'Dharma Day' at Hsi Lai Temple, LA (1/26)

Serving laba porridge to awaken the Buddha

On Dharma Day, Mahayana Buddhism, which prefers ahistorical Cosmic Buddhas like Amitabha, commemorates the historical Shakyamuni Buddha's enlightenment and awakening to perfect wisdom. (Theravada Buddhism has a Dhamma Day called Asalha Puja).

• Laba Festival: Congee Porridge Day
• Buddhism in Taiwan (which is not China)

Thanks to a shepherdess (Sujatha) offering him rice porridge, the wandering ascetic Siddhartha regained enough strength to focus on his cultivation, developing the absorptions then insight, purifying calm followed by contemplation (of Dependent Origination). That is how he became the Buddha, the "Awakened One," the supremely "Enlightened One."

 

Ever since then, Buddhists have celebrated the Buddha's Enlightenment Day by offering laba porridge to all.

WHERE?

• Location: Hsi Lai Temple (MAP)
• 3456 S. Glenmark Dr. (Hacienda Blvd.)
• Hacienda Heights, LA, CA 91745

𝗗𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗟𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗲 (𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲) Laba Porridge — dine in

• Opening hours: 9:00 am-3:00 pm

𝗗𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗲 (𝗘𝘅𝗶𝘁) laba porridge — to go

• Opening hours: 9:00 am-3:00 pm

1. Everyone is welcome to enjoy laba porridge in the Hsi Lai Dining Hall for FREE. No vegetarian buffet will be provided on this day.

2. For to go orders, cups of laba porridge will be prepared.

• INFO: Dharma Day 2026 at Hsi Lai Temple, LA

Eating, regaining his strength, he awakened.

The Dharma (the Teachings of the Buddha) are one facet of the Three Gems (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha), a core aspect of Buddhism. Through this Dharma Day event, we celebrate the Buddha’s Teachings and their impact on our lives.

This day also commemorates the awakening of an Shakyian [Scythian] prince who renounced the world and what transformed him into the Buddha, "the Awakened One" (Shakyamuni, the "Sage of the Shakyas" [or Sakas, Indo-Scythians]).

Cosmic Buddha worshiped in Mahayana

Please join Hsi Lai ("Going West"), the largest Buddhist temple in the Western hemisphere, for a celebration of Buddhist wisdom taught by Buddhism's original teacher, Shakyamuni Buddha, and the other teachers who followed after being inspired by him.

Enjoy special presentations, lectures, and theatrical performances, focusing on new understandings, real-world applications, and deeper explorations of the Buddha's teachings of compassion, service to others, and spiritual practice that have blossomed in the world.

Students of Hsi Lai's Buddhism classes are encouraged to apply for time to present what they have learned and gained from following Buddhist teachings: Hsi Lai Temple

• WHAT HAPPENED AT THE RETREAT? Fifty to 60 participants gathered at 8:30 am, registered, offered dana, received instructions, and began to sit.

Hsi Lai Temple One-Day Meditation Retreat, January 24, 2026

Let us cultivate together. Open to all.

The One-day Buddhist Meditation Retreat is intended to be a retreat for those who have at least a basic experience of meditation. This retreat features a regimented schedule of sitting, standing, and walking meditation with instructions and Dharma talks.

Please note that sitting sessions are 40 minutes long. It is recommended that applicants start working on lower body flexibility, especially the hips.

Vegetarian/vegan monastic cuisine served in cafeteria (Hsi Lai Temple)

.

RETREAT DETAILS: ◎ Date: Saturday, January 24, 2026. ◎ Check-in: 8:45 am-9:25 am. (Please be punctual. Orientation begins promptly at 10:00 am) ◎ Time: 9:30 am-5:30 pm PT ◎ Ages: 16 years and older. ◎ Location: Hsi Lai Temple (MAP)

COST?  ◎ OPEN DONATION: We welcome kind donations to cover meal, snacks, facility use, uniform cleaning, and general overhead. Kindly bring donation to check-in on Jan. 24, 2026. ◎ Spots are limited to 50 participants. ◎ This is an in-person retreat: hsilai.us/events/dharma-services/saturday-english-dharma-service

• Hsi Lai Temple, San Gabriel Valley, Los Angeles
• Hsi Lai Temple Dharma Services

FREE: The 'Higher Doctrine' (Abhidhamma)

 

Unraveling the Mysteries of Mind

and Body through Abhidhamma

AUTHOR: Sayalay Susila

EDITOR: Dhr. Seven (Wisdom Quarterly)

FOREWORD: Pa-Auk Tawya Sayadaw Bhaddanta Accina

Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammāsambuddhassa

("Homage to the Exalted, the Worthy, the Supremely Self-Awakened One").

