Red Carpet International: Kevin Costner

You can see Whitney Houston's Memorial Service Streamed Live here

http://www.livestream.com/aplive

The Winans Family Singing At Whitney Houston's Funeral

http://youtu.be/wupsPg5H6aE
Whitney Singing the American National Anthem at the Super Bowl - The Star Spangled Banner

WHITNEY HOUSTON'S MEMORIAL SERVICE - WE SAY GOODBYE TO A LEGEND

http://www.whitneyhouston.com/us/news/information-about-whitney-houston-memorial-service

Very Sad, Ray J breaks down as Whitney Houston's casket exits church service

NEWARK, N.J. – Friends, family and familiar faces shared their memories for fallen music legend Whitney Houston on Saturday in Newark, NJ, in the church where she sang as a child.

Houston’s aunt, the 70s singing star Dionne Warwick, introduced guest after guest, each of who provided either a heart-warming remembrance, a powerful performance, or both.

Hours before Whitney Houston's funeral, people stop at a memorial outside New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, N.J., where the services will take place.

Kevin Costner, Oprah Winfrey among stars expected at Whitney Houston's funeral

Bobby Brown briefly appears at Houston funeral

Houston Funeral to be a star studded event - Funeral held for Whitney Houston in hometown of Newark, NJ

Kevin Costner gives a moving tribute

Newark Mayor Cory Booker speaks at Whitney Houston’s Funeral

Stevie Wonder performs at Whitney Houston’s Funeral

Rev Jesse James

Tyler Perry’s encouragement at Whitney Houston’s Funeral

Kevin Costner, Houston’s co-star on her biggest movie, “The Bodyguard,” thanked the Houston family for inviting him and his wife, calling Houston a “sweet miracle,” before saying he and Houston had a lot in common.

“We both grew up in the Baptist church,” he said, remembering that he and the singer used to talk about getting in trouble in as children in church, as the assembled guests at New Hope Baptist laughed.

“At the height of her fame as a singer I asked her to be my co-star in ‘The Bodyguard,’” he recounted. “I was reminded this would be her first acting role. Maybe I could think of another singer? Maybe someone white?”

So sure was he of his choice, he said, he postponed the movie for a year until Houston’s tour was over. Still, Houston needed to screen test for the role. Costner said Houston’s initial test was a disaster after she put on too much makeup, which ran down her face under the lights. He asked her why she did it. She said, “I just wanted to look my best.” She went back in with a new face, “and the studio fell in love with her.”

“You weren’t just pretty, you were as beautiful as a woman could be,” Costner said. “And people didn’t just like you Whitney. They loved you.”

Bobby Brown came but left after 20 mins

Music mogul Clive Davis, who discovered Houston as a teenager, recounted losing his own parents as a child, including his mother at age 47, one year younger than Houston was when she died.

After Houston broke the record for a single staying in the No. 1 spot, Davis remembered: “I would ask her, ‘Are you pinching herself?’ And she would say, with wide open eyes, ‘I’m pinching myself.’”

Actor/producer Tyler Perry recounted a dinner he had with Houston in Atlanta years ago where he first became aware of Houston's spiritual side.

"It was at that moment I knew I would do all I can to stand with her," he said. "There was a grace that carried her from heaven down through Miss Cissy Houston ... A grace that carried her to the top of the charts. The other thing I know for sure ... Whitney Houston loved the lord."

Alicia Keys performed

Gospel star Bebe Winans was the first of several stars to perform.

"What I'm going to miss, is crazy Whitney," Winans said before recounting a story of how Houston, at the top of her fame, said she wanted to sing backup for him on tour, "Because you're broke, right?" that had the church laughing uproariously.

Winans then gave a powerful performance, as did singer Alicia Keys. Pop superstar Stevie Wonder remembered recording a duet with Houston, saying he had had a “little crush on her,” before singing “The Ribbon in the Sky” with some lyrics changed in tribute to Houston.

Bobbi Christina (Whitney's daughter)

Singer R. Kelly fought back tears as he sang “I Look To You,” the song he wrote for Whitney Houston’s 2009 comeback album of the same name. Gospel star Cece Winans ended her performance by singing ‘Yes, Jesus Loves Me,” which was the last song Houston ever sang in public, onstage with a friend in a club days before her death.

Several more music and entertainment stars were also there to say good-bye to their friend, including talk show titan Oprah Winfrey, singer Mariah Carey, and actor Forest Whitaker.

