Hippie Yogis in Rishikesh, India

The sound of the universe: "OM"

Like the Buddha-to-be (the Bodhisattva in past lives) striving in and around the Himalayas for many rebirths, young spiritual seekers head to the highest mountain range in the world and holy cities like Rishikesh and Haridwar in search of yogic powers (siddhis) and, more importantly, liberation (moksha, vimutti) from samsara Why would a comfortable Westerner travel to India and head up into the Himalayan foothills at the headwaters of the River Ganges?

I found source of Ganges: Mt. Kailash

• Jamyang Tour travels to holy Tibet; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Back to Bihar, India: Enlightenment Grove

HIDDEN GEM IN BIHAR, INDIA! 🇮🇳 Magical Bodh Gaya

(Let's Meet Abroad) March 31, 2024: Join us in Bodh Gaya (aka Buddha Gaya), a hidden gem in Bihar, India.🌟🇮🇳 We explore the Mahabodhi ("Great Enlightenment") Temple, walk around the Japanese Great Buddha, and enjoy delicious vegetarian and vegan Tibetan food.

• Budh (or bodh) is the root of Buddha ("Enlightened One") and bodhi ("enlightenment, awakening"), and gaya is grove, so this place is Enlightenment Grove or the Place of Awakening.

Bodh Gaya is really worth a visit during any trip to India. We highly recommend hiring an e-rickshaw to get around to all the famous sights. #bihar #india #bodhgaya

First time exploring Bihar: MY FIRST TIME IN BIHAR! 🇮🇳 Exploring...

• 00:00 Bodh Gaya in Bihar, India: Center of the Buddhist World
• 00:35 Marasa Sarovar Premiere, Bodhgaya
• 01:43 Vegetarian Tibet Om Cafe, Bodh Gaya
• 04:45 Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya
• 07:17 Great Buddha (80 foot) statue, Bodh Gaya
• 08:58 Exploring Bodh Gaya in Bihar
• 10:40 Tibet Om Cafe, Bodh Gaya again
• 12:25 Bihar road trip

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Then, the allegory goes, the wandering ascetic, having eaten and regained his bodily health thanks to the lady Sujata and her maid, wandered on in search of enlightenment. He realized that he had blamed the body for the faults of the mind/heart, punishing it needlessly.

He determined to try another approach, abandoning austerities and self-mortification. What, he wondered, if he were to allow himself the supersensual pleasure of meditative absorption (jhana). Such bliss is blameless. He wondered if this might be the way to awakening.

An inner-knowing came over him that it was. He went to the river to bathe, using his alms bowl to predict if he would succeed. Then he found another tree, having left behind Sujata's banyan.

He entered a wondrous grove and found a marvelous fig tree (Ficus religiosa) under which to sit. There he enjoyed the bliss (piti) of letting go, simply mindful of his in-and-out breathing until it became soft then still, as he entered into single-pointed focus and samadhi, purifying heart/mind.

He remembered past lives and continued to ponder the question that had prompted his spiritual quest: Why do we suffer? He followed the chain of causation (Dependent Origination), realizing that the root of present disappointment and pain (dukkha) was in the past, affecting the present and setting the future.

He broke through the 12-links to understand that, "With this, that comes to be, and without it, it ceases." He understood those factors that had led to everything and saw a means of escape from this round (samsara, simulation) of countless rebirth.

He went back and back through past lives (reappearances, relinkings, rearisings), further exploring all that had happened, with great gratitude for the tree that sheltered him.

Our journey to India

A few years after in San Francisco

Like the video above, we were two Americans traveling through the whirlpool of humanity that is India, she a blond, I blending in. But our Tevas gave us away. Everyone knew we were foreigners and were surprised to find out we were Americans. There were people from all over the world here and extraordinary temples in a little town that represented the whole world. My favorite was not the great Mahabodhi Temple at the center, nor the Sri Lankan vihara, not the Thai wat, nor the Japanese zendo and massive Butso Buddha. It was the wooden Bhutanese shrine room, with woodcut devas on the wall. It was dark and like being in a tiki wood treasure house. What was this? We never knew Bodhgaya, near the Patna Airport, was this jewel. Everyone else it. It was the off-season, but Tibetan monastics were everywhere doing 108,000 prostrations on smooth planks of wood to increase their devotion. Hindus were in control of the walled area around the Bodhi tree, wearing orange and panhandling, exploiting the devotional feelings of pilgrims on entering. We sat next to the stone "throne" slab under which Siddhartha is alleged to have sat. Could it be that very gilded stone? One could imagine this was the exact spot, although there is room for doubt. A monk in Los Angeles I know very well got his Ph.D. in Asia on the archeology of the exact site and the Mahabodhi tower/pagoda cetiya. They were discovered by a British scholar and rebuilt on the site from fragments all around the area. The site had been leveled by Muslim crusaders passing through, cutting down the tree so many honored, thinking that people were praying to it in violation of their religious views. Yet, here it was. We could hardly take in the vicinity and its international air, as we focused on the area around the tree. A sanctuary is more precious for the busy-ness all around.