INTRODUCTION

Unravelling Abhidhamma

"Mind leads the world" (Dhp 1). Is this really true? Only when we understand how the mind works will we truly know. Mind is something close to us yet very far away. Mind is the culprit behind all of our unwholesome karma (thought, speech, deed), yet it is also the director of all of our skillful, wholesome behavior, deeds that soothe the heart.

The study of Abhidhamma helps us gain an understanding of how the mind works, which is essential for us to lead happy and blameless lives. In Abhidhamma, the ultimate realities of mind and matter that make up this so-called "living being" are seen to be an impersonal stream of consciousness-moments and infinitesimally small particles that continuously arise and pass away utterly dependent on causes and conditions.

So the study of Abhidhamma helps the mind shed the painful illusion of there being an “I,” a permanent self persisting through all experiences.

Most of the problems of life spring from ignorance and craving associated with this “I” and the self-centeredness that is its offspring. When the mind understands that there is, in an ultimate sense, no such “I,” it will let go of intense clinging.

The truth sets us free. To be more precise, knowing-and-seeing what is ultimately true sets us free. Life’s problems suddenly evaporate. All becomes light. We awaken to truth and are freed from all forms of suffering.

This can be accomplished through a thorough study of Abhidhamma and practical meditation experiences.

The Abhidhamma Pitaka is one of the "three baskets" (tipitaka), the three divisions of the Buddha’s teachings. Abhidhamma is a combination of two terms, abhi ("higher, special, sublime") and Dhamma ("universal truth or teaching"). Therefore, Abhidhamma is the "higher teaching" of the Buddha or the "Doctrine in ultimate terms."

This Dhamma is grounded in observable truth and reality one is able to directly experience. It is not a faith or belief system. It is not a metaphysical "theory," as some portray it, but rather a systematic explanation and guide to how it is possible for earnest meditators to directly know-and-see, finally culminating in enlightenment (bodhi).

All physical and mental phenomena are fully classified and explained in the system of Abhidhamma. That is why the Theravada Buddhist tradition regards the Abhidhamma as the most perfect exposition on the true nature of existence, realized by the penetrative wisdom of a supremely enlightened ene.

Truth

Ven. Dr. Pa Auk Sayadaw

According to Abhidhamma philosophy, there are two types of truth. The first is conventional truth (sammuti sacca), which refers to ordinary concepts, such as “tree,” “house,” “human,” “you,” “me,” “person,” “body,” “being,” and so on. Such concepts are closely linked to language, culture, and conditioning.

We assume that these concepts are objective realities, that they actually exist. They seem to exist, yes, but if we were to examine these concepts closely, we would find that they in no way exist as irreducible entities. Why? They can be broken down into smaller and smaller components.

For example, if we discern the Four Elements (the characteristics of matter) in the body, the “body” breaks down into innumerable, infinitesimal particles (kalapas). If we further analyze these particles, they also break down. We find that each particle contains eight inseparable elements or characteristics:

1. earth (solidity),
2. water (cohesion),
3. fire (temperature),
4. wind (movement),
5. color,
6. smell,
7. taste,
8. nutritive essence.

These elements are the final, irreducible components of matter (material existence). By penetrating conventional truth with wisdom, we can eventually realize ultimate truth.

Ultimate truth (paramattha sacca), according to Abhidhamma, means something that cannot be further broken down or subdivided into smaller components. It is a final and irreducible part of existence, which exists by reason of its own intrinsic nature (sabhāva).

For example, the earth-element in our human bodies, as well as in other animate things, exists with its intrinsic nature of hardness or softness, whereas the fire-element exists with its intrinsic nature of heat or cold. While a body is conventional truth, the elements that make up the body are the final, irreducible components of its existence, and no amount of analysis can break them down any further.

