Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal: A Brain Wider Than the Sky

Showing posts with label A Brain Wider Than the Sky. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

World Brain Day: the 'Buddha's Brain'

Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love & Wisdom is an Audible audiobook (unabridged) by Dr. Rick Hanson, PhD. He is the author and narrator and has 4.7 out of 5 stars with 1,984 ratings.

Change your brain, change your life with this essential classic from New York Times bestselling author Dr. Hanson—now celebrating 15 years in print with more than 500,000 copies sold.

Great teachers like the Buddha, Jesus, Moses, Mohammed, and Gandhi were all born with brains built essentially like anyone else’s—and then they changed their brains in ways that changed the world.

Neuroscience now reveals how the flow of thoughts actually sculpts the brain. More and more, we are learning that it’s possible to strengthen positive brain states. By combining breakthroughs in science with insights from thousands of years of mindfulness (sati) practice, we too can shape our own “Buddha’s Brain” for greater happiness, love, and wisdom.

Buddha’s Brain draws on evidence-based neuroscience to show how to stimulate our brain for more fulfilling relationships, a deeper spiritual life, and a greater sense of inner confidence and self-worth.

Using guided meditations and mindfulness exercises, readers learn how to activate the brain states of calm, joy, and compassion instead of worry, sorrow, and anger. Most importantly, they will foster positive psychological growth that will literally change the way we live our day-to-day life.

This book provides an essential intersection of psychology, neurology, and contemplative practice, and is filled with practical tools and skills that anyone can use every day to tap into the unused potential of the brain and rewire it over time for greater well-being.

PLEASE NOTE: Purchase of this title is accompanied by a PDF in the Audible Library along with the audio. More: Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love & Wisdom by Dr. Rick Hanson, PhD, and Daniel J. Siegel, MD, with foreword by Dr. Richard Mendius, MD and contributor Jack Kornfield for preface (Brilliance Audio)

Thursday, June 13, 2024

Universe 46 BLY wide but only 13.8 b-y-o?

How can the visible universe be 46 billion light-years in radius when the universe is only 13.8 billion years old? How can the visible universe be 46 billion light-years (BLY) in radius when the universe is only 13.8 billion years old?

And how can we detect light 46 billion light-years away when the universe has been in existence for only a fraction of that time?

Astronomers widely accept that the universe formed in a Big Bang [with no precedent, everything blowing up into existence out of nothing, with scientists claiming to be superior to religieux IF they be given just this one miracle to explain how everything began] approximately 13.8 billion years ago.

It has been expanding ever since [which it has not but how else to explain the Doppler effect redshift than to say everything is moving apart when it is not].

This expansion explains how a 13.8-billion-year-old universe can be so much larger than 13.8 billion light-years across.

First of all, [scientists] should explain that the light-speed limit that relativity imposes on objects within the universe does not apply to the universe itself.

[Why? God doesn't follow His own rules imposed on everyone else like "thou shalt not kill" because as God and the model, He kills everyone he wants like the Demiurge of which the Gnostics speak.]

UFO or capsule debris on the surface of Mars

In fact, we can't refer to an absolute expansion speed of the universe because we can't measure it in reference to anything external.

We can only gauge the "speeds" of distant galaxies that are receding from us relative to our own position.

Apart from those that are gravitationally bound (such as, say, the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies), all galaxies appear to be moving away from each other as the "space-time" in which they're embedded expands.

The more distant the galaxy, the faster its recession velocity, as noted by the Hubble Law. As a consequence of this expansion, a galaxy's location changes considerably during the period of time that its light requires to travel to us. More

Southworth Planetarium Director Edward Herrick-Gleason, University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine, Astronomy Magazine staff (MSN.com) How can the visible universe be..., June 12, 2024; Sheldon S., Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Thursday, April 6, 2023

British comedy is against Trump (video)

Russell Howard, April 6, 2023; Amber Larson, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

King of Amerikkka, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Melania, King Charles, Concubine Camilla (PBS)

Trump is going to "Make Jail Great Again" | The Russell Howard Hour

A Trump crumpet = Trumpet

(Russell Howard) In this compilation from The Russell Howard Hour, let's take a look back at some of the events leading up to the Trumpet's arrest, as well as some of the Crumpet's best (worst) moments.

