OLD YEAR SPECIAL

28-12-2013

Old year live special with among others Thomas Mohr on the death of Goenka and Leo van Vegchel on Zen and the art of drawing.

JAN FLAMELING

14-12-2013

The philosopher Jan Flameling works outside the academic institutions by lecturing, teaching courses, organising thinking holidays and engaging in philosophical discourses For him Descartes with his I think thus I am was the worst mistake ever and lies the future in the all and everyone encompassing philosophy of Buddha, the Tao and modern thinkers as Luce Irigaray and Peter Sloterdijk.

SOLAR COOKING

7-12-2013

Maarten Olthof of the Vajra foundation talks about their solar cooking project for Nepalese refugees and his first solar cooking mountain expedition and pelgrimage to the Bhairab Kunda lake on the Nepalese Tibetan border.

TAI CHI WITH RUDY VAN CUYK

16-11-2013

Despite its growing popularity Tai Chi and the other Buddhist inspired martial arts are still ignored by the settled Western buddhists. It is an unfounded prejudice as Rudy van Cuyk explains. Thirty years of Zen and Tai Chi have learned him that nothing is more buddhist than the combination of sitting and movement.

DHAMMAPARK

9-11-2013

The English artists Venetia Walkey talks about the Buddhist themepark Dhammapark that she started with her husband artist Inson Wongsam in 2000 in North Thailand.

HANS KORTEWEG

2-11-2013

Teacher, author and addiction specialist Hans Korteweg talks about his Buddhist inspiration.

JINARAKKHITA

26-10-2013

Ton Lathouwers talks about his teacher Jinarakkhita, the revival of Buddhism in Indonesia and the Humanistic Buddhist school in Chan Buddhism.

BUDDHIST WARFARE

19-10-2013

Jelle Seidel talks about the book Buddhist Warfare.

THE STATUS OF TIBET

21-9-2013

The status of Tibet according to the international law is still a hotly debated issue. According to Michael van Walt van Praag, professor at Princeton and legal advisor to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile Tibet was clearly an independent nation before the Chinese invasion of 1949.

THEOSOPHY AND BUDDHISM

7-9-2013

Theosophy played an important role in the revival of Buddhism in Asia and its spread to Europe in the early 20th century but since the importance and numbers of followers of theosophy has dropped dramatically but still they exist and some like Ineke Vrolijk still combine Buddhism with Theosophy.

DIGGING FOR BUDDHA IN AFGHANISTAN

24-8-2013

Twelve years after the Taliban blow up the gigantic Buddha statues in Bamiyan the National Museum of Kabul hosts an exhibition on the Buddhist past of Afghanistan with spectacular new finds from the 2000 year old archeological site Mas Aynak. A site which is now, as times go, threatened by a Chinese copper mining project. The excavations at Mas Aynak have been supported by the Dutch government through grants and expert missions. The historian and linguist Willem Vogelsang, himself a former mujahaddin during the Russian occupation and advisor of the Dutch government, was closely involved with the rebuilding of the National Museum and Archeological service of the country. Earlier broadcasted at 9-3-2013.

THARPHEN LINGTSANG

17-8-2013

The thangka painter Tharphen Lingtsang has been taught the Karma Gadri style of thangka painting by his father Gela Lama, author of the famous book 'Principles of Tibetan Art'. It was Gela Lama who managed to keep the Karma Gadri tradition alive after his flight from Tibet after the Chinese occupation. His son Tharphen, now living in Holland, continues to teach and paint in the Karma Gadri style in Tibetan temples and centres across Europe and he is on the verge to start a Thangka painting school in Nepal to guarantee the continuation of his Tibetan Buddhist form of art.

REAL OR NOT

27-7-2013

How do you know that a monk or meditation teacher is what he claims to be. Adi Ichsan meditation teacher of the theravada center Dhammadipa and Bert van Baar senior meditation teacher at the Tibetan Buddhist organisation Rigpa explain.

