Joe Rao, space.com, 3/20/23 at 2:24 PM PDT; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
Weather news girls celebrate springtime!
The glory of spring sort of begins. "Equinox" literally means when night and day are equal (equi - equal, nox = night).
But the earth must have flattened out or something, or perhaps the Gregorian reworking of the calendar -- taking the planet's timekeeping away from the moon -- has gone askew.
This year, "the length of daylight is actually longer than darkness by several minutes," reports space.com. Just look at this phony CGI being presented as actual video of the planet as spring arrives:jwplayer.com.
On the equinox date in March, the length of daylight is actually longer than darkness by several minutes.
It's time to say goodbye to winter -- at least in the Northern Hemisphere.
On Monday (March 20) at 5:24 pm EDT (2:24 pm PDT) the spring (vernal) equinox occurs.
At that moment, the sun comes to one of two places where its rays shine directly down on the equator. It will then be shining equally on both halves of the Earth (Bhumi, Terra, Tierra, Ertha).
More precisely at that moment, the sun will be shining directly down on the equator at a point over the Pacific Ocean, roughly 1,900 miles (3,100 km) southeast of the Hawaiian Islands.
Another complexity involving the vernal equinox concerns the axiom, "equal days and equal nights on the equinox." Yet each year I [Joe Rao] always get at least one or two inquiries asking why that isn't so.
Perhaps someone, skimming through the weather page of their newspaper on the day of the equinox, looked at the almanac box, which provides the local time of sunrise and sunset, and noticed that the length of day and night is not equal at all.
In fact, on the equinox dates in both March and September, the length of daylight is actually longer than darkness by several minutes.
Check out the situation for New York City.
As the table below shows, days and nights are equal not on the equinox, but on Saint Patrick's Day: More
Does the flat earth model do any better at explaining what's really going on? Let's ask the expert in the most trouble for daring to provide abundant evidence for a plane rather than a globe-planet,EricDubay.com
Today is the first day of spring (March 19, 2020, 8:49 pm west coast, 11:49 pm east coast) in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the change of seasons as Los Angeles goes from winter rains to spring showers all in the same day.
The surrounding mountains are full of snow. The rain devas (and chemtrails) are washing away the new flu virus the media is whipping us into a frenzy about. What is an "equinox"? Night and day look equal. How?
Science has a theory for everything, even if those speculations are often mostly wrong. Don't worry. Someone will imagine a new theory to replace each theory as it becomes untenable. We are NOT told the truth much, but we should probably figure it out ourselves. How? We can meditate to regain the mental powers that allow us to see directly for ourselves. Until then, science and mysticism are all we have, indirectly. Like fools we live on faith.
(Bridget Nielsen) Five ways to prepare for spring 2020, Ascension update
First we hear from the boring world of high school science explanations and the priesthood of white-clad (lab coat) scientists then the exciting expanded reality of Contactee Bridget Nielsen preparing for Ascension on March 20, 2020. We'll take "witchy" women's wisdom with the patriarchal platitudes forced down our throats for a little balance.
Squirt guns at Coachella? Not allowed! This is Buddhist Thailand's Songkran Festival.
[Happy Vernal Equinox!] There's no "official" start of spring, but for most the vernal or spring equinox marks the start of the season.
The vernal equinox is on Monday, March 20, 2017 at 5:28 am CDT. That marks the exact time when the sun crosses over the equator and the length of days and nights will be almost equal.
The day that comes the closest to having 12 hours of equal day and night is actually March 16th.
For example, in Alabama on March 16 the day length is 12 hours and 6 seconds in Birmingham, 11:59:51 in Huntsville, and 12:00:40 in Mobile. More
Coachella Festival
Coachella performance? Not on your life. This vixen is an exhibitionist at a 45 Grave show.
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The Father of Rock 'n Roll
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, located in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley, in the Colorado Desert. It was co-founded by Paul Tollett and Rick Van Santen in 1999 and organized by Goldenvoice, a subsidiary of AEG Live as of 2001. The event features many genres of music, including rock, indie, hip hop, and electronic dance music, as well as art installations and sculptures. Across the grounds, several stages continuously host live music. The main stages are the: Coachella Stage, Gobi Tent, Mojave Tent, Outdoor Theatre, Sahara Tent, and the Yuma stage was introduced in 2013. More
(VLOG) Tess Christine wants to make everyone jealous in an extended FB-style post about how awesome her life and travels are. Be jealous or it will have been a waste of time and $. Paid?*
Thais in Thailand: Quit it! - No, you quit it! - But this is my best royal garb! - Stop!
