(MD Animations) Where is Yugoslavian French classical metal guitar prodigy Tina Setkic (YouTube's "Tina S"), student of French jazz-rocker Renaud Louis-Servais?
Heavy metal gone wrong: flops
Showing posts with label prodigies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prodigies. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Friday, December 5, 2025
Genius Buddhist prodigies, past lives?
The strange, brilliant life of a billionaire scientist living between two worlds
Lei's Real Talk: @leisrealtalk. Donation: donorbox.org/support-lei-s-re... Support Lei’s work via her online shop: shop.leisrealtalk.com. Sign up for emails: leisrealtalk.com. Ideas/suggestions: Leisrealtalk@gmail.com #leislookingglass #tonyyang #billionairescientist #childprodigy
(Lei's Looking Glass) The child prince who remembered a past life - and the Karmapa controversy
- Dr. Ian Stevenson, MD, American academic and scientific rebirth/reincarnation researcher, founder and director of the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, professor and a founder of the Society for Scientific Exploration
- Lei's Looking Glass, Nov. 20, 2025, Nov. 5, 2025; CC Liu, Crystal Q., Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Li'l Latin genius born near Los Angeles
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| Humans will never excel my math! |
In those days, those sorts of children were referred to as Indigo.
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| Mensa in Spanish means "fool" or dummy: Irony |
Genius born near LA
Landon Castillo accepted into Mensa with Einstein-
ian IQ at the tender age of 8, reports ABC7 News.
- Is this genius child part Latino (Hispanic, Mexican) from his father and part Asian (not B-sian, but Chinese perhaps), living just outside Los Angeles County in Chino Hills? This would explain coverage of this story in the Asian press:
- 洛县8岁男童智商堪比爱因斯坦 梦想成为太空人_无忧资讯
Move over, Kids, there's a new genius in town
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| Possibly part Black, curly-haired UK genius boy gets into Mensa at 2, making him youngest. |
.
THIS JUST IN (May 27, 2025): The youngest person to join Mensa is just over 2-years-old. The "extraordinarily gifted" boy from the United Kingdom (England) spoke his first word at the age of seven months. At the age of 2-years-and-182-days, Joseph Harris-Birtill, born on Nov. 23, 2021, has officially been accepted into the group, setting a new record for the youngest male Mensa member. Mensa is an exclusive [honor] society for those with very high intelligence quotients (IQs). One must have an IQ of at least 132 and be in the Top 2 percent to be eligible for the elite club, according to The NY Post. Joey's extremely proud parents, Rose and David Harris-Birtill, hope he will look back on this accomplishment with pride when he gets older [and that the other boys won't bully and beat him too badly as he longs to fit in with the knuckle draggers]. More: 2-year-old UK boy Joseph Harris-Birtill becomes youngest member of prestigious high-IQ society Mensa
- Joey has surpassed Isla McNabb, who was 2 years and 195 days old in 2023 when she was crowned the youngest-ever female Mensa member.
Los Angeles toddler with an IQ of 146 accepted into Mensa
(FOX 11 Los Angeles) May 25, 2021: A local toddler (making her the youngest member ever) has been accepted into Mensa — the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world. Nashe Quest is the youngest in American Mensa. She is 2-years-old, going on three, with the IQ of 146. The average IQ in America is 100. Subscribe to FOX 11 Los Angeles: @foxla. Watch FOX 11 Los Angeles Live: foxla.com/live.
- ABC7 News; Fox 11 News Los Angeles; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
Saturday, March 29, 2025
'Divine birth, ordinary life'? (tulkus)
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| Many tulkus: Unmistaken Child |
TULKU (official trailer)
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| I'm going to make money from my |
- [Jesus Christ, known as St. Issa in Tibetan Buddhism, may have also been a tulku reborn far to the west of Ladakh and Kashmir, where he returned as a youth to study at Hemis Gompa and remember his divine mission of attempting to save others as a Maitreya or Messiah.]
