The Dharma, sutras, and commentarial interpretations of interest to American Buddhists of all traditions with news that not only informs but transforms. Emphasis on meditation, enlightenment, karma, social evolution, and nonharming.
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Voting is a lot like driving. If you want to go backwards, put it in R. If you want to go forward, put it in D. If you are undecided, stay in N and idle or just shut it off altogether.
Early results say JD Vance is winning with 19 (Indiana and Kentucky) electoral votes to Tim Walz's 3, which was barely squeaked out in what was essentially a draw of less than the margin of error. Other Republican states are just closing (4:30 pm California time, where polls stay open until 8:00 pm and people can probably drop off until midnight) -- and worst of all, three Pennsylvania counties have experienced a computer glitch which is putting a halt to voting. People are waiting in line, and experts are being sent in to resolve the problem. Will it be fast enough for people to vote? All these things are setting up a massive court case for one side or the other to draw out. West Virginia has flipped to Vance, with a new Republican Senate seat. The gossip is that Democrats would have done better keeping Old Man G-Joe.
Trump media shares halted amid dramatic Election Day selloff
I'm not going to jail!!!
Shares were briefly halted for Donald Trump’s media company, Trump Media & Technology Group, Tuesday afternoon after an apparent selloff took place.
The stock, which has been particularly volatile since it went public this summer, saw a sharp drop in price from $39.76 to $32.92 between 2:10 and 2:55 p.m. EST on Election Day.
Bloodied but unbowed: Trump Media crashes
The company, which operates Truth Social, saw its share price slightly rebound not long after sales were halted. Experts have said the stock will likely remain erratic throughout Election Day as the company’s relevance is largely reliant on Trump’s personal successes as the most prominent figure on Truth Social.
Trump’s company, which uses the ticker symbol DJT and is based out of Florida, suffered its largest percentage decline last week, taking off around $4 billion from its market cap, reported Yahoo! Finance.
Find the Daily Beast’s coverage of the 2024 election here. Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. Read more at The Daily Beast.
🔴 STREAMING: 24 hours of Indecision 2024 | The Daily Show
(The Daily Show) Started streaming 8:00 pm (PST) Nov. 4th. Go vote, volunteer, or be a poll watcher. Jon Stewart and The Best F**king News Team recap the 2024 election news ahead of The Daily Show's hour-long LIVE Election Night Special with Jon Stewart on @ComedyCentral 11:00/10:00c and next day on @paramountplus. #DailyShow#Comedy
Driving the news: Calm is hosting a live stream from the San Diego Zoo on Instagram so we can take a break from political doomscrolling to watch capybaras, meerkats, penguins, and other beautiful wildlife.
It starts at noon PT until polls close across the country.
Those humans are so full of fleas, ticks, and bugs because they won't clean each other.
.
Between the lines: Calm also has free "Election Season Support" content with breathing exercises, meditations and other mindfulness tools.
🐅 The intrigue: While he won't be featured on the livestream, a new tiger cub is out to play at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
Baby Barong, which means "king of spirits," stepped out of his den for the first time last week.
Watch him here or visit him in person at the park this weekend. More
Echoes of the Native Americans/Ecos de los Nativos Americanos
(El DR4M4TURG0) May 19, 2016: Musical composition created by Andres Collado Rodriguez, blending ethnic sounds centered in the songs and culture of the Native American Indians. Composición musical creada por Andrés Collado Rodríguez.
Mezclando sonidos étnicos centrados en los cantos y cultura de los indios nativos norteamericanos.
How 'The Simpsons' animation evolved over 30 years
(Insider) On May 23, 2021, the 32nd season finale of The Simpsons aired on Fox TV, finishing off a landmark season where the show celebrated its 700th episode. The series has come a long way from its humble beginnings as a segment on The Tracey Ullman Show. On air for 32 years by 2021 and still counting, it's become the longest-running scripted series on prime time, the longest-running American animated series, and the longest-running American sitcom.
Homer, Marge, Lisa, Bart, and Maggie have evolved a lot over the course of three decades — in the style, movement, and details in character designs, all the way down to pupil size.
