Science of the Buddhist account of Genesis

S. H. J. Sugunasiri; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

PHOTONS: fluorescence and scattering light in a calcite crystal (Jan Pavelka/Wiki)

Dhamma Aboard Evolution: A Canonical Study of Agganna Sutta in Relation to Science

Dhamma Aboard Evolution

Author Suwanda H. J. Sugunasiri in Dhamma Aboard Evolution [The Buddha's Dharma or Teachings aboard the Theory of Evolution] seeks to establish that Section 10-16 of the Aggañña Sutta ["A Buddhist Genesis" or "On Beginnings"] of the "Long Discourses of the Buddha" (Dīgha Nikāya) is no "satire" or "parody," as interpreted by some Buddhist scholars.

Drawing on Buddhist cosmology, Darwinism, psychology (e.g., Freud, Piaget), and linguistics, the book paints a historically and scientifically accurate picture of devolution and evolution, going beyond the Big Bang, in which sentient beings emerge along with their latent defilements of craving and passion, nourished by evolving [adapting] plant life.

What if this sutra actually agrees with science?

Compatible with Western science, the breakthrough comes when âbhassara brahma beings ("divinities" or supreme "shining ones") are taken to be PHOTONS, interpreting the Dharmic religion word âbhassara in a literal etymological sense of "hither-come-shining-arrow."

As accurate as the picture may be, the Buddha’s point, however, is that knowledge of the Dharma (Pali Dhamma) overrides it all, explaining the title.

Resolved in the study are a "chronological paradox" relating to lingua [tongue or language] appearing in earthling beings before linga [phalluses] and a "spiritual paradox" of meditative absorption (jhāna) level âbhassara beings still indulging in sex.

• [EDITORIAL COMMENT: These are neither paradoxes nor contradictions. The light body "shining" beings that alighted on the planet, which may have been photons, could speak. Only later did they develop a desire or need for sexual organs such as the lingam or yoni. And while it is true that for a being to be reborn in the (celestial) âbhassara plane of existence, proficiency in one of the jhanas ("meditative absorptions") is necessary, it is not the case that a being stays in that absorptions throughout the lifespan there or even necessarily has the ability to again attain that absorption or at what depth and duration. It seems as if the author is making bad assumptions or simply enjoying his clever alliteration.]

Among other topics treated are the Vedic creation myth, the intended audience for the discourse (two former Brahmins who are now Buddhist monk wandering ascetics), and the structure of the full sutra (discourse) – which is not a Jātaka ("Rebirth Tale") but the Beast fable of Pañcatantra fame.

The Appendix shows the Buddha as the originator of this story within a literary genre.

Going beyond the sutra is an invitation to an "Academically Engaged Buddhism," taking "trust in the Buddha" as a methodological imperative, just as "trust in God" was for Western science from Ancient Greek times up until Einstein.

WHO were the celestial beings who alighted on ancient earth?

The ābhassara brahmas may well refer to photons as the author argues, but generally the word is understood to refer to a class of brahmas (divinities, gods, supremos, superior to ordinary "shining ones" or devas). More

Speed of light varies, science now knows

Sheldon S., CC Liu, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

How light travels faster than the speed of light

(Astrum) Oct. 2, 2023: #light #quantumphysics #lightspeed The double slit experiment through time. Listen to the Astrum Sleep Space Podcast on preferred platform by clicking here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2250635/share Displate posters: displate.com/promo/astrum... Astrum merch: https://astrum-shop.fourthwall.com/ Join on the Astrum discord: https://discord.gg/TKw8Hpvtv8 SUBSCRIBE for more videos about other planets. Subscribe: http://goo.gl/WX4iMN Facebook: http://goo.gl/uaOlWW Twitter: http://goo.gl/VCfejs. Astrum Spanish: @astrumespanol Astrum Portuguese: @astrumbrasil Donate Patreon: http://goo.gl/GGA5xT Ethereum Wallet: 0x5F8cf793962ae8Df4Cba017E7A6159a104744038 Become a Patron today and support channel. Donate link above. Thanks to those who have supported so far. #light #quantumphysics #lightspeed #doubleslitexperiment #spacetime

The Life of Lichen (video)

(UF/IFAS Extension Pinellas County) April 22, 2021. Brooker Creek Preserve Environmental Education Center.

Explore the fascinating world of lichens -- which are mutually beneficial combinations of fungi, cyanobacteria, and plants (algae) -- with UF/IFAS Pinellas County Extension Specialist James Stevenson.

Produced at the Brooker Creek Preserve Environmental Education Center, starring James Stevenson, written by James Stevenson, and edited by Julia Myers. Imagery courtesy of Brooker Creek Preserve staff and Canva.com unless otherwise noted.

• Website: brookercreekpreserve.org
• Facebook.com/BrookerCreek...
• [Lichen is a rich source of plant-based/vegan Vitamin D]

The makers would love to know how many students they were able to reach with this video. Let them know here: bit.ly/gatiform. Thanks for watching this Great American Teach-In video brought by faculty and staff of Brooker Creek Preserve Environmental Education Center and UF/IFAS Extension Pinellas County. Electronic Data Information Source Publication: edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in1296

California is burning! (The Fire Sermon)

Los Angeles Times (framework.latimes.com); Wisdom Quarterly

Fire Season

The Springs fire has scorched at least 18,000 acres [of the Santa Monica mountains next to LA County, UPDATE: 44 square miles] between Pacific Coast Highway and the 101 Freeway, damage worsened by a harrowing about-face shift in winds that sent the fire roaring back to the north. More

• Tibetan Buddhist self-immolations down
• Why did iconic Vietnam era Buddhist monk burn himself?

The Buddha's Fire Sermon

Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly based on Ñanamoli Thera translation (SN 35.28)

If only authorities could aid Buddhist protesters like Lt. John Pike (WQ)

 

Thus have I heard. Once the Buddha was living at Gaya, in Gaya Head, together with 1,000 monastics, and there he addressed them:

 

"Meditators, ALL is burning! What 'all'?

 

"The eye is burning, forms are burning, eye-consciousness is burning, eye-contact is burning, and whatever is felt as pleasant, painful, or neutral that arises with eye-contact as its indispensable condition, that too is burning! Burning with what? 

 

"It is burning with the fire of lust (greed), with the fire of hate (aversion), with the fire of delusion (wrong view). I say it is burning with birth, aging, and death, with sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, despair.

 

"The ear is burning, sounds are burning... The nose is burning, odors are burning... The tongue is burning, flavors are burning... The body is burning, tangibles are burning... 

The historical Buddha Gautama, Shakyamuni ("Sage of the Shakya Clan"), Thailand

  

"The mind is burning, ideas are burning, mind-consciousness is burning, mind-contact is burning, and whatever is felt as pleasant, painful, or neutral that arises with mind-contact as its indispensable condition, that too is burning! Burning with what? 

"It is burning with the fire of lust, with the fire of hate, with the fire of delusion. I say it is burning with birth, aging, and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair.

 

"Meditators, when a noble hearer who has heard (the truth) knows-and-sees this, that person finds estrangement in the eye, in forms, in eye-consciousness, in eye-contact, and whatever is felt as pleasant, painful, or neutral that arises with eye-contact as its indispensable condition, in that too one finds estrangement. ...in the ear... in sounds... in the nose... in odors... in the tongue... in flavors... in the body... in tangibles...

 

"One finds estrangement in the mind, in ideas, in mind-consciousness, in mind-contact, and whatever is felt as pleasant, painful, or neutral that arises with mind-contact as its indispensable condition, in that too one finds estrangement.

 

Golden Buddha Shakyamuni (Laurence Hunt)

"With estrangement, passion [greed, grasping, clinging] fades out. With the fading of passion, one is liberated. When liberated, there arises knowledge that one is liberated. One understands: 'Rebirth is exhausted, the supreme-life has been lived, what was to be done is done, of this there is no more beyond.'"

 

That is what the Blessed One said. The meditators were glad, and they cherished and approved the Enlightened One's words.

 

During this utterance the hearts/mind of those 1,000 meditators were liberated from the taints by letting go and clinging no more.

