Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal: acting out

Showing posts with label acting out. Show all posts

Friday, January 30, 2026

Actor Catherine O'Hara dead at 71 (sutra)

‘Home Alone,’ ‘Schitt’s Creek’ actress Catherine O’Hara dies

Catherine O'Hara sings the classic "Sally's Song" (from The Nightmare Before Christmas by Danny Elfman). Where has she been reborn for a life of acting? The Sixth Dimension the Elfman's warned about? The Hell of Laughter the Buddha warned about?

SUTRA: The Hell of Laughter for actors?

Ven. Thanissaro, "Considering a career in acting? You may want to reconsider..." (edited by WQ)

I just wanted to make people laugh ('n be famous)

(SN 42.2) Then Talaputa, the head of an acting troupe, went to the Buddha, bowed, and sat respectfully to one side. Sitting there, he said: "Venerable sir, I have heard that it has been passed down by the ancient teaching lineage of actors that 'When actors on the stage, in the midst of a festival, make people laugh and give them delight with an imitation [misrepresentation, lie about] reality, then with the breakup of the body, after death, such actors are reborn in the company of the laughing light beings (devas).' What does the Blessed One have to say about that?"

"Enough, headman, set that aside. Do not ask it." But a second and third time...Talaputa, the head of an acting troupe, repeated his question.

Speak truth with compassion.

"Apparently, headman, I am unable to drop this matter by saying, 'Enough, headman, set that aside. Do not ask it.' So I will address that directly:

"Any beings who themselves are not yet free of lust, anger, delusion (greed, hatred, wrong view), who are bound by lust, focus with even more lust on things inspiring lust presented by an actor on stage in the midst of a festival...such actors — themselves intoxicated and heedless, having made others intoxicated and heedless — with the breakup of the body, after death, are reborn in what is called The Hell of Laughter.

"But if one holds a view like this: 'When an actor on the stage, in the midst of a festival, makes people laugh and gives them delight with an imitation of reality, then with the breakup of the body, after death, that person is reborn in the company of the laughing light beings,' that is one's wrong view.

"Now, there are two destinations for a person with wrong view, I declare, either hell [apāya, naraka] or the animal plane."

How could no one have told me sooner?

When this was said, Talaputa, the head of an acting troupe, sobbed then burst into tears.

[The Buddha said:] "That is what I was trying to communicate by saying, 'Enough, headman, set that aside. Do not ask it.'"

"Venerable sir, I am not crying because of what the Blessed One said to me, but rather because I have been deceived, cheated, and fooled for such a long time by that ancient teaching lineage of actors who say, 'When actors on the stage, in the midst of a festival, make people laugh and give them delight with an imitation of reality, then with the breakup of the body, after death, they are reborn in the company of the laughing light being.'" Source: Right Livelihood: samma ajivo (accesstoinsight.org)

Catherine O'Hara

Yes, but I got a few good years on earth.

Catherine O'Hara (March 4, 1954–January 30, 2026) was a Canadian and American actress, comedian, and screenwriter, whose career spanned over 50 years.

She started in sketch and improvisational comedy in film and television before expanding her career taking dramatic roles. She received several accolades including two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

She was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2017. O'Hara started her career in the sketch comedy series Second City Television (1976–1984), where she won the Primetime Emmy Award. She gained acclaim acting in films such as:

After Hours (1985),
Heartburn (1986),

Beetlejuice (1988),
Home Alone (1990), and
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992).

She collaborated with Christopher Guest acting in his mockumentary films:

Waiting for Guffman (1996),
Best in Show (2000),
A Mighty Wind (2003), and
For Your Consideration (2006).

She also voiced roles in films such as:

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993),
Chicken Little (2005),
Over the Hedge,
Monster House (2006),
Where the Wild Things Are (2009),
Frankenweenie (2012), and
Elemental (2023).

O'Hara gained a career resurgence for her role as Moira Rose in the CBC sitcom Schitt's Creek (2015–2020)... More

Saturday, January 17, 2026

Naked: How to get NUDE with us (1/18)

(Chase Hughes) What it feels like to see through and inside into other people (and ourselves)

Self-help can hold us back

(Chris Williamson) The lie that keeps us insecure forever: Dr K Healthygamer

WHAT HAPPENED?

The "all" that is burning was like a dream.

