Bruce Lee, what are the martial arts? Are they combat for war, a lack of peace, or something more?
Poet philosopher Bruce Lee was born Lee Jun-fan on Nov. 27, 1940, passing away at 32 on July 20, 1973. He was an American and Hong Kong mixed martial artist, teacher, actor, Hollywood superstar, and filmmaker.
He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy ["Lee-ism"?], which was formed from his experiences in unarmed fighting and self-defense—as well as eclectic, ZenBuddhist, Taoist, and Confucian philosophies—as a new school of martial arts thought [2, 3].
With a career spanning the United States and Hong Kong [4, 5, 6], Lee is regarded as the first global Chinese film star and one of the most influential martial artists in the history of cinema [7].
Known for his roles in five feature-length martial arts films, he is credited with helping to popularize martial arts films in the 1970s and promoting Hong Kong action cinema [8, 9].
Born in San Francisco and raised in Hong Kong, Lee was introduced to the Hong Kong film industry as a child actor by his father, Mr. Lee Hoi-chuen [10].
Lee's early martial arts experience included Wing Chun (trained under Ip Man), tai chi, boxing (winning a Hong Kong boxing tournament), and frequent street fighting (neighborhood and rooftop fights).
Thay (pronounced "Thai") is Thich Nhat Hanh, here explaining a candle flame. Where will it go?
When we all fall asleep, where do we go?
Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly in reply to the implicit question in Billie Eilish's "Bury a Friend": Where do we all go when we die? Where does a flame go when it dies?
And when the flame goes out, where does it go?
That's a nonsense question.
No, it must go somewhere!
Well, where do you suppose -- up, down, sideways?
Well, no, nothing like that. I don't know where it goes.
It isn't there like you think (assume), so it does not "go" anywhere after it is said to "go out." Failing to gain new fuel (and four other factors, heat, oxygen, wick, and process-of-combustion), it fails to "come back in" for the next moment of its appearance. This sounds strange because it goes against our assumptions, but it's very true: In one instance, all five factors (aggregates) gather and manifest as "flame." Failing to get all five in the next moment, no flame/fire appears. This teaches us that what we call "flame" or "fire" is utterly dependent on supporting conditions (these five aggregates or factors) and without them, it is not. However, if it is utterly dependent, then how can it ever be said to have an independent existence? Ultimately speaking, it cannot. But in normal usage, in conventional speech, of course we say, "The flame came into being and then went out of being after some time." This is nice. This seems true. But it was never ultimately true. So there is no confusion. And maybe no one cares about a flame or fire. But if the same thing could be said of us, me and you the individuals, what then?
How could that ever be said of us? We are here now. And when we die or "go out," we reappear somewhere else -- like in heaven, hell, another human life, or a life in another realm in the 31 Planes of Existence.
Conventionally, this is exactly what happens. Unfortunately, ultimately speaking, it is completely wrong. Not only do "we" not go anywhere, what we are calling "we" is completely dependently arisen. Our being, our existence, completely depends on the Five Aggregates clung to as self.
What, we're flames?
No, flames depend on the five factors I mentioned above. "We" depend on the Five Aggregates clung to as self mentioned in the Heart Sutra: form; feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and process of consciousness, the khandhas or skandhas in Sanskrit.
So there is no reappearance?
Oh, there's reappearance (rebirth) all right, but it isn't the rearising of some unchanging "soul," "self," jiva,gandhabba, "ego," "personality," or "I." We are clinging to what is not ours, and we suffer for it.
Aha! You said "we" suffer for it! Who's the "we" that suffers?!
That "we" is the Five Aggregates clung to as self. "We" are not that. "We" do not control that, in an ultimate sense. In a conventional sense, of course, that's all "we" are, and "we" have a great deal of control to develop calm and insight to breakthrough to wisdom and liberate "ourselves" from this samsaric mess. But that, ultimately speaking, is not really what's happening. And it can be proven. The aggregates can be refined, purified, stilled and be seen for what they are. Then clinging stops. And liberation occurs. It's as if the fearful dream lets go of the dreamer. The monstrous illusion loses its power to deceive and make frightened, suffering victims of the aggregates clinging to the aggregates as if they were "self."
When I first encountered Buddhism in the U.S. in the 1990s, it was all about "insight meditation" (vipassana) with some voices shouting that the value of the jhanas (meditative absorptions) was being mistakenly overlooked as a regular practice.
Years later, I came across BPS Wheel 463 (Buddhist Publication Society),which states that the value of “wise reflection” (yoniso manasikara) was being mistakenly overlooked as a regular practice.