Songkran, also known as the Thai New Year’s festival, is an annual event. It is the largest national event in Thailand, involving what is probably the biggest water fight in the world. It is held on April 13th, but the celebration extends to the 14th and 15th.
The major celebrations of Songkran Festival (celebrating the New Year and the arrival of spring) are similar to India's Holi Festival, China's Qingming Festival, and Christendom's Easter.
One Night in Bangkok (behance.net)
Thais throw water at each other for no good reason and symbolically wipe off all misfortunes of the past year, thereby greeting the New Year with a fresh start. The single drawback to the lively festivities is the vast number of fatal traffic accidents caused by drunk drivers: over 364 during the 2014 three-day celebration. More
This makes it the 15th day after the Spring Equinox, either April 4th or 5th in a given year. Other common translations include Chinese Memorial Day and Ancestors' Day.
Qingming has been regularly observed as a statutory public holiday in China. In Taiwan, the public holiday is now always observed on April 5th to honor the death of Chiang Kai-shek on that day in 1975. It became a public holiday in mainland China in 2008.
On the mainland, the holiday is associated with the consumption of qingtuan, green dumplings made of glutinous rice and barley grass. In Taiwan, the similar confection is known as caozaiguo or shuchuguo. A similar holiday is observed in the Ryukyu Islands, called Shīmī in the local language. More
Holi in Pasadena, in L.A.'s San Gabriel Valley, was recently celebrated with great fanfare, if almost entirely by ex-pats and families.
But it is open to all, even Scottish yoginis in linen yoga pants from APU trying to study Hinduism and become like Pretty WomanJulia Roberts, the most prominent American convert to the Sanatan Dharma, the "Eternal Truth," as Hinduism calls itself.
Hindu, actor, yogini Julia Roberts
How is it celebrated? Easy. Bring water and colored powder, or buy it on site, then throw it, laugh, and run. Legal in most states but probably not all. Check with local officials.
HOLI (Sanskrit, होलीHolī) is a Hindu spring festival celebrated in India and Nepal (and wherever Indians and Nepalis live abroad), also known as the "Festival of Colors" or the "Festival of Love."
It signifies the victory of good over evil, the arrival of
spring, the end of winter, and for many a festive day to meet others, play, laugh, forget, forgive, and repair broken relationships.
Friends in Holi forgiveness and thanksgiving
It is also celebrated as a thanksgiving for a good harvest. It lasts for a night and a day, starting on the evening of the purnima (full moon day) falling on the Vikram Samvat Hindu Calendar month of Phalgun, which falls somewhere between the end of February and the middle of March on the Gregorian calendar.More
In honor of the legendary actor, here are some favorite moments from his best films.
(Gene Wilder in Mel Brooks' "The Producers") "Springtime for Hitler and Germany/Deutschland is happy and gay/We're marching to a faster pace/Look out, here comes the Master Race/Springtime for Hitler and Germany/Winter for Poland and France/Springtime for Hitler and Germany/Come on Germans, go into your dance."
Jerome Silberman (June 11, 1933-August 29, 2016), known professionally as Gene Wilder, was an American stage and screen comic actor, screenwriter, film director, and author. Wilder began his career on stage, and made his screen debut in the TV-series Armstrong Circle Theatre in 1962.More
Best of Wilder
June 11, 2016 was the 83rd birthday of actor, writer, director Gene Wilder (RIP), one of the best-loved actors of his generation. While it has been almost 15 years since the world last saw Wilder on the screen, his talent is remembered fondly by fans. Here are The Firewall's Top 10 Gene Wilder Movies.
Mexican Elvis passes away: Juan Gabriel
Well, he was more of a flamboyant gay icon* ala Liberace, Michael Jackson, or honorary-Mexican Morrissey, who lived in L.A. (Santa Monica), recorded here, while selling more than 100 million albums around the world, mostly of the sentimental sort. He was so L.A. that he just wrapped up two sold out nights at the L.A. Forum 48 hours beforehand, playing a 3 hour final show that may have done him in, along with the weight and long-simmering heartbreak.