Welcome to the official Russell Howard channel. Subscribe to watch the very best Russell Howard clips, twitter, facebook. Watch new episodes every Thursday at 10:00 pm on Sky1 #RussellHoward

American mockery of Trump

(Daily Show/Jordan Klepper) US loves its king whether he's right or right

Monday, January 2, 2017

Binaural beat deep FEAR cleanse (video)

ZenLifeRelax; Crystal Quintero, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Use headphones: Release subconscious fear, trapped negative energy with deep theta binaural beat

This soundtrack, which is accompanied by stunningly beautiful images of nature, is a 432Hz tuned didgeridoo mixed with ambient sounds, white noise, monastic chanting, Om mantra, and Solfeggio frequencies 852Hz and 963Hz.

It is a powerful auditory and visual healing, a rejuvenating journey, an easy meditation session.

When releasing subconscious negative blocks, emotions, or energies, negativity may surface to be healed and released. Feel it, focus on the emotion, allow (accept) it, [take the lesson], and its energy will release. This is the healing. It may release within one listening session or may require several listens over a longer period of time. More

Friday, December 30, 2016

DMT: The War on Consciousness (TED video)

; Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

"Let that sh-t go," says the Buddha. Clinging to stuff never got us anywhere (LR).

Banned TED Talk on DMT

Graham Hancock: The real widespread war that rages every day is for our consciousness. And it affects everyone under the top 1% (cre8-health.com).

Take humanity by the short and curlies or the mind, and you've got them in a non-real trap -- supporting a system the kills, plots murder each and every day, and hides the tracks of its existence.

The world is ours, so let's live free.

It covers and distorts the truth to keep us from rediscovering the simple answers to free energy, cancer and depression cures, and keeps us bound by a preposterous state affairs we collectively are taught to think of and call "the economy," which is completely manipulated by the movers and shakers who most benefit from the situation as it now stands.

A wise man once said, "The devil's greatest trick is convincing everyone that he doesn't exist." Most people today fall at the feet -- as if stricken with a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome -- begging for mercy from Lord Money.

Compassion is sexy (Wisdom Quarterly)

It's no wonder life follows the events interpreted from the Bible, for life is predictable, and its cycles are also predictable. Many people know more than others could possibly hope to know about the reality we live in. The events that occur are construed to follow the Judeo-Christian Book to the letter like a comical magician's trick.

We buy into different factions of "the system," be it via science (the new religion), the church (the old religion), or history (as interpreted for the benefit of those in power).

Money has never been the solution. We know it, but what choice do we have that we know of? Money is fast leading to the demise of our planet's health and eco-systems -- all for profit, not ours but that of a handful of companies.

Light arose, knowledge arose, enlightenment dawned: O, that's the way things are.

Little do we know that we have more than enough food for everyone right now (and millions more). That's not what we're told. But yes, we have more than enough resources. We have enough health to be able to achieve monumentally amazing feats in life if we worked together rather than against each other.

Who wants us to be against each other? Those in power, the companies, the governments, the elites, and anyone comfortable with the uneven distribution of wealth and resources.

Unfortunately the entire system is designed to keep us from discovering the truth, any truth. Business success is built on secrecy, and without it business could not survive.

The evolution of open source and free energy are putting a stranglehold on the system. While the top bankers of the world are committing suicide/being killed, we stand and watch -- just as we've been programmed to do, controlled by fear-mongering governments who constantly put out a barrage of terror and apprehension through the media.

Noble friendship is the best medicine.