This episode of "Movies Insider" turns to David Silverman and Al Jean, two of the main minds behind the show since Day 1, to find out how the show's animation evolved from the rough-around-the-edges style of cartoonist Matt Groening's early sketches to the crisp, clean look of the show in its 32nd season. #TheSimpsons #Animation #MoviesInsider
Bart's Birthday Party (The SimpsonsSeries Finale)
(Scrooge200) A fake Simpsons series finale involves everyone in Springfield moving on, but Bart is hesitant to change it. Featuring John Cena and Danny Devito. From the Season 36 premiere, "Bart's Birthday."
The Simpsons drops surprise series finale
(Johnny 2 Cellos) For the Season 36 premiere, The Simpsons has done something unprecedented. They aired a surprise series (not season) finale. Well, sort of.
As somebody who grew up obsessed with The Simpsons, it’s cool to say that the show is going through something of a renaissance. Since Matt Selman took over as showrunner in Season 33, the show (created by Mat Groening) has started to feel fresher like it has a renewed energy.
But I think beyond that, the thing that’s really made me excited about the show again is the ways it’s been willing to experiment. And tonight’s premiere, "Bart’s Birthday," is the perfect example of that new energy.
The Simpsons is bringing something fresh to the table, embracing the show’s obscenely long and storied history to throw itself a premature series finale event. It’s one that celebrates The Simpsons in a way that an actual series finale would never be able to. So let’s talk about The Simpsons season premiere/series finale.
Edited by Joe Murphy @nazchoz798. Music:
Johnny 2 Cellos. Theme Music - Norman Marston
Johnny 2 Cellos Theme Remix- @BlackTyeChi. Video Used:
The Simpsons (1989-2024).
Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted.
"Fair Use" guidelines: copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
Insider (review), May 22, 2021; Matt Groening's The Simpsons (Fox TV) via Scrooge 200; Johnny 2 Cellos, Sept. 30, 2024; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
Oh, Bojack Horseman, you're not for kids. Real living horses can heal children.
Words of Wisdom: Rupert Isaacson on how horses bring us happiness
(Happinez Magazine International) Feb. 7, 2018: In search of healing for his autistic son, Rupert Isaacson traveled to Buddhist Mongolia and the world with that son on horseback. He discovered how horses have a wonderful effect -- not just on people with autism, but on every single one of us.
Healing autistic children with Shamanic Healer Dawn Paul
(Dawn Paul) I work with autistic children all over the world. I am able to connect with them and obtain information from them as well as carry out any necessary healing in order to allow them to be more whole and comfortable in their bodies. I work on them remotely and then email the parents a report of what I did for their child. Visit liberate-online.co.uk for more information and an article on healing for autistic children.
THE HORSE BOY (official US trailer)
(ZeitgeistFilms) Now on DVD from Zeitgeist Video. How far would you travel to heal someone you love?
An intensely personal yet epic spiritual journey, The Horse Boy follows one Texas couple and their autistic son as they trek on horseback through Buddhist Outer Mongolia in a desperate attempt to treat his condition with shamanic healing.
When 2-year-old Rowan was diagnosed with autism, Rupert Isaacson, a writer and former horse trainer, and his wife, Psychology Professor Kristin Neff, sought the best possible medical care for their son — but traditional therapies had little effect.
Then they discovered that Rowan has a profound affinity for animals — particularly horses — and the family set off on a quest for a possible cure.
The Horse Boy is part travel adventure, part insight into shamanic tradition and part intimate look at the autistic mind.
In telling one family's extraordinary story, the film gives voice to the thousands who display amazing courage and creativity every day in the battle against this mysterious and heartbreaking epidemic.
