Why does media denigrate Iran? (Eli)

• Russian Correspondent Eli from Russia, redhead in Persia

Sex and Asian men vs. Aunty Lus

The hottest "woman" in the world? ("Aitana Lopez" AI-creation)

WARNING: Graphic! Adult themes! Candid discussion of sexual matters treated as mere jokes!

Sexual pleasure and the concept of "sin"

British Buddhist Maurice O'Connell Walshe, Buddhism and Sex (edited by Wisdom Quarterly)

AI-generated model "Aitana Lopez" earning up to €10,000 pm (hyscaler.com)

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Deviant (Wadinagala Pannaloka)

Reduced to essentials, the great debate about sex revolves, for many people, around the [Christian] concept of sin.

To the Puritan, indulgence in sexual activity for the sake of pleasure is evil, wicked, or, as our society tends to say, "sinful" (i.e., displeasing to the God).

To the permissive, this is nonsense. Many reject the term "sin" [which is an archery term meaning "to miss the mark" not all of the attendant connotations now associated with it] as meaningless. Many not only see nothing "evil" in sexual pleasure but regard it as highly legitimate perhaps the highest pleasure there is, certainly something to which, in principle at least, everybody has a right.

Many people who come from a more or less [Judeo-]Christian background with Puritanical overtones, find the true Buddhist attitude to this problem rather difficult to see.

Perhaps they have never even been given a clear explanation of it. If they have, it may have seemed too technical for them, and they have not grasped the point.

The point, in fact, is of considerable importance. So it is worthwhile to attempt to make it clear. It involves a proper and elementary grasp of what is meant by karma — something many "Buddhists" have never had.

What about "sin"?

Buddhism and Christianity

It may be profitable to consider the word "sin."

Sin to Christians is thought of as a breach of some God's commands. This explanation may make sense in Christian theology, but it does not apply in Buddhism, where there are no such commands to infringe.

Buddhist precepts are undertakings to oneself, which is something different. They are on par with the instruction, "Look both ways before crossing the road." There is much agreement between the content of Buddhism's Five Precepts and some of the Ten Commandments. So it may be wise in many cases to behave accordingly, whichever formulation one follows.

However, there is another rendering of the word "sin" itself which, though less well-known, comes much closer to the Buddhist view of things.

In the Bible, "sin" translates Hebrew and Greek words that literally mean "missing the mark," that is to say, behaving unskillfully or inadequately.

Zen in the Art of Archery

The "sinner" person, then, is like an unskillful archer who misses what that person aims at. (Could this be the real meaning behind Zen and the Art of Archery?) This comes very close to the Buddhist idea of akusala karma or "unskilled action."

The Pali word kamma (Sanskrit karma) literally means "action" (volition, intention, underlying motivation, cetana), which can either be skillful (kusala) or unskillful (akusala).

The results of action (karmic results) come back to the doer as resultants (vipaka), which are pleasant when the action previously performed was skillful, unpleasant when it was unskillful.

If I look before I cross the road, I get across safely, which is pleasant; if I don't look both way, I may get run over, which will be very unpleasant.

• The FEELINGS we experience are of the nature of karmic results: They are dependent on past karma. And, of course, we are constantly creating new karma most of the time.

Lust for Enlightenment (Stevens)

It should therefore be noted that the feeling of pleasure (sexual or otherwise) is not an action, not karma, but a result of karma. There is, therefore, nothing either "skillful" or "unskillful" about experiencing such a feeling.

We should therefore not regard it as either "virtuous" or "sinful." So far, so good. Such pleasant feelings can be enjoyed with a clear conscience free of guilt feeling. If this were all, there would be no problem. Puritans would be routed and the permissive justified.

However, there is another side to the matter. We may recall that a few years ago there was a song called "Money is the Root of all Evil." The careful pointed out that it is not money, but the love of money that the Bible calls the root of all evil (of a lot of evil, anyway).

And here is the snag. Sexual pleasure (like money) is not "evil," not unskillful, but attachment to sexual pleasure is. If we can experience the pleasure without grasping and clinging, we are all right; if we become attached to it, we are far from "hitting the mark."

• Is detachment (not being clingy) better? The Buddhist Layman

What mindfulness help? - It is always helpful.

Now of course it is rather difficult, to put it mildly, to experience pleasure of any sort without feeling (or exciting the habit) attachment to it. Attachment is karma, unskillful karma at that. The results of that will inevitably, according to Buddhism, be unpleasant in the future. It needn't be this way.

Many might find this explanation novel. Some might find it puzzling. Some will undoubtedly reject it — without investigation — with the excuse that it is overly subtle, arbitrary, or something of the sort.

What they mean is that they find it inconvenient. But it repays a lot of consideration and mindful investigation.

Careful study, in fact, should show that it is the key to the whole problem. The matter can also be considered in terms of [the 12 causal links of] Dependent Origination:

• "Contact is the basis for the arising of feeling;
• feeling... of craving;
• craving... of clinging;" and so on,
• the ultimate outcome being the continued process of becoming, with all the suffering that entails.

Buddhism and [Regular] Sex (M. O'C. Walshe)

So if we wish to adjudicate between the Puritans and the permissive, we cannot say that either side is entirely right. However, we might suggest that Puritans are partly right for the wrong reasons.

Sexual indulgence is not wicked, but it may be (to some degree) inadvisable. Most people will not feel they are able to refrain altogether (nor are they being urged to), but there is merit in moderation. More

• Deviant Sex and Buddhism (Kindle edition) by Wadinagala Pannaloka

Aunty Lu's internalized Asian racism?

Who are the Aunty Lus who are so against dating Asians?

• Part 1: White worship: internalized Asian racism
• Maurice O'Connell Walshe: Wheel 275/276 — Buddhism and Christianity (with some notes on Judaism)

Funniest sex moves by guys | stand up comedy

(Free Time Movies) Featured Comedians: Tim Minchin | Alonzo Bodden | Rhod Gilbert | Lynne Koplitz. Subscribe to Crack Up 👉 bit.ly/SubToCrackUp | More 👉 bit.ly/WorldStandsUp.

This property is under a non-exclusive license from Rights Booster. All rights reserved. The World Stands Up brings together the best in comedy talent from all over the globe. Each episode features four artists (two from North America and two from the rest of the world) the last of which is musical. More than two hundred and fifty acts from five continents. #TheWorldStandsUp #StandUpComedy #CrackUp #TheWorldStandsUp #CrackUp

• Free Time Movies (stand up comedy), Aug. 17, 2021; Maurice O'Connell Walshe, BPS.lk via accesstoinsight.org; Why Everyone Hates Asian Men; CC Liu, Ashley Wells, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

I do whatever I want: The Surfing Nomad

"Not all those who wander are lost"

A wandering ascetic (śramaṇa, shramana, shaman) [a] is a person "who labors, toils, or exerts [him or herself] for some higher or religious purpose" [1, 2], a "seeker, or ascetic, one who performs acts of austerity" (tapas) [3, 4, 5, 6].

The śramaṇa tradition includes primarily [the contemporary proto-Indian schools of] Jainism [7], Buddhism [8], and others such as the Ājīvika [9, 10].

The śramaṇa [Dharmic] religions became popular in the circles of wandering mendicant, contemplative, truth seekers after a direct (unmediated by priests) experience of the divine or of the ultimate truth of reality from greater Magadha (where the Buddha chose to live) that led to the development of spiritual practices [11] as well as the popular concepts in all major Indian religions such as saṃsāra (the Cycle of Rebirth and Death) and moksha (liberation from that cycle) [12, Note 1].