• TEXT: Wisdom Quarterly

Sutra: Life is illusory, all foam and bubbles

Behold, as I disappear and vanish! Is it magic or an illusion! Ouch!!! What the h? (TikTok)

 

This Dharma is to be verified.

What is "life"? It's not what is seen going on out there. It is what is seen going on and the one who wonders what it is out there, in here. Who or what is watching is more important than the stimuli seen.

Behold, a bubble, foam on a great river, a magic trick, empty, not at all what it seems -- misleading (appearing permanent when it's only change hurtling toward destruction, promising satisfying pleasure and fulfillment when all that arises is disappointment).

Foam on sacred river Ganges (pinterest.com)

It seems so real, so personal when it's all impersonal and devoid of self, bringing about a world of hurt and pain. Better to awaken from the dream than to keep spinning and spiraling in the continued wandering on that is samsara. What is awake? Bodhi (enlightenment). What is it be to be free? Nirvana.

SUTRA: "Discourse on Bubbles and Foam"

泡沫—Bhikkhu Anālayo (trans.), Saṁyuktāgama 201-300, "Discourse on Bubbles and Foam" (SA 265), suttacentral.net); edited and expanded by Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly

Thus have I heard. At one time the Blessed One was staying in Ayojjhā, on the banks of the river Ganges.

At that time the Buddha said: “Meditators, it is just as if a mass of foam were to drift on a great wave that has arisen on the river Ganges and a clear-sighted person were to carefully examine and analyze it.

“At the time of carefully examining and analyzing, one finds that there is nothing to it, nothing stable, nothing substantial, nothing solid. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial to a mass of foam.

Life, formless, gains form that comes to naught.

“In the same way, on carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing form [this body, materiality, the four great elements] of the past, present, or future, internal or external, gross or subtle, sublime or repugnant, far or near, a meditator finds that there is nothing to it, nothing stable, nothing substantial, it has no solidity.

“It is like a disease, like a carbuncle, like a thorn, like a killer. It is impermanent, disappointing (dukkha), empty (sunnata), and not-self. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in bodily form.

Brownian motion inside cell, a bubble with tinier bubbles in it, like atoms full of kalapas

Carbuncles are by definition a painful impurity of the body, a dangerous blemish (fity.club)

.

The formless taking form fascinates for a while.

“Meditators, it is just as when during a great rain there are bubbles on the surface of water, arising and ceasing one after another, and a clear-sighted person carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes them. At the time of carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing them, one finds that there is nothing in them, nothing stable, nothing substantial, they have no solidity. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in water bubbles.

“In the same way, a meditator carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes whatever feeling, past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, sublime or repugnant, far or near. When carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing it, the meditator finds that there is nothing in it, nothing stable, nothing substantial, it has no solidity; it is like a disease, like a carbuncle, like a thorn, like a killer, it is impermanent, disappointing, empty, and not self. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in feeling.

A mirage exists but is not what it seems.

“Meditators, it is just as when towards the end of spring or the beginning of summer, in the middle of the day when the sun is strong and there are no clouds and no rain, a shimmering mirage appears, and a clear-sighted person carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes it. At the time of carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing it, one finds that there is nothing in it, nothing stable, nothing substantial, it has no solidity. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in a mirage.

“In the same way, a meditator carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes whatever perception, past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, sublime or repugnant, far or near. When carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing it, the meditator finds that there is nothing in it, nothing stable, nothing substantial, it has no solidity; it is like a disease, like a carbuncle, like a thorn, like a killer, it is impermanent, disappointing, empty, and not self. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in perception.

Like an onion, there's no core in a plantain trunk

“Meditators, it is just as if a clear-sighted person in need of heartwood takes hold of a sharp axe and enters a mountain forest, where one sees a large plantain tree that is thick, straight, and tall. One cuts it down at the root, chops off the treetop, and gradually takes off sheath after sheath, all of which are without a solid core. And one carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes them. At the time of carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing them, one finds that there is nothing in them, nothing stable, nothing substantial, they have no solidity. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in a plantain tree.

