Après leur rencontre amicale de tennis au centre Claude-Robillard, Yèm Say et André Tremblay prennent ensemble un souper chez ce dernier qui n'habite pas loin du complexe sportif, sur la rue Saint-Hubert. André, qui a visité l'Inde et le Népal, s'intéresse au bouddhisme et à la méditation.
     - Donc les bouddhistes croient à la réincarnation?
     - C'est la base même de la religion! répond Say. Ce que tu vis dans le présent est le résultat de ce que t'as fait dans ta vie antérieure.
     - Le karma!
     - C'est ça! Karma en sanskrit ou kamma en pali.
     André verse le café dans les tasses, arrête la cassette de musique classique -dont il raffole- et allume le poste de télévision. (...)

     - Et Bouddha, est-il un dieu?
     - Non! Il était un homme comme toi et moi, il était même marié et avait un enfant. C'était un roi dans le Népal, son vrai nom était Siddharta.
     - Il faisait donc la méditation pour atteindre le Nirvana, le paradis bouddhique?
     Say pose sa tasse sur la table et explique:
     - Il aspirait à beaucoup plus que le paradis! Le Nirvana c'est le Néant où il n'y a ni vie ni mort, c'est la paix absolue. Siddharta ne voulait pas de la vie, laquelle conduira inévitablement à la mort. Il ne voulait pas avoir à renaître et remourir encore et encore. Voici comment le roi comblé et insouciant se mettait à penser à son salut. Il se leva une nuit avant l'aube pour aller voir un peu sa capitale. Traversant son palais, il voyait les corps dénudés des servantes et des laquais qui dormaient sur le plancher: il trouva que la vie c'étaient les désirs, les passions, les besoins.
     «Dans la rue, il voyait un vieillard qui s'acheminait péniblement en s'appuyant sur sa canne: le roi se rendit compte que naître c'est pour vieillir. En un autre endroit, un malade gémissait de douleur: Siddharta voyait que vivre c'est souffrir. Dans un champ, c'est un cadavre que la famille, larmoyante, incinérait: le monarque comprit qu'il avait à mourir lui aussi. Enfin le roi vit un religieux, l'air serein, détaché, heureux: Siddharta venait de trouver la voie! Pour échapper à la mort, à la maladie et à la vieillesse, il faut échapper à la vie. Et pour échapper à la vie il faut renoncer aux besoins, aux désirs et aux passions que celle-ci engendre!
     - Pas jusqu'à refuser de manger et de se laver! objecte André.
     - Il a essayé de le faire! Il est devenu tout maigre et tout sale, mais il n'a pas trouvé la clé de l'Illumination.
     - Mais oui! s'exclame André. Je me rappelle avoir vu ces statues de Bouddha barbu et maigrelet!
     - C'est ça! C'est pendant qu'il faisait le tukkha kiriya, la pénitence. Un ange, joueur de vielle, venait alors lui donner un récital. La corde de la vielle n'étant pas assez tendue, le son n'était pas agréable. L'ange augmenta alors exagérément la tension et la corde se rompit. C'est quand la nouvelle corde fut tendue à la juste mesure que la musique retentissait délicieusement. Et Siddharta saisit la parabole.
     - In medio stat virtus!
     André cite un dicton latin et ouvre une boîte de biscuits.
     - C'est ça! La vertu est au milieu.
     Say approuve, se sert et continue:
     - Il acceptait alors de faire sa toilette, mangeait les boulettes de riz qu'on lui offrait puis allait s'asseoir sous le banian où il méditait et trouva enfin l'Illumination.
     - D'où le nom de Bouddha, l'Illuminé! conclut André.
     - Ou encore l'Éveillé! complète Say. (...)

