How the Mongols erased Islamic Iraq

(Echoes of Torture)

Short Attn Span Theatre: Karma, Jake Paul

Israel cornered: Antisemitism card is dead

Israel cornered, Anti-Semitism card is dead: Col. Larry Wilkerson

Knowingly LYING for Israel

Biden administration liar for Israel regrets lying about Israel's war crimes

• Israel weasels its way into California bill [that claims it] aims to combat antisemitism in schools | KTLA

Hidden Buddhist monasteries of Mongolia

The hidden monasteries of Mongolia: How Buddhism shaped Mongolia’s nomadic soul | SLICE

(SLICE) In the heart of Central Asia, Mongolia’s vast, untouched landscapes have shaped a unique form of Buddhism, where spirituality and nature exist in perfect harmony.

Introduced in the 16th century, Buddhism spread across the endless steppes, carried by merchant caravans alongside silk and spices. Monasteries rose like mirages in the wilderness, blending seamlessly with the land’s raw power.

Through centuries of resilience, Mongolian Buddhism has evolved, influenced by Tibetan traditions yet deeply rooted in nomadic life.

• Buddhism in Mongolia

From sacred rituals to the revival of monasteries after Soviet repression, this is the story of a faith (saddha) that has withstood time, exile, and change.

Documentary: Sacred Spaces – Asian temples. Humans, Nature, and Gods. Directed by: Véronique Legendre. Production: ZED, ARTE FRANCE, CuriosityStream. SLICE fully owns the rights to the use of the published content. Any illegal reproduction of this content will result in immediate legal action. SLICE wants to fill up viewers' curiosity! Accessible to anyone from anywhere at any time, this channel is a weekly dose of short docs about curious facts, discoveries, astounding info, unusual stories, weird, fun, and instructive. Be smart, have a slice! Subscribe now ► @slicedocumentary Become a fan: @slicedocumentary. Follow: 👇 In French: slicefr. Facebook: slicedocs. Instagram: slicedocs. #documentary #slice #fulldocumentary #freedocumentary #mongolia #buddha #buddhism #history #religion #sacred #temple #amazing #spirituality #spiritual #monl #prayer #pray

• SLICE, Feb. 13, 2025; CC Liu, Crystal Q., Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Eli from Russia in Buddhist Mongolia

(Eli from Russia) First impressions of Buddhist Mongolia: from Soviet Era to nomadic life

• Buddhism in Mongolia

How cold does it really get in Mongolia?

Sex: The science of Genghis Khan genes

Everyone was WRONG about Genghis Khan

(SciShow) July 27, 2024: There's an oft-quoted statistic that something like 5% of people are related to Genghis Khan. The guy (raping and pillaging from Japan to Eastern Europe) did have a lot of kids. But the truth is more complicated. Here's how science uses Y chromosome analysis and small groups of genetic mutations to see how we are all related to each other. Hosted by Hank Green.

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Great Wall of China from space: Kubla Khan

National Geographic Asia, 9/30/20; CC Liu, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Great Wall of China | HD Wallpapers Images and Photos (hdwallpaperim.com)

Secrets of the Great Wall | Ancient China from above | National Geographic

(National Geographic Asia) Sept. 30, 2020: Archeologist Allan Maca leads a team of intrepid experts on an epic adventure to solve mysteries, explore secrets, and reveal amazing wonders of Ancient China like never before.

Stupa burial mounds exist across Central Asia

Guided by images from space [20 to 50 miles above earth], cutting-edge technology on the ground, and the very latest excavations of Chinese archeologists, they will reveal palaces and tombs, incredible megastructures, and even entire long-lost cities. Along the way they will uncover new revelations about the Great Wall of China, explore the myths of Xanadu [made famous by the British poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Kubla Khan," which Wisdom Quarterly's own poet in residence, Dhr. Seven, thinks refers to a Buddhist civilization and a description of a Buddhist stupa, pagoda, and temple complex, which Coleridge read about from the writings of a British Christian missionary and traveler who visited the very place Coleridge is dreaming of and trying to describe in verse], and unearth evidence of ancient civilizations — discovers that are rewriting the history books.

"Kubla Khan"

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree:

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man

     Down to a sunless sea.