Heartwood is the pith, the core, the essence.

“In the same way, a meditator carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes whatever formations, past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, sublime or repugnant, far or near. When carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing formations, the meditator finds that there is nothing in them, nothing stable, nothing substantial, they have no solidity; they are like a disease, like a carbuncle, like a thorn, like a killer, they are impermanent, disappointing, empty, and not self. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in formations.

Behold, nothing! It was all just an illusion.

“Meditators, it is just as if a master magician or the disciple of a master magician at a crossroads creates the magical illusion of an elephant troop, a horse troop, a chariot troop, and an infantry troop, and a clear-sighted person carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes it. At the time of carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing it, one finds that there is nothing in it, nothing stable, nothing substantial, it has no solidity. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in a magical illusion.

• Where in the brain does consciousness reside? Scientists think they might know
• Human consciousness could be a side effect of entropy, study suggests

The self = Five Aggregates clung to as "self"

“In the same way, a meditator carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes whatever consciousness, past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, sublime or repugnant, far or near. When carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing it, the meditator finds that there is nothing in it, nothing stable, nothing substantial, it has no solidity; it is like a disease, like a carbuncle, like a thorn, like a killer, it is impermanent, disappointing, empty, and not self. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in consciousness.”

Illusion begets misery. Awaken
to unending peace of wisdom.

At that time the Blessed One, to emphasize the significance of what he had just declared to be true, uttered these stanzas:

“Contemplate bodily form as a mass of foam,

Feelings as bubbles on water,

Perceptions as the glare in spring,

Formations as sheaths of a plantain,

And the nature of any consciousness like a magical illusion,

As the Kinsman of the Sun [the Scythian of the solar race] has explained.

“Carefully attending to it from all sides

With right mindfulness, examining it well,

It is found to be insubstantial and without solidity,

There is no self nor anything that belongs to a self

In this bodily aggregate, which is disappointing.

“The Great Wise One has analyzed and explained that,

Bereft of three things,

The body will be abandoned:

Vitality, heat, and consciousness of every kind,

Bereft of these, the remaining form falls apart

And is forever abandoned in a tomb,

A discarded log, without conscious perceptions.

“This body is always in this way

Illusory and deceptive, enticing foolish beings.

It is like a killer, a poison-tip thorn,

Being without solidity.

“For a meditator who energetically cultivates

Contemplation of this body, this aggregate of form,

Day and night constantly engaging it

With right view, with mindfulness well established,

Conditioned formations will cease

And one attains the deathless, the cool peace.”

Then the monastics, hearing what the Buddha had said, rejoiced and approved of what he had said.

• 泡沫—Bhikkhu Anālayo (trans.), Saṁyuktāgama 201-300, "Discourse on Bubbles and Foam" (SA 265), from the Connected or Linked Discourses (Samyutta Nikaya) 201-300, preserved in the Agamas, suttacentral.net)
• What are the Āgamas in Buddhism?

Females make better Wanderers (photos)

Anum Ansari (twitter, original post, July 16, 2016) edited by Amber Larson, Ananda M., Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Crystal Quintero, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Priestess Path with Elizabeth Wilcock (elizabethwilcock.com)

10 lesser-known facts about female ascetics

Anum Ansari

The Maha Kumbha Mela ("Great Ambrosia-Pot Festival") is joyously celebrated in the city of Ujjain.

Few realized that the Kumbh Mela is attended by sadhvis, female sadhus, not only male sadhus. It is a great attraction for these naga-sadhvis and -sadhus.

There are certain rules for the ascetics who attend the mela, which are mandatory for males and females. Here are some interesting facts about them most people might not know:

 

1. Prior to becoming a wandering ascetic or hermit, a woman has to follow all the rules of brahmacharya (celibate rules) for 6-12 years. If she succeeds in doing that, she is ordained by her guru.

  

2.  Sadhus investigate the woman’s past, family, and friends before making her a naga sadhvi.

3. Before becoming a sadhvi, the woman has to do her own pinddan and libation.

How to become a female wanderer

What is the path to enlightenment, the Eight Limbs of Yoga or the Buddha's Path?