We gathered, cleaned, offered dana and took the Five Precepts with the abbot, ate lunch, meditated, then culminated the day with a chanting of the Patthana ("Conditional Relations"), and a Q&A period with the Sayadaw explaining that all things (composites) are "empty," which is to say utterly impersonal. This, however, is only true for one who knows and sees. One can directly see all manner of physical and psychological (material and mental phenomena) particles, kalapas and cittas and see that they are not "self" just as the historical Buddha saw. But why would anyone want to see such a thing?

This is "awakening" from the illusion of the suffering we identify as we remain tenaciously attached to the Five Aggregates clung to as self. What, then, if we were to let go? Of course, we do not have the power to let go. Form will not let go of form, feelings will not give up feeling, perceptions will not stop perceiving, mental formations will not give up fabricating our reality, and consciousness will not stop processing stimuli and data from the outside world.

Alan Watts on letting go: This whole thing (samsara) is an illusion

So we can get or stay dressed?

And so long as the illusion lasts that these five heaps take all of this to be the work of a soul or self (atta, atman, jiva), the possessions of a self (I, me, and mine), just so long will suffering continue and get worse. To be done with it, to lay the burden down, we must bring about calm and focus -- sustained attention to see things as they really are. When that is seen, letting go happens by itself. A woman clutches a rope. How long will it take her to let go in horror and disgust when she realizes it is a venomous snake?

Just so, the aggregates cling to the aggregates (and all that they feel belong to this imaginary "self" or "soul" or "ego" they are constantly constructing). How long will it take to let go when they realize that all of this has been impersonal, impossible to satisfy (because things can never offer fulfillment), and radically impermanent (arising, turning, and hurtling toward destruction)? In an instant of seeing, one clings no more. Therefore, to get there, let us let the mind/heart settle into stillness, develop clear-seeing (vipassana), and awaken to direct insight of the Truth. The Truth will set us free.

EVENT: Adults getting nude in L.A.

Register: Dharma Buddhist Meditation
This Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, go to Temple or Church, preferably some place silent and contemplative. We'll be at the new Buddhist temple in the San Gabriel Valley doing "good karma," cleaning and building it up to make a lovely place for everyone to come practice the historical Buddha's authentic teachings preserved in a Southeast Asian country that honors the Pali canon while sitting next to Mahayana China.

Six-Minute X-Ray: Rapid Behavior Profiling

Pole dancing is sexy stripper training.

Author and profiler Chase Hughes (narrated by Jonam Ross) has 4.8 out of 5 stars (with 1,754 reviews) and has a #1 Best Seller in Physiological Aspects in Psychology.

With skills specifically designed for intelligence operations (intel ops), Chase Hughes releases yet another groundbreaking audiobook. In Six Minute X-Ray, learn the most powerful people-reading system in the world.

Hughes exposes and unpacks simple techniques that come together to allow anyone to see beyond the mask that people are wearing. In less than six minutes, know more about the hidden side of the person speaking than their own friends and family -- no joke.

(N.A.S.A.) "Electric Flowers" (Mario C. Remix) ft. Nina Persson, RZA

How to see behind the masks we wear:

Masks we wear may be better?
Identify anyone's (including our own) hidden fears and insecurities in less than five minutes
Quickly and easily get an 80 percent read of a person before meeting
Enable people to become the most vulnerable, open, confident, and best version of themselves during the first six minutes of meeting them
Discover hidden secrets about a person in six minutes to gain access to their most hidden beliefs and values
Use this information to create undivided attention and cooperation
Exactly how to tune in and adapt language to the internal language of anyone speaking

(N.A.S.A.) My grief says, "I need you to know I need you."

Alan Watts: Mind over Mind | self-improvement, grace, paradox of control

Rapid Behavior Profiling: Lying? Grief?
Detect deception the moment it occurs, and know exactly how to deal with it
Professionally qualify or disqualify the person or team being met within the first meeting
Get past the social and corporate mask of people – and see them as they are
Determine the truth behind the desires, fears, and motivations of a counterpart, even when they don’t say it
Read a room of people like a special agent – guaranteed
Recognize dominance, fears, and needs before speaking with the person or group
Become aware of your own social needs and weaknesses and prevent yourself from being misled or manipulated
Instantly identify the physical position to take when speaking with a person of interest
Create rapport with the person instead of the mask they’re wearing
And much more... More

Who is CHASE HUGHES? He's former intel who also wrote The Behavior Ops Manual.