Après avoir avalé un biscuit qu'il fait descendre avec du thé vert, Say continue sur la religion:
     - Tu sais? J'ai parcouru un peu la Bible et l'Ancien Testament. J'ai trouvé que si Bouddha a renié la Vie, Dieu recommande à l'homme de jouir de la Vie.
     - Oui, mais tout en restant dans la droiture! Nous autres Occidentaux, on perçoit le bouddhisme comme une religion de sagesse, de tolérance et de bonté. Je suppose que ce sont des principes enseignés dans les pagodes?
     - Affirmatif! Heureusement le renoncement n'est pas total. Bouddha savait que tout le monde ne peut pas entrer ¹ au Nirvana. Alors il a laissé des sila, des Commandements si tu veux, à ses disciples. Pour l'homme ordinaire, un code à cinq Commandements suffit de faire de lui un être bien:
     1) Ne pas tuer.
     2) Ne pas voler.
     3) Ne pas mentir.
     4) Ne pas commettre d'adultère.
     5) Ne pas s'énivrer de drogue ou d'alcool.
     - Amen!
     André "accueille" les sila le plus sérieusement du monde.
     - Tu devrais dire Ama! Ça veut dire Oui en pali. Ou mieux: Ama, Bhanté! Oui, Seigneur!
     - Ça se ressemble, hein?
     - Ben, voyons! L'indo-européen! Le sanskrit!
     - Mais dis-moi! Il y a une prophétie chrétienne qui prédisait la fin du monde. Est-ce qu'il existe une telle prophétie chez les bouddhistes?
     - Parfaitement! Bouddha lui-même, selon des textes khmers, prédisait que sa religion durera cinq mille ans. Après, sept soleils apparaîtront un à un dans le ciel et la terre brûlera. Ce sera une nouvelle ère géologique: chhess kalp en cambodgien.
     - Seigneur! gémit André. Ça relève plus de l'astronomie que de l'astrologie! Mais cinq mille ans, ça nous laisse encore combien de temps?
     - L'ère bouddhique précède de 543 ans l'ère chrétienne. Alors ça se passera en l'an 4457. Mais après ce cataclysme viendra un autre Bouddha, le dernier, que les Khmers appellent Preah Sé Ar Métri. Avec lui tous les êtres -remarque! j'ai pas dit les humains- vivront heureux.

______________
¹ Les Cambodgiens disent "monter au paradis" mais "entrer au Nirvana".

Gospel of Judas casts doubt on traditional beliefs (2006-Apr-06) The codex containing the Gospel of Judas was torn and crumbling before conservation work began. (Florence Darbre / National Geographic Society)

         CTV.ca News Staff : National Geographic magazine revealed an ancient manuscript today which may reveal startling new evidence about the relationship between Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed him. Scholars believe the papyrus manuscript, which was written in ancient Egyptian Coptic script, was penned around 300 A.D. as a translation from an earlier version written in Greek. The manuscript has been dubbed the "Gospel of Judas."
         Experts at the society held a news conference Thursday afternoon to announce their findings. The event was broadcast on the Internet. The manuscript, according to Craig Evans with the Society, contradicts Judas' reputation as a traitor, and instead indicates he was only following Christ's instructions when he betrayed him -- an action that led to Christ's crucifixion. "Perhaps more now can be said thanks to the remarkable discovery of the Gospel of Judas. According to this new text Jesus spoke with Judas in private, and in private said to him 'You will exceed all of them for you will sacrifice the man that clothed me.' The context clearly implies Judas only did what Jesus earlier instructed him to do," Evans said.
         The document remained hidden in the Egyptian desert for 1,600 years, until it was discovered in the 1970s. National Geographic claims the document has been authenticated through radio carbon dating and ink analysis, and has been studied and translated by Biblical scholars. The society plans to publish the document in the original Coptic, and a number of other translations. Marvin Meyer, one of the experts on the panel, said the manuscript confirms information found in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, such as the belief Judas was responsible for the disciples' money, and was a member of Jesus' inner circle. Meyer said it also indicates that early Christianity was practiced in diverse ways, noting the text shows "the good news of Jesus could be understood and embraced in very different ways by early Christians."
         It is not known who wrote the manuscript, though the original Greek text is thought to have been written some time before 180 A.D. by a group of early Gnostic Christians. When the manuscript was discovered in the 1970s, it was intact, but it deteriorated severely after it was put in a safe-deposit box on Long Island, New York, where it remained for 16 years until it was purchased by antiquities dealer Frieda Nussberger-Tchacos. The dealer bought the manuscript in 2000 and attempted to sell it twice, unsuccessfully. Aware the document was deteriorating quickly, Nussberger-Tchacos transferred it to a Swiss foundation for ancient art, to be restored and translated.
         The translation and restoration process was an enormous task due to the advanced state of deterioration, and in 2001 a team led by Coptic scholar Rodolphe Kasser began working to piece together almost 1,000 fragments of papyrus. The manuscript will eventually be handed over to Egypt for placement in Cairo's Coptic Museum. For centuries scholars have been aware of the manuscript's existence, though its location was unknown until recently. It was referred to in other ancient texts, with the oldest reference dating back to 180 A.D., when it was mentioned by Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon, in what is modern-day France. [Msn.Sympatico.Ca]

