Podcast Episode 45: Am I Buddhist Enough? Welcome back, this is Daily Buddhism audio show number forty-five. My name is Brian Schell, and I am the your host for the show. You can find the text as well as all links mentioned in this program and all past episodes on the website at www.dailybuddhism.com. Please send in Post from: Daily Buddhism , by Brian Schell Podcast Episode 45: Am I Buddhist Enough?

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Podcast Episode 45: Am I Buddhist Enough?

Suiwo, the disciple of Hakuin, was a good teacher. During one summer seclusion period, a pupil came to him from a southern island of Japan. Suiwo gave him the problem: “Hear the sound of one hand.” The pupil remained three years but could not pass this test. One night he came in tears to Suiwo. “I must Post from: Daily Buddhism , by Brian Schell Koan: Three Days More

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Koan: Three Days More

Patients periodically ask me about whether I include vitamin therapy in my practice. I do not, for a couple of reasons: I feel that if one is eating an organic, well balanced diet that includes lots of fresh fruits and vegetables s/he will naturally get her/his basic nutritional needs met, and therefore supplementing is unnecessary. On this point, however, mention must be made to the importance of eating an organic diet, which studies have shown are much higher in vitamins and minerals than their conventionally grown counter parts. I remember well a study done by Rutger’s University in the early ’90’s which set out to prove that organic produce is no higher in vitamin content than conventionally grown produce. However, the researchers were quite surprised to discover that the opposite is true: organically grown produce is significantly higher in vitamins and minerals than conventionally grown produce. Also, eating a well rounded diet is important here. If food groups are eliminated (contrary to what you may be thinking, chocolate is not a food group) or if the diet is based on fast food or junk food, then taking a general multi-vitamin may be needed to make up for vitamins and minerals lacking in the diet. Many of the vitamins end up in the bottom of the septic tank. When I was studying in acupuncture college, one of my fellow students previously worked for a vitamin company in NJ. He told us a couple of astounding facts. First, he said that if you talk to the workers who clean out the septic tanks you’ll find a cache of vitamin pills at the bottom with their names still imprinted. They were never broken down by the digestive system and integrated into the body. So it makes me wonder how many of these vitamins that are being swallowed are actually being assimilated. He also said that most of the vitamins made in the US were all being manufactured by the same company he worked at in NJ, regardless of brand and price. The company might use different binders, but there is not a whole lot of difference between the vitamins being sold over the counter (OTC) in the various drug, health food, and vitamin stores,regardless of the price charged, excepting packaging. For this reason, I have a couple of brands that I order from for patients using nutritional therapy that are only available to health care practitioners, and are not sold OTC. I am assured of the high quality and assimilation of these products. The vitamin industry is a multi-billion dollar, sales driven industry. I am suspicious that motive for profit outweighs any true health benefits of these products. The New York Times reported this week in the Science Times that “In the past few years, several high-quality studies have failed to show that extra vitamins, at least in pill form, help prevent chronic disease or prolong life.” Here is the article for your perusal. KB This copy is for your pe rs onal, noncommercial use only. You can order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers here or use the “Reprints” tool that appears next to any article. Visit www.nytreprints.com for samples and additional information. Order a reprint of this article now. February 17, 2009 Well Vitamin Pills: A False Hope? By TARA PARKER-POPE Ever since the Nobel Prize -winning biochemist Linus Pauling first promoted “megadoses” of essential nutrients 40 years ago, Americans have been devoted to their vitamins . Today about half of all adults use some form of dietary supplement , at a cost of $23 billion a year. But are vitamins worth it? In the past few years, several high-quality studies have failed to show that extra vitamins, at least in pill form, help prevent chronic disease or prolong life. The latest news came last week after researchers in the Women’s Health Initiative study tracked eight years of multivitamin use among more than 161,000 older women . Despite earlier findings suggesting that multivitamins might lower the risk for heart disease and certain cancers, the study, published in The Archives of Internal Medicine, found no such benefit. Last year, a study that tracked almost 15,000 male physicians for a decade reported no differences in cancer or heart disease rates among those using vitamins E and C compared with those taking a placebo. And in October, a study of 35,000 men dashed hopes that high doses of vitamin E and selenium could lower the risk of prostate cancer . Of course, consumers are regularly subjected to conflicting reports and claims about the benefits of vitamins, and they seem undeterred by