Showing posts with label Devi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Devi. Show all posts

Friday, May 1, 2026

Female troubles: Daughters of Fallen Angels


(Eternal Prophecy Films) The untold story of the Daughters of the "Fallen Angels" (the union producing hybrid human Titans/Nephilim goddesses, in the Dharmic religions known as beautiful and seductive Asuras, Devis, Apsaras...)

(Scripture Origins) Female Nephilim: Book of Enoch on Watchers' daughters
POEM: "The Female of the Species"
Rudyard Kipling (1911), a British writer in India
She stoops to conquer: Femme Fatale
When the Himalayan peasant meets the he-bear in his pride,
He shouts to scare the monster, who will often turn aside.
But the she-bear thus accosted rends the peasant tooth and nail.
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

When Nag the basking cobra hears the careless foot of man,
He will sometimes wriggle sideways and avoid it if he can.
But his mate makes no such motion where she camps beside the trail.
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

When the early Jesuit fathers preached to Hurons and Choctaws,
They prayed to be delivered from the vengeance of the squaws.
'Twas the women, not the warriors, turned those stark enthusiasts pale.
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

Man's timid heart is bursting with the things he must not say,
For the Woman that God gave him isn't his to give away;
But when hunter meets with husbands, each confirms the other's tale --
The female of the species is more deadly than the male.

Man, a bear in most relations -- worm and savage otherwise, --
Man propounds negotiations, Man accepts the compromise.
Very rarely will he squarely push the logic of a fact
To its ultimate conclusion in unmitigated act.

Fear, or foolishness, impels him, ere he lay the wicked low,
To concede some form of trial even to his fiercest foe.
Mirth obscene diverts his anger --- Doubt and Pity oft perplex
Him in dealing with an issue -- to the scandal of The Sex!

But the Woman that God gave him, every fiber of her frame
Proves her launched for one sole issue, armed and engined for the same,
And to serve that single issue, lest the generations fail,
The female of the species must be deadlier than the male.

She who faces Death by torture for each life beneath her breast
May not deal in doubt or pity -- must not swerve for fact or jest.
These be purely male diversions -- not in these her honor dwells.
She the Other Law we live by, is that Law and nothing else.

She can bring no more to living than the powers that make her great
As the Mother of the Infant and the Mistress of the Mate.
And when Babe and Man are lacking and she strides unchained to claim
Her right as femme (and baron), her equipment is the same.

She is wedded to convictions -- in default of grosser ties;
Her contentions are her children, Heaven help him who denies! --
He will meet no suave discussion, but the instant, white-hot, wild,
Wakened female of the species warring as for spouse and child.

Unprovoked and awful charges -- even so the she-bear fights,
Speech that drips, corrodes, and poisons -- even so the cobra bites,
Scientific vivisection of one nerve till it is raw
And the victim writhes in anguish -- like the Jesuit with the squaw!

So it comes that Man, the coward, when he gathers to confer
With his fellow-braves in council, dare not leave a place for her
Where, at war with Life and Conscience, he uplifts his erring hands
To some God of Abstract Justice -- which no woman understands.

And Man knows it! Knows, moreover, that the Woman that God gave him
Must command but may not govern -- shall enthrall but not enslave him.
And She knows, because She warns him, and Her instincts never fail,
That the Female of Her Species is more deadly than the Male.

Monday, April 13, 2026

Kwan Yin: Buddhist Goddess of Compassion


(Buddha's Wisdom) Transgendering the deva (shining one, god) Avalokiteshvara "who hears the cries of the world" into the Chinese devi (goddess) of compassion Kwan Yin (Guanyin Bodhisattva)

Friday, August 8, 2025

Prince Siddhartha's wife: Yasodhara

The Buddha did not have a wife, but the person who became the Buddha (Siddhartha) did.

Princess Yasodhara (Bimba Devi, aka Rāhulamātā)

Sid and Bimba agreed leaving would be good.
Rāhulamātā is the name, generally given in the ancient texts, of "Rāhula's mother" (e.g., Vin.i.82) was Prince Siddhattha Gotama's wife.

She is also called Bhaddakaccā* and, in later texts, Yasodharā (BuA., p.245; Dvy.253), which is a descriptive title not a name. Her name was Bimbā (J.ii.392f.; DA.ii.422), and "princess" is the human meaning of devī. She was probably also called Bimbāsundarī (J.vi.478 [12]), "Beautiful Bimba."
Scythian Princess Bimba/Yasodhara
The Northern (Mahayana) texts seem to favor the name of Yasodharā, but they call her the daughter of Dandapānī. (See also Rockhill, op. cit., where various other names are given as well).

