store and begin selling.
She was working with the most senior sales staff member and longest serving manager who works closely with the company's General Manager. Lenore has been working for Sofa Workshop for five months.
Lenore said: “We achieved Budget and exceeded expected sales figures by 36%.The General Manager and the company owners were delighted with the result. We each received a $250.00 bonus. The manager had set up a competition (between us)for best sales figures and was amazed when I achieved the best result, $8888 more.
Customers commented that it was my friendliness and lack of hard sell style that got the sales. I use the Five styles when I am at work, especially when I am creating leads and selling, this I learnt from John D. Hughes and fellow Members at the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd”. Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu. Lenore has a commitment to organise her time and allot some of it to help our Centre.
May this gift of merits help all beings know the path, realise the path, follow the path.
MAY ALL BEINGS BE WELL AND HAPPY
Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu
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In praise of Fifty Years of flavours and interests generated by the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB)
Created by John D. Hughes Dip. App. Chem. T.T.T.C. GDAIE Vice-president of World Fellowship of Buddhists Founder Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey)Ltd. Award Visuddhananda Peace Award 1999
The personal experiences and ideas that have been generated through contact with the WFB have passed through the usual stages of tastes and interests; first, of that uncritical admiration of the glittering and the sympathy with crude and exuberant sentiment which are natural to youth; second, then of mature search for intellectual or moral sustenance and Enlightenment; and finally for desire for pure refreshment of the mind in the company of “serene creators of immortal things”.
By training, the author is a scientist whose first discipline is chemistry.
As it was taught, there was never any suggestion that mind could exist and influence materiality in any manner. In general, it appeared that the assumptions of the foundations of physics, chemistry and scientific method that I was taught had a specified amount of uncertainty in quantum mechanics but for the massed property of stuff, it appeared to follow set laws. It was silent on questions of moral value or how to live.
Fortunately, driven by what I could remember of Buddha Dhamma learned in past lives, I set out on another quest for meaning apart from that of earning my living as a textile technologist and joining in the higher aspects of post World War II cultural life in Melbourne.
Because of Australia’s vigorous migration program at the time, I met with many ideas from Europe that seemed to challenge the position and standards of Christian ethics that held power within the establishment of Australia. Existentialism had an appeal because it suggested that insight could be obtained by exercise of the human will.
This was the period of the Cold War. The causes of economic differences of why some persons were poor and some were rich was expressed by Marx’s theory or just plain luck.
I attended the inaugural meeting of the Buddhist Society of Victoria in Melbourne where I gathered an impression that is was a battle between Sri Lankans who wanted a place to practice their traditional rituals and some Australians who seemed to me to be somewhat anti-cleric in their approach to what was needed in the sense that the Theosophical Society (U.S.Version) thought processes of that time were dominant.
Little, if any, real understanding of cause and effect was taught. The word “kamma” was loosely known. Any earlier Buddhist heritage from the Chinese in Victoria was lost or neglected by the white Australians. Racism was accepted.
What I thought were reasonable questions of purpose of teaching and social structure for outsiders in the organisational sense seemed to be dismissed by the assembled company.
It did not seem clear that good information flow have a high priority.
I did not follow up this organisation to any great extent for some years as a possible source of learning about Buddha Dhamma because culturally I did not feel I could relate to what seemed to me to be a narrow agenda of a very set pattern with little opportunity for questioning.
Instead, I read everything that was available locally, which was no more than about 20 books of dubious lineage which did not seem to add much light to what I already knew from intuition and past kamma.
I resolved to get superior information of the state of the art of Buddha Dhamma overseas.
I could see an opportunity through funding from the Australian Schools Commission to undertake a systematic study of the half dozen Buddhist societies that existed in Australia in 1976. This project took three years of my spare time. I thank all those Monks and Nuns who helped me come to terms with what they were doing.
To get good references, I had to search overseas publishers and I received some help from editors in London. Mr Russell Web was the editor of the Pali Text Society journal and introduced me to several eminent Buddhist Scholars in America and Taiwan. I obtained Buddhist Text Information publications from an American University which ran the Institute for Advanced Studies of World Religions. Dr. Richard A. Gard was especially helpful as was a Taiwanese Venerable Abbess Nun, who was a great Buddhist Scholar and fluent in English.
I established a Buddhist Centre at Upwey in Melbourne.
