Beach Life Music Festival, LA (May 3)

I'll be there without my Bang[le]s

Imagine a concert on the seashore by the surly winds when they're not blowing that bad.

May will be good and warm this year, if still a little runny with char and kohl from the LA's toasty hillsides. Sometimes Southern California gets a sudden spell of weather and things are blown over. But not this time. This time will work. This time all the bands will rock.

In the midst of chaos, metta

Imagine seeing Sublime, CAKE, the Long Beach Dub Allstars, (hot) Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles (the eyes of the band), Skip Marley (grandson of Bob Marley), or Alanis Morissette, The Beach Boys (or what's left of them but including handsome John Stamos), Big Head Todd and the Monsters, and a few others like the Pretenders, Lenny Kravitz, Aloe Blacc, The Struts, Shovels & Rope, Digable Planets, Train, O.A.R., Lily Meola, Jackson Brown, and even Mt. Joy.

Beautiful eyes are more beautiful with kohl

Dharma Buddhist Meditation will be present for a mass meditation to bring spiritual vibes to Day 2 of the event by positioning ourselves in different spots all around the concert (wearing Hoffs brand kohl around our eyes) before Sublime, on the sand, near the stage, away from the mosh pit (which will go crazy for CAKE), but be rocking for the LB Dub Allstars, Marley, and The Beach Boys!

What is metta (mass) meditation?

Meditation is walking, standing, or lying down

Mettā (Sanskrit maitrī) means "friendliness, loving-kindness (universal agape), benevolence, friendliness, amity, and good will."

It is an active interest in the wellbeing of others that leads to the impulse of compassion (karuna). It is the first of the Four Sublime States (brahma-viharas) recommended by the Buddha as helpful meditations to develop up to absorption (jhana).

Indian eye makeup in Egypt as seen on mural

It is one of the Ten Perfections (dasa pāramīs) of the Theravāda school of Buddhism. The cultivation of it, called mettā bhāvanā, is a popular form of Buddhist meditation. It is a one of the Four Immeasurables (unlimitables, universals) in Divine Abiding meditation.

Metta or "loving-kindness meditation" is often practiced in Asia by broadcast chanting, during which Buddhist monastics chant for lay Buddhists.

It's easier when we act as one. I'll call you back.

The universal aspect of loving-kindness is discussed in the Buddha's Metta Sutta and is also found in the ancient and medieval texts of Jainism and Hinduism as metta and maitri. More

"Mass" meditation is doing meditation en masse, as a whole, in a group, a collective, increasing coherence, power, and influence. One person in samadhi (jhana) through metta is very powerful, imponderably so, but 100 even if they do not attain to the level of absorption, still have a tremendous effect on the collective consciousness of the region.

• BeachLife Festival | Live Music Festival
• May 2-4, 2025, Redondo Beach, CA, USA
• Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Jen Bradshaw, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly