But Buddhists can't believe in real monsters, can they? That's just a myth, like "Bigfoot."
What could an ogre ask the Buddha?
Readers will find this fanciful story easy to dismiss and completely discount because we have not heard of these superhuman capabilities in our culture. However, the Islamic world knows about a kind of "demon" or "ogre" (the genies as we label them from terrifying tales of djinn or jinn in countless stories from Muslim tradition). A genie does not grant wishes; it deceives and devours humans and other creatures. They live in wilderness areas and seize those who cross their territory, but as terrible as they are, they are far more clever, deceptive, and capable than we ever give them credit for being.
If a human escapes their clutches, it is either by divine intervention, wit, luck, or because these ghoulish ogres live by rules or some code of honor we as humans no longer seem to feel bound by. They may lie to trick us into their clutches, but that goes to show that they can think, plan, shapeshift, speak, mimic us (however imperfectly), speak in a human voice as well as having their own language and telepathic powers, and seemingly possess the power to switch dimensions. They are not strictly skin and bones. These features are comparable to Buddhist stories about them. The most famous story may be the Alavaka Sutta ("Discourse to the Bigfoot named Alavaka," Sn 1.10). But a more colorful one full of details runs like this:
The Bodhisatta (the "Being bent on enlightenment" or "Buddha-to-be") was reborn into a merchant family. He was going to travel through a great wilderness on business in theApannaka Jataka, "Crossing the Wilderness" (Jat 1). Another merchant, the man who in a subsequent life would go on to become Devadatta (the worst monk in history, the Judas figure in Buddhism) was hasty and went first along with his caravan of men only to meet very clever ogres (Yakkhas, Jinn, Rakshasas, potentially ghoulish and vicious Bigfoot cryptids as described above). They destroy him. The Bodhisatta, being wiser and understanding what has happened and why, passes through the same wilderness but does not succumb to the monsters' deception and thereby passes safely.
The ogre (yakkha, nature protector, ghoul) haunting that wilderness had been watching. When the reached the middle, he used his superhuman powers to conjure up a carriage drawn by pure white young bulls. With a retinue of a dozen disguised ogres (yakkhas) carrying swords and shields, he rode along in his carriage like a mighty lord. His hair and clothes were wet...
This allegedly true story is not about the fake AI photos at Minute 0:04.
Those two gorilla suit pictures with watermarks have been debunked.
Sasquatch and the logging industry | What are they hiding about Bigfoot?
(Smokey Sasquatch Stories & Survival) Premiered Dec. 8, 2024: In this Sasquatch/Bigfoot (Yakkha, Djinn, Genie, Rakshasa, Yeti) encounter, an American man recounts a mysterious occurrence in the wilderness of Washington State during an old-time logging expedition.
The largest lumberjack mysteriously went missing and later recounted his story of survival after being abducted by these very intelligent creatures, the giants of the forest and its protectors.
This is a historical Sasquatch encounter, having taken place in the late 1800s. And it is among the most interesting Bigfoot encounters one is likely to have heard. Why? It is not about juvenile in rut trying to kill a human, but rather about a group trying to stop the destruction of nature and doing so by using their powers for good or at least attempted good. They are not human, so they are not sensitive to our needs or very forgiving of our foibles.
NOTE: This audio-video content was created. It is altered or synthetic content. The story is reputedly 100% true, but the voice and drawings, the sound and visuals, were significantly edited or digitally generated. Learn more.
(Mushroom Wonderland) This is an in-depth expose on chanterelles. Yes, our favorite wild mushroom we love to forage in the fall and sometimes out of season. This channel is based in Washington state, in the Pacific Northwest, so we are talking about Pacific chanterelles. Beware of white chanterelles, California gold chanterelles and dangerous lookalikes.
These poisonous mushrooms grow worldwide: Destroying Angel, Death Cap, False Parasol, Deadly Galerina, Jack o' Lantern, Sulphur Tuft, and Earthball. Learn their different forms at different stages of development, as well as their safe and edible lookalikes. Location: VA, MD, PA, DE. Mushroom ID tool, AI-powered: ShroomID | Best Mushroom Identification App. More
The Milk Documentary is an entertaining, award-winning film that dares to question the conventional wisdom of milk's health claims. Addressing these myths and fabrications, the film is a humorous yet shocking expose rethinking its use.
Feature documentary "Got the Facts on Milk?" promotes increased interest in a diary-free diet among Buddhists and yoga practitioners.
XI'AH'E, China - Shira Lane, director of the new documentary film Got the Facts on Milk? - The Milk Documentary was in the rural town of Xi'ah'e meeting with Buddhist monastics from Labrang Monastery (Gompa).
The documentary provides a candid look at the high-stakes political, economic, ethical, and environmental issues involved with milk consumption.
Labrang Monastery is home to six monastic colleges covering esoteric Buddhism, theology, medicine, astrology, and law. Many Buddhist monastics in the Himalayan region depend on a diet of yak milk, butter, and cheese due to the harsh winters and nomadic nature of Tibetan society.
Tibetan monks from different sects making long life offering (WN/Yeshe Choesan)
Lane presented the monastics with a copy of the film and discussed the potential hazards of dairy product consumption. The timing of Lane's visit was particularly poignant given China's rapidly increasing consumption of dairy products, which may have profound ill effects on the health of China's population and the environment worldwide.
Although it is unclear whether all Himalayan monastics will remove diary from their diet, there is increased interest in a non-diary diet among Buddhists and yoga practitioners.