Of these two types of truth, Abhidhamma deals primarily with ultimate truth.

This book is divided into three parts. The first describes ultimate truths. In Abhidhamma, ultimate truth is fourfold:

1. Consciousness (conditioned phenomena)
2. Mental factors (conditioned)
3. Matter (conditioned)
4. Nirvana (unconditioned).

The first three of these ultimate truths comprise the totality of conditioned existence. Together, consciousness and mental factors are what we conventionally call the “mind” on the one hand. Matter, on the other hand, is what we conventionally call the “body.”

The successive coming together of mind-and-matter is what we conventionally call “I,” a person, human being, animal, or whatever the case may be.

The concept “I” is a conventional truth, whereas consciousness, mental factors, and matter are ultimate truths. These three ultimate truths are conditioned dhammas (phenomena) produced by causes and conditions, subject to radical change, dissolution, constant fading away, and are hurtling toward destruction.

They are subtle and profound dhammas that cannot be seen with the ordinary eye. However, they can be discerned by a mind well trained in concentration and insight.

Nirvana (nibbana), the fourth ultimate truth, is unconditioned. That is to say, it is not produced by any cause or condition. Therefore, it does not change. Nirvana can be experienced here and now.

The Buddha's path-of-practice is gradual (progressive) training in higher virtue, higher concentration, and higher wisdom. TO BE CONTINUED

• Unravelling the Mysteries of Mind and Body Through Abhidhamma (PDF)
• To order a physical copy of the latest edition, email Bro Low at janaka.low@gmail.com
• sayalaysusila.net/dhamma-gallery/books
• EDITORIAL NOTE: When the nun asked me to edit the first edition of this book, which is based on her very popular PowerPoint presentations, I did so thinking the final version would be run by me. It was not. Many hands contributed, often undoing much of the consistency I put in place. It went back and forth so often that I left it to her to leave it a mishmash. But here the standard American (rather than British) grammar is restored as is the choice of translated Pali and Sanskrit terms. These are minor issues but important to any editor. Much was fixed by the time of our third edition but imperfectly so.

INWARD PATH PUBLISHER, Penang • Malaysia. Originally published in Inward Journey Book Series (2005), an imprint of Inward Path Publisher for FREE distribution. This newly revised edition 2012 is published to support the establishment of Appamada Vihari, an International Meditation Center, where Sayalay Susila is the abbess. An Inward Wisdom Book. Published by INWARD PATH PUBLISHER. 14 Phuah Hin Leong Road, off Burma Road, 10050 Georgetown, Penang, MALAYSIA, P.O. Box 1034 General Post Office, 10830 Georgetown, Penang, MALAYSIA.

• email: ijbook@inwardpath.org
• inwardpathpublisher@gmail.com
• inwardpath.org

Text copyright © Sayalay Susila 2005-2012. Layout and design copyright © Inward Path Publisher 2005-2012. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner, any form, or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher and author. Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia cataloguing-in-publication data Sayalay Susila, 1963, Unravelling the Mysteries of Mind & Body Through Abhidhamma/Sayalay Susila. ISBN 978-983-3512-03-4.1. Abhidharma.   2. Dharma (Buddhism).   3. Mind and Body-Religious aspects--Buddhism.  I. Title. 294.3824. Cover design and book layout by Sunanda Lim. Printed in Penang, Malaysia.

Dalai Lama, how do we find our dharma?

How to choose your dharma [religion, doctrine, or social duty] and end your confusion forever

• dharma is a multivalent term with at least a dozen distinct meanings. In India, dharma usually means "social duty or obligation," and Dharma (capitalized) customarily refers to the Buddha's Dharma or Doctrine, the Teachings of the historical figure Siddhartha Gautama. The word can loosely be construed to mean "religion," but religion did not mean religion in pre-British invasion India (Maha Bharat), so equating the terms is incorrect.

Dalai Lama, is Buddhism any different?

(DalaiLama.com) What makes Buddhism different from every other religion in the world?

(Venerable Gotami) Western Buddhist nun talks about the Kalama Sutta on what to not believe

KARMA CLASS: Deeds of Rob Reiner's son

• 

  Rabbi Yeshua (Jesus) JewBu Nazarene/Essene

  Jews who follow Judaism (as opposed to most Jews who just wear the label "Jew" like a secular identity, race, ethnicity, claim to fame, burden, or way of showing support for genocide and Western imperialism to build "Greater Israel") subscribe to a belief in kismet rather than karma.
• What is KISMET? KISMET = The Jewish Koan (fate, luck, fortune, chance, destiny, predestiny, "God's plan," capricious universal indifference to anything we do because it's all written in advance and plays out by the force of the Fates).
• KISMET translation question? : r/hebrew
• Kismet is "predestination" in Abrahamic Islam

Karma-shmarma, Judaism only believes in kismet (fate, destiny)

The historical Buddha, the greatest Karmavadin

Karma means "deed" or "deeds." There are all kinds of karma, that is, a great variety of intentional actions capable of bearing a result anytime in the future. The Buddha or "Awakened One" talked about karma so much that in his day he was not known as a "Buddhist." He was known as a Karmavadin, a "teacher of the efficacy of karma (action)." What we do comes back to us. The Dharmic religions, in contrast with the Abrahamic ones, teach the power of our personal action. Our deeds got us into this mess, and they can get us out (with help from others like the Buddha, the best friend of all beings, the gods, God, noble friends, parents, but mostly our own striving to develop compassion and wisdom, which lead to calm and insight).

Sadly, we often do not realize what we do in this sense. According to the Abhidhamma, a systematic explanation of the Buddha's "Doctrine in Ultimate Terms," what we are doing anytime we are committing an action is laying down a great number of cittas ("mind-moments") that act like "seeds" as it were. (What worse is that they have javanas, "impulsions," sub-moments of motivation, sub-cittas, a citta being uncountable numbers of "mind moments" not thoughts, as the term is sometimes mistranslated).

How many frames does it take to complete one "action" in a film? Karma has many more cittas.

• A "thought," if one thinks about it is like a sentence. What is a sentence? It is at least one complete thought, which requires an actor and an action, even if life is not this way. Grammar imposes rules on our thinking so that noun and verb must at least be implied to speak a sensible sentence in modern English. A citta, in that case, would be like all the atoms used to write out that sentence, far from sentences themselves. (Imagine a molecule. What is it made of? Atoms. How many? An uncountable number). Cittas (the stream of consciousness or viññāna kicca) in the immaterial world of intangible software are like kalapas ("particles of perception") in the material world of tangible hardware and things.
• A better way to think about it is to imagine seeing a movie clip, a short scene. It only lasts a moment, but what is it really made of? It is made of many many individual frames, which are the sub-moments of the film. The higher the fidelity of the film, the more sub-moments. There might be 100 frames for 1 second of movie runtime. A complete "scene" might then have millions of frames. A frame is not a scene; it's not even a second of a scene.
• Now imagine that when we act (karma), our action does not take one second but a few seconds to complete. How many sub-moments elapsed? It is hard to say. Each of those mind moments has many impulsions. If each impulsion could produce a result when it ripens, one act will give results for a long time. The number "500" comes up a lot in Buddhism, but it rarely if ever means five hundred. It is an indeterminate number and a handy way of saying "many." One act of killing could easily result in 500 miserable rebirths of being killed or being sickly or having one's life shortened, and so on. The Buddha expressed this as "for a long time," meaning in many many future births.

The force or deciding factor behind a deed is the intention. What is decided? At the decisive moment of acting, what we in our normal consciousness might think is happening is just one thought.

But that is not at all what is happening. The best comparison to understand this is physics. When something happens, it appears to us that only one thing is happening, such as lighting a match. It is often, we do an act, and it is lit. However, physics tells us that many things are happening in the sub-moments. Fire itself is not a single thing at all but rather a process.

Each moment of "fire" is many (at least five) sub-moments of process:

1. Heat is heating,
2. oxygen is oxidizing,
3. fuel is fueling,
4. wick is wicking, and the 
5. process of combustion is processing.

Abhidhamma (Sayalay Susila & Seven)

So what? Here's what. How long does it take to kill someone? With a gun, not long. An instant is enough. With a knife, as used in the infamous case of Nick Reiner murdering his parents, longer, a few instants. How long is an instant? For us in ordinary consciousness, it is just a finger snap's duration, right? But how long is it really, say, to a physicist or a psychologist? If we analyze it, that is, break it down to sub-moments, it's a long time.

Here's why it all matters: It isn't that one karma (one deed) will bear one result. This is completely wrong, but it's how nearly everyone talks, as if one action would bear just one result one time. One karma, one intentional action, will bear MANY results. Some might say an uncountable number of results. Now why is that? It is because each single "act" (deed) is built out of many impulsions, and it is these impulsions (as if they were seeds) that will bear results. So one single deed = a hard to count number of potential results.

• BOOK: Unravelling the Mysteries of Mind and Body Through Abhidhamma (by Pa Auk Sayadaw through student Sayalay Susila and editor Seven)

The intention behind an act is so crucial that the Buddha equated intention (cetanā) and karma. They are not really the same thing, but so vital is that intention that it determines the classification of a deed. There are three obvious classes (good, bad, or neutral). That is, we can classify by results: This deed, when it ripens, will bear an unpleasant (possibly unbearable), unwelcome, unwanted result, so we call it bad. This other deed, when it ripens, will bear a pleasant, welcome, wanted result. Many deeds, being mixed, will bear mixed results. One might say other deeds, being neither good nor bad, will bear neutral results.

If I give even one unit (ancient kapana, dollar, rupee, coin), the motivation or intention behind it will reap many results many times because that one single act of giving was only accomplished through many sub-moments, many-many impulsions. If each citta (mind moment) is composed of many sub-moments, many impulsions, and each has the power to produce a result, one can see how even a little giving is great. However, this is simultaneously saying that even the slightest wrong (misdeed, unskillful act, bad action) has the power to produce many-many unwanted results.

This is all well and good and easy enough to understand. The Buddha went further to point out things that are not at all obvious. In fact, it is unlikely that anyone but a supremely enlightened buddha could point all of these things out. Why? The first thing that is needed is access to more than normal consciousness. This even an average, normal, instructed "worldling" can master.

Never having heard the Buddha's Dhamma (Dharma, Doctrine, Teaching), we are "uninstructed [ignorant] worldings." Having heard it, we are instructed worldlings. Putting it into successfully practice, we experience a "change of lineage" (gotrabhu), awaken, and are counted among the "noble ones," the enlightened in about seven stages (now universally reduced to four main divisions (stream entry, once-returning, nonreturning, and arhats or fully enlightened ones).

• NOTE: It may be a little confusing, but "full" enlightenment is not "supreme" enlightenment. That distinction is reserved for people like the historical Buddha Siddhartha Gautama (Siddhattha Gotama) who awaken to the utmost WITH the capacity to teach. Nonteaching (pacceka) buddhas awaken to the utmost, that is with the intrepid powers of a buddha or the dasa-(tathāgata-) bala.

He led us to understand one more extremely important distinction to be made. And here come to the point of all this discussion. There is a fivefold kind of karma (kamma in Pali) that might be called "the worst in the world." These are the ānantarika-kamma or:

The Five Heinous Deeds

The are five acts (five kinds of karma) that the Buddha classified as "actions with immediate destiny." They are:

1. parricide (killing one's father),
2. matricide (killing one's mother),
3. killing an arhat (a fully enlightened person),
4. wounding a buddha (a teaching [samma-sam-buddha] or nonteaching [pacceka-buddha] supremely enlightened person),
5. creating a schism in the Buddha's Monastic Order (Bhikkhu or Bhikkhuni Sangha).

In A.V. 129, it is said: "There are five irascible and incurable humans destined to the lower world [dismal subhuman planes of existence] and to hell [avici, the waveless], namely: the parricidal, matricidal, homicidal [if the victim is an arhat], the wounder of a buddha, the creator of a schism in the sangha of a buddha."

About this fifth kind, see A.X. 35, 38. With regard to the first heinous crime, it is said in DN 2 that if [greedy son] King Ajātasattu had not deprived his father [the Buddha's student and supporter King Bimbisara] of life, he would have reached the path of stream-entry when he heard the Buddha teach as did all of his companions (App.)

Because he did commit this act, even though he was full of remorse for having done so, he was lost. His mind/heart could not reach the necessary calm and serenity (samatha) to attain liberating-insight (vipassana) to awaken to the ultimate truth. He did not become free of his destiny [his immediate next rebirth in the hells] as a result of his heinous deed nor of all further rebirth and suffering in samsara, the unending Cycle of Rebirth and Suffering (the Wheel of Life and Death).

• Nick Reiner, son of Rob Reiner, TMZ, 12/18/25; Five Heinous Deeds (definition) Ven. Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Dictionary; Explanation: Dhr. Seven, editing: Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly

Will Dalai Lama be reborn in this world?

​

Dalai Lama reborn or not? The truth about his successor.

(༄།ནང་ཆོས།། ☸️) Dec. 12, 2025: The 14th Dalai Lama (dalailama.com) discusses his determination to take another human rebirth in this world [as there are many, many human worlds on this human plane]. What is the truth about his successor? Will it be him? Legend has it that it is always Avalokiteshvara taking rebirth out of infinite (boundless, universal) compassion for living beings. #dalailama #buddhistteachings #buddha #teaching #motivation #goodvibes #fypシ

• Dalai Lama via ༄།ནང་ཆོས།།, Dec. 12, 2025; CC Liu, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Sad Guru's truth about masturbation

(Shermaroo Spiritual Life) Sadhguru (Vasudev) reveals the truth about masturbation

O, Wick Men, give me your knuckle babies

The Christian and Jewish Bibles have so little to say about masturbation that in a mindboggling reach, Church officials (guilty Catholics or officious Protestants or killjoy Jews) could only come up with the story of Onan and the awkward, inapplicable synonymous term "onanism." Nothing could be less connected to masturbation.

A Jewish man's brother dies, leaving his wife without a child. By Jewish custom and (levirate) law, he has to impregnate her in his absence. But just as he finishes the fun part his duty, he thinks better of it, reflecting on how troublesome another child and/or wife will be for him and not wanting to be burdened by those responsibilities, he withdraws as he finishes. God is so p'd off, we're told, that He smites (murders) him on the spot for "spilling his seed" on the ground rather than the fertile woman. Voila! Masturbation. Which as we all know involves having procreative sex with a partner but then changing your mind, right? 🙄

• Buddhism and sexuality In Buddhism, prohibitions against masturbation apply to monastics. By extension lay people may undertake to avoid them, and that is healthy and good, but one can no more find a "commandment" against it for ordinary people in Buddhist texts as one could locate one in Christian texts. Inciting lust, particularly through porn, is terribly harmful, and the Buddha did say something to the effect that it would be better to swallow a red-hot iron ball. But even that is in reference to being an "immoral monastic" swallowing food offered as alms by laypeople. If one insists on having sex (or fornicating, which means doing it without being married), go Tantric.

One is reminded of a truly tasteless joke:

A man nudged his wife for some nookie in front of their child. She asked him, "What?" - "How about we, you know?" - "What, are you crazy? You're going to ask me for that in front of our baby?!" - "Well, what do you want me to do?" - "Next time you want some whoopie, ask me to do 'a load of laundry.'" - "Oh, O.K." - Later that night, the wife primps and preps and makes a dramatic entrance in the bedroom. But the husband rolls over, turning his back to her. She pokes him and angrily and says, "I thought you wanted me to do a load of laundry!?" - "Oh, that's O.K. It was a small load. I did it by hand."

Fortunately, Wiki has this caveat: The word onanism is not based on the biblical story of Onan itself but on an interpretation of that biblical story. For the word onanism is not found in any form in biblical texts. Thus, the etymological connection of onanism (as masturbation) with Onan's name is religiously misleading" [62][47]. More

What about it, Pope?

Pope Francis speaks on porn and masturbation

(Breaking Points) Filthy lawyer for Israel and Epstein, Alan Dershowitz, conspired to crush...

Alan Watts: Buddhism is not a religion

• alanwatts.org, alanwatts.com
• Religion of No Religion - Alan Watts
• Is it true that "Buddhism is Hinduism stripped for export" as Alan Watts says? What is the general consensus of Buddhists on Alan watts : r/Buddhism
• Thoughts on Alan Watts takes on Buddhism? : r/Buddhism
• Buddhism: The Religion of No-Religion by Alan Watts
• Alan Watts twice weekly on Pacifica Radio (KPFK 90.7 FM)

A hidden secret behind all religions

• Brahman versus Maya
• Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth
• The Hero with a Thousand Faces
• Quantum vacuum state
• God is Love
• Is it possible to love everyone boundlessly?