Houston’s mother Cissy Houston, her much-maligned ex husband, Bobby Brown, and their daughter, Bobbi Kristina were in attendance as well. But Brown only stayed for a brief period, touching her casket, then moving to the back of the church and leaving soon after. TMZ reported that he brought an entourage of nine people, instead of his allotted two, whom the church then refused to seat.

Brown was scheduled to perform with his band in Connecticut later Saturday evening. His daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown was hospitalized twice in the 24 hours following her mother’s death. TMZ said Houston’s family would not let him near Bobbi Kristina.

Whitney's hearst

Aretha Franklin, whom Houston lovingly called "Aunt Ree," had been expected to sing at the service, but fell ill.

"Regretfully, I am so sorry that I was unable to be with you at Whitney's service today," Frankin said in a statement. "I had every intention of being there. But unfortunately I had terrible leg spasms and locked leg muscles until 4 a.m. this morning following my concert last night, which I've been having for the last few days."

The service, on an unseasonably warm day under clear blue skies, marked exactly one week after Houston -- one of music's all-time biggest stars -- was found dead in a Beverly Hills hotel in California. A cause of death has yet to be determined.

Houston is to be buried next to her father, John Houston, in nearby Westfield, N.J.

Whitney's funeral Procession

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/02/18/new-jersey-hometown-to-reclaim-whitney-houston-at-funeral/#ixzz1mlzPZRgs

SEE OUR PRAYER FOR WHITNEY HOUSTON BELOW

FEBRUARY 17, 2012, 12:59 pm

This Saturday, February 18th, the Houston family will celebrate the life of Whitney Houston. They ask that we all come together to remember Whitney and invite you to view the memorial service online. Click here to visit the Associated Press LiveStream Channel.

We all have wonderful memories of Whitney & Saturday will be a day for us to honor the woman that touched so many people around the world. We ask you to join us in honoring her spirit by changing your profile pictures to an image you love of Whitney Houston.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, the Houston family has requested that donations be made to the Whitney Houston Academy of Creative and Performing Arts. Click here to learn how you can make a donation.

http://www.whitneyhouston.com/us/news/donate

King of Prayers (The Extroadinary Bodhisattva Aspiration of Samantabahdra)

This practice is the most popular of all the tibetan buddhist practices and prayers for those deceased, and it generates incredible merit and purification. Venerable Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche gives a good commentary here on King of Prayers. The prayer is below, and the original of this prayer and some commentary and instructions can be found on Venerable Thubten Chodron’s website.

I bow down to the youthful Arya Manjushri.

You lions among humans,
Gone to freedom in the present, past and future
In the worlds of ten directions,
To all of you, with body, speech and sincere mind I bow down.

With the energy of aspiration for the bodhisattva way,
With a sense of deep respect,
And with as many bodies as atoms of the world,
To all you Buddhas visualized as real, I bow down.

On every atom are Buddhas numberless as atoms,
Each amidst a host of bodhisattvas,
And I am confident the sphere of all phenomena
Is entirely filled with Buddhas in this way.

With infinite oceans of praise for you,
And oceans of sound from the aspects of my voice,
I sing the breathtaking excellence of Buddhas,
And celebrate all of you Gone to Bliss.

Beautiful flowers and regal garlands,
Sweet music, scented oils and parasols,
Sparkling lights and sublime incense,
I offer to you Victorious Ones.

Fine dress and fragrant perfumes,
Sandalwood powder heaped high as Mount Meru,
All wondrous offerings in spectacular array,
I offer to you Victorious Ones.

With transcendent offerings peerless and vast,
With profound admiration for all the Buddhas,
With strength of conviction in the bodhisattva way,
I offer and bow down to all Victorious Ones.

Every harmful action I have done
With my body, speech and mind
Overwhelmed by attachment, anger and confusion,
All these I openly lay bare before you.

I lift up my heart and rejoice in all positive potential
Of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas in ten directions,
Of solitary realizers, hearers still training and those beyond,
And of all ordinary beings.

You who are the bright lights of worlds in ten directions,
Who have attained a Buddha’s omniscience through the stages of awakening,
All you who are my guides,
Please turn the supreme wheel of Dharma.

With palms together I earnestly request:
You who may actualize parinirvana,
Please stay with us for eons numberless as atoms of the world,
For the happiness and well-being of all wanderers in samsara.