Someone was killed, but not Bin Laden

Wisdom Quarterly (COMMENTARY)

Obama has consistently repeated that Bin Laden was captured then killed

The US military has not been looking for Osama bin Laden. The Bush and Obama administrations are well aware Bin Laden had nothing to do with 9/11. (The FBI says it has no hard evidence linking "Usama" to 9/11).

For a decade, OBL has been used as a fall guy, a pretext for US foreign wars of aggression -- "We're protecting ourselves from possible trouble by making other countries fear and hate us" -- domestic spying, and the loss of civil rights.

He is a bogeyman just as any "Emmanuel Goldstein" is used by totalitarian-style regimes. The "Patriotic Act" confirmed that our government is interested in that level of domestic social control and spying. Thanks to Bin Laden, Bush (a.k.a., Dick Cheney and Colin Powell) had a pretext to invade a country they had plans to invade long before 9/11.

The administration's inner circle goes way back, even before Bush, Sr. was president; when he was Ronald Reagan's vice president, Donald Rumsfeld was their envoy. That Reagan/Bush administration felt betrayed their former friend and ally Saddam Hussein. As a result, they began to draw up plans to depose Saddam, invade, and extract Iraq's petroleum resources.

Obama -- with many key figures and almost all of its policies held over from Bush, Jr's administration -- decided to approve the killing of someone. After assassinating that someone in Abbotabad, Pakistan in the hopes that it was multi-millionaire Bin Laden, the administration realized its mistake. There was no way it was going to admit that. Why would it? Osama bin Laden has been dead for a long time.

The CIA and others have been using his mysterious "recordings" and threats to promote an agenda of increased domestic spying and tyranny. Worse than that, the entire Al Qaeda/Brotherhood (1984) myth has been promoted to justify all of it illegal wars and activities.

Realizing the man they killed was no more Bin Laden than it was Stewie Griffin, Obama had a choice -- admit it and be taunted as a failure or claim credit, pretend to dump the body in the Arabian sea, and leak the lie in decades to come.

It's not difficult to falsify forensic evidence, for instance using blood from his sons, CIA-created "facial recognition" software, and a dolled up photo it doesn't feel like releasing since their forensics document-Photoshop Team couldn't even do a convincing job on the long form birth certificate.

Colin Powell, people will remember, went in and altered CIA analysts' reports to make the 9/11 connection with gruesome consequences:

• making everyone afraid of Osama Bin Laden as the ultimate enemy (just like "Emmanuel Goldstein")
• raiding Afghanistan as punishment for the Taliban allegedly being hospitable to Bin Laden
• justifying pre-emptive war in Iraq, taking our rights
• setting up dictators in Arab countries while pretending to want nothing but democracy for them
• funding new US spying agencies like the Homeland Security Administration in addition to our many other secret agencies (NSA, NSC, CIA, Secret Service, Pentagon cells, FBI, ad nauseum), secret CIA prisons abroad, torture chambers...

Sea burial fuels "conspiracy" theories

The U.S. faces a quandary trying to prove Bin Laden's death without inflaming the world so it may or may not release alleged photos of his irretrievable body. Skeptics include the mother of a 9/11 victim.

Sea burial fuels conspiracy theories

Matea Gold, Eryn Brown, and David S. Cloud (LA Times, May 2, 2011)

Reporting from Washington and Los Angeles -- Within hours of the raid on Osama bin Laden's Pakistani compound, the CIA [claims it] had used 21st century technology to get "a virtually 100% DNA match" on the [executed] man. But something out of another century may come back to haunt Washington: the All Qaeda leader's burial at sea.

Conspiracy theorists on both the left and right were quick to insist that Bin Laden was either still alive or had been dead for years, pouncing on the government's decision to slide the body of the world's most wanted man off a board into the Arabian Sea.

As blogs hummed with allegations that the Obama administration had faked the middle-of-the-night raid, the Bin Laden "death hoax" threatened to replace questions about President Obama's citizenship as the latest Internet rumor to go viral.

• Osama was unarmed when killed, White House says
• Pakistan's double-dealing game bothers U.S.
  
• Photos: Osama bin Laden's death
• Videogame Explanation: How Bin Laden was killed
• Obama's poker face was sorely tested
• Timeline: The life of Osama bin Laden
• Obituary: Born to privilege to die as pariah

"I am sorry, but if you believe the newest death of OBL, you're stupid," antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan posted on her Facebook page. "Just think to yourself -- they paraded Saddam's dead sons around to prove they were dead -- why do you suppose they hastily buried this version of OBL at sea?"

Infowars.com, the website of Libertarian radio host Alex Jones, was crammed with stories charging that the U.S. government had concocted the killing to justify a security crackdown. The Tea Party Nation website brimmed with indignant posts questioning the timing of Obama's announcement.

"Don't you think OBAMA needs something to assure his reelection," one commenter wrote.

Even a relative of one of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks voiced skepticism, citing the burial at sea.

"Is it true or false? I don't know," said Stella Olender of Chicago, whose daughter Christine died at the World Trade Center. "To me that seems strange, that they disposed of it and no one [besides] whoever was right there knows what happened." More

Osama bin Laden: death photos

WARNING: You may be viewing a CIA/Pentagon doctored photo. (Image source: newsrealblog.com). See "officially released" gore from Reuters. Notice similar speckled floor.

Is this the "too gruesome" photo to be released by the US government to "prove" Osama bin Laden was shot in the head by a proud Navy Seal Team 6 assassin in Pakistan two days ago?

“I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy.”
- Jessica Dovey

Osama death photo release debate helping conspiracy theorists

Business & Law

The raging debate over whether the death photos of Osama bin Laden should be released or not to quell rumors has unknowingly only managed to strengthen the voice of conspiracy theorists. Top White House officials and lawmakers are divided... The "gruesome" and "morbid" photos allegedly show a bloodied face of bin Laden with a part of his head blown off and brain exposed. Osama bin Laden was allegedly shot in the forehead and chest.

• TIME Magazine: 5 mistakes Obama made
  
• Dead and buried at sea - conspiracy theory or true?

UFO photos around the world come to light

Jadyn Cassidy (Allnewsweb.com)

The above photo that might show a UFO in the background was taken in Roscommon, Ireland and handed over to MUFON for inspection with the following note:

My daughter photographed me at Stokestown House, in Roscommon Ireland, the witness stated. While inspecting the photos on my PC [Eximil Casio S600] I noticed a funny shape over my head. The zoom showed a sort of Saturn-like object. On the other photo of the house, a small sphere seemed to float over the house. I was hoping a photo expert could distinguish the possibilities.

Could this photo show an alien craft?Although Ireland might not be regarded as a UFO hot spot, sightings are common enough. In 2007 The Irish Defence Forces declassified UFO reports that they had been collecting between the years of 1947 and 1984. Source

Thanks to MUFON CMS and Ken Pfeifer MUFON N.J. worldufophotos.org.

Countless sightings

• Historic Area-51 UFO photo comes to light
• UFO disclosure: The Tale of Two Earths?
• Mexico: Airbus A-320 Flies Near UFO
• Incredible UFO allegedly filmed above Montevideo, Uruguay
• Clear daytime UFO photo taken by South Korean student
• Breaking news: UFO filmed landing in Belgium, video
• UFO seen and photographed by police officer in Turkey
• Intruiging UFO capture from Hungary surfaces
• Giant UFO filmed flying alongside an airplane above Kuwait
• What if aliens in a nearby UFO were watching us?
• Mass UFO sighting sends Chinese media into frenzy, photos
• New close-up UFO footage from the night that shook China
• Bizzare "Light Stick" UFO or cryptid snapped above the Kremlin
• Amazing daytime film of UFO exiting wormhole over China
• They're here: Incredible UFO Mothership footage, China
• Michael Cohen: Alien UFO might destroy Earth soon
• Yes, Virginia, there is UFO and alien visitation to our world

Mysteries: Earth-like planet found!

College students build and launch $148 space-camera
Two MIT students put together a low-budget rig to fly a camera high enough to photograph the curvature of the Earth. How?

Rocky planet "like the Earth" found
Astronomers reveal a major discovery in the attempt to find life elsewhere in the universe. "Lava planet"

• Strange dwarf planet
• Doomed space missions
• Space mysteries

Jupiter's unusual temporary moon
Astronomers reveal that Jupiter snagged an enigmatic satellite, only to release it 12 years later. Rare event

• Lost Apollo moon rocks
• Photos from Hubble
• Strange things in space

Secret society thrust into spotlight
For centuries, the Freemasons have cultivated mystery and inspired fear. What Dan Brown's new book reveals

• Why book took 6 years
• More on Dan Brown
• Ancient pagan discovery

NEWS OF THE DAY

• Clues to Yale graduate student's killing
• Study: Women better lawmakers than men
• Money: When to save, when to cut debt
• Sex: Dads who need sex should try choreplay
• Israel rejects independent inquiry into Gaza war
• Japan's new Hatoyama government starts work

Bigfoot caught on film

Bigfoot (Kenny Mahoney/examiner.com) Bigfoot [Buddhist yakkha, yaksha, or rakshasa] is the newest threat to the Chicago adventure traveler in a bad week: First, reports surfaced that marijuana farmers as close as Michigan and Wisconsin might be harvesting pot. U.S. National Forest plantations are said to be booby trapped, protected by armed guards, and linked to Mexican drug cartels. Second, three days ago it was announced that Chicago is the most stressful city in the U.S. and perhaps the world. A walk in the woods might relieve the anxiety, but now Bigfoot may be on the Windy City. Reports surfaced this week of a possible Bigfoot sighting in Jefferson County, Kentucky. There are hundreds of possible sightings each year around the country, but another report in May took place in West Virginia. If this is the same creature, it could be on its way. After all, who would have thought a mountain lion from South Dakota would end up shot dead in a Chicago neighborhood? More>>

• Comments

Hubble: Outerspace Photos

PHOTOS: Hubble Catches Galactic Cartwheel

Democratic Voice of Burma

SEARCH • NEWS • PHOTOS • FEATURES • INTERVIEWS

TOP NEWS TODAY

• US looks for better way to sway Burma: Clinton
• Nobel laureates launch appeal for Aung San Suu Kyi
• Burma extends detention of opposition leader
• Myanmar asks for Thai help with ethnic rebels
• ASEAN suffers blow on human rights
• Malaysian PM: send Muslim boat people back
• UN envoy meets opposition leader

Monks protest against banning of ceremony
Mar 27, 2009 (DVB)–Buddhist monks in central Burma have launched a petition to protest against government restrictions that prevent them from freely conducting a traditional Burmese Buddhist ceremony. - more

Burma leader warns on democracy at parade
Mar 27, 2009 (AFP)—Burma junta chief Than Shwe urged political parties to shun foreign ideologies if they want democracy as the military put on a show of might at its annual parade today. - more

One dead in Rangoon blast
Mar 27, 2009 (AFP)–One person was killed and two others injured in a suspected bomb blast in Burma's commercial hub Rangoon today, on the eve of the country's annual military parade, official sources said. - more

Poet Kyi Aung dies
Mar 27, 2009 (DVB)-Renowned poet and active supporter of National League for Democracy, Kyi Aung died of heart disease at Mandalay general hospital today. - more

Doctor warns tuberculosis is a greater threat than HIV/AIDS
Mar 26, 2009 (DVB)–A doctor from a leading medical fund has claimed that an over-emphasis on HIV/AIDS in Burma has ignored the threat posed by tuberculosis. - more

Authorities destroy memorial for deceased opposition member
Mar 26, 2009 (DVB)–A stone monument built in memory of a former National League for Democracy chair was demolished by local government authorities on Tuesday, according to his family. - more

Under military rule, even the internet is behind bars
Htet Aung KyawMar 26, 2009 (DVB)–Earlier this month, the Paris-based media watchdog Reporters without Borders published a report entitled "Enemies of the Internet.’ in which Burma was named. - more

Opposition party hails US direct approach
Mar 26, 2009 (DVB)–The National League for Democracy yesterday spoke of their support for the United States’ direct approach to engaging with the Burmese government during a meeting between NLD members and a senior US official. - more

• MORE>>

US Campaign for Burma .org

UK UFO files reveal attempt to shoot UFO

Image from June 1974 showing a series of strange lights racing over the skies of Barcelona, Spain. The Ministry of Defence has made public secret files on UFO sightings, with the dossier including a range of reports from a close encounter with a UFO over Kent and a letter from a woman claiming to be an alien warrior (AFP/File/null).

UK UFO Files reveal alleged attempt to shoot UFO
Raphael G. Satter

LONDON (AP, 10/20/08) – An American fighter pilot flying from an English air base at the height of the Cold War was ordered to open fire on a massive UFO that lit up his radar, according to an account published by Britain's National Archives on Monday.

• Video: http://ufos.nationalarchives.gov.uk/video.asp

The fighter pilot said he was ordered to fire a full salvo of rockets at the UFO moving erratically over the North Sea — but that at the last minute the object picked up enormous speed and disappeared. The account, first published in Britain's Daily Star newspaper more than 17 years ago and to this day unverified by military authorities, was one of many carried in the 1,500 pages the archives made available online.

The unnamed pilot said he and another airman were scrambled on the night of May 20, 1957 to intercept an unusual "bogey" on radars at a Royal Air Force Station Manston, an airfield at the southeastern tip of England about 75 miles from central London.

"This was a flying object with very unusual flight patterns," the pilot said, according to a typed manuscript of his account mailed to Britain's Ministry of Defense by a UFO enthusiast in 1988. "In the initial briefing it was suggested to us that the bogey actually was motionless for long intervals."

Ordered to fly at full throttle in cloudy weather, the pilot said he was given the order to fire a volley of 24 rockets at the mysterious object.

"To be quite candid I almost (expletive) my pants!" the pilot said, saying he asked for confirmation — which he received.

Retired U.S. airman Milton Torres told Britain's Sky News on Monday that he was the pilot and has spent 50 frustrating years attempting to uncover the truth of his mid-air encounter.

Speaking from his home in Miami, Florida, Torres said he never saw the UFO with his naked eye, but watched in awe as it appeared on his jet's radar and sped off before he had chance to fire.

"All of a sudden as it was coming in, it decided to take off and leave me behind ... The next thing I know it was gone," Torres told Sky News. "It was some kind of space alien craft. It was so fast, it was so incredible ... it was absolutely death defying."

In the newly published government file, the U.S. airman said the UFO appeared impossible to miss.

"The blip was burning a hole in the radar with its incredible intensity," the pilot said. "It was similar to a blip I had received from B-52's and seemed to be a magnet of light. ... I had a lock on that had the proportions of a flying aircraft carrier."

As he closed in on the object to prepare for combat, however, the object began to move wildly before fading off his radar. The target gone, the mission was called off, and he returned to base to an odd reception.

"I had not the foggiest idea what had actually occurred, nor would anyone explain anything to me," the pilot said. He said he was led to a man in civilian clothes, who "advised me that this would be considered highly classified and that I should not discuss it with anybody not even my commander."

"He disappeared without so much as a goodbye and that was that, as far as I was concerned," the pilot said, according to the account.

Britain's military said it had no record of the incident, according to the files. Neither did the U.S. military. The second pilot's account, also included in the files, paints a somewhat different picture of events, saying there were not one but several "unknowns" and that he did not remember being contacted by anyone about staying quiet. He did not mention the targets' size.

"I know this is not a very exciting narrative but it is all I can recall," the second pilot said.

His name, like his colleague's, was redacted from the files.

David Clarke, a UFO expert who has worked with the National Archives on the document release, said it was one of the most intriguing stories he had culled from the batch of files released Monday.

• PDF: UK government files released by the Public Records Office

He said that the CIA once had a program intended to create phantom signals on radar — and that this may have been an exercise in electronic warfare. Whatever the case, Clarke argued that "there's no doubt something very unusual happened."

Clarke said the batch of files released Monday — which include witness accounts, investigations, and sketches — was part of a three to four year program intended to make a total of 160 UFO-related files available to the public.
___

• On the Net: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/