This party on Wilshire Blvd. (Miracle Mile) is a planning meeting for upcoming Disclosure Project: Dharma Buddhist Meditation Meetup activities and to celebrate Mexico's revolution against imperial European forces in the New World, as the "United Mexican States" (Estados Unidos Mexicanos) triumphed over a giant French army in Pueblo to secure a short-lived victory over imperialism before gaining eventual independence (celebrated on Sept. 16th as El Grito de Dolores ("The Cry of Dolores"), Mexico's actual "Independence Day" or Fourth of July equivalent is held).
Join Vanessa, Postmaster "Tamales Tamales" Johnny, Ally Johnson, comedian Jake the Snake and Kibby, Kevin Klein, fat Beer Mug, but not DJ Omar Kahn, never Omar, for a loud party featuring LIVE music by Manic Hispanic, lots of tacos, traditional foods and beverages, giveaways, modern entertainments, comedy, photo ops, and see Vanessa in a bodacious "Sweet 15" dress.
What does it mean to be a "Mexican Buddhist"? Born and raised in Los Angeles, which is still in many ways Mexico just like it originally was, I went to visit my brother in Orange County. We had recently returned from skiing at Mammoth, where I would meditate in the snow for fun outside the sliding glass door. I didn't realize his young daughter would watch me. So as I'm talking to him in his very modern kitchen, she yells, "Tio! Tio, look!"
Alyssa's a Mexican Buddhist, too
I stick my head into the living room, where she is wearing a Peruvian cap with tassels seated in full lotus with perfect poise focused on her breath. "I've been practicing!" I didn't know what I was looking at. I thought I was the Mexican Buddhist (Chicano/a, Latin, Hispanic, whatever). Oh, to have had a phone camera in hand at that moment! In lieu of that, we've tried to reenact the moment with a mannequin.
Happy Mexican Independence Day (El Grito deDolores, "The Cry of Dolores [Hidalgo]," whose name literally means "pains"), which is NOT today. That's on Sept. 16th every year.
It's largely celebrated only in South Mexico, mostly in the state where an important act of colonial resistance took place. Here in Middle Mexico (Los Angeles, SoCal, extending from San Diego up to about Fresno), we celebrate the 4th of July after the 5th of May (lit., Cinco de Mayo) in much the same way. But they're not the same, and no one cares.
The Avian (Eagle) Bird People?
In the ongoing fight to resist European colonial occupation and exploitation, it's important to remember a "free and sovereign state" called Puebla in the United States of Mexico (Mexico's official name, Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is celebrating today. Is it the arrival of Buddhism? No, most Mexicans have no idea that la Dharma arrived in California, the Southwest, and Mexico in ancient times long before Christianity, Catholicism, or Columbus' aftermath the Conquistadors.
"Mexico" [a, b] is officially called the United Mexican States [c] and is a country in NORTH America, not south, not even central. But to distinguish it from its two other parts (the USA and Canada), it sometimes gets referred to as Mesoamerica.
It borders the USA to the north, Guatemala and Belize to the southeast, while having maritime boundaries with the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Caribbean Sea to the southeast, and the Gulf of Mexico (which would seem to be part of the Atlantic Ocean) to the east.
Racism/colorism in Mexico?
Where did Mexico's racist "caste (casta) system" come from? Spain
Mexico covers 761,610 square miles (1,972,550 km2) [12] and is now the thirteenth-largest country in the world by land area, having had a giant portion of its land occupied and stolen by the USA.
With a population exceeding 130 million, Mexico is the tenth-most populous country in the world (possibly the largest country if its annexed land and population were restored) and is home to the largest number of native Spanish speakers [1].
Its religion would likely be Buddhism (due to the influence of early Buddhist missionaries from Afghanistan and China because the West Coast from BC to Mexico is the mysterious land Chinese Buddhist explorers found, wrote about, and named fUSAng), Indigenous shamanism (animism, polytheism), or Native American spirituality were it not for colonial imposition of imperial Roman Catholicism, which rode in on the back of the Virgin Mary and her local appearance as La Virgen de Guadalupe). The Buddhism that thrives there today is a recent arrival, likely unaware of earlier missionary work.
AI, what is Cinco de Mayo? - Let me explain, Gringo.
The Mexica speak Nahuatl
Mexico City is the capital and largest city, which ranks among the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. (Los Angeles, a Mexican pueblo and city for most of its history, is similarly large -- a megalopolis on par with its Asian twin Bangkok in Buddhist Thailand).
Mexico is also the northwesternmost country in Latin America.
The human presence in Mexico dates back to at least 8,000 BC. Mesoamerica, a great cradle of civilization, was home to numerous advanced societies, including the:
Aztec Mexica goddess: Queen Cali
Olmecs,
Maya,
Zapotecs,
Teotihuacan civilization,
Purépecha.
Spanish colonization overthrew and enslaved the dominant Aztec Empire (from Aztlan, possibly Atlantis or Great Tartary), establishing the Southwestern European colony of "New Spain" (full of soldiers and priests from the Iberian Peninsula) with its capital at Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City).
Mexico became a major center of the transatlantic economy, fueled by the massive mining of silver that changed the world economy and the forced labor of Indigenous peoples and enslaved Africans [descendants of Afro-Caribbeans, Olmec-Africans, Black skinned indigenous peoples of the Americas and/or Polynesia?]
Who's the current imperial power around here?
The 1810–1821 Mexican War of Independence ended colonial Spanish rule and led to the creation of the First Mexican Empire, which quickly collapsed into the short-lived First Mexican Republic. In 1848, the new USA (an extension of British Empire) stole nearly half the territory of Mexico during what the U.S. calls the "Mexican–American War." More
Okay, Mexicans we get. But what is a Chicano/a? - It is a blend of American and Mexican.
In the Zocalo of Mexico City, el presidente waves the bandera and cries out, Viva Mexico!
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Mexicans are romantic Latino/as
Happy Cinco de Mayo (Spanish "5th of May"), an American holiday most celebrants think is the Mexican equivalent of the "4th of July." That day is actually the 16th of September, celebrated on the eve of.
The "Cry from Dolores" (Grito de Dolores) occurred in Dolores ("Pains"), Mexico, on September 16, 1810, when Roman Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang his church bell and gave the call to arms that triggered the Mexican War of Independence [from European colonial forces].
Isn't that right, young Mexicans at Sick NW?
The Cry of Dolores is most commonly known by the locals as El Grito de Independencia ("The Cry of Independence").
Every year on the eve of Independence Day, the president of Mexico reenacts the cry from the balcony of the National Palace in Mexico City, while ringing the same bell Fr. Hidalgo used in 1810.
During a patriotic speech, the president calls out the names of the fallen heroes who died during the War of Independence and ends the speech by shouting Viva Mexico! ("Long live Mexico!") three times followed by the Mexican National Anthem. More: Cry of Dolores
How shall we celebrate? - Let's eat! We'll have the vegan gluten-free Mexican Buddha Bowl
Real Americans (of the Americas) know Spanish
Looks delicious!
It's good to bear in mind when attempting to learn or speak Spanish that Spanish is NOT the indigenous language of Mexico or the Latin America. Spanish is a colonial European language from Europe's Iberian Peninsula used by Spain to take over, forge an empire, and dominate the "New World."
To think Spanish is the way to the heart of the culture is like imagining that learning "American" is the way to get to know the US of A. There are many languages the U.S., the tongues of immigrants, with many more dialects and accents.
Fortunately, we have a standardized English so that newscasts from around the country are mutually intelligible. But try speaking New Yorkese in the South, and you're in for a surprise or that stuck up Nor'easter Harvard Square jabber in laid back California and someone will hand you a decongestant (or laxative).
With enough time, these would all divide into unique languages. Originally, the First Nations had their own languages and it's unclear that there was a way for them all to communicate by verbal means. They managed but were not merged into an "empire" as we are today, with England and English on top.
Edward Vining's map (1885) of journey of Buddhist missionaries from Buddhist China and Afghanistan to California and Mexico, following coastline north all the way up then east and south down along the Pacific coast.
What does Mexico have to do with Buddhism? That's a good question. Buddhist missionaries arrived in Fusang (Mexico, California, and the Pacific coast) before either Catholic priests or Christian missionaries.
I love Mehheeko - Rosarito, Cabo, Taco Bell, tequila. I also speak a little Mexican. - Wow, BJ!