Any person who is the slightest bit spiritual can feel that fear is powerful enough to keep us from experiencing almost everything spiritual and scientific.

The real human deficit is a lack of experience and a lack of knowledge and a lack of spirituality. The universe is a spiritually "conscious" thing. And we mirror the universe. There is nothing that is "us" that is not part of the universe. When we align ourselves we remember that. But everything around us presses us to remain out of alignment.

Understanding is easy if we have the ability to really question what we consider "knowledge" and our "beliefs" about what we think we know. We have to have the cahones to create new ones that SERVE the planet and humanity as a whole.

Wait, what's DMT? The Spirit Molecule

Only then can we experience our greatest potential that otherwise remains dormant, suppressed by thousands of years of the same old same old that was invented to do just that from past empires and restrictive societies to this empire and this restricted society. Control of the masses benefits a tiny minority of elites. We are the majority who can wake up at any time.

VIDEO: "The Spirit Molecule"
(Lukewearechange/instagram.com)

VIDEO: What world do we enter on DMT? Luke Rudkowski (WAC/FB/IN) talks to Dennis McKenna about psychedelics and mind-expanding drugs, their role in society, the recent upsurge in knowledge about them, and how use of them could transform society, which is probably why they are banned by the powers that be. McKenna is an American ethno-pharmacologist, research pharmacognosist, lecturer, author, and the brother of well-known psychedelics proponent Terence McKenna. He is also a founding board member and the director of ethnopharmacology at the Heffter Research Institute, a non-profit organization concerned with the investigation of the potential therapeutic uses of psychedelics as medicine.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Why the color BLUE isn't (video)

Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; RadioLab; MSN; Lana Del Rey

The sky isn't really blue, RadioLab reveals. It's an illusion. See story below (radiolab.org)

Over deep blue sea, under sky blue sky, no, over and under the clear (Homer/Odyssey)

Dr. James Fox explains the mysteries of blue for CNN via MSN via Yahoo (MSN).

Why is the color blue so rare in the wild?

Gandhara art Buddha

Why is Wisdom Quarterly blue? Blue is smart, very smart. Blue is the world's favorite color. Half are wearing it now. But in the natural world, blue is uncommon -- from foods to animals. Only two vertebrates out of 64,000 in the world have blue pigments. The sky and water are NOT blue; that is only an optical illusion. The Buddha had blue eyes (as blue as the Afghan Buddhist stone lapis lazuli). Blue eyes are NOT blue but pale brown. (So much for an Aryan/alien difference).

Blue is so elusive, many ancient languages had no word for it or were slow to come up with one (see next story), like the Ancient Greek of Homer. Blue doesn't really exist in our world but only hovers on its edges. So it is ironic that we all live on a moist pale blue planet. Watch

(Lana Del Rey) Lana has the blues (again): "My baby lives in shades of blue" in "Shades of Cool"

Why isn't the sky blue?
RadioLab.org (Story 211213) edited by Wisdom Quarterly

What is the color of honey and "faces pale with fear"?

If you're the world-famous Ancient Greek writer Homer -- one of the most influential poets in history -- that color is green. And the sea is "wine-dark," just like oxen...though sheep are violet. Which all sounds, well, really off.

Radiolab Producer Tim Howard introduces linguist Guy Deutscher and the story of William Gladstone (a British prime minister back in the 1800s, who was a huge Homer-phile). Gladstone conducted an exhaustive study of every color reference in the great Grecian epics The Odyssey and The Iliad.

It's true: "Blue" eyes are actually pale brown!

He found something startling: no blue! Howard pays a visit to the New York Public Library, where a book of German philosophy from the late 19th Century helps reveal a pattern: across all cultures, words for colors appear in stages...and blue always comes last.

Jules Davidoff, professor of neuropsychology at the University of London, helps make sense of the way different people see different colors in the same place.

