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Rātana Church near Raetihi

The Rātana movement is a Māori religion and pan-tribal political movement founded by Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana in early 20th-century New Zealand. The Rātana Church has its headquarters at the settlement of Rātana, near Wanganui.

[edit] Ture Wairua (spiritual mission)

In 1918 Rātana saw a vision, which he regarded as divinely inspired, asking him to preach the gospel to the Māori people, to destroy the power of the tohunga, and to cure the spirits and bodies of his people.

Until 1924 he preached to increasingly large numbers of Māori and established a name for himself as the "Māori Miracle Man". Initially, the movement was seen as a Christian revival, but it soon moved away from mainstream churches. On 31 May 1925, Te Haahi Rātana (The Rātana Church) was formally established as a separate church, and its founder was acknowledged as Te Mangai or the mouthpiece of God.

Hostile attitudes have caused the church to be guarded towards its teaching and founder.

[edit] Ture Tangata (secular movement)

The Rātana Church is made up of the Ture Wairua (spiritual laws) and the Ture Tangata (physical laws). The spiritual laws were itemised as the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the faithful angels.

In order that these things should become manifest, a price was paid by the sons of Tahupotiki Wiremu Rātana: Te Arepa, Te Omeka, Piriwiritua, and Hamuera. Rātana said he would divide his body into four parts: in the west was Te Arepa, in the south was Te Omeka, in the north was Piriwiritua, and in the east was Hamuera. These names represented members of Parliament and the four seats that Maori were allowed to vote for. These seats were all held by the New Zealand Labour Party.

Te Mangai is spirit, and his kaupapa was the spiritual laws, which were supported and endorsed by his chosen people—the Morehu. The Morehu determined that they should support and endorse Rātana. The right was given by Ihoa. Piriwiritua carried the kaupapa, which was to address the sicknesses of the land, the Rātana movement. He needed Maori to be united for the Treaty to become entrenched into law. From the treaty comes the laws of man: two people but one land.

In 1924 a group including Rātana journeyed to Europe to unsuccessfully present a petition to George V and the League of Nations on land confiscations and the Treaty of Waitangi. Later trips were made to the U.S. and Canada. These trips were not without controversy. The New Zealand Government acted to prevent the petition being presented to the monarch, and the visit to Japan on the way back from Europe created allegations of disloyalty and of flying the Japanese flag over the church settlement of Rātana Pā.

When the Rātana temple Te Temepara Tapu o Ihoa (The Holy Temple of Jehovah) was completed on 25 January 1928, Rātana declared his spiritual work was complete. Calling himself Piri Wiri Tua (the campaigner), he called the four seats in Parliament reserved for Māori the koata (quarters) of his body. This term is from the Maori language and is applied to each of the four New Zealand Maori seats and to the Rātana movement Members of Parliament (MP) who held them.

[edit] Koata (political movement)

As early as 1923, Rātana had declared an interest in party politics, and his eldest son Haami Tokouru Rātana had stood for the Western Maori electorate as an independent candidate. Now Rātana was determined to capture the Māori electorates to give a voice for his movement.

In January 1928, Rātana called himself Piri Wiri Tua and called on four followers to be the quarters of his body and rule the land. The "first cut" was Paraire Karaka Paikea in the north, Haami Tokouru Rātana in the west, Pita Moko in the east, and Eruera Tirikatene in the south. Pita Moko being replaced later by Tiaki Omana in the "second cut". The covenant signed by the men promised they would not rest, and their wives separately agreed that they would go barefoot and in rags to represent the Rātana movement. All four went on to capture the Maori seats between 1932 and 1943.

Rātana candidates stood in the 1928 and 1931 General Election and in the 1930 by-election in Western Maori following the death of Maui Pomare, but they did not succeed. The first Rātana movement MP was Eruera Tirikatene, elected in a by-election for Southern Maori in June 1932. He was followed by Haami Tokouru Rātana (known as Toko) in Western Maori in the 1935 general election. In the 1938 election, the third Māori electorate of Northern Maori was captured by Paraire Karaka Paikea, and the last (Eastern Maori) was won by Tiaki Omana in the 1943 election.