Why the world is the way it is: POWER
Chase Hughes, amazon.com; Alan Watts; Nina Persson, RZA (N.A.S.A.); Ashley Wells, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Dhr. Seven, Shauna Schwartz, Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Saturday, September 6, 2025

Oasis plays Rose Bowl on Hell Night

What not to do on Ghost Day/Hell night

(SCMP) What NOT to do when the ‘gates of hell’ open on hell night during Yulanpen Festival

I don't believe in no ghosts!
The Hungry Ghost Festival, also known as Yulan, falls on the 15th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. In 2025 it happens on Saturday, Sept. 6th, when the "gates of hell" (peta-loka) open.*

The Hungry Ghost Festival (known as the Yulanpen Festival in Buddhism and the Zhongyuan Festival in Taoism) is a traditional observance held in East and Southeast Asian countries. According to the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar, the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in parts of Cantonese Southern China). In Chinese culture, the 15th day of the seventh month in the traditional Chinese calendar is called Ghost Day or (especially in Taiwan) Pudu (Chinese 普渡, Pinyin Pǔdù, Pe̍h-ōe-jī, Phó͘-tō͘ [3]). And the seventh month of that calendar is generally regarded as Ghost Month, when ghosts and spirits, including those of deceased ancestors, come up from lower realms (diyu, preta world). More

Hell opens tonight: Hungry Ghost Festival

(Mandate of Heaven) For Ghost Month the Gates of Diyu open on the full moon and they visit

(WatchMojo.com) Top 20 best Oasis songs ever (review of the hits)

Supersonic spectacle: English icons Oasis take over the Rose Bowl

Nostalgia is back. - Why? - Spinal Tap, baby!

(Pasadena Weekly) Nostalgia is everywhere. The 90s are making a comeback. Baywatch actress Pam Anderson is on the silver screen in the Naked Gun reboot. And the wannabe-Beatles Oasis is at the Rose Bowl Saturday, Sept. 6, and Sunday, Sept. 7. They've buried the hatchet and reunited. And with apologies to Beyoncé and Lady Gaga, this spectacle featuring the Brothers Gallagher is the concert of the year. More

Madness for Oasis spillover: Band’s show is an economic win-win (pasadenaweekly.com)

When was Oasis getting high?

How can one overcome one's anger? Buddhism.

What makes a hit a hit? - An earworm.

"Where were you while we were getting high?" asks Oasis singer Gallagher Brother 1 ("Champagne Supernova"), probably talking to Sally and referring to their meteoric rise to stardom in the UK. They were the "new Beatles" for a moment. They couldn't sustain it, and they couldn't stop their sibling rivalry. But how much $$$ for a reunion? Money talks. So welcome to Pasadena!

How to walk Metro Goldline to Memorial Park to Rose Bowl (safe/easy)

The Rose Bowl is sold out, and the streets are going to be jammed with traffic troubles on the worst night of the year -- Hell Night (Saturday, Sept. 6th, 2025) of the Hungry Ghost Festival. That's bad luck. But "that's just superstition," others will argue so close to JPL and Caltech.

There are lots of things not to do this whole Ghost Month, but particularly on this night. Or the hungry ghosts will be upset and may take action. And if they do because, you know, they're pretas, don't look back in anger. Just walk away quickly or run. Not being fans of Beatle-esque schlock-pop, Oasis will be echoing through the canyon and foothills in the spectacle that is any big Rose Bowl event.

But they do have one really good song sung by Brother 2, Noel Gallagher, who wrote it (so we see who has the talent in the group, which one hopes they don't start fighting about), ripping off John Lennon's "Imagine," according to Nick Beato.

"The Wretchedness of Anger" (Kodhana Sutra)

Ven. Ñanamoli Thera (trans.), Access to Insight (AN 7.60); Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

MORE: (ABC 7) Blond man knocks woman unconscious at Rose Bowl, graphic video shows

MORE: (KTLA 5) Woman brutally beaten, knocked unconscious at Rose Bowl in Pasadena

Pathetic and miserable hungry ghosts (petas, pretas) scrounging for any foul form of sustenance.

Why are you sad? - My enemy is getting ahead of me.

