Dave Chappelle on Trump; Growing up Asian

(Crazy Chuckles) Dave Chappelle on Pres. Donald Trump: His honest take

(Martin Kerestury) Growing up Asian mad me this way | Jimmy O Yang | stand up comedy

Beauty is only skin deep? Transformed

C'mon, now, don't fight dirty. It leads to anger.

Do "Beauty and the Beast" relationships really exist, and do they produce little beauties?

(Extraordinary People) "I just want to look normal" and have children not stare at me anymore.

Enlightenment: I love her inside, so it doesn't matter if my wife's surgery is successful or not.

Luigi Mangione not to be charged

Man accused of killing healthcare CEO will NOT face state terrorism-related murder charges, but other charges will stand

People's hero or future model?

Handsome accused killer Luigi Mangione scored a major legal victory today (Tuesday, 9/16/25) as a judge dismissed the two top state charges against him, first-degree murder and second-degree murder, both of which prosecutors had argued were "terrorism" crimes.

Mangione still faces an additional second-degree murder charge, as well as a federal murder charge, in the killing [execution, assassination] of United HealthCare executive Brian Thompson last December.

I'm super smart, so I'll shoot this thief...

The overseer of Mangione’s state criminal case, Judge Gregory Carro, said “the evidence put forth was legally insufficient” for the two terrorism-related charges, in a written decision that was posted during a 15-minute proceeding in Manhattan court on Tuesday.

I got away by bike; my brows brought me down

“Counts one and two, charging [the] defendant with murder in the first degree (in furtherance of an act of terrorism) and murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism, are dismissed as legally insufficient,” Judge Carro wrote. “The people presented legally sufficient evidence of all other counts, including murder in the second degree (intentional).” More

• 9News: Commentary on dropping state charges

COMMENTARY: "Deny, Defend, Depose"

Luigi Mangione, "the hero of the people"

• Deny Defend Depose, Miami Beach | jbjelloid | Flickr

Kill our TVs before they kill us with PR?

"He's so good looking, he could get away with murder," people say. Deny Defend Depose, the profit-driven insurance companies insist. Are the killers getting more handsome, or is it just me? Sweet, super smart shooters, why? Bonnie and Clyde were popular American figures, Jewish mafiosos who brought down Italian ones by selling them out to the Feds and destroying some families by working with the American government...and we as a population are cheering for more missiles to Ukraine, Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Yemen, Iran, Venezuela...like we just can't keep our missiles in the Pentagon's pants.

Race may play a role in these murder cases, because today the Menendez Brothers, stars of a documentary that almost got them released from prison, lost their bid to retry the case. Now their only hope for release is California Gov. Newsom. (What's in it for him since he intends to run for president and doesn't want to be accused of being "soft on crime"?) And in three years, they can go back to the prison board to petition for release.

• Victoria Bekiempis | The Guardian, Sept. 16, 2025; Ashley Wells, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Our beautiful new Black American Pope

KKK meeting? No, "Holy Week" in Catholic Province of Zamora, Spain (Cristo Yacente 2014)

Is Pope Leo XIV really Black?

(NYTN) May 16, 2025: Is the new pope Black? Some folks are even saying he’s Louisiana Creole. We’re unpacking where that idea came from, what it really means, and why it struck such a nerve. [Is this Peter the Roman, given that he's part Italian?]

No, never, unless he's a Creole who passes.

Come join me on a new docu-series that explores identity, racial tensions in the South during the 20th century, and the unique experiences of those who historically called Louisiana home. My name is Danielle Romero, and all my life I have romanticized Louisiana.

Growing up in New York, it represented a place where I could step back the sepia-toned life of my great grandmother, Lola Perot, who died before I was born. Now, it was time to go back to Louisiana -- although I had no idea what the truth would be or what questions to ask -- who was Lola really? Who were we?

• Does the Bible say anything about a Black Pope in relation to the End Times? | GotQuestions.org
• Holy smoke, new pope! Roman Catholicism's new emperor is American from Chicago: Pope Leo

► Melungeon + Redbones: • The Melungeon families of an Appalach... ► 👕 NYTN Merch: nytonashville.com ▶Download the first section FREE of my "Be a Good Ancestor" course here: https://nytonashville.com/shoplola/be...