In late November, 2011 California's Berkeley Buddhist Monastery hosted a free public screening of the film. After the screening, monk and teacher Ven. Ajahn Guna led the audience in chanting including: "MILK DOES A BODY BAD."
This was followed by a Q&A with Shira Lane. Ven. Guna stressed the importance of awareness in connection to the food we consume and its wide-ranging spiritual and physical effects.
Feature length "Got the Facts on Milk?" has attracted considerable underground attention, as it goes behind the scenes of the "Got Milk" campaigns and highlights shocking facts about milk that the dairy industry sweeps under the rug.
Currently the film can only be found on the film's website milkdocumentary.com. Ven. Guna refers to the film as "an outstanding contribution to humanity." Source
Evidence for the Yeti or Abominable Snowman tumbles in from Siberia (RT.com)
We have gotten a flood of comments sharing news stories that Yetis (yakshas in Buddhist cosmology) and Bigfoot exist.
It was only a matter of time before the powers that be and "official" science gatekeepers (journal editors, faculty committees, funding approvers, etc.) relented in the face of mounting modern evidence.
Never mind the centuries-old evidence handed down among indigenous people all over the world. Maybe there's still a chance, maybe this story can still be buried. No "civilized" person believed in the existence of mountain gorillas until a century ago, and most of the world still has no idea what a bonobo is as they are quickly pushed to extinction.
Public relations campaigns have been orchestrated to dismiss and ridicule reports for decades. It does not take much to seed doubt and ridicule. Governments have known for a long time about Bigfoot, other monsters, and alien visitors. But we sleep well in the Matrix not knowing about such things, which could bring us closer to the truth and take us farther from capitalist-consumer-wage-slavery.
Within a Hair of Bigfoot RT.com The Russian Academy of Sciences has said it is highly likely that the Bigfoot really exists. Experts came to the conclusion after carrying out a microscopic analysis of hairs believed to belong to the yeti found in the Kuzbass region of Siberia.
In early October, professors from the USA, Canada, Sweden, Estonia, and Russia came to the Kuzbass region to look for evidence that would prove the existence of the Bigfoot. The trip was not in vain -- footprints apparently belonging to the yeti were found dotted all over the inside of the Azass cave where the creature is thought to live.
The follicular evidence was found stuck to a huge footprint on the cave’s clay floor. Professors from Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Idaho Universities got themselves a couple of precious hairs each to do the necessary research. The hairs turned out to be identical to ones that allegedly belonged to a Californian yeti, another from the Russian Urals, and a third from the Leningrad region, writes Komsomolskaya Pravda.
The first to make the fantastic discovery was Prof. Valentin Sapunov, a member of the New York Academy, St. Petersburg Scientific University -- a geneticist and biophysicist.
“In St. Petersburg the hairs were examined through a special microscope,” said Valentin Sapunov. “This is a complicated, but a very efficient method. The hairs were sprayed with a chemical composition, and then various slices of the hairs were examined. This gave us an opportunity to draw comparisons between the hairs of different biological species,” the professor explained. More
It's no laughing matter: stealing Himalayan artifacts from ancient Buddhist cultures. "Yeti" lends helping hand to Nepal monastery again
KATHMANDU (TNN) - It sounds like an implausible April Fool's Day stunt. But after almost a decade, a centuries-old Buddhist monastery struggling in the foot region of Mt. Everest is now going to get a fresh lease of life, thanks to the yeti (Pali, yakshi, female ogre, in Buddhist cosmology). Pangboche Monastery, built around a rock in Khumbu in northern Nepal, called the gateway to the world's highest peak, survived for centuries on donations given by foreign trekkers and mountaineers who visited the over 600-year-old edifice lured by tales of it possessing the skull and a hand of the yeti, the legendary beast who inspired an expedition by Sir Edmund Hillary himself and was the subject of a book by another Everest hero, Reinhold Messner. "I saw the skull and the hand in the late 1980s after I returned from New Zealand," says Ang Rita Sherpa, senior programme manager at The Mountain Institute that last year helped restore the crumbling down monastery with financial assistance from the US Ambassador's Fund. "Both were stolen in the early 1990s. After the monastery lost its main source of tourist attraction, it fell into hardship, barely able to sustain itself." More
Mt. Kangchenjunga, part of the Yaksha Kingdom (Yeti, ogres), Nepal
Gopal Sharma from Kathmandu (Reuters) Nepal's Maoists disrupted parliament on Friday and threatened to launch street rallies to protest against the government's failure to resolve a fight triggered by the firing of the army chief, officials said. The Maoists waged a decade-long civil war until a 2006 peace deal brought them to the mainstream. They scored a surprise victory in last year's election and formed the nation's first government after the abolition of the 239-year-old monarchy.
But in May their leader Prachanda resigned as prime minister after President Ram Baran Yadav rejected his decision to fire army chief General Rookmangud Katawal, saying he had refused to take orders from the civilian government. The Maoists say Yadav's move was "unconstitutional" and are demanding that it be debated in the parliament, which the government has so far refused.
On Friday, senior Maoist leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha, said his party, which dominates the parliament, will launch street protests from next week to press for their demand, stoking fresh political turmoil in the nascent Himalayan republic. More>>
BBC COVERAGE
Nepal Maoists issue new warningParty says that if the government does not meet its demands, it will start a series of nationwide protests.
Back to the abyss?Fears of renewed political chaos after Prachanda resigns as prime minister.
India worries over Nepal's futureThe strong showing by Nepal's Maoists in the parliamentary elections has taken its influential neighbour India by surprise.
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