Inner Peace, Mindful Outreach

The Buddhist Channel, Sept 10, 2020

Faith, Mindfulness and Sustainability in the new Buddhist Channel

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- For most part of this year (2020), the Covid-19 pandemic has altered lives on a global scale. This generation will see for their first time how things that they naturally take for granted can be so utterly upended and lifestyles so suddenly changed at the blink of an eye.

Many take this "new normal" as a nuisance, an event so abnormally "un-normal" that most would want to see the back of it soon enough. For those with wiser eyes however, the pandemic gives an unprecedented opportunity to evaluate what used to be regarded as "normal".

For one, we would like to invite you to step back and relook at priorities to what it means to "live sustainably". We would like YOU to define what it means to you personally. Not what Greta Thunberg says, not what "Extinction Rebellion" says.

How would you define mindful consuming? How do you look at the wastes that you generate? How would you regard travel in the future? Would it be for self indulgence (i.e. to get that Instagram moment) or would be for something far more enriching, such as understanding the lives of another community that does not speak your language, so as to delve deeper into the understanding of your own being?

Some of us have asked for revolution, to upend existing political, social, education and economic institutions that have normalized a global system stuck in various shades of greed, hatred and ignorance. As we contemplate this, we should also take heed of the Buddha's advice, who said, "Though one should conquer a million men in the battlefield, yet he, indeed, is the noblest victor who has conquered himself." (Dhammapada V 103).

At the end of the day, it is what WE, and what YOU do, that matters. The world may or may not change for you, but we can certainly make changes within us. There is no need for grandiose goals, but certainly we can take small meaningful steps. But to do so effectively, community support and resource backing is vital. It would be unwise to chart a new course without some moral compass or spiritual guidance.

To this end, we are happy to announce that The Buddhist Channel has taken on a journey to reinvent itself to become a "resource and community builder" that strives towards "mindful, sustainable living". Our new motto is "Inner Peace, Mindful Outreach". The seed of this rebirth began some 2 years ago, in September 2018 when we decided to have a re-look at our role as a Buddhist news provider. We scaled down our resources as a news aggregator due to improvements in search technology and redundancy.

Around that time, The Buddhist Channel was invited by the UNWTO to be a contributor for their new publication "Buddhist Tourism in Asia". Our role was to research, write and edit on prospects of Buddhist tourism in Southeast Asia. With this opportunity in hand, our team was invited to attend international seminars and present this initiative to tour operators and tourism ministries from ASEAN. We participated in two major events, namely the Mekong Tourism Forum (MTF) held in Nakhon Phanom in 2018 and the 1st ASEAN World Heritage Summit 2018 in Sukhothai. Both events were organised in Thailand.

As a result from the participation of the events, our profile was raised around the region due to our emphasis in using basic Buddhist teachings to promote "mindful travel" and "local communities sustainability" in tour management. The visits also enriched our direct experience of seeing how tourism impacted local communities, and how well managed tours are so vital in helping to maintain the authenticity of villagers and their lifestyles. These experiences helped us to provide the necessary input in making the writing for "Buddhist Tourism in Asia"even more meaningful.

Of course, with more high profile engagements, our networking was subsequently enriched. And now we have access to resource rich personnel, ranging from high officials at tourism ministries of Buddhist countries, museum curators, knowledge media experts, magazine owners, temple architects, artists and meditation teachers. Through engagement with these gamut of varied talents, an entire new vista was opened up to us.

What this all means is that basically, the Buddhist Channel now has access to vital resources needed to produce self learning modules, search engines, databases and social networks - vital tools which will help to EMPOWER YOU to initiate an inner revolution, to look at the world through mindful lens. With a vision wizened by the gentle strokes of the Buddha's teachings and learned monks and nuns, we can now lay out a platform and system for YOU to empower YOURSELF systematically and effectively!

With this "rebirth", the reinvented Buddhist Channel is no longer just a news website, but a significantly UPGRADED service portal focusing on two areas of importance, namely:

A) "Educational and Expertise Resources" and,

B) "Mindful, Sustainable Travel".

Here are some modules that are already in operation or will be coming soon:

A) EDUCATION AND EXPERTISE RESOURCES

1) Buddhist News Channel and Mindful Journalism

Apart from news reporting and op-eds, The Buddhist Channel is now involved in actively promoting "mindful communication in journalism". The channel now collaborates with Dr Kalinga Seneviratne (an ex-academician from NUS and active promoter of "mindful journalism") with the support of the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) to strengthen this aspect of news investigation and reporting through training sessions, seminars and workshops..

