Showing posts with label great horned. Show all posts
Showing posts with label great horned. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 30, 2025

Gandharan Buddhist Texts: Rhino Sutra

First statues of the Buddha
In the years following Alexander the Great’s conquest of the East, a series of empires rose up along the Silk Road. In what is now northern Pakistan, the civilizations in the region called ancient Gandhara became increasingly important centers for the development of Buddhism, reaching their apex under King Kaniska of the Kusanas (Kushan Empire) in the second century CE.

Gandhara has long been known for its Greek-Indian (Greco-Buddhist) synthesis in architecture and statuary, but until about 20 years ago, almost nothing was known about its Buddhist literature (Gandhāran Buddhist texts).

Buddhist Lit of Ancient Gandhara
The insights provided by manuscripts unearthed over the last few decades show that Gandhara was indeed a vital link in the early development of Buddhism, instrumental in both the transmission (Journey to the West, Monkey King) of Buddhism to China and the rise of the Mahayana tradition.

The Buddhist Literature of Ancient Gandhara surveys what we know about Gandhara and its Buddhism, and it also provides translations of a dozen different short texts, from similes and stories to treatises on time and reality.


Afghanistan's Buddhas: The Ancient Art of Gandhara || Overlooked Art History
(Athena Art Foundation) Feb. 20, 2023: The history of ancient Gandharan art is a reminder of Afghanistan's diverse and beautiful history, in poignant contrast to its current political turmoil. 🇦🇫 Gandhara was an ancient region located in parts of present-day northeast Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan. Gandharan sculpture is characterized by its combination of ancient Greek and Buddhist styles, highly influenced by the conquest of Alexander the Great in 327 BC. #sculptor #arthistory #learnart
Superiority of Solitude in Early Buddhism: "The Rhinoceros Sutta"

(Doug's Dharma) Nov. 27, 2023: Is solitary practice superior? [The best companionship is with a kalyana-mitta or "noble friend," and the second best, if no such friend can be found, is to go alone.] Let us consider the problem through a look at one of the most powerful and enigmatic early Buddhist poems, the Rhinoceros Sutra. What does it tell us, and who composed it?
  • 00:00 Intro — viewer question and a poem
  • 02:26 What does the poem say?
  • 04:37 The central tension of Buddhist practice: solitude and community
  • 08:06 Who composed the poem, when, and why?
  • 09:14 Pre-Buddhist origin?
  • ["Pre-Buddhist" refers to when there were only silent or non-teaching (pacceka-) buddhas, considered pre-Buddhist because the historical Supremely Enlightened Buddha (samma-sam-buddha) Siddhartha Gautama or Shakyamuni has not yet arisen in the world; however, there have been other supremely awakened teaching buddhas in the distant past. This means there were Buddhists before Buddhism even if they were not called that and a long line of at least 28 teaching-buddhas mentioned by the Buddha as having preceded him.]
  • 09:59 Buddhist origin?
  • 14:10 Both origins?
📙 BOOK: A Handbook of Early Buddhist Wisdom, with a foreword by Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi. 🧡 Find this material useful? Check out Dr. Doug's Patreon page and get fun benefits like exclusive videos, audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: dougsseculardharma. 🧡 Donate: paypal.me/dougsdharma ☸️ Free mini-course at the Online Dharma Institute: onlinedharma.org. 🎙Check out podcast with Jon Aaron, "Diggin' the Dharma," digginthedharma.com

✅ Books mentioned
NOTE: As an Amazon associate, Dr. Doug earns from qualifying purchases. Amazon links are affiliate links where he will earn a very small commission on purchases made at no additional cost to purchaser. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of making these videos. Thanks!

✅ Video mentioned: The Early Ideal of the "Lone Buddha" or Pacceka-buddha — • The Early Ideal of the "Lone Buddha"...


Webpage: dougsdharma.com. Facebook: onlinedharmainstitute. Mastodon: mindly.social/@dougsdharma. Instagram: dougsdharma. Threads: threads.net/@dougsdharma. Thumbnail photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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Friday, March 14, 2025

'Viagra for women,' Big Pharma boon?

Our Aphrodisiac Sampling Party produced no immediate results according to our "score" card
Amy King, KFI AM 649 news
Spring is coming! You know what that means. 🛌🍆💕 Cleaning, of course. And maybe a clean house will finally put her in the mood. But don't count on it. This whole marriage was a bait-and-switch! Enter, Addyi (as in addi-ction). Now there will be no excuse. Of course, how much has it even changed the world? It is not exactly new, just getting a new advertising push.

Once upon a time, "the pill" changed the world, starting in this country with women's lib, the Sixties, free love, and an end to the fear of unwanted pregnancies.

IDK why I get my freak on once a month.
What color was that pill? Pharmaceutical white, we think. Then came a revolution in capitalist medicine, a big blue pill (Viagra®) that changed the world.