*Juan Gabriel was Mexico's gay icon — but he never spoke of his sexuality Kate Linthicum (Los Angeles Times, Aug. 29, 2016) reporting from Mexico City
With his glittery capes, slinky dance moves and ultra-romantic lyrics,
Mexican superstar Juan Gabriel was an unlikely king in a country known
for its machismo. He never spoke about his sexuality, yet was widely
assumed to be gay. It’s no surprise that the singer was an icon in
Mexico’s gay subculture. But how was it that he came to be celebrated
by the country’s Catholic, conservative and often homophobic mainstream? More
Nectar-gathering pollinator on brilliant spring flower (smart-kit.com/WQ)
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Green glassBuddha (spring.org.uk)
The Rite of Spring, the ballet and orchestral concert by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, was written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company, with choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky plus stage designs and costumes by Nicholas Roerich.
The ballet nearly caused an audience riot when first performed on May 29th, 1913 at Paris' Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.
But it rapidly achieved success as a concert piece and was later recognized as one of the most influential musical works of the
20th Century. The score has many novel features, including experiments
in tonality, meter, rhythm, stress, and dissonance.
The scenario is the
celebration of spring by various primitive rituals, at the end of which a
sacrificial victim dances herself to death.
Arab Spring women's protest
After its explosive
premiere the ballet was not performed until the 1920s, when Léonide Massine's
re-choreographed version was the first of many innovative productions
directed by the world's leading ballet-masters.
Providing "endless
stimulation for performers and listeners" alike, The Rite is among the most recorded works in the classical repertoire. More
The Buddha's Final Rest Sister Vajira, Francis Story (Last Days of the Buddha, Chp. 5, DN 16) Wisdom Quarterly edit
Buddha draped in flowers, Sri Lanka (Original Nomad/simonmonk/flickr.com)
1. Then the Buddha addressed Venerable Ananda: "Come, Ananda, let us cross to the farther shore of the river Hiraññavati and go to the Malla Clan's Sal-tree Grove, in the vicinity of Kusinara [Kushinagar]" - "So be it, venerable sir."
2. The Blessed One, together
with a large company of monastics, went to the farther shore, and there he spoke:
3. "Please, Ananda, prepare for
me a resting spot between the twin sal trees, with the head to the north. I am
weary, Ananda, and want to lie down."
COMMENTARY: "From the town of Pava it is three leagues(gavutas) to Kusinara. Walking that distance with great effort and sitting
down at 25 places along the way, the Blessed One reached the Sal tree
Grove at dusk after the sun had already set. Thus illness befalls humans,
crushing all our health. As if one wanted to point to this fact, the
Blessed One spoke those words which deeply moved the world: 'I am
weary, Ananda, and want to lie down.'"
"So be it, venerable sir," said Ven. Ananda, and did as the Blessed One asked. Then the Blessed One lay down on his right side, in the lion's
posture, resting one foot upon the other, and so disposed himself,
mindfully and clearly-comprehending.
Flowers from the devas (NancyMargaret/flickr)
4. The twin sal
trees then broke out in full bloom, though it was not the flowering season. Those blossoms rained upon the body of the Tathagata. They
dropped and scattered, strewn in honor of the
Tathagata. Even celestial mandarava flowers and heavenly [akasha-devic]
sandalwood powder from the sky rained down upon the body of the
Tathagata. They dropped and scattered, strewn in honor of the Tathagata. And the sound of devic voices and heavenly
instruments made music in the air in honor of the Tathagata.
5. The Blessed One spoke: "Ananda, the twin sala trees are in full
bloom, though it is not the flowering season. And the blossoms rain
upon the body of the Tathagata; They drop and scatter, strewn upon
it... in honor of the Tathagata.
6. "Yet it is not thus, Ananda,
that the Tathagata is respected, venerated, esteemed, revered, and
honored in the highest degree.
"But, Ananda, any male or female monastic or layperson who abides by the Dharma, lives uprightly by
the Dharma, walks in the way of the Dharma, it is by such a one that the
Tathagata is respected, venerated, esteemed, revered, and honored in
the highest degree.
