Bodhidharma is also popularly regarded as the founder of Shaolin kung fu [2, 3, 4, 5], an idea popularized in the 20th century [2, 4, 5] and based on the 17th-century Yijin Jing and the Taoist association of taoyin gymnastics with Bodhidharma [2, 3, b, c].
I cut off my eyelids to stare at a wall.
Little contemporary biographical information on Bodhidharma exists, and subsequent accounts are layered with lofty [and often absurd] legend and unreliable details [6, d].
Bodhidharma is described as either a "Persian [IranianAryan] Central Asian" [7] or a "South Indian...the third son of a great Indian king" [8, e].
Aside from the Chinese accounts, several popular traditions also exist regarding Bodhidharma's origins [Note 1].
Throughout Buddhist art, [the idea, legend, or personification of] Bodhidharma is depicted as an ill-tempered, large-nosed, profusely bearded [often obese], wide-eyed non-Chinese man. The accounts also differ on the date of his alleged arrival. More
(Samurai Matcha) ✪ Members first on Sept. 21, 2026. I’m filming this in one of the many empty houses in my Japanese neighborhood. I’m staying here for a month just to try it. ☺️
For anyone interested in R's KOSO, here's the link ✌️ dpbolvw.net/click-1011103... Use code SAMURAIGUT for 15% off (works on first subscription order, too). Subscribe and become a friend today: samuraimatcha.
GET IN TOUCH: If you’d like to talk, feel free to email me at samuraimatcha.japan@gmail.com. I try my best to reply to things, but there sadly aren't enough hours in the day to respond to everyone all the time, so please be patient or reach out again.
What if there were ONE secret to Japanese healthy weight, youthfulness, beauty, and amazing longevity? Westerners rush to say, "It must be genetics" because in that way, they can give up. There's nothing we can do about genetics (as if the West never heard of epigenetics), so let's do nothing.
In the age-old debate between Nature (genes) and Nurture (karma, our actions now), there's much more to be said for karma. First of all, the way most people use the word "karma," they mean both the intentional actions being willed and carried out AND the results of those acts from the past (vipaka, phala). Looked at that way, karma accounts for a lot of (but not all) nurture and a lot of (but not all) nurture.
Nurture is our environment and what others choose to do. How it affects us, that is greatly due to the habits, states, and traits we have built up over many past lives and all of this one. (Karma is vast and touches just about everything).
Nature is not limited to genetics, our innate nature, but all of the biology. In this way, we can see that how we nurture determines if it works well or to our detriment.
The Japanese one secret, which the West used to know and respect, is called chokatsu or "gut health." The West used to know this? Before researchers, scientists, and the medical field gave us terms like probiotics and intestinal health, our grandmothers were well aware of the benefits of fermentation. It's an ancient practice of cultivating good (usually lactic-acid producing) bacteria to preserve food and up bioavailable essential minerals, the unknown key to human health.
Minerals are the essential micronutrients (criticalhealthnews.com). Dr. Joel Wallach says that, sadly, minerals are no longer in our depleted soil because we no longer regularly throw ashes into the ground from wood burning. The sea still has those 92 trace minerals, and maybe seaweeds like the thickener Irish sea moss, and vegan sushi nori leaves, salty kombu, and other sea plants can still provide them.
Two things are true. 1. There is no self. In other words, all things are marked by the characteristic of being impersonal ("empty"). 2. Whatever arises arises dependent on causes and conditions, which is known as Dependent Origination.
Only by comprehending both will someone avoid confusion and an apparent paradox. Of course, there are two "truths," the conventional everyday truth (honesty) and the ultimate truth (reality). That there is, ultimately speaking, no ongoing persisting surviving transmigrating self is of the latter variety.
How could that possibly be true if all that we have is ourselves and our experiences, our conscious awareness and this body?
It is completely counterintuitive, but it can be known-and-seen directly, which results in enlightenment (awakening) if penetrated as it really is. Before that, it can be comprehended intellectually.