FOLLOW: 📸 ► YouTube: @NYTN ► Facebook: findinglolafilm ► Website: nytonashville.com ► X: imfindinglola. OTHER VIDEO PLAYLISTS ► Melungeon + Redbones: • The Melungeon families of an Appalach... ► "Who Counts as..." Series in the US: • Is Meghan Markle Black or White? ► Mexicans • My Family's HIDDEN Louisiana Creole H... ► Enslaved Ancestor stories • My enslaved ancestor sued for his fre... ► My family story of white passing: • My Creole Family Passed for White

*Amazon links are affiliate links. If buy something through these links, we may earn affiliate commission. Thanks for supporting this project! #louisiana #ancestry #nytn #louisiana #ancestry #nytn #ancestry #pope #familyhistory #genealogy

✅SUPPORT NYTN CHANNEL ☕Send me a coffee: ko-fi.com/nytn13#linkModal patreon.com/NYTN

• Crystal Quintero, Pfc. Sandoval, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Wango Tango: Doja Cat, Meghan Trainor, DJ David Guetta, Katseye... (5/10)

So this is where my daughter is getting all these raunchy twerk dance moves and TikTok ideas!

It's call show BUSINESS for a reason (iheart)

LA's the place to be for flash. At least for one summer. Just to see it isn't at all what it seems. The dazzling lights are a distraction. It's a trash pile. But who could ever believe that with all the TV shows and tells us unless we get close enough to actually smell the dumpster fire? So, y'know, why not come on down to Tinsel Town? Go west, My Children. Rent a convertible. Form a band. Get discovered. Be an influencer. But remember, whether it's sex-, music-, movie-, or miscellany, they are all industries. Expect to be exploited. Oh and, most importantly, bring money. Disneyland ain't cheap. And while here, why not catch Wango Tango 2025? KATSEYE is not K-Pop from South Korea but from Los Angeles, because we make boy bands and girl bands best. We invented the pre-fab concept of making TV-ready Monkees for fame and fortune.

Wango Tango 2025

KISS FM (iHeartRadio's 102.7 KIIS FM) "Wango Tango" 2025, hosted by possibly gay LA DJ Ryan Seacrest, features Doja Cat, Gwen Stefani, Meghan Trainor, EDM DJ David Guetta, sexy all-girl band (to beat back K-Pop's dominance) KATSEYE, NMIXX, xikers, A20, MAY, Hearts2Hearts all LIVE at:

(Bad AI) Wango Tango Doja Cat, Gwen Stefani, more to headline HB event

• Huntington City Beach
• 21301e Pacific Coast Highway
• Huntington Beach, CA 92648
• Saturday May 10, 2025
• Doors open: 4:00 PM
  

Small print for lawyers and law students: Wango Tango 2025 line up is subject to change. Show times are subject to change. Entry door times may be adjusted. Please come ready for any weather. It's always sunny in LA, but this is technically the OC. Wango Tango 2025 will take place rain or shine, so no refunds. But for refund information, please check...more info and maybe you can claw it back.

• KATSEYE (캣츠아이); iHeart.com (KISS 102.7 FM); Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Staring at the beach in Brazil: Mara's lust

Really? 😲 Sunny Beaches walking tour: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Copacabana 🔥

Tan boy Samadhi Statue, 1870

(Sunny Beaches) Discover the pulsating energy of Leblon Beach with a captivating LIVE 4K walking tour. 🌴🚶‍♂️ Immerse in the warm paradise of Rio de Janeiro (when it's not swamped by Catholic Carnival revelers) as the camera takes a leisurely stroll along the golden sands, soaking up the vibrant atmosphere and basking in the tropical sunshine.

From the rhythmic waves gently caressing the shore to the swaying palm trees casting their shadows, experience the quintessence of coastal beauty from the comfort of the screen.

Corporations hacked our minds (Dr. Lustig)

Catch this opportunity and join in an unforgettable adventure through Rio's most iconic beach destination.

Be captivated by the enchanting beauty of Rio de Janeiro in this must-see video, a breathtaking glimpse into the lives of 2,000 stunning women from a vibrant city. Iconic beaches and bustling streets, soak in the allure and charm of Rio and explore its unique culture, sizzling nightlife, and the undeniable magnetism of its people. This visual feast that will leave viewers yearning for an adventure to Rio.

Are lust and loving-kindness emotions?

(Doug's Dharma) What did the Buddha teach about emotions?

