Seth Auberon, Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly VALENTINES DAY; Kevin Rothrock (The World, PRI, 2-5-16); Leningrad; Mardi Gras; Ven. Thanissaro (MN 45)
Are Russians sexier than Americans? New video
Are Russians sexier than Americans? New video |
| Russians must have had more contact with extraplanetary gene pools than Americans. |
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| I'm so beautiful, all-Russian girl, so much hotter than those Amerikkanskis (WQ). |
This music video has attracted more than 32 million views in three weeks. Even for one of Russia’s most popular rock bands, Leningrad’s new song “Display Exhibit” (“Exponat”) stands out as a massive hit.
The song tells the story of a young Russian woman going on a date with a man to an art exhibit featuring work by Vincent van Gogh. The chorus, in Leningrad’s typically obscene style, repeats, “In Louboutins, f---, and in f---ing awesome pants.” (In Russian, the verse rhymes).
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| "The Mystery of Love & Sex" (Mark Taper Forum, L.A., Center Theatre Group |
The music video fleshes out the protagonist a bit more. It begins with the woman telling a guy over video chat that she’s just turned down an allowance from her wealthy father and moved into a loft to pursue art.The guy, who’s dressed like a businessman and flanked by wall clocks showing the times in Moscow and Tokyo, shows mild interest in her drawing.
We soon learn the woman is lying about the drawing. He then invites her to see a new Van Gogh exhibit.
After demurely accepting his invitation and ending the call, the woman begins jumping up and down with joy (screaming, Spaseebo, spaseebo! "Thank you, thank you!"), declaring how awesome she is.
(PCP) Catholic for a day, guilt-ridden repentant sinner for the rest of the year: Fat Tuesday! Thousands flock to Mardi Gras for the annual celebration in New Orleans, Louisiana. Hedonistic parades fill the streets as the party rages on Bourbon Street (mardigrasneworleans.com).
(PCP) Catholic for a day, guilt-ridden repentant sinner for the rest of the year: Fat Tuesday! Thousands flock to Mardi Gras for the annual celebration in New Orleans, Louisiana. Hedonistic parades fill the streets as the party rages on Bourbon Street (mardigrasneworleans.com).
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| Who can top the USA in the Sixties for a sexual revolution and gorgeous hippies? |
Her mother walks in, and the audience realizes that the young woman was lying about having moved away from home (and about being rich). She spends the rest of the video hunting down the perfect outfit, which she hopes to use to seduce him into marriage and a comfortable life. First she bullies a friend into loaning her a pair of shoes that resemble the far more expensive Christian Louboutin stilettos, and then she goes to great lengths to squeeze into impossibly skinny jeans.
“Don’t talk that way about bread!” her mother answers. “Our granny lived through the Blockade [of Leningrad]!” Still suffering, the young woman fires back, now crying, “Granny lived, but I’m f---ed.”
Though she eventually finds her way into the jeans, things don’t end so well for our heroine. Join millions of other people and watch the video’s dramatic conclusion, which hardly requires Russian fluency to enjoy: More
Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Savatthi in Jeta's Grove in Anathapindika's monastery. There he addressed the disciples: "Meditators!"
"Yes, venerable sir," they replied.
"Meditators, there are these four ways of taking on practices. What are the four?
"The thought occurs to them: 'Now, what future danger concerning sensual pleasures do those [other] Brahmins and wandering ascetics foresee that they have spoken of the relinquishment of sensual pleasures and describe the full comprehension of sensual pleasures? It is pleasant, the touch of this female-wanderer's soft, tender, downy arm.'
"Thus, they meet their downfall through sensual pleasures. Then, having met their downfall through sensual pleasures, with the breakup of the body, after death, they go to a bad destination, downfall, to the realm of the hungry ghosts, even to hell (niraya). There they experience sharp, burning pains.
"They say, 'This was the future danger concerning sensual pleasures those Brahmins and wandering ascetics foresaw that they spoke of the relinquishment of sensual pleasures and described the full comprehension of sensual pleasures.
"'It is because of sensual pleasures, as a result of sensual pleasures, that we are now experiencing these sharp, burning pains.'
[Tree spirit simile]
"It is just as if a maluva creeper (Phanera vahlii) pod were to burst open in the last month of the hot season, and a maluva creeper seed were to fall at the foot of a sal tree.