This weekend I decided to go back and take another look at Wise Reflection (BPS Wheel 463) with the amazing benefits provided by suttacentral.net's because of its multiple translations per each discourse (Pali sutta) and translator Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu’s errant translations on dhammatalks.org.
Wisdom Quarterly prefers American scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi's translations in all cases over idiosyncratic and ridiculous Thanissaro Bhikkhu's efforts.
It was a very powerful refresher course (lesson) in the difficulties of translation and the value of reading multiple [English] translations and the value of [the ancient] commentaries.
The translations of yoniso manasikara (not quite those two words as found in the Pali canon) from the Sabbāsava Sutta (MN 2) are diverse!
EXCERPT: Venerable Walpola Rahula (from BPS Wheel 463), in quoting the Buddha, translates yoniso manasikāra as "wise reflection":
“I say that the getting rid of anxieties and troubles [1] is possible for one who knows and sees, not for one who does not know and see. What must one know and see in order to get rid of anxieties and troubles? Wise reflection and unwise reflection... More
All the good girls go to hell, Billie?
When did you join the Illuminati, Pirate? Did Phineas induct you?
Now determine in your mind to listen with respect to the Dhamma. During the time that I am speaking, be as attentive to my words as if it were the Lord Buddha himself sitting in front of you.
Close your eyes and make yourself comfortable, compose your mind and make it one-pointed. Humbly allow the Triple Gem [Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha] of wisdom, truth, and purity to abide in your heart as a way of showing respect to the Fully Enlightened One.
Today I have brought nothing material of any substance to offer you, only Dhamma, the teachings of the Lord Buddha. Listen well. You should understand that even the Buddha himself, with his great store of accumulated virtue, could not avoid physical death.
When he reached old age, he relinquished his body and let go of its heavy burden. Now you too must learn to be satisfied with the many years you've already depended on your body.
You should feel that it's enough.
You can compare it to household utensils you've had for a long time — your cups, saucers, plates, and so on. When you first had them, they were clean and shining, but now after using them for so long, they're starting to wear out.
Some are already broken, some have disappeared and those that are left are deteriorating; they have no stable form, and it's their nature to be like that. Your body is the same way — it's been continually changing right from the day you were born, through childhood and youth, until now it's reached old age. You must accept that.
The Buddha said that conditions (sankharas), whether they are internal conditions, bodily conditions, or external conditions, are not-self, their nature is to change. Contemplate this truth until you see it clearly.
This very lump of flesh that lies here in decline is saccadhamma, the truth. The truth of this body is saccadhamma, and it is the unchanging teaching of the Buddha. The Buddha taught us to look at the body, to contemplate it, and come to terms with its nature.
We must be able to be at peace with the body, whatever state it is in. The Buddha taught that we should ensure that it's only the body that is locked up in jail and not let the mind be imprisoned along with it.
Now as your body begins to run down and deteriorate with age, don't resist that, but don't let your mind deteriorate with it. Keep the mind separate.
Give energy to the mind by realizing the truth of the way things are. The Lord Buddha taught that this is the nature of the body, it can't be any other way: having been born it gets old and sick and then it dies. This is a great truth you are presently encountering. Look at the body with wisdom and realize it. More
When you're pseudo-macho like Trump, you lie about your illnesses and die in ignimony
God, I love DJ and right-wing politics, Brother!
Ozzy Osbourne(Black Sabbath frontman and drug addict), Chuck Mangione (trumpet musician), Malcolm-Jamal Warner ("The Cosby Show" star), and now beloved bigger-than-life Hulk Hogan (Terry Gene Bollea), one of the world's most view stars, Floridian, MAGA right wing tough guy. There's so much death in the world. How many people die every single day? A hundred seventy-three thousand in 2025, according to World Population Review.
If that many people die a day, does that mean I might day? No, never, that's ridiculous. That's the Impossible Possibility. What the Buddha warned about all day long for 45 years of teaching he called dukkha (disappointment).
Dukkha means not getting what we want, getting what we don't want, losing what we have, separation from the loved, association with the hated...all of these things modern English translators termed "suffering," which is very misleading since that connotes agony or everything sucking all the time. Everything does NOT suck ALL the time. It's just that there's enough stink in the pot to make the stew unappetizing to anyone who pays too much attention. That attention is good because it wakes us up to the problem. Of course, we don't want to know about The Problem, this or any other. We're already aware of too many most of the time, and we seem to actively be trying to forget. We like checking out, pleasure seeking, distractions, temporary fixes at whatever cost.
