The Americas' oldest civilization: Caral-Supe

Visit Peru (video); Xochitl, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

Peruvian shamans performing a modern healing with the spirit world (pinterest.com)

Reconstruction of one of the pyramids

The Caral-Supe Civilization (Norte Chico or "Small North" civilization) was a complex pre-Columbus era society.

It included as many as 30 major population centers in what is now the Norte Chico region of north-central coastal Peru.

The oldest civilization in the Americas flourished between the 4th and 2nd millennia BC, with the formation of the first city generally dated to around 3,500 BC, at Huaricanga, in the Fortaleza River area (1).

• The world's largest pyramid is Mexican: Great Cholula

Shaman in Peru performs ceremony (shamanjon.com)

It is from 3,100 BC onward that large-scale human settlement and communal construction became clearly apparent (2), which lasted until a period of decline around 1,800 BC (3).

Since the early 21st century, it has been established that it is the oldest known civilization in the Americas.

This civilization flourished along three rivers: the Supe, the Fortaleza, and the Pativilca. These river valleys each have large clusters of sites.

Further south there are several associated sites along the Huaura River (4). The alternative name, Caral-Supe, is derived from the city of Caral (5) in the Supe Valley, a large and well-studied Norte Chico site.

Complex society in Norte Chico arose a millennium after Sumer in Mesopotamia, was contemporaneous with the Egyptian pyramids, and predated the Mesoamerican Olmec culture by nearly two millennia.

In archeological terms, Norte Chico ("Small North") is a pre-ceramic culture of the pre-Columbian Late Archaic. It completely lacked ceramics and apparently had almost no visual art.

The most impressive achievement of the civilization was its monumental architecture, including large earthwork platform mounds and sunken circular plazas. More

1. Mann, Charles C. (2006) [2005]. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. Vintage Books. pp. 199–212. ISBN 1-4000-3205-9.
2. Haas, Jonathan; Winifred Creamer; Alvaro Ruiz (23 December 2004). "Dating the Late Archaic occupation of the Norte Chico region in Peru." Nature. 432 (7020): 1020–1023. doi:10.1038/nature03146. PMID 15616561.
3. "Archaeologists shed new light on Americas' earliest known civilization" (press release). Northern Illinois University. 2004-12-22. Archived from the original on February 9, 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-01.
4. "Detailed map of Norte Chico sites."
5. "Sacred City of Caral-Supe." UNESCO. Retrieved 2011-06-09.

The Pyramids of Tibet

(orangesmile.com) The site of the largest pyramid complex in the world is actually Buddhist Tibet, namely the Holy Mountain of Kailash, which researchers have been looking at for decades. It is remarkable that the mountain, whose height is 6,700 meters (21,900 feet), is also pyramidal. The strange Kailash Pyramids are located on the mountain's slopes and in the surrounding area. Altogether there are more than 100 pyramids of different shapes and sizes. More

• Top Pyramids of the World (orangesmile.com)

Latino Buddhism in Los Angeles

Wisdom Quarterly* and  Eddie Escalante (University of the West, 626.571.8811, ext. 375)

Statue of Kwan Yin on a lotus pedestal on a turbulent sea (pedronogueriaphotography.com)

Pope Francis apologizes for Holy Roman Empire's Catholic crimes against the indigenous (First Nation) populations of the "New" World on his first tour through the Americas (AP).

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Native Americans linked to Buddhists (BP)

LOS ANGELES, California - Saludos amigos! Buddhism is on the increase in the Latino/a community. Students at the Buddhist University of the West, editors at Wisdom Quarterly, and Latin youth at Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society are part of the reason.

As a native Angeleno and psychology major with a concentration in multicultural counseling at UWest, I exist in a world between cultures, languages and, until recently, between religions.

L.A. meditates for direct experience (LAT).

Many Latinos in the USA -- hailing from Mexico, Spain, the Caribbean, and Central and South America -- suffer a mild form of cognitive dissonance: conflicting ideas about spiritual truth.

There is a conditioned fear of abandoning Catholic traditions, fear of becoming outcasts in our families, and outsiders in our own very traditional communities.

Goddess of Compassion takes many forms (udayton).

But I now know that I am not alone. There is comfort in my sangha (our supportive "Buddhist community") and in Los Angeles. We share with one another and with every person of every world-religion values that unite us: generosity, unselfish compassion, virtue, acceptance, kindness, mindfulness (as opposed to absentmindedness), and mystic wisdom (mysticism).

With these seven values I go forth into the world as an American of Mexican descent culturally aware and spiritually free.

Who are we?

Rick Fields: Buddhism arrived MX and CA.

Quienes somos? Sometimes proud, sometimes uncertain, sometimes lonely, we are sometimes so full of life that we can hardly contain ourselves with happiness. We laugh and cry and suffer disappointment (dukkha) just like everyone else. And like many in more progressive parts of the USA, we try to make sense of the world, looking for meaning in our lives and a reason for our unsatisfactoriness.

Traveling down town to work, we see that we share our plight with everyone here. Yo soy como tu, soy como mis padres, soy Mexicano, Salvadoreño, Colombiano…Argentino, soy tu hermano, tu hijo, y soy libre, yo soy Budista. (I am like you, like my parents, I am Mexican, Salvadorean, Colombian...Argentinian, I am your brother, your child, I am free, I am Buddhist).

Who aren't we?