The deva [dryad] living in that tree would become scared, apprehensive, and anxious. Her friends and companions, relatives and kin -- garden devas, forest devas, tree devas, devas living in herbs, grass, and forest monarchs -- would gather together to console her:
"'Have no fear, have no fear! In all likelihood a peacock is sure to swallow this maluva creeper seed, or a deer will eat it, or a brush fire will burn it, or woodsmen will pick it up, or termites will carry it off, and anyway it probably isn't really a seed.'
"And then no peacock swallowed it, no deer ate it, no brush fire burned it, no woodsmen picked it up, no termites carried it off, and it really was a seed. Watered by a rain laden cloud, it sprouted in due course and curled its soft, tender, downy tendril around the sal tree.
"The thought occurred to the deva living in the sal tree: 'Now, what future danger did my friends and companions, relatives and kin -- garden devas, forest devas, tree devas, devas living in herbs, grass, and forest monarchs -- foresee in that maluva creeper seed that they gathered together to console me:
"'Have no fear, have no fear. In all likelihood a peacock is sure to swallow this maluva creeper seed, or a deer will eat it, or a brush fire will burn it, or woodsmen will pick it up, or termites will carry it off, and anyway it probably isn't really a seed." It is pleasant, the touch of this maluva creeper's soft, tender, downy tendril.'
"Then the creeper, having wrapped the sal tree, having made a canopy over it, and cascading down around it, caused the massive limbs of the sal tree to come crashing down.
"The thought occurred to the deva living in the tree: 'This was the future danger my friends...foresaw in that maluva creeper seed, that they gathered together to console me... It is because of that maluva creeper seed that I am now experiencing sharp, burning pains.'
"In the same way, meditators, there are some Brahmins and wandering ascetics who hold to a doctrine, a view like this: 'There is no harm in sensual pleasures.'
Thus, they meet with their downfall through sensual pleasures. They consort with female-wanderers who wear their hair coiled in a topknot.
"The thought occurs to them: 'Now, what future danger do those [other] Brahmins and wandering ascetics foresee that they teach the relinquishment and analysis of sensual pleasures? It is pleasant, the touch of this female-wanderer's soft, tender, downy arm.'
Thus, they meet with their downfall through sensual pleasures. Then, having met with their downfall through sensual pleasures, with the breakup of the body, after death, they go to a bad destination, downfall, the realm of the hungry ghosts, even to hell. There they experience sharp, burning pains. They say:
"'This was the future danger concerning sensual pleasures those Brahmins and wandering ascetics foresaw that they spoke of the relinquishment of sensual pleasures and described the full comprehension of sensual pleasures. It is because of sensual pleasures, as a result of sensual pleasures, that we are now experiencing these sharp, burning pains.'
"This is called the taking on of a practice that is pleasant in the present but yields pain in the future.
II
"And what is [the second example] the taking on of a practice that is [both] painful in the present and yields pain in the future?
"There is the case where someone is a sky-clad ascetic.
"He goes around] rejecting conventions, licking hands, not coming when asked, not staying when asked.
He does not consent to food brought to him or food dedicated to him or to an invitation to a meal. He accepts nothing from the mouth of a pot or from the mouth of a bowl. He accepts nothing from across a stick, across a pestle, from two eating together, from a pregnant woman, from a nursing woman, from a woman lying with a man, from a food collection, from where a dog is waiting or flies are buzzing.
"He [accepts] no fish or meat. He drinks no liquor, wine, or fermented drink. He limits himself to one house [on alms round] and one morsel a day, or two houses and two morsels...seven houses and seven morsels. He lives on one handful a day, two...seven handfuls a day. He takes food once a day, once every two days...once every seven days, and so on up to a fortnight, devoted to regulating his intake of food.
"He is an eater of greens, millet, wild rice, hide-parings, moss, rice bran, rice-scum, sesame flour, grass, or cow dung. He lives on forest roots and berries. He eats only fallen fruit.
"He wears [coarse] hemp, canvas, shrouds, refuse rags, tree bark, antelope hide, strips of antelope hide, kusa-grass garments, bark garments, wood-shaving garments, head-hair garments, animal wool, owl's wings. He is a hair-and-beard puller, one devoted to the practice of plucking out his hair and beard [rather than shaving].
"He is a stander, one who rejects seats. He is a hands-around-the-knees sitter, one devoted to the exertion [ascetic practice] of sitting with his hands around his knees. He is a spike-mattresser, one who makes his bed on a bed of spikes. He is a third-time-in-the-evening bather, one who stays devoted to the practice of bathing in water.