It is probable that the name of Gotama's wife was Bimbā, and that Bhaddakaccā, Subhaddakā, Yosadhāri, and other names were descriptive epithets applied to her, which later became regarded as additional names.

It is also possible that in Gotama's court there was also a Yasodharā, the daughter of Dandapānī, and that there was a later confusion of names.

The Commentarial explanation (e.g., AA.i.204), that she was called Bhaddakaccānā because her body was the color of burnished gold, is probably correct. To suggest (e.g., Thomas, op. cit., 49) that the name bears any reference to the Kaccānagotta seems to be wrong because the Kaccāna clan (gotta) was a Brahmin clan, and the Sākiyans (Scythians, Sakas) were not Brahmins but "nobles" (khattiyas, deemed "warrior caste" though they were not likely part of proto-India's caste system).

Rāhulamātā was born on the same day as the Bodhisatta (J.i.54; BuA. 106, 228). She married him (Prince Siddhattha Gotama) when they were both 16 years old. (The following account is taken chiefly from J.i.58ff). She was placed at the head of 40,000 women, given to Siddhattha by the Sākiyans after he had proved his manly prowess to their satisfaction.

Siddhartha Gotama renounced his riches and royal position and left the household life on the day of the birth of their son, Rāhula. (According to one account, referred to in the Jātaka Commentary, i.62, Rāhula was seven days old).

It is said that just before he left home, he took a last look at his wife from the door of her room, not daring to go nearer, lest he should inadvertently awake her.

When as the Buddha he returned and paid his first visit to the country/seasonal capital city of Kapilavatthu after his great enlightenment, on the second day of that visit, he walked for alms in the streets. This news of this quickly spread, and Rāhulamātā looked out of her window to see if it were true.

She saw the Buddha and was so struck by the beaming glory of his personality that she uttered eight verses in its praise.

These verses have been handed down under the name of Narasīha-gāthā; on that day, after the Buddha had finished his meal in the palace, which he took at the invitation of his father, King Suddhodana, all the ladies of the court, with the exception of Rāhulamātā, went to pay him honor.

She refused to go, saying that if she had any virtue in her the Buddha would come to her. The Buddha went to her with his two chief male disciples and gave orders that she should be allowed to greet him as she wished.

She fell at his feet, and clasping them with her hands, put her head on them. King Suddhodana related to the Buddha how, from the time he had left home, Rāhulamātā had herself abandoned all luxury and had lived in the same manner as she had heard that the Buddha lived:
  • wearing saffron robes,
  • eating only once a day,
  • sleeping on the ground,
  • and so on.
The Buddha then related the Candakinnara Jātaka, to show how, in the past, too, her loyalty had been supreme.

On the seventh day of the Buddha's visit, when he left the palace at the end of his meal, Rāhulamātā sent Rāhula to him saying: "That is your father. Go and ask him for your inheritance."

Prince Rāhula followed the Buddha and, at the Buddha's request, was ordained as a monk-in-training (samanera) by Ven. Sāriputta. The account of this event is given in Vin.i.82; this is probably the only passage in the Pitakas where Rāhulamātā, is mentioned by name.

Later, when the Buddha allowed women to join the Order, Rāhulamātā became a nun under Mahā Pajāpatī Gotamī (AA.i.198).

Buddhaghosa identifies (AA.i.204f) Rāhulamātā with Bhaddakaccānā who, in the Anguttara Nikāya (A.i.25), is mentioned as chief among nuns in the possession of supernormal powers (mahābhiññappattānam).

She was one of the four disciples of the Buddha who possessed such attainment, the others being Sāriputta, Moggallāna, and Bakkula. She had wished for this achievement ta the time of Padumuttara Buddha.

In this account Bhaddakaccānā is mentioned as the daughter of the Sākyan Suppabuddha and his wife Amitā.*
  • *Cf. Mhv.ii.21f. It is said (DhA.iii.44f) that Suppabuddha did not forgive the Buddha for leaving his daughter; Devadatta was Bhaddakaccanā's brother, and it has been suggested that Devadatta's enmity against the Buddha was for reasons similar to her father's.
She joined the Order of Nuns under Pajāpatī Gotamī in the company of Janapada-kalyānī (the "Belle of the Land," the Buddha's half-sister Sundari Nandā).