The filmic companion to Isaacson's best-selling book of the same name and a festival favorite, this ravishing documentary odyssey gives insight into how, in life's darkest moments, one can find the gateway to joy and wonder. More: zeitgeistfilms.com/horseboy
Zeitgeist Films, July 17, 2009; Dawn Paul, Sept. 6, 2019; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Trump ratchets up rhetoric, Epstein bombshells dropped, Jimmy's Election Eve closing argument
Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story
(Jimmy Kimmel Live)
Nov. 4, 2024: It’s Election Eve and the polls are all over the place, the candidates are pulling out all the campaign stops, Harrison Ford made a very powerful video in support of VP Harris, Trump fantasized about seeing Liz Cheney with guns in her face, we learned through bombshell audio tapes that he was Trump’s “closest friend,” The Don is ratcheting up the rhetoric, his spokesperson Stephen Cheung immediately ran to his defense, Trump ranted and raved for four minutes because he was unhappy with a microphone, Herschel Walker was back on stage to introduce his favorite candidate, Tucker Carlson confessed that he was attacked by demons in bed, JD Vance made a confusing closing pitch to voters in Wisconsin, and Jimmy makes his final closing argument going into election day. #Kimmel
Harris’s star-studded closer, Trump’s handsy (masturbat...) mic moment, and RIP Peanut the Squirrel | The Daily Show
(The Daily Show)
Nov 4, 2024: Jordan Klepper recaps the candidates' election closers: Kamala D. Harris's star-studded message of joy and the Don's "oral" presentation with his mic stand. (Where is JD relaxing after hitching his wagon to the T Train?) Timmy VW hot on the high heels of KD. Plus, Michael Kosta explains how Peanut the Squirrel's death could help Trump target niche undecided voters. #JD Vance #JordanKlepper #DailyShow #KamalaHarris #DonaldTrump #Election
Happy birthday, white Buddhist guru Tilda Swinton
"Open your eye" - Doctor Strange meets the Ancient One
ET photographed by Dr. Steven Greer (CE 5)
(BestScene) In 2016, Hollywood put out a Cumberbatch vehicle called Doctor Strange. Here is a film clip of the best scene in the whole convoluted story of a how a Marvel character came to be. This is the Marvel Universe, right? "Open your eye is a reference to our third eye located on our forehead between the other two, left and right, the dibba cakkhu or "divine eye," the subtle manifestation of the denser pineal gland, the magical set of rods and cones buried deep in the skull where it never sees ordinary light. But it can perceive something. What is it for? "Who are you in this vast multiverse?"
Election 2024: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
(LastWeekTonight) Nov. 3, 2024: A quick message ahead of Tuesday’s (Nov. 5th) election. And the worst photo that’s ever been taken of anyone. Ever.
Connect with Last Week Tonight online...on YouTube for more almost news as it almost happens (lastweektonight) on Facebook like your mom would, on Twitter for news about jokes and jokes about news, or visit official website for all that other stuff at once: hbo.com/lastweektonight.
(Into the Shadows) Feb. 29, 2024: Unveiling the dark pages of history, this video delves into the infamous Mein Kampf ("My Struggle," Hitler's autobiography, the "Nazi Bible"). Explore Hitler's twisted ideology, its impact, and the horrifying consequences it unleashed on humanity. Knowledge is the key to preventing history's repetition.
Life Under Adolf Hitler: The First Years of Nazi Germany
(War Stories) June 17, 2024: In January 1933, Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany with promises of peace and economic recovery.
However, his true agenda soon emerged (antisemitism), targeting Jews and anyone else he perceived as an enemy within (gays, gypsies, liberals, undesirables).
This documentary explores how Hitler and the Nazis manipulated the German populace, transforming the nation into a totalitarian regime. Discover the propaganda by Joe Goebbels, economic strategies, and brutal policies that shaped the early years of Nazi Germany.
ABOUT: War Stories is a one stop shop for all things military history. From Waterloo to Verdun, it brings only the best documentaries and stories from history's most engaging and dramatic conflicts.
Discover the past on History Hit, with ad-free exclusive podcasts and documentaries released weekly and presented by world-renowned historians Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Matt Lewis, and others. Get 50% off first 3 months with code 'WARSTORIES': https://historyhit.com/subscription. Find more on: warstoriesdocs. This channel is part of the History Hit Network. For any queries, please contact owned-enquiries@littledotstudios.com.
#warstories #documentary #military
People mentioned. #warstories #military #documentary
(Yestervid) Oct. 28, 2015: This is a rare, amazing, and heartfelt tribute to Native American tribes. This footage dates back to 1895 or 1894, with rare vintage audio recording of American Indian music.