This is a very advanced teaching for dedicated meditators and monastics, not easily understood by them until they develop direct insight into the Truth. Therefore, how is any ordinary, uninstructed person ever to figure it out? They will not. But anyone can receive intellectual instruction to understand it without being liberated by the Truth. For liberation, practice of direct-seeing and insight (vipassana) into the true nature of existence is necessary:
Not-self (anatta) is the central doctrine in Buddhism, without understanding which a real knowledge of Buddhism is altogether impossible.
This uniquely Buddhist anattā doctrine teaches that there is neither within the body or mind -- the bodily or mental phenomena of existence -- nor outside of them can there be found anything that in the ultimate sense could be regarded as a "self" (a real self-existing ego-entity, soul, or any other abiding substance.
This is the pivotal central doctrine of Buddhism, that which without comprehending, no real understanding of Buddhism (i.e., the historical Buddha's Dharma) is possible.
This strange doctrine is the only really specific Buddhist teaching, with which the entire structure of the Buddha Dharma stands or falls.
All other Buddhist doctrines might, more or less, be found in other philosophical systems or religions, but the anattā-doctrine (that ultimately ALL things are impersonal) has been clearly and unreservedly taught only by a buddha, which is why the Buddha was known in his day as the Anattā-vādi or "Teacher that all is Impersonal."
Whoever has not yet penetrated the impersonal nature of all existence, who does not comprehend that in reality there exists only this continually self-consuming process of arising and passing bodily and mental phenomena (called the Five AggregatesCLUNG to as self), and that there is no separate soul, self, or ego-entity within or without this impersonal process, such a person will not be able to understand Buddhism, that is, the teaching of the Four Ennobling Truths (sacca) the fourth of which is the Ennobling Eightfold Path, in the correct light.
One will necessarily assume (wrongly think)
that it is one's self, soul (atta, atman), ego, or personality that chooses and performs skillful and unskillful karma (intentional actions),
that experiences suffering, neutral feelings, and happiness as a result (phala, vipaka, the fruition and resultants of previous actions),
that will be reborn according to that karma (those former deeds),
that will enter or fail to enter nirvana (nibbāna, the quenching and cooling of the threefold fire of greed, hatred/fear, and delusion),
that walks or fails to walk the Eightfold Path to awakening.
"Mere suffering exists, no 'sufferer' is to be found;
Deeds are, but no 'doer' of deeds is really there;
Nirvana is, but not any 'person' who 'enters' it;
The Path is but no 'traveler' on it is to be seen."
"Whoever is unclear with regard to conditionally arisen phenomena and fails to comprehend that ALL actions are conditioned through ignorance and so on [through the 12 causal links of Dependent Origination], that person [necessarily assumes] thinks that it is one's soul, self, ego, or personality that understands or fails to understand, that acts or causes to act, that comes to existence at rebirth and passes out of existence at death...that has sense-impressions, feels, desires, becomes attached, continues, and at rebirth reappears or enters a new existence" (Vis.M. XVII. 117).
[The Three Universal Characteristics of Existence are that all things are radically impermanent, unable to fulfill (ultimately unsatisfactory, disappointing, liable to suffering), and impersonal.]
While in the case of the first two characteristics, it is stated that all "formations" (sabbe sankhārā) are impermanent and subject to suffering, the corresponding text for the third characteristic states that "all things are not-self" (sabbe dhammā anattā, MN 35, Dhp. 279).
This is for emphasizing that the wrong view of assuming, believing, holding that it is an abiding self or substance is neither applicable to any "formation" or conditioned phenomenon, nor to nirvana (the "unconditioned element" (asankhatā dhātu)
The "Discourse on the Characteristic of Not-Self" (Anattā-Lakkhana Sutta) was the second discourse delivered by the historical Buddha after his great awakening, enlightenment (maha-bodhi) to his first five disciples, who after hearing it attained to the same awakening (arhatship).
The contemplation of not-self (anattā-anupassanā) leads to the freedom of the "emptiness liberation" (suññatā-vimokkha).