NASA spacecraft finds water on Saturn moon (2006-Mar-10)
         CTV.ca News Staff : It's almost 1300-million kilometres from earth but scientists believe they have discovered evidence of water on one of Saturn's icy moons -- rekindling hope in the existence of life outside planet Earth. The surprising discovery, made by the Cassini spacecraft, shows evidence of liquid water reservoirs that erupt from geysers (natural hot-springs) on Saturn's moon Enceladus. "High-resolution Cassini images show icy jets and towering plumes ejecting large quantities of particles at high speed," a NASA press release stated Thursday.
         Carolyn Porco, Cassini's imaging team leader said Thursday that the discovery was a "smoking gun" that proved water existed on the planet. "We realize that this is a radical conclusion – that we may have evidence for liquid water within a body so small and so cold," Porco said. "However, if we are right, we have significantly broadened the diversity of solar system environments where we might possibly have conditions suitable for living organisms."

Scientists examined reasons for the eruptions and concluded that it could be coming from liquid water reserves. "The jets might be erupting from near-surface pockets of liquid water about 0 degrees Celsius," the report said. While other moons in the solar system have liquid-water oceans buried kilometres below the surface, Saturn's reserve may only be meters below, scientist Andrew Ingersoll said of the discovery. That conclusion has scientists and astronomers in a giddy mood of excitement. "We previously knew of at most three places where active volcanism exists: Jupiter's moon lo, Earth, and possibly Neptune's moon Triton," Cassini scientist John Spencer said in the release.

         "Cassini changed all that, making Enceladus the latest member of this very exclusive club, and one of the most exciting places in the solar system." But David Morrision, a senior NASA scientist at the Astrobiology Institute, said people should not rush into believing that Saturn can support life because water is only one element of a number of factors that would be necessary for that to exist. "It's certainly interesting, but I don't see how much more you can say beyond that," Morrison told Associated Press. Enceladus was believed to be cold and still but scientists now think that the moon has a south pole that is unusually warm.
         The ambitious Cassini mission to Saturn is a joint partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian space Agency Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI). Launched from Cape Canaveral in 1997, the Cassini is a sophisticated $3.3 billion US robotic spacecraft that entered Saturn's orbit on July 1, 2004. The spacecraft, run from Pasadena, California by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is conducting a four year mission of detailed scientific observations in the Saturnian system. The latest findings can be found in the new journal of Science.

Climate Expert Says NASA Bids to Muzzle Him (2006-Jan-30)          By Reuters : NEW YORK - NASA's top climate scientist said the Bush administration has tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture in December calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases, The New York Times said Saturday. In an interview with the newspaper, James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said that officials at the space agency's headquarters had ordered the public affairs staff to review his lectures, papers, postings on the Goddard Web site and requests for interviews from journalists.

         "They feel their job is to be this censor of information going out to the public," the Times quoted Hansen as saying, adding that the scientist planned to ignore the new restrictions. A NASA spokesman denied any effort to silence Hansen, the Times said. "That's not the way we operate here at NASA," said Dean Acosta, deputy assistant administrator for public affairs. "We promote openness and we speak with the facts." Rather, the spokesman said the restrictions applied to any and all NASA personnel who could be seen by the public as speaking for the agency. Acosta added, however, that while government scientists were free to discuss scientific findings, policy statements should be left to policy makers and appointed spokesmen, the Times said. The story was posted on its Web site and will be published in Sunday's editions. Hansen, a physicist who joined the space agency in 1967, is an authority on climate who directs efforts to simulate the global climate on computers at Manhattan's Goddard Institute.
         IOWA SPEECH
         Since 1988 he has warned publicly about the long-term threat from heat-trapping emissions, dominated by carbon dioxide, that are a byproduct of burning coal, oil and other fossil fuels, The Times said. It said he fell out of favor with the White House in 2004 after a University of Iowa speech ahead of the presidential election in which he complained that government climate scientists were being muzzled, adding that he planned to vote for Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry. Hansen told the Times over the course of several interviews that an effort began in early December to keep him from publicly discussing what he says are clear-cut dangers from further delay in curbing carbon dioxide. Hansen said the recent efforts to quiet him began after a lecture he gave on Dec. 6 at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco in which he said that significant emission cuts could be achieved with existing technologies, particularly in the case of motor vehicles.
         Without leadership by the United States, he told The Times, climate change would eventually leave the earth "a different planet." Hansen said that NASA headquarters officials repeatedly phoned public affairs officers, who warned Hansen of "dire consequences" if such statements continued. The officers confirmed the warning to the Times. The Bush administration's policy is to use voluntary measures to slow, but not reverse, the growth of emissions, the paper said. [ Source: Reuters ]