There are many paths. Why listen to the Buddha?
The Buddha gave two solutions, an immediate one and a permanent one. But it takes some doing, some effort, some focus, and it usually means recognizing that there is a problem (which we don't want to see). Well, the Universe will step in every so often and slap up in the face, like it or not. And for some of us, the problem will get so bad, there's no avoiding it. Imagine American-prison problems. Those are not problems one can easily escape, as oftentimes the so-called "escape" is worse than the problem, like the choice between being eaten by lions on shore or crocodiles in the water.
What's The Problem? Death in a world of radical impermanence is part of it, but it's more insidious than that. Prior to death, there's aging and sickness, loss due to many reasons, and ignorance why anything is happening or why anything has to happen. We act in ignorance, one of the unwholesome roots of conduct, and we get dukkha in return. We wish to know and understand but do not make right effort towards that end, so we get neither knowing nor understanding.
Celebrities die. Why? They die because they are living beings, and there are only one kind of living beings that will not die. However, even they will seem to die. It is not the Gods or gods, who all die. It is the noble ones, the awakened/enlightened. Death (redeath) is followed by birth (rebirth). This is not anyone's first time dying. We have been through it countless time. Of course, since we don't remember, we say that's impossible. We want life to seem fresh and new each time; that has been our way of tolerating it.
But The Problem is much grander. All this dissatisfaction -- which we can call samsara or the Continued Wandering On through the Wheel of Life and Death, beset on all sides by craving for pleasure, wanting and being angry about being frustrated in our desires -- is constantly disappointing. It is constantly changing, hurtling towards destruction, fruitless when obtained, unable to fulfill/satisfy us.
The permanent solution is awakening (bodhi) and reaching nirvana (nibbana, the deathless, the real refuge from all danger, the safety of the farther shore beyond our world/universe of constant change and disappointment, loss and blame, aging and illness, and all the many sources of woe).
Will we awaken? Will we set out on the course towards awakening? Or will we just bemoan our lot and seek for the next diversion, temporary pleasure, and promise of eternal life, happiness, and joy after joy, rose after rose with never a thorn in sight?
In the Garden the roses have no thorns...
(Rudimentary Peni) on the fantasy of a literal version of Christian heaven
"Explores how industry has manipulated our most deep-seated survival instincts."
—David Perlmutter, MD, author, #1 New York Times bestseller, Grain Brain and Brain Maker
The New York Times–bestselling author of Fat Chance reveals the corporate scheme to sell pleasure, driving the international epidemic of addiction, depression, and chronic disease.
While researching the toxic and addictive properties of sugar for his New York Times bestseller Fat Chance, Dr. Robert Lustig made an alarming discovery—our pursuit of happiness is being subverted by a culture of addiction and depression from which we may never recover.
Dopamine is the “reward” neurotransmitter that tells our brains we want more; yet every substance or behavior that releases dopamine in the extreme leads to addiction.
Serotonin is the “contentment” neurotransmitter that tells our brains we don’t need any more; yet its deficiency leads to depression.
Ideally, both are in optimal supply. But dopamine evolved to overwhelm serotonin—because our ancestors were more likely to survive if they were constantly motivated—with the result that constant desire can chemically destroy our ability to feel happiness, while sending us down the slippery slope to addiction.
Extraterrestrial mystery above Cusco found? - What are these ancient handbags?
In the last 40 years, government legislation and subsidies have promoted ever-available temptation (sugar, drugs, social media, porn) combined with constant stress (work, home, money, Internet), with the end result of an unprecedented epidemic of addiction, anxiety, depression, and chronic disease.
And with the advent of neuromarketing, corporate America has successfully imprisoned us in an endless loop of desire and consumption from which there is no obvious escape. More
(FOX 5 New York) Feb. 28, 2025: The Vatican says Pope Francis (alleged apostate pope Jorge Bergoglio) suffered a coughing fit that resulted in him breathing in vomit, requiring non-invasive mechanical ventilation. The Vatican says he responded well, with a good level of gas exchange, and remained conscious and alert at all times, enough to sign some important paperwork for the Vatican while on his deathbed because they need to look ahead to the next CEO, for which his special Swiss Guard is already preparing and practicing. The episode, reported late Friday by the Vatican, resulted in doctors keeping his prognosis from a two-week battle with double pneumonia as guarded. It marked a setback after two days of increasingly upbeat reports -- and a world in prayer on his behalf -- about an improved condition. FOX 5 NY: FOX 5's Teresa Priolo has the story.