In the Nuns' Order she was known as Bhaddakaccānā ("Lucky Kaccana") Therī ("senior nun"). Later, she developed insight and became an arahant (fully enlightened). She could, with one effort, recall one asankheyya (indeterminate kappa or kalpa) and 100,000 ordinary kappas (AA.i.205).

In the Therī Apadāna (Ap.ii.584ff) an account is found of a therī (senior nun), Yasodharā by name, who is evidently to be identified as Rāhulamātā because she speaks of herself (vvs. 10, 11) as the Buddha's pajāpatī before he left the household (agāra) and says that she was the chief (pāmokkhā sabbaissarā) of 90,000 women.

In the time of Dīpankara Buddha, when the Bodhisatta was born as Sumedha, she was a Brahmin maiden, Sumittā by name, and gave eight handfuls of lotuses to Sumedha, which he, in turn, offered to the Buddha. Dīpankara, in declaring that Sumedha would ultimately become the Buddha, added that Sumittā would be his companion in several lives.

The Apadāna account (vvs. 1ff) mentions how, just before her passing into final nirvana, at the age of 78, she took leave of the Buddha and performed various miracles. It also states (Ap.ii.592f) that 18,000 arahant nuns, companions of Yasodharā, also passed on the same day. More: Rāhulamātā

Monday, May 12, 2025

Meditate in Kathmandu in 360 degrees


Meditate with Buddhist monks (lamas) in Katmandu (360)
Kumari (Reisbegeleider Hans)
(Fitness Discovered) What is it like to meditate with Himalayan Buddhist lamas in a lamasery? Find out in this 360-degree virtual reality puja (devotional service) meditation for 15 minutes. Put on a headset and enjoy this rare experience with the monks from Nepal's Khawalung Tashi Choeling Monastery (KM). #Travel #VR #Meditation
Shoestring travel from India to Nepal
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Kumari Devi: The Living Goddess of Nepal
We visited Kushinagar, near Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, Northern India, where the Buddha chose to pass into final nirvana (parinibbana) between twin sal trees. It was hot, too hot. Arrive in season or pay the price. (The price is much higher in season, but the weather is terrible, so the price of convenience and no crowds is all the reasons the crowds are choosing to wait before visiting). On Lonely Planet's map, holy Nepal was walking distance. It's not, but it is only a short bus ride away on a very bouncy bus that will bust a butt and give one a condition usually reserved for men who sit too long on the porcelain throne straining, so bring a pillow.

Pilgrimage sites should include Afghanistan
We made it across the international line and found out that an extraordinary thing about the tiny Buddhist (officially the only "Hindu nation" in the world, due to the pressure big neighbor India inducing it to) nation of Nepal is that it has all of the terrains from swampy lowlands to frigid alpine zones in a very short span. There is another place in the Americas that also shares this unusual trait, but a bus up the Himalayan foothills is dizzying for all the changes one sees along the river of melting snow.


Inside Maha Parinirvana Temple, Kushinagar
Entering "Katmandu" (Kathmandu), which is in a valley, listening to Bob Seger, imagining ourselves on the HIPPIE TRAIL alongside the members of Pink Floyd ("Astronomy Domine") and Led Zeppelin ("Kashmir"). The bus kept going up and further up: The capital has always been safe from invasion because it was just too much trouble for any invading army to reach, so it survived as a nation (with internal strife from corrupt governments and Maoists taking matters into their own hands and trying to make things better). Behold, Durbar SquareKathmandu!

Kumari Devi: The Living Goddess (Reisbegeleider Hans)

It's a nice place to shop for clothes and patches
Everyone points us to Freak Street because, of course, where else would Westerners be looking for? We were actually looking for the virgin Living Goddess to feel her shakti ("divine energy"). Boudhanath has the wisdom eyes of the Buddha, which would make a great color tattoo. After seeing the stupa, we realized there were other monasteries around the capital. Visiting the exterior for their grand views is compelling, but I couldn't help but go in to see the chanting and tantric meditation by butter lamps, just like the view above.