U ZAWANA

13-7-2013

The Burmese monk U Zawana is one of the leading people in the resistance against the military regiem in Burma since 1988. He spend many years in jail, sought refuge in Thailand after his release and finally was recognized as a political refugee by Vaclav Havel president of the Czech republic. For a period U Zawana took also care of the Burmese temple, near Utrecht in the Netherlands.

DUTCH FOREST MONK KHANTIDHAMMO

6-7-2013

The Dutch forest monk Khantidhammo has just finished his first five years as a fully initiated monk at the Wat Pah Nanachat monastery in Thailand. A new stage in his monk career has started and he will regularly go on long trips walking through forests and mountains interrupted by visits to wellknown monks with whom he might stay and study for months if permitted.

HEART SHRINE RELIC TOUR

29-6-2013

A reportage on the Hart shrine relic tour exhibition af the State Museum of Ethnology in Leiden.

TIME SURFING

22-6-2013

The Dutch Deshimaru Zen monk Paul Loomans wrote a book on how one in these busy times can have time by the method of time-surfing.

VRIENDEHUIS NOOITGEDACHT

15-6-2013

Vriendenhuis nooitgedacht is a residential community house and meeting centre for the Dutch Thich Nhat Hanh followers in the countryside. Living in attention is practised here in combination with working in the garden and taking care of the animals by visitors and inhabitants. How is it to havel a full job and live in a dedicated community ?

COUPERUS AND NIPPON

8-6-2013

In 1922 the Dutch writer made as a special newspaper reporter a long journey to Indonesia, China and Japan. In Nippon as Couperus called Japan he became gravely ill and found consolation in newspapers, books and the fox stories his nurse told him. They became the raw material for his two last books the travelogue Nippon and the Chain of compassion a collection of short stories and retold Japanese legend dedicated to the Amitabha Buddha, whom he claimed visited him at his hospital bed in his most dificult moments. The Sieboldhuis Japan museum in Leiden and the Couperus society organised a special exhibition on Couperus and Nippon.

WESAK

1-6-2013

Wesak is the day in the year on which many Buddhist worldwide celebrate the birth, enlightment and death of the Buddha. In first instance it seems to be curious to celebrate the birthday, cremation and the main achievement of someone at the same day as usually in other religions and also secular remembrances birth and death are commemorated on seperate days. But still there is a logic to it according Guan Her Ng and Maarten Olthof

BURMA VOICES

25-5-2013

The book Burma Voices, compiled by Elke Kuijper is a collection of 42 experiences told by Burmese people of varied walks of life: from a child soldier to an ex-army general, from a former political prisoner who is now a Member of Paliament to the country's most famous comedian. Most stories reflect the time around the 2010 elections in Myanmar/Burma. With U Win Tin, Zarganar, Thee Lay Thee and Colourful, Generation Wave, Daw Hnin Pan Ein, Su Su Nway, Zayar Thaw, U Win Htein and many others.

NAMGYAL LHAMO

18-5-2013

A long interview with Tibetan singer and actress Namgyal Lhamo on het leading role in the movie Drapchi, her new CD Musical Offerings, the art of Tibetan classical music and and life in the diapora.

THE BUDDHIST ARCHIVE

11-5-2013

A Buddhist Archive has been founded to collect papers, publications and atchives of people and organisation who were and are involved in Buddhism in the Netherlands. A talk with one of the founders Jacq de Boer on the necessity of a Buddhist archive.

RIDDERS JANSSEN EN DE BREET

4-5-2013

The Dutch translators of the Pali canon, Janssen and de Breet, have been knighted by the queen for their decades of work and dedication to make the Buddhist scriptures available for the Dutch speaking people. In this reportage you will hear Rob Janssen and Jan de Breet on their work and inspiration with some excerpts of the ceremony and short reactions of the people who attended the ceremony.