Marriages rejoiced until they yawned and turned over and kept grumbling, "Get off me." What to do, what to do? Ah, better living through chemistry was the slogan at raves that pumped the EDM to bright synthetic colors and chemicals.


I don't need it. Being lust-free is not a problem.
Finally, after decades of trying -- after millennia of aphrodisiac promises and recipes, slaughter shellfish rich in zinc, drupe fruits hanging languorously from the bough and branch, vine and even emerging from the ground (pomegranate, fig, avocado berry, strawberry, amla, gooseberry, camu camu...) What is the secret substance?

Feel nada? Maybe BDSM? Secretary Mag Gyllenhaal
Ah, clean vegan protein hits the spot.
Big Pharma now has something to sell to dissatisfied husbands and intrepid women who want to feel what they no longer feel or never felt, given years of sexism and trauma and inverted onanism no one is allowed to talk about, not that they would talk about it since the real occupation is in the mind. Free our minds and our butts will follow? That's the saying.

I should marry and do this while she sleeps.
Drop a pharmaceutical -- along with all the antidepressants (mostly SSRIs), dopaminergic Adderall, obtunding alcohol. and whatever else the dealers on campus are dealing -- and hop in bed? That would be surprising.

What kind of obsession can desire become? 
No one believed beets and nitric acid could do anything, but Viagra proved otherwise until every corporation rushed to release their own versions of the same thing. Cialis® anyone? That market is saturated (with generic sildenafil). Now it's time to soak some new sheets. Enter, Addyi® (flibanserin). Is it only for "working girls" like Julia Roberts? No, they don't want to enjoy it or be in any mood but moneygrubbing mode, the better for the heartless gold-digging. 
The sexiest fruit is the most expensive. What if it doesn't work? Up the price to $19 (Erewhon)
How to work with aphrodisiacs so they actually work – Rasa (wearerasa.com)
The science behind aphrodisiacs, natural mood-enhancing nutraceuticals | Salon.com
.
The hidden danger and depravity of sensual lust
Addyi is the only FDA-approved pill proven to increase a woman's sex drive. Addyi is a 100% [synthetic allopathic chemical compound but it is a] hormone-free pill for Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD) proven to help certain premenopausal women*:
  • have more interest in sex
  • have more satisfying sex
  • lower stress (from low libido).
.
Do we get money back if it doesn't work?
(BTW, look carefully, perv. That's her leg!)
*Efficacy of Addyi was established in three 24-week trials in over 2,000 premenopausal women with acquired, generalized HSDD. Patients were treated with Addyi (n=1,187) or placebo (n=1,188) [n being the number of participants in a study].

Not all women will experience similar improvement for their HSDD. For the last 10 years, Addyi has been the #1 prescribed treatment for HSDD [1] in women who have not yet gone through menopause, who have not had problems with low sexual desire in the past, and who have low sexual desire no matter the type of sexual activity, the situation, or the sexual partner.

Sexbot: Wait, what, you're saying I'm not a "real" woman? This pill didn't work! Get off of me!
.
Women with HSDD have low sexual desire that is troubling to them. Their low sexual desire is not due to:
  • a medical or mental health problem [such as having been molested, assaulted, or raped, Live Beyond ACEs!],
  • problems in the relationship
  • or medicine
  • or other drug use.
I get a real charge out of suckers men for my Tesla
Addyi is not for use for the treatment of HSDD in women who have gone through menopause or in men or children [anyone under 18, depending on geographical location and political climate].

Addyi is not for use to enhance sexual performance [so, sorry, working girls, you'll just have to rely on the same illegal drugs you've been using up until now].

Sugar is deadlier than glyphosate (Roundup®)

ACEs
It happened to everyone. - No, it didn't!
(Live Beyond CA) Our past experiences do not define us, but they can have a lasting impact on our mental and physical health and even our relationships. ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) are not our fault. We didn’t have control over when or why they happened, but we can live beyond ACEs and take steps toward healing. More

Big Pharma keeps trying to convince women they need libido drugs
Teresa Carr, Mother Jones
What's in this legal toxic stew of allopathic chemicals and enzyme disruptors?
.
Magic in Pandora's bottle or an evil genie?
Sex therapist and researcher Leonore Tiefer shuttered the New View Campaign, an organization she had founded to combat what she refers to as “the medicalization of sex” — essentially, the pharmaceutical industry’s efforts to define variations in sexuality and sexual problems as medical issues requiring a drug fix.

For 16 years, the group had fought against industry’s involvement in sex research, including its push for a drug to boost women’s sex drives.

New View hosted conferences and its members penned papers and testified before the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The campaign was prominently featured in an 80-minute documentary called Orgasm Inc, and promoted a clever (if off-pitch) video advising women to “throw that pink pill away,” a reference to the female-libido drug flibanserin (Addyi), which was seeking FDA approval at the time.