In 1978, I attended a world conference in Sri Lanka of World Buddhist Leaders and Scholars and at this conference, I was fortunate enough to meet the key executives of the World Fellowship of Buddhists who moderated the conference. I met eminent Monks whose books I have read, I met leaders of Buddhist organizations who could help me formulate policies suitable for the development of the Buddhist Centre in Australia that I had established.
The remarkable ability of these persons exceeded any measure that I knew of judging persons they were of a quality beyond any expectation that I could have imagined before meeting these Noble Persons.
All WFB delegates gave me very sound advice and I knew enough to know their advice would never have been obtained from secular persons in Australia or (without disrespect) from Christian advisors.
What I learnt from meeting persons at this conference was that there were people in overseas countries who really could understand the Teachings of Lord Buddha and could put them into practical use to lead ordinary persons out of suffering. Yet, at the same time, I knew I must develop my own Centre in Australia and train persons to a sufficient level that they could join in such high level conferences in a constructive manner with good fellowship as I had seen manifested in Sri Lanka.
Quite simply, I resolved to put into practice that there could be no compromise in making sure that the World Fellowship of Buddhists’ Agenda, that is, “to establish in unity and strengthen the WFB, to make the utmost endeavour to study, observe and practice the Teachings of the Buddha that we (the Members of the WFB) be radiant examples of the living faith, and to strive with all might and main to make the sublime doctrine of the Buddha so that its benign teaching of compassion, tolerance, service and sacrifice may pervade the entire world, inspiring and influencing the peoples of the earth and their Governments to lead the Buddhist way of life, which is for all ages and times, so that there be peace, harmony and happiness for all beings”, be upheld at my Centre.
Over time many Buddhist Monks came to visit Australia to advise me.
I would apply to the World Fellowship of Buddhists to become an official Regional Centre of that august body when I had trained enough mature persons. This, WFB view then, was to be the policy of the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. and the medium term was that when my Organisation had enough mature persons trained by me and others to represent authentically the correct Teachings stated with no alternatives.
There was no question of aligning to other organisations.
In due course, after intense study of the World Fellowship of Buddhists’ publications, and much practice, the time became right and a Charter was granted to our Centre on 22 October 1990.
The manifold experiences that it has been my personal privilege to experience through association with the WFB is of substantial value because it contains matter of unforced and universally comprehensible human interest in its serious, humorous, imaginative and realistic styles.
Since then I have attended conferences in Taiwan, Thailand, Australia and again in Thailand.
As personal values, the writer holds strongly that form without substance is of no value.
An organisation will never survive long if devoid of some considerable virtue of good form.
In this area of the writer’s expertise I uphold the sentiments of professor T.G. Tucker who was Professor of Classics at the University of Melbourne and who wrote in 1925, “That if anyone is disposed with these frank principles then he or she shall I offend”.
The appreciation of the Fellowship aspects of the WFB is a wide and rather complicated subject and if I seem to dwell unduly on some reiteration of a point here or there, it is of the importance of driving it home.
When I review the decades of advice I have received from the many Venerable Monks and Nuns and Bodhisattvas that comprise this Fellowship, I am grateful of the fact that I made enough merit in former lives to be able to comprehend the many doga songs, fables, myths, legends, sagas and proverbs which may be called the oral literature of Buddha Dhamma that they have carried forward in a grand tradition of love of the Dhamma.
When the mind is seeking the truth in all its vastness and when meeting with the vast accumulation of contents of Dhamma held in the minds, body and speech of Members of the WFB, it is necessary to practice with vigour to stop being overwhelmed or bemused by such richness.
Among this richness is the practical information I sought to adapt to run a Buddhist organisation suitable for the 20th and 21st Centuries that has the capability of broadening the vision and comprehension of followers who we impact by our local activities.
It is for this type of reason that one cultivates the propagation of Buddha Dhamma just as one cultivates a fine art.
While pictorial art and music first appealed to the eye and ear sense bases, Buddhist literature seems to make an inner appeal more directly and immediately to the mind.
We should argue that just as we expect the untrained ear to miss the best in music and the untrained eye to miss the best in paintings, so the best is missed in Buddhist literature by the untrained mind. If we become immersed in indifferent music or low grade painting before long we take some sort of pleasure in seeing and listening to inferior work. How much more danger there is if we submerge ourselves in poorly crafted Dhamma writing and of those who applaud it.