JAN MONTYN

13-4-2013

The Dutch painter and artists Jan Montyn led an adventerous life which led from the German East front in the second world war to a stint in the foreign legion and a deep involvement with humanitarian actions during the war in Vietnam, the struggle against the Khmer Rouge and the insurrection against the military dictators in Burma. He became fascinated with life in South East Asia and the Buddhist way of life and his fascination was reflected in his work. A tribute by the cineast Jan Louter and collector Rombout van Zwetselaar

THE BUDDHIST PASTOR

6-4-2013

Andreas van der Velde is the first Buddhist pastor in a Dutch hospital. At the UMC in Utrecht he with a group of pastors from different religions takes care of the spiritual needs of the seriously and mortually ill. A demanding and important job in which the social skills and feelings of compassion of the pastor are daily tested.

NICO MOONEN

30-3-2013

Already for decades Nico Moonen translates and publishes books on Buddhism, the Pali canon and pelgrimage to the Buddhist sites in India. He writes introductory texts but also more deeply on subjects as the role of the Boddhisatva in Theravada Buddhism and all can be freely downloaded on the internet. Why ?

SCHOPENHAUER

23-3-2012

The first European who called himself a Buddhist was the Germsn philosopher and wrtiter Schopenhauer. Having read everything that was published on Buddhism in his era, 1788-1860, his philosophy was strongely influenced by Buddhist concepts and ideas. and he also often referred to them in his later works. Andre van der Braak and Hans Gerding, both academic philosophers give a re-appraisal of Schopenhauer.

THE BODHI TREE

16-3-2013

Trees play an important role in the life story of the Buddha and in Buddhist rituals, iconography and paraphenalia. But which species are they and why are they holy trees and why so often the ficus religiosa. Time for a visit to the Hortus Botanicus in Amsterdam

DIGGING FOR BUDDHA IN AFGHANISTAN

9-3-2013

Twelve years after the Taliban blow up the gigantic Buddha statues in Bamiyan the National Museum of Kabul hosts an exhibition on the Buddhist past of Afghanistan with spectacular new finds from the 2000 year old archeological site Mas Aynak. A site which is now, as times go, threatened by a Chinese copper mining project. The excavations at Mas Aynak have been supported by the Dutch government through grants and expert missions. The historian and linguist Willem Vogelsang, himself a former mujahaddin during the Russian occupation and advisor of the Dutch government, was closely involved with the rebuilding of the National Museum and Archeological service of the country.

TIBETAN BUDDHISM IN THE NETHERLANDS

16-2-2013

A short tour of the Dutch Tibetan Buddhist centres from Amsterdam to Wildervank

VAJRAYANA

2-2-2013

Although the Vajrayana school in Buddhism is usually thought of as being Tibetan Buddhism there are in Japan, China, Taiwan, Indonesia and Nepal other schools which trace back their origin to the same roots in 7th and 8th century India. For example Shingon and Tendai in Japan, Kasogatan in Indonesia and the True Buddha Church in Taiwan. Also in the Netherlands one can find representatives of these schools like Shingon priest and scholar Henny van der Veere and mister Wong, spokesman of the True Buddha Church temple in Amsterdam

ZEN, SEEING, DRAWING

26-1-2013

Zen artist Leo van Veghel is the third generation teacher of the Dutch Zen movement 'Zen Zien Tekenen'. started just after the second world war by Frederick Franck. In this long interview he talks about the history, aims and practice of Zen drawing.

BOOKS ON SPIRITUALITY

19-1-2013

While the publishing and reading of books seems to be in a downward spiral books on spirituality are selling beter as ever before. Even the yearly month of the spirituality has now been embraced by the organisation of booksellers and publishers as an important venue for their collective propaganda for books and reading. An explamatiom by publishers Pieter de Boer, Ger Storms and Nina Nannini..

SILENCE

12-1-2013

On the importance and ideology of silence in Buddhism according to Zen artist Leo van Vegchel, Vipassana meditation teacher Joost van den Heuvel Rijnders and founder of the Maitreya Institute Paula de Wijs.

SOMA AND AMARIT

29-12-2012

A talk with Vedic specialist and professor at the Sorbonne in Paris, Jan Houben and Matthieu Vaessen of Rigdzin Dzogchen Ling on the mysterious Hindu Soma plant, the heavenly Buddhist drink Amarit and the use of hallucinogenics and other mind influencing substances in Buddhism

DRAGON'S WELL

15-12-2012

An interview with Silvester Polderman, Tai Chi and Wushu (Kung Fu) master on his school Dragon's Well in Haarlem, the martial arts and its Buddhist inspiration.