The Rātana Independent Members of Parliament were the first to represent a political party in which most party members were Māori. Major aims of the movement were statutory recognition of the Treaty of Waitangi, righting the confiscation grievances of the Māori people, and equality in social welfare for Māori.

Alliance with the Labour Party[link]

Following the 1935 General Election of the First Labour Government, the two Rātana MPs agreed to vote with Labour. This alliance was formalised with the Rātana movement joining the Labour Party in a meeting between Rātana and Prime Minister Michael Savage on 22 April 1936. The Prime Minister was given four symbolic gifts: a potato, a broken gold watch, a pounamu hei-tiki, and a huia feather. The potato represented loss of Māori land and means of sustenance, the broken watch represented the broken promises of the Treaty of Waitangi, and the pounamu represented the mana of the Māori people. If Savage could restore these three, he would earn the right to wear the huia feather to signify his chiefly status. The gifts were regarded as so precious they were buried with Savage at his state funeral in 1940.

The four Māori electorates were held by Rātana-affiliated members of Labour for decades: until 1963 for the Eastern Maori electorate, 1980 for Northern Maori, and 1996 for Western and Southern Maori electorates.

Rātana movement Members of Parliament have included Tapihana Paraire Paikea, Haami Tokouru Rātana, Matiu Rātana, Iriaka Rātana, Koro Wētere, Paraone Reweti, Matiu Rata, and Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan. Mita Ririnui, who was a List MP as of 2006 and who held the Māori seat of Waiariki from 1999 to 2005, is a Rātana minister.

Importance in New Zealand politics[link]

In both the parliaments of 1946–1948 and of 1957–1960, the formation of a Labour Government depended on the votes of the Rātana Movement members. Not all Labour Party Māori MPs have been members of the Rātana Church, but the alliance with Rātana allowed Labour to hold on to all four Māori electorates from the 1940s until 1996.

Although the dominance of the Labour Rātana over the Māori electorates has been broken, the Rātana movement is still a major force in New Zealand politics. Labour Party ministers and MPs attend the annual celebrations at Rātana Pā on the date of Rātana's birth. The 2006 celebration was attended by Labour leader and Prime Minister Helen Clark, leader of the National Party Don Brash, co-leaders of the Māori Party Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples, and leader of New Zealand First Winston Peters.

Church leaders[link]

• Tahupotiki Wiremu Rātana (1925–1939)
• Haami Tokouru Rātana (1939–1944)
• Matiu Rātana (1944–1950)
• Puhi o Aotea Ratahi (1950–1966)
• Maata "Te Reo" Hura (1966–1991)
• Raniera Te Aou Hou Rātana (1991–1998)

References[link]

• Henderson, James Mcleod (1963). Ratana The Man, The Church, The Movement (1st ed.) A.H & A.W. Reed Ltd ISBN 0-589-00619-3.
• Maori Leaders – Treaty of Waitangi
• Stokes, Jon (21 January 2006). "Enduring attraction of Ratana". The New Zealand Herald. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10364662. Retrieved 12 September 2011. 
• A Sleeping Giant
• Te Haahi Ratana; Ratana Church (official website)
• Photos of T.W. Ratana and the Ratana Church by Ans Westra

Bhikkhu Bodhi
School	Theravada
Personal
Nationality	American
Born	(1944-12-10) December 10, 1944 (age 67) Brooklyn, New York, United States
Senior posting
Based in	Buddhist Publication Society Sangha Council of Bodhi Monastery Yin Shun Foundation
Predecessor	Ven. Nyanaponika Thera (BPS editor and president)
Successor	Mr. Kariyavasam (BPS editor)[1]
Religious career
Teacher	Ven. Ananda Maitreya

Bhikkhu Bodhi (b. December 10, 1944, NYC), born Jeffrey Block, is an American Theravada Buddhist monk, ordained in Sri Lanka and currently teaching in the New York/New Jersey area. He was appointed the second president of the Buddhist Publication Society and has edited and authored several publications grounded in the Theravada Buddhist tradition.