As any true musician or serious student of painting would assert, what is coming over in the popular culture of the Western world is a retreat from refined and cultivated works of art and music.
In Australia, there is material well-being although some persons believe Government policies have created a culture of “passive welfare”. This passive welfare has dismembered the family and attacks the culture which tends to be high or elitist. Many persons lives are dominated by bureaucrats and departments. All main stream parties offer the fool’s choice, the same dominant intervention to bring about a dulling of cultural maturity among ordinary people.
The indigenous Buddhist culture that the Chinese brought to Australia has been fundamentally broken because indigenous languages such as Chinese and culture have been lost to the mainstream of Australia that revolves around European culture and values.
At that time, most Australians seem to be happy with the notion that the Government should have the last say on the design of all major public buildings and none should reflect Asian cultural architecture. Permits would not be granted for such buildings.
Later, this was modified to push USA business architecture of the skyscrapers.
Buildings reflect spiritual values so Buddhist mandalas could not be built.
The result is that learning in some forms of art, such as Ch’an painting and Buddhist calligraphy, will not be found within Government initiatives nor within the curriculum of Australian universities in this country as a strong value set.
Overseas cultural imperialism was the natural order in the Cold War.
Recently, it has become clear that a number of Australian citizens are dropping below what Australia calls the “poverty line”, to the point where in South Australia one in four persons are below this poverty line.
Poverty, as defined in Australia as luxury by some third world standards.
The widely accepted Henderson poverty line, ranges from an income of $210 a week for a single unemployed adult and $628 for an employed adult with four children. There is no single solution for reversing this process but Buddhist cultural values do not require a lot of money and can be found in every country where the leaders of the WFB ply their craft. It seems to me timely to teach Buddha Dhamma and it is growing fast.
Australia is just about to appoint the Anglican Archbishop, Peter Hollingsworth, as Governor- General. This is the first time a spiritual leader has been appointed to this position. Traditionally, this position has been filled by ex-politicians, judges or military persons.
The position of Governor-General started 100 years ago as primarily representing and protecting the interests of the British Government.
It was more than 30 years after Federation before the first Australian, Sir Isaac Isaacs, was appointed to the office and it has only been in recent decades that the Governor-General has played a more assertive role rather than being simply the Queen’s representative in this country.
It is true that Hollingsworth is the first cleric to be appointed as Governor-general, but another three Members of the clergy also became state Governors. This does not mean however, that Australia is a Theocracy.
Hollingsworth is giving up his position as Archbishop of Brisbane to become the Queen’s representative at the head of a secular state.
An earlier Governor-General was a professed atheist. Hollingsworth was named Australian of the Year in 1992 and Father of the Year five years before that.
Through the Buddhist values we acquired over decades of practice, our Centre occasionally lobbies the Government on issues of interest to Buddha Dhamma practitioners.
Our cultural maturity makes it clear to us that we should not overtly support one political party against another.
Current psychological research in the western world is tending more and more to treat people as types as opposed to individuals, so it is not a big step to dehumanise them. This dehumanisation is probably a key factor in racism.
Evolutionary psychologists John Tooby and Leda Cosmides from the University of California believe the fear of ethnic groups that results from this lies in our minds, having evolved millions of years ago when we were living in small clans and groups which, most historians agree, had an optimum size of about 150.
Strangers were perceived as a potential threat, either as enemies or the carriers of disease. Your ability to recognise family and friends was a fundamental survival skill. It was also important to tell friend and foe from a distance and judge gaze direction accurately.
In the family sense, we have formed one of the most powerful clans of Australia with our key Members bound together in their levels of attainment of Buddha Dhamma.
Under Buddha rules, we are not allowed to say publicly the level of attainment of any individual Member but we can say we have a set of persons who have vowed to look after the substance of the WFB values for several generations forward and we intend to train more to pursue this end.
As one of our Australian born Members, who has worked as a rapporteur at two WFB Conferences, said, “To have had the privilege to attend and work at the last two WFB Conferences, to have met the many great Teachers and practitioners at these Conferences, I owe to my Teacher, John D. Hughes. Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu. I vow to support all future initiatives of the WFB”.
