Thursday, September 30, 2021

A Garden of Words at The Huntington

Huntington.org; Wisdom Quarterly

The Huntington presents a major exhibition of contemporary Chinese calligraphy as the inaugural installation in the Chinese Garden's new art gallery, "The Studio for Lodging the Mind." More
  • BEGINS: Friday, Oct. 1, 2021 10:00 am–5:00 pm
  • CATEGORY: Exhibitions
  • LOCATION: Chinese Garden, Studio for Lodging the Mind

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

The Silk Road: A New History (audio)

Mitch Jeserich, Valerie Hansen (Letters & Politics, KPFA); Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly
The future Buddha Maitreya (Metteyya) dressed as a Central Asian king like Shakyamuni
What is the Silk Road? The Central Asian Overland Routes (amazing-iran.com)
Yale Prof. Valerie Hansen on The Silk Road (Overland Central Asian Routes): MP3
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"The Silk Road" or "Silk Route" is iconic in world history, but what was it exactly? It is the Overland Central Asian Route.

It conjures up a hazy image of a caravan of camels laden with silk on a dusty desert track, spanning from China to Rome.

The reality's different -- and far more interesting. In The Silk Road: A New History with Documents, Yale Professor of History Valerie Hansen  (The Council on East Asian Studies at Yale University) describes the remarkable archeological finds that revolutionized our understanding of these Buddhist culture and Central Asian trade routes.

We now have excavated documents, many from Turfan. Prof. Hansen explores eight sites along the road, from Xi'an to Samarkand, where travelers, envoys, pilgrims, and a few merchants (many fewer than people have imagined) mixed in cosmopolitan communities, tolerant of religions from shamanic animism to Buddhism to Zoroastrianism.
The Silk Road (Hansen, 2012)
Designed for use in the classroom and based on the award-winning 2012 trade edition, The Silk Road: A New History with Documents offers a selection of excerpted primary sources in each chapter.

This includes a spoken form of Sanskrit called Pali* (the only exclusively Buddhist language and the language of the early Buddhist texts of the Theravada tradition), Sogdian which is related to Aramaic (the language Jesus of Nazareth spoke), and texts in Gandhari and the Kharosthi script.

The wide-ranging sources include memoirs of medieval Chinese Buddhist monks and modern explorers, letters written by women, descriptions of towns, legal cofntracts, religious hymns, and many others.

A new final chapter provides coverage of the Silk Road during the period of Mongol rule. More
*Languages change, evolving and devolving. That makes it hard to know what great teachers meant. The same words no longer mean what they meant. UCLA Prof. of Buddhism Robert Buswell taught that it's fortunate that Pali is a dead language. It is frozen in time. The words still mean what the Buddha meant. It is ideal for retaining a snapshot of the Dhamma/Dharma. Sanskrit (the language of the Brahmins) is so old it has distinct early, middle, and late forms. The lingua franca was Pali in various forms -- Magadhi, Prakrit, and Gandhari spoken along the Silk Road through Gandhara, Bactria, Scythia, Shakya Land, Indo-Pakistan, Saka Land, Sogdiana of Central Asia and NW India (proto-India).

More on the Silk Road

The Silk Road is as iconic in world history as the Colossus of Rhodes or the Suez Canal. Its reality is different and far more interesting in this new history. Prof. Hansen describes remarkable archeological finds that revolutionize our understanding of these trade routes.

For centuries, key records remained hidden -- some deliberately buried by bureaucrats for safekeeping. But now the sands of the Taklamakan Desert have revealed fascinating material, some preserved by illiterate locals who recycled official documents to make paper insoles for shoes or paper garments for the dead.

Hansen explores seven oases along the road, from Xi'an to Samarkand, where every walk of life mixed in cosmopolitan communities, tolerant of religions from shamanic animism to Buddhism to Zoroastrianism.

There was no single, continuous Silk "Road," but a chain of markets that traded between east and west. China and the Roman Empire had very little direct trade.

China's main partners were the peoples of modern-day Iran (Aryans, Persians), whose tombs in China reveal much about their Zoroastrian beliefs.