For over 700 years, tulkus have been sought out as highly revered leaders and teachers of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism.
Beginning in the 1970s, several tulkus have been identified as having incarnated in the West. These new, Western-born, very modern tulkus lead lives prone to East-West culture clash and identity confusion.
Background
Gesar Mukpo, who wrote and directed Tulku, was born in 1973, the son of world-renowned Tibetan Buddhist master [scandal ridden sex guru] Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and his [underage] British wife Diana.
At the age of 3, Mukpo was identified by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche as the reincarnation of the late Shechen Kongtrul Rinpoche (the Jamgon Kongtrul of Shechen), one of his own father's teachers in Tibet [2, 3].
Three-year-old Gesar Mukpo was then "enthroned" as a tulku in radical Sixties town Berkeley, California, across the Bay from San Francisco. More
The Buddhist nuns of Tibet
Blessings: The Tsoknyi Nangchen Nuns of Tibet
There are too many names to thank here, but suffice it to say that this film would never have happened without the belief, trust, patience, and extra hours of so many contributors. Thanks, everyone!
Property of the NFB and CBCnews. For more information on this project or to purchase the DVD, please visit nfb.ca. For the new special edition DVD. please visit buddhistfilmfoundation.org... or amazon.com/Tulku-Gesar-Mukpo...
- Tulku, 2009; Blessings, 2009; CC Liu, Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Wednesday, March 5, 2025
Did Jesus study Buddhism in India?
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| The Buddha meets the Christ in embrace |
Did Jesus study Buddhism in India? The untold story of his missing years
- 00:00 - Intro
- 02:27 - Chapter 1: The Missing Years of Jesus
- 04:22 - Chapter 2: The Buddhist Connection Theory
- 05:54 - Chapter 3: The Legend of Saint Issa
- 09:14 - Chapter 4: Matt's Journey
- 09:47 - Chapter 5: The Kashmir Connection
- 11:29 - Chapter 6: From Scrolls to Screens
- 15:45 - Chapter 7: Teachings Across Borders
- 18:39 - Chapter 8: The Skeptic's Corner
- 20:32 - Conclusion
It sounds crazy, but what if there is more to this story than meets the ear? 🤔
Let's take dive and explore:
- The 18-year gap in Jesus' life that has puzzled scholars for centuries
- Ancient texts that hint at Jesus' journey to the mystic East
- The striking similarities between Jesus' teachings and Buddhist philosophy
- The controversial theory of Jesus surviving crucifixion and retiring to Kashmir
Interested in going deeper than a short video? Check out the fascinating books mentioned:
- The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ by Nicolas Notovitch
- The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ by Levi H. Dowling
- Jesus Lived in India by Holger Kersten
- The Lost Years of Jesus by Elizabeth Clare Prophet
- Buddha's Wisdom, June 26, 2024; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
Monday, January 27, 2025
Happy Birthday, Wolfgang Mozart!
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756–December 5, 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age resulted in more than 800 works representing virtually every Western classical genre of his time. Many of these compositions are acknowledged as pinnacles of the symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral repertoire. Mozart is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music, with his music admired for its "melodic beauty, its formal elegance and its richness of harmony and texture." More
- Pat Macpherson, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit
Wednesday, August 3, 2022
World's smartest person wrote a book (video)
Toby Hendy/Tibees, July 16, 2022; Pat Macpherson, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
World's smartest person wrote this one mysterious book
(Tibees) The Animate and the Inanimate (PDF from sidis.net) is an interesting book available as a physical book (amazon.com).
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| The Animate and... (sidis.net) |
William Sidis had a high IQ and chose to live a private and independent life (almost like a Buddhist ascetic), which some saw as a waste of his potential. This video aims to show that he continued to be a lifelong learner and thinker.