So twice five miles of fertile ground

With walls and towers were girdled round;

And here were gardens bright with sinuous rills

Where blossom'd many an incense-bearing tree;

And here were forests ancient as the hills,

Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

Not blocks of ice but durable white stones

But oh that deep romantic chasm which slanted

Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!

A savage place! as holy and enchanted

As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted

By woman wailing for her demon-lover!

And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,

As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,

A mighty fountain momently was forced:

Amid whose swift half-intermitted Burst

Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,

Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail:

And mid these dancing rocks at once and ever

It flung up momently the sacred river.

Five miles meandering with a mazy motion

Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,

Then reached the caverns measureless to man,

And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean:

And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far

Ancestral voices prophesying war!

Manmade cave, not of ice but stone

     The shadow of the dome of pleasure

     Floated midway on the waves;

     Where was heard the mingled measure

     From the fountain and the caves.

It was a miracle of rare device,

A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!

     A damsel with a dulcimer

     In a vision once I saw:

     It was an Abyssinian maid

     And on her dulcimer she play'd,

     Singing of Mount Abora.

     Could I revive within me

     Her symphony and song,

     To such a deep delight 'twould win me,

That with music loud and long,

I would build that dome in air,

That sunny dome! those caves of ice!

And all who heard should see them there,

And all should cry, Beware! Beware!

His flashing eyes, his floating hair!

Weave a circle round him thrice,

And close your eyes with holy dread:

For he on honey-dew hath fed,

And drank the milk of Paradise.

Traveling the Silk Road: Uzbekistan (video)

On the Silk Road to Uzbekistan, passing through Buddhist Bamiyan, Afghanistan by camel

The people, history, and culture of Uzbekistan

What animal could survive the Silk Road?

(Traveling the Silk Road, DW Documentary) With its magical buildings, fascinating landscapes, and friendly people, Uzbekistan has a lot to offer. It is a country caught between rich traditions and modernity.

Wild equestrian games, fairytale palaces, and hospitable people proud of their magnificent culture --all of this is encountered by those traveling through Uzbekistan along the Silk Road.

The Central Asian country borders Kazakhstan to the north and Afghanistan to the south. The journey begins in Samarkand, one of Central Asia’s oldest cities.

For centuries cities like Samarkand, Bukhara (Boukhara, Buddha?), and Khiva provided the necessary infrastructure for caravans on the Silk Road, allowing merchants to trade goods and providing accommodation for them and their animals.

Many buildings survive to underline the splendor and wealth that trade once generated. Samarkand is  one of the world’s oldest cities, with three outstanding Koran schools, known as madrasas, on Registan Square. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

• The Buddha's family, the Shakyas/Scythians, were settled nomads, Sakas (Saccans), an equestrian peoples, extended family tribes. And young Prince Siddhartha Gautama (Shakya clan) had a prized white pony named Kanthaka, and was skilled in horse riding, archery, and sports. They were a "proud" people, the Buddha later explained, war-like and guarding their territory, accruing their riches due to the Silk Road in a far off hinterland that would seem to be in the middle of nowhere (Afghanistan according to Dr. Ranajit Pal).

(FTD Facts) 10 Surprising facts about Uzbekistan

In the Boysun Region in the Hissar Mountains the ancient, and none-too-gentle riding game known as kopkari is held at Nowruz, the traditional New Year festival. More than 100 horsemen try to pick up the body of a dead goat (as is played in Afghanistan, an apparent forebear of British and American pigskin games like rugby, soccer, and football) from the ground and to escape with this from all the others.

In 1380 the Uzbek folk hero Amir Timur (Tamerlane) had the gigantic Ak Sarav, "White Palace," built in Shahrisabz, the town of his birth. It had a thousand rooms adorned with gemstones.

_______

• The people, history and culture of Uzbekistan Traveling the Silk Road ¦ DW Documentary

Exciting, powerful, and informative – DW Documentary is always close to current affairs and international events. Our eclectic mix of award-winning films and reports take you straight to the heart of the story. Dive into different cultures, journey across distant lands, and discover the inner workings of modern-day life.