MEDITATING STUDENTS

1-12-2012

An interview with two students and the Catholic pastor of the 'Studenten Ekklesia' of the University of Leiden on their Buddhist meditation club at Rapenburg 100..

STEPHAN KOSEN THIBAUT

24-11-2012

An interview with Stephan Kosen Thibaut, leader of one of the Deshimaru Zen lineages on Zen and the inner revolution, Paris 1968, Zen in Cuba and Argentine, the Deshimaru split and his music

COBY VAN HERK

17-11-2012

An interview with Coby van Herk on her combination of yoga with vipassana meditation, her study at Gaia House and her practice as a yoga and meditation teacher.

GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS IN ANTWERP

20-10-2012

An interview with Maarten Desmet on how the Bhutanese concept of gross national hapiness inspired him in his work and social involvement and how it has become a focal point for the activities of the University for the common good in the Belgium town of Antwerp

BRIAN VICTORIA

13-10-2012

An interview with the American scholar and Zen priest Brian Victoria on his ground breaking book Zen at war and more in general Buddhist involvement in warfare and violence which in his view is caused by the entanglement of Buddhism with the state.

MUSICTHERAPY

29-9-2012

Friso Woudstra is a young musician who just finished his study musictherapy after working a year as an apprentice with traumatic refugees, depressed elderly and pychiatric patients. Emotionally hard work with only gradual results but that doesn't diminish his enthousiasm about music therapy nor his conviction that it can be a useful form of psychotherapie especcially when it is combined with mindfullness.

The Goldfish

8-9-2012

The Dutch Zen master Nico Tydeman published a book with collected essays and articles which cover four decades of Zen experiences. Although not auto-biographical it still gives an insight in his personal development and also the slow institutionalisation of Zen in the Netherlands, starting from a 'hippie' youth center in Amsterdam till his rediscovery of the importance of ritual and prayers in the last years.

THE MEDITATING REVEREND

25-8-2012

Florus Kruyne is a reverend of the 'Remonstrantse Gemeente' in the Dutch town of Utrecht. His liberal protestant denomination which dates back to the days of Jacob Arminius in the early 16th century, forms part of the early wave of protestant communities who wanted to decide among themselves how to live and what to believe among which also were the Moravian Brothers or the Unitarians in Hungary. They have always be open to the outside world and Florus Kruyne has in this tradition since his student days experimented with other faiths and spiritual practices. They Thai monk Mettavihari introduced him to vipassana meditation which he has kept on practising since the 1980's and has integrated with his work as reverend in the form of meditation courses and retreats for his parishioners. A rebroadcast of 3-3-2012

JAN MARIJNISSEN

11-8-2012

As a prelude to the september elections Jan Marijnissen of the Socialist Party talks about his ideals and a better world.

DAVID LOY

28-7-2012

An interview with the Zen philosopher David Loy on engaged Buddhism. A rebroadcast of 24-9-2011

SUMI-E

14-7-2012

The Indonesian born artist Rob Komala is a Sumi-e veteran, a Chinese-Japanese artform closely related to Zen Buddhism in which the artist tries to express the essence of reality in afew brush strokes.

CREMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS

23-6-2012

A short history of cremation in the Netherlands as told by the director of the Dutch funeral museum G. Sluiter.

BUDDHISM AND SHAMANISM

16-6-2012

Jeroen Boekhoven wrote his thesis in the religious sciences, 'Genealogies of Shamanism' on the development of modern shamanism in the west and discovered also a common ground in the popularization of both in the west in the sixties and the seventies by people as Alan Watts and Joan Halifax who were involved simultaneously in both movements. Boekhoven poits also to the loose way in which the term shamanism is and was used and which has almost nothing to do with the original form of shamanism in Central Asia.