The inspirational value of the WFB Members is lovely and of good report and could be compared to drinking pure drafts of amrita from a heaven world as opposed to drinking, as George Eliot neatly phrases it, “spiritual gin”, from some of the lower degenerate forms of pop religion.
So what is the moral effect of involving ourselves with the WFB?
Let us interpret the word “moral” in an earlier and more liberal sense. “Moral” is properly that which pertains to, or affects, our moras, the Latin name for “ways”, our whole character, or mental breeding, or to put it more simply, our tone. That “tone” runs through not only all we do, but all we think and feel. It spontaneously determines our attitude to all we see or hear. Nothing is more indicative of a person’s culture or tone than what he or she finds interesting. Hence, we become “ethical”.
So we’re saying that our membership of the WFB is good for our “tone”.
The Greeks rated persons as imperceptive or insensitive if they lacked this tone. They were stupid or dull-witted, tactless, tasteless, gross and represented the vulgarian. To those hard and harsh materialistic persons who are arising in this materialistic age we call them Philistine. Such persons prefer the loud and common to the fine and choice and become ingrained with crude psychological daubing and movies culture. Such persons assert they know what they like and leave it at that.
They are unteachable because they have no respect for Teachers.
We intend to raise the tone in Australia by the systematic propagation of the best of Buddha’s Teachings because we know it works, because it gives a particularly wide and deep culture - unusual knowledge, insight, sense of trueness and fitness and a sympathetic response to good things.
We are quite happy to quote the best words we find and we know clearly that a developed, analytical mind is one of the rarest of possessions and above all others deserves the name of “scientific”. We are saying then that the processes we see among the WFB Members are truly scientific and we are genuinely appreciative of such good direction.
We do not wish to associate with foolish persons unless we can help them.
What we are after is attainable as a great law of culture which we can learn to express by the expansion and clarifying of our thinking and feeling through propagation over the local radio stations and our Internet sites. This is our Dhamma Dana.
Naturally, I do not expect that all Australians will agree but we are not here to dictate but merely to suggest and show the Way to the masses. I hope I can always offer some reasons for this faith in Buddha Dhamma. The surest way of learning to appreciate the Buddha Dhamma is by earlier association with its most perfect examples. As with literature, the effect is increased tenfold when you not merely redefine work to right livelihood but also put it into practice. We do not kill.
The question is not whether a writer is excellent for his time and country, but whether he or she remains always everywhere excellent. We can read ancient texts and feel their freshness now. We can talk to Members of the WFB who have memorised the ancient texts and when they express them it’s as if we are hearing the living voice of the Buddha teaching us. They never bore us with light conversation or awkward conversation brought about through lack of ideas. Some great authority once said, “read no book until it becomes famous”. Presumably, he was addressing students to direct their energies away from reading trivia and towards substance.
We challenge many Australians and others to stop wasting their time and enfeeble their faculties with third rate literature when we can produce first rate literature written by living scholars who are Members of the WFB.
The power of Dhamma Dana is well known.
We are the heirs of all the ages of Buddhist scholarship and it would be a shame to neglect our heritage and go feeding upon the husks.
Good Dhamma is worth reading a thousand times. Good Members of the WFB are living Dhamma.
This then is my advice to my students. Go straight to the best and you get a better selection than if you limit yourself to one person or time or country. Seep yourself in discussion with the best of WFB Members and make an intense study of what they have written for us. This means do not be afraid of beginning with the hardest or driest literature. When penetrated, the best literature is not hard. Poor literature is always dull. We avoid poor literature on our web sites to the best of our ability.
In the earlier stages of what might be called a literary education, readers tend to pick up some strikingly clever phrase or other but as reading extends and the mind matures, readers can look more under the surface and estimate more truly the relations between the language and its contents.
As another one of my students said after I taught her this viewpoint of reading, “Don’t give up. Refer to the Oxford English Dictionary for the meaning of words”.
And another Member said, “With the direction of my Dhamma Teacher, John D. Hughes, I am able to use the skills needed to strengthen Dhamma minds. I thank the WFB for making their literature available and as Assistant Secretary of the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. I read with delight all correspondence from the WFB”.
The meritorious actions of the WFB are vast. Without a complete understanding of these actions, it is unwise to criticise. We thank the Members of the WFB for their great compassion and wisdom in continuing to propagate the Dhamma for the benefit of all beings and we vow to continue to support the WFB in all its future actions.
