In Buddhism we enjoy a "Mother Mary" figure one might call "Virg Yin" (Kwan Yin, Guanyin), the Goddess of Compassion, a bodhisattva. So the best part of the Catholic faith is present. And if a Buddhist wants to love Mary (Miriam) or any other Goddess or her son, that's fine. We do not answer to the Vatican. How great the world would be if everyone were free to pick a spirituality, wisdom, faith, or path-of-practice. We can practice all of them, and that's fine with the Buddha. Good luck on your spiritual journey. We have all been cycling through samsara in search of real "salvation" (liberation, vimutti, moksha). May we all find it.
(But what if a Catholic doesn't like Catholicism, the Patriarchy, and the Church but loves Jesus Christ? - That's great. Investigate what Jesus really taught in the banned Gnostic texts the Church never wants you to know exist.)
During the Christmas season in Germany, there was plenty of Silent Night and O Tannenbaum—two Christmas carols that originated there.
But during the Third Reich, one was more likely to hear a hymn called Exalted Night instead of a silent one.
The popular hymn—which dwelled on motherhood, renewal, and holiday fires—seemingly fit right in with the rest of the Christmas songs. But like so much in Nazi Germany, it was a carefully constructed fake, written by a Nazi songwriter as part of an attempt to apply Leader Adolf Hitler’s hateful ideology to Christmas.
During the 1930s and 1940s, the Nazis did their best to transform Germany’s beloved Christmas traditions into Nazi ones. Though Hitler’s attempts to create a national church failed, his party’s attempt to redefine religious celebrations was more successful.
To do this, they used ideology and propaganda to put the holiday in line with the national socialists’ antisemitic values.
Have you been misbehaving, little child? Krampus is here!
Jews traditionally love Christmas, right?
The Nazis’ problem with Christmas was baked into Christmas itself. After all, [Nordic depicted] Jesus Christ was a dark-skinned [Mizrahi] Jew—and both antisemitism and the goal of expelling Jews and Jewishness were part of the core of Nazi ideology.
This presented a problem when it came to Germany.
An Ashke'NAZI Jew is my ideal German.
Not only was the nation devoutly Christian, but it was the place where many Christmas traditions, like Advent calendars, [Krampus and Saint Nickaka SantaKlaus], Christmas trees, and Christmas markets, were born. The Nazis knew it would be impossible to eradicate Christianity entirely, so they decided to rework it in their own image. More
Caltrans removes Junipero Serra statue from Interstate 280 rest stop on the Peninsula
(KPIX | CBS NEWS BAY AREA) Oct. 7, 2025: Caltrans has quietly removed a statue of [colonizer and Catholic saint] Junipero Serra from Interstate Highway 280 on the Peninsula, and the move is reigniting a debate over the 18th-century missionary's legacy. Brad Hamilton reports.
Junipero Serra statue vandalized at California mission
(KSBY News) Nov. 3, 2017: Junipero Serra statue vandalized at California mission (again). [Why would any Indigenous (American Indian) mind a legacy of rape, ethnic cleansing, erasure, and genocide? Come on! It's American history and the legacy of European invasion, colonization, and Spanish conquest. It's Manifest Destiny. It's the will of God against savages to promote and elevate the White Man who cometh onto these shores to plunder and elevate everything to his liking.]
Jetsun Milarepa (རྗེ་བཙུན་མི་ལ་རས་པ་) was a Tibetan siddha, who was famously known as a mass murderer when he was a young man before turning to Buddhism and allegedly becoming a highly accomplished Tibetan Buddhist (Bon-infused Vajrayana) disciple.
He is generally considered one of Tibet's most famous yogis and spiritual poets, whose teachings are known among several schools of Tibetan Buddhism. He was a student of Marpa Lotsawa and a major figure in the history of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism [1]. He is also famous for the feat of climbing Mount Kailash. More
Mount Kailash (also Kailasa [a], Gang Tise [b], and Gang Rinpoche or Kangrinboqê [c]) is a mountain in Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It lies in the Gangdise Shan Mountain Range of the Trans-Himalaya, in the western part of the Tibetan Plateau. The peak of Mount Kailash is located at an elevation of 21,778 feet (6,638 m), near the western tri-junction between China, India, and Nepal. More
Buddhist Wisdom, Sept. 23, 2025; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
The story of MILAREPA: The great yogi and his Buddhist legacy (Part 4)
(Buddha's Wisdom) Sept. 14, 2025: 🔍 THE GREAT YOGI WHO CHANGED TIBET
What happens when enlightenment doesn’t lead to temples, titles, or power but to caves, songs, and a revolution that reshaped Tibetan [Vajrayana] Buddhism?
After achieving [Hinduism/Vajrayana's version of] enlightenment, Milarepa faced an impossible choice: build impressive institutions or trust awakening to spread through direct contact.
What he did next would create Buddhism's most influential lineage without a single formal temple. But ancient powers were watching and preparing to strike back.
The Story of MILAREPA: The SINGING SAINT who healed Tibet (Part 3)
(Buddha's Wisdom) Aug. 23, 2025: 🔍 THE MOMENT A KILLER'S VOICE BECAME TIBET'S MOST SACRED SOUND
What if a mass murderer could transform into Tibet’s greatest yogi? This is the story of Jetsun Milarepa, the sorcerer who killed 35 people with black magic…only to become one of Buddhism’s most beloved enlightened masters.
In this episode, we witness his final test in the cave of nettles, where supernatural demons appeared, and how his spontaneous songs of realization dissolved fear, healed trauma, and reshaped Tibetan Buddhism forever.
Part 1: • The Story of MILAREPA: The Sorcerer Who B...
Part 2: • The Story of MILAREPA: The Cave Where a Ki...
DISCOVER:
The night Milarepa’s demons transformed into wisdom beings
How his Hundred Thousand Songs began in the cave of nettles
His reunion with family and songs of forgiveness
Why villagers who once feared him became his followers
How Milarepa’s voice spread across Tibet, creating a Buddhist lineage
Ready to witness the impossible Buddhist transformation?
If inspired by Buddhist teachings, Tibetan masters, karma, enlightenment, and redemption, subscribe now to explore more life-changing stories.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 The Enlightened Voice That Echoes Through Eternity
02:19 Chapter 1: When Demons Become Buddhist Teachers
06:44 Chapter 2: Songs of Buddhist Forgiveness and Family Healing
11:48 Chapter 3: The Wandering Years
15:55 Chapter 4: Sacred Songs That Transform Mountains
Alan Watts via True Meaning, 2/18/24; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Just Let Go: Alan Watts
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck might help
(True Meaning) The Buddha saw a great source of suffering called "clinging." In ignorance, we go around in a cloud of unknowing, full of craving, chasing and grasping anything that might give us pleasure. This is no way to go about ending suffering, and it's not even a way of getting the things we desire. British/Californian philosopher Alan Watts, a Zen practitioner and former Episcopalian priest, talks about the art of letting go. A teacher of Buddhism and Eastern philosophy, Watts was a writer and speaker best known for interpreting dharma for a Western audience. He popularized Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism, particularly among hippies.
True Meaning is an official partner with The Alan Watts Electronic University and MindsetDRM.com. It owns all rights to the content used on this channel. Alan Watts Organization:
Alan Watts via KPFK via Agrippa's Diary, Aug. 4, 2023; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
Alan Watts seems to have accepted his shadow, dark side, and element of irreducible rascality.
Alan Watts on Carl Jung and the Philosophy of Good and Evil
(Agrippa's Diary) In this insightful lecture [in a lisp that is not Watts' natural voice but modified], renowned philosopher Alan Watts delves into an in-depth exploration of world-famous psychologist Carl Jung's groundbreaking theories and his personality.
I'm no fud-dud Ziggy Freud
Watts, known for his deep understanding and eloquence, beautifully unpacks and contemplates the profound perspectives of Jung, the illustrious psychologist and visionary explorer of the human psyche and founder of analytical psychology (Jungian analysis).
His discussion primarily revolves around Jung's fascinating theories of good and evil, shedding new light on their multifaceted implications and enhancing appreciation for Jung's monumental contribution to the
field of psychology
Western spirituality,
the malice inherent in humor,
self-acceptance
the "element of irreducible rascality" as Watts terms it
or in German one's hintaGedanke (hinter thought, an idea in the back of one's mind, the subconscious).
The late Roy of Hollywood Tuckman left us a great legacy, spirituality on Pacifica Radio Los Angeles (kpfk.org) with great overnight programming that includes Thursdays at midnight and Sundays at 8:00 am. Hear Alan Watts and other Buddhist luminaries on Something's Happening.
Eds., Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit (samadhi); EWTN News, May 25, 2023
What is samadhi? It is a Sanskrit term prominent in Buddhism and the philosophy behind Yoga (the ancient Vedas of the Indus Valley Civilization and modern Hinduism with its Brahmins and wandering shramans). It is key to personal spiritual purification and is present in many if not all spiritual traditions, including old-style monastic Catholicism and Eastern Christian Orthodox practices.
There are various interpretations and etymologies for this Sanskrit term, either with the root sam ("to bring together") or sama (coherent, "the same, equalized, the convergence of two distinct things").
According to Dan Lusthaus, samadhi refers to either bringing to consciousness the samskaras (tendencies, mental formations, "buried latencies"), or meditative stillness/concentration on a meditation object [14]: sam, "to bring together" + adhi, "to place on, put, to impregnate, to give, to receive" -- the bringing together of cognitive conditions," "bringing the buried latencies into full view," so "the obscure and hidden become clear objects of cognition," "the womb through which insight is born" [14].
The sama, "the same, equalized, the convergence of two distinct things based on some commonality" + adhi, "higher, better, most skillfully achieved" -- "the skillful unification of mind [subject] and object," "the mental equanimity conducive to and derived from attention perfectly focused on its object."
One-pointedness
"[S]ometimes treated as synonymous with ekacitta, 'one-focused mind,' i.e., mind (citta) completely focused on and at one (eka) with its object" [14]. [In Theravada Buddhism this is the Pali languager term ekaggata, or "one-pointedness" of mind.
"Etymologies for sam-ā-dhā include: 'sam-ā-dhā’ = 'to collect' or 'to bring together,' thus suggesting the concentration or unification of the mind," generally mistranslated [in Buddhism] as "concentration" [15]. [A much better translation is proposed by British monk in the Thai Forest Tradition Ajahn Brahm, "stillness."]
Sam-ā-dhā: "to hold together, to concentrate upon" [16]. Sam, "completely," ā, "the return towards the subject," dha, "maintaining together" = "to assemble completely," "the tension borne between two poles of existence (object and thought) is reduced to zero" [17].
Sam, "together" or "integrated," ā, "towards," dhā, "to get, to hold" = to acquire integration [coherence, integrity] or wholeness, or truth (samāpatti);
sam, "together," ā, "toward," stem of dadhati, "puts, places" = a putting [all together, coherently structuring or returning to an original structure] or joining.
Particular Hindu/yoga interpretations include:
sam, "perfect" or "complete," dhi, "consciousness" = "all distinctions between the person [subject] who is the subjective meditator, the act of meditation [bare awareness], and the object of meditation merge into oneness" (Stephen Sturgess) [18].
Sam, "with," ādhi, "lord" = Union with the Lord (Stephen Sturgess) [16]. [In yoga it might be better to render it not "union with the lord or Brahma" but "Union with Brahman," the impersonal "ultimate reality" behind all illusion (maya).]
Beginner's mind
Sama, "equanimous," dhi, "buddhi or the intellect" = equanimous intellect, non-discriminating intellect (Sadhguru) [19].
Sama, "balance," ādi, "original" = "a state that is equal to the original state, which is the state that prevailed before we came into existence," "original balance" (Kamlesh D. Patel [20]. More
Miracle? Body of Benedictine Sisters’ Foundress Wilhelmina thought to be incorrupt (except for hands)
(EWTN) May 25, 2023. When the Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of Apostles, exhumed the body of their foundress earlier this month, they discovered the unexpected.
Four years after her death and burial in a simple wooden coffin, Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster's body appeared remarkably well preserved. The news spread quickly on social media and now hundreds of pilgrims are flocking to the monastery in rural Missouri.
Executive Director of EWTN's ACI group Kelsey Wicks, who has been following the story from the beginning, joins to share more about who Sr. Wilhemina is. Wicks visited the monastery in rural Missouri soon after the body was exhumed. She tells us what the scene was like. Wicks discusses what has been the impact of this story on the community. This community may be well known to some viewers because of their recordings. Wicks explains more about that. She fills in on what other stories she is following.
ABOUT: EWTN News Nightly provides the latest news and analysis from a [biased] Catholic perspective. Join host Tracy Sabol, the Capitol Hill, White House, and Rome Correspondents, as well as many other diverse guests daily, to get the latest from the U.S. and the Vatican on topics regarding the Catholic faith and interests.
Host Megan Lewis, Prof. of Christianity Bart D. Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus; Wisdom Quarterly
Is Paul the founder of Christianity?
(Bart D. Ehrman) May 16, 2023. Visit bartehrman.com/courses to shop from Prof. Ehrman’s online courses and get a special discount by using code: MJPODCAST on all courses.
It has long been said among historical scholars that Christianity is NOT the religion of Jesus Christ but the religion about him.
In this view, Jesus was a Jewish preacher who urged his fellow Jews to repent of their sins and turn back to the Jewish God by observing what he demanded of Jews, so they could enter the coming Kingdom [on earth].
But Christians did not think repentance and obedience could bring Christian salvation at all. It was the death and resurrection of Jesus that mattered.
Moreover, it is often said that Paul was the one who transformed Jesus' gospel about the coming Kingdom into a gospel of Jesus' death and resurrection. Is that true?
Wouldn't that mean that Paul and Jesus had different religions? And if so, then isn't Paul, rather than Jesus, the founder of Christianity?
In this episode, Megan Lewis asks Bart Ehrman about:
Jesus’ religion was Judaism. Would it be reasonable to say that his teachings aren’t attempting to construct a theology but to explain how Jewish law should be followed and to prepare for the immanent kingdom of the Jewish god?
Was Paul, who was Jewish, attempting to construct a new theology?
Did Paul know that he was participating in the formation of a new religion? Would he have identified himself as a Christian?
Paul saw himself as an apostle to the gentiles and made it clear that non-Jewish followers of Jesus did not need to convert to Judaism. How much did this contribute to the formation of Christianity as a new and distinct religion? If Paul had either focused on the Jewish community, or required conversion, do you think that followers of Jesus would have remained an offshoot of Judaism?
Because Paul insisted on gentiles and non-conversion, and this is what pushed Christianity away from being a Jewish sect, doesn’t that make Paul the founder of Christianity?
Does the importance of the death and resurrection of Jesus appear in his own teachings?
Is Paul responsible for putting together writings that would be used to create a comprehensive Christian theology?
How did so many texts associated with Paul come to be included in the New Testament?
If we only have seven actual letters, why is Paul so important?
As apostle to the Gentiles, Paul deliberately traveled to cities without a church in order to introduce Christianity and found churches. How much of an impact did he have on the spread of the religion?
Sheldon S., Seth Auberon, Pat Mac, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit COMMENTARY
Christians in Europe celebrate child tormentor Krampus. Is this their Devil working with Santa?
Hey, pretty boy, did you behave? Obey me!
Northern Europeans are a cold people, unlike the Natives of the Americas. It might have something to do with the weather they endure. That's our guess. Go to the hot countries today and see how warm the people tend to be -- not in every case but as a cultural characteristic. Go north, and watch out, cold blooded/unemotional. Look at the Russians. They know how to kick butt. Must've learned it from their neighbors, the Germans. And the Germans, that's us, inheritors of the NAZI war machine and its criminal masterminds, like those rocket, missile, and nuclear bomb makers we so patriotically claim as our own. Look how we train Boy Scouts, a kind of American Hitler Youth, Nazi kids in form and function, if not racially, molested just like in Catholic/Lutheran Germany. But who pays attention? How did treating kids so badly begin? Western culture, particularly in the cold places, seems to have a lot to do with traumatizing children. Look at the European "Christmas" tradition of Krampus:
Who's Christmas Krampus?
We agree. We hate kids and ruin them.
Krampus is a devilish, horned figure in the Central and Eastern Alpine folklore of Europe who, during the Advent season, scares [the hell out of] children who have been naughty and misbehaved (as all children do). Assisting Christian Saint Nicholas, a.k.a. Coca Cola Corporation's red-robed "Santa Claus," the pair (Krampus and Santa/Satan) visit children one night a year in December.
(King Diamond) In Mercyful Fate style, the Danish originator [Satanist rockstar Kim Bendix Petersen] goes solo for the Xmas anti-classic "No Presents for Christmas." Guess not everyone in Europe enjoys the national holiday.
Catholic Saint Nicholas rewards obedient ("well-behaved") children with modest gifts such as oranges, dried fruit, walnuts, and chocolate, while the disobedient ones are punished by demonic Krampus with birch rod beatings [1] that are sure to make them neurotic and possibly sociopathic in the long run.
The origin of the Yuletide Krampus figure is unclear; some folklorists and anthropologists have postulated it as having pre-Christian/pagan origins [2].
In traditional parades and in such events as the Krampuslauf (English "Krampus run"), young men participate dressed as Krampus and attempt to scare the audience with their boisterous and violent antics [3]. Such events occur annually in most Alpine towns [4].
Krampus is featured on holiday greeting cards called Krampuskarten.
The figure has been imported into American popular culture and has appeared in movies, TV, and video games. More
(Halocene) "Carol of the Bells" rock cover by @Halocene feat. @noapologyofficial, Dec. 4, 2020. This song was remastered for 2020. It's Halocene's epic rock spin on the Xmas classic featuring special guest Daria from @noapologyofficial
Local artists are looking to the ancient St. Corona, a 16-year-old martyr, for help after the Coronavirus outbreak stalls their business.
The Internet is abuzz because the Holy Roman Catholic Church, with its CEO in the Vatican Corporation offices, has just unearthed a long forgotten female saint, St. Corona.
The buzz is that she was the "patron saint of epidemics," as reported last night by dimwitted Government Operative George Noory on this country's largest radio station (coasttocoastam.com, 3/25/20). She, along with Saint Victor, was originally the patron saint of treasure hunting and money.
But about 1000 AD, Otto III brought St. Corona's relics to Aachen in western Germany. Though evidence is scarce that she was invoked against epidemics, Reuters reports that indeed she is "patron saint of epidemics" (reuters.com).
Moreover, according to Reuters, her relics will be available for public veneration "once the coronavirus pandemic has passed."
(Pray Unceasingly) Prayer to Saint Corona for protection against plague
(Crass w/ Eve Libertine) "Reality Asylum" unprayer. WARNING: not suitable for Christian ears because it condemns sexist, war-loving religion via its icon.
Victor and Corona's memorial day is November 24 (Nov. 11 on the Greek Orthodox Church calendar). Their feast day is May 14 [about the time this pandemic should have faded away].
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