The Animate and the Inanimate is one book he wrote under his own name (as he authored others with pseudonyms). It tackles interesting ideas in physics and the reversibility of the second law of thermodynamics.
Some images and articles from sidis.net. Support Tibees with a monthly donation on Patreon and receive a gift: patreon.com/Tibees or buy her a coffee (one-off donation) at ko-fi.com/tibees, website: tobyhendy.com, tiktok.com/@tibees, twitter.com/TobyHendy. Second channel: youtube.com/channel/UCOZE... The first 1,000 people to use the link will get a one-month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/tibees07221. Subscribe to my channel to see more videos like this: youtube.com/user/tibees.
Thursday, September 17, 2020
Prodigy creates song from four notes (video)
60 Minutes featuring Alma Deutscher; Ananda (DBM), Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
60 Minutes pulls four musical notes out of a hat, and young prodigy composer Alma Deutscher takes off, improvising a wonderful piano sonata in under a minute.
Watch a prodigy create -- from four notes in a hat
60 Minutes pulls four musical notes out of a hat, and young prodigy composer Alma Deutscher takes off, improvising a wonderful piano sonata in under a minute.
Watch Full Episodes of "60 Minutes" HERE: http://cbsn.ws/1Qkjo1F
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Friday, September 13, 2019
Mexican-American Linda Ronstadt (film)
Greenwich Entertainment, 9/12/19; Crystal Quintero, Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice
Since bursting onto the music scene in 1967, Chicana Linda Ronstadt has been an icon of the American music scene. She has remained relevant more than half a century. Her extraordinary vocal range and ambition created unforgettable songs that spanned genres between rock, pop, country, folk, folklorico, American standards, classic Mexican ballads, and soul music. As the most popular American female recording artist of the 1970s -- with songs like “You’re No Good,” “When Will I Be Loved,” and “Blue Bayou” -- Ronstadt filled arenas and produced an astounding 11 platinum-selling albums. She was the first artist to top the pop, country, and R&B charts simultaneously. She has won 10 Grammy Awards and been nominated 26 times. She has attained a level of stardom the Tucson, Arizona native never could have imagined.
In LINDA RONSTADT: THE SOUND OF MY VOICE, she herself is our guide through her early years of singing Mexican canciones ("songs") with her family, her folk music days with the Stone Poneys, and her reign as the “rock queen” of the ‘70s and early ’80s. She was a pioneer for women in the male-dominated American music industry, a passionate advocate for human rights, and had a high-profile romance with California Governor Jerry Brown [of Dead Kennedys' fame]. Ultimately, her singing-voice was stilled by an illness that forced her into retirement. But her music and influence remain as timeless as ever.
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| In theaters September 2019! |
The documentary contains moving performance footage and appearances by friends and collaborators including Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, and Jackson Browne. LINDA RONSTADT: THE SOUND OF MY VOICE celebrates an artist whose desire to share the Mexican-infused music she loved growing up has made generations of fans fall in love with her and the sound of her voice. Release date: Sept. 6, 2019. Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman.
GREENWICH ENTERTAINMENT, founded in 2017, is an independent film distribution company specializing in distinctive, theatrical-quality narrative and documentary features. The company recently released Jimmy Chin and Chai Vasarhelyi’s Academy Award-winning documentary Free Solo, which grossed over $17M at the U.S. box office, and Andrew Slater’s Echo in the Canyon, which opened to the highest per-theater-average of any documentary in 2019. Other recent releases include Isabel Coixet’s The Bookshop, Matt Tyrnauer’s Scotty & the Secret History of Hollywood, and Madeleine Olnek’s Wild Nights with Emily [Dickinson] starring Molly Shannon. Greenwich is led by an experienced management team that has overseen more than 150 theatrical releases generating over $100 million in the U.S. while garnering eight Oscar nominations.
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Past life on Mars: man remembers (video)
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| Death on Mars (Brandenberg) |
Boriska Kipriyanovich initially stunned doctors and experts when he was only 2-years-old and purportedly possessed the ability to read and write.