The Śramaṇic traditions have a diverse range of doctrines (beliefs) and practices, ranging from accepting or denying the concept of an eternal soul, fatalism to free will, idealization of extreme asceticism to that of family life, renunciation, strict ahimsa (non-violence, harmlessness, kind caring), and veganism/vegetarianism to permissibility of violence and flesh-eating [13, 14].

The Pali (the exclusively Buddhist language) word samaṇa has been suggested as the ultimate origin of the word Evenki сама̄н (samān) "shaman," possibly via Middle Chinese or Tocharian B; however, the etymology of this word, which is also found in other Tungusic languages, is controversial (see Shamanism § Etymology). More

• The 25 most romantic destinations around the world
• Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven, Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit sramana

On the road w/ female motorcyclist: India

Terrifying noises are coming from a HAUNTED TOWN in Rajasthan, India 🇮🇳

(Itchy Boots) KULDHARA, India - In this episode, Itchy Boots leaves Jaisalmer and rides to Jodhpur. On the way out, she stops at the abandoned haunted town called the village of Kuldhara.

Want to learn how to use drones, GoPros, and 360 cameras to film your own solo motorcycle adventure? Check out: itchyboots.com/academy. This is where she teaches all her advanced filming techniques, including getting drone shots while riding.

Gear and equipment that she uses this season: itchyboots.com/blog/gear-...

Follow her journey at: ITCHYBOOTS.COM. Instagram: itchybootstravel. Facebook: itchyboots. #itchyboots #adventure #himalayan450

• Ms. Itchy Boots, Nov. 12, 2023; Crystal Q., CC Liu, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation) (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Lisa, can you teach me Japanese? (Rockstar)

Lisa, I want to learn Zen in Japan from an old master, so I'm going to need some "ha sos" and "chop chops," you know, some Japanese lessons. Think you can help me with that? Hai? 

Lisa, I'm already practicing with a friend.

How to become fluent in Japanese in 2024

(TAKASHii from Japan) May 31, 2024: Sign up for Preply using this link and get 50% off first lesson (preply.in/Takashii). Thanks to Natalia (@nataliad_official), Kalu, Rom rom ji (@romromji), Menya (@menyahinga), Yanaimo (@yanacchi), Kevin (instagram.com/samurailife..., Harrison (harri_boi_...), Annaya (@hiananyaa), Mayden.

🧳 TOKYO COMPLETE GUIDE 🧳

Interested in Tokyo? Check out my comprehensive guide to this fascinating Japanese city. "TOKYO COMPLETE GUIDE" includes: 📖 A detailed over 150-page overview of Tokyo, catering to various tourist needs. 🚇 Information on navigating Tokyo's complex transportation system. 🍣 Recommendations for top dining and entertainment options, including bars, izakayas, and clubs. 🗣️ Must-know Japanese phrases specifically for travel. 🌱 Recommended spots and options for vegans/vegetarians. 🎉 Favorite nightclubs for the ultimate Tokyo nightlife experience. Get "TOKYO COMPLETE GUIDE" now: takashifromjapan.com/tokyocom...

Clever Tiny Homes for sale in U.S.

Clever Tiny Homes

A high-end, full, modern kitchen

Quality tiny homes at unbeatable prices: Tiny homes on wheels are for sale from Clever Tiny Homes (CTH) with kitchen and bathroom, bedroom and lots of windows. Imagine a Murphy bed for more space and a high-end kitchen.

CTH is one of North America's largest Tiny Home builders. Its deep investment in technology, sourcing, and supply chain optimization allows them to manufacture homes with uncompromising quality at an unbeatable price. There are at least two sizes to choose from, with three completed every week at 40% savings compared to custom builders. It takes 3-4 months to build a home. But it has big windows, lofty ceilings, and is meticulously designed to maximize space and livability.

These homes feature massive windows, high ceilings, strategically-placed mirrors, bright interior colors, and storage tucked away everywhere. Uncompromising kitchens feature large, quartz countertops, soft-close hardware, quality, and custom-designed cabinetry throughout. These kitchens are ready for foodies.

Homes feature 5-star bathrooms. Rejuvenate in a spa-like restroom, complete with a full bathtub or shower, elegant tiling, a large vanity, tons of natural light, and those same tall ceilings as the rest of the house.

What could someone do in such a pad?

Two thoughtfully designed layouts are offered. To save cost, they are manufactured in an assembly-line fashion with materials sourced in bulk for greater saving. CTH does not do custom builds or finishings.

The 26' x 8.5' goes for $64,995, and the larger bedroom "Park Model" with deck, which is 38' x 12', goes for $119,995. They are available from Hawaii to Alaska, New York to California. They are shipped all over the country. More clevertinyhomes.com

• Clever Tiny Homes; Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Jen Bradford, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Science: Can DANCING cure depression?

Olivia Hebert, LA based correspondent (The Independent, 2/22/24); Fall Out Boy, "Dance Dance"; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly

Scientists calculated how much exercise we need to 'offset' a day of sitting (ScienceAlert)

I was like this. Then I got up, started moving...

What did the ancients know that we have forgotten? They, too, had bodies like this, only they used them. They moved them. They kept them moving, particularly in patterned, synchronized ways with others.

and someone saw me and joined in.

Social dancing, or even isolated moving around, seems to get the mind going rather than stagnating, ruminating, and falling into an abysmal emotional state. Release. Move. Reach catharsis. And most of all, have fun.

This just in: scientific discovery made by eggheads in a lab wearing white coats and very stiffly avoiding physical contact: New study says dancing is the best exercise to combat depression.*

It's not just for the kids, Agnes! - Oh, you're right, Herbert. I feel better already! Ha ha ha!

Wait, White Man only now figuring out it's joyful to move to drumbeat and feel elation?

.

Kathleen and Bree use yoga, dance, breath, sound

At Yogini Bree's Process Class, we always have a component of freeform dancing, just jumping around with some Huhs!. Guess she was onto something even without a science degree and university lab.

Even Johann Hari saw that there was something wrong in the way our civilization -- motivated by capitalist Big Pharma corporations to keep us sick and dependent on symptom alleviation -- was approaching the darkest emotionally fraught mental illness from which we suffer.

Why You're Depressed: How...

The corporations were never going to solve, never going to let a "cure" get out their and ruin their business plans.

There's a cure for diabetes, too, but one never hears about it. It's nutritional, getting enough natural chromium GTF (not fake picolinate) grown on nutritional yeast. Yeast overgrowth a problem?

There are cures for candida and other gut issues. Reforming the diet to leave out all the depression-inducing (after a little false pick-me-up from) processed sugars and starches like white flour and all gluten.

Are We Addicted to Feeling Bad?

These things are available from criticalhealthnews.com, which came up with a product it calls "Sweet Ease" particularly for diabetics and prediabetics.

But who the Hades would want that if allopathic sorcery medicine promises us that we can just pop overpriced synthetic chemical in pill form to overwork our livers instead?

• What does the latest scientific study reveal and say about exercise?

New study says dancing is best exercise to combat depression

What can dancing possibly offer a human?

(The Independent) A new study indicates that dancing is one of the best forms of treatment for depression.

Australian researchers have published a study that shows that the best form of exercise to treat depression is dancing, beating out several exercises including yoga, walking, jogging, tai chi, and strength training among others.

The meta study aimed to identify what kind of exercise would be best for treating major depressive disorder, either in tandem with another treatment or compared to the [commonplace and failed] prescription of psychotherapy and antidepressants.

Through 218 different studies with 14,170 participants, the researchers found that moderate reductions were made across the board with exercise, more so than simply prescribing participants with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). More

Psychedelics psilocybin (magic mushrooms), DMT, ketamine (Special K) also help (MAPS).

Gas deposit under Gaza: How to move pop?

Mark Rubin, Sheldon S., Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Israel to work with Egypt, Palestinian Authority (West Bank, not Gaza) to develop Gaza gas field

(i24NEWS English) June 19, 2023: Ariel Margalith breaks down how and why Israel is planning on joining Egypt and the Palestinian Authority [of the West Bank, since Gaza is run by the political party Hamas, which is not the same as the El Qassam Brigades who executed a cross border attack after tearing down the prison wall between Gaza and Gaza Open Air Prison] in developing an offshore natural gas reserve.

Articles: i24news.tv/en Facebook: i24newsen. Twitter: i24news_en. Instagram: i24news. #i24NEWS #IsraelBusinessBeat

ABOUT: Israel Business Beat is a magazine program bringing an insider’s look into the latest breakthroughs out of the "Start Up Nation" that is the genocidal settler colonial real estate the West created by arming and funding a Jewish state on top of Palestinians' heads. Sundays 9:30 PM GMT.

Secret hub of rightwing extremists: Salem RN

On the Media (WNYC Studios, 3/10/23); CC Liu, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

On the Divided Dial: Christian rightwing radicalism and hate talk (Michael Brennan)

 

The most influential Christian talk radio network you've probably never heard of

In 2016, Christian talk radio host Eric Metaxas begrudgingly encouraged his listeners to vote for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.

By 2020, he pledged his life to fighting the “stolen election” while talking with Pres. Trump on the air. Ahead of the midterm elections, Metaxas and many of his fellow talk radio hosts made sure the falsehood of massive 2020 election fraud was top of mind — on the airwaves and beyond.

And while election-denying candidates didn't do as well as many on the right had hoped, at least 170 such candidates have been elected to state and national offices, some of whom will be in charge of future elections. More

Pope Fran takes stance against gender ideologies that 'blur differences' between males/females

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This week, reporter Katie Thornton introduces us to the company whose hosts never backed down from the lies of the stolen 2020 election: Salem Media Group, the largest Christian, conservative multimedia company in the country – and perhaps the most influential media company you’ve never heard of.

Thornton traces the company’s rise to power from its scrappy start in the 1970s to the present day — a growth that paralleled and eventually became inextricable from the growth of the Religious Right. This episode is an adaptation of On the Media's latest series, The Divided Dial. You can listen to the full series HERE.

The Divided Dial is reported and hosted by journalist and Fulbright Fellow Katie Thornton. Follow her work on Instagram or on her website. The Divided Dial was edited by On the Media's Executive Producer Katya Rogers with production support from Max Balton and fact-checking by Tom Colligan, Sona Avakian, and Graham Hacia. Music and sound design by Jared Paul. Jennifer Munson is the technical director. Art by Michael Brennan. With support from the Fund for Investigative Journalism. Hosted by Katie Thornton and Brooke Gladstone. Produced by WNYC Studios.

Why in the heck would I let go?! (video)

Fearless Soul (YouTube, Aug. 28, 2018); Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

How to move on, let go, and leave the past in the past (powerful speech)

(Fearless Soul) If I want to let go and know that it's good to let go, but I can't let go, what can I do? One thing is to listen to or read this: TRANSCRIPT.

It's a monkeypot trap! Let go ASAP! Now!!!

"Let it go. The things that have happened in the past... the things that aren’t happening right now... Let it go. If you want to be free, stop locking yourself into the prison of your past. If you want to see the light... Stop holding yourself in the darkness of your past."

Speakers: VIDEO ONE: Tyrone Stokes. VIDEO TWO: Oprah Winfrey, Eckhart Tolle, William Hollis CREDITS: Video ONE: Filming by: Adele Brodskaja. Cast: Jonathan Salem. Achraff E. Lucy Wrede, Catalina Nunez. Assistance: Thomas & Zoe d’Aboy. VIDEO TWO: Footage from StokHub Speech is "BEST REVENGE."

Download or stream speeches by Fearless Soul now on iTunes, Spotify, GooglePlay, AmazonMP3, Apple Music, Worldwide MP3 Download. 

Official website: iamfearlesssoul.com, facebook.com/iamfearlesss..., twitter.com/911well, twitter.com/iamfearlesssoul, instagram.com/iamfearless.... Listen to Fearless Soul every day by phone: iTunes, Spotify,  GooglePlay, AmazonMP3, Apple Music, Worldwide MP3 Download. Loved this? Please share it and spread the message on social media. #LetGo #MoveOn #OprahWinfrey

Humor as a Tool for Survival (audio)

Lily Percy, Krista Tippett (OnBeing.org); Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly

Anthony Weiner (Piraro/bizarro.com)

Humor lifts us up, but it also underscores what’s already great.

It connects us with others and also brings us home to ourselves.

And like everything meaningful, it’s complex and nuanced: It can be fortifying or damaging, depending on how we wield it.

But as a tool for survival, humor is elemental.

On Being explores this idea with a rabbi who started out in drag, comedians, an NPR host, writers of sci-fi/fantasy, social commentary, and the TV show Veep.

What is humor? Truth in real life? (French comic artist Emma/theguardian.com)

INTERVIEW
Transcript (onbeing.org/programs)

Stealing? (GregPalast.com)

Host Krista Tippett: If there’s one thing we can perhaps all agree on in our struggles and in the everyday mundane, it’s our need for the release and balm of laughter.

Humor lifts us up...This was the animating idea On Being’s Lily Percy had for a shorter-form podcast we’ve just launched [called COOL, "Creating Our Own Lives"].

This is a glorious taste of the voices she captured this hour, ranging from a rabbi who started out in drag, comedians, an NPR host, writers of sci-fi/fantasy, social commentary, and even the TV show Veep.
 
Lily Percy: The idea of humor as a tool for survival is so personal to me, I wanted to start by talking to someone that I knew and admired, reporter and former NPR Politics Podcast co-host Sam Sanders.

Sam has a very dry sense of humor. If you follow him on Twitter, you know that already. But what makes his voice unique is the thoughtfulness and warmth that go hand in hand with his jokes.
 

"We cats didn't invent the Internet to share it with this." (P. Byrnes/The New Yorker)

 
Ms. Percy: You grew up in Texas, and you know what it’s like to be surrounded by difference. I mean politically, religiously, socially, culturally -- every kind of difference. And you also grew up in the church. And I wonder how much those things have really influenced the way you cover right now and the way you see things.
 
Sam Sanders: Yeah, I mean I think that there were things that I kind of feel affected my worldview. One, I was raised in the San Antonio, Texas area. San Antonio is a city that is majority Latino.
 
Ms. Percy: What, what? [laughs]
 
Mr. Sanders: Yeah. Oh yeah. [laughs] More + AUDIO

• David Sedaris: Why aren't you laughing?

In Defense of the Trumpian "Julius Caesar" (newyorker.com/culture)

Buddhism and the poet Rilke (audio)

Joanna Macy, Krista Tippett (onbeing, 8-14-16); Amber Larson, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly

A Wild Love for the World

Ledecky swims, wins at Olympics (AP)

Buddhist scholar, philosopher of ecology, Joanna Macy’s path wound from the CIA to Tibetan Buddhism [not unlike the current Dalai Lama], to translating the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke. On Being takes that exquisite poetry as a lens on Macy's wisdom on the great dramas of our time: ecological, political, personal [even sexual]. Now in her 80s, Macy says we are at a pivotal moment in history -- with possibilities of unraveling, or of creating, a life-sustaining human society. More + AUDIO

GUEST: Joanna Macy is a scholar of Buddhism, translator of Rilke, and philosopher of ecology. Her translations include Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God, A Year with Rilke, and the recently re-released In Praise of Mortality. She is the co-author of Coming Back to Life: The Updated Guide to the Work That Reconnects.