the news — to the dismay of some experts. “I’m puzzled why the public in general ignores the results of well-done trials,” said Dr. Eric Klein, national study coordinator for the prostate cancer trial and chairman of the Cleveland Clinic’s Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute. “The public’s belief in the benefits of vitamins and nutrients is not supported by the available scientific data.” Everyone needs vitamins, which are essential nutrients that the body can’t produce on its own. Inadequate vitamin C leads to scurvy, for instance, and a lack of vitamin D can cause rickets . But a balanced diet typically provides an adequate level of these nutrients, and today many popular foods are fortified with extra vitamins and minerals. As a result, diseases caused by nutrient deficiency are rare in the United States. In any event, most major vitamin studies in recent years have focused not on deficiencies but on whether high doses of vitamins can prevent or treat a host of chronic illnesses. While people who eat lots of nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables have long been known to have lower rates of heart disease and cancer, it hasn’t been clear whether ingesting high doses of those same nutrients in pill form results in a similar benefit. In January, an editorial in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute noted that most trials had shown no cancer benefits from vitamins — with a few exceptions, like a finding that calcium appeared to lower the recurrence of precancerous colon polyps by 15 percent. But some vitamin studies have also shown unexpected harm, like higher lung cancer rates in two studies of beta carotene use. Another study suggested a higher risk of precancerous polyps among users of folic acid compared with those in a placebo group. In 2007, The Journal of the American Medical Association reviewed mortality rates in randomized trials of antioxidant supplements . In 47 trials of 181,000 participants, the rate was 5 percent higher among the antioxidant users. The main culprits were vitamin A, beta carotene and vitamin E; vitamin C and selenium seemed to have no meaningful effect. “We call them essential nutrients because they are,” said Marian L. Neuhouser, an associate member in cancer prevention at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. “But there has been a leap into thinking that vitamins and minerals can prevent anything from fatigue to cancer to Alzheimer’s . That’s where the science didn’t pan out.” Everyone is struggling to make sense of the conflicting data, said Andrew Shao, vice president for scientific and regulatory affairs at the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a vitamin industry trade group. Consumers and researchers need to “redefine our expectations for these nutrients,” he said. “They aren’t magic bullets.” Part of the problem, he said, may stem from an inherent flaw in the way vitamins are studied. With drugs, the gold standard for research is a randomized clinical trial in which some patients take a drug and others a placebo. But vitamins are essential nutrients that people ingest in their daily diets; there is no way to withhold them altogether from research subjects. Vitamins given in high doses may also have effects that science is only beginning to understand. In a test tube, cancer cells gobble up vitamin C, and studies have shown far higher levels of vitamin C in tumor cells than are found in normal tissue. The selling point of antioxidant vitamins is that they mop up free radicals, the damaging molecular fragments linked to aging and disease. But some free radicals are essential to proper immune function, and wiping them out may inadvertently cause harm. In a study at the University of North Carolina , mice with brain cancer were given both normal and vitamin-depleted diets . The ones who were deprived of antioxidants had smaller tumors , and 20 percent of the tumor cells were undergoing a type of cell death called apoptosis, which is fueled by free radicals. In the fully nourished mice, only 3 percent of tumor cells were dying. “Most antioxidants are also pro-oxidants,” said Dr. Peter H. Gann, professor and director of research in the department of pathology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “In the right context and the right dose, they may be able to cause problems rather than prevent them.” Scientists suspect that the benefits of a healthful diet come from eating the whole fruit or vegetable, not just the individual vitamins found in it. “There may not be a single component of broccoli or green leafy vegetables that is responsible for the health benefits,” Dr. Gann said. “Why are we taking a reductionist approach and plucking out one or two chemicals given in isolation?” Even so, some individual vitamin research is continuing. Scientists are beginning to study whether high doses of whole-food extracts can replicate the benefits of a vegetable-rich diet. And Harvard researchers are planning to study whether higher doses of vitamin D in 20,000 men and women can lower risk for cancer and other chronic diseases. “Vitamin D looks really promising,” said Dr. JoAnn E. Manson, the chief of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an investigator on several Harvard vitamin studies. “But we need to learn the lessons from the past. We should wait for large-scale clinical trials before jumping on the vitamin bandwagon and taking high doses.” Home Health