This is forgotten American history and includes the oldest known clip of Native Americans on film, a clip of Sioux tribe members performing the "Buffalo Dance" at Thomas Edison's Black Maria Studio in New Jersey.
The "Ghost Dance" film was created on the same day, September 24, 1895. Other films featured include Hopi tribe members greeting TR and clips from the Chicago World's Fair of 1933.
It shows three Native American feature films: White Fawn's Devotion, The Invaders, and Last of the Mohicans. White Fawn's Devotion was the earliest film directed by a Native American, whose name was James Young Deer.
The old audio clip was recorded in 1895 by Alice Cunningham and Francis La Flesche. The dance song is "He'dewachi," and it is traditionally played at ceremonies that celebrate warriors.
Please enjoy and share! Philámayaye! (Lakota for "thank you"). See more great videos like this on the channel: Yestervid (yestervid.com), Facebook: yestervid, X/Twitter: yestervid.
Oldest Native American drumming video ever
(Afrodrumming) July 24, 2012: Old, rare footage of Native American drumming from 1894 in a tribute to our American Indian brothers and sisters.
Big thanks to all the musicians who provided their talents: The Hopi tribe of Arizona, Kerri Lake, Ephemeral Rift, and Kevin MacLeod.
For more on Afrodrumming, see: afrodrumming.com. The album African Drumming is available as a CD or for immediate download here: afrodrumming.com/store for all anyone needs to know about the djembe and African drumming.
In this audio, he shares his groundbreaking research into the treatment of "Long COVID," as well as how we can identify and eliminate toxins (krait snake venom proteins, heavy metals, nanobot technology) in the human body to heal properly.
Reflecting on the devastating impact of the pandemic (plandemic), Dr. Ardis notes that there are "7,000,000 people dead...and 1.6 to 1.9 million of that total came in the United States," which has less than 3 percent of the world's population.
His personal connection to the crisis began when he lost his father-in-law due to what he said was "a very ill-advised hospital protocol" involving the antiviral drug Remdesivir (which he dubbed "Run, death is near"), which he claims has a higher death rate than no treatment at all.
Dr. Ardis criticizes the commonplace narrative that COVID originated from a bat, suggesting instead that "labs like Wuhan are [purposely developing and] designing more deadly [gain of function] pathogens."
He also calls attention to the ongoing symptoms stemming from Long COVID, stating, "Millions around the world currently are battling ... trying to recover their own health."
He cites a January 2023 study where Long COVID patients wearing a 7-milligram nicotine patch for only six days experienced a complete disappearance of their symptoms, which include the loss of taste and smell, brain fog, and insomnia.
Natural plant nicotine (not cancerous, chemically-treated corporate cigarettes or other smoked or chewed tobacco products) is a healing herb.
Ozempic and Wegovy are Hila monster venom (a segment of protein in a sea of chemicals that will spur on "turbo cancer")
There is NO mRNA in the miracle Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer and other Big Pharma firms, according to their own science, as they try to prove they are not responsible for people contracting the pandemic. So it was all a bunch of lies, and the goal of the "plandemic" was to get shots in arms at all costs, as people gave in to the terror
Further, the study found no dependency or adverse effects from the patches, he reports. Dr. Ardis also notes that smokers are less affected by COVID due to nicotine's binding to viral proteins, similar to venom proteins and peptides from snakes like the king cobra.
Dr. Ardis further contends that government censorship and misinformation have obscured the effectiveness of real nicotine, as well as the drug ivermectin (which binds to nicotine receptors).
He also highlights the importance of dietary supplements, particularly Zinc and Vitamin C, in bolstering immunity. During the pandemic, "Zinc was the Number One thing everybody should have been taking to prevent worse health outcomes," he says.
(HECHO Online) Some experiences and places can be transformative and change our perspective. Oak Flat, or Chi'chil Biłdagoteel, is a sacred land in southeastern Arizona.
It is the kind of place that stays with one way after a visit, just like the people of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, who have lived in and cared for this beautiful high desert since time immemorial.