Friday, April 4, 2025

Recalling wave of UFOs over Sweden

In my heavenly plane (deva world), I'm just average looking like Nazi Barbie by Mattel.
PHOTOS: Spiritual guru and real-life Barbie doll Val Luky' (Viralscape) (Sri Amatue)
Human hybrid Barbie doll Valeria Lukyanova is a real-life Ukrainian ET (Today Bliss)

'I am an alien hybrid' claims 6ft 3in green-eyed blonde Lisa who was born by... (Express.co.uk)

María Orsic: La Sociedad Vril y la civilización de la estrella Aldebarán (Austria, Zagreb, Croatia)

There are Nordic aliens from the Pleiades, Lyra, and Aldebaran (like Vril Society Oracle Maria Orsic and Space Goddess Semjase), to say nothing of kooky Ukrainian spiritual guru Amatue, aka Human Barbie Valeria Lukyanova
  • Buddhism in Sweden
  • Divine Cosmos | official site of David Wilcock
  • Maybe human beauty standards are being skewed by the impossible-to-achieve hybridization with devis and devas (female and male "shining ones") that seems to be concentrated in particular parts of the world like Scandinavia (Sapmi, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark), and the quasi-Scandinavian Estonia, Germany, Russia, and parts of Northern Europe and their happy and enlightened societies.
  • It's not only one region but the Nordic countries
The Swedish UFO wave and a scary recording from a hypnosis session
(Stories LostStories Lost. Spring 1974: A town in Sweden (Vallentuna) becomes the epicenter of remarkable UFO (Buddhist vimana) sightings and eerie encounters that stretched across 40 extraordinary days.
  • 00:00 What happened in Vallentuna?
  • 01:20 Acknowledgements
  • 01:40 Many sightings
  • 02:31 Hillevi's story
  • 10:14 Gösta's encounter
  • 12:24 Gösta's hypnosis
  • 16:20 Military investigation
  • 22:31 Conclusions?
Link to Svahn's article about the case (in Swedish): ufo.se/index.php/handelse... Support channel: @storieslostbuymeacoffee.com/storiesloststorieslost
  • Who was the medium Maria Oršić [62]? According to the Vril Project, Maria Oršić from Zagreb (Croatia) was involved in the founding of the "Vril Society" and also established the spiritualist contact with the Aldebarans. More
  • Guru Barbie (Val Lukyanova) is an instructor at the School of Out-of-Body Travel [18] described as "an international school in which our instructors show students how to leave their physical body and travel in their spiritual body" [18]. Her spiritual name is Amatue. More
  • Stories Lost, March 7, 2025; Valeria "Amatue" Lukyanova; Kelly Ani, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Saturday, August 17, 2024

Why is future Prez Trump so stupid?


Will national embarrassment DJ win for once (or be selected again)? That's what the psychic on the right-wing paranormal radio show said. The Disruptor in Chief might be a good idea compared to teh same old same old Hock Tuah candidate telling us they not like us. Oy vey.

Trump's off-the-rails economy speech; Federal labor charges against Trump and Musk: A Closer Look
(Late Night with Seth Meyers) Aug. 15, 2024: Seth Meyers takes a closer look at Trump going off the rails during an economic speech in North Carolina and getting hit with federal labor charges by one of the country's most influential unions. Late Night with Seth Meyers. Stream now on Peacock: bit.ly/3erP2gX Subscribe to Late Night: bit.ly/LateNightSeth Watch Late Night with Seth Meyers Weeknights 12:35ET/11:35c on NBC. Get more Late Night with Seth Meyers: nbc.com/late-night-with-se...

Trump can't get over Genocide Joe, Project 2025 videos leak, and Trump glitches bad with Elon | The Daily Show
(The Daily Show) Aug. 17, 2024: Kamala Devi Harris's campaign is crushing it, and DJ Trump is spinning out of control. Jon Stewart and Desi Lydic cover DJ's week of flops, including his continued fixation on G-Joe, denial that he has anything to do with the Republican's Orwellian plan known as "Project 2025" (even though Republican's leaked training videos feature every person he's ever met), a glitch-filled Twitter interview with Elon Musk, and his off-the-rails "intellectual" economy speech flop about Tic Tacs. #DailyShow #Trump #BidenIsDead #ElonMusk

Monday, August 12, 2024

Jon Stewart: Trump hurts bad (TDS)


Jon Stewart on why Trump wants Biden back so badly he's reusing his old attacks
Joe, we worked great together. C'mon back. - Not going to happen, DipShip. It's Kami time.
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I was winning, Joe. Now I'm a loser.
(The Daily Show) Aug. 12, 2024: DJ Trump thought he was cruising to victory against G-Joe Biden, but now he's facing a hard fight against Kamala Devi Harris. Jon Stewart looks at Trump's half-hearted attempts to adjust to the new challenge and wonders if he's hatching a devious plan to help Biden take back the nomination, January 6th style. #DailyShow #JonStewart #Trump Subscribe to The Daily Show: @thedailyshow

Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Meet Immaculate Kamala, the remake


Fox News polling shows Trump, Harris neck and neck in key battleground states
You're better than that Black B, Babe. - Thx, Hun
With the efficiency of a mob boss scrubbing a hit site, Democrats are cleaning up after Kamala Harris. They are deep into reinventing the presumptive Democrat nominee, lying about her background, removing damaging evidence of her hard-core leftism, and presenting to the world, like a proud mom showing off her newborn, a fresh and unsullied Black face.