"Silk" was not the most important good on the road.Paper, invented in China before Julius Caesar was born, had a bigger impact in Europe, while metals, spices, and glass were just as important as silk.

Perhaps most significant of all was the road's transmission of ideas (such as the Buddha's Dharma), technologies, and artistic motifs.

The Silk Road is a fascinating story of archeological discovery, cultural transmission, and the intricate chains across Central Asia and China.

Will I ever get "OLD"? (film trailer)


Old (official trailer)
(Universal Pictures) "I see old people"? In theaters this summer (old.movie), visionary filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan unveils a chilling, mysterious new thriller about a family on a tropical holiday who discover that the secluded beach where they are relaxing for a few hours is somehow causing them to age rapidly… reducing their entire lives into a single day.

The film stars an impressive international cast including Golden Globe winner Gael García Bernal (Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle), Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread), Rufus Sewell (Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle), Ken Leung (Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens), Nikki Amuka-Bird (Jupiter Ascending), Abbey Lee (HBO’s Lovecraft Country), Aaron Pierre (Syfy’s Krypton), Alex Wolff (Hereditary), Embeth Davidtz (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Eliza Scanlen (Little Women), Emun Elliott (Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens), Kathleen Chalfant (Showtime’s The Affair), and Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit).

Old is a Blinding Edge Pictures production, directed and produced by M. Night Shyamalan, from his screenplay based on the graphic novel Sandcastle by Pierre Oscar Lévy and Frederik Peeters. The film is also produced by Ashwin Rajan (Glass, AppleTV+’s Servant), and Marc Bienstock (Glass, Split). The film’s executive producer is Steven Schneider.

Might be better to see Slum Dog Millionaire in England: The Green Knight

All 9 Solfeggio Frequencies (audio)


All 9 Solfeggio Frequencies: Full Body Aura Cleanse and Cell Regeneration Therapy
(Meditative Mind) This track features all nine Solfeggio frequencies for a full-body aura cleanse and as cell regeneration therapy. Each miracle tone serves a certain purpose and helps in detoxifying and cleansing the body and mind. Each frequency lasts for about nine minutes starting with 174Hz, known as a natural anesthetic, moving all the way up to 963Hz, which is associated with pineal gland activation. INFO on Solfeggio frequencies: meditativemind.org.
  • 00:00:00 : 174 Hz : Relieves Pain & Stress
  • 00:09:00 : 285 Hz : Heals Tissues & Organs
  • 00:18:00 : 396 Hz : Eliminates Fear
  • 00:27:00 : 417 Hz : Wipes out Negativity
  • 00:36:00 : 528 Hz : Repairs DNA, Brings Positive Transformation
  • 00:45:00 : 639 Hz : Brings Love & Compassion in Life
  • 00:54:00 : 741 Hz : Detoxifies Cells & Organs
  • 01:03:00 : 852 Hz : Awakens Intuition, Raises Energy at Cellular Level
  • 01:12:00 : 963 Hz : Connects to Higher Self.
Chants and music based on Solfeggio frequencies
¸¸.•*¨*•♫ Albums and singles are now available for sale on itunes.apple.com, cdbaby.com. ♡ Thanks.

MISSION: To bring more peace and mindfulness into people's lives through mantras, Solfeggio sleep music, chakra meditation and chants, healing chants from around the world. Infinite love and gratitude.

Cyrus the Great of the Persian Empire (audio)

Mitch Jeserich, Letters & PoliticsKPFA; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Cyrus the Great: A Humane King | Interfaith Peacemakers (readthespirit.com)
Cyrus the Great (Mauritius Times) the Metteyya or Messiah, House of the Sun, world's navel
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Persia/Iran's proud culture epic poem (BBC)
"Cyrus the Great and the Persian Empire" Guest scholar: Reza Zarghamee is an environmental lawyer and history author. He researched and wrote the acclaimed book Discovering Cyrus: The Persian Conqueror Astride the Ancient World (Iran’s Age of Empire). Cyrus the Great was the founder and first king of the Persian Empire
Ancient Near East circa 540 BC, prior to the invasion of Babylon by Cyrus the Great (Oriente Medio 600 adC) modified to follow map of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, 559-480 BC, The Concise Atlas of World History (Andromeda, 1997).