That was the experience that members of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and HECHO teams had during a recent visit to Oak Flat, 60 miles east of Phoenix.
Articulate it to a judge; make them understand
They saw firsthand the extraordinary beauty of this area now at risk and listened to the eye-opening testimonies of members of the Apache Stronghold.
Listen to Naelyn Pike, member of the Apache Stronghold.
#SaveOakFlat
Dr. Jeffrey Long is a medical doctor specializing in the practice of radiation oncology, using radiation to treat cancer. Long has conducted the world's largest study of Near-Death experiences (NDEs) which includes over 4,000 experiencers.
OUTLINE
00:00 - Scientific evidence of near-death experiences (NDEs)
08:56 - The problem with researching NDEs
20:46 - Near death experience vs. fear death experience
23:19 - Are NDEs religious?
34:54 - Scientific evidence of reincarnation
42:10 - How NDEs change people
47:11 - NDEs give people superpowers
52:58 - DMT vs. NDEs
01:05:19 - Consciousness during cardiac arrest
01:11:09 - Blind people regaining vision during NDE
"Why must we die?" This question is slightly misguided because "we" don't really die. The Complicated Game, the Samsaric Carousel goes on turning.
If we don't really die, what happens? The problem is in how we define "we." Who dies, what dies? This illusory sense of self separate from its causes and conditions that are the basis of the "self" (the Five Aggregates clung to as self).
How can we say they die if they go on beyond this life. (There is life after life, which is the whole problem, endless cycling through samsara. Why do we cycle? It is because we do not see Dependent Origination. If we do, when we, the problem resolves. In a sense, there never was a problem -- except that in a conventional sense, it was a giant problem. It's hard to give an example, parallel, or analogy, but it is possible that by giving one, a wise person may see the problem.)
First, can two seemingly contradictory things be true? Yes. Look: Is there absolute up and down? Yes, where gravity pulls hardest is "down," and where it doesn't is "up." And it matters. Keeping our orientation is important, even in a pool where the pull of gravity is lessened for our semi-floating bodies. But what about space (in the ether)?
I never asked to be born. - Did you want to stay where you were? - No, that's not what I meant!
Suddenly, there is no absolute up or down; it doesn't matter. We just float and spin and can't right oursevles because there is no "right" only, maybe, a consensus agreement of this will be up and that will be down like when we're on earth. Now, here's the trick: Are they both true, or is only one true, or are neither true? We see that on earth, it's true. We see that deep in space, it's not true (there is no absolute up or down). How can they both be true, given that they're opposites? Here's the kicker: Where's earth? Earth is in space. So, in a sense, in space it is both true and not true that there is an absolute up and down.
(The resolution is that it depends, as with most things in life). In the micro it matter, in the macro it doesn't, but they're not separate).
There are two dimensions within one reality (one with up and down, one without them) both at the same time. What we wear matters to others because of looks, except in the dark.
So imagine yourself in prison. It sucks. You don't want to be there. But further imagine that all the time you've been inside, the door to the outside has be "open" in the sense that it hasn't been locked. No one inside knows it's unlocked, so are you locked up or not?
Devas learned more than humans did.
Literally, technically, no. But conventionally, in every important sense, yes. You both are and are not at the same time. There's no confusion. You could explain and explain, but we on the outside already understand. We, unlike you all inside, can see that it's unlocked, so we don't understand the problem. But there is a problem, a big problem, and that is that you don't know. You live in an illusion, and because of it you never even test the door. You dream of getting out, but the easiest exit goes untested. (This is just an example. But isn't life this way?) There is an escape, there is a way out, there is a solution, but we on the inside don't know it.
And if someone who slipped out comes back in to tell us, "Hey, you'll never guess, there's a way out. Follow me, and I'll show you." Will people follow? No way. Only very few with faith in that person would even dream of suspending disbelief and investigating. It is exactly like The Allegory of the Cave by Plato.
It is exactly like the predicament of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni (a Scythian prince who let go, found a way out, came back to save everyone with that wisdom, and found out that "no good deed goes unpunished").
So here we at Wisdom Quarterly are doing the same thing, suffering the same punishment, wondering why we don't shut and just go find that door.
