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AIT Community got to know more about Buddhism through various activities held during the Week on Buddhism at AIT from June 23–28, 2003. Highlights of the event were an interactive CD presentation on the “Life and Teachings of Lord Buddha” and the Dhamma Park at Korea House.

A triptych of Interactive CD-ROMs about the life and teachings of Lord Buddha, based on the mural paintings in the Royal Chapel of Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha)in Bangkok marked the opening ceremony on June 23, 2003 at AIT Conference Center (AITCC) Auditorium. The stunning CD-ROM production was made by Dr Titus Leber, a writer and award-winning producer and film-director from Austria.

The idea for the triptych – to promote the essential concepts of Buddhism for audiences abroad who have little or no knowledge of this philosophy – was initiated by Her Royal Highness the Princess Mother, in a pamphlet entitled “What Did the Buddha Teach?”. Dr. Leber approached the Mae Fah Luang Foundation with the idea of continuing this work using multimedia technology.

One CD-ROM comprises a comprehensive introduction to the fundamental principles of Dhamma. The viewer is given the opportunity to discover the various realms of existence, to understand the different stages of the law of cause and effect as they are symbolically depicted within the Wheel of Life, Paticcasamuppada, the Buddhist theory of consciousness, different episodes of the Jataka tales, large sections of the Tripitaka and more. A new dimension is added by the inclusion of mind-maps, which provide navigational guidance for a comprehensive step-by-step introduction to basic concepts of Buddhist philosophy.

By choosing either the guided-narrative or the random-discovery mode, two universes, reflecting the same chain of events, can be explored in parallel – the historic-archeological by means of geographical navigation, and the imaginary, reflecting the creative vision of artists who visualized the events some 2300 years later.

During his presentation, Dr. Leber noted that when initially approached by the Mae Fah Luang Foundation to produce the CD-ROM, he wasn’t interested. But he changed his mind when he saw the murals in the Royal Chapel. The production, which took almost four years to complete, involved scanning the temple walls and reassembling the images in high solution; then animating them, segment by segment.

Interested persons can order the complete set of CD-ROMs through the Mae Fah Luang Foundation for THB 20,000 (mflfoundation@ hotmail.com).

In the evening, a Dhamma bicycle race was held from AITCC to Korea House, the venue for the Buddhism Week Art Exhibition. The exhibition was organized by Ms. Venetia Walkey, a sculptor and member of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB), and was decorated with flowers by Mr. Mongkol Moungpun of AITCC. An interactive CD-ROM of the life and teaching of Lord Buddha was made available for personal viewing. The presentation highlighted Ms. Walkey’s sculptures, including “Monks Waiting”, “Wheel of Law”, “Nuns Waiting”, “Decline”, and “Monks Going to Prayers”.

Paintings by the Thai artist Mr. Sompop Budtarad were also showcased at the exhibition. Mr. Sompop’s work includes “Mundra Symbol of Buddha Teaching 1” (Clay, Broken pottery and Gold Leaf); “Mundra Symbol of Buddha Teaching 2” (Clay, Acrylic Gold on Paper), and “Emptiness”.

Ms. Walkey is the creator of the Dhamma Park Foundation, which she has referred to as “an exciting third dimension eco-spiritual tourism for those who wish to venture further on their travels.” The concept has evolved from her contemporary, interactive sculptures, symbolizing the Buddha’s teaching on the interdependence of all existing phenomena. The Dhamma Park Project is based at her home in Lampoon Province.

On June 25 there was a lecture on “Buddhist Technology: How to Live Happily in this Hi-Tech World” by Dr. Tavivat Puntarigvivat of the Humanities Department, Mahidol University. Dr Tavivat is also Director of Research and Development at the World Buddhist University in Bangkok. The lecture was held in the Milton E. Bender Auditorium.

The theme of Dr. Tavivat’s lecture was that to live happily is to be aware all the time. Meditation may bring awareness while fully participating in every day life in this high-tech or hectic world. How can you practice meditation by yourself? One way is to sit still, close your eyes, and chase away random thoughts by concentrating your mind on something such as your breathing. This will bring you calmness. According to Dr. Tavivat, this is like putting a stone on the grass. Even though the grass stops growing, it is still there. When we open our eyes and go on with our daily life, we become subject to our random thoughts again – as when the stone is lifted and the grass continues growing.

Another path to awareness is physical exercise. Some of the random thoughts might be kept at bay, and your general level of awareness is raised when exercising, but not necessarily to a very big extent. A better way to practice awareness through the inter-relatedness of body and mind known as ‘dynamic meditation’. In dynamic meditation, you make only one movement of your body at a time while observing and being aware of each and every movement. Don't concentrate, but simply observe the coming and going of random thoughts. While sitting you can move your right hand or arm in one single movement at a time and then the left hand and then the right and so on, the rest of the body is still. You can also do that when walking by keeping your hands still, in your pocket or in front or behind you: the only movement is the moving of one foot, then other foot, and so on. You can also practice this while standing or lying down. In public places, small movements of right and left hands would be enough.


In a lively chat, from left, Phra Pandit of Wat Paknam Pasicharoen; Prof. Jean-Louis Armand, AIT President; Kunga Sangpo Rinpochen from China; Mr. Tenzin Rabgyal of President’s Office; and Ms. Venetia Walkey	Ms. Venetia Walkey amidst the sculpture and paintings


Prof. Gothom Arya, (left) views the exhibition while Ms. Venetia Walkey looks on.	The Dhamma Bicycle racing takes the audiences from AITCC to Korea House

Buddhism Week at AIT