We wish the WFB all success and stability with our wholehearted support for the next fifty years at least.
References Gard, Richard A. (Ed) (1986), Buddhist Text Information, December 1986, The Institute for Advanced Studies of World Religions, New York, USA.
Rossiter, Nicholas, (2001), Face Values in The Australian Magazine, April 14-15 2001, pp.27-28.
Tucker, T.G., (1925), The Judgement and Appreciation of Literature, Melbourne University Press, Australia.
World Fellowship of Buddhists, (1992), Constitution of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, World Fellowship of Buddhists Headquarters, Bangkok, Thailand, p. 1.
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VERSAK ADDRESS
Report on the Progress of Our Spiritual Training Centre Activities for the World Buddhist University.
Written by John D. Hughes. Dip.App. Chem. T.T.T.C. GDAIE. Founder Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. Vice-President World Fellowship of Buddhists. Inaugural Recipient of the Vissuddhananda Peace Award 1999
I wish to welcome you Venerable Sirs, Honorable Sirs and Madams, Members and Friends.
This Versak, I wish to report to you on one of our least known performances.
It is our Master Plan to hone our linguistic skills to preserve scholarship in this place.
If you think my talk is too full of compliments for our staff, you are correct. It is designed to give what psychologists call “positive re-enforcement behaviour”. We hold that praise for good work adds to our Member’s self-confidence. Some persons are automatically suspicious of those who praise them. How many times have you heard the phrase, “Oh you’re just saying that”?
Real compliments are a fine art. Most compliments have one of three weaknesses.
These common weaknesses are: the compliment, “damning with faint praise”; the “gotcha” compliment; and the “patronizing parent” compliment.
One Buddhist precept is not to flatter. The reason for this precept is obvious. Kurt Vonnegut says he hates the words, “I love you” because the only possible answer is, “I love you too”.
For Vonnegut, dealing with his incomprehensibility of suffering and death, what else could he say?
One writer has commented that:
“The purpose of Vonnegut’s comedy is not to provide access to reality.
The characters of Cats Cradle (Delacorte, 1971) are free, but their experience does not make sense to them.
Though there is no logical answer to man’s question, “I? Why?,” to Vonnegut existence is compelling.
Unlike conventional Western inclusive comedy in which all ends well, Vonnegut’s is exclusive, annihilating by treating it as a joke.
Because logic cannot make logical an illogical world, he has tried boundless illogic.” Another writer commented that:
“Numerous traditional aspects of American humour are present in this work: the tall tale; the unreliable narrator, the Negro minstrel (Bokonon), comedy in a grim situation (ice-9, the ultimate weapon), grotesque naturalism, incongruous language, narrative objectivity in a chaotic situation, satire, anecdote, the Westerner character, alazon-eiron relationship; point counter point, avoidance or deprecation of extramarital sex, the humourless narrator, and sentimentality.”
This is the old yarn spinner overwhelmed by his own tale that is antilinguistic devices.
You, too, do not wish to think you give praise only as a response to flattery.
One way to enhance your power of praise is to take opportunities to use it in public. So brace yourself, you may be the next person I praise.
Long range planning for our learned papers is risk-taking decision making. It is the responsibility of our style policy maker, whether entrepreneur or manager.
He or she must be rational and systematic and must not substitute facts for judgement, nor science for good management.
The systematic organisation of our long range style planning research task to supply our Members with knowledge should strengthen our manager’s judgement, leadership, and vision in how to generate credibility for the World Buddhist University in Thailand.
We are a Regional Centre of the World Fellowship of Buddhists.
We have a charter for the World Buddhist University as a Spiritual Training Centre.
Perhaps, to hone our skills we should state we are all amateurs in linguistics. This means to some extent that some of our words may be obscure. At present, we have no doctorates majoring in linguistics at our Centre.
Very simply put, we write in a style suitable for critical readers. We try to write in an international style for those persons who use English as a second language.
At times our research papers may be addressing our fellow Australians or local Politicians, so in such cases, we can use a little of the local argot.
But, we strive to be clear in what we teach.
We often supply a glossary that selects to define what is obscure. Our glossary may supply translations or offer the meaning of foreign words we chose to use.
The short definition may not give us what we want to convey.