THE BUDDHA TAUGHT: "Meditators, seven things befall one who is angry that are gratifying and helpful to an enemy. What are these seven things?

1. "Herein, meditators, an enemy wishes this for an enemy: 'Let that person BE UGLY.' Why is that? No enemy relishes an enemy's beauty. Now when this person is angry, prey to anger, ruled by anger, be that person ever so well bathed and well anointed, with hair well cut, clothed in white, yet that person is ugly through being prey to anger. This is the first thing gratifying and helpful to an enemy that befalls one who is angry.

2. "Also, an enemy wishes this for an enemy: 'Let that person BE IN PAIN.' Why is that? No enemy relishes an enemy's lying in comfort. Now when this person is angry, prey to anger, ruled by anger, for all one may lie on a couch spread with rugs, blankets, plush with covers, a canopy, and red cushions for head and feet, yet one lies only in pain through being prey to anger. This is the second thing gratifying to an enemy that befalls one who is angry.

3. "Also, an enemy wishes this for an enemy: 'Let that person HAVE NO PROSPERITY.' Why is that? No enemy relishes an enemy's prosperity. Now when this person is angry, prey to anger, ruled by anger, one mistakes bad for good and mistakes good for bad, and each being taken wrongly in the other's sense, these things for long conduce to one's own harm and suffering, through being prey to anger. This is the third thing gratifying and helpful to an enemy that befalls one who is angry.

4. "Also, an enemy wishes this for an enemy: 'Let that person NOT BE RICH.' Why is that? No enemy relishes an enemy's being rich. Now when a person is angry, prey to anger, should that person have riches gained by endeavor, built up by strength of arm, earned by sweat, lawful and lawfully acquired, yet the ruler's treasury gathers (in fines) through being prey to anger. This is the fourth thing gratifying and helpful to an enemy that befalls one who is prey to anger.

Let's never fight or be angry again, Brother-jii!

5. "Also, an enemy wishes this for an enemy: 'Let that person NOT BE FAMOUS.' Why is that? No enemy relishes an enemy's having fame. Now when a person is angry, prey to anger, ruled by anger, what fame one may have acquired by diligence one loses through being prey to anger. This is the fifth thing gratifying and helpful to an enemy that befalls one who is prey to anger.

6. "Also, an enemy wishes this for an enemy: 'Let that person HAVE NO FRIENDS.' Why is that? No enemy relishes and enemy's having friends. Now when this person is angry, prey to anger, ruled by anger, the friends one may have, one's companions, relatives, and kin will keep away from being prey to anger. This is the sixth thing gratifying and helpful to an enemy that befalls one who is prey to anger.

7. "Also, an enemy wishes this for an enemy: 'Let that person on the dissolution of the body, after death, reappear [be reborn, rearise] in a STATE OF DEPRIVATION, in an unfortunate destination, in perdition, even in a hell.' Why is that? No enemy relishes an enemy's going to a fortunate destination.

"Now when this person is angry, prey to anger, ruled by anger, one misconducts oneself in body, speech, and mind. And by this misconduct of body, speech, and mind, on the dissolution of the body, after death, the angry person reappears in a state of deprivation, in an unfortunate destination, in perdition, even in a hell, through having been prey to anger.

"This is the seventh thing gratifying and helpful to an enemy that befalls one who is angry.... More: accesstoinsight.org

The Elimination of Anger: With two stories retold from the Buddhist texts (Ven. Piyadassi, Buddhist Publication Society)

"Don't Look Back in Anger" (lyrics)

Noel, I'm angry you wrote this one. - Shut the front door, Liam! - Let's share credit for it? - No.

Venerable sir, please! That's an obscene mudra.

Slip inside the eye of your mind/ Don't you know you might find/ A better place to play?/ You said that you'd never been/ But all the things that you've seen/ Will slowly fade away/ So I start a revolution from my bed/ 'Cause you said the brains I had went to my head/ Step outside, summertime's in bloom/ Stand up beside the fireplace/ Take that look from off your face/ You ain't ever gonna burn my heart out

[CHORUS] And so, Sally can wait/ She knows it's too late as we're walkin' on by/ Her soul slides away/ "But don't look back in anger," I heard you say

Take me to the place where you go/ Where nobody knows/ If it's night or day/ Please don't put your life in the hands/ Of a rock 'n' roll band/ Who'll throw it all away/ I'm gonna start a revolution from my bed/ 'Cause you said the brains I had went to my head/ Step outside, 'cause summertime's in bloom... "But don't look back in anger/ Don't look back in anger," I heard you say/ "At least not today"

What makes this song great?