Life[link]

In 1944, Block was born in Brooklyn, NY. In 1966, he obtained a B.A. in philosophy from Brooklyn College. In 1972, he obtained a PhD in philosophy from Claremont Graduate School.^[2][3]

In 1967, while still a graduate student, Bodhi was ordained as a novice monk in the Vietnamese Mahayana order.^[3] In 1972, after graduation, Bodhi traveled to Sri Lanka where, under Ven. Ananda Maitreya,^[4] he received novice ordination and, in 1973, he received full ordination in a Theravada order.^[2]

In 1984, succeeding co-founder Ven. Nyanaponika Thera,^[4] Bodhi was appointed English-language editor of the Buddhist Publication Society (BPS, Sri Lanka) and, in 1988, became its president.^[1][2][5] In 2002, he retired from the society's editorship while still remaining its president.^[1][3][5]

In 2000, at the United Nations' first official Vesak celebration, Bodhi gave the keynote address.^[6]

In 2002, after retiring as editor of BPS,^[3] Bodhi returned to the United States. He currently teaches at Bodhi Monastery (Lafayette, New Jersey) and Chuang Yen Monastery (Carmel, New York) and is the chairman of the Yin Shun Foundation.^[2][7]

Bhikkhu Bodhi is founder of the organisation "Buddhist Global Relief", which is fighting hunger across the world.^[8]

Publications and teachings[link]

Bodhi's publications include:

• The Noble Eightfold Path: Way to the End of Suffering (1984, BPS; 2000, Pariyatti)^[9]
• The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya (with Bhikkhu Nanamoli, 1995, Wisdom Publications)
• Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: An Anthology of Suttas from the Anguttara Nikaya (with Nyanaponika Thera, 2000, Altamira Press)
• The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya (2000, Wisdom Publications)
• A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma: The Abhidhammattha Sangaha of Ācariya Anuruddha (2000, BPS Pariyatti)
• In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon (2005, Wisdom Publications)

Bodhi's on-line courses include:

• "The Buddha's Teaching As It Is" (1981)^[10]
• "A course in Pali Language" (2003)^[11]
• Majjhima Nikaya lectures (2003–2008)^[12]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (December 2011)

• www.dharma.org – An interview with Bhikkhu Bodhi
• Bodhi Monastery
• Online Books and Articles at "Access to Insight"
• Suttas read aloud
• Dhamma Talks
• Videos of Bhikkhu Bodhi at "Google Video"
• Insight Meditation Center talks

Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana (25 January 1873? – 18 September 1939) was the founder of the Rātana religion in the early 20th century in New Zealand. He rose to prominence as a faith healer.

Beginnings[link]

Rātana was of the Ngati Apa and Ngā Wairiki iwi — his subtribes were Nga Ariki, Ngāti Hikapirau, Ngāti Rangiwaho, Ngāti Kiriwheke and Ngati Kauae —and on his mother's side he was of Ngā Rauru Kiitahi, His mother belonging to the Rangitaawhi Hapū.

He Married Te Urumanao Ngāpaki Baker, who had whakapapa links to the Ngāti Ruanui, and possibly Te Āti Awa also.

Rātana began his spiritual mission during the 1918 influenza epidemic. He claimed that while standing on the veranda of his home at 2pm, on 8 November 1918, three days before the end of the First World War, he saw a small cloud coming in from the sea toward his house. When the cloud 'broke open' he was overwhelmed by a presence and he rushed into the house declaring 'Peace be unto you all, for I am the Holy Spirit that speaks to you all. Straighten yourselves. Repent'. He was told the Holy Spirit was looking for a people through whom God could be truly known and accepted. The Māori people had not forgotten Jehovah and so they had been chosen to become an example to the world if only they would turn from their dependence on tohungaism (particularly the manipulative forms of witchcraft) and Maori gods. Rātana was told to unite the Māori and turn them to Ihoa o nga Mano (Jehovah of the Multitudes).^[1] He continued his study of the Bible and began one of the most powerful faith healing ministries in New Zealand history. He came known as "Mangai" (a mouthpiece of God) gained a large following among Māori.