We accept that our style could let occasional prolixity occur in our glossary writings. We do not demand our writings should always be easy reading, but we do not wish them to be florid or trite.
We concur with Swift that proper words in proper places make the true definition of a style.
For example, we sometimes introduce an “unpopular” story. If we mention the social security system in our radio scripts we are not against telling our fellow Australians of the future reduction in average pensions that must occur. “Antilinguism” is avoidance.
Covertly our big picture is, we are trying to train “antilinguism” out of popular Australian culture.
Do not misquote us, that we have an “antilingham” policy or you will not get the comfy armchair treatment at our Centre.
Our work force, like our population, is getting older. We must tell Members that the current Australian social welfare culture is no longer feasible in economic terms unless there is more wealth generation in Australia.
To hone our work skills we need to reject “antilinguism” arising because it stops thought about reality.
Australians admire laconic fellows. One of them was a suicidal sheep poacher. He didn’t say much as his billy boiled.
Another of our heroes is Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee). His narrow vocabulary resonates with “antilinguism” of the childish persons in our society.
We hate to admit “Paul Hogan” is late middle-aged and is slowing down. We have to admit that most persons slow down at his age to become more laconic.
Be warned - if we live long enough, this could happen to you. But help is on the way.
Our Buddhist counter-culture combats “antilinguism” by writing radio broadcasts as a more subtle culture than is commercially available. We praise older persons (not merely on the grounds that they are old) but because they are worthy of praise, if and only if they refine their work skills.
We are very careful to avoid criticism of the elderly who are incompetent or incoherent in their arguments because we remember the bad press that a former Australian Prime Minister drew on himself by calling a heckler a “silly old bugger”.
We avoid such vicissitudes of language in the interests of international public relations. How tactful ought we be when we tell our older Members to change their culture or waste the rest of their life. Talk or perish miserably.
This is what we tell Members, this is our pitch.
How do we introduce our pitch?
We say in our Western culture, several factors contribute to the belief that there is an approaching “Death of Language.” In the 1930’s and 40’s, logical positivism and so called “general semantics” questioned the adequacy of language for communication.
We say some prominent aestheticians have argued for the superiority of “thinking in and through visual patterns” over verbalisation.
In ‘Reading the Mind - Advice for Meditators’, Ajarn K. Khao-suan-luang says ‘If you concentrate on knowing just a little, you’ll end up with more true insight than if you try knowing a lot of things.
It is through wanting to know a lot of things that we can end up deluded. We wander around in our deluded knowledge, thinking and labeling things, but knowledge which is focused and specific, when it really knows, is absolute. This is Prajna-Paramita.’ We teach this.
Our pitch continues with:
There is an “antilinguism” in voguish practice of transcendental meditation and among the exponents of body language. Computerised language gives us a “quasi-mathematical” type of “reductive sub-language.”
Our pitch concludes with:
The contemporary youth cult embraces an “infantile style of speech, in which a minimal vocabulary is generalised to all contingencies, words become the barest labels, and the act of speaking consists in making vague gestures”.
We will not entertain “antilinguism”. We are more interested to see our Members run towards refulgent scholarship.
Our pitch is actualised in two ways.
Firstly, we strive to be two levels above popular culture in Australia in our choice of words for our radio broadcast scripts.
Secondly, we aim to design about 3% to 5% of our typical radio script content to third order knowledge, and about 12% to 18% to second order knowledge.
We have no wish to develop the next level of “antilinguism” within our World Buddhist University scholastic boundaries.
We have shown you the high ground. Will you accept our mission? It is not impossible.
Thank you very much for your kind attention. Please accept our sincere praise for listening with sustained attention to our pitch.
May you be well and happy.
Thank you very much. Perhaps next time, we will offer you the comfy armchair.
Footnotes:
Footnote 1. Naming Stages of Technology
We use sets of comparative terms.
For example, we might say there are three stages of technology.
1. Primitive or eotechnic (middle ages) 2. Intermediate or paleotechnic (18th Century) 3. Modern or neotechnic (late 19th Century)
However, in depth analysis will show there are logical absurdities in this defining pattern.
Yet these items might be useful at times for our radio broadcasts.
At times, our research and development will need finer divisions to cover technology developments.
Footnote 2. Our Level of Scholarship Nomenclature
Our universes of discourse vary.