DEATH

9-6-2012

If one looks at the different schools of Buddhism and the services they perform for the lay people it seems that most them are related to death and dying. Especially in Tibetan Buddhism there is an extensive expertise how on how to guide people through this key moment in their live. But what are the causes of this phenomenon and what can we learn from it and use in the modern care for the dying. Henk Blezer, lecturer in Buddhism at the University of Leiden studied these questions and has some preliminary answers.

 

TIBETAN REFUGEES

26-5-2012

A reportage on Tibetan refugees in the Netherlands who are not recognised as being Tibetan and threathened with expulsion to China they will be arrested immediately and punished heavily. Many of the refugees after being not recognised as a genuine refugee will stay on and live illegally in the country. One of the few organisations which gives any support to them is the foundation Khorlo which through political lobbying and juridical procedures tries to alleviate the fate of these illegals. A rebroadcast of 25-2-2012

DALAI LAMA

19-5-2012

A portrait of the Dalai Lama by three Dutch people who collaborated with the Dalai Lama for many years. Michael Walt van Praag, Princeton professor and lawyer of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile, Paula de Wijs, founder of the Maitreya Institute in the Netherlands who was involved with the visits of the Dalai Lama to the west for many years and Frits Hesselink who organised the visit of the Dalai Lama to the Netherlands in 1986.

DREAMS OF NATURE

28-4-2012

During the exhibition Dreams of Nature in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam Maarten van Buuren, professor French literature at the University of Utrecht held a lecture on symbolism and spiritual themes in the literature and visual arts around the beginning of the 20th century or as indicated in the exhibition from Van Gogh till Kandinsky.

IN MEMORIAM FRITS STAAL

14-4-2012

In februari 2012 the eminent linguist and philosopher Frits Staal died in Chiang Mai in Thailand where he lived since his retirement as a professor. He was en is known about his work on vedic rituals, the sankrit languages, the functions of mantra's and recitations and his scientific study of mysticism. He was also active in the academic world and as an advisor of the Dutch government and instrumental in the survial of the Oriental studies including the scientific study of Buddhism in Leiden. One of his students now professor at the Sorbonne in Paris and himself a leadng researcher in Vedic studies, Jan Houben remembers.

IN MEMORIAM MARGOT KOOL

31-3-2012

Margot Kool was one of the founders of the Maitreya Institute in the Netherlands, one of the first Tibetan Buddhist Sangha's in the Netherlands. Co-founder Paula de Wijs talks about her memories of this remarkable woman and her sudden death.

MAANHOEVE

24-3-2012

De Maanhoeve - The 'moon farm' is a combination of an agricultural company and meditation center in the line of Thich Nath Hanh run by Wim Heusinkveld and Ida te Lindert. Wim has been a farmer all his life with an interest in spiritual matters and Ida comes from psychotherapy. Both believe in the combination of practical work with spiritual matters and its a fixed part of the courses they give for teachers, nurses and children as an antidote against burnout and stress.

THE WAY DOWN

10-3-2012

Niraya or Naraka is as close as you come to hell in Buddhism, it is 'the way down' and the inevitablke prize you have to pay for choosing this path of cruelty and violence. Although it is only occasionally mentioned in the Pali canon Naraka is usually depicted on temple walls or visualised in Buddhist statue parks throughout South-East Asia. A conversation with translator Jan de Breet on hell in the Pali canon

THE MEDITATING REVEREND

3-3-2012

Florus Kruyne is a reverend of the 'Remonstrantse Gemeente' in the Dutch town of Utrecht. His liberal protestant denomination which dates back to the days of Jacob Arminius in the early 16th century, forms part of the early wave of protestant communities who wanted to decide among themselves how to live and what to believe among which also were the Moravian Brothers or the Unitarians in Hungary. They have always be open to the outside world and Florus Kruyne has in this tradition since his student days experimented with other faiths and spiritual practices. They Thai monk Mettavihari introduced him to vipassana meditation which he has kept on practising since the 1980's and has integrated with his work as reverend in the form of meditation courses and retreats for his parishioners.