Discovering Cyrus: Persian Conqueror (book)

Some of the most fascinating human epochs lie in the borderlands between history and mystery. So it is with the life of Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Empire in the 6th century BCE.

By conquest and gentler means, he brought under his rule a dominion stretching from the Aegean Sea to the Hindu Kush and encompassing tens of millions of people.

All across this immense empire, he earned support and stability by respecting local religions and customs [and may have practice Zoroastrianism himself], avoiding the brutal ways of tyranny, efficiently administering his realm through the use of provincial governors.

His empire would last another two centuries, leaving an indelible Persian imprint on much of the ancient world.

The Greek chronicler Xenophon, looking back from a distance of several generations, wrote: "Cyrus did indeed eclipse all other monarchs, before or since."

Cyrus the Great's Persia, an empire that included Buddhist Afghanistan (Bactria/Gandhara)
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Cyrus the Great relief (Wiki)
The biblical prophet known as Second Isaiah anticipates King Cyrus' repatriation of Jews living in exile in Babylon to their land with these words of the Lord: "He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please."

Despite what he achieved and bequeathed, much about King Cyrus remains uncertain. Persians of his era had no great respect for the written word, so the most complete accounts of his life were composed by the Greeks.

More fragmentary and tangential evidence takes many forms -- among them, archeological remains, administrative records in subject lands, and legends.

Given these challenges, Discovering Cyrus: The Persian Conqueror Astride the Ancient World is a remarkable feat of portraiture. In his vast sweep, author Reza Zarghamee draws on sources of every kind, painstakingly assembling detail, weighing evidence carefully where contradictions arise.

He describes the background of the Persian people, the turbulence of the times, and the roots of King Cyrus' policies. His account of the imperial era itself delves into religion, military methods, commerce, court life, and much else.

The result is a living, breathing King Cyrus standing atop a distant world who played a key role in shaping our own. More

Dr. Mary's Monkey: Gain-of-function research

Dr. Mary's Monkey: How the Unsolved Murder...
This is the “hottest cold case in America!” The updated paperback version of Dr. Mary's Monkey contains the same content as the 2014 hardcover edition, which has 25 additional pages of revelations added since the original 2007 paperback.

These new pages include documents from the CIA, FBI, CDC, and NOPD, plus the actual crime scene photos from the 1964 murder of Dr. Mary Sherman.

The bizarre death of this nationally-known cancer researcher sets the stage for this gripping exposé of medical professionals enmeshed in covert government operations.

Following a trail of police reports, FBI files, cancer statistics, and medical journals, this revealing book presents a web of secret-keeping that swept doctors into cover-ups of
  • contaminated polio vaccines,
  • cancer outbreaks,
  • the arrival of the AIDS virus, and
  • a deadly biological weapon tested on monkeys and humans.
Add alleged JFK-assassin Lee Harvey Oswald to the cast of this secret bio-weapon project, and this dark tale connects Oswald’s summer of secrets to the intrigue surrounding the assassination of Pres. John F. Kennedy. More + AUDIO

N Korean defector on suicide of West (video)

Jan Jekielek (The Epoch Times.com, 8/19/21); Solomon S., CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

North Korean defector Yeonmi Park on communist tyranny and "the suicide of Western civilization" 
“How do you fight to be free when you don’t know you’re a slave?”

[Jan Jekielek] sat down with North Korean defector Yeonmi Park, author of In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom to discuss:
  • the North Korean regime’s brainwashing tactics,
  • the parallels between her experiences in North Korea and what she sees now in America, and
  • the “suicide of Western civilization.”
Park’s memoir recently made it into Amazon’s weekly list of 20 best-selling nonfiction books, nearly six years after she published it.

Jan Jekielek: Yeonmi Park, such a pleasure to have you on American Thought Leaders.