• DW Documentary (German PBS); Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Genghis Khan exhibit (video)

Reagan Library; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Question: What do pants, the Pony Express, cannons, paper money, skis, violins, bakhlava, and “hooray!” all have in common? Answer: Genghis Khan introduced them all to the West. Not Genghis the brutal barbarian of Western history books, but Genghis the great civilizer and lawmaker, whose empire brought each of these innovations to the west, including 13^th Century Mongolian-style democracy. Now the most comprehensive exhibition of Genghis Khan and his treasures invades the Reagan Library, its only Southern California stop on an international tour that has drawn more than a million visitors. Daily live cultural performances within the exhibit at 11:00 am, 1:00 pm, and 3:00 pm! More

"Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (BBC)

The Forum (BBC.co.uk) programme w3csvsfl; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly

LISTEN: Kubla Khan: A Vision in a Dream (The Forum on BBC.co.uk)

High in the Himalayan foothills of Kathmandu, Nepal is the famous Boudhanath stupa.

 

Sri Lankan Buddhist stupa

I maintain "Kubla Khan" is a Buddhist poem, which is to say, a poem based on Buddhist features of a real place and person. Coleridge knew of it because he read about the mysterious East and its ancient treasures.

They were recorded in a travel book he was reading when he wrote "Kubla Khan" titled Purchas's Pilgrimes by the English cleric Samuel Purchas about his pilgrimages in Asia. Purchas traveled and reported what he saw back to the English-speaking world.

The "dome of ice" is a clear reference to a sparkling white stupa (Buddhist reliquaries, burial mounds, kurgans popularized by the Scythians/Shakyans of Central Asia based on burial mounds going back millennia in Central and North Asia, even up to portions of Ukraine). They are now built all over Asia.

There really was a Kublai Khan, a Mongol ruler (son of Temujin, "Greatest Warrior," known to all as Genghis Khan), who built a great city (or set up fabulous temporary city of yurts) called Xanadu (Shangdu) but then abandoned it for a better center of trade from which to rule in Beijing, China. (Why did the Chinese lose to Mongol invaders? They may have been weakened by germs from working in nightsoil paddy fields).

• AUDIO: The Forum on the BBC goes into detail

POEM: Kubla Khan

Or, a vision in a dream. A Fragment.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (poetryfoundation.org)

 

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree:

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man

   Down to a sunless sea.

So twice five miles of fertile ground

With walls and towers were girdled round;

And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,

Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;

And here were forests ancient as the hills,

Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted

Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!

A savage place! as holy and enchanted

As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted

By woman wailing for her demon-lover!

And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,

As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,

A mighty fountain momently was forced:

Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst

Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,

Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail:

And mid these dancing rocks at once and ever

It flung up momently the sacred river.

Five miles meandering with a mazy motion

Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,

Then reached the caverns measureless to man,

And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean;

And ’mid this tumult Kubla heard from far

Ancestral voices prophesying war!

   The shadow of the dome of pleasure

   Floated midway on the waves;

   Where was heard the mingled measure

   From the fountain and the caves.

It was a miracle of rare device,

A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!

   A damsel with a dulcimer

   In a vision once I saw:

   It was an Abyssinian maid

   And on her dulcimer she played,

   Singing of Mount Abora.

   Could I revive within me

   Her symphony and song,

   To such a deep delight ’twould win me,

That with music loud and long,

I would build that dome in air,

That sunny dome! those caves of ice!

And all who heard should see them there,

And all should cry, Beware! Beware!

His flashing eyes, his floating hair!

Weave a circle round him thrice,

And close your eyes with holy dread

For he on honey-dew hath fed,

And drunk the milk of Paradise.

Were giants ever real?

Steve Quayle shared images of sculptor Mark Patrick's elongated skull on his Jan. 8, 2018 Coast to Coast appearance. "We will have this and a full size 12-foot giant on display at our True Legends Conference in September," Quayle writes. "These giants literally bit the head off their human prey and ate their bodies like a piece of jerky," he added. Giants are real, and the Titans (Asuras) of Buddhist lore are fierce.

Mongolia: "The Children of Genghis" (film)

Wisdom Quarterly; Asianworldfilmfest.org

SYNOPSIS Filmed in the beautiful landscapes of Mongolia, this film tells the story of children who compete in horse races at the country’s traditional festival of Naadam.