Let's go to Puebla, Mexico, to see 5 de Mayo celebration highlights
(Where the Jones) Where the Jones? We're the Jones family, and this channel is about where the Jones family is on planet earth. The goal is to travel and visit as many places as possible while at the same time showing the audience a genuine experience full of data. Let's go to the only place in Mexico that celebrates Cinco de Mayo: PUEBLA. My camera was a foot in the air for two hours! To see everything we travel with, check out the Jones Amazon shop for camera equipment to trekking gear to upset stomach remedy while traveling.
We're Mexican Buddhists with battered brains, searching for a future, world is our aim. Gimme gimme your hand, gimme gimme your mind, gimme gimme this, gimme gimme that... (Germs, "Lexicon Devil").
There's Buddhism in Mexico? Yes, Buddhism arrived in Mexico (Fusang), including California (Alta and Baja) which was part of Mexico, long before there was a United States of America, according to American historians Edward P. Vining (1885) and Rick Fields (1992).
Now let's get it straight. It's not Chinko dee May-yo but rather Sin-Koh deh My-Oh (Cinco de Mayo or \ˈsiŋko ðe ˈmaʝo\), Spanish for the "Fifth of May."
Spanish is NOT the language of Mexico. This is the imperial language of Spanish oppressors. The UMS (United Mexican States) has various indigenous languages, the most popular being Nahuatl ([naw-wah\).
Cinco de Mayo is an annual celebration held on the fifth day of May to celebrate Mexico's victory over the Second French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862 [1,2], led by General Ignacio Zaragoza.
So May 5th is NOT like July 4th, the USA's Fourth of July, because it is not an Independence Day for Mexico. That falls on September 16th, El Grito de Dolores.
One day we three will be the Amero Union (AU)
Gen. Zaragoza died months after the battle from an illness, and a larger French force ultimately defeated the Mexican army at the Second Battle of Puebla and occupied Mexico City.
However, following the end of the American Civil War in 1865, the United States began lending money and guns to the Mexican Liberals, pushing France and Mexican Conservatives to the edge of defeat.
This virgin Margarita is a nice girl, not too salty.
At the opening of the French chambers in January 1866, French madman Napoleon III announced that he would withdraw French troops from Mexico.
In reply to a French request for American neutrality, the American Secretary of State William H. Seward replied that French withdrawal from Mexico should be unconditional.
Empire vs. Empire: US vs. France vs. Spain
This observance is MORE popular in the United States than in Mexico [3, 4], almost certainly because Americans think it is their southern neighbor's independence day and just can't imagine that it is not.
Cinco de Mayo has become a celebration of Mexican-American (Xicano) culture [5, 6, 7]. Celebrations began in Columbia, California, where they have been observed annually since 1862 [8].
It's not "Mexico" (Land of the Mexica tribe). Its real name is the "United Mexican States."
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Mexico is beautiful and amazingly old, home of the largest pyramid in the world called Cholula.
The day gained nationwide popularity beyond those of Mexican-American heritage in the 1980s due to advertising campaigns by alcohol purveyors (beer, wine, and tequila companies). Today, Cinco de Mayo generates beer sales on par with the Super Bowl [9].
In Mexico, the commemoration of the battle continues to be mostly ceremonial, such as through military parades or battle reenactments but not everywhere in Mexico.
The City of Puebla marks the event with various festivals and reenactments of the battle.
Cinco de Mayo inspires patriotism or at least pride in our Mexican heritage and is therefore sometimes still mistaken for Mexican Independence Day — the most important national holiday in Mexico — which is celebrated on September 16.
Independence Day commemorates the Cry (Grito) of Dolores in 1810, which initiated the Mexican War of Independence from imperial Spain [1, 10].
Cinco de Mayo has been referenced and featured in entertainment media and has become an increasingly global celebration of Mexican culture, cuisine, and heritage. Everyone loves it, few more than the gringos in El Norte (North America). More: Cinco de Mayo
PRX (PRI's The World, theworld.org for more info, March 10, 2009); The Jones Family, 2019; George Stephanopoulos, "Cinco de Mayo: A Brief History" (ABC News, 2016); Crystal Quintero, Pfc. Sandoval, Dhr. Seven, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit
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