Book Review

September 11th, 2010

The Tree of Enlightenment

By the Late DR Peter Della Santina

Book cover design by Siddartha Della Santina

by Pam Croci
During the Teachings in Bangalow, Australia this year Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche recommended that people to read books which outline the basic teaching of the Buddha and the history of the development of these Teachings. This is such a book.
An ideal book for the beginner who comes to Buddhism with a good scholastic discipline. An ideal book for a jaded older student like me for here you will find refreshing reference material that will help bring the mind back to the basics and inspire us to practise. The book has been reprinted and donated for free distribution by The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation in Taiwan
Website: www.budaedu.org
Email: overseas@budaedu.org
For Australian students this book is available through the Maha Bodhi Buddhist Centre in Sydney.
www.maharts.com.au
Download this book at http://www.buddhanet.net/ebooks_g.htm

About the Author

Peter was born in the USA and has spent many years studying and teaching in South and East Asia. His qualifications are numerous leading up to his PhD. in Buddhist Studies from the University of Delhi, India in 1979. He then worked for three years for the Institute for Advanced Studies of World Religions, Fort lee, New Jersey as a research scholar translating 8th century Buddhist philosophical texts from the Tibetan.
He taught at several Universities and Buddhist centres in Europe and Asia. He was a senior fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Simla, India and taught Philosophy at the Fo Kuang Shan Academy of Chinese Buddhism, Koah-Shiung, Taiwan.
For twenty five years Peter was a student of H.H. Sakya Trizin. He practised Buddhist meditation and completed a number of retreats.
More info on his life and works can be found at www.peterdellasantina.org

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Moon Eclipse in Sri Lanka

September 10th, 2010

Photos by Claire Farman

Eclipsed Moon in Sri Lanka


On the path


On the path still


Shadows in Sri Lanka

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Haiku from Sangay Tenzin

September 5th, 2010

Wonderous blue skies
Drifting white clouds
I am happy to be alive

Sun dancing on leaves
Flowers bowing down
My pain has gone

Sangay Tenzin is a recovering addict who is learning meditation
and haiku through the Deer Park programme, Thimphu, Bhutan.

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The Puzzle

September 4th, 2010

Infinite diamond of wisdom
Your faces are as infinite as facets
Illusory as moons, reflected across an ocean of love.

Words only reveal a fraction of you
Broken fractals, which when complete
No one can draw or speak.

You always share
Yet there’s never a missing piece
The puzzle’s always complete.

Yvonne Gold, July 2010

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