Yeomi Park: Thank you... More

Empires of the Silk Road (book)

C. I. Beckwith, Empires of the Silk Road; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Empires of Silk Road: History of Central Eurasia
The first complete history of Central Eurasia from ancient times to the present day, Empires of the Silk Road represents a fundamental rethinking of the origins, history, and significance of this major world region.

Author Christopher I. Beckwith describes the rise and fall of the great Central Eurasian empires, including those of the Scythians [the Buddha's tribe], Attila the Hun, the Turks and Tibetans, and Genghis Khan and the Mongols.


Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's...
In addition, he explains why the heartland of Central Eurasia led the world economically, scientifically, and artistically for many centuries despite invasions by Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Chinese, and others.

In retelling the story of the Old World from the perspective of Central Eurasia, Beckwith provides a new understanding of the internal and external dynamics of the Central Eurasian states and shows how their people repeatedly revolutionized Eurasian civilization.

Beckwith recounts the
  • Indo-Europeans' migration out of Central Eurasia,
  • their mixture with local peoples, and
  • the resulting development of the Greco-Roman, Persian, Indian, and Chinese civilizations;
  • he details the basis for the thriving economy of premodern Central Eurasia,
  • the economy's disintegration following the region's partition by the Chinese and Russians in the 18th and 19th centuries, and
  • the damaging of Central Eurasian culture by Modernism; and
  • he discusses the significance for world history of the partial reemergence of Central Eurasian nations after the collapse of the Soviet Union (USSR).
Empires of the Silk Road places Central Eurasia within a world historical framework and demonstrates why the region is central to understanding the history of civilization. More

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Pineal Gland Resonator: Brain Massage


Pineal Gland Resonator: Brain Massage (high potency gamma waves 2675 Hz)
(Neowake, May 15, 2021) ♫ Get free neowake sessions now and boost brain power: free.neowake.com ♫ Buy this track (high quality version): sellfy.com/neowake-store/p/pi... 

◎ About this neowake session: This frequency in the high gamma range directly resonates with the pineal gland, which is [the third eye] located in the middle of the brain. This small gland has an enormous influence on the control of perception and is therefore often cited in spiritual awakening. 

With this session we have a way to act on this part of the brain and thus promote the development of consciousness. Drink plenty of water. Keep in mind that this session must be repeated to be fully effective. Use headphones if possible.

◎ Safety instructions: Neowake sessions work best when listened to through headphones while sitting or lying down in a relaxed way. Please do not listen to this music while driving or doing anything that requires full attention. Neowake sessions do not replace recommendations of doctors. Brain wave stimulation does not correspond to any diagnostic procedure and should not be used exclusively for the treatment of diseases.

◎ Neowake promise: Trust original neowake technology and feel the difference. They are constantly developing neowake sessions to provide unique and mind-expanding experiences.

◎ The neowake difference: These listening sessions are fundamentally different from traditional YouTube relaxation music. They use innovative audio frequencies and create interactive sessions that are optimally adapted to the programming of consciousness. They only use high-quality compositions and produce neowake sessions in their own laboratory. Through this research and intensive testing, they develop the highest efficiency. Whether to relax, be productive, or go into a deep sleep, this works. With neowake sessions this can be done within a few minutes.

neowake.de: Veränderung auf Knopfdruckneowake.de Copyright ⓒ neowake. All Rights Reserved.

Lies My Teacher Told Me: Loewen passes away

Prof. James Loewen, Rising Up with Sonali Kolhatkar; Pfc. Sandoval, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly
Famed Historian James Loewen on facts in the Age of Trump (risingupwithsonali.com)
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The famed historian James Loewen passed away on Aug. 19, 2021 at the age of 79. Loewen was the bestselling and award-winning author of Lies My Teacher Told Me, Lies Across America, Lies My Teacher Told Me About Christopher Columbus, and Sundown Towns. He also wrote Teaching What Really Happened and The Mississippi Chinese: Between Black and White, and he edited The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader.