Mara's at the beach, not on the battlefield

Christian holds sign at beach (Keith McManus)

Christians may imagine their Devil at war, killing, harming, maiming, and sending humans to the hells. But it isn't that way in Buddhism. Mara (the Destroyer) is sexy, a gentleman (shapeshifter), Mara Devaputra, more of a deluded Lucifer figure, imagining himself the Ruler of the Sensual Sphere.

In Buddhist cosmology, the universe is divided into three spheres or lokas (worlds), sections of the 31 Planes of Existence. The highest is the Immaterial Sphere (arupa loka), all mind, no form. The middle is the Fine Material Sphere (rupa loka). And the lowest is the Sensual Sphere (kama loka). Where would you, dear reader, imagine the Human World (manussa loka) is located?

Mara at beach would look more like Amatue

We are, of course, smack dab in the middle of the lowest section, the Sensual Sphere, characterized by sense craving manifesting mostly as lust (accompanied by aversion/hate and rooted in delusion).

Mara is not interested in harming anyone. His goal is seduction and keeping everyone within his sphere, reborn in worlds below his plane at the top of the Sense Sphere heavens (superior physical worlds in space). It displeases him greatly if anyone escapes to be reborn in the superior heavens of the Fine Material Sphere.

Get the heck outta here, you wandering ascetic! - Behold, Mara, the Earth says I may stay.

.

It is probably unimaginable to him that there are even worlds beyond that, more subtle and sublime than the highest and most rarefied of the Fine Material planes.

While most of depicted as a "demon" (chief of the yakkhas or ogres), Mara has three very alluring daughters, Craving, Ennui, and Lust (aka Tanha, Arati, and Raga).

Three daughters

The Buddha-to-be was not swayed by deceptive lures.

In some accounts of the wander ascetic Siddhartha's enlightenment, it is said that the "demon" Māra did not send his three daughters to tempt. Instead, they came willingly after Māra's setback in his endeavor to eliminate the Bodhisatta's quest for enlightenment and liberation [16].

Mara's three daughters are identified as Taṇhā ("Craving" or "Thirst"), Arati ("Discontentment," a kind of "Aversion"), and Rāga ("Attachment" or "Passion") [15, 17].

For example, in the Samyutta Nikaya's section on Mara (the Māra Saṃyutta), Mara's three daughters are undressing in front of the Bodhisatta, but they fail to entice him.

They had come to him glittering with beauty

– Taṇhā, Arati, and Rāga –

But the Teacher swept them away then and there

As the wind, a fallen cotton tuft [18].

The three daughters of Māra were inspired by Aratis ("Avarice"), a type of feminine goblin associated with sensual craving [19]. More

• Sunny Beaches, April 16, 2025; Mara image (jendhamuni.com); Dr. Doug Smith (Doug's Dharma, April 28, 2025); Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

FREE LUIGI MANGIONE

Josh Johnson: The Failure, Fear, And Frenzy around Luigi Mangione (joshjohnsoncomedy.com)

Any relation to Chuck? Why does no one mention that? Is it because all the Mangiones are nuts? We mean talented men full of potential. Americans LOVE guns. Americans hate insurance companies. Americans love bad boys. What did the Buddha teach? The Buddha taught that what happens to us in our lives has a lot to do with our karma (deeds). What is that karma based on? Karma is rooted in six causes: greed (lust), hatred (aversion/fear), delusion (wrong view) or nongreed, nonhatred, nondelusion. If we are not mindful of what roots are growing, what sprouts cannot surprise us.

Veterinary medicine works on humans, too.

• VIDEO: Free assassin Luigi Mangione? (JKL)

Breaking down charges against suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting case

(Democracy Now!) Reporter Ken Klippenstein on publishing Luigi Mangione "manifesto" and internal UnitedHealth public relations memos for the court of public opinion

(CBS News) Dec. 17, 2024: The man arrested in the killing assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month has been indicted in New York on murder charges. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced the charges against Luigi Mangione on Tuesday. CBS News' Lilia Luciano and Anna Schecter break them down.

CBS News 24/7 is an anchored streaming news service from CBS News and Stations that is available free to everyone with access to the internet and is the destination for breaking news, live events, original reporting and storytelling, and programs from CBS News and stations' top anchors and correspondents working locally, nationally, and around the flat earth. It is available on more than 30 platforms across mobile, desktop, and connected TVs for free, as well as CBSNews.com and Paramount+ and live in 91 countries.