See, as in The Cave, so in the Illusory Prison of Life, there are pleasures here, safety in the familiar, a lack of recognition of what bad is coming our way -- old age, sickness, disappointments of all kinds, death, loss, separation, misery, and big troubles -- all that is going to happen if we stay here.
In The Cave, the beings cling to their chains and aren't going to have some "madman" unchain them and lead them out of the only world and safety and familiarity they've ever known. Though the Buddha comes by banging a pot in the street, announcing that there is a way out of this Illusory Prison of Life, do humans and devas run to him in joy? Or do they hide under their covers or beds, fearing that he is threatening to take away their good times, their petty pleasures and joys to exchange them for hardships and austerities?
Many completely misunderstand that he is offering slightly bitter medicine and stay suckling at the teat of sugary white goo, growing fat and further addicted.
So who will die, what will die?
It's all right to let go now.
We could say that the Five Aggregates clung to as self (form, feelings, perceptions, mental formation, and consciousness) will disintegrate and fall apart. But this can't be death because (a) they reform and (b) they are dying at every moment.
They are not "things" in the sense of compacts, but are "processes" in the sense of being nothing more than constituent parts. It's like thinking that a segment of hose water is ours.
(Imagine an 11-foot green hose with a one-foot segment in the middle that is clear, and saying that clear portion we can see through, that water is ours. Is it? Sure, let's say we've been deeded it and have enforceable water rights with written documentation that it "belongs" to us. We own no other water, but that water is ours. What is ours? It's never ours really, except in the way an NFT belongs to someone: in name only. If we insist, like that NFT owner, that it is ours, okay, what is ours? That water we "own" is always moving. Do we own the H20 molecules? If so, which ones? The ones now, the ones now, the ones later, the ones that already passed? We don't control the spigot or anything else, but cling to the ones we can see passing right now as "ours.")
What is the water passing in this example? If we wanted to get symbolic, we could say it represents the moisture passing through this body we cling to. Do we cling to the urine the body makes and refuse to relinquish it? No, we understand it's a process and more water is coming. Do we cling to the remainder (poop) of the food we ate? No, not most of us. We gladly relinquish it and get as far away from it as possible.
As for all that is watery, what do we do? Thirst (tanha, the Buddha called it by analogy).
But before it prepares to pass, we cling to it, love it, fear losing "self" (in the sense of the first aggregate, form).
The Buddha has been trying to tell the world of humans and devas this since the first sermon, the Dhammacakkapavatana Sutta. Quick witted Anna Kondanna got it. We have been much slower.
All that is (re)born is born to die
(Lana Del Rey) "Born to Die" - "Not having been, they come to be; once having been, they cease." What all? The Five Aggregates clung to as self.
ANSWER
So in answer to the question, "Why must we die?" (or "Why do humans keep dying?") It is because what we call "we" (we humans and other kinds of beings like angelic devas) are actually compounds of constituent parts called khandha, the Five Aggregates clung to as self. This self is a composite, and each element, each component is ultimately impermanent, disappointing, and impersonal. It true nature, which is not apparent to us in normal mundane consciousness (but can be brought into consciousness by heightening our attention and purifying mind/heart of distractions, hindrances, and obstructions to vision). When we know and see its true nature, we see that things are not at all like they seem. What appears solid, stable, alluring and able to satisfy desires, and personal is actually many streams of form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousnesses (all processes, not things). We keep dying from moment to moment, every moment, because like moving water, there is nothing stable or permanent about this process of changing elements, guided along by our karma (deeds) and their many faceted results. Knowing and seeing this firsthand, the heart turns away and we can easily let go of clinging. By letting go, no longer seeing any appeal in this dangerous game of clinging to the painful, the mind is freed. We awaken to the first stage of enlightenment called stream entry. (But it's of no use trying to tell this to anyone because the ego will not stand for it, will not listen, will not be convinced, will not accept. It is only by practice that knowledge and vision arise. Then knowing and seeing, there is no doubt, and letting go is as easy as falling down. Look, the prison is open. Look, all the forms, feelings...and all things clung to are not "self." Let go of what is not me or mine. Be set free.