At the next two stages of enlightenment, one becomes a "vision-attainer" (ditthippatta or "right view reacher"), and at the ultimate stage of "full awakening" (arhatship), one is called "liberated by wisdom" (paññā-vimutti). More
Tao Temple (video); Ven. Nyanatiloka (Buddhist Dictionary) edited and clarified by Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly, summer 2026
(Serene Mind) The truth behind Buddhism | Why do [some] Buddhists not believe in God when many do, and others understand that it doesn't actually matter as far as one's own awakening, liberation, and freedom go.
Buddhism is nontheistic (not agnostic, not confirmed atheistic) and don't believe in some supreme ultimate creator God but can and do if they want to.
Theism and atheism both have very goods point and some reality to them. Pantheism and polytheism are closer to the truth.
There are no monotheists just henotheists, but they don't know it or don't want to admit it because they're afraid to question their own religion's beliefs. Parents said, priests said, Bible interpreters (and mistranslators) said...so we just believe them.
The Buddha visits Sakka and Maha Brahma
Many, probably most, Buddhists do believe in all kinds of gods (devas) and Gods (brahmas) and even GOD (Brahman, the Monad, the ONE), as well as many kinds of unseen beings. But are any of these invisible entities an ultimate creator of souls, bodies, realities, controlling everything that happens? No way, even though Jehovah (Yahweh), the Demiurge (Yaldabaoth), Allah, Ahura Mazda, YHWH, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and countless other "supreme beings" will say so or have priests say so for them.
There is Maha Brahma (the "Great Supremo") in Buddhism and the great Sakka (Indra), King of the Devas, and countless light beings (devas, lit. "shining ones") on many of the 31 Planes of Existence.
There is not just this world but worlds -- countless worlds -- to come in samsara. Rebirth is very real and has been since time immemorial but not often understood because most people are convinced it has to be some kind of "eternal soul" passing through all kinds of incarnations. It may seem that way, but ultimately it is not that way. Conventionally, yes. Many religions have good general descriptions even with culturally varying details.
So sacred texts and religious ideas can and sometimes are superior to answers science feeds us, as the Religion of the White Lab Coats claim to have irrefutable, testable, repeatable proof ("objective" unchanging evidence), mathematical formulas, cold logic, and views that later crumble. They always crumble. Science is incapable of coming to certainty about anything. There are no fixed conclusions. Everything needs more research and more scientists getting paid to work on things.
Science can't even agree on a definition of itself or its method. We are told to call it the "scientific method," but that changes and is applied differently everywhere, from lab to lab, university to university, city to city, state to state, country to country, and likely planet to planet.
Scientists, like religious priests in their flowing robes, tell us what is okay to believe, what we are given permission to believe without being laughed at -- no matter what is actually true or untrue.
We think "scientists" are unanimous. They are not! Not even within a single department of a single university. We think scientists hold to one worldview. They do not.
What's Zen Taoism got to do with anything?
In this country, most scientists are at least nominally "Christian" or members of some other Abrahamic faith. Why? If science were so sure about anything, at least it could be sure that creationists, intelligent design advocates, and fearmongers are out-and-out wrong.
But no, to play it safe, they align with one religion or another, almost always the one they were born into.
Way to go, science, what an inspiration and model for our reasoning and personal behavior.
We say, forget religion and science. But that can't easily be done, can it? So listen. Question. Think. Follow your heart and intuition and reason and the advice of noble friends and teachers. But to do this it is almost certainly going to mean we have to go check for ourselves what that advice is or has been in the past. We can't accept the words of well-meaning intermediaries, to say nothing of the ones who do not mean us well.
Accept what agrees with experience and understanding, like the Kalama Sutta suggests, but read it to the end. The Buddha does not stop at, "There is nothing to believe." He very much gives things that can be believed from our own personal experience and builds from there.
Unless we're enlightened, we ought never think we know for sure. After all, history shows, we humans are easily misled, too easily deceived, and sadly are also very much at risk of self-deception.
So purify the mind and heart, then systematically be mindful with it, then see for yourself if what the Buddha and the noble ones said was true isn't exactly as they said. That is our advice.
Because each person is responsible for one's own karma (deeds of thought, speech, and body that have the power to produce welcome and unwelcome results in the future), it is for each person to decide what to believe. Use it. Remain open. Truth is not arrived at by words but by practice and direct-seeing that produces insight.
There is this beautiful inspirational saying in Christianity that goes, "Ever saint has a past, every sinner a future." 😇👹
Angulimala Discourse (MN 86)
Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Buddha was living in Sāvatthi at Jeta’s Grove in the millionaire’s park.
On that occasion there was a serial killer in the King Pasenadi's kingdom of Kosala by the name of Aṅgulimāla (“Finger-garland”). He was a murderer, bloodyhanded, given to beatings and violence, without mercy for living beings.
Villages, towns, and whole districts were being laid waste by him. He was constantly murdering people, and he wore their fingers (aṅguli) like a garland string (māla) [as a gruesome trophy].
Then, when it was morning, the Blessed One dressed and, taking his bowl and outer robe, went into Sāvatthi for alms. When he had wandered for alms and had returned after his meal, he set his resting place in order. Then taking his bowl and robe, he set out on foot to Aṅgulimāla's location.
Cowherds, shepherds, and ploughmen passing by saw the Buddha taking the road to Aṅgulimāla. Seeing him, they shouted, “Do not take that road, wandering ascetic!
"On that road is the serial killer Aṅgulimāla, who's a murderer, bloodyhanded, given to beatings and violence, without mercy for living beings.
"Villages and towns and districts are being laid waste by him. He is constantly murdering people, and he wears their fingers as a garland. Men have come along this road in groups of 10, 20, 30 and, even 40 from time to time, but they have all fallen into Aṅgulimāla’s bloody hands!”
When this was said, the Blessed One continued on in silence. More
The story of Aṅgulimāla is most well known in the Theravāda Buddhist tradition [5]. Two texts in the early sutras of the Pāli language canon are concerned with Aṅgulimāla's initial encounter with the Buddha and his conversion to nonviolence (ahimsa), which are believed to present the oldest version of the story [6, 7, Note 1].
The first is the Psalms of the Brethren (Theragāthā), probably the oldest of the two,[5] and the second is the Aṅgulimāla Sutta in the Middle Length Discourses (Majjhima Nikāya) [9]. Both offer a short description of Aṅgulimāla's encounter with the Buddha without mentioning much of the background information, which of course is the work of Indian commentaries to provide).
Returning to monastery bleeding from attack
Later details were incorporated into the story, such as Aṅgulimāla being placed under an oath by a jealous teacher [10, 5].
Apart from the Pāli texts, Tibetan and Chinese texts that originate in Sanskrit also describe the life of Aṅgulimāla [10, 7].
A text translated in Chinese from the Sanskrit Ekottara Agāma by the Mahā-Saṃghika school is also known. Furthermore, three other Chinese texts dealing with Aṅgulimāla have also been found, of unknown origin but different from the first three Chinese texts [13].
Apart from these early texts, there are also later renderings that appear in the commentary to the Middle Length Discourses attributed to Buddhaghosa (5th century CE) and the commentary to the Theragāthā attributed to Dhammapāla (6th century CE) [10].
The two commentaries do not appear to be independent of one another: It appears that Dhammapāla copied or closely paraphrased Buddhaghosa, adding explanation to some of the inconsistencies [6, 7], which is of course the job of the sub-commentaries.
The earliest accounts of Aṅgulimāla's life emphasize his fearless violence and, by contrast, the peacefulness of the Buddha. More
This silly looking cartoon of a video is profound, so much so that we are included to call its maker, Greg Knows All, "Añña GREGḍañña" or "Greg who knows" (after the Buddha's very first enlightened disciple, Añña Konḍañña, "Kaundinya who knows, who see").
When the wandering ascetic Siddhartha first thought to teach and make known the Path to Enlightenment (Bodhi) and Liberation (Nirvana), what today the ancient Theravada tradition calls "Buddhism" or Buddha-Dhamma (The Doctrine of the Awakened One), he had no one to teach, no one at least whom he thought would understand. There were his wise albeit unenlightened teachers, but they were passed away and reborn in worlds where they could not be reached for a very long time. Some planes of existence are so long lasting, it's staggering. So he realized his five former companions on his spiritual quest might get it. When he taught them, one did. And that was Kondanna (Kaudinya)
He may be reading this from somewhere, possibly What the Buddha Taught or a scholarly rundown of the historical Buddha's path by Bhikkhu Bodhi or Ven. Professor Analayo. Wow, Greg.
Monastic Disciplinary Rules (Patimokkha, the "Path to Moksha" for Buddhist nuns and monks)
The Buddha's Gradual Path of Progress does not drop off suddenly but deepens like the ocean shelf, producing its result. 1) Virtue is established to bring about peace of mind and serenity of spirit free of misgivings and worry. 2) Atop that foundation of peace and blamelessness, stillness (samadhi), profound peace of mind, is placed. 3) The crowning of this pyramid is what establishes it and makes it permanent, insight (the gnostic experience of wisdom for oneself and depending on no one's authority, direct knowing-and-seeing, personal realization)
LYRICS "Death Certificate" (by Carcass): A grim myriad/ A grey kaleidoscope/ Sterile, contrasting/ Born and die/ Institutionalized/ A bleak epitaph/ An epilogue so sad
Not to be judgmental about those males who have an Oedipal complex, sexually fantasizing about their own biological mothers (like females who harbor an Electra complex), but c'mon. This seems biologically repugnant and gross, not to say it is. Maybe we are just trained by our society to regard it so, as seems to be the case in all societies. There seems something built into the human experience to give us a natural aversion to incest, which may be nothing more than the very powerful "familiarity breeds contempt." If we grow up with someone, see too much of them, it seems natural we are not interested sexually in them. This seems to hold most of the time. There are aberrations, of course. But who is for this? Who is for incest? It is hard to believe that it appears to be such a strong feature of the Judeo-Christian mentality. "Judeo-Christian" is a made-up term, invented for Zionist Jewish Israeli hasbara or propaganda to conflate American culture with Jewish culture on account of shared roots through the embrace of Christianity by many WASPs and Europeans. Jews, particularly biblical ones, may be all right with incest, judging from Bible stories, and a strong patriarchal attitude, but do Christian patriarchs feel the same? Are no children in such families safe? Why would it be more prevalent, or seem to be more prevalent, in the South? (We're looking at you, West Virginia). Is it lack of opportunity? Is everyone related? Is it in the zeitgeist so people just go with it? What is going on?
(The Awakening to Reality) Edgar Cayce: What happens to souls who fail their earth mission?
Been reborn on planet Earth? Don't know if you're "failing" to fulfill the purpose you set out before coming here? Living with purpose, passion, and profits?
A day at A.R.E. (Cayce's Association for Research on Enlightenment) Relax, Rejuvenate, and Rediscover: Meditation, spa, cafe, yoga, bookstore, lectures, and more Day at A.R.E.
The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?
Pastor preaches purpose
Pastor Rick Warren has 4.8 out of 5 stars (with 17,746 reviews) for this New York Times #1 bestselling book by that claims to help readers understand and live out the "purpose" of their life.
See, according to the pastor, before we were born, God [Karma?] already planned our life. God longs for us to discover the life he uniquely created us to live -- here on Earth and forever in the hereafter of eternity [the anionic or timeless reality behind time].
Let The Purpose Driven Life show the way. As one of the bestselling nonfiction books in history, with more than 35 million copies sold, it is far more than just a book; it's the road map for a spiritual journey, a journey that will transform life.
Designed to be read in 42 days, each chapter provides a daily meditation and practical steps to help discover and live out a unique purpose, starting with exploring three of life's most pressing questions:
The Question of Existence: Why am I alive?
The Question of Significance: Does my life matter?
The Question of Purpose: What on earth am I here for?
The book also includes links to 3-minute video introductions and a 30- to 40-minute audio Protestant Christian Bible study message for each chapter plus questions for further study and additional resources. More
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