• Jimmy Dore, Kurt Metzger (The Jimmy Dore Show); Stand up comedian Josh Johnson; DemocracyNow.org; CBS News, Dec. 17, 2024; I. Rony, Ashley Wells, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Free assassin Luigi Mangione? (JKL)

• Healthcare CEO shooter hiding in Central Park?
• Did handsome hunk Luigi Nicholas Mangione really execute insurance executive and big time CEO Brian Thompson

America thirsts after suspected healthcare shooter, Don Trump Jr's new lady (but what about shapeshifter Republican Kimberly Guilfoyle?) and Clip of the Year

Insurance Justice Warrior Luigi?

(Jimmy Kimmel Live) Dec. 10, 2024: Time has unveiled its short list of nominees for "Person of the Year," is Mangione a shoo-in, America has been thirsting after alleged Healthcare assassin Luigi ❤ Mangione after a bunch of photos of him came out, Jim shares text exchanges between some staffers and their friends or relatives about it, people are making “fan cams” with tribute montages to the handsome and elite white killer, Don Jr. appears to have a new lady in his life, Trump nominated scorned monstrous shapeshifter and SF attorney Kimberly Guilfoyle (formerly Mrs. Gavin Newsom) for ambassador to Greece to give her something to do, Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara is a being floated as a possible replacement for Marco Rubio’s Senate seat, molester Matt Gaetz has a new gig more right-wing than FOX News, how big is a British man's penis (a mold of which is now on display at The Icelandic Phallological Museum), and Jim declares the viral clip of the year 2024 and speaks to the winner! #Kimmel

Jimmy Dore on the Healthcare Insurance assassin #FreeLuigi

Michael Kosta on UHC CEO shooting suspect Luigi Mangione | Daily Show

'Best in Low' (lowriders), Los Angeles

Slow down! We're cruising, not drifting.

Over by the La Brea Tar Pits on Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles has a giant museum (temple) dedicated to the admiration (worship) of the automobile. Detroit may have built them, but they were built to be driven in LA, usually with the top down bathing in the sun, driving down Sunset Blvd. to the Santa Monica Bay. It's not very far, and if Sunset is too full of cruisers cruising American Graffiti style, it's east to jump on the Interstate 10 Freeway all the way down to the Pacific. The boulevard is called Sunset because this is where the sun sets, just as it rises on the Big Apple, a reference to forbidden carnal knowledge in the Garden of Eden. On the eve of Independence Day for Mexico, many Chicanos are having their cars on exhibit with a parade or caravan of vehicles to show off their slick rides near Little Ethiopia (Fairfax).

Cruise? It's time to peel out and get out!

(Petersen Automotive Museum) If you're lucky, you live in a town with a regular lowrider cruise, so you're familiar with the unexpected pleasure of seeing something glittering and striped in the next lane suddenly lift up like a stinkbug and drop low enough to drag sparks across the intersection.

Lowriding is a community activity like no other automotive subculture. The cars aren't built to be lightweight or quick in the canyons. They aren't for early morning drives or secret late-night meetups; they're designed to turn heads on the main street in town during prime time.

The goal is never to cross the line first, but to do it with the most style. At their most basic, lowriders are conversation starters; at their highest level, they are showstoppers.

All of this makes lowrider culture perfect for a museum exhibit, where those familiar with the art form can appreciate the chance to look more closely at cars they've only seen in motion, and those new to the scene can marvel, slack-jawed, at the incredible imagination, artistry, and history that goes into making the perfect lowrider.

Let's eat street Mexican food (cenavegan.com)

The new exhibit, "Best in Low," at the Petersen Automotive Museum (petersen.org) in Los Angeles is not the museum's first look at lowriders, but it is its best.

Walking through the gallery is like visiting the gemstone section of a natural history museum. Everything is sparkling and glowing, and a person could spend a whole day on a single car and not see every magical detail. More: Best in Low exhibit

Who cares about lowrider cars and culture?

• Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles (petersen.org); WAR; Cypress Hill; Korn; Pfc. Sandoval, Sheldon S., Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Millionaire's Daughter (Therigatha 6.5)

I will give you progressive, gradual instruction.

In the collection known as the Verses of the Elder (Enlightened) Nuns, the Therīgāthā, in Chapter 6, we find the story of Anopama ("Peerless" due to her beauty), the millionaire treasurer of Sāketa's daughter (Thig. 6.5). She utters a paean or verse concerning her awakening, her enlightenment, from hearing the Buddha teach her the Dharma. Her verses are recorded in the collection of nuns' utterances in the Pali canon, where she states:

Born in a high-ranking family

property owners of great wealth,

consummate in complexion and figure,

I was the daughter of the treasurer Majjha.