• 

  INQUIRE WITHIN

  How to become a wandering ascetic: Processes and rituals for becoming a sadhvi vary by sect. In almost all of them she is initiated by a guru, who bestows upon the initiate a new name and a mantra (a sacred sound or phrase), which is generally known only to the initiate and guru and may be repeated by as part of meditative practice. Becoming a wanderer is a path followed by millions. It is the final of four stages of a good Hindu life: after being a young celibate student, a retired worker, a householder, it is time to let it all go to become a celibate wanderer or pilgrim in search of Truth/godhood/moksha.

• 

  I did it! (Sadhvi Saraswati)

  But for most Hindus, particularly in modern times, this does not seem like a practical option. For a person to become a sadhvi/sadhu, vairagya is needed. This term means "a desire to achieve something by leaving the world" (cutting familial, societal, and worldly attachments).
• A person who wants to become sadhu must first seek a guru then perform "service to the teacher" or guru-seva. The guru then decides whether the person is eligible to take to wandering (sannyasa) by observing the candidate or sisya (the person who wants to become a sadhu or sanyasin). If the person is eligible, guru upadesa (teaching) is done. Only then does the ordinary person transform into an ascetic, wayfarer, or wanderer. There are different types of sanyasins in India who follow different sampradya. But all sadhus, even Buddhist ones, from time immemorial have a common goal in mind: attaining moksha (liberation). More

FEMALE Buddhist monastics are known as bhikkhunis ("nuns"), Northern California.

4. Females are first made to shave their heads and then bathe in the river as a part of a [baptismal] cleansing ritual.

 

5. Female ascetics are given equal respect as males. They also take the royal "purification bath" along with males the holy river, usually the sacred Ganges.

 

6. In the path of becoming a sadhvi, a woman has to show that she is a complete devotee of God/GOD and has no interest in worldly pleasures.

 

7. There is only one difference in female and males. Females are made to cover themselves with a yellow cloth. They are not allowed to bathe naked -- like many of the "skyclad" males -- and so they have to use that same yellow cloth while bathing.

 

Acharya Mahamandaleshwar ordains women in the holy river as sanyasins.

8. As their lives are completely devoted to realization (of GOD/Brahman, of union with the universe, of finding the ultimate truth), their day starts with praying (japa) devotions (puja) and ends with the same.

9. Female ascetics put tika (tilaka, colorful makeup using sacred cremation pyre ashes as the base) on their foreheads and wear just a single yellowish or white cloth.

 

10. When a woman becomes a sadhvi, all of the priestesses/ascetics in her group start calling her mata ("mother," like female-padre). More

 

• Ancient history on the Indian_subcontinent (intro)

Want to know what your Egyptian Zodiac sign tells about you?

Out of Africa...into India's Andamans (video)

Arida Aspins; Native Americans; Xochitl, Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly

The Andaman Islands lie off the eastern coast of mainland India (worldisbeautiful.net).

Andaman Islands below Burma, SE Asia

The uncontacted tribes of the Andaman Islands, known as the Jarawa, Great Andamanese, Onge, and Sentinelese are believed to have lived in their Indian Ocean home for up to 55,000 years, just like the aboriginal blacks in the United States. They are now vastly outnumbered by several hundred thousand East Indians or Dravidians, who have settled on the islands in recent decades. More

The first Americans were aboriginal BLACKS, not Indians or Asians

Surf: "Foam" (sutra)

Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly, Ven. Thanissaro (trans.), WatMetta.org, Phena Sutta: Foam (SN 22.95) SUMMER SOLSTICE

If samsara is a "sea," a deluge, a flood, then what is the foam in the surf? (loltops.org)

  

Saltwater Buddha (jaimalyogis.com)

On one occasion the Blessed One was staying among the Ayojjhans on the banks of the Ganges river. There he addressed the monastics:

"Meditators, suppose a large glob of foam were floating down this Ganges river, and a person with good eyesight were to see it, observe it, and examine it. To one seeing, observing, closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in a glob of foam?

"In the same way, a meditator sees, observes, and closely examines any FORM of the past, future, or present, internal (inside oneself) or external, gross or subtle, mundane or sublime, far or near. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in form?

 

"Now suppose that in the autumn -- when it is raining in large, heavy drops -- a water bubble were to appear and disappear on the water, and a person with good eyesight were to see, observe, and closely examine it. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in a water bubble?
 

"In the same way, a meditator sees, observes, and closely examines any FEELING of the past, future, or present, internal or or external, gross or subtle, mundane or sublime, far or near. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in feeling?

 

Los Angeles Yoga (layoga.com)

"Now suppose that in the last month of the hot season (the summer) a mirage were shimmering, and a person with good eyesight were to see, observe, and closely examine it. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in a mirage?