Whatever slight positive potential I may have created,
By paying homage, offering, and acknowledging my faults,
Rejoicing, and requesting that the Buddhas stay and teach,
I now dedicate all this for full awakening.

May you Buddhas now living in the worlds of ten directions,
And all you gone to freedom in the past, accept my offerings.
May those not yet arisen quickly perfect their minds,
Awakening as fully enlightened ones.

May all worlds in ten directions,
Be entirely pure and vast.
May they be filled with bodhisattvas
Surrounding Buddhas gathered beneath a bodhi tree.

May as many beings as exist in ten directions
Be always well and happy.
May all samsaric beings live in accord with the Dharma,
And may their every Dharma wish be fulfilled.

Remembering my past lives in all varieties of existence,
May I practice the bodhisattva way,
And thus, in each cycle of death, migration and birth,
May I always abandon the householder’s life.

Then, following in the footsteps of all the Buddhas,
And perfecting the practice of a bodhisattva,
May I always act without error or compromise,
With ethical discipline faultless and pure.

May I teach the Dharma in the language of gods,
In every language of spirits and nagas,
Of humans and of demons,
And in the voice of every form of being.

May I be gentle-minded, cultivating the six paramitas,
And never forget bodhicitta.
May I completely cleanse without omission
Every negativity and all that obscures this awakening mind.

May I traverse all my lives in the world,
Free of karma, afflictions and interfering forces,
Just as the lotus blossom is undisturbed by the water’s wave,
Just as the sun and moon move unhindered through the sky.

May I ease the suffering in the lower realms
And in the many directions and dimensions of the universe.
May I guide all wanderers in samsara to the pure bliss of awakening
And be of worldly benefit to them as well.

May I practice constantly for eons to come,
Perfecting the activities of awakening,
Acting in harmony with the various dispositions of beings,
Showing the ways of a bodhisattva.

May I always have the friendship
Of those whose path is like mine,
And with body, words and also mind,
May we practice together the same aspirations and activities.

May I always meet a spiritual mentor
And never displease that excellent friend,
Who deeply wishes to help me
And expertly teaches the bodhisattva way.

May I always directly see the Buddhas,
Masters encircled by bodhisattvas,
And without pause or discouragement for eons to come,
May I make extensive offerings to them.

May I hold within me the Buddha’s genuine Dharma,
Illuminate everywhere the teachings that awaken,
Embody the realizations of a bodhisattva,
And practice ardently in all future eons.

While circling through all states of existence,
May I become an endless treasure of good qualities -
Skillful means, wisdom, samadhi and liberating stabilizations-
Gathering limitless pristine wisdom and positive potential.

On one atom I shall see
Buddha fields numberless as atoms,
Inconceivable Buddhas among bodhisattvas in every field,
Practicing the activities of awakening.

Perceiving this in all directions,
I dive into an ocean of Buddha fields,
Each an ocean of three times Buddhas in the space of a wisp of hair.
So I, too, will practice for an ocean of eons.

Thus I am continually immersed in the speech of the Buddhas,
Expression that reveals an ocean of qualities in one word,
The completely pure eloquence of all the Buddhas,
Communication suited to the varied tendencies of beings.

With strength of understanding I plunge
Into the infinite enlightened speech of the Dharma
Of all Buddhas in three times gone to freedom,
Who continually turn the wheel of Dharma methods.

I shall experience in one moment
Such vast activity of all future eons,
And I will enter into all eons of the three times,
In but a fraction of a second.

In one instant I shall see all those awakened beings,
Past, present and future lions among humans,
And with the power of the illusion-like stabilization
I will constantly engage in their inconceivable activity.

I shall manifest upon one single atom
The array of pure lands present, past and future.
Likewise, I shall enter the array of pure Buddha fields
In every direction without exception.

I shall enter the very presence of all my guides,
Those lights of this world who are yet to appear,
Those sequentially turning the wheels of complete awakening,
Those who reveal nirvana – final, perfect peace.

May I achieve the power of swift, magical emanation,
The power to lead to the great vehicle through every approach,
The power of always beneficial activity,
The power of love pervading all realms,
The power of all surpassing positive potential,
The power of supreme knowledge unobstructed by discrimination,
And through the powers of wisdom, skillful means and samadhi,
May I achieve the perfect power of awakening.

Purifying the power of all contaminated actions,
Crushing the power of disturbing emotions at their root,
Defusing the power of interfering forces,
I shall perfect the power of the bodhisattva practice.