Then Guy Deutscher tells how he experimented on his daughter Alma when she was just starting to learn the colors of the world around, and above, her. More

Saturday, May 28, 2016

Yogi Zen: How to live in cave eating air (video)

Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Yogi Zen (Caveman Yogi/YogaVersiddhi.com)

(Nat'l Geographic) The pricetag for immortality? Let's just say it's gross for all the cleansing going on, but it is a common practice in Asia among ascetics even today.

7 Yoga Poses for Glowing Skin (stylecraze.com)

National Geographic did a special on Taboo USA called "Forever Young: The Fountain of Youth." Who is pursuing immortality, and what does that person have to say about it?

A film crew came out to my yoga ashram in the San Diego mountains and I shared with them the age-old secrets of youthification. The show did little to share with its audience all of the aspects of this practice.

What was first cultivated and refined in India and the Himalayan Buddhist kingdoms of

the north has gone worldwide and spread so that it can even be practiced in a cave

desert of Southern California. Here the revered Swami Rama shows the way.

I shared for three days and 12 hours! They filmed the truths I shares. I'm disappointed that the show did not set out to make the points I was sharing. They left out 95% of the yogic practices and teachings I shared.

Oh well. We cannot expect the mainstream media to think that anyone would want to know the truth.

For example, our own urine can be the only medicine we ever need -- as the Buddha directed monastics (although they were using cow urine that is now used in so many cosmetic products in the U.S. and elsewhere) as long as we accompany it with a proper diet or FASTING.

Breatharian-Wisdom: BushMan Wild Foods Want more health? Then go back to more wild foods and unadulterated plants like moringa seeds, aloe vera leaf, herbal cleanse powder with bentonite clay…
Breatharian-Wisdom: How to Detox

So I would like to share more information for subscribers. I shall do more informative videos later.

What is the key to meditation? Dog knows.

Becoming breatharian (like vegetarian but replacing food with breath) is as easy as relaxing and giving up the old cocoon we have been clinging to our entire lives. It is brave to get off of the Wheel of Death and give up feeding a bottomless pit of sorrow.

To feed ourselves is serving the wrong purpose of what we came here to become in this life. We were meant to be FREE and to explore this Garden Planet like children full of awe and wonder.

Ganja smoke demonstration: Yogi Zen uses "third lung" we have without using.

When one is enveloped by the light (nimitta)

When we lose flexibility and become rigid, our diet is toxic to us. We become the walking dead. Yes, we have all slipped off of the wheel of perfection to delight in a deadly life of feeding a desire body that actively, moment by moment, continues to cycle through suffering because of ignorance.

Meditation may be the only thing able to save this world and its citizens. We must all be taught and learn to go into our heart-space and connect to our consciousness and the universal consciousness.

"Yoga Detox" at our ashram: YogaVersiddhi.com
Email: Yogizen1234@gmail.com
Yogi Zen's Facebook: Yogi Zen or Caveman Yogi
Call to speak to our team at the school: (808) 419-4121

Friday, November 22, 2013

A Guide to Void-Gazing Meditation

Editors, Wisdom Quarterly; Wayne Pitches (voices.yahoo.com)

The boundless sky or akasha includes space (bbc.co.uk)

Deep in meditation (wiki)

This is a variation on a Tibetan meditation known as "Sky-Gazing." It is named this because the practice involves gazing in a relaxed way at the sky as one meditates. This meditation is essentially the same and can be used indoors or wherever even if the sky is not immediately visible.

Begin by taking a seat with back erect, hands resting on lap. Alternatively, lie down comfortably, but not so comfortably that sleep comes on. Close the eyes, and take a few calming breaths as eyes settle gently behind the eyelids, gazing gently ahead. To relax even further, repeat silently the seed mantra, Emaho (ay-mah-ho). It is Tibetan for "wondrous!" and is the core-teaching of Tibetan meditation. Experience the wonder of being alive, sitting there in immersed in our original Buddha nature.