"Therefore, Ananda, train thus: 'We shall abide by the Dharma, live uprightly by the Dharma,
walk in the way of the Dharma.'"More
Editors, Wisdom Quarterly edit of Wikipedia entry Nowruw
Spring: the flowers of the New Year when Bhumi (Gaia) is in full bloom (Lila Daley)
Nowrūz (Persian, نوروز, "[The] New Day") is the name of the Iranian/Persian New Year (2013 actually being 1392) in Iranian calendars and the corresponding traditional celebrations.
Nowruz is also widely referred to as the "Persian New Year." Nowruz is celebrated and observed by Iranian peoples and the related cultural continent and has spread in many other parts of the world -- including parts of India, Central Asia, Caucasus, South Asia, Northwestern China, the Crimea, and some groups in the Balkans.
Nowruz marks the first day ofSPRING and the beginning of the year in the Iranian calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical Northward equinox, which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed.
Nature's otherworldly lights (aurora borealis) visible from space
As well as being an Asuran (Buddhist titan) Zoroastrian
holiday and having significance amongst the Zoroastrian ancestors of
modern Iranians (the Parsis and Iranis of India), it is also celebrated in parts of the South Asian
sub-continent as the new year. The moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day is calculated exactly every year and Iranian families gather together to observe the rituals.
Originally being a Zoroastrian festival, and the holiest of them all, Nowruz is believed to have been invented by the founder Zoroaster (Zarathustra) himself, although there is no clear date of origin.
Since the Achaemenid era the official year has begun with the New Day when the Sun leaves the zodiac of Pisces and enters the zodiacal sign of Aries, signifying the Spring Equinox. Nowruz is also a holy day for Sufis (Buddhist-influenced mystical Muslims), Bektashis, Ismailis, Alawites. Alevis, Babis, and adherents of the Bahá'í Faith. More
Happy spring, yogins! Feeling in perfect health and brimming with radiant energy? Everything is in bloom with outstanding wet and sunny spring weather. Get outside and enjoy the fresh air and brilliant colors.
Save the date for the "Yoga Sound Bath," Sunday, June 3rd, 11:00 am-1:00 pm: Deepen your yoga practice, learn how sound can transform the experience! ($25 preregistered, $30 at door). Do it by email me or follow me for periodic updates and inspirational messages at Fox Power Yoga.
Asana focus: "Eagle Pose" (garudasana) Stand in mountain pose (tadasana). Wrap the right arm under the left crossing at the forearms with the thumbs toward the face. Get hands in the prayer pose or, if not, interlace the fingers. Pull arms down so that fingers come below the nose. Bend the knees slightly, and wrap the right thigh as high as possible over the left thigh, wrapping the foot behind the calf so that all five toes show from the front. Close any gaps between the foot/ankle and the leg. Squeeze the arms and legs to open the joints of the arms, legs, toes, and fingers. Work the hips further down. Pull the scapulae down. Lift the chest. Pull wrists, elbows, knees, and standing ankle into a single line down the center. Pull the standing shin back, and press down the heel while lifting the arch of the foot.BENEFITS: Opens and stretches all of the major joints in the body, massages the reproductive organs, flushes lymphatic fluid in axillary and groin region, and is said to reduce cellulite in the thighs.
Seven and Amber Dorrian, Wisdom Quarterly, Spring Equinox 2012
Three extraterrestrial bodhisattvas on Earth: Issa, Hotei, and Krishna on a spring stroll through cosmic consciousness, the Jewish-Buddhist, Buddhist-Confucian, and Hindu-Buddhist -- wanderers and shamans -- showing us the way (Talagatita/iheartit.com).
Today is the Spring Equinox. And the Sun came out over Los Angeles to reflect the snow on the northern foothills and sparkle over the surfers in Santa Monica Bay. And equinox is an evening of the length of night and day as Earth not only orbits and spins but also follows a procession, an off tilt wobble that gives us our seasons. It was set on its axis not by chance but by higher intelligences that terraformed the planet and made it habitable and lush, lively and home to many more creatures than we are ever aware of. Sure there are animals -- with the biggest brains on top: the dolphins and other marine mammals, the hybrids, followed by humans, and the rest of the evolving entities. It is "forbidden archeology" to question it, and Dr. Cremo is an outcast to bring it up when the knowledge filterers say, "Creation vs. Evolution, pick a side then sh*t up."