However, his story became even more fantastic as the boy began to grow older and started sharing stunning details about what he says was a past life on Mars as well as knowledge of the solar system that he had never been taught in school.
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| Earth is not the only place with pyramids. |
The remaining Martians, he says, were forced to retreat underground due to a nuclear war with the hopes of someday rebuilding their world.
Somewhere along the way, Kipriyanovich's Martian life passed away and then reemerged by way of the Russian child who could somehow remember his previous experiences.
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| There's a hall of records under the paw. |
Should humanity be able to solve the riddle of the ancient monument, Kipriyanovich declares, it will be an Earth-shattering moment which will profoundly change our very existence on this planet.
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| Caves on Mars, where beings live below |
Alas, however, Kipriyanovich in unable to articulate the precise mechanism by which the Sphinx can be opened, only that there is a "switch" of sorts contained in the paw of the statue.
Whether we'll ever be able to access this secret part of the Sphinx remains to be seen as does the veracity of Kipriyanovich's tale as a whole, because skeptics insist that he has fabricated the reincarnation saga. Source: Daily Mail
Rebirth in Buddhism
Punabhava means "rebirth" or "re-becoming." (There is no being, only becoming). Patisandhi literally means "relinking," reunion, or re-arising. It is one of the 14 functions of consciousness.
It is karmic-resultant consciousness that arises at the moment of conception, that is, with the forming of new life in the mother's womb or spontaneously without parents.
Immediately afterwards it sinks into the subconscious stream of existence (bhavanga sota). Conditioned thereby, again and again corresponding states of sub-consciousness arise. So it is really rebirth-consciousness that determines the latent character of a person.
"Neither has this (rebirth-) consciousness transmigrated from the previous existence to this present existence, nor did it arise without such conditions as karma, karma-formations, propensity, object, and so on (see the Abhidharma for details).
That this consciousness has not come from the previous existence (past life) to the present existence (present life), yet that it has come into existence by means of conditions included in the previous existence, such as karma and so on -- this fact can be illustrated by various examples.
For example, the echo, the light of a lamp, the impression of a seal, or the image produced by a mirror -- all of these travel without going from one place to another.
For just as the resounding of the echo is conditioned by a sound and so on and nowhere has a transmigration of sound taken place, so it is with consciousness. Further it is said, "in this continuous process, no sameness and no otherness can be found."
For if there were full identity (between the different stages of a thing), then milk could never turn into curd. And if there were a complete otherness, then curd could never come from milk....
If in a continuity of existence any karma-result takes place, then this karma-result neither belongs to any other being nor does it come from any other (karma), because absolute sameness and otherness are excluded here" (Vis, XVII 164ff). More
Rebirth in Buddhism
Punabhava means "rebirth" or "re-becoming." (There is no being, only becoming). Patisandhi literally means "relinking," reunion, or re-arising. It is one of the 14 functions of consciousness.It is karmic-resultant consciousness that arises at the moment of conception, that is, with the forming of new life in the mother's womb or spontaneously without parents.
Immediately afterwards it sinks into the subconscious stream of existence (bhavanga sota). Conditioned thereby, again and again corresponding states of sub-consciousness arise. So it is really rebirth-consciousness that determines the latent character of a person.
"Neither has this (rebirth-) consciousness transmigrated from the previous existence to this present existence, nor did it arise without such conditions as karma, karma-formations, propensity, object, and so on (see the Abhidharma for details).
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| Karma. It's everywhere you're going to be. |
For example, the echo, the light of a lamp, the impression of a seal, or the image produced by a mirror -- all of these travel without going from one place to another.
 |
| Humanoid or statue on Mars (NASA) |
For if there were full identity (between the different stages of a thing), then milk could never turn into curd. And if there were a complete otherness, then curd could never come from milk....