Virg Yin Mary and Guan Yin

Quienes no somos? Although we walk hand in hand with our Chinese sisters and brothers, we are not Chinese. Although we live our lives in accordance to the Buddha's teachings, we are not Tibetans. And while we sit still and meditate to strengthen our minds and resolve, we are not (east) Indians. We do not speak Vietnamese, don’t know the Korean word for chile salsa [kim chee].

And while we love exploring the many cultures and spiritual traditions that make up the Los Angeles County quilt, we have our own very good one. Latinas have a storied past, full of flavor, color, and beauty. It defines and permeates our essence.

• Buddhism arrived in Mexico long before Catholicism/Christianity conquered the New World
  

Be Catholic, we own you! says Church

We are not trying to adopt or misappropriate another culture. We are sharing in the universal appeal of the Buddha's teachings, which are for the benefit of all living beings regardless or era or area, past or status, wealth or wakefulness.

We are only wise enough to know that truth stands like a mountain in any country in any age among any group aligned with any culture. Like Lisa Simpson learned one Christmas, you don't have to give up your culture or deeply held beliefs to practice in line with the wise and kind Buddha-Dharma.

Where are we going?

Guan Yin is a lot like the famous Virg Yin of Guadalupe (Tammy Wetzel/Aloha2you/flickr); she also appears to modern Aztec dancers in El Pueblo de Los Angeles as the Lady Queen of Angels.

 
A donde vamos? We are not going anywhere. We are here to stay. The German Jewish Theravada Buddhist nun from Sri Lanka Ayya Khema wrote a book Being No One Going Nowhere.

Like her we do not demand that anyone believe anything. We embrace our human family with open arms even as Asian Buddhists in America assimilate to the Judeo-Christian culture and Americans absorb the Dharma that was once called the "Light of Asia."

For the curious we open our hearts and minds with acceptance and patience. Spiritual liberation is not spiritual emptiness; it is opening the doors to experiences that fill one with wonder that searches for truth.

The truth is not easily attained. It takes the eightfold practice, it takes discipline, it takes confidence (saddha), concentration (samadhi), and above all loving-kindness (metta).

Diverse student body at the University of the West, lay and monastic (uwest.edu)

 
That is where we are going as Latinos embracing Buddhism -- a spiritual journey to find the truth and live it wherever and in whatever form we find it.

The truth is like the sun on a rainy day: It is always there obscured by clouds. So how does one clear them away and hold a mind/heart as vast as the sky?

That is what we want to know and show. That is our goal -- a collective effort with readers of this series. Come back soon and together we will get our hands deep in the masa (dough) of nuestro Budismo (our very own Buddhism).

The University of the West (uwest.edu) -- located in the San Gabriel Valley east of the city center at 1409 Walnut Grove Ave., Rosemead, CA 91770 -- is affiliated with the massive Going West (Hsi Lai) Buddhist Temple complex in the eastern end of the valley in Hacienda Heights. Here all Buddhist traditions are at home, and there is a large business school as well as a religious studies program.

• *Written with the help and encouragement of the editors of Wisdom Quarterly and Andrea, Morgan A.C. Blackledge, Glenn Dunki-Jacobs, Jacob Sky Lindsey, CC Liu, Oscar Martinez, Raymond McDonald, Alma Ramon, Sandy Uzcategui, and Xochitl on 4-20-12.
  

Our Unnatural Line of Earthquakes

AboveTopSecret.com, Wisdom Quarterly

Few seem to have noticed that there is nothing "natural" about recent temblors, weather, and flooding disasters (abovetopsecret.com).

Tenpensdown often checks the earthquake.usgs.gov site for earthquake updates. And among others [on Coast to Coast] has noticed a strange pattern emerging since the East Coast quake that hit Washington, DC, NY, and Virginia. Add a red line across the unusual activity, and the unnatural linear pattern emerges. Add data points from an eight-day animation, and it appears there were even more earthquakes along this line marking quakes in different locations. Is this a common trend? The map above is updated frequently for anyone to check. Of course, no one will be surprised to discover that our shadowy government obscures patterns and distorts data when it finds them inconvenient. Source

Patterns? What patterns? It's only an "act of God."

• Where are earthquake hazards in US?
• Super storm Lee forming along Gulf
  
• Sinead O'Connor is sexually frustrated

Mexican Buddhists (BBC)

Radio: The World (BBC/PRI)

Mexico now has an estimated 12,000 Buddhists. This is largely due to the chaotic state of affairs related to drug violence along the border with the US. It also has to do with the Tibetan Relics Tour currently traveling through Mexico.

• LISTEN: (March 10, 2009 edition):
• Audio slideshow: Buddhism in Mexico

• Progress in Mexico drug war is drenched in blood
• Feds say Atlanta is hotspot for Mexican drug cartels

The Ancient (pre-Christian) origins of Buddhism in Mexico and Central America:

How the Swans Came to the Lake: A Narrative History of Buddhism in America (Rick Fields)

Tibet anniversary
The Dalai Lama has launched a fierce attack on Chinese rule in his Tibetan homeland, saying his people had experienced "hell on Earth." His words came on the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese troops.

• BBC coverage
• Read more about the history of Tibet

More

• Lost in the Amazon
• Saint Death of Mexico slideshow
• TIBET TODAY
• Dalai Lama: Tibetans "suffering" under China
• China clamps down on 50th anniversary of Dalai Lama's exile