As a means of allowing researchers to select the level of scholarship needed of a given project, we have designed a four level nomenclature.
Series 101 Comprises surveys of available historical data organised into a structure for ease of study, and would include glossary, roughly corresponding to Undergraduate First Year Level. Series 201 Comprises small action research projects directly toward research development. Roughly equivalent to Undergraduate Second Year Level Series 301 A minor research thesis roughly equivalent to Graduate Level Series 401 A major research thesis equivalent to Post Graduate Level
Footnote 3. Some of Our Current Scholarship Research Projects to Counteract “Antilinguingism”
Project 301 Schools Commission Project
Research & Development Project Series Level 301
The research project by John D. Hughes was researched and over 1977 to 1979.
This project belongs in the Buddhist Historical Archive Website.
The project team leader to edit it and load it to a website is: Maria Panozzo.
Her project tasks are:
1. Type out the project and put on-line 2. Put photographs - currently held as slides - on line 3. Transcribe tapes and put text on-line 4. Re-record as radio talk? 5. Acknowledge copyright of the two volume Application to the Schools Commission with supporting evidence is held by John D. Hughes. Acknowledge copyright is owned by the Commonwealth Government.
Project 201 e-Book Project
Research & Development Project Series Level
Joint copyright is Monash University and Evelin Halls.
Project Leader: Evelin Halls
Project 401 Chanting Projects - Translation of and notes on our many recordings
Project Leader: John D. Hughes
So, chanting helps you see the Middle Path. Just remember as you chant, we are not here to praise you. I want you to get it right and wake up to the real.
Project 201 Geological Museum @ Upwey Project
A virtual on-line Museum
Project Leader: John D. Hughes
Outcome
We must leave a decent heritage for future Members. We have never heard of a perfect appraisal system, but we do insist all Members must strive to enrich Australian society and think about how we will praise themselves.
References:
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MINUTES OF THE
GENERAL MEETING OF THE
BUDDHIST DISCUSSION CENTRE (UPWEY) LTD.
HELD AT 33 BROOKING STREET, UPWEY, 3158
on Sunday 6 May 2001
Ref: PC1A Word Pro-i:\cgr\cadsc\meeting\gm6may01
MEMBERS PRESENT : John D. Hughes, Julian Bamford, Anita Svensson, Frank Carter, Jocelyn Hughes, David Igracki, Leila Lamers, Lisa Nelson.
MINUTE SEC: Anita Svensson
MEETING OPENED: 2:08pm
CHAIRPERSON: Julian Bamford
APOLOGIES: Isabella Hobbs, Vanessa Macleod, Pam Adkins
MOTION: That the Minutes of the Last General Meeting held 15 April 2001 as read be accepted.
MOVED: John D. Hughes SEC: Frank Carter CARRIED
MOTION: That the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. adopt the World Fellowship of Buddhists resolution, that the year Vesak 7 May 2001 to Vesak 26 May 2002 be declared the International Year of Metta (Loving Kindness).
MOVED: Leila Lamers SEC: Frank Carter CARRIED
MOTION: That the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd maintain the Emerald Pavilion, owned by John D. Hughes & Associates Pty Ltd. in consideration for having two types of Dana Jars located at the site.
MOVED: Lisa Nelson SEC: Frank Carter CARRIED
MOTION: That Anita Svensson, Secretary & Director and Julian Bamford Director & President, be jointly responsible for the daily collection of the content of the two Dana Jars and that this task cannot be delegated.
MOVED: John D. Hughes SEC: Frank Carter CARRIED
MOTION : That the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. apply to the shire of Yarra Ranges for permits for Flower Stall for Christmas Day 2001, Valentines Day 2002 and Mothers Day 2002.
MOVED : Frank Carter: SEC: John D. Hughes CARRIED
MOTION: That the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. Corporate Governance & Reporting Task Unit undertake a study of the desirability of appointing a Financial Controller.
MOVED: John D. Hughes SEC: Frank Carter CARRIED
MOTION: That your founder wishes to express his gratitude to all Members contributing to the Versak 2544 ceremony, held on Monday 7 May, 2001.
MOVED: John D. Hughes SEC:Leila Lamers CARRIED : 6 in favour/1 abstaining
Meeting closed : 2.28pm
DATE OF NEXT MEETING: 20 May, 2001 at 2.00pm.