Gazing at Occupy LA (WQ)

Imagine staring out into a vast emptiness, a deep dark void where nothing exists. When this can be imagined easily, begin to breathe in and out as deeply as possible while remaining relaxed. The focus should be on the out-breath, imagining that with each exhalation one is breathing essence out into that void, becoming one with its spacious luminosity. No ego exists here. Feel yourself expanding beyond any corporeal confines, filling that void. More

Meditation for Beginners

The benefits of meditation in psychotherapy

Meditation soothes the mind, helps us understand ourselves and creates whole being...

Friday, November 9, 2012

Witnessing my thoughts in meditation (video)

Seven and Pagan Peace Punk, Wisdom Quarterly

Dubious Buddha quote or a free translation of an actual sentiment (H. Kopp Delaney)

It's almost as if people have forgotten that the world ends this December. The Mayan Calendar's 2012, Gibson's real-life Apocalypto, a Rapture, some Revelation (unveiling), the Second Coming (of Quetzalcoatl)... Then what?

"There will be no coffins when you and I die, no consecrated ground, no sin to end all sins and angels with scorched wings -- and if the thought of it stings: Sorry, God, there's no coffins, just bloody jellies," Nick Blinko insists.

"You're trippin," they'll say. The breath goes in; the breath goes out. The baby gets in, water's dirty, pull the plug, Bye-bye, baby. Where was I? Breath goes in; breath goes out.... Why was I born, and where will I go next? Uptown? Downtown? Another town?

"No coffins, just bloody jellies. Glance at the nice town. See the war plan it owns. There'll be mass graves. So I want my death grant, 30 pounds, in advance. Buy now. Don't leave to chance. At least it's the final kill. No coffins, just bloody jellies."

Neither Buddhist, Hindu, nor Jain sacred texts say the world ends on any magical date like 12-21-12. Nor does shaman lore from anywhere around the world. Maybe only the West ends? The world is ALWAYS ending. Why are we holding our breath for a big kerrang?

Oh. Breathe in/breathe out, breathe in/breathe out... Who knows more, the Sayadaw or the Lama? Neither of them say, GAME OVER; no need to buy X-mas gifts this year. "No coffins, just bloody jellies. This their creation, to purify the planet, a new beginning, no it's not destruction!" Ah, Blinky's smart and prescient.

Sitting on top of the world, the Himalaya. All is still, all is quiet. We can concentrate.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Wisdom Wide and Deep: Jhana and Insight

Shaila Catherine (imsb.org), Wisdom Quarterly

Wisdom Wide and Deep: A Practical Handbook for Mastering Jhana and Vipassana

Wisdom Wide and Deep is an extended introduction to an in-depth training. It emphasizes the application of concentrated attention to profound and liberating insight.

With calm, tranquility, and composure -- established through a practical experience of deep concentration (jhana) -- meditators are able to halt the seemingly endless battle against meditation hindrances, eliminate distraction, and facilitate a penetrative insight into the subtle nature of matter and mind.

It was for this reason that the Buddha frequently exhorted his students, "Develop concentration, for one who is concentrated understands things as they really are."

Wisdom Wide and Deep follows and amplifies the teachings in Shaila Catherine’s first book, Focused and Fearless: A Meditator’s Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity.

Readers learn to develop this profound stability, sustain an in-depth examination of the nuances of mind and matter, and ultimately unravel deeply conditioned patterns that perpetuate suffering.

This is a practical guide, a fully detailed manual for dealing with the mind. It is sure to become a trusted companion for inner-explorers.