Royal sons sought me.

Sons of rich merchants

longed for me.

One of them sent my father a messenger,

who said, "Give me 'Peerless.'

And I in return will give

eight times her weight

in gold and jewels."

Name the dowry-price. I must have her! I offer her weight in gold eightfold with jewels, too!

.

But I, having seen the Awakened One,

unsurpassed, unexcelled in all the world,

bowed at his feet and sat

close by to one side.

He, Gotama (the Buddha), out of sympathy,

taught me the Dhamma (Doctrine).

And as I sat in that very seat,

I attained the third fruit [non-return].

Then I cast off my beautiful hair

and went forth into the left home life.

Today is the seventh day since I made

all craving shrivel away.

• See also Thig 6.4: Sujātā Therīgāthā translated by Dr. Hellmuth Hecker and Ayya Khema (suttacentral.net)
• Thig 6.6: The Mahā Pajāpati Gotamī Therīgāthā—the Buddha's mother's song of awakening translated by Andrew Olendzki (suttacentral.net)
• Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven (eds.), based on translation by Ven. Thanissaro, (Thig 6.5) Anopamā Therīgāthā (suttacentral.net)

Sex Robot? Dead? The Body as a Bag of Bones

WARNING: Dead bodies reveal true nature of our living carcasses! May provoke lust before death!

Bag of Bones (Ven. Khantipalo)

Silicone can look so realistic. How should one contemplate and consider the average human body? What about a SEXY body? Australian Buddhist monk Ven. Khantipalo leads readers through sutras and sayings that say those who practice "mindfulness of the body" gain a treasure no one else does (AN 1:21). There is a practice for the few: "meditation on foulness" (asubha bhavana), focusing on the loathsomeness of the body to free ourselves of lust and painful craving. The body is a biological wonder, a bag of bones wrapped skin deep to hide the gore.

Indonesian tribe keeps dead bodies

LYRICS (Megadeth "Symphony of Destruction"): Introduction "Offertorium, Domine Jesu Christe"] You take a mortal man/ And put him in control/ Watch him become a god/ Watch people's heads a'roll/ A'roll, a'roll... [CHORUS:] Just like the Pied Piper/ Led rats through the streets/ We dance like marionettes/ Swaying to the symphony of destruction// Actin' like a robot/ Its metal brain corrodes/ You try to take its pulse/ Before the head explodes/ Explodes, explodes... [CHORUS] [Guitar solo] The Earth starts to rumble/ World powers fall/ A'warring for the heavens/ A peaceful man stands tall/ A'tall, a'tall... [CHORUS]

The Robotic Nacoco

Robotic Nacoco, March 2024; Seth Auberon, Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

(nacoco music) What won't Asian robots be able to do in the near future? Will humans really debase themselves masturbating with life-like plasticized machines? They already have sex with children, animals, and [blank] so we have to assume they will. And tech firms are banking on brothel business. If only they could teach a real human to play like this. (They can.) Oh, can they? No way. Robots are just better suited to the fingering, and the face on this one is completely fake, although very pleasantly porcelain like a Japanese geisha or Korean hostess or one of those old timey "stewardesses" planes used to have, who are nothing like our modern "flight attendants," aggravating everyone while plying them with alcohol in a pressurized cabin (flimsy tube shooting through the sky) and having them arrested by air marshals just for acting like entitled Americans. This just in. Nacoco may have morphed into a human female with amazing guitar skills and great outfit ideas.

• Unexpected discovery about dopamine may help explain

Bag of Bones: A Miscellany on the Body

Bhikkhu Khantipālo (Laurence Mills), Bag of Bones: A Miscellany on the Body (Wheel 271), Buddhist Publication Society (BPS.lk); Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

“Meditators, they do not taste the deathless who do not taste mindfulness of the body; they taste the deathless who taste mindfulness of the body” (A I 45).

“A skeleton wrapped up in skin…” (MN 82).

Bag of Bones

“Meditators, when one dhamma [thing] is developed and cultivated it leads to a great sense of urgency, to great benefit, to great safety from bondage, to great mindfulness and full awareness, to obtainment of knowledge and insight, to a pleasant abiding here and now, to realization of the fruit of true knowledge and deliverance. What is that one dhamma? It is mindfulness occupied with the body.” — AN 1:21, translated Ven. Ñāṇamoli (edited by Wisdom Quarterly).