He won the:
  • American Book Award
  • Oliver Cromwell Cox Award for Distinguished Anti-Racist Scholarship
  • Spirit of America Award from the National Council for the Social Studies
  • Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award.
Loewen was professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Vermont. His books had a profound impact on Host Sonali Kolhatkar's thinking, and the last she spoke with him was in 2018, when his book Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your History Textbook Got Wrong, was just republished in a new edition for the Donald Trump era. This edited rebroadcast is of that conversation. More

5 ways to remove distracting thoughts (sutra)

Soma Thera (trans.), Vitakkasanthana Sutta (MN 20, BPS); Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly
Yogini, supermodel, and successful meditator Christy Turlington (GAP/Yoga Journal)
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Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was in Savatthi, in Jeta's Grove, at Anathapindika's Park. He called out, "Meditators!" And they replied, "Venerable sir!" Then he taught:

"Five things should be reflected on from time to time by a practitioner intent on higher consciousness. What are the five?

1. "When harmful thoughts connected with craving, hatred, or delusion arise by reflection on an adventitious object, (in order to get rid of it) one should reflect on a different object connected with something more skillful. The harmful thoughts are thereby eliminated; they disappear. With their elimination, the mind/heart stands firm, settles down, becomes unified and concentrated within (one's meditation).

"Just as a carpenter striking, pushing out, and replacing a coarse peg with a fine one, so should one get rid of the adventitious object and reflect on one connected with skill. Then harmful thoughts connected with greed, hatred, and delusion  [craving, aversion, and wrong views] are eliminated; they disappear. By their elimination the mind stands firm, settles down, becomes unified and concentrated within.

It works, it works, it really works!
2
. "If harmful thoughts continue to arise even after doing so, one should consider and reflect on the disadvantages of unskillful thoughts: Truly such thoughts are unskillful, blameworthy, likely to produce misery. Then such thoughts are eliminated; they disappear. By their elimination, the mind stands firm, settles down, becomes unified and concentrated within.
  • "Just as a well dressed young person would feel humiliated, horrified, and disgusted by the carcass of a dead snake, dog, or human being hung around his or her neck, so should one in whom harmful thoughts continue to arise in spite of reflection on a skillful object ponder the disadvantages of unskillful thoughts: Truly these thoughts are unskillful, blameworthy, likely to produce misery. Then the evil, unskillful thoughts are eliminated; they disappear. By their elimination, the mind stands firm, settles down, becomes unified and concentrated within.
3. "If harmful thoughts continue to arise in one who ponders their disadvantages, one should endeavor in regard to them to be without attention or reflection. Then such thoughts are eliminated...

"Like a keen-eyed person shutting his or her eyes and looking away in order to avoid seeing what has come into view, so should one in whom harmful thoughts continue to arise in spite of pondering their disadvantages, endeavor to be without attention or reflection regarding them. Then such thoughts are eliminated...

4. "If harmful thoughts continue to arise in spite of endeavoring to be without attention or reflection regarding them, one should reflect on the removal of the source of those unskillful thoughts. Then such thoughts are eliminated...

"Just as a person finding no reason for walking fast, walks slowly; finding no reason for walking slowly, stands; finding no reason for standing, sits down; finding no reason for sitting down, lies down -- and thus abandoning a strenuous posture resorts to restful one, in just the same way one in whom harmful thoughts arise, in spite of endeavoring to be without attention or reflection regarding them, reflects on the removal of the source of them. Then such thoughts are eliminated...

Meditating is easier for children, who are masters of beginner's mind (Delioncourt/flickr.com)
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5. "If harmful thoughts continue to arise in spite of reflection on the removal of a source of unskillful thoughts, one should (as a last resort) clench one's teeth and press one's tongue to the palate, and restrain, subdue, and beat down (harmful) mind with (helpful) mind. Then harmful thoughts connected with craving, hatred, and delusion are eliminated; they disappear. By their elimination, the heart/mind stands firm, settles down, becomes unified and concentrated within.
  • "Just as a strong person holding a weaker one by the head or shoulders and restraining, subduing and beating that person down, so should the practitioner in whom harmful thoughts continue... Then such thoughts are eliminated; they disappear. By their elimination, the mind stands firm, settles down, becomes unified and concentrated within.
"When [this is done] that practitioner is called a master of the paths along which thoughts travel.

"The thought one wants to think, that one thinks; the thought one does not want to think, that one does not think. One has cut down craving, removed the fetter (bond), rightly mastered pride, and made an end of suffering (dukkha, disappointment)."

The Buddha said this, and the meditators, glad at heart, approved of his words.

Gabby Petito's killer Laundrie found by Dog?

Christina Coulter and Charlotte Mitchell and Harriet Alexander (DailyMail.co.uk, 9/28/21); Ashley Wells, Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Dog the Bounty Hunter alerts cops to possible fugitive Brian Laundrie campsite (TMZ.com)
Woman who drove hitchhiker Brian Laundrie noticed 'nothing extraordinary' — until...
Dumb TV actor Dog the Bounty Hunter on prowl for missing Brian Laundrie (msn.com)
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Storytime: Craziest thing ever (Newsweek)
Dog the Bounty Hunter (with ridiculous hair) claims to have footage of Brian Laundrie and his parents arriving at Florida campsite days after Gabby went missing. But ONLY his parents left the site!

Duane Chapman, known as "Dog the Bounty Hunter," joined the manhunt for Brian Laundrie this past weekend.

On Monday Dog said he believed the Laundrie family had stayed at the Fort De Soto Park near St. Petersburg, 75 miles north of the family home in North Port. Dog said the family were there twice -- from Sept. 1-3 and 6-8.
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White fugitive and murder suspect  and possible serial killer Laundrie, 23, was reported missing by his family on Sept. 17, with them telling police he disappeared three days prior, possibly for Carlton Reserve.

Search efforts have concentrated so far on the 25,000-acre [Everglades-style] swamp but without success amid treacherous conditions.

Where is Laundrie? Here's a map of the area.
Josh Taylor, North Port Police spokesman, announced on Monday that the search for Laundrie in Carlton Reserve was to be scaled back. "The FBI is now leading the search," Taylor told news outlets. "It will be scaled back and targeted based on intelligence."

Rancher Alan McEwen does not believe Laundrie is in the reserve now as the conditions are too difficult for humans to survive on foot for a long period. He added that, if Laundrie had died in the area, buzzards would have indicated that. More

Ask a Stupid Question Day (9/28)

National Today.com, 9/28/21; Editors, Wisdom Quarterly
The only real "stupid" question is the one you fail to ask when you really wanted to know.
Or is it better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to ask and remove all doubt?

After awakening, will I fall asleep?
On National Ask a Stupid Question Day, September 28 — or, if that day falls on a weekend, the last school day of September — there really is no such thing as a dumb question [other than the one we fail to ask because we don't want to sound dumb].

At some point during the 1980s — the researchable resources in terms of exact details are scant — American school teachers recognized that some of the questions their shyer students were holding back would make for fruitful classroom discussions, should those questions be asked out loud.

On National Ask a Stupid Question Day, teachers have the perfect excuse to tap into the inquisitiveness of their students.

HISTORY OF ASK A STUPID QUESTION DAY
As indicated above, the results of research into the beginning of National Ask a Stupid Question day don’t turn up much. The closest we have to an origin story for the holiday is... More

Answers from Wisdom Quarterly
There's so much I wish to know.
Ask us ANY question in the comments section, and we will answer correctly and with proof.

Write the word "private" in the comment and we will refrain from publishing it  as a comment. We'll just pull the question out and answer it.

Any question? Life, the universe, everything. In addition, we'll answer in  both conventional and ultimate terms.

Monday, September 27, 2021

The Greek King and the Buddhist Monk

Ed Conze (trans.), Milindapañha, pp. 51-62; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
King Milinda (King Menander I) portrait comparison with King Menander II (Wiki)

1. The Five Faculties
(A) FROM THE MILINDAPAÑHA
Ven. Nagasena (Wikipedia)
The king asked Venerable Nagasena, "Is it through wise attention that people become exempt from further rebirth?"

— "Yes, it is due to wise attention and also to wisdom and the other wholesome dharmas (things)."

"But is not wise attention the same as wisdom?"

— "No, your majesty. Attention is one thing and wisdom another. Sheep and goats, oxen and buffaloes, camels and asses have attention, but wisdom they do not have."

"Well put, Ven. Nagasena!"

Greek Buddha: Pyrrho with Early Buddhism
The king asked, "What is the mark of attention, and what is the mark of wisdom?"

— "Consideration is the mark of attention, cutting off that of wisdom."

"How is that? Give me a simile."

— "You know barley-reapers, I suppose?"

"Yes, I do."

— "How then do they reap the barley?"

"With the left hand they seize a bunch of barley, in the right hand they hold a sickle, and they cut the barley off with that sickle."

— "Just so, your majesty, the yogi seizes mental processes with attention, and by wisdom cuts off the defilements."

"Well put, Ven. Nagasena."

Tillya Tepe ("Golden Hill") Buddhist coin (Wiki)
The king asked, "When you just spoke of 'the other wholesome things (dharmas),' which ones did you mean?"

— "I meant virtue, confidence (faith), energy (vigor), mindfulness (attentiveness) and unification of mind (concentration)."

"And what is the mark of virtue?"

— "Virtue has the mark of providing a basis for all wholesome dharmas, whatever they may be. When based on virtue, all the wholesome dharmas will not dwindle away."

"Give me an illustration."

— "As all plants and animals that increase, grow, and prosper do so with the earth as their support, with the earth as their basis, just so the yogi, with virtue (morality) as support, with virtue as basis, develops the five cardinal virtues, that is, the cardinal virtues of confidence, energy, mindfulness, unification of mind, and wisdom."

"Give me a further illustration."

— "As the builder of a city when constructing a town first of all clears the site, removes all stumps and thorns, and levels it; only after that the builder lays out and marks off the roads and crossroads, and so builds the city, even so the yogi develops the five cardinal virtues with virtue as support, with virtue as his basis."

Coin contents of Bimaran casketKing Milinda or Menander II, Buddhist Tillya Tepe (Wiki)
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The king asked, "What is the mark of confidence (faith)?"

— "Confidence makes one serene, and it leaps forward."

"And how does confidence make one serene?"

— "When confidence arises it arrests the Five Hindrances, and the heart becomes free from them, clear, serene, and undisturbed."

"Give me an illustration."

— "A universal monarch might on the way, together with a fourfold army, cross over a small stream. Stirred up by elephants and horses, by chariots and infantry, the water would become disturbed, agitated, and muddy. Having crossed over, the universal monarch would order troops to bring water to drink. The world ruler, who possesses a miraculous water-clearing gem, and those troops, in obeying the command, would toss it into the stream. Then at once all fragments of vegetation would float away, the mud would settle to the bottom, the stream would become clear, serene, undisturbed, and fit to be drunk by a universal monarch. Here the stream corresponds to the heart, the monarch's troops to the yogi, the fragments of vegetation and the mud to the defilements, and the miraculous water-clearing gem to confidence (faith)."

"And how does confidence leap forward?"

— "When one sees that the hearts of others have been set free, the yogi leaps forward, by way of aspiration, to the various fruits of the supreme life, and one makes efforts to attain the yet unattained, to find the yet unfound, to realize the yet unrealized."

"Give me an illustration."

— "Suppose a great cloud were to burst over the slope of a hill. The water would then flow down the slope, would first fill all the hill's clefts, fissures, and gullies, and would then run into the river below, making its banks overflow on both sides. Now suppose further that a great crowd of people had come along, and unable to size up either the width or the depth of the river, should stand frightened and hesitating on the bank. But then someone would come along, who, conscious of one's own strength and power, would firmly tie on a loincloth and jump across the river. And the great crowd of people, seeing this person on the other side, would likewise cross. Even so the yogi, when seeing that the hearts of others have been set free, leaps forward, by aspiration, to the various fruits of the supreme life, and makes efforts to attain the yet unattained, to find the yet unfound, to realize the yet unrealized. And this is what the Buddha has said in the Samyutta Nikaya:

'By confidence the flood is crossed,
By wakefulness the sea;
By vigor ill is passed;
By wisdom cleansed are we.'"

"Well put, Nagasena!"

The king asked, "What is the mark of vigor?"

— "Vigor props up and, when propped up by vigor, all the wholesome dharmas do not dwindle away."

"Give me a simile."

— "If a person's house were falling down, one would prop it up with a new piece of wood and, so supported, that house would not collapse."

The king asked, "And what is the mark of mindfulness?"

— "Calling to mind and taking up."

"How is calling to mind a mark of mindfulness?"

— "When mindfulness arises, one calls to mind the dharmas that participate in what is wholesome and unwholesome, blamable and blameless, inferior and sublime, dark and light, that is:
  1. these are the four applications of mindfulness,
  2. these the four right efforts,
  3. these the four roads to psychic power,
  4. these the five cardinal virtues,
  5. these the five powers,
  6. these the seven limbs of enlightenment,
  7. this is the noble eightfold path;
  • this is calm,
  • this insight,
  • this knowledge,
  • this emancipation.
— "Thereafter the yogi tends those dharmas that should be tended, and one does not tend those that should not be tended; one partakes of those dharmas that should be followed, and one does not partake of those that should not be followed. It is in this sense that calling to mind is a mark of mindfulness."

"Give me a simile."

— "It is like the treasurer of a universal monarch, who each morning and evening reminds the royal of magnificent assets possessed: 'So many elephants you have, so many horses, so many chariots, so much infantry, so many gold coins, so much bullion, so much property; may your majesty bear this in mind.' In this way one calls to mind the master's wealth."

"And how does mindfulness take up?"

— "When mindfulness arises, the outcome of beneficial and harmful dharmas is examined in this way: 'These dharmas are beneficial, these harmful; these dharmas are helpful, these unhelpful.' Thereafter the yogi removes the harmful dharmas and takes up the beneficial ones; one removes the unhelpful dharmas, and takes up the helpful ones. It is in this sense that mindfulness takes up."

"Give me a comparison."

— "It is like the invaluable adviser of a universal monarch who knows what is beneficial and what is harmful to the royal, what is helpful and what is unhelpful. Thereafter what is harmful and unhelpful can be removed, what is beneficial and helpful can be taken up."

The king asked, "And what is the mark of concentration?"

— "It stands at the head. Whatever wholesome dharmas there may be, they are all headed by concentration [samadhi or unification of mind], they bend towards concentration, lead to concentration, incline to concentration."

"Give me a comparison."

— "It is as with a building with a pointed roof: Whatever rafters there are, they all converge on the top, bend towards the top, meet at the top, and the top occupies the most prominent place. So with concentration in relation to the other wholesome dharmas."

"Give me a further comparison."

— "If a king were to enter battle with a fourfold army, then all the troops — the elephants, cavalry, chariots, and infantry — would be headed by that king, and would be ranged around. Such is the position of concentration (samadhi) in relation to the other wholesome dharmas."

The king then asked, "What then is the mark of wisdom?"

Shuja Shah Durrani of Afghanistan in 1839, "Golden Hill" or Tillya Tepe (Wikipedia)
.
— "Cutting off is, as I said before, one mark of wisdom. In addition, it illuminates."

"And how does wisdom illuminate?"

— "When wisdom arises, it dispels the darkness of ignorance, generates the illumination of knowledge, sheds the light of cognition, and makes the noble truths stand out clearly. Thereafter the yogi, with correct wisdom, can see impermanence, ill (dukkha), and not-self."

"Give me a comparison."

— "It is like a lamp a person might take into a dark house. It would dispel the darkness, would illuminate, shed light, and make the forms in the house stands out clearly."

"Well put, Ven. Nagasena!" More