Introducing Immaculate Kamala, an entirely fabricated creation of the left-wing media. Confused voters must be wondering:
We have to beat her and Kelley, Boss.
The liberal media is good at this and have turned the political conversation on its head in just a few weeks. It seems like yesterday that Donald Trump was cruising to victory in November; some were talking "landslide."

The disastrous debate that revealed Joe Biden’s incapacity, the attempt on the former president’s life with a gun, his brave response, and a stunningly effective Republican convention showed the GOP united, for once, and poised to clobber the incumbent

Harris claims Biden fit to continue in office, despite [being dead] more than 80 documented encounters in the past years... More: America, meet 'Immaculate Kamala' – the liberal media's latest creation (msn.com)

Wednesday, July 3, 2024

How to be magnetic: attractive energy


Goddess Reclaimed: Initiations to Unleash Power
How can we increase our magnetic feminine energy and learn how to be magnetic, how to attract everything we desire from our divine feminine goddess energy? It would be life changing. We must first learn to heal wounds in the psyche and shadow-self, increasing our feminine energy with self-love.

How can we increase feminine pleasure, receive from our soft feminine energy, become irresistible, and learn to magnetize everything we could ever want? This video begins to make suggestion. If it serves, say so in the comments and please share with our sisters, beloved ones.

Can it be empowering to participate in a straight women's circle with Syma Kharal?
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Man or machine?
Kate Nitshe shares that, “With Syma [Kharal]'s support, I was able to remove the darkness that had engulfed me and for the first time in a long time, I was able to see the light.

Would it help or hurt to love myself first? Help
“Syma helped heal my heart and allowed me to see all of my potential. I have been living lightheartedly and surrounding myself with people who positively serve me.

“I can't thank Syma enough. Syma CARES. She is genuine and truly wants to support you to become the best version of yourself."


Is there any hope for MEN and nontoxic masculine energy?
Who needs jerk men? The mainstream media says we can be happy lesbian families.
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Understanding Men/Women (Orion's Method)
According to Alison Armstrong (alisonarmstrong.com), “Men have a natural attentiveness to providing what women need. One problem is they don't always know what women need. A bigger problem is the women themselves don't know what they need, even if they were willing to ask for it.

“Women want to help men get what they need, if only to keep them from being so grumpy and frustrated. But men ignore their needs until they reach the 'breaking point,' and the way they ask then causes women to resist providing it!

“The lack of information, misunderstandings, inability to speak up — and on top of that, the way we project our needs onto others — well, it’s going to be a mess for sure!”

Singer-songwriter Alanis M.
Alanis Morrisette shares that, “Alison [Armstrong]'s deep understanding and love of men moved me to a whole other level of clarity and peace about a gender that has confounded me for a long time. I feel like the wool has been pulled from my eyes and I can see men in a new and more loving way.”

Racist, pro-genocide, right wing radio host Dennis Prager agrees: “Alison Armstrong...is in my view brilliant and gifted beyond words with an original mind. Original minds are very rare, and she has it combined with a good heart and that's a terrific combination.”

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Mermaids on Manatee Appreciation Day!

Portrait of a selkie "A Mermaid" (by artist John William Waterhouse, 1900)
Why are boats so mad at our kind, cutting us up with their metal teeth and racing away?
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Manatee Appreciation Day: protecting the gentle giants of the sea
"The Mermaid's Rock" by Edward Matthew Hale, 1894 (thevintagenews.com)
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Buddhism says mermaids live under the sea
Celebrated annually on the last Wednesday in March, "Manatee Appreciation Day" is more than just a tribute – it’s a global call to protect the gentle giants [related to elephants] of the sea. 

Manatees have no natural predators [other than motorboaters swinging brutal propeller blades], which contributes to their serene demeanor. However, this does not mean they are without threats. 

Human activities pose significant risks to manatee populations. Despite these challenges, manatees have shown remarkable resilience, with conservation efforts playing a crucial role in protecting them.