Orgasm Inc, that's a real thing? Is it Rated X?

New View counted some successes: The FDA didn’t approve an allegedly libido-boosting testosterone patch for women, on the grounds that the patch’s slim benefits didn’t outweigh its risks, and the FDA twice rejected flibanserin for the same reason.

But [ten years ago] in August 2015, the agency reversed itself and approved the so-called pink Viagra. “I felt we’d said everything we had to say,” said Tiefer of ending the campaign.

Advocates predicted FDA approval would be sought for additional women’s libido drugs, but the group felt there was nothing they could do to stop it. More
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Sunday, December 29, 2019

Premarital SEX? (video)

Ven. K. Sri Dhammananda, Dr. Nikkyo Niwano, A Happy Married Life: A Buddhist Perspective (BPS, ATI); Flight of the Conchords; Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
(Flight of the Conchords) From the TV show "Flight of the Conchords," Season 1, Ep. 4. Song: Min 2:30

Premarital Sex
Hey, stranger, know what time it is? - Dawn?
Premarital sex is much discussed in modern society. Many young people would like to know the opinion regarding this sensitive issue. Is it considered committing adultery, immoral, or...?

In the past, youths were not allowed by their parents to move around freely until they were married. And marriages were arranged by the parents. Of course, this caused unhappiness in some cases when parents chose partners on the basis of money, social status, family obligations, and so on.

Sex at Dawn: Polyamory or Monogamy?
But generally, the majority of parents tried very hard to choose a partner who would be acceptable to their children.

Today, young people are at the liberty to go out and try to find their own partners. They have a lot of freedom and independence in their lives. Some are too young and immature to see the difference between sexual attraction and compatibility, so the problem of premarital sex arises.

Too much laxity in matters concerning sex gives rise to social problems in modern society. Some societies do not express liberal attitudes towards unmarried mothers, unparented children, and divorcees, yet they are quite liberal about free sex.

As a result, young people are shamed and punished by a society that encourages free sex. They become social outcasts and suffer humiliation. Many young girls have become victims of their own freedom and have harmed their futures by violating age-old traditions that were valued in the East and West.

I dunno what to do with myself sometimes.
Premarital sex has come about as a result of social freedom. While Buddhism holds no strong views either for or against such action, it is thought that all Buddhists, particularly people in love and contemplating marriage, should adhere to the traditional concept that they maintain chastity until marriage.

The human mind/heart is wavering and ever-changing, with the result that any illicit action or indiscretion may cause harm to either party. It must be remembered that any sexual indulgence may be looked down upon by elders and guardians.

Sexual Misconduct
Let's. - Maybe we shouldn't?
Laypeople are advised in Buddhism to avoid sexual misconduct. That means, if one wants to experience sex, one must do so without creating any violence or using any kind of force, threat, or causing fear.

A decent sex life which respects the other partner is approved by this religion; Buddhism accepts the fact that it is a necessity for those who are not yet ready to renounce the worldly life.

According to Buddhism, those who are involved in extramarital sex with someone
  • who is already married
  • who is betrothed
  • who is under the protection of parents or guardians
are committing the seriously bad karma of "sexual misconduct," because there is a rupture of social norms, where a third party is being made to suffer as a result of the selfishness of one or the other partner.

Irresponsible Sexual Behavior


(Suburban Lawns) Su Tissue sings the timeless tune "Janitor." LYRICS: All action is reaction/ Expansion/ Contraction/ Man the manipulator// Underwater/ Does it matter?/ Antimatter/ Nuclear reactor/ Boom boom boom boom/ Who's your mother? Who's your father? I guess everything's a relative/ Who's your mother? Who's your father?/ I guess everyone's a relative// I'm a janitor/ Oh my janitors/ I'm a janitor/ Oh my janitors/ Oh my janitors/ I'm a janitor// All action is reaction/ Expansion/ Contraction/ Woman the manipulated/ Underwater/ Does it matter/ Antimatter/ New catheter lubricator/ Boom boom boom boom/ Who's your mother? Who's your father?/ I guess everything's irrelative/ Who's your mother? Who's your father?/ I guess everyone's irrelative/ I'm a janitor/ Oh my genitals/ I'm a janitor/ Oh my genitals/ Oh my genitals/ I'm a janitor/ [I mop this mess up].

It was just one of those things.
The Buddha also revealed the consequences that an elderly man would face if he married without considering the compatibility of age of the other party. According to the Buddha, irresponsible sexual behavior can become the cause of one's downfall in many aspects of life.

All countries have clearly defined laws concerning sexual abuse. Buddhism advocates that a person respect the laws of the country if the laws are made for the common good.