What Mahayana did to Buddhism: It made it a kind of Chinese imperial dogma that moved west through Central Asia and finally and most famously to the seat of Christianity. The Maitreya complex became the Messianic complex we live with, setting historical figures on pedestals and then being disappointed. This cartoon is just a cartoon? Buddhism No, it's parroting what many believe about their own tradition and making it sound as if Buddhism teaches the same thing but using different names for things. "God" is the "Eternal Buddha, grand savior, Lord El Cantare," solar deity, "parent of human souls," none other than Brahman which Great Brahma is often credited with being.
Myths surrounding Jesus -- who may well have been a Buddhist, a bodhisattva, a great rabbi, a world teacher, a messenger from some world in space -- and other great prophets (Hotei, Krishna, Zoroaster, Mohammed) were not made by Jesus or those other famous figures, but by the same old paganism, the same surviving religious institutions that devas have been feeding humanity on this planet for millenia. And anyone who teaches a different message, one capable of real and final emancipation, must be co-opted.
The historical Buddha Gautama has been co-opted.
"Souls," "saviors," and shorthand-mistranslations lead right back to the ancient Vedic-Sumerian-Egyptian-biblical thinking the historical Buddha rejected. Siddhartha went against the stream and found the ancient path to freedom that is not found by the old usual religions. What the Buddha set out to do Before arriving at liberating truth he developed the ten perfections (dasa-paramis) to have the capacity to teach. In this way he would be able to point the way out of this conundrum, this "thicket of views," this hopeless roundabout of faith and philosophizing.
The Vedas (Sanskrit "Knowledge Books") are wonderful. But they are not Buddhism! Much of Mahayana Buddhism is not Buddhism but distinctly opposed to the historical Buddha's message.
It is scandalous to say so, we know, but sometimes it is so obvious that we have to say, "The emperor has no clothes."
The Vedas teach an astrotheology brought by akasha devas visiting Earth, setting up empires, ruling them, inspiring humans to keep those structures and worship practices going while helping them and other types of beings spiritually evolve, then going off in their vimanas (space craft) to the other more advanced worlds they normally inhabit.
Humans and other beings can be reborn there, it is true. That is standard religious dogma. The Buddha did not find enlightenment on Earth so that he could repeat that message. That message never leaves for long.
Endless rebirth, reincarnation in better worlds, meeting with karma in dreadful lesser worlds, chasing after pleasure and ever elusive satisfaction here, there, and anywhere else it might be -- that is not the path.
The Buddha provided something unending, peaceful, beyond ordinary bliss, utterly equanimous and sublime. To call it "nirvana" is to limit it, bundle it into a concept, and seek it the way we do everything else. But nirvana is like nothing else. It is something to be experience while living in this very life. So the question to ask is, What is the way, what is the path?
Mysticism Zen Mahayana, Tibetan Vajrayana, and Christian -Catholic dogma seem to be in agreement that THIS is it. Just this. The ordinary is the extraordinary. There's nothing more. "Nirvana is samsara" is the mantra. There is no duality, so nonduality must be IT...
Nonsense after nonsense, mystical mumbo jumbo, and is it any wonder no one reaches what the Buddha called enlightenment (bodhi)? It's already here, this is already it, you're a buddha. And no one can say otherwise.
Going Against the Stream Wisdom Quarterly will say otherwise. The path is mysticism, but not mumbled, jumbled, mystical, magical gibberish. The path leads out of this. Then that will not be different from this (to those still stuck here), that is, it will not look different to us observing how the enlightened look.
But it will be a world of difference to them standing on that side. Enlightened people may indeed say, "Samsara and nirvana are not different," in a sense, now that their whole world and worldview is suffused with peace and safety.
But for us to say it as if it were true for us or for everyone is madness. Nirvana couldn't be more different than samsara. It's not its simple opposite; it's inconceivably different.
For the enlightened, the old world does not blink out of existence. They do not recline, put their feet up, and lay back on their meditation cushions sighing, "Aah, all done." Yet we, hearing that everything is okay and all of our spiritual views are fine, often do. We pray for heaven, think nirvana is either a heaven or complete nonexistence (both of which are completely wrong). Better than all the world and all the riches of the many and varied heavens is to ask, What is the path?
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