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Studies Show Vitamins Do Not Cure Disease or Prolong Life

Issue #19 ($1.25) Contents of This Issue: Koan: Reciting Sutras Buddhist Funerals Life and Death Rebirth, Death, Heaven, and Nirvana Guest Article: Reflective Journaling, by Manata Koan: Seizei Alone and Poor Jataka Tales XVIII Koan: The Mind is Buddha Weekly Announcements and Links 10 Pages. Buy it now for $1.25 Post from: Daily Buddhism, by Brian Schell Weekly Buddhism Issue 19 Post from: Daily Buddhism , by Brian Schell Weekly Buddhism Issue 19

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Weekly Buddhism Issue 19

Podcast Episode 44: Matters of Life and Death Announcements: Last week there was a lot of interest in my special offer for new subscribers to the Weekly Buddhism PDF Magazine, so I’ve decided to extend the offer for one more week.  If you sign up for an ongoing month-month subscription to the magazine before February 22nd, I’ll Post from: Daily Buddhism , by Brian Schell Podcast Episode 44: Matters of Life and Death

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Podcast Episode 44: Matters of Life and Death

The pictures are absolutely hilarious . They are pictures of dogs and their owners. I think they were once part of a promotion for Cesar dog food and the dog owners were doing their best to support the old rumor that dog owners resemble their dogs — or vice versa. In the case of these images, they were spot on — sorry, pun intended. And the “look-alike rumor” is based on a deeper truth: we do take on the qualities of the object of our love. Which brings me to the theme of “neighboring.” “So just who is my neighbor?” This question was launched by an expert on the Old Testament law to test Jesus. While it may seem innocent enough at first glance, underneath it was the push to find out just what is needed to qualify for eternal life (Luke 10:25). To put it crassly, “What’s my minimum requirement on being neighborly?” Jesus addressed the question in three powerful ways, never letting the “expert in the law” off the hook . Jesus was going to make sure this expert had to “own” his answer. Jesus asked the man to state his understanding of God’s truth twice, rather than Jesus giving the “expert” an answer (Luke 10:26;  Luke 10:36). First, Jesus made clear the issue is about “neighboring”: intention and emotion are important, but godly compassion always involves action (James 2:14-17;  1 John 3:16-17). Jesus made this powerfully clear by answering the question by telling the story of “the good Samaritan” (Luke 10:30-35). The question is not, “Who is my neighbor [who I must serve]?” Instead, the question is, “Who needs neighboring: who needs my help and support?” And Jesus frames the story by the emphasis on “doing compassion” by framing the story with these two phrases: (1) “Do this and live” (Luke 10:28 TNIV), and (2) “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:35). Second, Jesus demonstrated what it means to “love your neighbor as yourself.” A simple scan of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John — the books in the Bible that tell the story of Jesus — help us understand just what “neighboring” means. We meet men and women, religious and non-religious, leaders and powerless, rich and poor, able-bodied and those who are sick, dying, and dead. Jesus simply ignored the categories we so easily force people to fit. He broke social barriers, gender barriers, and religious stereotypes. He did not meet someone who was not his neighbor and he calls us to live the same way. Third, Jesus always kept the command to “love your neighbor as yourself” connected to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind” (Luke 10:27). We become like the One we love! We cannot love God and not love others (1 John 4:7-21). So what’s the point of all of this? Simple: it’s not about figuring out who is our neighbor, but about neighboring those around us in need! Make a list of all the different kinds of people Jesus served — take a quick scan of the gospels to remind yourself of all the different kinds of people Jesus’ life touched in a redemptive way (Matthew 8:1-38;  Mark 9:1-50;  Mark 3:1-64;  Luke 7:1-50 are a good start). What do you think the message is for you and how you are to “neighbor” others based on Jesus’ example? How would you describe what “neighboring” others means in your daily life? What leads you to keep from “neighboring” those who need our help? What makes it hard “neighboring” others you may not know? What makes it hard “neighboring” those you do know? I’d love to hear from you on my blog about this: http://www.thephilfiles.com/2009/02/01/neighboring © Phil Ware. All rights reserved. Phil Ware is minister of the Word at Southern Hills Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas. For the past 10+ years, he has also been co-editor of HEARTLIGHT Magazine. For more details, click here . Website: Southern Hills Church of Christ