May I purify an ocean of worlds,
May I free an ocean of beings,
May I clearly see an ocean of Dharma,
May I realize an ocean of pristine wisdom.

May I purify an ocean of activities,
May I fulfill an ocean of aspirations,
May I make offerings to an ocean of Buddhas,
May I practice without discouragement for an ocean of eons.

To awaken fully through this bodhisattva way,
I shall fulfill without exception
All the diverse aspirations of the awakening practice
Of all Buddhas gone to freedom in the three times everywhere.

In order to practice exactly as the wise one
Called Samantabhadra, ‘All Embracing Good’,
The elder brother of the sons and daughters of the Buddhas,
I completely dedicate all this goodness.

Likewise may I dedicate
Just as the skillful Samantabhadra,
With pure body, speech and mind,
Pure actions and pure Buddha fields.

I shall give rise to the aspirations of Manjushri
For this bodhisattva practice of all embracing good,
To perfect these practices
Without discouragement or pause in all future eons.

May my pure activities be endless,
My good qualities boundless,
And through abiding in immeasurable activity,
May I actualize infinite emanations.

Limitless is the end of space,
Likewise, limitless are living beings,
Thus, limitless are karma and afflictions.
May my aspiration’s reach be limitless as well.

One may offer to the Buddhas
All wealth and adornments of infinite worlds in ten directions,
And one may offer during eons numberless as atoms of the world
Even the greatest happiness of gods and humans;

But whoever hears this extraordinary aspiration,
And longing for highest awakening
Gives rise to faith just once,
Creates far more precious positive potential.

Those who make this heartfelt aspiration for the bodhisattva way
Will be free of all lower rebirths,
Free of harmful companions,
And will quickly see Amitabha, Infinite Light.

And even in this very human life,
They will be nourished by happiness and have all conducive circumstances.
Without waiting long,
They will become like Samantabhadra himself.

Those who give voice to this extraordinary aspiration
Will quickly and completely purify
The five boundless harmful actions
Created under the power of ignorance.

Blessed with supreme knowledge,
Excellent body, family, attributes, and appearance,
They will be invincible to vast interfering forces and misleading teachers,
And all the three worlds will make offerings.

Going quickly to the noble bodhi tree,
And sitting there to benefit sentient beings,
Subduing all interfering forces,
They will fully awaken and turn the great wheel of Dharma

Have no doubt that complete awakening
Is the fully ripened result – comprehended only by a Buddha -
Of holding in mind by teaching, reading or reciting
This aspiration of the bodhisattva practice.

In order to train just like
The hero Manjushri who knows reality as it is
And just like Samantabhadra as well,
I completely dedicate all this goodness, just as they did.

With that dedication which is praised as greatest
By all the Buddhas gone to freedom in the three times,
I, too, dedicate all my roots of goodness
For the attainments of the bodhisattva practice.

When the moment of my death arrives,
By eliminating all obscurations
And directly perceiving Amitabha,
May I go immediately to Sukhavati, Pure Land of Great Joy.

Having gone to Sukhavati,
May I actualize the meaning of these aspirations,
Fulfilling them all without exception,
For the benefit of beings for as long as this world endures.

Born from an extremely beautiful, superlative lotus
In this joyful land, the Buddha’s magnificent mandala,
May I receive a prediction of my awakening
Directly from the Buddha Amitabha.

Having received a prediction there,
May I create vast benefit
For beings throughout the ten directions,
With a billion emanations by the power of wisdom.

Through even the small virtue I have accumulated
By offering this prayer of the bodhisattva practice,
May all the positive aspirations of beings
Be fulfilled in an instant.

Through creating limitless positive potential
By dedicating this prayer of Samantabhadra’s deeds,
May all beings drowning in this torrent of suffering,
Enter the presence of Amitabha.

Through this king of aspirations, which is the greatest of the sublime,
Helping infinite wanderers in samsara,
Through the accomplishment of this scripture dazzling with Samantabhadra’s practice,
May suffering realms be utterly emptied of all beings.

At the conclusion of the practices

With the conclusion of buddhist practice, its always very good to dedicate the merit to the deceased for their fortunate rebirth and enlightenment. Also its very good to dedicate it for the enlightenment of all beings. Even though we do these practices for others, we’re actually generating vast stores of merit for ourselves, so its very important that we remember to dedicate the merits to enlightenment.