"Thus, in a variety of ways he stays devoted to the practice of tormenting and afflicting the body [with severe ascetic practices as if it were the body, not the mind, to blame for sensual desires]. With the breakup of the body, after death, one goes to a bad destination [below the human plane], the downfall, the realm of the hungry ghosts, even to hell
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Ven. Thanissaro (trans.), "The Shorter Discourse on Taking on Practices" (Cula-Dhammasamadana Sutra, MN 45) edited by Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly
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| Tugba Sunguroglu, Ilayda Akdogan, Doga Zeynep Doguslu, Elit Iscan, Gunes Sensoy (CMG) |
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| Might there be a danger in sensual craving? |
"Yes, venerable sir," they replied.
"Meditators, there are these four ways of taking on practices. What are the four?
- There is the taking on of a practice that is pleasant in the present but yields pain in the future.
- There is the taking on of a practice that is painful in the present and yields pain in the future.
- There is the taking on of a practice that is painful in the present but yields pleasure in the future.
- There is the taking on of a practice that is pleasant in the present and yields pleasure in the future.
"The thought occurs to them: 'Now, what future danger concerning sensual pleasures do those [other] Brahmins and wandering ascetics foresee that they have spoken of the relinquishment of sensual pleasures and describe the full comprehension of sensual pleasures? It is pleasant, the touch of this female-wanderer's soft, tender, downy arm.'
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| The Buddha under bodhi tree with devas |
"They say, 'This was the future danger concerning sensual pleasures those Brahmins and wandering ascetics foresaw that they spoke of the relinquishment of sensual pleasures and described the full comprehension of sensual pleasures.
"'It is because of sensual pleasures, as a result of sensual pleasures, that we are now experiencing these sharp, burning pains.'
[Tree spirit simile]
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| Dryad (Evelyn de Morgan) |
The deva [dryad] living in that tree would become scared, apprehensive, and anxious. Her friends and companions, relatives and kin -- garden devas, forest devas, tree devas, devas living in herbs, grass, and forest monarchs -- would gather together to console her:
"'Have no fear, have no fear! In all likelihood a peacock is sure to swallow this maluva creeper seed, or a deer will eat it, or a brush fire will burn it, or woodsmen will pick it up, or termites will carry it off, and anyway it probably isn't really a seed.'
"And then no peacock swallowed it, no deer ate it, no brush fire burned it, no woodsmen picked it up, no termites carried it off, and it really was a seed. Watered by a rain laden cloud, it sprouted in due course and curled its soft, tender, downy tendril around the sal tree.
"The thought occurred to the deva living in the sal tree: 'Now, what future danger did my friends and companions, relatives and kin -- garden devas, forest devas, tree devas, devas living in herbs, grass, and forest monarchs -- foresee in that maluva creeper seed that they gathered together to console me:
"'Have no fear, have no fear. In all likelihood a peacock is sure to swallow this maluva creeper seed, or a deer will eat it, or a brush fire will burn it, or woodsmen will pick it up, or termites will carry it off, and anyway it probably isn't really a seed." It is pleasant, the touch of this maluva creeper's soft, tender, downy tendril.'
"Then the creeper, having wrapped the sal tree, having made a canopy over it, and cascading down around it, caused the massive limbs of the sal tree to come crashing down.
"The thought occurred to the deva living in the tree: 'This was the future danger my friends...foresaw in that maluva creeper seed, that they gathered together to console me... It is because of that maluva creeper seed that I am now experiencing sharp, burning pains.'
"In the same way, meditators, there are some Brahmins and wandering ascetics who hold to a doctrine, a view like this: 'There is no harm in sensual pleasures.'
Thus, they meet with their downfall through sensual pleasures. They consort with female-wanderers who wear their hair coiled in a topknot.
"The thought occurs to them: 'Now, what future danger do those [other] Brahmins and wandering ascetics foresee that they teach the relinquishment and analysis of sensual pleasures? It is pleasant, the touch of this female-wanderer's soft, tender, downy arm.'
Thus, they meet with their downfall through sensual pleasures. Then, having met with their downfall through sensual pleasures, with the breakup of the body, after death, they go to a bad destination, downfall, the realm of the hungry ghosts, even to hell. There they experience sharp, burning pains. They say:
"'This was the future danger concerning sensual pleasures those Brahmins and wandering ascetics foresaw that they spoke of the relinquishment of sensual pleasures and described the full comprehension of sensual pleasures. It is because of sensual pleasures, as a result of sensual pleasures, that we are now experiencing these sharp, burning pains.'