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Neighboring

I’m excited to announce The Power of Less New Year’s Challenge — it’s free, and it’ll help you form a new habit in 30 days, in just 10 minutes a day. It’s a great way to start the New Year, and to make 2009 a great year. Forming a new habit is better than making a resolution, because if you use the effective habit-change principles in The Power of Less, the habit will stick with you much longer than the resolution. How It Works Here’s how The Power of Less New Year’s Challenge works: SIGN UP for the Challenge by joining THE POWER OF LESS Challenge forum … it’s free and easy to sign up. Read the FAQ for the forum when you sign up for more info on how to use the forum. PUBLICLY COMMIT . Once you’ve joined the forum, go to the section that asks you to post your new habit. Start a new topic, introduce yourself and tell everyone what your habit will be for the 30 days. This is a public commitment that will hold you accountable and motivate you. FOCUS on the new habit for just 10 minutes a day, EVERY DAY. No exceptions. No excuses. Everyone has 10 minutes a day. You might need to plan your schedule to ensure you’ve set aside the 10 minutes for the day, but do not make exceptions ! Read more: 9 Rules to Form a Habit (pdf format) . REPORT your progress each day on THE POWER OF LESS Challenge forum. It’s simple and takes 2 minutes: log in to the forum, go to the daily progress thread (there’s a new one each day) and That’s it. Just four simple steps: sign up, publicly commit, focus on the goal for just 10 minutes a day, and take 2 minutes each day to report your progress. In 30 days, you’ll have a new habit! See 9 Rules to Form a Habit (pdf format) for strategies that will ensure your success in the Challenge! Go to The Power of Less New Year’s Challenge for more! My New Year’s Challenge: To Become More Present To get things started, I’ll report my New Year’s Challenge: For January I’d like to practice mindfulness — being more present as much as possible. To start small, I’m going to create the new habit of doing Zen meditation for 10 minutes every morning . I actually want to be more present in everything I do — from washing dishes to showering to walking to driving to talking to people — and I’ve been practicing this more and more the last few weeks. But as always, I will start small — if I start with 10 minutes of zazen (sitting meditation) then I can use the progress there and carry it to other parts of my life. My trigger : first thing in the morning, after I have my cup of coffee, before I go on my morning run. To increase accountability : I’m going to tell my friends and family about this and of course post about it here on Zen Habits. I’ll post about it in a couple weeks to let you guys know how things are going, or check out the Challenge to see my daily progress. Wish me luck! And best of luck to everyone participating in the Challenge! Leo

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Make 2009 Great: Join The Power of Less New Year’s Challenge!

Post from: Daily Buddhism The Return Of Buddha Boy This one wasn’t really on the schedule for today, but it’s worth a look: A reader pointed this out to me yesterday: “Buddha boy in Nepal re-emerges after a year” http://www.nj.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/base/international-32/122641285714400.xml&storylist=topstories ‘Buddha boy’ reappears in Nepal” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7722011.stm At first, I was going to make a snarky comment about seeing the Virgin Mary in a

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The Return Of Buddha Boy