The Advantages of Mindfulness of the Body

1. One conquers aversion and delight,
2. And fear and dread as well.
3. Besides, one can stand cold and heat, hunger and thirst, troublesome things in the world, harsh words and painful feelings.
4. One obtains all four meditative absorptions (jhānas),
5. One obtains the supernormal faculties,
6. The heavenly ear element (clairaudience),
7. Knowledge of others’ minds (mind reading),
8. And of all one’s past lives (memory),
9. And sees besides, how beings appear and pass away according to their karma.
10. Finally, one enters upon the two deliverances (of the heart and by wisdom), and all taints (āsava) are abolished.
    — MN 119, "Mindfulness of the Body"

“When anyone has developed and repeatedly practiced mindfulness of the body, that person has included whatever wholesome dhammas (mental states) there are that partake of true knowledge (vijjā).

“Just as anyone who extends the mind over the great ocean has included whatever streams there are that flow into the ocean so, too, when anyone has developed and repeatedly practiced mindfulness of the body, that person has included whatever wholesome dhammas there are that partake of true knowledge.”

—MN 119, trans. Ven. Ñāṇamoli (revised)

Insight Knowledge

7 Surprising Facts About What Happens To Your Body When You Die (allthatsinteresting.com)

.

“This body [of mine] consists of the Four Great Elements, procreated by a mother and father, is built up out of boiled rice and bread, is of the nature of impermanence, of being worn and rubbed away, of dissolution and disintegration, and this consciousness [of mine] has that for its support and is bound up with it.”

—MN 77, trans. Ven. Ñāṇamoli

“Now, this body that has material form consists of the Four Great Elements, it is procreated by a mother and father, and built up out of boiled rice and bread, it has the nature of impermanence, of being worn and rubbed away, of dissolution and disintegration. It must be regarded — as impermanent — as (liable to) suffering (disappointment), as a disease — as a cancer, as a dart — as a calamity, as an affliction — as alien, as a falling to pieces—as void, as without a self.

“When a person regards it thus, that person abandons the desire for the body, affection for the body, and the habit of treating the body as a basis for one's inferences” [1]. —MN 74, trans. Ven. Ñāṇamoli

You live by “following the body”? Eating when it’s hungry, resting when it’s tired, dressing when necessary, urinating, defecating, going to work to get money — all for what? For this body? Then what about the time when its end comes? What was it all for?

How much time do you spend on your body — to feed it — to clothe it, to cleanse it — to wash it, to beautify it — to relax it, to rest it? How much time do you spend on your mind?

Introduction

Dead body of frozen victim of the Dyatlov Incident (YouTube/allthatsinteresting.com)

.

The body is thought to be most obviously “me,” what I regard as the most tangible part of myself. Around it therefore are constructed many views, all of them distorted to some extent, which prevent insight arising into the body as it really is.

This book, Bag of Bones: A Miscellany on the Body, is a small anthology relating to the body in various ways. It presents material which, if contemplated by the earnest and sincere student of Dhamma (Dharma), will eventually provide fruitful insight and, thereby, freedom from the many cravings and fears centered on the body.

Such desires for pleasures in which the body is the instrument (though it is in the heart-mind where they

dwell) awaken and intensify greed of all kinds, for food or sex for instance.

Greed — which is often accompanied by pleasurable sensations and therefore desired — needs a rather bitter medicine to combat it.

Hence the number of pieces here on the unattractiveness of the body, its decay and death — all unpleasant matters.

Some of the material, concerned with bodily unattractiveness, is like a medicine, which need only be taken while the disease of greed-lust is active, and afterwards may be discontinued. It is important to understand this, and not to form the mistaken impression that the Buddha advocated viewing all beauty as loathsome.

It is only that there is a hook in beauty that tangles [get entangled] with the greed in one’s own heart and leads to more and more complications and difficulties.

Fears center around aging-decay, disease, and death. They are not overcome by pretending they do not exist, as the ostrich is said to bury its head in the sand at the approach of enemies. Only resolutely facing these inevitable features of life can bring insight and relief from fear.

The Buddha’s instructions on the contemplation of the body are addressed to those who are able, through their lifestyle, to practice them.

This means in effect monks and nuns, together with dedicated lay people. Monastics have this contemplation given to them by their teachers at the time of going forth from home to the left home life. They need such a medicine to combat lust, which is destructive to the celibate (brahmacariya) life.