If in a continuity of existence any karma-result takes place, then this karma-result neither belongs to any other being nor does it come from any other (karma), because absolute sameness and otherness are excluded here" (Vis, XVII 164ff). More
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Spiritual Autism?
Wisdom Quarterly
(StoryCorps)
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are widespread and increasing exponentially. [They are almost certainly caused by toxic load, usually consisting of unmanageable heavy metals, from the environmental in general and vaccinations (excipients) in particular.]
The shadow government does it on purpose while ordinary government outlets scramble to deny, dismiss, and discredit claims that anything it is involved in could be causing harm to citizens. This has made the use of vaccine in children an enormous controversy. The CIA's recent abuse of vaccinations to secretly target and kill Pakistani suspects.
Most victims have Asperger's, a potentially mild form of introversion. Autism means auto-ism or overly focusing on the self to the exclusion of the social environment. It is seen in children, particularly after massive doses of vaccinations have been administered for convenience and profit without informing parents of the danger of combining many useful and useless vaccinations, particularly live strains. (Vaccination may be a wonderful thing, but things added to them like thiomersal are extremely toxic).
Mild autism and neuroticism may in fact help one's practice of the spiritual path. The temporary social isolation, withdrawal, seclusion, and intense focus is certainly made easier.
We know of a female with apparent Asperger's who used this condition to her advantage in college (excelling in academic activities requiring intense focus and abstract conceptualization) and meditation. She was able to ride her ability to focus and her aversion to social situations to the mastery of the meditative-absorptions (jhanas), insight-practices (vipassana), and initial stages of enlightenment (stream entry). She is now free in the most profound sense of the word. And it both gives hope to those living with autism (which is actually curable through intense chelation if promptly undertaken by an experienced alternative healing practitioner) and an indication to everyone's practice: Intense focus and setting everything else aside is the way to sudden progress; thereafter, one reintegrates into life. Unfortunately, most of us are taught that the path of enlightenment is ordinary life, for which there is no textual support. Ordinary people do not become enlightened by leading an ordinary life; however, people who become enlightened may very well lead ordinary lives. Ancient texts illustrate this again and again. Modern teachers misrepresent the path again and again, as if to please audiences who crave something out of the ordinary or who on the verge of practicing in accordance with the historical Buddha's teachings.
Autism is being diagnosed through speech (gossipjackal.com).
Autism and Humanity
OnBeing.org (July 14, 2011)
(StoryCorps)
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are widespread and increasing exponentially. [They are almost certainly caused by toxic load, usually consisting of unmanageable heavy metals, from the environmental in general and vaccinations (excipients) in particular.]The shadow government does it on purpose while ordinary government outlets scramble to deny, dismiss, and discredit claims that anything it is involved in could be causing harm to citizens. This has made the use of vaccine in children an enormous controversy. The CIA's recent abuse of vaccinations to secretly target and kill Pakistani suspects.
Most victims have Asperger's, a potentially mild form of introversion. Autism means auto-ism or overly focusing on the self to the exclusion of the social environment. It is seen in children, particularly after massive doses of vaccinations have been administered for convenience and profit without informing parents of the danger of combining many useful and useless vaccinations, particularly live strains. (Vaccination may be a wonderful thing, but things added to them like thiomersal are extremely toxic).- Epidemiological reviews estimate a rate of one to two cases per 1,000 people for autism, and about six per 1,000 for autism spectrum disorders.[Ref] This may be a gross underestimate of ASD's true prevalence.[Ref] ASD averages a 4.3:1 male-to-female ratio. The number of children known to have autism has increased dramatically since the 1980s.
Mild autism and neuroticism may in fact help one's practice of the spiritual path. The temporary social isolation, withdrawal, seclusion, and intense focus is certainly made easier.We know of a female with apparent Asperger's who used this condition to her advantage in college (excelling in academic activities requiring intense focus and abstract conceptualization) and meditation. She was able to ride her ability to focus and her aversion to social situations to the mastery of the meditative-absorptions (jhanas), insight-practices (vipassana), and initial stages of enlightenment (stream entry). She is now free in the most profound sense of the word. And it both gives hope to those living with autism (which is actually curable through intense chelation if promptly undertaken by an experienced alternative healing practitioner) and an indication to everyone's practice: Intense focus and setting everything else aside is the way to sudden progress; thereafter, one reintegrates into life. Unfortunately, most of us are taught that the path of enlightenment is ordinary life, for which there is no textual support. Ordinary people do not become enlightened by leading an ordinary life; however, people who become enlightened may very well lead ordinary lives. Ancient texts illustrate this again and again. Modern teachers misrepresent the path again and again, as if to please audiences who crave something out of the ordinary or who on the verge of practicing in accordance with the historical Buddha's teachings.
Autism is being diagnosed through speech (gossipjackal.com).Autism and Humanity
OnBeing.org (July 14, 2011)
One child in every 110 in the U.S. is now diagnosed to be somewhere on the spectrum of autism. We step back from public controversies over causes and cures and explore the mystery and meaning of autism in one family's life, and in history and society. Our guests say that life with their child with autism has deepened their understanding of human nature -- of disability, and of creativity, intelligence, and accomplishment. More
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Kala: The Millionaire's Son
WQ edit from Stories from the Dhammapada Commentary, Part II (Story 26)
With these Uposatha day observances in mind, Kala went to the temple to practice all day and night. But not caring to listen to the Dharma, he lay down to sleep in a pleasant place and returned home early the next morning. Thereupon his father exclaimed, "My son, who has undertaken the precepts of the observance day, bring him rice-porridge and other food straightway!" Thus, Anathapindika had food brought and given to Kala.
Better than sole sovereignty over the Earth...This instruction was given by the Buddha while he was in residence at Jetavana with reference to Kala, the son of Anathapindika (who was himself a multi-millionaire, the Buddha's greatest benefactor, and a stream-enterer).
Tradition has it that Kala, although the son of so distinguished a father, a treasurer endowed with confidence [based on his own attainment of the first stage of enlightenment], never showed any desire to visit the Buddha, or to see him when he came to his father's house, or to hear the Dharma, or to benefit the Order (Sangha).
Tradition has it that Kala, although the son of so distinguished a father, a treasurer endowed with confidence [based on his own attainment of the first stage of enlightenment], never showed any desire to visit the Buddha, or to see him when he came to his father's house, or to hear the Dharma, or to benefit the Order (Sangha).
Moreover, whenever his father said to him, "Dear son, do not do this," he paid no attention. Now his father thought to himself, "If this son of mine adopts such an attitude as this and acts accordingly, the Avici hell will be his rebirth destination. But it would not look good if my own son went to perdition before my very eyes. But there is no living being here in the world who may not be broken by gifts. I will therefore break him with gifts." So Anathapindika said to his son, "Dear Kala, take upon yourself the precepts of Uposatha [eight-precept observance] day: Go to the temple complex, listen to the Dharma, then return home. If you do, I will give you a hundred pieces of money."
"Will you really give me money, dear father?" asked Kala repeatedly.
"That I will, dear son" answered Anathapindika.
After his father had promised three times, Kala took upon himself the Eight Precepts of the observance day, undertaking to:
- abstain from taking life (both human and non-human)
- abstain from taking what is not given (stealing)
- abstain from all sexual activity
- abstain from telling lies
- abstain from using intoxicating drinks and drugs which lead to carelessness
- abstain from eating at inappropriate times (the appropriate time is eating once, after sunrise, before noon)
- abstain from singing, dancing, playing music, attending entertainment performances, wearing perfume, and using cosmetics and garlands (decorative accessories)
- abstain from luxurious places for sitting or sleeping
With these Uposatha day observances in mind, Kala went to the temple to practice all day and night. But not caring to listen to the Dharma, he lay down to sleep in a pleasant place and returned home early the next morning. Thereupon his father exclaimed, "My son, who has undertaken the precepts of the observance day, bring him rice-porridge and other food straightway!" Thus, Anathapindika had food brought and given to Kala. But Kala refused and said, "Unless I receive the money I was promised, I will not eat!" So saying, he steadfastly refused whatever delicious food was brought to him. His father, unable to endure seeing him not eat, ordered the money be presented to his son. Kala took the money purse into his hands and ate all of the food that was brought to him.
On the following day, Anathapindika who was the City Treasurer of Savatthi, sent Kala forth, saying to him: "Dear son, I will give you a thousand pieces of money if you will stand before the Buddha, learn a single verse of the Dharma, and then return to explain it to me." Kala was glad to oblige. He went to the monastery and took his stand before the Buddha. But as soon as he had mastered a single verse, he desired to run away. Discerning this, out of great compassion, the Buddha caused him to misunderstand the meaning of the verse.
Failing to understand the verse, Kala said to himself, "I will master the following verse." So he remained and continued to listen. (Those who listen to the Dharma with a firm resolution to learn listen attentively. And to those who listen attentively, the Dharma gives the fruit of stream-entry and the remaining fruits). Kala listened to the Dharma with a firm resolution to learn. But as before the unexcelled Teacher caused him to misunderstand its meaning.
"I will master the following verse," said Kala. And so he remained and listened until he was established in the fruit of stream-entry -- the initial stage of enlightenment, the momentous turning point at which there is no falling back, the first time during all of Samsara (the ceaseless wandering on through countless aeons of repeated birth and death and immeasurable) at which point one has finally limited the remainder of "suffering" to no more than seven lives.
On the following day, Kala accompanied the Order presided over by the Buddha through the City of Savatthi. When the City Treasurer saw his son, he said to himself, "Today the demeanor of my son pleases me!" Immediately the following thought occurred to Kala: "I hope my father will not give me the money I was promised in the presence of the Buddha. I hope he will conceal the fact that it was for the sake of money that I took upon myself the precepts of the observance day." (Of course, the Buddha knew all the same that it was for the sake of money that Kala had taken upon himself the Eight Precepts on the preceding day).
Anathapindika presented rice-porridge to the Order presided over by the Buddha and then presented the same to his son. Kala sat down in silence, drank the porridge, ate the hard food, and then ate the boiled rice. When the Buddha had finished his meal, Anathapindika placed the purse containing a thousand pieces of money before his son and said, "Dear son, you will remember that I persuaded you to take upon yourself the observance day precepts and to go to the temple by promising to give you a thousand pieces of money. Here is your money!" When Kala saw the thousand pieces of money presented to him in the very presence of the Buddha, he was greatly embarrassed and said, "I do not care for the money."
"Take the money, dear son" urged the father. But the son refused to touch it.
Then Anathapindika saluted the Buddha and said, "Venerable sir, today the demeanor of my son pleases me."
"How is that, great treasurer?" asked the Buddha.
"The day before yesterday I sent him to the temple, saying to him, 'I will give you a hundred pieces of money.' Yesterday he refused to eat until I paid him the money. But today he eats and when I give him the money, he refuses to touch it."
The Buddha replied, "It is even so, great treasurer. Today, in attaining the fruit of stream-entry your son has attained that which surpasses the attainment of a World Ruler, the attainment of the world of the devas [deities in the heavens], the attainment of the world of Brahma [divinities in higher heavens]." So saying, he pronounced the following stanza:
Better than sole sovereignty over the Earth,
Better than going to heaven,
Better than rulership over all worlds
Is the fruit of entering the stream.
— Dhp 178
Buddhist Stories from the Dhammapada Commentary, Part II translated from Pali by E.W. Burlingame, selected and revised by Bhikkhu Khantipalo (accesstoinsight.org).
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