Can yoga mantras help simplify life?

Can this mantra simplify our lives?

(Yogmantras) July 21, 2025: Ever feel overwhelmed by life’s chaos and wish for a smoother, more peaceful journey?

What is the primordial sound, the shabda? OM

Dive into the timeless wisdom of the Rigveda 1.41.4, a profound Vedic verse that reveals the secret to a life free of obstacles and filled with clarity.

In 2025, as mindfulness (Sanskrit smirti, Pali sati) and spiritual growth dominate digital platforms, this video offers a fresh take on aligning with truth and purpose to create a fulfilling life.

This mantra teaches us how to walk a path of ease by embracing truth, righteousness, and the guidance of wise souls. Learn practical ways to apply its teachings, from choosing honesty in daily decisions to surrounding ourselves with uplifting company.

Let’s go through a guided and powerful meditation practice, combining breathwork and visualization to clear mental clutter and foster inner calm.

With the rise of YouTube #shorts for quick spiritual insights, this video taps into the growing demand for meaningful content.

Try this 5-minute daily routine to connect with the mantra’s energy and experience a stress-free mindset.

Ready to make life’s path smoother? Watch now and share in the comments how this wisdom inspires a more satisfying life!

Subscribe to Yogmantras for more transformative Vedic insights and mindfulness tips! Connect with Yogmantras: YouTube: Yogmantras Instagram: @yogmantrasg Facebook: YogmantrasG Twitter: @Yogmantras. Email (collaborations/queries): dharmasyatv@gmail.com. Music: Aqua Euphoria (with Lucentia) (432 Hz) by Spheriá | spheriamusic. Music promoted by chosic.com/free-music/all. Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses... #Rigveda #VedicWisdom #Spirituality #Yoga #Meditation #SpiritualAwakening #Yogmantras #AncientIndia #VedicMantras #InnerPeace #DivineWisdom #SpiritualGrowth #CosmicOrder #DivineGrace #PathToLiberation #MantraMeditation #SpiritualJourney #VedicTradition #KarmaAndGrace #YogicWisdom

• Yogmantras on YouTube; Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation) (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Irish Zen poem on St. Patrick's Day

SAINT PATRICK'S DHARMA: Welcome to Zen Buddhism Ireland (ZBI) with Myozan Kodo (妙山興道). Years ago, on March 17th, he delivered a little talk on Irish history concerning a possibly ahistorical figure named "St. Paddy" to mark St. Patrick's Day. Rev. Myozan Kodo lives his Zen Buddhist spiritual tradition on the Emerald Isle at zenbuddhism.ie, which is open to all.

New traditions

Welcome to ZBI: Zen Buddhism Ireland - Zen Buddhism Ireland

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Let's go beyond The Pale in Ireland

The Irish are nothing if not amazing storytellers. Our own resident poet, Seven O'Dhr, frequently performs his epic "Finnegan's Awake" to stunned crowds who cannot comprehend how there can be so many rhyming syllables delivered in a Gaelic cadence in what is ostensibly an all-English poem. The piece is, of course, a tip o' the hat to James Joyce and his magnum opus  Finnegans Wake, but both works are rooted in an old Dublin ditty everyone who's ever entered a pub has heard, "Finnegan's Wake." What now if the classic song were Buddhified? If the story of Saint Paddy can be, as certainly it was all dreamed up by the Church over the years to sanitize the genocide of the indigenous pagan "snakes" being chased off the snakeless island.

Finnegan's Wake (traditional)

"Finnegan's Wake" (Irish American comic ballad) Clancy Brothers and The Dubliners

Ballad of Tim Finnegan's Wake as explained and performed by The Clancy Brothers in Ireland

Tim Finnegan lived on Watlin Street

A gentleman Irish but mighty odd

Had a beautiful brogue so soft and sweet

To rise in the world he carried a hod

He had a sort of a tipplin' way

With a love of the liquor poor Tim was born

To help him on with his work each day

Had a drop of the craythur every morn

[CHORUS:]

Whack fol the dah of the di-do-day

Dance with your partner

Welt the floor your trotters shake

Wasn't it the truth I told?

