Sunday, February 13, 2022

"Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?" (video)

NFL; The Cup; Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon, Pfc. Sandoval, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
(SNL w/ Beavis & Butt-Head) Chris Farley (RIP) asks Will Ferrell if anyone's ready for some football.

The Half-Time Show (West Coast Rap nostalgia)
Rams vs. Buccaneers Divisional Round - ||| - The 49ers vs. Rams Championship 2021
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Football (futbol, soccer, or American war-simulation scrum-rugby) may be stupid and homoerotic, but it's addictive. Even young novices and old monks can get hooked, stuck, and obsessed. It happened once high in the Himalayas, near where the hermits sit in silent caves. They had to get their hands on a satellite dish receiver to see the big game, the World Cup, the super show.

The Cup [Monks obsessed with Big Game?]

But Buddhists don't just watch like couch potatoes. They play. Young Buddhist novices (monks-in-training) celebrate the Buddha's birthday with football:

The Super [Singing-]Bowl of South Korea

(IBTimesTV) Young Buddhist novices (samaneras) are usually seen mediating, chanting/studying, or doing chores in their monasteries.

Sid's sports were archery, horseback riding
However, in 2012, instead of bowing and ringing bowls, these little wandering ascetics played a soccer game. Thirty-seven novices from across the South Korea gathered in the capital, Seoul, to attend an event of the country's biggest Buddhist order, Jogye.

The religion has about followers, which is about a fifth of the total population. After a Mahayana prayer session, the soccer game started, and the kids could not have been happier. A 7-year-old said that he always dreamed of playing soccer:

"I prayed to [the] Buddha, hoping to play soccer well. And I am happy to score a goal," he said. Ven. Seongjin, a monk at Jogye Temple, said the soccer match encapsulated the true meaning of [the] Buddha's birthday.

"As we watch novice monks play innocently, we can feel their innocence and happiness as if we feel the heart of [the] Buddha. Also, our novices can have fun, and their happiness can bring happiness and peace to the world. This is an event where we can share the true meaning of Buddha's birthday," he said.

The Buddha's birthday falls on May 28 [2012], which marks April 8th on the lunar calendar.

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