 

Byambaa is an 8-year-old boy whose village deems him too young to compete in the races. Jealous of his elder brother, who's riding for another trainer, Byambaa convinces his father to train him to race against the older children. He soon learns that love, dedication, and trust are all necessary qualities if he is going to win, and his hope leaves a lasting impression on everyone around him. More + TICKETS

Official Submission for Best Foreign Language Film - Mongolia

Genre: Drama

Country: Mongolia 

Year: 2017

Duration: 101 minutes

Director: Zolbayar Dorj 

Language(s):  Mongolian 

Subtitles: English subtitles

Producer(s): Angarag Davaasuren, Altantsetseg Jarantai, Tsengel Davaasambuu

Screenplay: Zolbayar Dorj, Chimedtseren Ganzorig, Ganbold Buyantsogt 

Cinematographer:  Angarag Davaasuren 

Editor: Gantulga Urtnasan 

Music: Ulziibayar Shatar 

Principal Cast: Brittany Belt, Ankhnyam Ragchaa, Batmend Baast, Dorjsambuu Dambii, Oyunzul Dash

Dates & Times: October 29, 2017 6:00 PM

November 1, 2017 2:00 PM

Followed by Q&A with Producer(s): Angarag Davaasuren, Tsengel Davaasambuu;

Plays in:  ArcLight Cinemas - Culver City

KUBLA KHAN: like Amarbayasgalant, Mongolia

Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; photog Frank Jones (faj2323); Wiki

Golden lamas in space (akasha-deva-loka) garb (Frank Jones/faj2323/flickr)

An overview of Amarbayasgalant Monastery, with a large golden statue of the Buddha in the foreground (Frank Jones/flickr.com)

The "pleasure-dome" Buddhist stupa on the fertile ground (Frank Jones/faj2323/flickr)

.

Echoes of XANADU: The Western poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, while on prescription opium (Laudanum tincture), read vague tales of splendor from the British geographer, cleric, and author Samuel Purchas reporting on stories by returning travelers from Asia. He made one relative of the Northeast Asian Mongol marauder/emperor Genghis Khan most famous:
 

Frank Jones

"Kubla Khan" reportedly had a wondrous summer capital -- much as Prince Siddhartha who later became the Buddha had three palaces in his vast Indo-Scythian territory of Shakyaland or Sakastan in Central Asia, modern Afghanistan, one of them being Kapilavastu (but people act as if this capital, in the vicinity of modern Bamiyan, comprised the Shakyas' entire "country" or janapada).

Kubla Khan (theromantics.weebly.com)

It was transliterated from Shangdu into "Xanadu." Fortunately, Dr. Ranajit Pal figured out the campaign to minimize and confuse pre-Indian Buddhist history. Was there a pre-Buddhist history? Yes, it arose simultaneously in the Buddha's country, which Wisdom Quarterly calls Shakyaland (Sakastan, Afghanistan, Indo-Scythia, Gandhara) because one of its capitals was in Kapilavastu, which Dr. Pal suggests quite convincingly was likely in Bamiyan, Afghanistan.

Kubla Khan (alicedraws)

We conjecture, based on recent archeological finds, that another seasonal capital was at Mes Aynak and another possibly in modern Kabul (Kapil'). The region, like neighboring India, has three seasons necessitating various capitals (like the moving head of government in modern Jammu & Kashmir state in Himalayan India): hot, cold, and rainy.

Kublai Khan was in faraway Asia, which centered around a stupa (chorten) or Buddhist burial mound. This reliquary Coleridge referred to as a "pleasure-dome" with caves of ice in arguably his most intriguing and acclaimed work:

KUBLA KHAN
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (poetryfoundation.org)

Xanadu of Coleridge's imagining or Purchas' writing with a peace pagoda (jazbalive.com)

  
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
   Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground

With walls and towers were girdled round;

And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,

Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;

And here were forests ancient as the hills,

Enfolding sunny spots of greenery....

And ’mid this tumult Kubla heard from far

Ancestral voices prophesying war!

   The shadow of the dome of pleasure

   Floated midway on the waves;

   Where was heard the mingled measure

   From the fountain and the caves.

It was a miracle of rare device,

A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice! More

• Q: Hey, Seven, why don't you write a poem about the real Xanadu in Bamiyan?
• A: Way ahead of you guys, "Shakya Clan," and instead of Xanadu, Kapilav'u.