Lots of fun at Finnegan's wake!

One mornin' Tim felt rather full

His head felt so heavy it made him shake

Fell from a ladder and dashed his skull

They carried him home his corpse to wake

Rolled him up in a nice clean sheet

Laid him out upon the bed

A bottle of whiskey at his feet

A barrel of porter at his head

[CHORUS]

His friends assembled at the wake

And Mrs. Finnegan called for lunch

First they brung in tea and cake

Then pipes tobacco and whiskey punch

Biddy O'Brien began to cry

"Such a nice clean corpse did you ever see?

Tim mavourneen why'd you go and die?"

Arragh shut your gob said Paddy McGee!

[CHORUS]

Patty O'Connor took up the job

"Ah Biddy" says she "you're wrong I'm sure!"

Biddy gave her a belt on the gob

That sent her sprawlin' on the floor

Then a war did soon engage

It was woman to woman and man to man

Shillelagh-law was all the rage

And a row and a ruction soon began

Mickey Maloney lowered his head

As a bottle of whiskey flew at him

Missed and fallin' on the bed

The liquor sprinkled all over Tim!

Tim revives see how he rises!

Timothy risin' from the bed

Sayin' "Whirl your liquor around like blazes

Thunderin' Jaysus do you think I'm dead?"

[CHORUS]

Finnegan's Awake (Zen version)

Seven O'Dhr for Wisdom Quarterly, St. Patrick's Day 2025

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Tim Finnegan did BE across kinhin street

A gentleman Irish but Almighty Odd

Had a beautiful OM so soft 'n sweet

To rise above the world, he sat in the sod

Tippin' over wave and save: awake!

He had a sort of a tippin' wave

With a love of Hardcore Zen Tim was reborn

To help him on with his work each day

Had a talk with the master every morn

[CHORUS:]

Work for the title of the Died-All-Day

Breathe with your partners

Welt the floor then your trousers shake

Wasn't it the Four Truths I told you?

Lots o' fun now that Finnegan's awake!

Welt the floor then trousers shake

One mornin' Tim felt rather dull

His head felt so sleepy it made him wave

Tipped right over and dashed his skull

He sprawled out his corpse to wake

Rolled his'self up in a nice bright sheet

Reclined his'self in lion's pose in bed

All bottled up frisky with cold feet

A barrel of sake's good till you're dead

[CHORUS]

His friends assembled at the wake

Then Mrs. Finnegan called for lunch

First they brung in green tea 'n cake,

Zen bamboo flutes with a sake punch

Biddy O'Brien began to cry,

"Such a nice clean corpse did you ever see?

Tim's in satori and he might die!"

Arragh, shut your gob said Paddy McGee!

[CHORUS]

Roshi O'Connor took up the job

"Ah Biddy," said he, "you're wrong, I'm sure!"

Then Biddy gave him a wordless belt on the gob

That sent him sprawlin' on the floor

Keisaku: Seven temples to experience Zen sitting meditation (zazen) (Jatrabridge)

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The keisaku is to awaken, but the shippei...

Then a debate did soon engage

It was man on woman and woman on man

Shippei-law was all the rage

And a row and a ruction soon began

Flicky Baloney lowered his head

As bottled-up frisky flew out of him

Missed and fallin' on the bed

The life sprinkled and touched ol' Tim!

Tim revives! See how he rises!

Timothy risin' from his deathbed

Sayin', "Whirl your hurl 'round like blazes

Thunderin' Dōgen, do you think I'm dead?"

[CHORUS: Whack for the diddle of the dido-day...]

Hardcore Zen: Zazen is NOT meditation

(Roshi Brad Warner) Zen punk on why Zazen is Not Meditation

• Everyone writes and sings it their own way: The Irish Rovers – Finnegan's Wake
• The Disturbing Truth About St. Patrick’s Day and Its Brutal History | by Three raccoons in a spacesuit | Medium
• Did St. Patrick Commit Genocide? Did He Kill Pagans? Did He Battle Druids? - Irish Myths
• Was St. Patrick Catholic? - Irish Myths
• Myozan Kodo, Zen temple Ireland, March 17, 2016; The Clancy Brothers; The Dubliners; Brad Warner; Dhr. Seven (parody poetry), Pat Macpherson, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly