Showing posts with label day of the dead. Show all posts
Showing posts with label day of the dead. Show all posts

Saturday, October 31, 2026

FREE Haunted House ('death meditation')

Sexy slut Halloween and Day of the Dead Catarina costumes welcome, but please keep it PG-13.
Catrina dressed as Santa Muerte ("Saint Death") for Day of the Dead (stayhappening.com)



Two haunted house meditations


How can I release the grip of lust right now?
We will conclude with two haunting meditations called "contemplation of the repulsive" and "mindfulness of death."

Paṭikkūla-manasikāra [1] in the historical Buddha's language (Pāli/Magadhi) is translated as "reflections on repulsiveness," "wise [attention to] reflection on the repulsive aspects of phenomena," "contemplating the foul."

It is a traditional Buddhist meditation internally reviewing the 31 parts of the body, which are contemplated in a variety of ways to gain liberating-insight into their true nature.

I'm grateful to be able to practice for liberation
In addition to developing sati ("mindfulness") and samādhi ("stillness," "whole brain coherence," "concentration"), this meditation is considered conducive to overcoming lust (craving), addictive obsession, and overbearing sensual desire.

Along with the "cemetery contemplations" monastics may practice -- such as the contemplation of the nine stages of decaying corpses -- this type of cultivation dispassion (letting go, freedom from obsession, non-clinging) is one of the two meditations on "the foul" or "unattractive" (Pāli asubha) [2].

Meditation on death? I can't go out. *Cough* I'm sick.

Translation
This sounds crazy. Surely, we should do the opposite, right? What if we lose all of our lust?
.
The Pāli term paṭikkūla literally means "against" (paṭi) "the slope" or "incline" or "embankment" (kūla) and has been translated adjectivally as "averse, objectionable, contrary, disagreeable" and, as a noun, "foulness, loathsomeness, impurity" [3].

The human body can be so beautiful
Hate your body? Plastic surgeons are just a phone call away in LA!

The Pāli manasikāra ("wise attention") is derived from manasi (locative of mana, "mind," thus, loosely, to bear "in mind" or "in thought") and karoti ("to make" or "to bring into") and has been translated as "attention," "pondering," "contemplation," or "fixed thought" [4].

In contemporary translations, the compound term paṭikkūla-manasikāra is generally translated as "reflections on repulsiveness" or, adding contextual clarity to literal accuracy, "reflections on [or recollection of the] repulsiveness of the [nature of the] body" [5].

Alternate translations include "attention directed to repulsive" aspects of bodies [6] and direct "realization of the impurity of the body" [7].

Benefits

But I don't want to look at ugly stuff!
While it may sound "fun" to practice in a group around Obon, Halloween, Samhain, or the Day of the Dead, this type of Buddhist meditation is traditionally mentioned as a strong "antidote" to sensual passion [8].

This is also one of the "four protective meditations," along with Buddha-anussati ("recollection of the Buddha"), mettā (universal, illimitable "loving kindness," "friendliness," "agape," "benevolence") practice and "recollection or mindfulness of death" (maraṇa-sati) [9].

In individual sutras, this type of contemplation is identified as a contributor to many mundane and transcendental goals.

Who wants to see the truth?
For instance, in the Girimananda Sutta (AN 10.60), Ven. Ananda's recites this and other contemplations immediately cures an ailing Buddhist monastic [10].

In the Sampasadaniya Sutta (DN 28), Ven. Sariputta declares that meditating on (recollecting, contemplating, reviewing, examining, analyzing) these 31 body parts leads to "the attainment of vision in four ways" and briefly outlines how this method can be used as a springboard by which one "comes to know the unbroken stream of human consciousness that is not established either in this world or in the next" [11].

Sexy witch Halloween costume
In addition, in the Iddhipāda-samyutta's Vibhanga Sutta (SN 51.20), this meditation subject is used to develop the Four Bases of Power (iddhi-pāda) (one of the seven sets in the 37 Requisites of Enlightenment) by which one is able to achieve awakening, enlightenment, and complete liberation from all suffering [12].

The Pali canon invariably includes this form of contemplation in its various lists of mindfulness meditation techniques [13].

Moreover, the 5th century Buddhist compendium known as The Path of [Mental] Purification (Visuddhi-magga) identifies this type of contemplation (along with anapanasati or "mindfulness of breathing") as one of the few body-directed meditations particularly suited to the development of "right stillness, "super-consciousness," or "right concentration" (samma-samādhi) (Vism. VIII, 43) [14]. More
Free walk through the Haunted House
Calmly looking at repulsiveness and death? Can we just go through the house and get scared?
Watch for dead lady in the dark on roadside holding sign
FINAL WEEKEND (Friday and Saturday) RSVP:
FIRST WEEKEND FREE TO RSVP:
Oct. 23, 24, 30, 31, 2026, 7:00 pm-10:00 pm (@catsandbatshaunt) - socalhauntlist.com
WARNING: Jump scares, terror, bloodcurdling screams, yells, creepiness. Enter at own risk.
The final chamber is the scariest because a lady dressed in Victorian Era clothes starts hitting on you and wants you to sit on a Ziggy Freudian psychotherapy couch -- but she's a... (Aaahhh!!!)


OUTDOOR GALLERY
These are the views outside the House
How scary is it?
Haunted House? It’s just Corporate America
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Monday, October 19, 2026

Real Halloween in Japan: spooky, scary


10 supernatural haunted places in Japan

Halloween display in Saitama, Japan
Halloween arrived in Japan mainly as a result of American pop culture. As late as 2009, it was celebrated mainly by expats [36]. The wearing of elaborate costumes by young adults at night has since become popular in areas such as Amerikamura in Osaka and Shibuya in Tokyo, where, in October 2012, about 1,700 people dressed in costumes to take part in the Halloween Festival [37].

Blame it on The Simpsons
Celebrations have become popular with (sex and dating obsessed) young adults as a costume party and club event [38]. Trick-or-treating for candy-loving Japanese children has taken hold in some areas.

By the mid-2010s, Yakuza (Japanese mafia members) were giving snacks and sweets to children [39]. However, in recent years, authorities in Tokyo have tried to discourage street drinking on Halloween [40]. More: Halloween in Asia
  • Due to the worldwide syndication of The Simpsons, American Halloween traditions are spreading everywhere, like Australia that got Halloween-fever ten years ago, but Buddhist Japan is creepy for all its old Shinto kami and yokai-obsessed folk ways
  • The Geography of Halloween
Japanese mafia: underworld Yakuza
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Saturday, November 1, 2025

Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)



Mexican Barbie gets in on the holiday
Today, Nov. 1, is Día de los Muertos. It’s a time when people celebrate the lives of those who've passed on -- a time to remember family members, close friends, pets, even strangers, perhaps all of humanity.

The Mexican American holiday holds a special place for many people as a way to grieve those who have died and keep their memory alive.
Catrina beauty contest winner in Los Angeles
People usually celebrate with an ofrenda or offering altar that has photos of their loved ones, their favorite meals, orange marigolds, pan de muerto [bread for the dead, dead bread, soul cake offerings], sugar skull candies, and other items that have special meaning to those being remembered.

Home altar feels like Halloween
In celebration of the holiday, LAist.com asked readers: "What is a memory of a loved one you would like to share for Día de los Muertos?"

LAist heard from people across Southern California about those favorite moments. This digital ofrenda is meant to highlight those memories.


Remembering loved ones
Offerings (ofrendas) to benefit the deceased who are grateful to be remembered by the living
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Photos of the dead on home altar
Joanne Pineda of Monterey Park (a small city in the San Gabriel Valley of LA County) has made a tradition of celebrating Día de los Muertos with her family. She said she’ll always remember the time when her dad asked her mom to dance to Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” in the living room.


“Thinking about it now really brings me tears because it just brought them so much joy. It brought them close together,” Pineda said. “For me to be there, to see that, how special it was to them I just think about it all the time.” More

Coco (by Pixar/Disney)
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