Wisdom Quarterly can say without reservation that Shaila Catherine is an extraordinary teacher of the highest order, a consummate practitioner of the Buddha's instructions, and a rare treasure in the world. Her two books set right teachings that had long been upset. She has benefited tremendously by practicing under one of the world's greatest living Buddhist scholar-practitioners, the most venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw. We are not alone in our praise:

Praise from Buddhist authors and teachers

This is a handbook that respects both the ancient tradition and the needs of contemporary lay practitioners, without compromising either. Shaila Catherine presents the Buddha's teaching by blending scriptural references, personal examples, and timeless stories with detailed meditation instructions. More

—Pa Auk Sayadaw, author of The Workings of Kamma

In Wisdom Wide and Deep, Shaila Catherine has laid out a path of practice from the simplest beginnings to profound and subtle insights. Her writing is beautifully lucid, making accessible the inner depths of the Buddha's teachings. This book is a powerful inspiration both for those who would like a glimpse of..." More

—Joseph Goldstein, author of A Heart Full of Peace and One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism

Shaila’s new book converts theory to practice, ideas to application, knowledge about meditation to direct experience. She has written a manual in clear, practical language. It is an excellent follow up to her previous book, Focused and Fearless. The strength of Shaila’s new book is... More

—Christopher Titmuss, author of Light on Enlightenment and An Awakened Life

Shaila's book, Wisdom Wide and Deep is far more than just a handbook -- it is an in-depth, piece-by-piece examination of many of the specific teachings of jhana and insight. It is book that you will study, as opposed to sit down and read through. It is reference book that you will... More

—Phillip Moffitt, author of Dancing With Life: Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning and Joy in the Face of Suffering.

Shaila Catherine has managed a difficult feat -- to be simultaneously encyclopedic and charming. Her extraordinary clarity and step-by-step approach will embolden some readers to attain jhanic absorption, while others may simply gain... More

—Kate Lila Wheeler, Dharma teacher and author of When Mountains Walked, editor of In This Very Life and The State of Mind Called Beautiful.

The whole spiritual path concerns attitudes and perspectives that we have on things. From there, actions spring up and life unfolds. Shaila Catherine leads us to a completely different way of seeing things by skillfully guiding us through an array of traditional Suttanta and Abhidhamma methods. The precision with which she... More

—Ven. U Jagara

Wisdom Wide and Deep is a clear and comprehensive account of a path of meditation leading to profound levels of concentration and insight. Based primarily on the teachings of the Burmese master Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw, it also includes a helpful collection of references from classical Theravadan sources. Shaila Catherine has clearly... More

—Guy Armstrong, insight meditation teacher

All of us in our lives need to find the ways to cultivate a mind which is a friend -- calm, clear, insightful and pervaded with kindness. In this book Shaila Catherine has outlined an ancient way to train the mind in stillness and wise attention. More

—Christina Feldman, author of Compassion: Listening to the Cries of the World

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Mind Like Sky: Wise Attention Open Awareness

Text by Jack Kornfield (Shambhala Sun)

Buddha at Isdaan Restaurant, Tarlac, North Luzon, Philippines (lucas78/flickr)

Meditation comes alive through a growing capacity to release our habitual entanglement in the stories and plans, conflicts and worries that make up the small sense of self, and to rest in awareness.

In meditation we do this simply by acknowledging the moment-to-moment changing conditions -- the pleasure and pain, the praise and blame, the litany of ideas and expectations that arise. Without identifying with them, we can rest in the awareness itself, beyond conditions, and experience what my teacher Ajahn Chah called jai pongsai, our natural lightness of heart.

Developing this capacity to rest in awareness nourishes concentration (samadhi), which stabilizes and clarifies the mind, and wisdom (prajna), which sees things as they are.

We can employ this awareness or wise attention from the very start. When we first sit down to meditate, the best strategy is to simply notice whatever state of our body and mind is present. To establish the foundation of mindfulness, the Buddha instructs his followers "to observe whether the body and mind are distracted or steady, angry or peaceful, excited or worried, contracted or released, bound or free."

Observing what is so, we can take a few deep breaths and relax, making space for whatever situation we find. From this ground of acceptance we can learn to use the transformative power of attention in a flexible and malleable way. Wise attention -- mindfulness -- can function like a zoom lens. Often it is most helpful to steady our practice with close-up attention. More