Lay Buddhists keeping the Five Precepts have contentment with their partners as an important part of their practice.

Sex is a natural part of their life but should still be restrained and kept within the bounds of the Third Precept (to avoid sexual misconduct).

If not, much trouble follows! But some of them may wish to live without sexual attachment, and this cannot be done in the way of Dhamma by ignoring the power of the sexual drive nor by suppressing it.

Only when it is treated with mindfulness can it be transcended. The aspect of mindfulness which is needed for this is the subject, or rather the interrelated subjects, of this book.

In the world today people are subjected to a bombardment of sensuality by way of the mass media.

Sex in particular is used as a bait to sell things and as a titillation of sensory experience. When this subjection is continued, the defilements of the mind — notably lust (sensual craving), greed (avarice of all kinds), and attachment (clinging) — are sure to be strengthened.

When this has happened, the result is not more happiness, only an increase of disappointment (dukkha), suffering, trouble, and difficulties.

The medicine for such over-indulgence and over-stimulation is given in this book.

It is said that this subject of meditation is unique to the Buddha’s Teachings and that elsewhere it is not clearly taught. This is not surprising as we find that desire is sometimes accepted as being “natural.” 

Wherever desires are viewed as “natural,” that is, inherent in one’s nature or "self," nothing much can be done about them.

But the Buddha analyzed desires into those which are wholesome — the desire to practice Dhamma, for instance — and the unwholesome ones, among which are greed and lust.

They may not be gross, as in the case of the meditator who is greedy for bliss, or visions, and attached to such things.

The Buddha has provided the medicine for all unwholesome desires, and according to our various ways of life we can use it to effect partial or complete cures.

When the emphasis is so much on sensuality, youth, and beauty as we find now, the darker sides of life get pushed away and attempts are made, always unsuccessful, to sweep them under the carpet.

Those who try to do so will not be pleased with the exercises contained in the Buddha’s contemplation of the body. Such things will appear to them as morbid and unnatural.

Yet, they are also a part of this life and should not be ignored.

And if the effort is made to ignore what is unpleasant about the body, sooner or later one will be jolted into the recognition of these things. Such jolts are unpleasant. Rather than leave it until one is forced to know the body’s unpleasant sides it is better to acquaint one’s emotions with this knowledge gradually.

In this spirit, Bag of Bones is being published. Unfortunately, being only a book, it cannot give person-to-person advice on special problems.

It can only offer some general guidelines to people who are interested in reducing their greed and lust.

• DO NOT CLICK HERE: Patikulamanasikara

A word of warning: meditation on the unattractiveness of the body can be very potent and should only be practiced with moderation and care, especially if one has no personal contact with a Teacher of Buddhist meditation.

Outlaws Bonnie and Clyde shown dead after being murdered by police (Huffington Post UK)

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If fear and anxiety or other extreme unwholesome emotional states arise after practice of it, then it will be better to lay it down and take up loving kindness (mettā) or Recollection of the Buddha (Buddhānussati) as one’s meditation instead.

This book, therefore, is not so much for beginners in Buddhism but rather for those who have already practiced for some time. May it inspire many people to practice the Dhamma more intently!

Translations which have no one’s name after them are by the compiler. And all other reflections, dialogues, and poems too are his work.

They have been jotted down as they occurred to him, mostly in the peaceful Forest Hermitage of Ven. Nyanaponika Mahāthera outside Kandy on the island of Sri Lanka.

May I also here acknowledge the venerable mahā-thera’s ["great elder's"] kind advice and help in bringing this collection to print.

Bhikkhu Khantipālo (formerly an Australian gentleman by the name of Mr. Laurence Mills)

Wat Buddha-Dhamma

Forest Meditation Centre

Ten Mile Hollow

Wiseman’s Ferry, N.SW. 2255

Australia

Abbreviations

• MN Majjhima-nikāya
• A Aṅguttara-nikāya
• S Aṅguttara-nikāya
• M.R. Minor Readings (and Illustrator)—Khuddakapāṭha

Buddhist Publication Society (BPS.lk), Kandy, Sri Lanka, The Wheel Publication No. 271. BPS Online Edition © (2009). Digital Transcription Source: ATI and BPS. First Edition, 1980. For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted, reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. However, any such republication and redistribution is to be made available to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and translations and other derivative works are to be clearly marked as such and the Buddhist Publication Society is to be acknowledged as the original publisher.

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