TIBETAN REFUGEES

25-2-2012

A reportage on Tibetan refugees in the Netherlands who are not recognised as being Tibetan and threathened with expulsion to China they will be arrested immediately and punished heavily. Many of the refugees after being not recognised as a genuine refugee will stay on and live illegally in the country. One of the few organisations which gives any support to them is the foundation Khorlo which through political lobbying and juridical procedures tries to alleviate the fate of these illegals.

BEAUTY NEARBY

18-2-2012

Kunstfactor the Dutch foundation for amateur art did research on the raltion between the arts and religion and organised an exhibition on religieus art in the Netherlands with the title Beaty from nearby.

BUDDHIST MAGIC

14-1-2012

Tattoos and amulets enjoy a growing popularity among Buddhists in South East Asia. Buddha Magic is an often overseen and little studied aspect of Buddhism that has also spread to the west and in the Netherlands Rodin van Erven with his internet amulet shop is one of the propagators of Buddha Magic.

SELF MUMMIFICATION

7-1-2012

In Japan and some say also in the Himalayas there existed a practice among Buddhist monks to prepare their body for mummification by following a strict but poisenous diet combined with physical exercises and finally seclusion. It is a strange outgrowth of the more common Buddhist ideas that sacrificing yourself for the other is the highest gift and spontaneous mummification is a sign of enlightment but also a source of spiritual power and protection against evil and disaster. It also raises questions about the Buddhist view on suicide and euthanasia. Matters that Lars Scholten wrote a paper on for the University of Leiden.

RELIGION NOW

31-12-2011

The Dutch photographer Eddy Seesing published a book and an exhibition on 70 religious communities in the Netherlands with live sized portraits of the priests, monks or reverends of each community in their religious dress. An interview on his motivation and the difficulties to finish this 7 year long project.

BEGGING AND GIVING

24-12-2011

In the Theravada world monks go out every morning to beg for their daily food and they have to accept and eat what has been given even if they don't like the taste or if there is meat in the food. For the lay people the daily alms rounds of the monks give an opportunity to practice, dana or giving. And dana or freely giving without ties is seen as the first and a very important step on the Buddhist path, more important as meditation or any other contemplative practice. Among western Buddhist the importance of dana has been ignored and it is hardly practised at all. Is this characteristic for Western civilisation ? You hear vipassana teacher Aad Verboom and Zen priest Baldwin Schreurs on dana.

AMITABHA

17-12-2011

The Buddha Amitabha, ruler of the western paradise is the main manifestation of the Buddha in the Pure Land school of Buddhism, in numbers the largest Buddhist denomination in the far east. Als in the other Mahayana schools Amitabha is popular with the lay people and seen as an approachable and friendly protector of the common people.

BUDDHA IMAGES

12-11-2011

Indonesian born Paula Voges has been interested in Buddhism and Asian arts, especially textiles from a young age. She has been working with the Thai National Museum in Bangkok and is nowadays working as a voluntary expert with Nusantara, a museum in the Dutch town of Delft dedicated to Indonesia, its history and its arts. At he occasion of her lecture for the Delft etnographic society on Buddha images Fred Gales spoke with her about Buddha as vehicle for artistic expression.

LOI KRATHONG

5-11-2011

Jataka stories play an important role in the practice of Buddhism in South-East Asia. This has a long history and if we look at the iconography on ancient Buddhist monuments we see that these tales were already popular in ancient times. Marijke Klokke of the University of Leiden is an expert in the history of South East Asia and the visual representations found on Buddhist monuments as the Borobudur in India.

JOOP DE JONG

15-10-2011

Joop de Jong is a leading international researcher in the field of transcultural psychiatry and mental health programmes in war and disaster areas. He has also been working with migrants and refugees.

MONIEK PEEK

1-10-2011

An interview with painter Moniek Peek on the illustrations she made for 'Boeddha's Beestenboek', a children book based on the Jataka stories from the Pali Canon. The interview was made during her solo exhibition in the Anton Pieck Museum in Hattem.

DAVID LOY

24-9-2011

An interview with the Zen philosopher David Loy on engaged Buddhism