*When exactly is 'hell night' of Ghost Month?

Lunar/Lunisolar superior to Gregorian calendar

In 2025, the Hungry Ghost Festival falls on Sept. 6th. Ghost Month usually starts in late July or early August. Why? It follows the lunar calendar, which is generally about a month behind the Gregorian calendar. For example, the Lunar New Year in 2025 is on Jan. 29, so many would expect the seventh lunar month to start around late July. However, it begins on Aug. 23 this year. The main reason is due to how leap years and calendar adjustments work.

Unexpected reason why Hungry Ghost Fest 2025 is in Sept. not August

The Gregorian calendar based on the solar year adds a leap day every four years to account for the extra 0.25 days it takes Earth to orbit the sun, keeping the calendar accurate over time. While the Gregorian calendar follows the sun, the Lunar calendar tracks the moon’s cycle, with each month lasting about 29.53 days. This means a lunar year has only around 354 days, which is 11 days shorter than the solar year. If left unadjusted, over time festivals like Chinese New Year could drift into entirely different seasons. However, in reality, the “Lunar calendar” used in Chinese traditions is actually the Lunisolar Calendar. This system combines both lunar months and solar year alignment to keep important dates consistent with the seasons.

(KCAL News) Sept. 6, 2025: Oasis fans flood Rose Bowl for 2025 two-night reunion tour (tickets for $100?)
What makes this song great? "Don't Look Back in Anger" OASIS
How do people NOT know this about pop music? (Nick Beato)
(KTLA News) The Rose Bowl, Pasadena | Look At This!
Oh to be young again: We're gonna live forever rocking out
Oasis "Don’t Look Back in Anger"
Compiled by CC Liu, Crystal Q., Dhr. Seven, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Black Sabbath: Master of Reality (docs)

Sunday, July 13, 2025

Super macho metal became feminine

(Occulturation) How Metal Became Feminine

Can tough guys who wear cargo shorts fall in "Love," Mr. Pantera?

Cannibal Corpse is really cares about the kiddies. - Difference between US and UK.

Cradle of Filth for Nymphs

Effeminate symphonic death metal with England's COF "Nymphetamine"?

Too symphonic, to feminine, to Goth? COF "Medusa and Hemlock"

The future of grindcore? Lounge metal

(DEsMONIC) Cannibal Corpse Lounge Music - Now in HD

Best today? Girls of Japan's Babymetal?

Babymetal "Song 3" premier ft. Alex Terrible of Slaughter to Prevail

VIDEO: Gen Z reacts to Slipknot
Margot Robbie, BBC; Slipknot "Vermillion," Parts 1 and 2; Occulturation, July 2025; Pantera, "This Love" and playing for 1mil in Russia; Cannibal Corpse wife; Cradle of Filth, "Nymphetamine"; Opalinskyband; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Saturday, July 5, 2025

Black Sabbath: Back to the Beginning

Gathering of the demons backstage before the show with their man-on-man hugging like normies ;,)

(Forbidden Footage to be taken down) Black Sabbath - Back to the Beginning, July 5, 2025

(Back To The Beginning) Final OZZY OZZBOURNE SET

(The Alt Vault) BLACK SABBATH are back one last time (or maybe money will get them to do another farewell tour and sell out all over again like most dinosaur rockers with a ghoul like Sharon Osbourne managing the lead singer Ozzy) | Back to the Beginning.

How did "heavy metal" ever even start in 1968? - What are Black Sabbath's best songs?

Aha, Mr. Faust, you admit it!

What is Black Sabbath/Ozzy's best song? Sure there's "War Pigs," "Iron Man," "Paranoid" (final song of the night), "Bark at the Moon," "Crazy Train," but sincerely it has to be the one that stayed relevant and fresh, the one that started it all, "Black Sabbath." It's a masterpiece that, with its down tuning, may have started the genre of dark heavy metal or black metal. (Although "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" is pretty good, too, for a pretty song, even "Snowblind"). With Pantera and other legends wishing them a farewell, can BS really say goodbye?

Black Sabbath "Black Sabbath"