10. East and West
There's the yin and the yang, East and West.
The following are extracts from a book by the celebrated Japanese author Dr. Nikkyo Niwano. In The Richer Life, he deals with love and marriage from Eastern and Western points of view.

"In the West, marriage on the basis of romantic love has often been considered natural and sometimes ideal. In Asia, in recent years, the number of young people who abandon the traditional arranged marriage and select partners out of romantic consideration has been growing.

What about pornography and perversion?
"But in some cases, romantic marriages lead to separation and unhappiness within a short time, whereas the arranged marriage often produces a couple who live and work together in contentment and happiness.

"In spite of its emotional appeal, all romantic marriages cannot be called unqualified successes. Romantic love is like the bright flame of a wood-fire that leaps up and burns clear, but lasts only a short time. Love between [a husband] and wife burns quietly and slowly like the warming fire of burning coal.

"Of course, bright flaming love can — and ideally ought to — eventually become the calm, enduring fire of mature affection. But too often the flame of romantic love is quickly extinguished, leaving nothing but ashes, which are a poor foundation for a successful married life!"

Emotions
Emotions on top of emotions, feelings on feelings
"Young people in love think so much of their emotions. They see themselves in the light of fleeting feelings in the moment. Everything they think and do is romantic.

"It has little bearing on the practical affairs of the life they must lead after marriage.

"If lovers are fortunate enough to have compatible personalities, to have sound and similar ideas about life, to share interests, to enjoy harmonious family relations on both sides, and to be financially secure even after the fiery passion has calmed down, they will still have a basis for a good life together.

"If they are not so blessed, they may face marital failure."

"When the time of dates, emotional pictures, dances, and parties has passed, the young married couples will have to live together, share meals, and reveal to each other their defects as well as their merits.... To live peacefully, it is necessary to realize the difference between romance and married love." More
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Monday, July 14, 2014

Buddhist Geeks in Los Angeles (InsightLA)

Wisdom Quarterly; Buddhist Geeks coming to Los Angeles (InsightLA.org)
http://www.insightla.org/1620/mind-hacking-with-buddhist-geeks-emily-and-vincent-horn

Buddhist Geeks Conference 2014
Buddhist Geeks are excited to announce that their new workshop, "Mind Hacking," will be offered on August 2, 2014 from 10:00 am-1:00 pm at InsightLA in Santa Monica.
 
The workshop will be led by geeks, mind hackers, and Buddhist teachers Vincent Horn and Emily Horn.
 
Over the course of this 3-hour interactive workshop they plan to explore the basics of the hacking mindset as well as discussing four meditative skill-sets for hacking the mind, including:
  • Concentration Meditation
  • Investigation Meditation
  • Meditative Inquiry
  • Formless Awareness
During this time together all participants will be engaged in both silent meditation as well as a social form of mindfulness called "social noting." There will be plenty of time for fine-tuning and questions as all journey into a process of hacking the mind, awakening the heart, and rebooting the world.

25 Mildred Ave., Asheville, NC 28806

The opening keynote at the Buddhist Geeks Conference 2014 will be offered by Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara. She will be joining Geeks in the exploration of convergence. She brings years of experience as both a teacher and practitioner of Zen Buddhism.

"She asks me, 'Why Zen?'
clear blue sky
sunlight dancing off the bare branches
sound of leaves
the little black-headed chickadee whistles
my life so clear, so direct
gratitude for this mind moment."
- from Roshi O'Hara's book: Most Intimate: A Zen Approach to Life's Challenges

Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara received priest ordination from Maezumi Roshi and Dharma Transmission and Inka from Bernie Tetsugen Glassman. She founded Manhattan's Village Zendo, New York. 
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Friday, April 24, 2009

Owls move in on Home Depot

Huffington Post
America has enormous warehouse stores such as Home Depot. These outlets are so large that animals often take up residence. This creates makeshift ecosystems. A great horned owl (photo: animal.discovery.com) seeking refuge came to nest; the mice hunted have led the nestlings to take up permanent residence.

HARRISON, Arkansas — A Home Depot in northern Arkansas has someone new looking out for mice at the warehouse store. A great horned owl now lives in the Harrison store's garden center, looking down on surprised customers shopping for flowers and paving stones. Employees say the bird's mother flew inside of the enclosed garden center during a January ice storm and laid eggs atop a pallet of merchandise.

Over time, the mother disappeared and two baby owls poked their heads out of the nest. One fell to its death, but the other survived, its four-foot wing span blocking out the sun as he flies around the garden center.

Since the garden center is open to the sky, the owl will leave, but always comes back, employees said.

"He's kind of our pet now," garden center supervisor John Gallagher told the Harrison Daily Times.

And the owl likely will remain there. Randy Zellers, managing editor of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's Arkansas Wildlife magazine, said owls are classified as raptors, which are protected under strict federal regulations. More>>
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