Dalai Lama Links Science, Buddhism (2005-Nov-15)          By ELIZABETH WHITE, Associated Press Writer : WASHINGTON - Science and Buddhism share a quest of open investigation into the nature of reality, and science can be a pathway to discovering well-being and happiness, the Dalai Lama told the Society for Neuroscience on Saturday. Tibet's spiritual leader, speaking alternately in English and through a translator, praised neuroscience - the study of the brain and nervous system - as important work he's been interested in for 15 years. "I believe we want happiness," he said, adding that the way to transform society is through education and by boosting among individuals, families and communities "some of the useful emotions such as compassion or forgiveness." Science is particularly important, he said, because it reaches both the religious and nonreligious and can help identify the factors and forces that promote well-being.

         And on the growing controversy surrounding the teaching of intelligent design in addition to evolution in U.S. classrooms, the Dalai Lama said the greater the dialogue, the better. But the Dalai Lama's visit to Washington was not without controversy. More than 500 people, many of them Society for Neuroscience members, signed a petition decrying the selection of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner as a speaker. Society President Carol Barnes said Saturday that six abstracts were withdrawn from the conference in protest and that the objections were both over the Dalai Lama's qualifications to address a scientific meeting and his subject matter as well as his politically charged leadership.
         The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 following an aborted uprising against Chinese rule in the territory and now keeps an office in exile in the Himalayan town of Dharmsala, India. "He is qualified to speak about his own experience," Barnes said, adding that the goal of the society's new "Dialogues Between Neuroscience and Society" series is to expand the horizons of the group's membership. She said a counter petition supporting the Dalai Lama's visit also was circulated.

         Radio-Canada.ca : Des archéologues ont mis au jour en Israël ce qui pourrait être les restes de la plus vieille église du monde. Les vestiges ont été découverts lors de travaux d'agrandissement de la prison de Meggido, dans le nord du pays. Ce sont les prisonniers eux-mêmes, chargés de certains travaux, qui ont trouvé ces mosaïques qui pourraient dater du 3e ou du 4e siècle, et qui recouvraient le sol d'une église. Dans l'Ancien Testament, la ville de Meggido est présentée comme l'Armaguédon, le lieu de la bataille entre le Bien et le Mal supposée marquer la fin des temps. Pour le moment, les experts s'entendent pour dire qu'il s'agit des plus anciens restes archéologiques d'une église en Israël. Ils pourraient également être les plus anciens au monde. Jusqu'à ce jour, on n'avait trouvé aucune trace d'église datant d'avant le IVe siècle.
           La découverte
         Deux mosaïques à l'intérieur de l'église relatent l'histoire d'un officier romain et d'une femme nommée Aketous qui a fait un don pour la construction de l'église en mémoire de Dieu. Le dessin d'un poisson, ancien symbole chrétien ayant précédé la croix, orne l'une des mosaïques. Les archéologues estiment que la découverte de morceaux de poterie du IIIe siècle, le style d'écriture grecque utilisée dans les inscriptions, les anciens motifs géométriques représentés sur les mosaïques et la présence d'un poisson plutôt que de la croix laissent penser que l'église n'était plus en activité au IVe siècle.

GOD vs BUDDHA ( PRÉCÉDENT )

camboDIATRIBE

COURRI@L 2006

AUTRES SITES KHMERS

KUN PIMOJ 's HOMEPAGE

PHN@M-P@NH-P@TINS

FRAN-GLO-GIBWÉ

CANADA 3 FOUNDERS

MES EMAILS 2003

THE 6 COMMANDMENTS

MEET WITH GOD

PEN Nearovi, Montréal, Québec, Canada
(nearovi@sympatico.ca)