Visit the Buddhist Channel on Mindful Journalism: https://buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=70,13274,0,0,1,0

2) All About Buddhism iLearning (AABi)

ALL ABOUT BUDDHISM iLEARNING (AABi) is planned as a guided programme specifically designed to help students know Buddha Dhamma thoroughly, practice it fully and share it generously with others. The online course will not give learners a diploma or degree, but it will help them to gain a rich Dhamma knowledge in a sustainable, consistently organized way on a self-paced learning basis.

Visit ABBi here: http://allaboutbuddhism.org/

3) Guide To Buddhism A To Z

The purpose of this site is to offer concise and authentic information on Buddhist doctrine, the Buddhist perspective on various contemporary issues and subjects pertaining to Buddhism. Included are hundreds of authentic quotations from the sacred scriptures, each with references from the Pali Tipitaka, the oldest record of the Buddha's teachings, and information about life in India during the Buddha's time.

This module is presented in Budblooms.org (http://budblooms.org/) with content curated and edited by Bhante S. Dhammika (coming soon).

4) Buddha Vacana - The Buddha's Words

Read and be inspired by the wisdom of Lord Buddha. There is a new saying each day of the year and readers can look up any of more than 100 subjects or issues which interests them (What the Buddha Said About...). Readers can also find out information such as where in the Scriptures a saying comes from (Abbreviations and References), basic questions on Buddhism and if they want to know more about Buddhist doctrine, practice, culture or history.

This module is presented in Budblooms.org (http://budblooms.org/) with content curated and edited by Bhante S. Dhammika (coming soon).

5) Nature and the Environment in Early Buddhism

This volume provide a effort to identify the plants mentioned in the Tipiṭaka. This rare collection includes hundreds of plant and animal with Pali names with their botanical and zoological labels. This is the most thorough compilation of flora, fauna and the environment from the Pali Tipiṭaka in existence, and is an important work not only for those interested in the world when a Buddha walked this earth but also for taxonomists and naturalists.

This epic module is presented in Budblooms.org (http://budblooms.org/) with content curated and edited by Bhante S. Dhammika. Access the PDF file here: http://budblooms.org/2020/09/07/nature-and-the-environment-in-early-buddhism/

B) MINDFUL, SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL

1) Buddhist Tourism in Asia: Towards Sustainable Development (Published by UNWTO)

This UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization) report is built on case studies of Buddhist tourism in 16 countries across Asia. These destination countries are not only home to large numbers of Buddhists, they also showcase the legacy of Buddhism, with many examples of its tangible and intangible heritage. Visitation patterns to Buddhist sites, the management of Buddhist destinations and heritage, marketing and promotion – with a special emphasis on the place of technology – are some of the key issues discussed below.

The Buddhist Channel (parent owner of Buddhistravel.com), in collaboration with Datuk Seri Prof. Dr. Victor Wee of Taylor's University, Malaysia took about 8 months of research, writing and editing to cover the Main Introduction to Buddhism as well as all the Southeast Asian countries covered in this study. This work is a "must have" for tour developers and managers.

To purchase the book, please visit: Buddhist Tourism in Asia: Towards Sustainable Development

2) International Buddhist Tourism Conference 2021 (IBTC2021 - Co-Organiser)

The International Buddhist Tourism Conference (IBTC2020) is the first gathering of its kind organized to meet the growing demands of Buddhist related travels and pilgrimage activities. IBTC2021 is organized to provide a platform for organizations and like-minded people related to Buddhist Tourism to enable them to connect, share experiences and learn from one another. The 1st IBTC will be held in Chiang Rai, Thailand. The conference is open to pilgrimage organizers, tour operators, tourism industry policy makers, hoteliers, temple and monastery managements, logistics owners, religious artists, heritage preservation experts.

For details, please visit: http://buddhisttourism.org/

3) Repositioning of Buddhist Travel website for sustainable tourism

Buddhist Travel is the simpler, Buddhist version of TripAdviser. It is the only portal dedicated to the promotion of sustainable tourism for Buddhist sites and places of interests. Participation of tour agents and community centers are welcomed.

To access the site, please visit: http://buddhistravel.com

For more information, please feel free to contact The Buddhist Channel at editor@buddhistchannel.tv

Our efforts to improve content development for the Buddhist community have largely been self funded. We have been doing this since 2001. Any help to lighten our burden is most welcome.

YOUR SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED

If you wish to support the "reinvention" of The Buddhist Channel, please consider making a donation.

We are grateful for any amount that you give.

If you wish to contact us, please write to: editor@buddhistchannel.tv

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Inner Peace, Mindful Outreach

The Buddhist Channel, Sept 10, 2020