Scythian hats, blue eyes like the Buddha (faj2323/flickr)

The "Monastery of Tranquil Felicity" or Amarbayasgalant Monastery (Mongolian Амарбаясгалант хийд, Amurbayasqulangtu keyid; Manchu Urgun Elhe Sy, Chinese 慶寧寺) is one of the three largest Buddhist monastic centers in Mongolia.

The monastic complex is located in the Iven Valley near the Selenge River, at the foot of Mount Büren-Khaan in Baruunbüren sum (district) of Selenge Province in northern Mongolia.

The nearest town is Erdenet, which is about 60 km to the southwest.
 

The monastery was established and funded by order of Manchu emperor Kang Xi or Enkh-Amgalan Khan to serve as a final resting place for Zanabazar (1635-1723), the first Jebtsun-damba Khutuktu, or spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism for the Khalkha in Outer Mongolia.

Scythian "Sun Emperor"

According to tradition, while searching for an appropriate site to build the monastery, the exploratory group came across two young boys, Amur and Bayasqulangtu, playing on the steppe. They were inspired to build the monastery on that very spot and to name it after the two children, Amur-Bayasqulangtu.

Construction took place between 1727 and 1736 and Zanabazar's remains were transferred to a newly created temple in 1788. More

• A Shakyan/Scythian Warrior Princess: "The Golden Maiden" (Issyk Kurgan, originally mislabelled as "Golden Man" but whose frame suggests it was a female) would seem to be Coleridge's hallucinated "Damsel with a dulcimer" in the second half of the poem:

A damsel with a dulcimer

In a vision once I saw

It was an Abyssinian maid
[Afro-Asiatic Ethiopian Empire=Kurgan Empire]

And on her dulcimer she played

Singing of Mount Abora
[a reference to John Milton's Paradise Lost] 

Could I revive within me her symphony and song
To such a deep delight 'twould win me
That I would build that pleasure dome in air
That all who heard should see it there...
 

Why did the Buddha have blue eyes?

Blue and green eyed Central Asians are not uncommon even today (Blue_agava/flickr.com)

.

Buddhist Birth-Stories

He was a Scythian (Shakyan), and that was not so uncommon. The Shakyans, also referred to as the Sakas, Sakkas, and Sakyas, controlled territory between Iran to the west, India (Gandhara, modern Pakistan) to the east, and as far north as Kazakhstan and Ukraine (all called Scythia by the ancient Greeks), going from Central Asia up to Northern Asia and Russia's East.

The Buddha said it of himself -- in The Story of the Lineage (Nidana Katha, translated by Rhys Davids and included in his Jataka Tales work, Buddhist Birth-Stories) -- that he was of the "solar race," a noble (aryan), which was taken in India to mean a kshatriya (warrior)-caste nobleman (royal).

Eurasian Middle Eastern Indo-Scythians? (TIC)

The Shakyan Prince Siddhartha Gautama (matrilineal name from his mothers, the Gotami/Gaumata sisters) came from the "Middle Country" (Majjhima-desa), which refers to Central Asia and Middle East, in line with Northern India (Gandhara, Indo-Scythia). Dr. Pal claims the mothers were from Seistan-Balochistan (not Nepal), a province in Southern Afghanistan between Iran and Pakistan.

Boudanath Stupa, Kathmandu, Nepal

But in Buddhism aryan went from the concrete meaning Indo-Iranian (ariyan) to ennobled in the sense of "enlightened." This gets into the ugly subject of the "Aryan Invasion" theories, as if India and the glorious Indus Valley Civilization that preceded it could not have developed (with the usual aid of akasha-devas), without European or Northern Asian intervention, the conquerors bringing technological advancements like Romans overtaking and uplifting backward Israel.

Clearly sudden advancements come to Earth not from Earth but from more mysterious origins, then everyone tries to take credit for them as created by their group.

Map of Indo-European migrations from ca. 4000 to 1000 BCE according to the Kurgan model. The Anatolian migration (indicated with a dotted arrow) could have taken place either across the Caucasus or across the Balkans. The magenta area corresponds to the assumed Urheimat (Samara culture, Sredny Stog culture), the red to the area that may have been settled by Indo-European-speaking peoples up to ca. 2500 BCE, when Buddhism began, and the orange area by 1000 BC (wiki).