"In the same way, a meditator sees, observes, and closely examines any PERCEPTION of the past, future, or present, internal  or external, gross or subtle, mundane or sublime, far or near. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in perception?

 

"Now suppose that a person desiring heartwood, on a quest for heartwood, seeking heartwood, were to go into a forest carrying a sharp ax. There one might see a large banana tree -- straight, young, of enormous height. One would cut it at the root and chop off the top. Having done so one would peel away the outer skin. And doing so one would not find even sapwood, to say nothing of heartwood.

Summer sun (Michelle Novak/almanac.com)

"Then a person with good eyesight would see, observe, and closely examine it. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in a banana tree?

"In the same way a meditator sees, observes, and closely examines any FORMATIONS of the past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, mundane or sublime, far or near. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in formations?

 

"Now suppose a magician or magician's apprentice were to display a magic trick at an intersection, and a person with good eyesight were to see, observe, and closely examine it. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in a magic trick?

(OCCUPY.COM)

"In the same way a meditator sees, observes, and closely examines any CONSCIOUSNESS of the past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, mundane or sublime, far or near. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in consciousness?

• Form, Feeling, Perception, Formations, and Consciousness are the Five Aggregates, the Five Groups of Existence

"Seeing things thus, the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones grows disenchanted with form, disenchanted with feeling, disenchanted with perception, disenchanted with formations, disenchanted with consciousness. 

"And disenchanted, one grows dispassionate. Through dispassion, one is released. With release there arises the knowledge, 'Released.' One discerns that 'Birth is ended, the supreme life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.'"

 

Sun salutation on the sea (shareitfitness)

This is what the Blessed One said, and having said it, the Wayfarer (Well-Gone One), the Teacher, further uttered these verses:

 

Form is like a glob of foam;

feeling, a bubble;

perception, a mirage;

formations are like a banana tree;

consciousness, a magic trick --

This was taught by the Kinsman of the Sun.

However one observes them,

Closely examines them,

They are empty,

Void to whoever sees them (penetrates them with insight).

"Beginning with the body as taught by the Wise One:

When abandoned by three things --

Life, warmth, and consciousness --

Form is rejected, cast aside.

When bereft of these it lies thrown away,

Senseless, food for others.

That is how it goes:

It's a magic trick, an idiot's babbling.

It's said to be a murderer (See Yamaka Sutra, SN22).

 

No substance here is found.

So a meditator, persistence aroused, should view

The aggregates by day and night, mindful, alert;

One discards all fetters, all bonds;

One makes oneself one's own guide;

One lives as if one's head (hat, headdress, turban) were on fire --

In hopes of that state where there is no falling away.

The Los Angeles River renovation

Xochitl, Wisdom Quarterly; Alice Walton (SCPR); Soumya Karlamangla (latimes.com)

Kayakers on clean stretch of the L.A. River (Alissa Walker/flickr.com/Creative Commons)

.

Alice Walton

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti will announce today the Los Angeles River is receiving $1 billion to rehab 11 miles of it [where it is not paved but is allowed to percolate into the ground]. 

 

Maven's Morning Coffee daily email for Thursday, May 29, about Southern California: 

Deva-tree, cows (Fernando R. Carvalho)

Rehabbing the river from downtown to Elysian Park is seen as the first step toward rehabilitating the entire 51-mile stretch of the river. The Army Corps of Engineers will recommend a $1 billion proposal to revitalize 11 miles along the Los Angeles River, which gives Mayor Eric Garcetti one of his first major political wins, reports the Los Angeles Times:

It was never a sewer, just flood control. A $1-billion proposal to restore an 11-mile stretch of the L.A. River received support from US Army Corps of Engineers this week (Jae C. Hong).

 
Mayor thanks president for "listening" on L.A. River project

Soumya Karlamangla (latimes.com)

Soumya Karlamangla

With new backing from the federal government, city officials celebrated a step forward Thursday for a $1-billion plan to revitalize a strip of the Los Angeles River.
 

Recommended $1-billion project

After originally pushing for a cheaper $453-million plan, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced this week that it now supports a more robust, $1-billion proposal that would widen the river and restore habitat along an 11-mile stretch north of downtown through Elysian Park.

Speaking in a grassy park beside the river, Army Corps Col. Kimberly Colloton said the decision not only recognized "the importance of the river to Angelenos, but it validates its place as a waterway of national significance." More