The worst ways to get "enlightened"

I did my yoga, and I'm starting to see not-self and that I am One. What's for lunch?

Rites and rituals for samadhi in India

(dakota of earth) India's worst way to reach "enlightenment," usually defined in Hinduism as mere samadhi, which is a stage to understanding not the final goal itself in Buddhism.

I think I'm starting to lose my grip on reality.

When one becomes a "saint" (a NOBLE ONE) in Buddhism, having entered at least the first stage of enlightenment (of seven stages usually condensed and described as four main stages), one is immediately rid of four things.

Of these is the wrong view that clinging to rites and rituals could ever lead to enlightenment (bodhi, awakening to the ultimate truth).

• 

  Dhutanga of living under a tree

  Attachment to rites and rituals (sīlabbata-parāmāso) is one of the subtle fetters binding beings (who are constantly becoming and never actually being) to samsara, the Wheel of Life and Death. Śīla refers to "virtue" or "moral conduct" + vata (bata) to "religious duty, observance, rite, practice, custom" [25] + parāmāsa to "being attached to" or "a contagion" (clinging, upādāna) and has the connotation of "mishandling" the Dhamma [26], Buddha's Teachings. Together sīlabbata-parāmāso translates as "the contagion of [adhering to] mere rule and ritual, the infatuation of good works, the delusion that they suffice" [27] or, more simply, "fall[ing] back on attachment [clinging] to precepts and rules" [28]. Whereas the fetter of "doubt" (vicikiccha) can be seen as pertaining to the dharmas of competing wandering ascetics (samanas) during the time of the Buddha, the fetter regarding clinging to rites and rituals likely refers to some practices of contemporary Brahmanical authorities [29]. More

• 

  I punished the body (Erika Tanith)

  The former prince Siddhartha Gautama (the future historical Buddha), as a wandering ascetic on a quest for enlightenment, practiced these futile things -- particularly extreme fasting -- for years until he finally stopped blaming the body for the mind's defilements and accepted the blissful meditative absorptions (jhanas) as the real path of purification and path of freedom to seeing things as they really are and thereby finally being able to let go of lust, clinging, attachment, and all that binds us to interminable rebirth and suffering in samsara.
• The 13 Sane Ascetic Practices (dhutangas)

Then I realized I was that One God incarnate

Until then, a person might do any useless thing -- particularly engaging in the extremes of severe austerities and bodily mortifications (tapas, penances, extreme austerities, attempts at purification) to purify oneself or hedonism, debauchery, and excess with the excuse that "anything can be used in the service of liberation, including the very poisons -- alcohol, drugs ("Crazy Wisdom"), sanctified or twisted sexuality (tantric sex), meat eating and cannibalism (as in Aghori holyman practices), fasting and self-starvation (inedia), self-mummification (sokushinbutsu)...

What's wrong with drinking alcohol?

(Typical Life Stories) The habit/addiction that took everything

Liquid ignorance tastes bad.

FIFTH PRECEPT: Surā meraya majja pamā daṭṭhānā veramaṇī sikkhā padaṃ samā diyāmi, which means, "I undertake the training-precept to abstain from consuming intoxicants that may occasion heedlessness."

The fifth precept prohibits the use of intoxicants that occasion heedlessness such as alcohol, drugs, or other means. Its virtues are mindfulness and self-responsibility [12, 13] applied to food, work, behavior, and with regard to reality [132] and the true nature of life.

Awareness, meditation, and heedfulness can also be included here [125].

Let's drink this and start breaking other precepts.

The most famous Buddhist commentator in the Pali canon Buddhaghosa writes that whereas violating the first four precepts may be more or less blameworthy depending on the person or animal affected, the fifth precept is always "greatly blamable" because it hinders one from understanding the Buddha's Teachings and may lead one to "madness" [18], which is the karmic result in the future of indulging in alcohol now.

It's a natural product of rotten sugar.