"This is called the taking on of a practice that is pleasant in the present but yields pain in the future.
II
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| The Buddha in Tavatimsa, World the Thirty-Three (Woflgangkaehler/flickrhivemind.net) |
"And what is [the second example] the taking on of a practice that is [both] painful in the present and yields pain in the future?
"There is the case where someone is a sky-clad ascetic.
- [Acelaka ("cloth-less") is often translated as "naked," but as the description shows, such a person might wear garments, although the garment would not be made of cloth.]
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| Hindu ascetics and the ganja "sacrament." |
He does not consent to food brought to him or food dedicated to him or to an invitation to a meal. He accepts nothing from the mouth of a pot or from the mouth of a bowl. He accepts nothing from across a stick, across a pestle, from two eating together, from a pregnant woman, from a nursing woman, from a woman lying with a man, from a food collection, from where a dog is waiting or flies are buzzing.
"He [accepts] no fish or meat. He drinks no liquor, wine, or fermented drink. He limits himself to one house [on alms round] and one morsel a day, or two houses and two morsels...seven houses and seven morsels. He lives on one handful a day, two...seven handfuls a day. He takes food once a day, once every two days...once every seven days, and so on up to a fortnight, devoted to regulating his intake of food.
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| Sadhu: penance is the way to salvation. |
"He wears [coarse] hemp, canvas, shrouds, refuse rags, tree bark, antelope hide, strips of antelope hide, kusa-grass garments, bark garments, wood-shaving garments, head-hair garments, animal wool, owl's wings. He is a hair-and-beard puller, one devoted to the practice of plucking out his hair and beard [rather than shaving].
"He is a stander, one who rejects seats. He is a hands-around-the-knees sitter, one devoted to the exertion [ascetic practice] of sitting with his hands around his knees. He is a spike-mattresser, one who makes his bed on a bed of spikes. He is a third-time-in-the-evening bather, one who stays devoted to the practice of bathing in water.
"Thus, in a variety of ways he stays devoted to the practice of tormenting and afflicting the body [with severe ascetic practices as if it were the body, not the mind, to blame for sensual desires]. With the breakup of the body, after death, one goes to a bad destination [below the human plane], the downfall, the realm of the hungry ghosts, even to hell
"This is called the taking on of a practice that is painful in the present and yields pain in the future.
III
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| Relaxing, holding attention on the breath, greed, hatred, and delusion weakened, and I saw things more clearly. I saw how they distort reality. I continued until absorption. |
"And what is [the third example] the taking on of a practice that is painful in the present but yields pleasure in the future? There is the case of
- a person who is normally strongly passionate by nature and frequently experiences pain and grief born of passion;
- a person who is normally strongly aversive by nature and frequently experiences pain and grief born of aversion;
- a person who is normally strongly deluded by nature and frequently experiences pain and grief born of delusion.
IV
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| You know, whether the world is "beautiful" or not depends more on the seer than the world. - Yeah, totally, man, I know what you mean. - But it's literally true, like when we meditate. |
"And what is the taking on of a practice that is pleasant in the present and yields pleasure in the future? There is the case of a person
- who is not normally strongly passionate by nature and does not frequently experience pain and grief born of passion;
- who is not normally strongly aversive by nature and does not frequently experience pain and grief born of aversion;
- who is not normally strongly deluded by nature and does not frequently experience pain and grief born of delusion.
With the stilling of applied and sustained attention, one enters and remains in the second meditative absorption with rapture and pleasure born of concentration, unification of mind free from applied and sustained attention -- internal assurance.
With the fading of rapture, one remains equanimous, mindful, and alert and senses pleasure (piti, joy, bliss, rapture) with the body. One enters and remains in the third meditative absorption, of which the noble ones declare, 'Equanimous and mindful, one has a pleasant abiding.'
With the abandoning of pleasure and pain -- as with the earlier disappearance of elation and distress -- one enters and remains in the fourth meditative absorption with purity of equanimity and mindfulness, [having transcended both] pleasure and pain. With the breakup of the body, after death, one reappears in a good destination, even in a heavenly world. This is called the taking on of a practice that is pleasant in the present and yields pleasure in the future.
"And these are the four ways of taking on practices." This is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, the disciples delighted in the Blessed One's words.
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