Demon Legion vomits on Catholic priest
Scary Movie dares to mock the original The Exorcist with a vomit off
(SNL) Father Richard Pryor wrestles demon in Exorcist II with soup
Why did the Church change Christianity?
The Teachings of the Gnostic Gospels
(Wise Quotes) Wisest Advice Discover the hidden truths of early Christianity with a deep dive into the Gnostic texts uncovered in Egypt over the past centuries. These ancient manuscripts, particularly those found in Nag Hammadi, reveal esoteric knowledge and a Gnostic worldview that challenges orthodox beliefs. Learn about the Demiurge, the concept of multiple universes, and the controversial portrayal of figures like Mary Magdalene and Judas. This exploration into Gnosticism and the suppressed teachings about the material world offers a fresh perspective on the origins of Christianity. Bridge the gap between ancient Gnostic cosmology and modern Church theories like the multiverse and quantum physics.
Forensic pathologist's profound NDE (mind-blowing truth revealed 2024
(Life & Beyond) July 14, 2024: A hardcore scientific atheist named Dr. Peter Cummings, a neuropathologist and forensic pathologist, had a profound NDE awakening.
💥 Witness the incredible journey of Dr. Cummings, who experienced a profound near-death experience (NDE) that changed his life forever.
During a water rafting vacation, he drowned, with no registered heart rate shown on his Apple Watch for 8 minutes. This pivotal moment transformed his perspective after conducting thousands of brain cuts, autopsies, and investigations into death. Following his NDE, Dr. Cummings discovered Dr. Jeffrey Long's book, which provided further insights and validation of his experience. Prepare to discover Dr. Cummings' mind-blowing awakening and newfound insights into life, death, and beyond. Don't miss this compelling story of scientific exploration and spiritual revelation! #nde #ScientificRevelation #LifeAfterDeath
✅ Divine Invocation Code - ('A 77-letter Invocation Prayer for Abundant Wealth and Prosperity, Trusted by the Elite 1%.) ✨ tinyurl.com/4x745hsr
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(Letterman) July 18, 2024: Here is a look back at Bob Newhart's appearance with Dave Letterman from 1990 ("Late Night," air date: 7/12/90). Deadpan comedic genius Bob Newhart, 94, passed away in his home city Los Angeles after a brief illness. #bobnewhart #comedian #letterman. One of his funniest moments late in his career came during his appearance on Saturday Night Live, where he reprised his role as a nebbish psychologist dealing with an interesting parade of neurotic people. Unlike the Bob Newhart Show, he finally has an answer, a simple answer, for all of them to be cured for their mental and emotional neuroses.
(HolyTVClips) The best TV series finale in history of American TV:
The joke is that Newhart had a first super successful series. He then starred in another series for years. When it ended, he woke up in the first as if the second one had been a dream. It was a big surprise to viewers of both.
When asked what I want to be when I grow up, I always say the same thing: "Famous."
"For what?" people ask me. Even Dr. Drew asks that. Well, anything really or, better yet, for nothing at all. I'd like to be a comedian, but I don't really know any interesting anecdotes, just one-liners. Like, "Q: What did the father buffalo say to his boy as he went off to college? A: Bison." Okay, no one said I was Gary Steinfeld over here. All the rest of them are vulgar and puerile, exciting prurient interest, not exactly Buddhist right speech, you know.
Dead porn stars are flooding our feeds.
I guess, if pressed, I always thought I would be famous for rock, EDM, or rap lyrics and music (beats on the computer), or porn (beats on the computer), all interesting pastimes for American youths. It's the beat, the beat, the beat. I think I could do it. Hoops, maybe? If I could be an Internet Influencer making TikToks or YouTube content, that might be good. I should probably take music lessons or learn to use my cell phone for making movies. Porn is out, too dangerous. They're all dying:
Why so many porn stars are dying
(It's Blanko) This year (2024) has been a curse for the adult film industry. With all the porn stars dropping like flies, there seems to be a pattern. Let's take a look as to why.
Why do we complain? [Perfection is the enemy of the good.] Theoretical physicist Ajahn Brahm explains the dangers of cultivating a fault-finding mind and the benefits of praise and looking for the positive.
Ajahn encourages us to put our energy into positive things. Outlook is everything. If we have a choice what to look for, praise will pay off much more than complaints.
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What God told her about your thoughts will shock you! (NDE)
(Shaman Oaks) Penny Wittbrodt's near death experience (NDE) and how she got out of a void. "God" showed her a future event with her grandson -- and taught her the power of thoughts, and why forgiveness is so important. This is her NDE Christian testimony.
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