A childlike heart will yet believe even as adults scoff at ancient lore.
I know what I saw! (Cristobal Columbus)
  • MERMAIDS (mythical half-female, half-fish creatures) have existed in seafaring lore at least since the time of the ancient Greeks. Typically depicted as having a woman’s head and torso, a fishtail instead of legs, and holding a mirror and comb, mermaids live in the ocean and, according to some legends, can take on a human shape and marry mortal men [as in the selkie lore of Ireland, Manx, Scotland, Faroe Islands, Iceland, the British Isles]. Mermaids are closely linked to sirens, another folkloric figure, part-woman, part-bird, who live on islands and sing seductive songs to lure sailors [like Homer's Odysseus and his crew] to their deaths. Mermaid sightings by sailors, when they weren’t made up, were most likely manatees, dugongs, or Steller’s sea cows (which became extinct by the 1760s due to cruel human over-hunting). Manatees are slow-moving aquatic mammals with human-like eyes, bulbous faces... (HISTORY*)
  • Psychic Maha-Mog' was dark
    SUTRA
    : In a very strange Buddhist sutra, Great Moggallana, the male disciple declared by the Buddha as "foremost in psychic powers" mentions that at the bottom of the sea, there are indeed mermaids who dance seductively. A reference to shapeshifting space aliens living in bases below the ocean? There is worldwide awareness that at some point in the past, there really were vicious creatures who swam the seas, just as reports of harpies and others were reported by many cultures. Let's examine what one of the Buddha's four chief disciples said of these mysterious creatures from MN 50:
"In the middle of the ocean
There are mansions aeon-lasting,
Sapphire-shining, fiery-gleaming
With a clear translucent luster,
Where iridescent sea-nymphs dance
In complex, intricate rhythms"

"Mansions stand for an eon
in the middle of the sea,
The hue of beryl-stones,
brilliant, glowing, radiant;
There dance full many
nymphs in divers hues"
(Isaline Blew Horner, born 1896, translation of MN 50)

"There are mansions that last an eon
standing in the middle of a lake.
Sapphire-colored, brilliant,
they sparkle and shine.
Dancing there are nymphs
shining in all different colors."
(Bhante Sujato translation of MN 50)
  • The Connected Discourses of the Buddha
    with the manatee's land cousin on the cover
    Alas, no further mention of the sea-nymph mermaid selkies is made in this sutra, Is it reasonable to think the great monk was simply repeating Indian or Scythian lore? He was addressing Mara, to warn him what was to happen for bad karma of the sort this mara was accumulating. Modern people don't believe in Mara, despite the Mara Samyutta, and all those references to him by the Buddha. There's a thick translation of The Connected Discourses by American Theravada scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi that includes it. So if Mara, a kind of Tempter -- Lucifer, Cupid, Eros, Devil -- figure in Buddhism could be real, are mermaids so hard to believe in, existing underwater by inhabiting vimanas ("mansions" that are USOs) so hard to swallow?
  • MN 50: Māratajjanīyasutta—Ven. Sujato (suttacentral.net)
The plight of the manatee

Boat strikes are a growing threat (earth.com)
Human activities have not been kind to manatees. Boating, pollution, and habitat destruction stand out as the three greatest threats.

Despite legal protections against hunting, manatees continue to be poached for their meat and hides. Furthermore, their natural habitats, crucial for their survival, are being decimated by human development and intrusion.

Boat strikes are particularly alarming, leading to tragic injuries or even death for these gentle creatures. This dire situation underlines the urgency of increasing awareness so that manatees will continue to exist in the future.

Getting to know sea cows
Secret places, Mexico's cenotes, near Belize
Manatees, also known as the cows of the sea [even though their closest relatives are elephants], are a marvel of marine life, characterized by their gentle nature and slow-moving grace [which caused people like Christopher Columbus to report mermaid sighting, possibly with the intention to violate them as he was planning for the gentle Indigenous humans he met].

These large, aquatic mammals belong to the order Sirenia [which is interesting because the Spanish word for "mermaid" is sirena], which also includes three species of dugongs
Vegan diet
One of the most captivating aspects of manatees is their all-vegan herbivorous diet, as they feed on a wide variety of submerged, floating, and emergent plants in fresh and saltwater environments. More
  • TEXT: Staff writer Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com, 3/27/24; Crystal Quintero, CC Liu, Shauna Schwartz (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
  • ART: Boat strikes were apparently a problem even in ancient times ("The Mermaid’s Rock" by Edward Matthew Hale, 1894 (thevintagenews.com).