In ancient China, Daoshi described alcohol as the "doorway to laxity and idleness" and as a cause of suffering. Nevertheless, he did describe extraordinary circumstances when drinking might be considered less bad than what it prevents. For example, there's the case of a queen who distracts the king using alcohol to prevent him from murdering.

However, Daoshi was strict in his interpretations. For example, he allowed medicinal use of alcohol only in extreme cases [152].

Early Chinese translations of the Three Baskets or Collections (the Tripitaka of Sutras, Disciplinary Code, and the Higher Doctrine) describe negative consequences for people breaking the rule on drinking, for themselves and their families.

The Chinese translation of the Upāsikaśila Sūtra, as well as the Pāli language version of the Sigālovāda Sutta, speak of terrible consequences from intoxication such as the

• loss of wealth,
• ill health,
• a bad reputation,
• being accused of misdeeds,
• "stupidity" [in future rebirths],
• culminating with rebirth in hell [18, 153].

I need a swig every night to be regular in my poo.

The Dīrghāgama adds to that that alcohol leads to quarreling, negative states of mind, and damage to one's intelligence.

The Mahāyāna Sanskrit version of the Net of All-Embracing Views Discourse (Brahmajāla Sūtra) [Note 6] describes the dangers of alcohol in very strong terms, including the crime of selling alcohol [154], which is listed among one of the forms of wrong livelihood proscribed in the Noble Eightfold Path.

Similar arguments against alcohol are found in Nāgārjuna's writings [155]. A strict interpretation on the prohibition of alcohol consumption in Buddhism can be supported by the Upāli Sūtra's statement that a disciple of the Buddha should avoid drinking alcohol "even [so much as] a drop on the point of a blade of grass."

However, in the writing of some Abhidharma commentators, alcohol consumption was condemned depending on the intention with which it was consumed. For example, an intention that was not condemned was taking alcohol in a tiny amount as a form of medicine [156] or because it is used in the extraction and preservation of plant medicines (syrups, potions, decoctions, concoctions, etc.)

Sanity and sobriety in practice

A little "water of life" never hurt nobody. *Burp*

The fifth precept against consuming alcohol is regarded as extremely important because drinking alcohol leads to lack of self-control and sluggishness [72, 157], which is extremely likely to lead to breaking the other precepts [18] that one would normally if sober avoid breaking.

In Spiro's field studies, violating the fifth precept was seen as the worst of all the five precepts by half of the monks interviewed, citing the harmful consequences [18].

Nevertheless, in practice abstention from alcohol is often disregarded by lay people [158]. In Theravada Buddhist Thailand, drinking alcohol is fairly common, even to the point of drunkenness [159].

Do all bad things as "crazy wisdom," Dummies!

Among Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhists, drinking beer is common, partly because it is very weak and only slightly alcoholic [155].

Medicinal use of alcohol is generally not frowned upon [145], and in some countries like Thailand and Laos, smoking tobacco is usually not regarded as a violation of the precept to avoid intoxicants.

Thai and Laotian Buddhist monks have been known to smoke as part of their culture, but monks who have received more training in Buddhism are far less likely to smoke [43, 160].

Let's live it up, steal, and break things. Woo-hoo!

On a similar note, as of the year 2000, no Buddhist country prohibited the sale or consumption of alcohol, though in Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhist revivalists unsuccessfully attempted to become prohibitionist by getting full prohibition passed in 1956 [43].

Moreover, pre-communist Tibet used to prohibit smoking in some areas of the capital, Lhasa. Monks were prohibited from smoking, and the import of tobacco was banned [43].

Vietnamese Zen Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh included even mindful consumption in this precept, which consists of unhealthy food, unhealthy entertainment, and unhealthy conversations, among others [137, 161]. More

What about the dollar, Dr. Jeffrey Sachs?

(The Jimmy Dore Show)

Religion in USA, Bible Belt, Deep South

(Versed) Why the US South is insanely religious

Under a Full Strawberry Moon (6/29)

Thirteen full moons make up one calendar year?

Last month's blue moon was really June's? The Gregorian calendar really fails us, making the lunar calendar of 13 months (moonths, since every year has 13 full moons, one each moonth) or even the Chinese lunisolar calendar look very appealing by comparison.

How long is a moonth? It is four weeks. How long is a week? It is seven days. How long is a day? About 24 hours or so. And the surprise is that, agreeing on all of these numbers as most Westerners will, what number __ x 28 (four weeks or a month) will give us 365 days?

• Mmm, is it 12? - No, it is not. - Oh, is it 11 then? - No, and you're only getting colder. - You don't mean it's 13, do you, because that's bad luck! We can't have 13 anywhere or bad luck will happen, and I'm already afraid that you brought it up! It's 12, right? It has to be 12 because 12 months equal one year!

The number is 13 because 13 x 28 = 364 + plus 1 turnaround (New Year's) day to reset for the next year. This is astronomy in action, only we've been lied to for so long and taught to fear the evil, wrong, bad "thirteen" with superstitions and stupidity for so long that we do not even question it.

The Buddhist lunar observance: uposatha

(The Dhamma Hub) How to observe the uposatha correctly for a wise lay Buddhist

It's like a Roman religion, and we all just do what we're told. But 13 is a holy number with many excellent attributes, not the least of which is that's how many natural full moons and months we have each year. The ancient Vedas and Sumerian texts were onto something, so why did moderns try to take that away from us, detach us from our celestial clock, our connection to the seasons, solstices, sabbaths (a word that literally means "Saturdays," which we have been conned into thinking is synonymous with solar worship on Sundays), and a more reliable calendar?

The virtues of the lunar observance

(watsanfran) Virtues of Observance | Uposatha Sutta | Animated Buddhist Stories

There is a way to construct it so that holidays do not jump around in a haphazard way necessitating a priestly caste to interpret the signs for us every time we want to commemorate something. The indigenous people knew it, as did the aboriginal, and the wise women (cursed as "witches"), the pagans, and the heathens, the Gnostics and the Buddhists. The Buddha set aside one day a week to observe the uposatha or "fasting" day (because one only eats between dawn and noon and not after) of observing the Eight Precepts.

Of the four weeks in a month, the full moon observance is the most obvious so it seems the most special, as in if you're only going to follow one a month, this would be the one. Anyone can look up and see that it is time to reflect on the Dhamma, invest in our meditation practice or sadhana, and hear the Teachings of the Awakened One.

• (WCNC) What is the strawberry moon? What to know about June's full moon (2026)
• (WION) Strawberry moon 2026: This rare illusion has stunned skywatchers [Which illusion? It's not red and never was, as it is named after Native American strawberry picking season]

Buddhist Lunar Observance (Uposatha)

(English Buddhist Monk) Second full moon uposatha (Buddhist "sabbath, Pagan-Wiccan "esbat," lunar observance): Best practice for lay Buddhists to develop (cultivate) equanimity

• Uposatha: HISTORY: The word uposatha ("observance") derives from the Muluposatha Sutta (AN 3.70), in which a laywoman named Visakha (Migāramāta, the "Mother of Migara"), visits the Buddha and says she is observing the uposatha day. The Buddha replies that there are different uposatha days, then proceeds to tell her the best version of the day, which he calls the "Uposatha of the Noble Disciples." More

Thai Wan Phra full moon uposatha: aging, sickness, death: loss and karma

Trump's approval crashes; Mamdani wins

(The Young Turks) New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani rips AIPAC, and "Israel Firsters" erupt!

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Israel Firster mad at Mamdani

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Democratic Socialists of America

Trump is mad. Mayor Mamdani may be the new "kingmaker" of New York City politics. In a sweeping affirmation of his affordability-focused agenda, all three congressional candidates endorsed by Mamdani in a set of contested Democratic primary elections declared victory last night (Tuesday, June 23, 2026). Manhattan and the Bronx’s Darializa Avila Chevalier and Brooklyn’s Claire Valdez and Brad Lander were all joined on the campaign trail by the progressive NYC mayor in the weeks leading up to election night.

Lowest ratings for biggest shark in The Swamp

Like Mamdani, Avila Chevalier, and Valdez are members of the NYC chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which backed their campaigns. More + VIDEO

• Jealous? Pres. Trump approval rating hits new low ahead of midterms: poll (MSN)
• AIPAC (Israel Firsters, part of the "Israel lobby")
• Yaakov Yitzchak Horowitz (American rabbi)
• Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ 5th District)
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Advanced Iranian drone tech

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Unexpected rules for Amish females

Karen M. Johnson-Weiner

There's little use in talking about the American Amish, much less Amish females, as if they were all members of a monolithic group.

The reality is that there are multiple "Amish" orders, all with different rules collected in a broad set of often-unspoken guidelines known as the Ordnung.

These rules dictate the lives of everyone in the patriarchal Germanic Amish Christian faith, laying out community-specific guidelines on everything from the depth of a man's hat brim to whether or not it's okay to have a refrigerator in one's home.

Anything she can do, I can do better. I'm a man!

Generally speaking, all Amish settlements emphasize plain, unadorned dress styles, rural living, pacifism, and some separation from the outside world — and no, they're not the same as Mennonites or Quakers or Shakers or Puritans.

Ruined by the lavender menace?

When it comes to both community and family life, females are almost always expected to be subservient to men. Yet, they also take the lead on many homemaking matters, including child rearing, food preparation, cleaning, and working on the farm.

It all seems rather simple. Amish girls are expected to observe rules that demand they remain subservient, wear plain clothing, and remember to be faithful and modest into womanhood.

However, these directives can get quite surprising and sometimes elaborate, depending on where a female lives and her personal convictions.

I can run my own biz.

For instance, it wouldn't be beyond the pale to see an Amish woman leave the family farm and run her own business.

Think you already know everything about the rules of an Amish woman's life? Think again.

The rules of Amish female power are more complex than most Americans think

Being submissive is a common rule for Amish girls, but it's not just a matter of going along with a father, brother, uncle, or husband's decisions or quietly following the rules of male church elders.

In fact, all Amish people are expected to submit in one way or another. Males are directed to submit to God and to treat their wives well and care for them with love and respect (though there are also reports of widespread abuse in some communities).

There's also a rather tricky biblical verse, Galatians 3:28, in which readers are informed that "there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."

To balance this, the Amish generally agree that males and females ought to have separate roles in their communities but that the work done by females is theoretically just as important as that of males. And though Amish females may not have official power in their communities, they wield practical power in everyday life, such as when they organize home or church activities.

• The film My Big Fat Greek Wedding made this age-old distinction clear: "The man is the head of the house, the man is the head of the house...but the woman is the neck."

Everyone is responsible for his or her own spiritual life, too. As one woman in the highly conservative Swartzentruber Amish group states:

"The Amish way is that the men have to go ahead of the women [during baptism], but the women get baptized just as well as the men do." More: grunge.com (Unexpected rules Amish women have to follow)

The Lives of Amish Women

Karen M. Johnson-Weiner's on Amish Women

(Kindle Edition) Author Karen M. Johnson-Weiner has 4.2 out of 5 stars (with 6 reviews). Presenting a challenge to popular stereotypes, this book is an intimate exploration of the religiously defined roles of Amish females and how these roles have changed over time.

Continuity and change, tradition and dynamism shape the lives of the Amish and make their experiences both distinctive and diverse.

On the one hand, a principled commitment to living Old Order lives, purposely out of step with the cultural mainstream, has provided Amish females with a good deal of constancy. Even in relatively more progressive Amish communities, women still engage in activities common to their counterparts in earlier times: gardening, homemaking, and childrearing.

On the other hand, these persistent themes of domestic labor and the responsibilities of motherhood have been affected by profound social, economic, and technological changes up through the 21st century, shaping Amish females' lives in different ways and resulting in increasingly varied experiences. 

In The Lives of Amish Women, Johnson-Weiner draws on her 35 years of fieldwork in Amish communities and her correspondence with Amish women to consider how the religiously defined roles of Amish women have changed as Amish churches have evolved.

Looking in particular at females' lives and activities at different ages and in different communities, Johnson-Weiner explores the relationship between changing patterns of social and economic interaction with mainstream society and women's family, community, and church roles.

What does it mean, Johnson-Weiner asks, for an Amish woman to be humble when she is the owner of a business that serves people internationally?

Is a childless Amish woman or a single Amish woman still a "Keeper at Home" in the same way as a woman raising a family? What does Gelassenheit—giving oneself up to God's will [not in a slavish way but rather "'tranquil submission' in the Christian mystical tradition"]—mean in a subsistence-level agrarian Amish community, and is it at all comparable to what it means in a wealthy settlement where some members may be millionaires?

Illuminating the key role Amish women play in maintaining the spiritual and economic health of their church communities, this wide-ranging book touches on a number of topics, including early Anabaptist women and Amish pioneers to North America;

• stages of life;
• marriage and family;
• events that bring women together;
• women as breadwinners;
• women who do not meet the Amish norm (single women, childless women, widows); and
• even what books Amish women are reading.

Aimed at anyone who is interested in the Amish experience, The Lives of Amish Women will help readers understand better the costs and benefits of being an Amish woman in a modern world and will challenge the stereotypes, myths, and imaginative fictions about Amish women that have shaped how they are viewed by mainstream society. More

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Sexist rules FEMALES face, then and now

(Whispered History Tales) Rules females faced in ancient times (many of which still linger)

• Did the Buddha accept women as nuns (bhikkhunīs)?
• Re-establishing female full ordination in Buddhism

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• Christians are hated, treated horribly, and even spat on and attacked by Jewish Israelis. Try visiting, American Evangelicals; see what happens.

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• Who in the world is Moloch?

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Psycho state Israel wants famine, not peace

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Control Wikipedia to control the narrative

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Is sex with robots humanity's future?

New $2,000 female ROBOTS from China — are sexy artificially intelligent (AI) humanoids

Sex with robots is coming: Top 6 hottest new female sex robots and their cost | AI Tech Academy

That's not a soulless machine. That's my Mother!

Now robots can get pregnant and carry human seed to term, with children naturally clinging and identifying with AI high technology as caretaker entity. (Welcome, Homo sapiens sapiens or Homo technologi to the planet to take their place among the many human species who have lived out their lives on this plane, this simulation, or this tended garden, whatever it may be. The ET gods should be very happy at this "advance" as we get further and further away from our connection to Gaia/Bhumi/Tierra).

I blame Scarlett Johansson-Jost.

(Top Viral) Humans wouldn't really take up with machines, would we? So, say we did, we wouldn't then fall in "love" and get all clingy and attached to machines, computers, AI large language models the way we grasp at and cling to our iPhones, which are built to addict us with their wave resonance frequencies and gaming (gambling) protocols set to reel us in like dopamine fiends, would we? Wouldn't we? We are already doing it. And movies like Her and Ex Machina are normalizing it, with Hollywood ready to release a slew of propaganda films to guide society in either direction, towards sex with robots being totally normalized or considered a perversion, crime, and reason to make perverts outcastes. It's as if we are not safe from the influence of porn (North Hollywood) and propaganda (Hollywood) even in the South in small town Kentucky:

Kentucky sheriff executes judge in chambers, exposing small town's secret sex ring

When does the ScarJo sexbot launch?

(Brian Entin Investigates) Sheriff murders judge in chambers, which reveals secret sex ring, corruption, coerced sex crimes by nominally Christian officials (judges, jailers, deputies, and anyone with power) in small town Kentucky with its drug addicts and accused innocents/convicted criminals, who are fed more drugs at sex parties to have no credibility if they were ever to speak out and blow the whistle on these abuses.

• Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

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