Variants of his name include Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana, Tahu Pōtiki Wiremu Rātana and T. W. Rātana.

Politics[link]

From 1922 onwards the Rātana movement became increasingly occupied with politics. The movement campaigned for ratification of the Treaty of Waitangi as a "cure-all" for Māori problems and collected 30,000 signatures on a petition calling for this. In 1928 Rātana proclaimed that Rātana candidates would win the four Māori seats in the Parliament of New Zealand, likening them to the four parts of his body, or the Four Quarters, as the seats became known. Eruera Tirikatene arranged a meeting with Michael J. Savage in Parliament on 4 February 1936 at which an alliance with the Labour Party was agreed. Savage's predecessor Harry Holland had been reluctant, because of the animosity between Rātana and the Māori King Movement, especially Princess Te Puea. By 1943, the seats had been won, although Rātana died in 1939.

Legacy[link]

The Rātana Church remains one of the largest churches in Māoridom. The political links with the Labour Party remained strong for over 40 years, but were effectively broken by the rise of the Māori Party, which was founded in 2004 and came to power in a coalition (with the National Party, Labour's traditional rival) after the 2008 election.

References[link]

External links[link]

• T. W. Ratana on the Rātana Church website
• Biography in the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
• Biography in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography

Imee Ooi

Imee Ooi (pronounce as English "E-ME WOO --E"^{[needs Chinese IPA]} (connected) - Ch: 黃慧音, pinyin: Huáng Huìyīn, which means HUANG-Yellow - HUI-Wisdom - YIN-Sound/Music, being her original name by birth) is a Malaysian music producer, composer, arranger and vocalist who brings traditional Buddhist chants, mantras and dharanis (typically from the Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan or Mandarin languages) into sung versions with accompanying musical scores. She also is a classical pianist by training.

Ooi is the musical director and composer of two highly-acclaimed stage musicals; Siddhartha and Above Full Moon, and is currently working on a musical entitled Jewel of Tibet. The musical is set during the Tang Dynasty and is about a Tang princess who marries a Tibetan king and how she brings Buddhism to Tibet.

Imee Ooi established I.M.M Musicworks in 1997, and to date has released over 20 albums.

Discography[link]

• Jayamangalagatha Mantra
• The Chant of Metta
• Great Compassionate Mantra
• Mantra of Guanyin
• Mantras of the Sanskrit
• Namo Amitabha (Mandarin)
• Diamond Sutra (Mandarin)
• Arya Ekdasa-Mukha Dharani
• Medicine Buddha Dharani
• Amitabha (Mandarin)
• Usnisa Vijaya Dharani Sutra
• Karaniya Metta Sutta
• Ratana Sutta, Discourse of the Jewels
• The Wisdom of Manjusri Bodhisattva
• Series of 10 Short Mantras, Volume 1
• Series of 10 Short Mantras, Volume 2
• Series of 10 Short Mantras, Volume 3
• Series of 10 Short Mantras, Volume 4
• Tisarana
• Heart Sutra
• Om Mani Padme Hum
• Green Tara Mantra
• The Mantra of Guru Rinpoche
• Chants from Heart to Heart
• Message in Music Vol.1
• Message in Music Vol.2
• Message in Music Vol.3
• Heart Of Repentance
• Hymns Of The Pureland
• The Shore Beyond Prajna Paramita Hrdaya Sutram (Sanskrit)
• Universal Door Chapter (The Lotus Sutra)
• The Mantra Of Vajrasattva ~ Om Benza Sato Hum
• World In One Heart : Voices Of The Heart Sutra
• Shurangama Mantra

References[link]

• Meet Imee the mantra musician
• I.M.M. Music Works
• An interview by 劉潔芬 in Chinese: 俗世慧音

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